Monday, August 3, 2009

We're still alive....

Wow - how time flies and eludes me! Can't believe it is already August! I don't know if I'll get this updated soon or not, but we did enjoy a three week vacation to Utah (SLC and Bryce Canyon) in July! I went up with the kids for 11 days and then Shawn joined us for the rest of the time. It was a busy/fun/wonderful time with my family and friends! Wish I could have seen everyone I wanted to, but I just couldn't stretch out the time enough!

I'll try to post some pictures soon or a smilebox.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Glenn Beck plays clip of Ezra Taft Benson re: Communism in America

My friend emailed this to me today. I had heard something about this a few months ago, and this clarified what I understood. It was not a prophecy made by Pres. Benson, but a quote made by Kruschev.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTDmGt1Pafw

Either way...I believe it is coming or has come to pass...but too many of us want to close our eyes to it.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Mormon Temples Video

I am so grateful for the wisdom of the leaders of LDS Church and their response to the concern of HBO airing "Big Love" and attempting to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies. This video entitled "Mormon Temples" is short, powerful and beautiful. Please feel free to share it with anyone you know that is not of the LDS faith that has questions regarding the sacred nature of Mormon temples.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8

And, here is the church's new release in response to the situation:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma

Friday, February 27, 2009

Ethan's version of the hymn "How Firm a Foundation"

Are they learning "How Firm a Foundation" in Primary this year? I'm not really sure, but either through Primary or by listening to a CD we have in their bedroom that they listen to at night, he has begun learning the words to this hymn. Well.....almost all the words. Here is Ethan's version of the first line:

"How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent ingredient!" LOL!!!!!!!! I have NO idea where that word came from! But it's a real kick to hear him sing the song.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Photo highlights of Jan - Feb. 2009

I'm trying hard to keep my family and friends posted on our life and especially on Alyssa's milestones. Hope you enjoy this little slide show - nothing specific...just some fun pictures. Oh, one fun thing...I did my first complete wedding as a floral designer! Tamra asked me to do all the flowers for her and Kelly's wedding on January 10th! It was fun to do everything from the bouquet to the cake tops. :) I was pleased with the turnout - and it was a screamin' deal - we got it all done for less than $200! Down side was, I started Friday morning around 11:00 and finished Saturday morning at 4:30. Alyssa was sick and other stuff just took some time, but it was worth it!

I also came down with bronchitis in early February. That wasn't fun. I am determined to learn more and educate myself about natural remedies - homeopathic/herbal, etc.

Anyway...hope you enjoy this!

Click to play Highlights from Jan-Feb
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

My Favorite Things

Hilary Weeks sings it best right here!



I admit, I love my "down time" from my life as a mother. I guess every mom does? I hope so. I'm trying to do my best, but on days like today, I feel that I'm failing miserably.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Introducing: Solar Chef Deanna!

We bought a SOS Sport Solar Oven back in October. I just tried it out for the first time a couple of days ago by making some banana bread in muffin tins! Very fun and easy and tasty! Here are some pics for you to check it out:

Here they are about 20 minutes into the process:



A side view of the oven:



This is how they looked before I took them out:


And, voila! The final product! Little mini banana bread/muffin thingies! Tasty!



Cooking time was about 1.5 hours at about 215 degrees. I started at 11:30 and finished around 1:00 p.m.

Dr. Mom is in....

Well, the story begins about a week and a half before Christmas when I got hit with a bad cold....that never left completely. It decided that it got tired of just being a nagging stuffy nose and morphed into a raging cough, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, low energy bug about a week and a half ago.

That was after I took Alyssa to the Phoenix Children's Hospital Urgent Care on Jan. 10th for a three-day high fever and found out she had a UTI! So, she was on an antibiotic for 10 days and then was well.

The week after that, I took McKay to NextCare Urgent care (what is it about me and waiting until the weekend to take my kids to the doctor/urgent care?) We found he had a double ear infection. He had one at about this time last year as well...hmmmmm, something to consider. So, he went on an antibiotic.

