April 30, 2008, 11:15 am

Blah, blah, blah... yakking about who knows what...

I'm not a crier. Not really. And if I do cry, it's alone - where no one else can see. And I don't like to admit that I've cried. I'm not talking about the "oh, that movie was so sad that I cried", though I try to hide that most of the time as well ;). I'm talking about the "I felt real emotions and it made me cry" thing. I know women that cry at the drop of a hat. In front of people. In public. And it doesn't seem to bother them at all. That's not me. I don't cry. The only person that it's okay if they see me cry is my husband. And only because we live together and sometimes it's inevitable that he will see me cry... that, and I trust him with my emotions (though half the time, I go in the bathroom or turn the other way if I feel the tears... even with him who I trust with my whole self). If anyone else sees me cry, I absolutely hate it. HATE it - in the strongest sense of the word 'hate', especially if they try to comfort me. Ugh. I think I've shared this before.

Anyway, all that to say this. I just cried. Just a little. And I'm telling you about it. I sense real growth in myself here. :-D

Possibly, my female hormonal cycle had something to do with it (tmi?), but I think it was the connection that did it. I was online, reading through some gluten-free websites, looking for some good products to buy. I'm still working on changing all my beauty products over (harder than it should be, by the way - gluten is in everything, it seems), and I was looking up a few other food items I was curious about. It turns out I think I just ate a bowl of cereal that had gluten in it (dang it!) because I haven't learned all the names of all the possible gluten-contaminated ingredients yet. Ugh. Anyway, that's not what made me cry.

This post made me cry:

http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2005/05/diagnosis.html

Weird, I know. I don't usually cry at other people's ailments. Not because I am cold, but because of the things listed above - I am just not a crier. It has to touch me personally to invoke real tears. Well, this post touched me personally. Now I feel like a big sappy lunatic for sharing with you. ;) Anyway, the diagnosis parts are different, and it was a couple of miscarriages and a 5th baby that set my body into a downward spiral (as opposed to a car accident for her), but the symptoms and how she felt - I can totally sympathize. I could have written that post inserting my own personal details instead of hers. And I cried for about 30 seconds. That's a lot for me.

This line: "And now, ten days out, I feel infinitely better, not only from the past three months, but more mentally clear and energetic than I have in YEARS." And this part: " If I feel this good after ten days, what am I going to feel like in a year? It's possible that I have never really met myself. ¶ I feel reborn this spring." Yep. I concur.

It's so strange to me that I've been living my life in a fog... all of my life. It's so hard to explain to those who haven't experienced it. It's hard to explain the hope that comes from having a clear head for more than half a day in a row. It's hard to explain how depressing it was to feel awful every day for years and years. Deeply, maddeningly depressing. I don't know how I would have gotten through it without my God and my husband. Seriously. It was bad. Have I had setbacks since I started this whole gluten-free thing? Yes. I'm still figuring out my diet and have discovered that even my health and beauty products must be gluten-free for me to enjoy total health, so am still working on the changeover. But now, when I have a bad day (healthwise) or even a bad few days... I still have hope. Because I know what is wrong with me and there is a way to fix it.

Why did I cry? Because it just hit me like a ton of bricks how horribly awful I have felt for the past three years. Longer than that, really. How much it sucked that no one understood. How, even now, people seem to think I was suffering a minor food allergy and should have just popped an antihistamine and gone on with my days. What a relief it is to come out of those years of frustration. Of not knowing what was causing my illnesses. Symptoms that caused me to lose touch with many friends because I didn't have the energy to keep up. The years of people thinking it was all in my head, and if only I'd "get on an exercise program" or "give up sugar" or "eat more fresh fruits and vegetables", I'd miraculously be as energetic as them. Did they think I hadn't TRIED all those things?! That I was just some lazy good-for-nothing loon that wanted to sit on my arse and watch soap operas all day??? I can't tell you how many times I bit my tongue at their disapproving looks and comments. That I didn't even bother telling them my real symptoms because they obviously weren't listening anyway. I was sure they were 'just trying to help' so I tried not to let them get to me. (p.s. there were some people that were understanding and supportive, and I really appreciated them - but mostly, I just felt deeply misunderstood)

Well, now... Now that I am getting better, my body is healing, and I am having more and more days filled with more energy than I could have hoped for... Now, I will live my life the way I've always wanted to live it. I will be the woman that I have been in my head! I will take care of my body, my house, my husband and my children. And my friends will hear from me more. I'm still not 100%, but I'm closer than I've been in years and years. And it's awesome. And I thank God every day - even on days like yesterday when I had a migraine and got nothing done - that I'm on my way to perfect health.

