Our 4H summer project

When I was a teenager, my dad had me and my sisters raise lambs for 4H to show and sell at the county fair. I remember being less than enthusiastic about it. I'm sure I did the bare minimum. I vaguely remember the show and auction.

 Last year our family decided to raise a couple of pigs to sell at the Jr. Livestock Show and Auction. Ford and Cambria each raised a pig. It seemed like a long boring summer, taking care of those pigs. But as soon as they sold them and realized how much money they had made, they were gung ho about doing it again this year.

This year we have 3 pigs we are raising. Ford will be leaving mid-summer so he is not going to show a pig, but is helping take care of the 3 we have until he leaves for a share in the profit. So the 3 girls will all be showing and selling a pig.

I appreciate the 'investment' and money making potential, but for me, the best part of it is getting to take care of animals. We will most likely never have a farm or have to care for farm animals, so this is probably as close as we will get to that process. It's a good lesson in responsibility and dependability. Knowing that those animals rely on you for every thing they need. When we go to feed them, I have been so happy to see my kids get right in there and try to get those pigs to know them. They enjoy spending time there picking grass and greens for them to eat in addition to the pig feed. They get in the pen and try to get the pigs to let them touch them. I'm so glad they aren't as ornery about raising a 4H animal as I was.

I'm thankful we now live in a place where this is a possibility for our family and for their willingness to take this opportunity and have these experiences.

Tres!

A week after James turned 1, Charlie turned 3. It's been an intense year with two boys so close in age. But I  know as they grow they will be close and hopefully each other's best friend. Charlie decided he wanted a rocket cake just like the one I had made for Soren two months prior. We just changed up the colors we used. It looks so cute when you light the candles that are the rocket boosters. Super easy and fun birthday cake.  

 Chuck LOVES cars. He now owns some of his own so he doesn't have to fight with his older brother to use some. I love watching him drive them, make roadways for them and line them up just so. It's so interesting to watch them play and 'see' what is going on in their minds. You can really see some of their traits and characteristics start to emerge. We are so blessed to have this boy in our family, as well as all the other interesting personalities that make up our family. I LOVE having a Large Family!!

Whew that takes care of our birthdays for a couple of months. Gives me some time to gear up for the next round.

Birthdays

 Birthday happen pretty frequently around here. With 11 people in the family we get to eat cake and ice cream once a month average. Actually it turns out that we have a couple of times in the year when we have a cluster of birthdays and we get to eat goodies so often we almost(!) get tired of it.

This is James’ first birthday. The Big ONE! At our house children do not get to eat sugary treats until after their first birthday so for them, their birthday is the first time they get to taste cake and ice cream or cookies or candy or any of that stuff. Some have loved it at first bite and others have pushed it away from them. It's always interesting to see what their reaction will be.

As you can from the pictures, he LOVED it. He dug right in and had it gone in no time. Must have that sweet tooth inherited from Great Grandma H. We got some of the best genes passed on to us!!

It was a happy birthday for our sweet littlest guy. It has been a wonderful first year with him and I look forward to many more to come.

An Amazing Woman

I know that this has probably been done all over the internet since General Conference, 

but I just can't not pay a little tribute to Sister Julie B. Beck. 

She was released as the General Relief Society President during General Conference just a couple of weeks ago. 

I first came to love Sister Beck when she was a counselor in the General Young Women's Presidency. Her talk on scripture study (2004) seemed to be written just for me, as I was struggling with figuring out how to do more than just read the scriptures. 

I was thrilled when she was called to be the Gen. RS president. I knew I would get to hear many more wonderful talks from her over the years. I was right. They just kept coming.  Mothers Who Know (2007) is such a classic to me. I'm gratefully reading and studying the book the RS published and gave to all women last year, Daughters in My Kingdom. Through Sis. Beck's words I have come to understand the importance of the history of the RS and that I need to study and learn and apply it to myself. I have learned so many things from her and am so thankful for her ability to preach and testify in a way that I connect with. 

