Brotherly Love

I knew that the boys had gone into the Den to read books, but when I didn't hear them for a few minutes I thought I should go in and check on them. This is what I found.

Wildlife Adventures

I've had a few encounters with Raccoons since I've been here, but they have always been through a thick glass door. At first it was just with one Raccoon (at least I think it was the same Raccoon) that would come to my house almost every night and try to find food in my yard. Then either that Raccoon had babies or some other Raccoon with three babies started coming to my house regularly. I always go to the door and put my hand up and talk baby talk to them and tell them they are so cute. They look at me for a while then slowly go back to getting their food. Sometimes I even stay up late waiting for them. I'm like a little kid. I get so excited when they come around. I've always heard that Raccoons are really mean though.

So last night I took the boys to our ward Halloween party and we got home after dark. I got out of the car and Jackson was getting out of the car when I noticed a Raccoon in my yard about 10 feet away. Its back was arched and it looked like it would pounce on me and attack at any time. I just kept making eye contact with it and slowly and calmly grabbed Jackson, told him to be really quiet and I walked him over to the porch and got him into the house. When I walk around the corner to go back to the car the momma Raccoon was still in the same place with her back arched, but this time her babies were right there beside me! So her and I stared at each other for a minute while the babies just sat there and watched. I slowly raised my hand and said, "I'm not going to hurt you, you need to leave." They looked at each other then turned around and walked about 10 feet back, but then turned around and looked at me again. I said again, "I"m not going to hurt you, but you guys need to leave." It seemed like they reluctantly walked over to my neighbors driveway and just sat there and watched while I got Payton out of the car and walked into the house. I think they recognized me as their friend. That may have saved me from getting attacked by a Momma Raccoon protecting her babies.

Good Friends

Finally! Some much needed photos of my boys!! We've been so lucky since we've moved here to make such good friends. My boys have made some really cute friends too! My friend Cheryl and I do a childcare swap and it works out perfect since her two youngest sons are about the same ages as my boys. I took these pictures a couple weeks ago when they were at our house. (My boys are the ones with the shaved heads!)

I'm pretty sure I'm done

I think I'm done. I just voted today! Mail-in voting is the BEST THING EVER! I just don't think I can handle anything else that has to do with the election. I think I said everything I needed to say about Prop 8 and Obama. There is just so much negative energy that goes along with politics and elections and I cannot handle it anymore. I'm ready to go back to playing with my kids, cleaning, and doing laundry without all the thoughts of politics bustling around in the back of my mind. For a while now I've been really stressed out and worried about what would happen if Prop 8 didn't pass. Over the weekend I started reading in Helaman (a part of the Book of Mormon) and I saw so many parallels between the Nephites and us. The part that brought me comfort is that God always watches over and protects the righteous people who have faith in him and stand up for what they believe in.

I have stood up for what I believe in. I don't need to spend time stressing about the possibilities of what could happen if Prop 8 is defeated. I've done my part, so now my main focus has to be on making sure that I do everything I can to be righteous and be an example for my kids, my husband, and anyone else that notices me.

So, you most likely won't see anymore politically themed posts. (If I do consider taking on some other subjects I might just make a separate blog for that) I'm eager to get back to posting about my kids, Nate, good food, and good fun!

Great way to start the morning!

I took the boys for a nice walk this morning and found this little (actually huge) neighbor when I got home.
I'm 99.9% sure it was all in my head, but I swear it hissed at me! I think I blinded it with the flash on my camera so when it came time to kill it, it didn't even try to out run me. Nate will be so proud that I killed a NASTY spider all by my self.

SUGAR SHOCK

I've been doing really good with the no sugar thing. I hardly ever get cravings anymore so that is like a miracle!! Nate had a "traumatic" experience yesterday and needed some comfort so he bought some sugar cookies that were also completely covered in frosting. For some odd reason I felt like I deserved a "reward" for eating so clean, so I decided to have a sugar cookie. Within 20 minutes of eating it my joints were achy and stiff, I had a headache, I could feel my heart racing, and I started getting annoyed with everything Nate was doing. ALL because of the SUGAR!