And now I'm getting back to my research. By this weekend, I hope to have all my cabinets - health/beauty/food - stocked with gluten-free (and organic) items to make the COMPLETE change to get further on the road to being 100% Petra.

God is good. And He gets all the glory for these revelations and improvements! :)

And p.s. - don't tell anyone that I actually cried. ;)

April 28, 2008, 4:44 pm

Cuteness...

Jacob got a short, big-boy haircut yesterday. He's so cute. Photos? Yeah, I haven't taken those. Well, I did take one on my phone this morning and texted it to a couple of people that I knew could receive it, but no camera photos yet. Soon, okay? Soon. Andy misses his curls. I think his new 'do makes him look older... and more mischevous.

Free money...

Are you ready for your tax rebate? I think the whole idea is pretty crazy (isn't our country already in debt up to its ears?), but hey - I'm not complaining about free money! I've got FIVE eligible kids too. New washing machine, here we come!!

In the news...

I've been keeping up with the news more lately. I go through stages where I pay no attention whatsoever and stages where I read every article on the news sites. Aside from the polygamy thing in Texas (wow!), I'm keeping up with the Austrian story where the old dude kept his daughter and half of his incestual children inprisoned in the cellar for 24 years (well, the kids for as long as they were old). CRAZINESS! Can you imagine how messed up that girl is?!?! I definitely said some prayers for that family today! I don't usually click on those types of stories (abuse and neglect) because they make me so mad, but this one sounded so bizarre. And I'm strangely intrigued with the bizarre.

TV on DVD...

We started watching Lost. We got it free from the library. We've only gotten to the end of the first episode so the jury is still out. Um... I didn't know there was like some creature on the island that eats people?! I mean, I had heard of the show (obviously, who hasn't?), but I just thought it was a 'survivor' story. I didn't know it had all the suspense and creepiness going on. It's like Jurassic Park meets Gilligan's Island. At least, that's my initial assessment. I'm not sure if I'll like it or not. Most shows take watching at least a few episodes in order to make an informed decision. I'll keep you posted.

Promises, promises...

I haven't taken many photos this week, if any. But I will try to take some new photos of the kids and post them in the next couple of days.

NSD...

This Saturday is National Scrapbook Day. I'm sure you all knew that already and are planning an enormous celebration. :) Well, I'll be playing over at ScrapSupply all weekend. It's always a good time - bingo, prizes, challenges. Fun stuff. No, I don't work there - I just promote the things I enjoy. You should know this about me. :)

April 27, 2008, 10:56 am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHRISTINE!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

I like your sleeves. They're real big.

I have been a cleaning machine all weekend! I had been a bit less energetic and was having some stomach issues (I'll spare those details for you), and I finally figured out what was going on. Aside from the chemical-filled yogurt I was eating - I figured out that the baked potatoes Brittany was making me (she makes them a lot and usually offers to make me one too - and who am I to turn down a yummy baked potato?!) had margarine on them. Which really probably wouldn't be a big deal, though I use real butter - organic if I can afford it - but we have a big tub of margarine that everyone uses. So when the other kids are piling butter on their toast or biscuits or whatever, they are dipping their bread-encrusted knives back in the tub. Crumbs galore. e.g. I was ingesting gluten in a small form, and it affected me. Obviously I have celiac disease and not just some slight gluten sensitivity for it to affect me so adversely in such small amounts. And no wonder I have been feeling so bloody awful for the past several years! I feel bad if I have just a LITTLE bit now, but I was eating it by the buckets before Sarah was like "STOP EATING GLUTEN!" Anyway, Brittany understands now to be more careful (it takes a while to get used to these dramatic changes in diets around here and what everyone can and cannot have), and meanwhile my energy is BACK in FULL FORCE baby! I cleaned for 15 hours straight yesterday, only taking breaks for meals and a ten minute email-checking break during a snack time. The boys are ecstatic that I got in their room and helped them rearrange it and we emptied drawers and shelves and organized tons. We separated their bunk beds and the room is SO much less cluttered now and SO much more liveable. I don't know how they stayed in there before - it was NOT a peaceful room. But now they love it and we have just a few more things to do to finish getting them completely organized and ready to relax in there. Plus, I swept, vaccuumed, dusted, did loads of dishes and laundry, scrubbed a bathroom, cooked some meals - including pancakes for the kiddos and Andy and the friends that were spending the night, injured my wrist moving furniture, took some ibuprofen for the sore muscles that didn't know what the heck was going on, and woke up this morning raring to go again.

Jacob woke up with a runny nose and a cough though. He had the runny nose the past two days, but now he's got a full-blown cold. So I am home with him, while Andy took the other kids to church. Except Justice - he's a bit under the weather as well, but nothing serious - just not enough sleep and too much activity, and he needed to rest.

