Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. She is the greatest! I don't where I'd be without her. She's been my best friend for so many years, I cherish her friendship and love.

Here is a creative way to tell you about her:
E is for Everyone's friend - She is blessed with so many friends from all walks of life. Wherever she goes, she touches the lives of many and stays in contact with the friends too.
M is for Motherly - Obviously she is motherly to me since she's my mother but she is always taking care and fussing over others. She has to make sure everyone has everything they need.
M is Multi talented - If you start talking to her, you'll be amazed at all that she has done in her life. River rafting, syncronized swimming, baton twirling, and she can ever still touch her toes! :)
A is for Affectionate - She and I are snuggle buddies. Even in while I was attending college I would still go into her room in the mornings and snuggle with her before waking up fully. She has always told me that she loves me multiple times a day and I didn't realize that some families don't always do that. I am fortunate to have her love.
R is for Realist - My mom will tell you like it is. She is not "in the clouds" when it comes to ideas and she is good at telling you advice that is good real advice. She taught me to "own my own mind."
E is for Entertainer - She is always the life of the party and makes sure everyone is having a good time. She is a great hostess and can make a conversation with anyone.
E is for Empowered - She is quite a powerful woman. I'm amazed at everything she's knows and everything that she can do. She has always just picked herself up by her boot straps and kept on trekin'. She's been through a lot in her life and she never gives up.

I love you mom, Happy Birthday!

Top 10 reasons we love our midwife

Top 10 reasons we love our midwife:
10. It's a family affair - the whole family enjoys the 1 hour visit.
9. We spend quality time with her, not a 10-minute quickie.
8. She does everything (blood pressure, sampling, etc.)
7. Darrell gets to play around on the weight scale.
6. She has fun toys & books for the kids.
5. She is very informative and you never feel silly asking her any question.
4. Her birthing suite has a cozy atmosphere.
3. She gets to know me and the family, I'm not just a name in her file cabinet.
2. I can email her and she'll respond back.
1. We learn that there is no heart in your bum... (see video below)

The shelf

You know you're a big pregnant woman when random strangers start commenting on your belly. "Whoa that baby is low!"

I have quite the shelf now-a-days. Today in Primary I helped the chorister hold some laminated paper-sized posters and I didn't even need to use my hands, I just put them on my shelf. The kids and adults had a good laugh. :)

This is me on Dec 21 (29 weeks) compared to today at 34 weeks. I'm quite pointy and large.

What happened to the simple baby carriage?

First comes love, then comes marriage
Then comes a baby in a baby...carriage?

What ever happened to the simple baby carriage? Here is how my poem goes:

First comes love, then comes marriage
Then comes a baby in a baby...
crib, bassinet, pack 'n play, cradle swing, travel swing, infant carrier, mega saucer, jogging stroller, travel system, umbrella stroller, mei tai, moby wrap, ring sling, front carrier, back carrier, activity gym, johnny jump-up, bouncy chair, etc, etc, etc!

Today we got the crib out of the basement and set it up in the baby's room. I am now starting to remember how much STUFF a baby "requires" now-a-days. Every room will be crowded with some sort of extra baby accessory. I'm grateful that we have so much STUFF, since we have been given most of it, but I'm also getting a little nervous and claustrophobic! :)

The count down is on and I'm getting cold feet. At least they're not swollen...

Fiesta Chicken with Rice and Beans

Yesterday I discovered that your crock pot only works if you turn it on! I put the following recipe in the crockpot at 12:00 noon and then at 4:00 checked on it and realized that the crockpot was turn on "high" but not plugged in! I ended up switching to a casserole dish with foil and baking for 1 hr at 350 degrees, the took the foil off for another 10-15 minutes.

This food was pretty good, I'll make it again. I served this with tortillas and cheese, and the next day had it with nachos.

I found this recipe in the Albertson's ad last week. It came from allrecipes.com.

Fiesta Chicken with Rice and Beans

Submitted By: Albertsons
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 4 Hours

Ready In: 4 Hours 10 Minutes
Servings: 6
"Juicy chicken with a Mexican flair. . .all served with rice and beans."

Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounce) Tomato sauce
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 can Mild Green Chilies, undrained (I diced them)
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice (I used brown rice, of course.)
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, undrained (I cooked some dry pinto beans earlier in the morning then used 2 cups of cooked pinto beans.)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (I chopped the chicken to bite sized pieces)
1 (1 ounce) package chicken taco seasoning mix (I used 1/4 cup of taco seasoning)

Directions:
1. Combine tomatoes, rice, broth, beans, chicken, and seasoning mix in CROCK-POT slow cooker.
2. Cook on LOW setting for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours. Stir before serving.

ALT: Or put in casserole dish and top with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr, remove the foil then bake for 10-15 minutes.

I'm flying with flylady

For over 4 months, I have been following a cleaning routine in my house and it's actually working!

Some of you already know about this feat that I've taken on and I promised that I'd blog about it. I figured it would be a good thing to blog about (finally) in January since everyone is setting goals and this could help many people with their goals.

If you haven't heard of flylady, then you're in for a treat. Flylady is a woman named Marla Cilley who came up with a great way to keep CHAOS out of your life. (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) Not only is it a cleaning routine but it's a different way of thinking and looking at yourself and your household.

I heard of flylady a few years back and apparently was not ready for it. I thought she was too pushy since I didn't understand everything. All I knew was that she had a flylady yahoo group. I subscribed to get daily emails reminding me to clean certain things but I felt like that was too much pestering so I just unsubscribed and forgot about it.

Last summer I was talking with my friend Jodie and she asked me if I had heard of flylady or read flylady's book called Sink Reflections. I didn't know that she had a book! Jodie gave me her testimonial of flylady's book so it gave me enough courage to try flylady again. I checked it out from the library in July and couldn't get past chapter 1 since I felt the pestering again. Finally I picked up the book again towards the end of August and finished reading it within a week.

When summer was over and Salem started Kindergarten, I figured that then would be a good time to start a new routine. As many people say, 27 days makes a habit so I challenged myself to keep the house clean for 27 days in a row. I didn't even tell anyone what I was doing, not even Darrell. (Although I'm sure he noticed the difference.) I successfully kept my habit and have been keeping it ever since.

Okay, now you want to know the details right? I really suggest that you read the book since flylady says it so much better than I do, but here are some things that I picked up:

* Go Shine Your Sink - The name of the book "Sink Reflections" talks about going to shine your sink. I like that she doesn't just say "go do the dishes." She thinks of the positive end result of cleaning your kitchen and dishes. You get a nice shiny sink and you are supposed to keep the sink shiny. (I first was frustrated with this one since I have an old yellow sink that doesn't get very shiny, but over time I've learned to be happy with my sink and happy with myself.) Also, every room needs it's own "shiny sink," a focal point to keep clean like your dining room table, or the top of your dresser.

* Flying - She got her name "flylady" because she likes fly fishing. That was her nickname before she started doing cleaning routines and now it has just stuck with her. Later she and others came up with an acronym. FLY = Finally Loving Yourself. With this program you'll be FLYing and feel great about yourself and your house. I've (thankfully) had good self esteem over the years but I must say that I do feel better about myself when my house is clean and I am "put together." She emphasizes with her routines that we need to take care of ourselves, not just our household and family. The morning routines and bedtime routines include things other than just cleaning. She wants you to get up and get dressed with laced-up shoes, and make sure your hair & make-up are done before doing anything else. You can't make your house feel good if you don't feel good about yourself. (I thought that some of that was a little silly but I notice that when I'm dressed and ready to go for the day I more able and willing to do things and have more energy.)

* Don't be a martyr - This philosophy I have to repeat many times. She talks about forgetting about all the "crap" that you are doing for everyone in the house, and the complaint that "you are the only one" doing the chores, blah blah blah. Stop whining, and quit being a martyr. Just do your chores happily and when you get going on your routines, your family will soon follow suit. This may mean that you'll have to do more than the rest of the family for a while but I've realized that it's so much easier to do this than wait around for something to get done so you can do the next task. This has eliminated bottlenecks.