A highlight in my life was when she visited and spoke in a stake RS meeting here shortly after we moved back to my hometown. It was a powerful experience and I was amazed at her knowledge of scripture and wisdom. She spoke to us but then opened it up for a Q&A session. It didn't matter what the question was, she had a wise response and used the scriptures to teach us. 

I don't remember where I read it, but someone posted that she was probably the closest thing to a prophetess that we have had. I couldn't agree more. 

Thanks for the last 8 years of wise counsel and guidance, Sister Beck!

General Conference Book Club

I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon this  book club. For years I have wanted to reread and study all the talks from General Conference before the next conference rolls around and every time I have failed.
But now that I've found this club I will have some motivation, inspiration and accountability. Hopefully this time I will be able to say "I DID it."

For more information, visit here or here.

Signs of Spring

Some photo evidence that Spring is trying to make her grand entrance here in the high desert.

The first burst of yellow I found in my lawn. I used to curse dandelions, now I love to see their sunny cheerfulness after a long, dreary, gray winter.

 That south-facing flower bed always has the first blooms of the season. Hardy little grape hyacinths thrust their heads up through whatever is there, snow or hard, sunbaked soil.

Yellow has long been my favorite color. I know Spring is truly on its way when the forsythia blooms.

 

Promise of lavender splendor. It may be an old-fashioned flowering bush but I can't think of Spring without thinking of lilacs. Spring brings with it the promise of new life and opportunity. It's no wonder that Spring is my favorite season.
(all this and fewer bugs! LOL)

Spring Break

It is not often here in our little corner of the world that you get a Spring Break 

with spring-like weather.

We had an entire week of beautiful weather and we surely took advantage of it. The trampoline is put up after a long winter. Hopefully the normal spring winds will not blow it out of our yard!

We were also able to get the new engine successfully put into the Suburban and we are no longer a family of 9 crammed into a vehicle that is too small. We can actually carry our luggage when we go on vacation this summer.

What's for supper? Some interesting reading about food.

This is the question that has given me fits for almost a quarter of a century. I really don't mind cooking but I hate trying to think of what to cook. If someone would just tell me what to make, I'd happily make it. Or so I thought.

A couple of years ago I came across the idea that perhaps I should be questioning not only what to cook but how to cook it and where in the world did the food come from? As I began to look into nutrition and the SAD(Standard American Diet) and health issues arising from poor nutrition I realized that I needed to do some serious contemplating and praying for guidance on how to best provide nutritious meals for my family                                                                         

This is the book that started it all. I was browsing in Pioneer Book in Provo for homeschool resources and the title of this caught my eye. I picked it up and flipped through it. The author's story was so compelling that I bought the book so I could read about his story in depth. 

    

That led me to look into this book and

this one.This book I also found very compelling simply for  the reason that I was trained and worked as a dental assistant for several years. I was absolutely fascinated by the photos showing obvious deformities of the facial structure and dentition.        

Last fall I read this book that addresses specifically eating locally, in season. The theme shared is that we need to know where our food is from, who grew it, how they grew it and that it's more nutritious if it is not imported or hasn't been sitting in warehouses since before it was ready to be picked. Made me wish I lived in a place that had a longer growing season and more water to allow a wider variety of things to be grown. Made me start looking into greenhouses.

This is my latest read. Saw it on Barnes and Noble and thought it would be worth reading. It has lots of quotes in it from various LDS people/journals. Each chapter addresses a different type of food and shares how that food was incorporated into the diets of early to modern LDS people. It's very interesting.

As a mother, it is my duty and responsibility to nurture and care for my family. Have I been damaging them rather than nourishing them by the food I am preparing for them? That is a sobering thought. I am still trying to come to a conclusion about how to best feed my family.  It would be easy to become disheartened and frustrated given the state of our 'food' in this country today. I am concerned about the amount of chemicals and non-food substances that we put into our bodies. I believe we need to eliminate them from our diet, and attempt to eat foods in the state God created them, whole and as unprocessed as possible. As I study about food and nutrition I take the LDS Word of Wisdom as my guide. Found here in Doctrine and Covenants Section 89. 

