Today Nathan has a friend over. While Nathan was playing, I grabbed him (not his friend) and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Nathan said, "Ew! That's so gross! Kisses are gross!" His friend then innocently replied, "My mom gives me kisses too."
This was so funny to me because I've never seen Nathan try to be a macho little boy who hates kisses. In fact, he likes to play DS in the afternoons, and yesterday while he was playing DS he sat there saying about every 10 minutes, "Mom, I love you" and ,"I sure do love you, Mom". Just over and over. So what's with the sudden change? He gives me kisses all the time!
I woke up on Valentine's Day, peeled back my eyelids, and saw a lovely vase of roses, a balloon, and a Valentine's card sitting on my vanity. THANK YOU JEREMY! I love you!!!!
Usually for Valentine's Day I like to leave a little bag of candy for the kids with a nice note by their bed, or I'll decorate the kitchen table with candy and stuffed animals for when they wake up. This year I was just so tired of candy that I didn't want to buy one more sweet thing, so I went really cheap. It turned out great and the kids loved it!
I made a valentine for each of them out of construction paper and Jeremy and I wrote a special note for each of them on the valentine. Then I simply taped each valentine to their bedroom doors as a surprise for when they woke up. They LOVED their valentines! :)
Then for dinner I did something really special ... I DECORATED the table. LOL
I know, not much, but for the kids it was really a special treat! We rarely use candles, so I lit some candles, put on a nice table cloth, got out the "fancy" glasses, and made an event.
For our Valentine's dinner I made a parmesan chicken salad and we had Crystal Lite to drink. It was very good! The lighting is bad for pictures, but it really was a lot of fun.
I love my family very much and I enjoy doing special things for them that they will remember. It was especially cute to see all the kids using their best manners and trying to use the special glasses all proper. Who knows, maybe this will become our new tradition.
Yesterday was the biggest fatfest of the year. I'm referring to the day where everyone sits around in one big room stuffing as much sugar, processed foods, and fat into their mouths until they are sick while they watch guys run around and try to fall on top of each other. Oh yeah...the Superbowl.
Jeremy's family has an annual superbowl party, so I am just lucky enough to be included in their fun. I tend to opt out on the game, but unfortunately I still manage to stuff myself with junk. I feel especially guilty about it because I just tried to clean myself out.
Anyways, this is all beside the point of this post. The point is that because I, too, have to bring my share of food to the gathering, I found a TASTY queso dip that I would like to share! Jeremy and I have never made a queso dip before so we spent some time scouring the internet to see what would be the best. We ended up using one recipe as a base and made our own type of concoction and WOW! I couldn't stay away from it!!! I even opted out of veggies to make room for more chips 'n dip! I wouldn't recommend eating as much as I did, but I do recommend you try it for yourself because it really was quite good. This is how I made it:
Spicy Queso Dip 2lb block of Velveeta cheese 1 c. whipping cream 1 c. half and half 1/4 c. frozen spinach (thawed, rinsed, and drained) 2 jalapeno peppers, diced 1/4 red pepper, diced 3 Tbsp diced green onions
Melt cheese in saucepan on low. Add whipping cream and half and half. Stir until cheese is all melted and mixture is smooth and creamy. Add veggies. Let it sit on low, stirring occasionally, and allow all flavors to cook into the cheese. Serve over tortilla style chips.
You will LOVE it. I will spend the rest of this week working off as much dip as I ate, but it was totally worth it.
I'm still playing catch-up, but wanted to post these cute pictures. :)
These are from our trip to the pumpkin patch last Fall - yes, 4 MONTHS AGO!!
I like taking our kids to the pumpkin patch instead of driving down to our local Walmart to pick a pumpkin from the veggie section. It has turned into a fun tradition that the kids look forward to each year. This time it was really cold and we weren't really prepared for it. Thankfully we got started earlier in the evening, before the sun went down. Here are the girls and Jeremy waiting for the wagon ride that takes us to the pumpkin patch. Before we realized how cold it was, we all quite enjoyed to ride out to the patch.
My rule for the kids is that if they can carry the pumpkin, they can have it. Of course they have to test the limits and end up practically dropping several of them on their toes. This one was too heavy and didn't quite make the cut.
Yay! Alex found one that passes!
Athena was barely able to carry hers out, but was quite proud of her pick.
After the pumpkins were all picked, we couldn't pass up the ghost cut-outs. These are 2 mighty scary ghosts!
And this one gave me nightmares!
I tried and tried to get the kids to give me a cute picture, but Nathan had Alex thinking it was the "thing to do" to stick out their tongues and they wouldn't do anything else for the picture. Samantha was too cold to smile. Athena, of course, is always ready to strike a pose. The pumpkins in the picture are the ones that made the final cut.
We ended up missing the return wagon because we were trying to get pictures, so we had to wait in the freezing cold for the next one. It seemed to just hit all at once. Lucky for Nathan he found a random, extra pair of socks in his pocket! They made handy little mittens.
After the pumpkin patch we like to get a treat as a family. The kids all wanted ice cream even though their teeth were chattering by the time we got back to our car. I offered up the idea of hot cocoa instead and thankfully they agreed. We went home and whipped up a quick cup for everyone and finished off our fun night.
I've had gall stones and gall bladder attacks for several years - many of which I am almost positive at the time that it's the one that's gonna kill me. Luckily none of them have yet. Jeremy has been telling me for quite awhile to just go and get the thing cut out. That's not really my style. I believe all of my organs serve a purpose and if I can get it into working order, I'll try that first. I finally made some time and did my gall bladder cleanse last weekend with the hopes that I can make things better and not have to agree to have someone come at me with a knife.