* Laundry...see it through - Don't even start a load of laundry if you can't finish it that day by putting it away in the drawers. I have kept up on my laundry and it's been great; the only downfall is that Oaklen wants to wear his orange sweatshirt every day since it's always clean! :)

* Weekly home blessing - Each Monday I do a "Weekly Home Blessing." This is just an hour of my time and I am able to dust, vacuum, sweep & mop the entire house. I feel so good after it's done. I don't worry so much about the floors the rest of the week since I know that they get cleaned at least once a week.

* Housework done incorrectly still blesses my family - Flylady teaches you to stop being a perfectionist. Here are three examples: 1. Since I know that I clean the floors every week, I can allow my children to help with the cleaning on other days. I ask Salem to sweep the floor and Oaklen to help with the dustpan. They are still learning and don't really do a fantastic job yet but it's okay because it at least got the floor a little cleaner than it was. 2. When I do my vacuuming, I don't move a ton of furniture around like a perfectionist would. If there is a toy in the way, then I just push it aside with my vacuum. I leave the deep cleaning to when I do the zone cleaning. 3. I never made my bed before doing the flylady program (yes Mom...shocker, I know.) because I guess I was being too much of a perfectionist. It bothered me that it wasn't going to look great so I just didn't bother with it. Now I make my bed every morning and some times the bed looks great, other times the blankets could use a little more straightening but that's okay, at least it got made.

* Zones - I mentioned zone cleaning. Each week she has a different zone to clean. Week 1 is a certain section of the house, week 2 is a different section. This allows you to do your "spring cleaning" all year long, but in manageable baby steps.

* Set the timer - If you think that you don't have time to clean, then set the timer for 10 minutes and see how much you can get done. It's amazing how much you can do when you dedicate your time to it and not get side-tracked.

* Babysteps - It didn't take your house a day to get cluttered so it's not going to take a day to get it clean. Doing baby steps by cleaning & tackling a little bit at a time will help free yourself of the clutter.

* Fling boogie - Along with the baby steps, and setting the timer, she talks about doing "fling boogies." Get a garbage sack and go through a drawer, closet or whatever and get rid of 27 things. Set the timer while you do this and don't look back. You'll accumulate 27 things to get rid of in no time.

* Does it make you happy? Does it bless your life? - When it comes time to getting rid of things, ask yourself "Does it make me happy? Does it bless my life or family?" If the answer is yes, then you may keep it. If it's "no" then fling it. I've struggled with what to do with Salem's artwork and school papers. One of her suggestions is that if you have 20 of the same type of thing, it won't be as valuable in years to come. If you only save a few precious papers then they will be treasured a lot more.

Last but not least...I'm not perfect - I've been nervous to blog about this subject because I'm announcing to the world that my house is "clean." I don't want any of you to come to my house with a white glove and get nit-picky about my so-called clean house. I'm only human and I try my best. I have made amazing progress and feel good about what I am doing. My challenge will be when the new baby comes. I wonder how this will effect my routines, but I promise I will keep trying and flying!

If you made it through this blog post, then good job! I wish you all the best of luck in your flying!

A mother of boys

I was just looking at a catalog and saw this quote:

"Mothers of little boys work from son up to son down."

I have heard this saying before but now I really understand. I'm tired...this 3rd trimester of my pregnancy is starting to slow me down. It's hard for me to have this nesting instinct and want to get so much done yet the simplest things make me so tired! 8 1/2 more weeks...will I last? I have to...mom's don't get a day off.

I only have eyes for...onions

Just when I thought I had everything I ever needed, Darrell goes and gets me something amazing! :)

One of the Christmas presents that I received from Darrell is a pair of pink swim goggles. (You're thinking huh? Heather doesn't really swim that much.) Well I don't swim often, but I do cut onions often! My eyes can't bear the onion fumes, they make my eyes water, so Darrell bought me pink onion goggles! I've tried holding a match in my mouth (it's supposed to eat up the gaseous fumes before it gets to my eyes), holding water in my mouth, going as fast as I can, using a food processor, etc. Nothing has worked as well as the goggles!