If something I'm reading about goes against what the Word of Wisdom teaches me, then I have to question the validity of that information. As an example, I looked into the Primal/Paleo type diet. I just can't reconcile not eating grains and legumes with what the Word of Wisdom says. 

14 All ^agrain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;

That said, I do believe that we have a growing health problem caused by eating grains that have been prepared improperly. The Nourishing Traditions book teaches how to properly prepare them so that the vital nutrients contained in them are available to be used by our amazing bodies. 

So my quest is to glean the truth from these books and apply it in my family and home. It means learning to prepare some foods differently and learning to eat things in ways I've never tried before. 

Even though it's been a rather hard road, (hard in realizing how much I could be doing better) it's also been a very fulfilling road. I can't explain how it feels to know that the time I have spent on studying and learning has been so worth it and that the time I take to prepare nutritious food never feels like wasted time. 

A couple of other resources I've found useful:

This blog post by Tara-her whole blog is about NT type eating

Sarah's entire blog

Some eye-opening information about the SAD(Standard American Diet)

Big Fat Fiasco-1st part of a 5 part lecture on the truth about fats in our diet.

Hungry for Change - documentary about diet and health and our need to change what/how we eat.

A Decent night's sleep! What's that?

A night of uninterrupted sleep. That is my dream. I've been doing the baby thing for the last 23 years and it's getting a bit old. I'd love to finally be able to get a full night's sleep every night. Sigh. It looks as if the dream will stay just that for a while longer.

Charlie, at age 3, has quite an imagination. Here is a little conversation that we had a couple of weeks ago at 4 a.m.

I had gotten up to get James a bottle. and had just crawled back into my own warm bed, closing my tired eyes. Then I heard, "There's a snake in my room."  I chuckled quietly so as not to disturb Curtis.  In a minute I heard it again, but a little bit louder. This time Curtis laughed with me. He crawled out of bed and went in to the boys' room and wrangled that invisible snake. Thinking he had solved the problem he crawled back into bed, telling me quietly that Charlie had seen the "snake" on the baby's crib.

We were just settling back to sleep when we heard,

"It's still HERE!!"

Curtis went in and talked to him telling him there was no snake and all the reasons why there would not be a snake in his room at night. He was not convinced. Curtis  had to get up and go in to work early to do snow removal so he ended up bringing Charlie in to our bed. He tucked him in, got ready and left.

I told him that it was way too cold for snakes to be out of the ground here, that they'd be frozen. After all Dad had just gone to shovel snow. Told him that there was no way for a frozen snake to get upstairs to his room because the cats would get it anyway.

Thinking the issue was resolved I began to drift off to sleep again, only to hear,

"Now it's in HERE!!"

Yup, uninterrupted sleep is still a dream. But maybe it's overrated.

I've decided to post some of the outfits I put together. Mostly as a visual for myself to see how they look somewhere other than in the mirror. (My mirror has issues with telling the truth). Also as a catalog of possibilities. One thing I really love about my closet now is that all the clothing coordinates and the possibilities are limitless. It's so fun to see what new look I can create. This will help me see if it was a win or not.

Today I went for a very casual look. Since I started DYT I have been trying to be more dressy than just jeans and a T, my standard uniform prior to DYT. But there are days when you just want to be comfy and casual. Today was one of those days.

I layered a light gray tshirt under a gray burnout tshirt from Aeropostale'. The Aero tshirt is a big too large and so it drapes but since I'm T2 I think that's perfect!

I put on my silver oval earrings but still felt a little blah, so I added the dusty blue scarf I made from an old tshirt.(love, love, love these scarves!! Tutorial here) I think it adds just enough interest at the neckline.

I still find myself doing a bit too much contrast. I originally put on a purple/lavendar tshirt scarf, but decided I wanted to go with a more blended, monochromatic look. It's a challenge for me to go monochromatic.

*Please ignore the visible muffin top, I'm working on removing that!

As you can see I've changed my blog title again.

I changed it a couple of years ago to reflect where I was at that point in my life. I had grand plans to write a lot about the things that were important to me, the things that I was passionate about and the things that I was learning about and trying to implement in my life.