And now I think I'll go cook some lunch for those about to get home from church. I've already swept floors and did laundry and dishes and taken care of kids and cleaned the living areas this morning. I think I'm going to tackle the huge paper mess in my office area after lunch. Or finish the boys' room. Or both. I'm a maniac and I can't be stopped!

April 25, 2008, 1:21 pm

Unsolved mysteries...

Are the papers on my desk breeding at night?

Why does anyone listen to anything Al Sharpton says?

Why are gluten-filled chocolate chip cookies so delicious?

Why is it okay with anyone that the FDA is such a crooked organization?

Why do I continuously forget that I need to eat on a regular schedule?

How can anyone not believe in God?

April 24, 2008, 11:35 am

More about saving money on food, 2nd post of the day...

Okay, so for those of you who eat out often - combine what you spend on eating out with your groceries. What's your total then? We actually don't feel like we eat out very much, but when you add up $2 at Burger King here and $5 at Forza there, it apparently adds up quick (see below table). We did eat out more in February because it was tax refund month so we splurged on a few dates. And in March, we had company for a week so probably spent more than usual on groceries. But in my 'ideal' budget - the one that we never seem to be able to stick to - I allot $40 per month for eating out (uh, yeah - we keep going over that obviously) and $600 per month for groceries. We only stuck to that in January, and it looks like we'll stick to it in April. But in April, we have REALLY skimped on the grocery front, AND Andy was gone for two weeks so there was one less mouth to feed. I do NOT include cleaning supplies, toiletries, diapers, etc. in my 'grocery' category - I budget separately for those, and usually have no problem sticking to those. I DO include every cup of coffee in the 'dining out' category. I want to stick to that budget AND have plenty of food in the pantry - is that even POSSIBLE for a family of seven?! Am I reaching here? If my readers with families of 1 to 3 tell me they spend even more than me, it'll make me feel a LITTLE better. ha! :)

I realize some people think budgets and money spent are some forbidden topic that they should never share with anyone (which I totally don't get - it's not like I'm sharing intimate details about sex - it's MONEY), but I am really trying to figure out ways to get withIN budget in these categories. It's VERY hard for me to NOT buy a strawberry smoothie when I'm out running errands, and I rationalize "it's only five bucks", but yeah - you see my dining out category. I shop at discount grocery stores, which, as Mindy pointed out on the comments page - we have already discussed. I buy store brands and sale items. I only prepare the more expensive dinners (like fish) every so often. Etcetera. I mean, I realize most of America probably spends more than we do, but I know people who do not (like Mindy). So please... share your secrets with me. And remember that on my diet, I have to include lots of fresh produce - so there's really no skimping there. And the organic stuff... which is outrageously expensive. And I can only eat so many lunches consisting of beans and rice!!! lol!

April 24, 2008, 8:58 am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TIMBERLY!!
(I know I'm late, but I haven't blogged since before the big day.)

Updates...

So yeah - still figuring out some of this diet stuff. Ate some peanut butter cookies made with white sugar (gluten-free though). That was a mistake. Then, I realized something else was still bothering me, and it dawned on me that there was high fructose corn syrup in my gluten-free yogurt. Figured there was only one way to find out - so yesterday, when I was feeling good, I ate one and yeah - felt so exhausted immediately and ended up with another migraine. So - I will be making SURE I only eat organic sugar (doesn't seem to bother me at all), and I have switched back to the organic yogurt. I just can't handle all these overly processed foods that are filled with bleach and other chemicals. Not that I want to after reading about how they are made! lol! It's hard being organic though - so much of the typical American diet is just FILLED with processed crap (that's the technical name) that sometimes it's just hard to avoid it without starving! The organic diet is WAY more expensive as well, and as you know we have five growing children. Food bills are already high enough around here!!! Oh well - for good health, it's worth the extra expense.

Speaking of food bills - out of mere curiosity: How much do you spend on groceries in a typical week or month? If you don't mind sharing. I'm just wondering how frugal we are actually being and if there are still corners I could cut while enjoying a decent plethera of foods on the pantry shelves at the same time. I know that I can get the 'lists' that show what the deals are at what stores, and start getting the Sunday paper with all the coupons and spend a few extra hours a week playing the mad grocery savings games - but I'm trying to avoid all that for now. :)

I've been scrapbooking. It's so fun and relaxing. I did three pages last night. I'll probably put them in my scrapsupply gallery later today.

Jacob can open doors now. Which means he's harder to keep track of and keep out of the things he thinks he needs to get into. But he's still incredibly adorable, so it's all good. He's also decided that tearing paper is fun. For instance, about two minutes ago, he grabbed a playing card Jarvis had left on the coffee table and ripped it in half before I even realized what he was doing (because I was busy blogging). I'm sure Jarvis will be thrilled.