Catholic Vote

This video was found at catholicvote.com but I think it applies to all moral Americans that value life and family. Please watch it.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

What is the gift that keeps on giving?? For me, it's the Pork Tenderloin I made on Sunday. I never knew I could love pork so much. I think it has replaced chicken as my favorite meat. The first reason why I love it: it's so easy to make. Throw it in the crock pot and go on with your day. The second reason: The only things I put in with it were water, sea salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion salt, and olive oil. That meat tasted so good and was so tender it almost made me cry because I was so happy. The third reason: The leftovers. I work on Monday and Wednesdays so when I get home I'm looking for something quick and easy to make for my family. Luckily there was plenty leftover so all I had to do was warm it up, (it was still just as tender as the night before) chop up some veggies and a salad, and within minutes we had another delicious dinner. The fourth reason: Even more leftovers. I'm telling you....that meat was so good that when I made a sandwich out of it today, I didn't even have to put anything with it. Just whole wheat bread. No cheese, no mayo, no veggies (I did have veggies on the side though). I still have more meat in the fridge.

You may think I'm kind of weird for blogging about meat, but that is how much it has influenced my week. Do yourself a favor and cook one this weekend. For busy moms, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Lawnmower

When I moved to Seaside my favorite hobby was doing yard work. I couldn't get enough of pulling weeds and watching my flowers grow. When we got back from Utah in June I got into a major slump and pretty much stopped taking care of my yard. Some of my flowers died, or got close to it. My grass isn't so green anymore. It made me really sad. So finally, I got the desire to get back out there and save my yard! I partially blame Nate for my laziness (not really, but we'll go with it). He was the one who would mow the lawn. Since he hurt his shoulder he couldn't mow the lawn anymore so that made it easier for me to not keep up with my chores in the yard. Since we don't own a lawnmower Nate would always have to drive to self-help, load the mower into the car, come home and mow the grass, then load it back into the car and take it back to self-help. I can't do all that so I just let the yard go.

Well, I took a trip to OSH today to get a few plants, and I found the answer to my problems. An "old-school" push mower!!! I wasn't interested in paying $300 dollars for a big mower so this was the perfect solution. It obviously doesn't work quite as well as big bulky one, but it's perfect for me. I don't have to put any gas in it, and I don't have to use an extension cord. Everybody wins in this scenario!

More good food

Dinner last night was gooood! I put a Pork Tenderloin in the crock pot with some water, olive oil, and some seasoning and let it cook all day. By the time dinner rolled around the meat was so tender it was falling apart. We also had whole wheat Couscous from Trader Joes (my new favorite place). To give it some extra flavor, I cooked it in organic free range Chicken Broth and added sauteed onions and carrots (sauteed in olive oil, of course). Then we had a yummy salad with lots of different veggies. Switching to whole foods has renewed my love for cooking. It's so much more enjoyable for me to cook when I know I'm making something healthy for my family.

Margaret D. Nadauld, former Young Women general president: “Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. … We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith” (“The Joy of Womanhood,” Liahona, Jan. 2001, 18; Ensign, Nov. 2000, 15).

Nate

I think the one bad thing about blogs is that it's easy to share too much. This is most likely one of those times. I took these pictures, then thought to myself, "Does anyone really want to see this?" And I figured the answer was "no" but here we are anyway. This is what Nate's arm looks like now. They had to go in and scrape his bone down, then screw his tendon back into place. That's probably not the funnest thing you can do on a Friday afternoon, but it's all done now. Just thought I'd share.

Pretty Handsome

A couple weeks ago after I had gotten done getting the boys ready for church Jackson grabbed me and told me that since he looked so handsome I needed to take a picture of him. Then he told me that Payton looked "pretty handsome too" so I needed to take a picture of him as well. Then he thought they should take a picture together too.

I did it!.......mostly

So a week has gone by since I set my goal for eating whole foods and not eating sugar. It went pretty well. I did get sick this weekend though so unfortunately I did drink some Ginger Ale to help settle my stomach. Aside from that though, it felt great to eat so healthy. I had hardly any arthritis pain and I think that is directly related to no sugar. Nate and the boys are also benefiting from this too. Eating whole, unprocessed foods means that I cook for every meal. Last night Nate was pleasantly surprised to come home to a yummy Pork Tenderloin, Red Potatoes, and salad. Now knowing that my body didn't go through major sugar withdrawals I'm confident that this will be something I can stick with.