Thankful Thursday

Boy, time just goes by way too fast lately! I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I swear each day just blurs into the next. I have a few posts coming soon, I promise.

Today I am grateful that Nathan's eczema is a lot better. You'd think that having psoriasis I would know more about skin care, but none of my other kids have had a problem with eczema (Jakey had a small patch on his arm as a baby but it went away in a few months by itself) and I haven't even seen a dermatologist for myself in over 10 years. (Don't worry, I have an appointment with one next week, gotta get my skin taken care of!) Anyway, we took him to the doctor Friday afternoon (and boy could I go on about that for a whole other post! But I won't. Let's just say 5 kids, 2 of them babies, waiting an hour in a doctor office is not a fun time.) and he told us that yes, it is eczema, and to put some hydrocortisone 1% cream on it. He also gave us a prescription we can try if it gets really bad. After just one day of using the cream his face looked sooo much better. Before it was so red and scaly and he would scratch it and make it bleed. Now it is getting soft again and not as red. He did scratch it today though, but overall it's lots better.

And I am grateful for my awesome Hubby who gave me the gift of sleep for Mother's Day. He took the baby for all of Saturday night so I was actually able to sleep undisturbed. Too bad it doesn't make up for all the months of bad sleep, and I'm already exhausted again, but it was nice to actually feel rested when I woke up Sunday, especially because Jacob woke up sick and threw up that morning. You need rest on those kind of days lol.

I am also thankful for Mtn Dew, my drug of choice. For a long time I didn't drink a lot of soda, and hardly ever stuff with caffeine, but these days I can't function without it lol. And they make so many yummy flavors!

What are you thankful for?

I have a new nephew!

I am so excited! Yesterday my little sister had a baby boy and I was honored to be there to witness it. It's the first time I've been to a birth that wasn't one of mine lol.

My sister did amazing and I now have a cute little nephew named Ryker. He seems so tiny compared to my kids as newborns. He was 7lb 6oz and 21.5". I was at the hospital all day while Hubby was great and stayed home to watch the boys, even Little D, while working from home. I'm going to go see her again for a little bit this afternoon.

Not enough hours in the day

OK, I really am meaning to get some pics up from our Bear Lake trip, but I haven't even had a chance to go through them and edit and stuff yet. I really will get to them sometime in the near future.

The kids are driving me insane today. Both Nathan and Little D are teething, so they get fussy at random times. Luckily I've been able to get them both to nap at the same times. Jason and Jacob are just not listening to me, like usual. They threw a game all over the floor and still have not picked it up, so it's going in time out for a while (I threatened to throw it away, but MIL got it for them just a week ago so I can't make myself do that lol). Good thing the weather is so nice today, the boys are spending a lot of time playing outside so I don't go insane. I'd love to be out there too actually, but I have babies sleeping and no monitor to listen for them so I need to stay in.

I have scouts tonight, and if it's still light enough when I get home from that I need to go running. I haven't gone in almost 2 weeks and my 5k is in just one month. I haven't even gone a full 3.1 miles yet so I need to step it up if I want to be ready for the race.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed there is a new button in my sidebar for the 5 Minutes for Mom Mother's Day Giveaway 2009. Make sure you check it out, they are giving away some awesome stuff!

OK, enough wasting time. My quiet, peaceful time won't last long so I need to go do dishes and pick up while I have my hands free!

Did you miss me?

I guess I never mentioned that I was going away for 5 days huh? Well, this week we took a little vacation to Bear Lake, UT. We left Monday and got back Friday evening. On the way there we had to stop in Logan for my orthodontist appointment and to stop at USU to get my transcript transferred down here. (Oh, did I mention I'm going back to school this fall?!) We let the boys run around on the quad at USU for a bit to stretch their legs before we continued on.