Photo-a-day pages are updated through April 23rd. Link on the left (as always).

Movie and TV reviews...

Lars and the Real Girl. Wow. If you haven't seen this, don't bother. Please. At least I'll know there was some redeeming factor to my actually sitting through the whole thing (so that I could warn all of you). First of all, the previews make it look hilarious. Uh, it's a drama. An incredibly boring and extremely strange drama. And you stop laughing at all about 1/3 of the way into it. I'm so disappointed in Ryan Gosling for accepting the role! Whew.

Michael Clayton. Eh. It was okay. I was kind of lost through the first half until we paused it and I had Andy clarify a few things. And I'm usually pretty sharp when it comes to keeping up. Of course - he wasn't lost, so yeah - maybe it was just me. lol.

Monk. I got the first season from the library having never seen even one episode. It just seemed like it would be a good show. Yeah. It's not really. I mean, it's watchable? But not if you have something better to watch. Brittany and I have watched about 4 or 5 episodes and they're pretty much all the same. And they go pretty slow and you are like "okay, we get it - let's move on to the next scene". But I do enjoy some of the OCD stuff. And detective stories are always a favorite of mine. Which is why I thought I'd love it. But the boring parts and the over-the-top cheesy parts make sure I do not love it. It's just okay.

Georgia Rule. Another library checkout. Ugh. Did I actually sit through this whole movie instead of turning it off after the first two minutes?! Well, Andy was in Yakima and I guess I was bored. Even though I don't really get bored. So I'm not sure what happened. More disappointment in the actors that accepted these roles. And who directed this? More importantly, who wrote this script?!?!?!

April 19, 2008, 5:42 pm

Geez Banana, shut your freakin' gob!

I've really been enjoying spending time with Andrew the past couple of days. And he is going to be off on Monday and Tuesday - yay. We love long weekends!

I got my photo-a-day page updated. Link on the left.

A couple more photos from today:

I'm working on organizing my scrapbooking area by color. I started with embellishments - brads, buttons, flowers, slides, etc. I think I'm going to LOVE it. Scrapbooking will be so much more efficient now, and I'll probably end up with a lot more monochromatic layouts. I'm going to do alphabets and paper next. Fun stuff. :)

Brittany spent the night with a friend last night, and came home like this. Her buddy cut her hair (with my permission) and straightened it... and did her makeup. Now she wants me to buy her a better hair straightener - hers is kinda crappy and doesn't work all that great.

Andy and I watched Juno last night. I love that movie. So much witty dialogue! I had already been quoting it since I saw it in the theater; I'm sure that'll get worse now (refer to my blog title). We rented a couple other movies to watch as well - I'll let you know if they're any good. :)

April 18, 2008, 10:34 am

Sugar is sweet and so am I...

Apparently we can keep Krispy Kreme donuts in the house and I don't eat them. I'm stronger than I thought!

Just as an fyi, though, I don't avoid sugar altogether. I have in the past, but I don't feel the need to on my current diet. I just try to ingest it in moderation. A little bit in my morning green tea, my yogurt contains some sugar, and I do eat an occasional homemade gluten-free cookie or bowl of ice-cream. Oh, and I have recently discovered that I like dark chocolate. I used to hate it, but since I don't eat milk chocolate anymore (too many additives), I tried dark chocolate a few weeks ago and was like "yum!!" so I indulge in the occasional bite (or two). :) My main goal when eating is 'natural', and preferably 'organic'. So lest you feel sorry for me on my gluten-free diet, know that I am not completely deprived. :)

April 15, 2008, 11:18 pm

I always stay up way too late when Andy's gone. I meant to go to bed an hour ago, but I got distracted.

Anyway, I updated the photo-a-day page with just a few more photos. Because of the flu, there aren't a lot of April photos so far. Link in the left sidebar.

April 15, 2008, 3:36 pm

Blah. I'm a krackin from the sea.

Did you get your taxes done? I did ours way back in January - the day we got Andy's W-2. I can't imagine the stress of waiting until the last minute. And why so many people do just that. Of course, we usually get a large refund, so there's incentive for us.

Andy should be home on Friday. I haven't really gotten to talk to him this time, which sucks. I've had three phone calls since he left over a week ago and those were just a minute each. They aren't supposed to be on the phone out there. I miss him.