Then life happened.

And the writing never happened. Having baby #9 really threw a wrench in my works.

Lately, I've been thinking about this blog and now I think it needs to go back to what it was in the beginning. A record of the events and happenings in our family's life. A family journal of sorts. As I'm a part of that family I can still include the things I'm thinking about and learning about. I just think I'll have more things to post about. After all, there are 10 other people in this family!

At least that's my hope. Onward and forward!

I am what I thought I was.....

Wow. I really meant to be better at updating this blog this year. Guess the year is not over and I still have time to do better.

So after my trip to the DYT Center in Draper, I'm happy to announce that I'm a Type........................................................................................
2!!
I am what I thought I was. And I'm very happy about that!

It was a very interesting experience. I was privileged to meet with Sarah Tuttle, and she spent about 20 minutes with me, helping me decide/see for myself that I am a Type 2. The draping consisted of (with as few specifics as possible to not cause a problem with the DYT co.) placing on me type specific versions of one color. Along with that there was a piece of a patterned cloth that was type specific and a piece of jewelry that was type specific.

Sarah sat me near a north-facing window for true light and in front of a mirror. She looked at me and shared with me what facial features she did see in my face. She said she saw T1 in my upturned nose and higher forehead as well as rounder cheeks. She saw T4 in my straight eyebrows and parallel lines on the sides of my nose. T2- she saw my oval face and softer cheek/jaw and s-curve from brow to around my mouth. Then she put the fabrics for the type that I thought I was on me, then layered the others over that from the type with the features most recognized to the least. So T2 was on the bottom and T3 on the top.

The T3 color and pattern were just completely wrong. Too much movement. They were quickly discarded. T4 was next. Colors weren't too bad, but when the patterned piece was near my face, it was just overpowering me. They were removed and we went to T1. We played around with it for a time. The colors were actually quite good on me. Again it came to the pattern and metal. The piece of fabric was a polka dot and in Sarah's words,"Just looks 'silly'". The animation of it was not good for me. Then we just had the T2 fabrics to look at. Again, the colors are good, and the patterned piece just made my face look smoother and softer and not so blotchy. And it flowed with me.

I was thrilled to get this chance. I was a bit nervous going in, but it was a great time and I'm so glad I took the chance to do it. Sarah was so kind and sweet, making me feel very comfortable and at home. I also took the time to shop while I was there. I think that is something I will do as often as I can. I loved that I didn't even need my style guide. They have all the clothing sorted by type on the racks. So you just head to the the T2 rack and start shopping. I found a pair of much-needed jeans, a jacket and about 4-5 shirts, as well as a pair of earrings.

I'm looking forward to catching a club night this year sometime and I'm also planning to attend the annual event they hold. This year it's the end of September. Can't wait to meet so many women who are living their truth.

HMMmmmm......

Well, on top of all the other changes this one is not so important but it is interesting. I have been trying to live as a Type 2 (DYT lingo) for the last 9 or so months. I have enjoyed it and been happy doing so. But a chance comment from a person on the T2 Facebook page has made me have some questions. She mentioned that I look very T1 to her, possibly even T4. The avatar that I had on fb at the time was 10 years old so I decided to take some new pictures and post them. I did so on a day that I was dressed T2 with wavy hair and grayish clothing. I posted them on my fb group and hoped that someone could see the 'blended' look to my face in spite of the turned up nose and 'apply' cheeks'. Everyone who commented mentioned something besides T2, mostly T1. Here is that picture. I look old and tired. ( I am, mostly)Someone then asked me to take and post a picture of myself in something more T1, just for comparison's sake. So I went to my closet and dug out a bright pink cardigan I kept and threw it on over the brown shirt I was wearing that day. Took the picture, posted it and you know what? Even I could see it. I looked more alive in the brighter color. One lady said I looked 10 years younger and I had to agree. Check it out below.