Hubby's family joined us up there. We were able to get the 3 room condo this year so there was plenty of room because it can sleep up to 14 people I think. I love Hubby's company's condos. Not only are they free for us to use one week a year, but they come stocked with everything you need besides food (though they have popcorn, hot chocolate, and condiments to use). There are tons of movies and games, even a Playstation. That all came in handy since it was too cold to go to the beach. We watched tons of TV. (Had to keep up on the news since I was offline the whole time. Lots of stories about swine flu and that diet drug being recalled. Personally I would only take nutritional health supplements if my doctor told me, I'm not surprised that it was recalled.)

I put together a lot of puzzles. I love to do puzzles but rarely get to at home because I get too many interruptions and the kids destroy them before I can finish. At Bear Lake I had tons of time on my hands plus the inlaws kept the boys entertained, so I did 4 or 5 puzzles.

We did go to the beach a little, but it was too cold and windy to stay long. We let the boys build sandcastles (aka big piles of dirt). There was a playground for them to play on too.

We all had a great time relaxing and spending time together, and the week went by way too quickly. Hopefully next year we can get the condo during a warmer time so we can go swimming and spend more time outside, but if not it is still fun to go and relax no matter what time of year.

I've been up way too late now so I better get to bed. Maybe I'll post tomorrow about the jam I made tonight, mmmm.

Remodel dreams

Lately I've been enjoying watching shows on HGTV and DIY about home renovations. I love to see the different ideas people have for remodeling and dream about the things I could do with my house. I love my house, but there are a few things I'd like to update, like the pink countertop in the master bathroom, the linoleum in the bathrooms and kitchen, and the dark green carpet through most of the house. Our rooms are all spacious enough and laid out pretty well, it's mostly surface stuff that needs updated. I've even used some software to design how I want my kitchen to look, but the software doesn't work well (that's what you get for free software lol). It probably won't happen anytime in the near future, which is fine because our house works fine no matter how it looks, but maybe some day.

Told you my appetite is dipped in chocolate!

On Mondays (and now Wednesdays) I watch Little D's big brother for a few hours after school. I like to try doing something fun with them while he's here, and it seems to work because his mom tells me it is his favorite day of the week now. This month Scout (my nickname for him on here, because he's in scouts and his name starts with S) had a birthday and to celebrate it we had a little surprise party when he got here Monday. I made some cupcakes and we sang happy birthday, and then we had fun dipping stuff in chocolate.
The boys really enjoyed themselves (I cut Scout out of the pic for privacy purposes) and made a bit of a mess, though not as messy as I'd expected. We had cake balls, graham crackers, animal crackers, cereal bar pieces, cookies, and marshmallows. I also had some sprinkles, M&Ms, and chocolate chips to embellish our treats with. Jakey started eating stuff before we even finished. He ate the chocolate off half of the marshmallows, leaving the unchocolate portion in a gooey mess on the table. Their favorite treats were the cake balls.
It only took one day to eat up all this yummy chocolate-dipped sugary goodness.

Homemade

This morning I was reading through my normal list of blogs and came across a post by Sandra at Diary of a SAHM about delicious buttermilk pancakes that she made from buttermilk leftover from making her own butter. I decided to see exactly how she made butter and realized it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, I just needed whipping cream, which I happened to have on hand!
I could have done this the easier way by using my KitchenAid mixer, but did it in a jar with the boys helping. Just pour the whipping cream in a jar and shut the lid tight and start shaking. And shaking. And just when you think your arms are about to fall off, shake some more.
Eventually the cream thickens up, and then it starts solidifying. The butter separates from the buttermilk.
Then you pour off the buttermilk into a container (so you can use it later in buttermilk pancakes, or biscuits, or something yummy).
Keep rinsing the butter in cold water until it runs clear (evidently leftover buttermilk in the butter will sour it). Then, if you want, you can add a little salt to the butter. Put the butter in container of choice and you are done!
When I finished, I spread some butter on a slice of homemade bread that I made a few days ago, and topped it with homemade strawberry jam. Yum!
The boys enjoyed seeing how the whipping cream ended up turning into butter. I thought it was a fun little activity and was happy to have a use for that whipping cream that would have been otherwise wasted.