The cleanse was awful and has left me quite drained. I prefer the Isagenix cleanse because it is milder and leaves me feeling great. However, I needed one just for my gall bladder and I was hoping this would do the trick.
I started my cleanse last Thursday by drinking fresh pressed apple cider and eating apples during the day. Then I had a light dinner. Friday was back to the apple cider and fresh apples. Then at 6pm I drank 1/2 cup of Epsom salt water. It wasn't quite what I expected - not so much salty, just really bitter with a bad aftertaste.
At 7pm I drank 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice. The olive oil was extremely hard for me to get down and burned my throat. Luckily I got to chase it with the lemon juice and it actually helped quite a bit. Then I laid on the couch on my right side and just laid.
45 minutes later - same thing. More olive oil and more lemon juice. More laying on my right side.
At about 8:15pm, more Epsom salt water.
About 8:30, had to run to the bathroom.
I was supposed to take more olive oil and lemon juice at about 9, but I just couldn't stomach the thought of swallowing more oil and the smell was horrendous. It made me worried that it'll ruin me for olive oil. I hope not because I really like to cook with it. Anyway - I skipped that dose and figured I'd do it later.
At 9:30pm, Jeremy paused the movie we were watching and said, "Aren't you supposed to take some more of that stuff?" Reluctantly I peeled myself off the couch and made my way to the kitchen. I poured out my dosage. 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 Tbsp lemon juice. I didn't want to hold the oil up to my face because then I'd smell it, and if I smelled it I wouldn't be able to drink it. At that point Jeremy came in and decided to be the coach. "Why don't you just drink it really fast and get it over with. That's what I would do", he said. I told him, "You know what? If you want to coach me, then get in here and do it yourself. Otherwise go out and leave me alone!" He went out. I guess he didn't want to drink the oil too. I finally mustered up the courage and started to drink the oil. I drank about 3/4 of the little cupful and started to throw up, so I hurried and sat it down and took my quick shot of lemon juice. Pshwew! That was a close one. Then I went back to the couch to lay on my right side.
At 10:30pm we finished our movie and I was exhausted. One more dose to go for the evening. I sauntered into the kitchen for the last time of the night and poured up my potions. One little sip of the oil was just too much and I threw up. I sat down the oil and quickly drank the lemon juice to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Jeremy seemed all too amused at the pain I was putting myself through. I just went straight in to bed after that. Overall, I managed to get almost a full cup of olive oil and about 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice in me.
I tried my best to sleep on my right side, but it just hurt cause I normally don't sleep like that. I tossed and turned all night and got up a few times to take care of sick kids.
When I woke up I tried to take my last dose of Epsom salt water. I got down 1/4 cup and started to throw up, so I dumped the rest and ran back to bed. Then about an hour later I had to run to the bathroom again . . . and . . . Whalla!!! SUCCESS!!!
Now, I didn't take pictures to post because that's not the way I am. But I will tell you that I did manage to get rid of at least 50 stones OR MORE!!! (I didn't tally and get an exact count, but there were a LOT.) So, after going through the whole cleanse, I think the next morning made it all WORTH IT.
I'm really happy with the results and as dumb as it sounds, I actually think I should do it all again. Just not anytime in the next little while. I'll do it again . . . sometime. So, congratulations to me and my hope is that I'll start to feel a little better overall. I made it through my first gall bladder cleanse.
On July 12, 1997 I was in Payson visiting my family when my sister Lisa and I decided to go to the movies in Provo to see "Evita". We drove to Provo in my Ford Tempo. I dropped Lisa off by the front doors of the theatre to purchase the tickets while I found a place to park. No sooner than I had dropped her off, my engine light came on and steam started pouring out from under my hood. Having no place to park, I turned the car off right where I was. I know pretty much nothing about cars and thought my car was on fire or something.
I got out and was looking at my car when a red truck pulled up behind me. Two college-age guys got out and offered to help me. They tried to open the hood for about 10 minutes, but could not find the latch. (Jeremy would say they tried it for at least 20 minutes, but it was only about 10.) Finally they got it open and looked around in the hood. They thought I might have a cracked radiator because there was water pouring out all over the place. They then helped me push the car into an empty parking space. I talked to them for a minute and found out they were from Pleasant Grove. I told them that I was from Payson--about 20 miles south.
Because they were just going in to see their movie, and Lisa and I were going to see ours, they offered to follow us home after the movies to make sure we got home alright. We were at the late night movie, ending at about 12:30 or 1:00 a.m. They were watching Volcano and we were to see Evita. I knew that our movie was about 20 minutes longer and did not want them to wait, so I told them to not worry about it. If my car didn't start we would walk home. They insisted on waiting, and I insisted that they not wait.
Well, during the movie I kept thinking, "I hope they aren't waiting. I would feel so stupid to make them wait for us when they don't even know us." When we came out of our movie, there they were! --waiting on the bench. The four of us walked to my car and it started just fine. Jeremy and his friend insisted on following us home to make sure we got home OK. I started driving home and they were following. I forgot to mention that even though I was FROM Payson, I lived in Provo and was attending BYU. I began driving through town and Jeremy thought I was trying to lose him. When we got to my apartment Jeremy and Dave stayed and talked to us for about an hour and a half. Jeremy then invited us to go out the next night.
From that point on we were a perfect match! We were always together every spare minute. Jeremy knew I got home from work at about 6:45 pm each night, so each evening right as I was walking in the door, the phone would ring and it was Jeremy each time. It was WONDERFUL! Needless to say, it took us just 7 weeks to get engaged, and another 3 1/2 months later we were married in the Salt Lake City Temple.