So now I'm unsure again what my dominant Type is. Maybe I am a T1 with a strong secondary 2 instead of the 2/1 I thought I was. I'm heading to Draper in a couple of weeks to get an energy draping done. I just want to know for sure. It has caused me to do a lot of reflecting and thinking about why I would choose to live in my secondary if that is truely what my T2 is. It's quite an interesting journey. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Last quarter of 2011

I just can't seem to keep up with my own life. The last couple of months have brought lots of changes to our family and I'm still trying to come to terms with it all. Just a quick recap. I'm hoping to write individual posts about these things, but if I don't at least I've documented it here. Nov.-Elder Welch #2 (Montana) heads off for the MTC and then to Toronto Canada where he will serve for the next 2 years. He is in an English speaking mission, so only spent 3 weeks at the MTC. Had a wonderful experience going to the temple for his first time. Then he and I and James went with Grandma and Grandpa to Provo to drop him off. Jordan was able to come down to Provo to see him before he entered the MTC. It was a nice time. Had a lovely Thanksgiving at our house with Grandma and Grandpa and Karla's family. Wendy's family had to go north to support their Crane family during a very difficult time. Curtis's grandmother passed away on Nov. 29 at the age of 101 11/12. Missed her 102 birthday by 21 days. She was such an amazing person and we were all so happy for her to be released from this mortal experience. We went to Provo area for her funeral on Sat 12/3. Sunday morning 12/4 as we were getting in the car to head to church we got a phone call from my mother telling me that my dad had passed away that morning. It was a phone call I was totally unprepared for and not expecting. We hurriedly threw our things in the car and headed home to be with Mom. We spent the next few days preparing for a funeral. I was so amazed at the love and support shown to our family at this time. This town and county we live in is amazing that way. So many people came to pay their respects for and share their memories of my dad. It's been 3 1/2 weeks and I miss him so much. I keep thinking he'll show up on my doorstep, knocking instead of walking in. He always did that even though we're living in his house. At certain times of day I seem to think of him the most. When it's quiet and I'm getting ready for the day or for bed. Often seeing something or hearing something will trigger it all again. I am so sad that my littlest kids won't remember or know him well. I'm sad that I can't see him or talk to him. But, I'm SO THANKFUL to know that this is not the end. He lives on and if I choose to live worthily, I WILL see him again. That truly brings me so much peace. I am also thankful that his aching joints are not troubling him anymore. They were really getting to be painful for him. In fact, I believe that it was a blood clot from the knee surgery he had on Monday prior to his death that caused his death. We are thankful it was quick and hopefully relatively painless. We had a nice Christmas and are staring the New Year in the eye. I'm hoping that we don't have another year like this one has been. Hoping for continued good health for my mom with no more cancer. Hoping for a good experience for both of the boys who have left our home. Hoping for peace and joy here at home with the time and ability to do some of the things that we feel are important. But if not......with the help of the Lord we can do all things. I have faith in his ability to see us through all things.

Modesty

This post has been in the back of my mind for over a year. You'd think I'd have found time to write about it before now, but better late than never I guess. I'll go back to the beginning of the thoughts I've had on this subject.

My daughter was given a CD of music for LDS Young Women in 2010. The music was written by Jenny Phillips. I found that I loved the music almost more than my girls. (I'm not a poet and don't love poetry, but I do love poetry set to music. It truly speaks to my soul.) I found myself listening to this CD often as I worked around the house or drove in my car.

One song really stood out to me and I just love the beautiful message it shares. Here are the lyrics.

Virtue
Because I love the Father
I want the minds of men to be lifted when
They look at me.
Because I am His daughter
I want my devotion to Him
To be what they see
I don't need the attention of immodesty
I am confident in my divinity.

Chorus: I didn't come to earth to compromise
I came here to hold up my light
No matter what the world may do
I'm a daughter of God, and
I'm holding on to virtue

I want to lead a life that
Is full of so much good
It attracts the light to me
So I'm trusting in my Father
To magnify the beauty
he has placed in me
I am confident in my divinity.