Chocolate-covered appetite

I feel like I eat all the time. It's a good thing I have a fast metabolism because I don't think I've stopped eating in the 5 years I've had kids. All that being pregnant, nursing and just running around after kids sure does burn calories fast. Unfortunately I have a very strong sweet tooth and don't always make the best food choices. We always have something sweet to eat, or if we don't I cook up a batch of brownies or something lol. I need some type of appetite suppressant that makes me not want sugar. Speaking of food, I think I'm going to grab a yogurt and a banana before bed. Gotta eat something healthy to make up for tomorrow, when I plan to dip lots of stuff in chocolate with the boys!

Good riddance Winter!

I am so so so happy that we are getting nice weather again! We were able to get the garden planted yesterday and the boys got to play outside. It was so nice. I feel bad though because I forgot to put sunscreen on the baby, and even though he was in the shade the whole time he got a little sunburnt. But we all enjoyed getting out and doing some yard work. It's going to be so nice for the boys to go out and play more now. And we can barbecue more often. One of these days we need to get some patio furniture so we can sit out there more comfortably. The weather is supposed to be in the 70s most of this week, perfect! Now to figure out how to keep the boys from digging in the garden this year.

Gloom and giggles

So today it is snowing. Yep, in the middle of April. I'm sure I've mentioned on here many times that I totally despise snow. Luckily it isn't sticking at all. It's been raining a little too. So it's not cold enough for a good snow, but too cold to let the boys out to play, which they have been begging for.

So it's gloomy and wet outside and I'm stuck inside with 4 ornery boys. Little D has been fussy the past 2 days, I think he might be teething again. Jason and Jacob just won't listen to me, especially when I tell them to "Be quiet because the baby is sleeping, and if you wake him up again I swear I will ground you to your room for a month! Are you listening to me?!" I'm pretty sure me yelling at them to be quiet is not helping the baby sleep either lol. Good thing Nathan is so laid-back and good most of the time.

But something put a smile on my face and got me into a better mood. First, the babies are both asleep right now, yay! Also, I was looking out the kitchen window and noticed a bird hopping around the still-unplanted garden. At first I thought he was looking for worms, but then I noticed he was trying to get some of the twine I used to section off my plots.
It was tugging and pulling for a good 2-3 minutes trying to get this twine to come loose, but it is tied down. I kind of felt sorry for the poor thing, I'm sure the twine would have been a good addition to it's nest, and it really wanted to get it loose. The whole thing looked so funny that I had to laugh and get some pics.
Yep, I'm easily amused.

Things I never thought I'd say

Just a few things I have said to Jakey today:

"How many times do I have to tell you not to sit on the baby?!"

"Stop licking the wall!"

For some reason Jacob has decided it is funny to sit or lay on the baby. I keep having to stop him and tell him that baby is little and he could hurt him, but he doesn't get it. He also decided to "help" when I was cleaning the windows by licking them, and when I made him stop he started to lick the wall. I don't know what goes through this kid's head sometimes.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

"Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds."
- LDS First Presidency Easter Message

I love Easter time. The weather is getting warmer, flowers and trees are starting to bloom, and everything is coming to life again. And of course we get to reflect on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the wonderful meaning of it.

I usually love to go to church on Easter Sunday because the message is so nice. Unfortunately today I am still sick so I only went to Sacrament Meeting and then came home with the baby. I think Nathan is not feeling well either because he slept even worse last night than normal, he just kept waking up and crying and crying. So he is asleep now and I'm going to lay down for a bit before Hubby and the boys come home.

Yesterday we took the boys to an Easter egg hunt. It went pretty well, except for the fire engine horn that blasted right by the little kid's section signaling the start and, in Jason's words, "Everybody was freaking out!" Jakey covered his ears and started crying, all the parents jumped, and the braver kids ran out to get first pick of the candy. It took almost a full minute to get Jakey calmed down enough to pick up the candy. And those of you who have gone to a city egg hunt know that they usually only last 1-2 minutes anyway. Luckily enough kids were sufficiently "freaked out" by the horn that there was still plenty of candy for Jakey once he got into it.

