Hi.

I am happy today. Why?

1. Because I got to work out this morning and therefore have all kinds of endorphins running through my brain screaming "happy happy!"
2. I also had time to eat a yummy breakfast and a big huge salad for lunch, and make a yummy supper and extra soup for lunches this week.
3. I got to practice piano. Piano lessons are one of the most satisfying things in my life right now.
4. My Mom came today and cleaned my floors and made all of the above possible.
5. My kids are sweet and love each other
6. Love that gets deeper and deeper, and Brad, who is easy to love like that.
7. My new iPad.
8. Sweet baby Afton.
9. The SUN! It came out today! It's getting warmer!
and the family went for a nice walk, in the sun, AT 6:45 pm. That's right. 10. I realized today-I'm not pregnant anymore. Wow. That is a greeeeeeeeaaaaat feeling.
11. Tangled.
12. Focus on the Family podcasts. They said we are too kid-focused in our families and to start worrying more about our relationship with our spouse. I love that concept and I'm gonna use it from now on.

So there.

So this afternoon Jesse says to me:

"Hunter does crafts every day."

I'm like,"How do you know that?"

"Because when I go to his house his Mom says 'Craft Time!' That means they do crafts every day."

Oh. Really. "Craft Time", eh. Every day, eh. Slight feeling of inadequacy.

I called my sister and asked her how this goes down. I'm picturing hours of planning and some serious Mormon mom talent, but to my relief she said she gives the kids a bunch of stuff-glitter and paint and stickers and glue- and lets them go at it. 

It was a bit messy and involved stains on clothing and an entire bottle of glue spilt on the table, but we did it. 

And for an hour or so, 

we were not bored. 

Take that you mean Alberta weather god.

P.S,, Rachel planned a Relief Society dinner in 2 weeks complete with French theme, yummy food, cute decorations and fun entertainment. So don't feel too bad about yourself if you don't have "craft time" either :)

Air Guitar

The other night Brad had to stay late at work to finish some school so I took the kids to the Creative Kids Museum at the Science Centre and we had the whole place to ourselves most of the night! It was so much fun! I sat in a comfy chair most of the time and fed Afton while the kids played. One other kid showed up later in the evening.

Jesse LOVED this and did it for a long time. I didn't even catch his best moves. Haha! But really-he's very musical and has a great voice, he is always asking to take piano lessons and now this...looks like I've unwittingly given birth to a rockstar.
The other kid's not bad either, maybe they could start a band haha.
(Please ignore my talking-I had bronchitis (getting over it now thank goodness, but have now got a sinus infection) and didn't realize how loud I was!)

Due to my bronchitis I haven't worked out in 2 weeks. For the first 2 weeks I worked out anyway-and then it got worse, so I stopped. This means I've backtracked a lot in terms of getting my body back. Depressing, but I' starting again tomorrow-sinus infection or not!!

Powerful

I want to write this before I forget. The other night I was walking home from piano lessons. I usually rush home because my mind plays tricks on me and I think someone is following me or will jump out from behind the bushes and attack. Yes, really :)

Well, this time I reasoned with myself and decided to enjoy the walk and the time alone.I looked at the moon to connect with God and nature and then it hit me.

I am powerful. 

Those words came to my mind quite strongly and at first I didn't like it because of course, everything I have comes from God. I wondered if I was going a little manic. Things have been pretty crazy lately...but then I thought about it, and I wasn't crazy. It's true.

I helped God create life. I gave birth to these beautiful people. Three very important people depend on me. To love them, help them grow healthy and strong, teach them the gospel, teach them about the world, and provide a clean and happy home for them. Afton depends completely on my body to grow and live. I'm also able to support my husband so he can be continue his education successful and happy. On top of this, I am building a life for myself, continuing to develop my own talents and love life. Even if I didn't have a family, I could help and lift others. This makes me feel quite worthwhile. I feel like I'm doing a good job.

I think powerful is a good word. It replaces the sense of worthlessness often felt by survivors of abuse, as I am. Only recently do I understand things like it's not your fault and I am a child of God.

I bet you are powerful too.