I live in a place with lots of beautiful, amazing women who are wonderful people but I wonder sometimes if they realize how they've been misled by the society we live in.There is so much emphasis placed on the beauty of the physical body and showing it off. I have never lived in a place with so many people who run. I have also never lived in a place with so many 'moms' who are considered 'hot' by the high school boys in town. What message is being sent to the youth and everyone else? That you can be a wife and mother and still have the body of a 20 year old? That you should have lipo and implants to get that 'hot' body? That it's okay to wear skin tight clothing to show off that body and draw attention to your hard 'work'?
I believe that it encourages our young people to focus on things that are of little worth eternally and is damaging to all, women, men and youth. I imagine that the young girls are envious of them and threatened by them at the same time. They want to look like them because they see the attention it garners. But are they also seeing them as 'competition' for the boys' attention? And it's just not right to flaunt it in front of young (or old)men who have a hard enough time controlling their thoughts.

I think our Stake Presidency(LDS Church leadership in a geographical area) and the Stake Relief Society(LDS womens' organization) Presidency must have had some similar thoughts and misgivings about what is going on. They held a special meeting for all RS sisters in our stake and essentially gave us a 'Standards Night', focusing on the topic of modesty. I was thrilled to see the topic addressed but disheartened at the turnout. It was basically preaching to the choir, those who needed to hear it weren't there. Regardless of that fact I was so thankful for a reminder that we as adults are just as accountable as our youth for upholding the standards the Lord has set forth.

I hope as I continue to raise my sons and daughters that I will be able to teach them to be modest and to not seek for attention with their bodies. Instead, to be a light of Christ to those around them and draw attention to themselves in a Christlike way.

I didn't come here to compromise but to hold up my light. I'm learning to be confident in my divinity and I'm thankful for reminders in music and word that this is something to strive for.

*disclaimer-I am not saying it's wrong to run or exercise or try to dress beautifully. Exercise is important for physical health. Dressing nicely is important as well, but it can be done modestly.

DYT update

So the promised pictures will have to wait. I can't seem to find my camera which has my memory card full of pictures in it. I really wish I could find it, or at least my mind. Maybe then I could remember where I'd put the blasted thing. LOL

It has been a crazy summer. I was really hoping to go to SLC to attend an intro night or a club night at the DYT center, but that never happened.

I was able to go up in August and had every intention in the world of stopping by the center in Draper to look at jewelry and accessories. But again, it didn't happen. It was too hot, the vehicle I was driving had no a/c and I had the baby with me, so I decided it was not the right time for me to shop. On that trip I did make it to a DI and can I just tell you what a different experience it was for me? I took my style guide with me and I first pulled things off the rack if they were the right color. Then I looked at the fabrication and design lines and if they were Type 2 AND close to my size then I put them in my cart to try on. I went to the dressing room with probably 30 items in my cart. That has never happened before. EVER! I ended up with about 5 shirts and a pair of jeans for $29. Then I found a cute gray T with soft, vintage embellishments in pinks and purples at Sams Club for another $7. I was so happy to have some new items to wear. Still wishing for a scarf or two or some jewelry. One of these days.

I think that day will be here soon. Someone kind ;) (you know who you are) used my DYT link and purchased a book and online course, and I received a commission for that. I'm so excited to have some store credit to use. I'm sure that true to my type, I'll debate and debate about how to spend it, but I am looking forward to putting some of those wonderful items in my virtual shopping cart and then getting a fun package in the mail.

I have not made as much progress with my hair redo as I would have liked. I had my hair-wiz sister cut it quite short in May because I was having the post-partum hair loss. I think though that that has mostly ended, so I'm in the growing it out a bit mode and it's in the icky in-between stage. You know the one. The one where you can't do a thing with it and just want it to grow fast or get it all chopped short again. I do need to visit my sis again and have her try to get my hair back to its natural ash blonde and maybe put some lighter ash highlights in it. Can't believe I'm saying that. For so many years I've tried desperately to add some brightness to my hair with golden and reddish tones. Typical Type 2 trying to be Type 1 thing to do. Haha.

I will take some new pictures and try to get them posted sooner rather than later. I'm anxious to share my very gradual transformation.