We stayed up late last night to get Easter eggs dyed. The boys had a good time and we've got some colorful eggs waiting in the fridge for later.

This morning we gave the boys their Easter baskets. We decided not to put a lot of candy in them this year, so they got a few eggs with candy, some puzzles, and coloring books. They really enjoyed their baskets and it's nice that there is not a ton of candy strewn all over the floor now. We gave Nathan an outfit that my brother and his wife bought for him months ago (thanks Josh and Nell!). We had to exchange it for a larger size and the store only had 6-9m and it was too big until now. It is adorable. We will get a picture of all the boys in their church clothes when they come home from church.

I also made yummy "Tomb Buns" from a recipe I saw linked from another blog. They didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped because I threw them in the oven before church and had to hurry back to get them out, so they cooked a few minutes longer than needed, plus most of them burst open spewing gooey cinnamon/sugar marshmallow cream all over the muffin tins and bottom of the oven. Did you know burning marshmallow smells just like burning plastic? But they are still really good and I plan to make this an Easter tradition.

We will be having a little egg hunt with the boys after church as well. Then, as long as I boiled the eggs right (seriously, I never know how to hard-boil an egg so I just guess when they are done), I will make deviled eggs with them to go with dinner. I am going to attempt to cook a ham with orange glaze. I say attempt because the last time I cooked ham not even the cats would eat it.

Now, I better go lay down if I want to get a little nap in before Hubby and the boys get home from church. Have a wonderful Easter day everyone!!!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful today for cough drops and cold medicine. I've been sick since Saturday. I think I have bronchitis. If it weren't for meds and Mtn Dew I don't know how I would have made it through the week lol.

I am also thankful that my boys love each other so much. Right now Jakey is sitting next to Nathan cuddled up under a blanket and playing with foam letters with him. I can't wait until Nathan can actually play with him. Scratch that, I can wait, 2 mess-makers is enough! LOL!

And I am very thankful I got a short nap today. It is a very rare occurance for all 3 boys to take a nap since Jason gave up naps last year and Jakey usually only takes a nap a few times a week, but I got lucky today. I only slept about 40 minutes but it was great.

Temptations

Supposedly the weather is supposed to start warming up again this week. I really hope so. I haven't been out running in weeks and my 5k is in just 2 months. Eek! Hopefully I can get in shape fast enough. When the weather's bad and I'm stuck inside I eat too much food that's bad for me too. Yummy homemade bread smothered in butter and sugary homemade jam. Mmm, carbs. Not so bad in moderation, but that kind of goodness is just so dang hard to stop eating! And we picked up Easter candy at the store yesterday. At this rate it won't last until Easter and I'll need diet pills to get in shape for my race.

The boys also really need to get out and run off some energy. Though they've actually been pretty good the last few days. I read a book called "What Kindergarten Teachers Know" and it gave me a lot of ideas on how I can communicate better with the kids and get them to listen.

Anyway, it's way past my bedtime lol. Haven't slept well the last few days so I need to hopefully get some sleep tonight, if Nathan will let me.

The cutest thing ever

This was so cute. Jacob started singing Wheels on the Bus to Nathan and it was making Nathan laugh so much, so I hurried and grabbed the camera. It makes me so happy to see my boys love each other so much.

Nathan had his 4 month checkup yesterday (he's 4.5 months now). He weighed in at 15lb 9oz and 26" long. He's slightly behind normal development, he's not rolling over at all or grabbing things, but the doctor isn't worried. I'm sure he'll be catching up soon and by the time he's one I'll be begging him to sit down and stop touching things lol. He is a very happy, healthy baby, and did ok with his shots. He was fussy a lot afterwards yesterday, but seems just fine today.

OK, my little chunky boy wants to eat. Hope you all have a great day!