Catching Up 3.1

So to continue with my backlog of posts that needed to actually get posted, here is the next set and then we're almost done!!!

On October 13th we flew home to Spokane, WA for my grandfather's funeral. I know - it is a sad occasion, but I just had a hard time being too sad. I loved going home. I was surprised by how much I loved it and I can't wait to go back for Christmas. The trip was a sudden surprise paid for generously by someone else, thank goodness. It was so expensive and we wouldn't have been able to even think about Christmas.

So we arrived in Spokane at around midnight which, for those of you counting, put our family at about 3am. We never really adjusted and I didn't work too hard to get it that way due to the fact that we were leaving within the next five days. It wasn't worth it to move the kids' internal clocks. So we were pretty much exhausted every day and night. The rest of both our families didn't make a time change. It felt like they kind of forgot how much a change it really was for our family because they kept wanting to do things long after we were toast, but what can you do, it's family!

chillin' after breakfast at Grama's

Anyway, we arrived the 13th, a Wednesday, and slept until about noon their time (3pm ours) before we even dragged ourselves out of bed. It was really hard. Thankfully, we stayed with the Fosburgs and they love to get up early. They got up with JC and Evie every morning. I don't have to tell you how nice that was. They fed them, played with them, entertained, and disciplined them. They have visited us twice since we got to South Carolina so my kids actually listen to them in general. It was a special treat for me since Chris deployed a day and a half after we got home from the funeral and sleeping in is not an option when you're an only parent.

kids table at Grama and Grampa's - great set up

So Thursday, 14th, was very relaxed or at least it was going to be. We lounged and ate and watched the kids play and really basked in the Fosburg's new home.

{They had moved since we had and it was our first time there. So beautiful and so them. I actually got lost once, not kidding, at night when Lizzy woke up for a pacifier. It was a bit disconcerting. All that kept coming up in my mind's eye was their old house. I don't have to tell you, that wasn't very helpful in the house that never ends.}

carriage ride - go figure - one of his favorites!

We enjoyed ourselves and both Katie and Renee's visits. It was so nice to see my sisters. Katie had just visited the month before due to her sister-in-law's wedding only 2hrs from us in Charlotte, NC. I missed Renee' so much! She really had become one of my best friends while we lived in Spokane and then we moved! It was terrible. Now that I have texting, we are reconnecting better.

caged Evie - sometimes, how I wish!!!

In the evening, we had dinner with everyone from both families at Chuck E. Cheese! I had mentioned that it would be nice to do a little something for JC's birthday while we were in town since the stress of the travelling prevented me from doing much for his special day. She loved the idea and had it moved up in the plans to the day after we got there. I loved seeing all my nieces and nephews, and of course, their parents. What a beautiful family we belong to! The kids had a great time and wonderfully surprising for me, mom and dad sat with me at my table the whole time! I loved the little extra attention, especially with all my siblings there. I really had missed them a lot. We talk pretty much every Sunday, but it's not the same as a mom-hug.

aren't I so blessed!?

So that was our first full day in Spokane. It was long!!!! I'm sure it didn't feel it to anyone else, but for our family it was a lot so quickly. We understood the rush; we weren't going to be in town long, but it was hard not getting to bed until 12/1 am every night. It was so late for us! But so much fun, how do you say, "no, I've got to get to bed" ?

Week #2 of the Dep/Mar Project

Okay, so how did everyone do? I hope you all had wonderful weeks full of love, gratitude, and spiritual experiences.

I think for me, it was a really good way to stay focused on what's important. Overall, I found that I had a hard time remembering to write things down at first. As I got going though I got more consistent. I also found that my lists were huge!!! I found that some things made it on the list every day (my kids, inspiration, energy, the gospel) not because of the general stuff, but because each day there was something that my kids did that made me laugh or helped me grow; there was not one day that I didn't need or receive inspiration and energy, and every day I was grateful for the blessings of the gospel. (My list was of course, more specific).

I hope you had some neat insights too. So this is week #2 - FAITH. Hope you're up for it and don't forget that the companion article(s) are listed to the right in the "pages" section.

The Letter:

To my SB (I won’t even spell it out),

Oh, best friend of mine, how awesome you are! You’ve now been gone a whole week and geez, if I think about it too much I‘ll miss you terribly. So I’ll just say we miss you, we’re doing fine, I’m sure, and we all hope you’re doing as well there as you’ve always done here.

I know that by now you’ve gotten into some sort of routine. Hopefully the food is good, the bed is soft/hard enough for you to really sleep, your back doesn’t hurt, you’ve made a friend or two, and you’ve actually felt the spirit. I really hope that last week’s study helped get you through the initial difficulties of adjusting and catching up. I know how hard it can be to jump into something new (weather it’s very new or just a little new) and to not have us to come home to in order to help you recoup from the day. Yes, I know you miss us too, right?

Magnify Your Faith

“And Alma cried saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began t flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them… and the earth shook mightily, and the walls of the prison were rent in twain…” – Alma 14:26-7

So to keep us going on our little spiritual experiment, we will be starting another study. Don’t forget to continue recording your grateful moments and those blessings you’ve already received as the spirit continues to remind you. The point of these all is to build on the previous, not to stop and start. For week 2 – we will be studying faith. I know, you’re thinking holy cow, why are we studying something that you’ve already put so much study into on your own time. Well for one, principals are infinite in their vastness so I’m sure there’s stuff you haven’t learned yet, for two, as your life progresses your perspective changes so you have more to learn now, and finally, for three, we’ve not studied it together and you’ve never been deployed either. So there is a need to study faith again.