A couple days after my raging cough started, he got a fever again and started coughing....so did Ethan....then Alyssa! Shawn was able to resist for about a week, but in the end, it conquered him as well and he stayed home from work yesterday.

Yesterday, Alyssa woke up with goopy, icky eyes and super stuffed nose and a high (103) fever. Maybe most moms would take them to the doctor right away (I did leave a message for my doctor's office to call me..which they did, but I missed the call) but I didn't.

For a long time I have wanted to gain more understanding of and confidence in using herbal remedies to treat my families illnesses. Of course I would go to a doctor for something if I felt to, but I'm just getting tired of the whole antibiotic thing. I have been exposed quite a bit to herbal remedies and I believe they work...slowly...but surely they allow the body to heal itself. (Starting off with a healthy immune system is best...not like we have done it!) Anyway...I have decided that it is finally time for me to make the effort and take the time to learn and educate myself about it...and this seemed like a good opportunity.

Long story short, I made two trips to Desert Sage Herbs to get Peppermint, Yarrow flowers, Elder flowers and Cammomile and some other herbal remedies for the kids to help us fight all this junk we are dealing with. My sister-in-law Wendi and sister Jerilynn have both made something called a Children's Composition using these herbs and vegetable glycerine that they give their kids when they are coming down with something or are already sick. I wanted to give it a try.

All day Alyssa's fever came and went but remained pretty high - at one point it was 104 degrees. She was miserable. I had been giving her eyebright and echinacea for her cold to begin with but I knew I needed something else. So, I had read about giving children a warm bath with lavender oil when they have a fever to open up the pores and stimulate the circulation and help the toxins to escape through the pores. I gave that a try. She loved the bath and it did calm her well. Then I put an echinacea tincture (one drop) in her ears along with a drop of garlic oil and then put cotton in her ears. (She wasn't enjoying this, but I had to do it.) Then, when the home-made medicine was done, I gave her just a 1/4 teaspoon of it at about midnight. She was really hot at that time. But she went to sleep. I also gave her some Ibuprofen to at least help her feel a bit better to rest.

Results?

She slept the best she has for days! (Oh I guess I should also say at this point that she cut her first tooth on her 7 month birthday on the 29th...so this COULD have been related to that...hard to know.) She woke up with no fever at all! She was happy and back to herself again...although she did have icky eyes and nose still. I was soooo grateful to Heavenly Father for His help and for the faith I had that it would help her. I know we aren't out of the woods yet, but I am sure grateful that we could stop the fever she had and help her rest.

So...I tried giving the Children's Composition to Ethan and McKay and they liked it! It tastes really minty and sweet.

So it looks like I'm on my way to becoming a bit more well-versed in the "alternative" medicine arena! Don't know what you think about it, but I'm really excited!

I can fix anything!

At least that is what my boys think! :) I will admit that tape - any kind - is my favorite way to fix just about anything...ripped books, toy rifles, Formica that is coming off our counter, you name it, I might be able to fix it with tape! I personally love duct tape and packaging tape, but Scotch and Masking have their place too among my list of favorites. Is there any other kind I've missed? Oh, electrical tape...won't go there...that's for Shawn to make his favorite. :)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

See How We've Grown!

I have been trying to put together a "Year in Review" in pictures for 2008 for about a month now! I started twice and then accidentally hit the "Remove all" button when I was selecting all my photos...Ah! FRUSTRATING! But I have finally done it! So, get something good to eat and make yourself comfortable because it is admittedly LONG! (102 slides) But it is so fun to see how the boys and Alyssa have grown!

So, enjoy! (I even paid for you to see it in full screen IF you want to) and if you'd like you can go faster by using the buttons in the bottom left hand corner. Oh, yeah...the music gets a bit monotonous too...so you can turn off your volume if it bugs. :)

Let 'r rolllllll!

Click to play Householders in 2008
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