Last week I took a picture of how silly yet cool I look wearing the onion goggles. Enjoy the goofy picture, especially my puffy pregnant face.

Harmons Case Lot Sale - Think of Food Storage

I just got the Harmons ad today and was impressed with their case lot sale. It's for 3 weeks (Jan 5 - Jan 25.)

If you've always wanted to get a good start on your basic long-term food storage, now is the time. The wheat is only $19.99 for 45 lbs and it already comes in a bucket! I've usually been getting my wheat at the Bosch Kitchen Center during their semi-annual conference sales (April & October) for about $19.99 for a 50 lb bag. Then I'd have to transfer the wheat into durable containers. It's a deal at Harmons to get the wheat already in the pails!

(If you wanted to know, I prefer the hard white wheat. It's better tasting for making bread and as far as I've researched the nutritional value is the same as the hard red wheat. I have a lot of hard red wheat and now buy the hard white wheat to mix together to make the flour tastier.)

Since I make bread all the time now, I have started using a few extra ingredients like dough enhancer and vital wheat gluten that help the bread last longer, rise higher, and make me spend less time actually making the bread. These items are also on sale at Harmons too.

Other items are of course on sale. I think Harmons will let you buy only a few items at the same case-lot price if you don't want to buy the whole case. If you do end up buying the whole case, make sure you look at the "best if used by" date. If you & your family eat that much in that given time then go ahead and buy the case. I once bought a mac & cheese case when Salem was just a baby and we (actually I) only ended up eating a few boxes before the expiration date. I gave the rest away.

Here is the shopping list from PYP/Grocery Smarts though interestingly it doesn't include some of the food storage items that I just talked about.

Friday Frugal Tip - The Library

I absolutely love the library! We go to both the city library and the county library. I have learned some cool things about what the library offers, I even learned one today!

Here are some highlights about the library:

* Audio Books - Not only can you get books but you can get so much more! I love to get audio books and Salem also gets audio books that he can read along with the book & CD.

* DVDs - The city library lets you check them out for 2 weeks, even new releases!

* VHS - The county library now treats these like books and lets you check them out for 3 weeks.

* Holds - You can put up to 25 items on hold. I reserve the new releases (DVDs, audiobooks, books) and get them within a reasonable amount of time. Last time the latest Harry Potter book came out I reserved both the book and audio book and I got them within a week of the release.

* Magazines - You can check out past issues of your favorite magazines.

* Downloads - You can download eBooks or audiobooks from their website.

* Community Info & Events - The particular county library that I usually go to always has flyers about community events and info. We've gone to some fun activities because of this.

* Free events - The library is always having events. For example, I took my sons to a "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" animated book reading. They had a fun time. Look for event info here for the city or or here for the county or you can sign up to receive event info via email.

* Story time - Not only is it story time but often times they do other activities too. We got free big pumpkins in October and decorated them. They sometimes have a bubble machine for the kids, and other arts & crafts.

* Free Visits to Cultural Places - Today I learned about the Salt Lake City Library's Community Exploration Card. I "checked out" the CEC using my library card and received a one-month voucher to go (for FREE up to 4 people) to Discovery Gateway, Utah Museum of Natural History, Red Butte Garden, and Utah Museum of Fine Arts. (To provide equitable access to everyone, cards are limited to one per household in a six-month period.) I'll go this month and then try again in June. Apparently this program has been around for 3+ years and I just found out about it! It's not advertised very heavily since each city library branch only gets about 4 vouchers per month. I found out about it on a pamphlet where a bunch of other pamphlets are. I inquired with the librarian and was lucky enough to get the last one today.

* Performing Arts - They also have a similar program called the Performing Arts Experience voucher. This will admit two people (for FREE) to events listed on the voucher for the month. It could include Ballet West, The Grand Theatre, Plan-B Theatre Company, Pygmalion Productions Theatre Company, Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, and the Utah Symphony & Opera. I hope to try to get this in February for our anniversary, or in April for my birthday.

I know that I didn't cover everything that the library has to offer. These are things that I have been utilizing. Now it's your turn, what do you do at the library?