Okay, so our assignment this week is to grow in our faith. We are going to focus on magnifying our faith not gaining it as I know of a surety we both are faithful people. As the scripture I’ve chosen demonstrates quite clearly, we both know that faith is a principal of power and action. Alma and Amulek suffered greatly before they were delivered and yet their faith remained in tact. So much so that when they could no longer bear the wickedness of their captors (not the hardship of the imprisonment) they prayed and then were blessed with power to walk free. So first, we study the magnifying part and then we apply it to what we already know or are currently learning about faith. Let’s pray for the power of faith to do something and then do what we can to help it come to pass.

You are in a situation you’ve never been in before. You are meeting people you’ve never met before. You are doing things you’ve never done before. These are great times to be demonstrating your faith to Heavenly Father and by just being near you others will see your faith and the attitude that it brings. You are at your best when your faith is strong and you are practicing it. I love to watch you demonstrate your faith in the priesthood or the plan of salvation. It makes me so proud to be your wife, your helpmeet in this life. I know others have felt your strength and your confidence. That is why you have done so well in your career thus far. You have walked into the darkness of life with a sureness that comes only from the Father and you have been blessed as He has lightened your path. I know He will do it again.

You are wonderful. You are strong. You are my husband, my best friend, and my eternal companion. Remember who brought you to where you are and you cannot fail.

We love you so much and are so proud not only to be an airman’s family in the US military, but, more specifically, to be YOUR family. Have a little fun this week, be goofy, work hard, and pray often. Know you are dearly missed and loved deeply. Be good.

Healthy Eating

Okay, so I know you don't come here to hear about stupid things, but when it comes to my kids, I tend to think everything is important.

When Chris and I married, I was used to cooking, so cooking for two wasn't a surprise. Keeping up with his crazy over-active metabolism however, was a different story. I had to change the ingredients I cooked with. I began using a lot more whole grains (breads, cereals, pastas), less processed sugary things (speeds up digestion and absorption), stopped almost all salt (our food comes with enough already), and basically a quick, relatively overhaul. Thankfully, this was a learning process and Chris was very good about it, reminding me that certain dinners didn't fill him up or that he'd still want more later that night. To cut down on how often and how much I had to cook at a given time, I changed the way I cooked.

What's that got to do with my kids you ask?

Well, when you're pregnant, at least the first time, you have a tendency to go a little nuts with the health thing. I realized we didn't eat enough fresh vegetables or fruit, and that, though we got the right calories, fresh had it's place too. So we added that to every meal. I also realized that I often forgot to eat breakfast, or just wasn't hungry. I changed that by making sure I had things like Instant Breakfast, granola bars, easy to grab fruit, or instant oatmeal/cream of wheat. The easier it was to get to my mouth the more likely I was to actually eat it.

So, by the time I had kids old enough to eat with us at regular meals, my cooking had changed quite a bit. I tended to stay away from pre-made things and just did it at home. Doesn't that sound so responsible?

Of course, that only lasted until I had my second baby, so about a year and a half. After JC was born my time was so much shorter. Cooking, while still something I enjoyed, was a bigger deal for them and less of one for me. I just wanted to get it done so I could relax. Now with a third starting table foods (she's so cute!!!) and a fourth on the way, cooking, while still something I take a good deal of pride in, is not as much a priority for health (though that's a main reason) it is however, a priority for our budget. Even with all the groceries and extra time it takes to cook, we still save over 100$ every paycheck by limiting our eating out to once a week max. Sometimes we don't go out at all. I've also limited the number of dinners I make a week to four. Otherwise I start to hate cooking and my fridge won't hold the leftovers.

So, why this great and I'm sure interesting, but boring insight into our family's eating habits? Well recently my kids have decided that the healthy frozen chicken nuggets that I buy for those last minute dinners or quick lets-get-you-to-nap time-now lunches are not good enough. They won't eat them. They'll eat the string cheese, the juice, and the fruit, but not the meat (which is the important one if you know kids). So I was in the store buying our groceries for this paycheck and saw something I hadn't tried for my kids. It was that Chef Boyardee pasta in the can. I usually steer clear of that kind of thing because one of the first ingredients is either a ton of sugar or a ton of salt. My kids already try to get as much of the first as possible. But, I was needing options, and I remember a commercial recently that mentioned how many servings of vegetables now come in one can. So I grabbed a couple to replace the nugget meal.

Holy Cow! My kids loved it! They thought they were getting a treat. It was only a 1$ a can, and it had tons of meat, whole grains (the important kind of carbs), and a lot of vegetables. I wasn't crazy about the salt content at 250 grams a serving, but it was comparable to other things that they had eaten. Plus, it's not like this is the only meal they get or even one they will be getting very often. It has it's place though. And the best part was, sugar was still in the list, but it didn't even make the top 10 ingredients! (Ingredients are listed by the amt included for those of you who don't read labels) This little cheap can of past my kids consider a treat for lunch was healthier than the nugget lunch I was replacing! With a cup of fruit and a glass of milk my kids were still eating healthy.

I was blown away. I remember eating those kinds of things when I was a kid and even in college on a camping trip. They're awesome, but they were never as healthy as they are today. Go figure! I guess that's why it's important to be aware. We would have missed out on something that makes my kids healthy and happy and still fits into our very tiny food budget.

Awesome is all I have to say.