I really have nothing to say, which is why I haven't blogged in a few days. I would tell you something exciting that's going on, but it's just normal life - not much to tell. I would tell you some intriguing story from my past, but I'm not sure I really want to share those stories on here - I'll wait and do that in some anonymous memoir. I'd tell a joke, but for some reason, I can't remember any except a crude one about a pirate in a bar - and it's not even that funny. Maybe I need to google "things to blog about" so I can find some blogging mojo. lol. Yeah - sorry - I'm uninspired. Maybe it's because my muse is in Yakima. :)

April 12, 2008, 9:02 pm

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

Jarvis had another soccer game this morning. They played a team where all the kids were bigger than them and they were good too, but they still managed not to let the other team score. The score? 0 to 0. Jarvis is getting pretty darn good too. His last game is next Saturday. They have pretty short seasons with only 5 or 6 games.

My aunt called me yesterday to let me know they were in town. So my aunt, uncle, and their two grandchildren (my kids 2nd cousins) came down (from Seattle) for the afternoon/evening. We had a GREAT time visiting with them. They even bought us dinner (yummy KFC). And Andy always seems to miss visits... He'll be in Yakima until next Friday.

Here are a couple of photos from the day...

We played some poker and had a lot of fun. I learned how to play Texas Hold 'em (I don't know how you spell it, okay?!). Previously, I was only familiar with 5 card draw and gin rummy when it came to cards. I'm sure I've played other games in the past, but I don't remember. Um, yeah, I didn't win any games. lol.

The little ones. Poor Jacob wanted to be one of the girls today, and even tried playing dress-up with them (he walked around for quite some time in Darby's furry pink boots... which, uh, wasn't the first time he'd done that. He likes wearing shoes that are too big, okay?). Hannah and Avila are so sweet, and that Avila just cracks me up every time I see her. She's so funny! And Darby and Hannah are like two peas in a pod!!! I wish we didn't live an hour away so they could see one another a little more often.

Aunt Cherry and Uncle Neil. They haven't changed a bit from when I was a kid. I always really enjoy hanging around them (always have). Oh, and Uncle Neil and Justice are in some kind of gang now or something - they have a handshake and everything. lol. :)

It was great to see them. I hope to be able to get to Vegas for a visit with them there before they move away!!

Oh, I'll try to get the photo-a-day page updated tomorrow. I have a few photos to add, but not a ton since we had the flu since my last update.

April 11, 2008, 9:54 am

Soccer, bad movies, cleaning, and forgetfulness...

So apparently I overdid it too soon after being sick and I was super tired the last two days, so I took a break from my crazy deep cleaning of every spot visible to the naked eye, and just took it easy. So now I have to catch up from two days of not much cleaning because I have five kids, and then I can get back to my detailed scrubbing.

I went to the library with Jarvis and Darby yesterday, and got a few movies. Brittany, Justice, and I tried watching 'Bee Season' last night, but about 30 minutes into it, I said "Is anyone else bored out of their minds?!" and they both, without hesitation said "YES!!" so we turned it off and watched an episode of 'Boy Meets World' (it was at the library and I remember watching it years ago so thought the kids might like it - uh, it's really stupid).

Jarvis had a soccer game last night and played awesomely! His team won 5 to 0! Jarvis didn't score, but he had some assists (are they called that in soccer?). Anyway. It was so cold, but is supposed to warm up this weekend, and weather.com says it is going to be 74 tomorrow!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! It hasn't gotten higher than 61 since the fall. And even 61 is a RARE occasion. Maybe now it will finally start feeling like spring around here!! :) Jarvis has another game on Saturday.

I just saw a note on my desk that said Jarvis was supposed to bring something 'by Friday'. Uh, today is Friday. Oops. Hopefully Monday will be fine. It's supplies for an ice-cream party they are having, but the party isn't until next week, so I'm thinking it should be fine. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

I'm really hoping to budget in an order from ScrapSupply next paycheck. And I'm going to use the '150 photos for 15 bucks' coupon on kodakgallery.com. And then I'm going to make LOTS of scrapbook layouts! :)

Speaking of budgets, I'm actually on here balancing the checkbook (well, it's not an actual checkbook, since I do everything on the computer, but I don't know what else to call it), and figuring out budget stuff. Always a fun chore, which is why I stopped to blog. lol.

April 9, 2008, 9:03 am

This and that and photos from the days of yore...

Does anyone else read Ann Coulter's weekly articles? There's a link in my sidebar if anyone needs it. I love her.

I sent Justice to school today wrapped in two ace bandages. His knee and his hand. Football with the neighborhood guys. Ugh. I don't *think* his finger is broken, just a bad sprain - but I don't have an x-ray machine so I can't say for sure. But we wrapped up his hand to keep his finger straight. And his knee is just a mild sprain and a bad bruise - in my expert medical opinion. Ibuprofen took care of the pain, and the swelling/bruising wasn't bad enough to warrant a trip to the ER. He hated having to ask me to put his shoes on this morning and tie them. lol. He was like "I'm sorry you have to touch my stinky shoes." Ha!