Just so you really don't think I'm nuts, thoughts on gratitude (it's a rough copy I wrote late at night after losing the talk I had worked on all day, so yes I did say King Benjamin and not Mosiah...haha!)

For Rachel

I'm slowly, slowly losing weight. But I eat really healthy and therefore have better hair and better skin. I also have lots of energy to work out and burn some of the (too much if you're not breastfeeding!) food I eat while eating healthy. I love food. Looooooooove it, and I eat a lot of it. And these are my favorite snacks and recipes, most of them taken from my favourite food site of all time, should be shouted from the rooftops in my opinion, whfoods.com.

Favourite Breakfasts:

Oatmeal with dried cranberries, cinnamon and toasted walnuts
All-bran cereal with a bunch of fresh blueberries (no sugar!)
Fritattas, like this one (I use ground turkey, and it's sooo yum)

Favourite Lunches:

Quinoa with salt and steamed broccoli with salt-quinoa is pure protein. It's great.
Bean and lentil salads like this, this, and this.
Romaine lettuce with a can of tuna and a dressing of olive oil mixed with lemon juice and garlic, then warmed on the stove (on low) for a minute
Leftover suppers

Favorite Dinners:

Butternut squash soup and a salad- this is so good, Brad raves about it.
Salmon-fastest dinner ever, this with steamed veggies and rice or quinoa (BTW, any of the salmon recipes on this site are delicious. I always overcook my salmon, because I like it better that way!)
Chicken- this is very good and it goes well with this salad.
Fish-this is a good one
Burritos
Chili
Asian Chicken Salad

Favorite Snacks:

Frozen raspberries
Banana, cut in half with peanut butter spread on it and sprinkled with unsweetened coconut
Apples and peanut butter
Sliced apples with almond butter spread on one side and dipped in granola (pref. low-fat, this is high cal!)
Sliced apples dipped in plain-yes, plain-yogurt
Sweet Red Peppers dipped in homemade hummus (the easiest homemade dip ever- except I usually end up eating the whole batch and that's not very healthy!)

I also eat this chocolate bar...

Some Videos For You

Just a little glimpse into life these days. Busy and I love every minute! Nope, not every minute, but lots of minutes!

Teaching Jesse to skate was one of the most satisfying things I've ever done as a parent! The secret is a scarf under their arms. Jesse cried and didn't want to keep going but I made him practice and then he did it. I wasn't about to let him give up and I don't feel even a little bit bad about it!

Our most favorite form of entertainment these days: making Afton laugh!


And lastly-a balloon from Jesse's birthday party snuck out the door after Jesse today. I had no idea how much that balloon meant to him. He sobbed! And Breanna did too, but that's just because she loooooooves to cry. I tried to tell him it went back to it's family in balloon land. Apparently he's too big for that tall tale-but not too big to melt down at the loss of this balloon. He insisted it went to space. So, so much for the outside time I had planned for my kids. They came inside and I read them a book about a crab who said goodbye to his shell and moved on to other things.

Jesse's Birthday

I know it's been a while but believe it or not I had to schedule in time to do this blog post.

It was an awesome weekend!! First of all, Jesse turned *5* and had the funnest party ever! And I'm not exaggerating! We hijacked the hotel pool and water-slide at the Delta where everyone stayed for the weekend, which also happened to have an Atrium perfect for a birthday gathering. Like seriously, it could not have been more fun, mostly because of the people there!

I think someone was a little bit excited about the Indiana Jones hat and whip we got him. And who washes their kid's face off on their birthday? Hm...

Just what he wanted-Ninja Lego!

This was quite possibly the best hug ever, courtesy of Jesse's cousin Lily.

After opening presents, everyone else went swimming again. Not Jesse. He found a little spot he called the jungle and spent a quality half hour fighting bad guys.

Then we had Afton's baby blessing. Brad gave the most beautiful blessing. To the most sweetest little baby.

One highlight of the day-make that of my life-my sister Candace MADE this beautiful quilt for Afton! And the best part is, she didn't really know what she was doing and had no help. A lot of love and tears went into the making of the most beautiful quilt I've ever seen.

I had about 5 minutes to do this post so what you see is what you get. Oh and I've lost 7 pounds now!! 23 to go.