Chlorine is toxic. The more I read, the more I don't even want to swim in it. Let alone eat anything with wheat in it ever again (not that I was going to since it makes me ill). But WHY do they "clean" wheat with chlorine before packaging it? I guess it has something to do with wanting it to be all white and pretty, and something else to do with a longer shelf life (because it is NOT about the health of the consumer - it is ALL about money). The more I learn, the more I just want to GROW all my own food! But not really, because I would HATE being a farmer. lol.

I need a photo. I have NO photos on the April page so far. But I haven't TAKEN any photos because so far April was spent with the flu. And now I can't find my camera battery charger (has anyone seen it?!?!?! I need it!!!), and I'm on my last halfway charged battery. Ugh.

Okay, I found some photos to add. Let's take a trip down memory lane... to 2002... when I had the crappiest digital camera in the world (actually it wasn't bad for it's time, but man - looking back at these photos - they are SO bad), just before I discovered that I needed to thin out my eyebrows (wow!), the year the kids turned 9 (Brittany), 7 (Justice), 3 (Jarvis), and 1 (Darby), 4 years before Jacob was born, living in Louisville, KY. Man... seems like another lifetime!

Brittany, in our front yard, in her flower girl dress from Coby & Stephanie's wedding

Darby being a cutie. Feisel, Lawrence, and Brittany in the background. :)

Laura, Theresa, Savannah, and Brittany doing snakes on the 4th of July at G-ma and Pappy's house (my kids REALLY miss 4th of July's at G-ma and Pappy's!!! They talk about it all the time... still.)

Um... I don't feel the need to explain this one. Those in the photo know the story here. lol.

Justice and Canyon doing their fighting stance (at Timberly's - she cooked Thanksgiving dinner that year) -

I had never seen an orange tree before going to Arizona. I was very excited. As you can see.

Andrea and Timothy - Thanksgiving-time. -

First day of school... Even Jarvis went to preschool for a little while that year. The only one of our kids that ever did.

Me and Andrea trying on hats in Target. Because why not?!

For a really exciting shopping trip photo album, with great comments by me and others, click this sentence.

Jarvis being adorable!

Justice - the cutie! :)

We got lots of snow in Louisville. The kids loved it! -

Justice was swimming like a fish by the time we moved away. Our neighbors had a pool. :)

Ali and me at a 2peas dinner during a scrapbook convention. (I do realize that my non-scrappy readers will have a hard time deciphering some of that sentence). :)

Darby the Princess

Me and Charmaine on 4th of July :)

Moi and my sistas (Thanksgiving)

I went to visit my friend, Vicki, in Ohio that summer. Maybe since there's a photo of her here, she'll actually leave a comment. Ha!

Jarvis, Brittany, and Justice. I still love this photo. :)

And that concludes our blast from the past for today. It seems like there are other things I should be doing besides going through old photos.

April 8, 2008, 8:23 pm

Monday, Tuesday, Happy Days...

Brittany and Jacob are happier than a couple of larks (what does that expression even mean?!). Jarvis and I stopped at WinCo after soccer practice and came home bearing Fruity Pebbles. They are gluten-free. They thoroughly enjoyed their newfound cereal snack, and I think Jacob is literally bouncing off the walls. It's the simple things.

By the way, I stopped at Safeway first since it was on my way home from practice. WinCo was a two mile round trip out of my way, which isn't much, but I figured I'd try Safeway since we drove RIGHT past it. A box of Fruity Pebbles at Safeway was $4.98! I was like "Uh - there's no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks I'm paying five bucks for a SMALL box of cereal!" And off we went to WinCo. The SAME size box of Fruity Pebbles at WinCo was $1.97. That's a THREE dollar difference. Insanity, I tell you. I actually ended up buying the Malt-O-Meal generic fruity pebbles because it was even cheaper by a fraction of a cent per ounce. But they were just as thrilled as they'd have been had I paid 5 bucks for the first box of brand name cereal that I saw. I'm all about the savings. Hey, I'm feeding seven here - a few pennies, and especially a few DOLLARS, makes a HUGE difference.

April 8, 2008, 11:04 am

Another food tangent...

Everyone seems to be healthy again. Whew. That flu was a doozy. I'm glad it's gone!!

Andy left for Yakima this morning. He'll be back in ten days.

I've been online finding out which cereals are gluten-free. Jacob has been asking for "cereal with milk", and we don't currently have any that is gluten-free. He's doing much better on the GF (GF = gluten-free) diet, so I plan on keeping it up. And at the risk of giving too much information: his poop is actually normal for the first time ever! Yay. Anyway - they make specific GF cereals, but they are NOT cheap, so I'm figuring out which of the cheaper cereals are GF. Apparently Rice Chex has recently changed their ingredients from a barley malt (which I had just seen on their label the other day) to molasses, and it is now GF. Yay. I can afford Rice Chex! Tired of hearing about gluten yet? Too bad. Cause it's a huge part of our lives now, so you'll probably keep hearing about our GF adventures for years and years to come. :)

Oh yeah, on that same note - Brittany is now going to become a Scientist and come up with a cure for gluten intolerance and celiac disease. lol. She's having the most withdrawals out of the three of us that have gone GF. I told her it is because she is still eating all the crappy foods (GF candy, and as much other junk foods as she can find). I really don't even crave it anymore, but I've gone super healthy in all realms of my eating. Not *just* gluten-free. I do still have some sugar, but I don't eat food that isn't actually food, such as the ingredients that no one can pronounce, let alone know what the heck it IS, on most of the processed food labels. If I eat something processed, I usually make sure it is organic, or at the very least that I recognize all the ingredients. And I even had some ice-cream the other day. Vanilla - nothing crazy.

By the way - most 'regular' ice-cream, in my opinion, is a LOT healthier than the 'healthy' ice-creams that are on the market. The 'healthy' ones have all sorts of artificial sweeteners and chemicals in them, and the 'regular' ones usually contain natural ingredients. Beware of MOST of the food items in stores that say things like "diet" or "sugar-free" or "lowfat". Because they may help you save a few calories, but they'll also give you cancer. Um - I'd rather have a few extra pounds on my rear than lose 30 years off my life. I'm just saying. If you REALLY want to cut calories - just cut out all the processed crap and eat fresh fruits and veggies using chicken, fish, and beans for your protein intake. It's simple really. Especially once you pass the withdrawal stage of giving up the 'fake' foods.

I really wasn't planning on turning this into a 'health' post. lol.

Okay, I'm back to doing some cleaning up (my whole house is getting to be so spotless... like it was way-back-when, before I had that third child... it's awesome having energy!!!), and then I'm going to read a little in the book I started yesterday. It's called "Twinkie... Deconstructed" or something like that. Talks about where all those ingredients come from. Apparently some of those things you are all savoring originated in ROCKS!!! I mean, I knew half of that crap wasn't food, but rocks?! No thank you. Just makes my new eating views THAT MUCH MORE FIRM. :)

April 5, 2008, 3:39 pm

Andrew is blogging again!

I am feeling much better today. I've been cleaning all the cracks and crevices and baseboards I can find today, but because of the detail of my cleaning, I'm still in the kitching/dining room/laundry room that I started in this morning. But I have got a mountain of clean clothes, two loads of dishes cleaned, and lots of details done and will be ready to mop very soon (mopping is the last thing).

Brittany and Justice have since come down with the stomach bug, and Jacob got it AGAIN (third times a charm) this morning. No one else has been through it twice, and I'm hoping it stays that way! I think we were hit with two separate bugs at once and so it's lasting forever while everyone goes through the week-long body aches/head cold/sore throat/fever and then the 24-hour stomach bug. Plus recovery time.

Andrew has started his blog back up. Woo hoo! His newest post is up --> here <-- Bookmark it, leave him some comments, and read his poetry (it rocks). :)

I am back to my cleaning now. I'm trying to get all the linoleum floored area done today, and will work on the carpeted living areas tomorrow. And the bathrooms and bedrooms will get thrown in there at some point along the way. Andrew has already been helping me, so hopefully by Monday - it will be like I've done a week's worth of spring cleaning. :)

April 3, 2008, 3:53 pm

I love the taste of bile in the morning...
(the following post is not for the weak stomached)

I spoke too soon.

Around midnight, Jacob woke up in a pool of vomit. Nice! I cleaned him up and laid him in our bed while I changed his bedding. Meanwhile, Darby was throwing up buckets. Only she wasn't in an easy-to-change bed. She was on the couch WITH Jarvis. So she threw up all over Jarvis' legs (they each fell asleep on one end of the couch) and it was seeping through every crack and crevice of the couch. ugh. Then I hear Andy calling "why did you leave a kid throwing up in our bed?" Andy, who had to get up at 2:30 this morning to get to work for a 12 mile road march with 35 pounds on his back. Andy, who is coming down with the other part of the flu we've been sharing (body aches/fever/sore throat/etc.). So I run in and sure enough, Jacob had thrown up on my bed. AUGH! I yell to Darby to get to the bathroom and wash up and I'll be right there, and I yelled again to Jarvis who still didn't know he had been vomited on. Andy changed our sheets while I cleaned up Jacob. I got Jacob put back in bed (and he was more than happy to go there), and Andy went back to sleep since he only had two more hours, and had only been in bed since around 11:00 anyway.

I went down to clean up Darby's mess, and oh man - the smell. It was horrid. I opened windows; I put my shirt over my face to breathe. And I reached my arm into every crack of the couch and soaked up pools of vomit with paper towels. Sooooo gross! The fumes got to me twice and I started dry heaving. So much fun. Normally, Andy doesn't mind doing these sorts of things, but inevitably, they happen when he is only getting 3 hours of sleep and needs 9 - or when he is out in the field or something. Go figure. Jarvis was NOT happy about being thrown up on with the stinkiest vomit in the history of the world (what had Darby been eating?! Ooooooh, yeah - she bought some sour skittles at the movie - we went to see Horton Hears a Who earlier in the day, which was very cute, by the way). But we got him cleaned up and moved to the other couch. Darby found a spot next to a bowl on the floor, and I finally got the couch and a small piece of the floor cleaned up and a load of laundry going.

Back in bed, I woke up to Jacob's dry-heaves and went in his room the first few times, but learned he doesn't even care - he just rolls back over and goes to sleep. So after that, I just waited on him to call me - which he didn't. I heard Darby throwing up in the distance a couple times, but she didn't call me either. And I was done. So I just laid in bed, getting up around 3 for a wet washcloth for my neck. I was still smelling her vomit and was feeling nauseous. Then at 6:00 this morning, it hit me. I was done. And you all know how much I love throwing up. I'd rather give birth, remember?! And then, about ten minutes later, I was hit with the other really really fun symptom of stomach viruses... we won't go into details though. The vomit is gross enough! Now, a little after 4 pm, I'm finally not nauseous. Jacob is running around like a madman - like he was never sick, and Darby is feeling much better already.

And I am trying to sip on some apple juice (I don't drink gatorade because of the artificial stuff in it - and yeah, trying to figure out what to drink when you are used to using sports drinks for situations such as this is difficult at best - oh, the gatorade doesn't agree with me anymore, or I'd just drink it because I'm certainly not trying to be healthy right now). Anyway, my stomach is like "what is going on? put nothing in here!" and my mouth is like "more, more, more!" even though I don't even LIKE apple juice.

Anyway, I might actually survive, even though it was doubtful about six hours ago. And now I'm trying to drum up the strength to drive Jarvis to soccer practice in twenty minutes. Thank the Lord for Brittany and Justice who have been a tremendous help to me today and took care of things while I got some sleep!!!

I know you all wanted to hear the details, so having been satisified, you can get on with your day. ;)

April 2, 2008, 12:18 pm

I can't see what anyone can see in anyone else...

I forgot to give proper photo-taking credit where it was due (please forgive my error). Andy took the third photo from the left in my April banner (I took the other three). :)

I have three kodakgallery albums to share. If you did not receive the email, you can click on the links below to view the albums. You don't have to sign in to view, but you do have to sign in to leave comments. However, comments are always very welcome and appreciated. :)

Olympia and Pacific Ocean photos

Mt. Rainier in the snow photos

Easter photos

April 1, 2008, 11:52 am

April showers...

• The cowboy at the poison control center (the main number dials a center in Texas) just told me that Jacob should be okay since he didn't eat very much of the Icy Hot and it didn't seem to be bothering him.
• I'm uploading photos as I type and will provide links to the kodakgallery albums later today or in the morning, depending on how long they take to upload and for me to add captions.
• Brittany and Jarvis are almost fully recovered from the flu. Justice and I are doing much better today, but probably still have a couple more days of recovery. Andy is fighting it off. Jacob is long over it, and Darby never really got it (just a little sore throat).
• It's sunny and in the 50's today with a ZERO percent chance of rain. So gorgeous! I told Justice I'd go for a bike ride with him this afternoon. You know, overdo it before I fully recover.
• I think we've decided to move to Florida. Warmth year-round sounds so nice!
• I've been going back through and updating links and photos on my archive pages, and found that some photos and blog entries aren't showing up (I never really double-checked everything when I switched from my free earthlink space to my own domain). I'm also trying to organize a little by putting photos in folders so they aren't just all in the main space. It's time consuming and will take a while, which is why I had been putting it off. I know that the archives aren't often looked at, but I like having them there, and I want to print them off by year into little blog books to save for future generations to enjoy. I know they'll be thrilled.
• During illness is when I usually slip up on whatever eating plan I'm on. You'll be happy to know that I have not had ANY gluten even though I was tempted to make a sandwich at one point. I am the epitome of self-control.