Dressing Your Truth

I have been in a fashion funk for a long time. Lot of things contributed to that. Too much weight from lots of babies, very little disposable income (gotta feed all those kids), and just not knowing what looked good on me or how to put things together. Last fall I was introduced (through the internet) to a program called Dressing Your Truth. I was intrigued and asked my family to give me the book about it for Christmas. I read it and thought I knew what my type was but wasn't sure. I watched some of the videos that are available to watch online and still wasn't sure. Then I listened to a conference call and true to my type was too reserved to ask any questions, although I had them. So I read the book again, with the things in mind from the call as I read, and things started jumping out at me. Why I do things the way I do them. I was able to pin down my type. FINALLY!! I saved up the funds to purchase the online course for my type and I've been attempting to 'live my truth' since then. Of course I can't do a complete overhaul in a month. I just don't have the funds, but I have been able to purchase a couple of things and it's so nice now to know what colors, lines and types of clothing to look for. I don't feel lost in the store anymore! And for me that's huge! I have always hated to shop cause there are too many choices. Now I can really zero in on what will look best on me. HOORAY!!!! I will make some changes to my hair and clothing. This is so EXCITING!! This experience it has been very liberating in many ways beyond the clothing/beauty part. 

Curve balls

Ever had a curve ball thrown at you? You're standing there in the batter's box, all settled into your stance and ready for that pitch. Then it's on its way and it looks like hundreds of pitches you've swung at before and you think,"Oh, easy hit." You begin to take a mighty swing and then you realize that it's moving away from your hit zone and you're not going to hit it. In fact, you're getting nothing but air with your swing, and starting to feel pretty foolish for swinging at all. Then it's past you and you're standing there looking for the ball you thought was a sure hit.



I'm not sure I've ever had a literal curve ball thrown at me, although I did play some softball in jr. high. I do feel like life has been sending a few figurative ones my way lately though.



Like the one last summer.



Just finished nursing child #8, really excited to be able to do more intense exercise and I was attempting to eat much differently than I had been doing. I was researching and reading about whole foods and really trying to eat natural, non-processed foods. I was even contemplating getting a goat for the raw milk. Then came the blahs. The upset tummy. The unending tiredness. I blamed it all on eating different foods. That must be it, right? Well, it took me almost a month to connect the dots and realize that perhaps it was more than the food I was eating. Enter a pregnancy test. With a big, fat, positive result.



Out the window went the exercise and good eating. In the window came naps and eating whatever tasted good and didn't give me heartburn.



Seems like every time I try to improve my health something comes along to stop me. Often it's been this particular curve ball. And it's not that I mind the result. I really love my kids. But I would also love some time to give some attention to my aging body and help it become healthier as I slide into middle age.



My latest curve ball has really thrown me for a loop. No way did I see it coming.



After 8 kids I figured I knew all there was to know about baking, birthing and feeding babies. I've nursed for well over 7 years of my life. No brainer. This baby #9 would be nursed, just like all the previous babies.



And he was nursed exclusively for 3 weeks. And he didn't gain any weight. He was just barely maintaining his weight. And he was starting to look bony and was very lethargic. But surely he was okay. He had wet and poopy diapers and he latched on fine.



The problem? He was not actively nursing or swallowing. Ever. He had been starving himself for 3 weeks and I didn't know it. What to do ? I borrowed a pump to see what was available for him and was shocked to see how diminished my supply was due to him not stimulating
production with his nursing. Enter formula and pumping. Maybe if he got stronger he would then nurse properly and I could stop pumping and supplementing.



Nope. He is the laziest eater I have ever had. Now at 8 wks since his birth, I have stopped pumping because the supply has run out. After 18 years of nursing I am now back to formula feeding my infant. I have gone through all the emotions, the guilt, the grief, the acceptance and excitement.


I so wanted to nurse him. I love nursing. I love being able to have that one-on-one time with my babies. I like an excuse to sit or lie down and read and have it be okay. I miss it very much.



However, I am thrilled that there are other options and I now have a 10 lb baby with chubby legs and double chin. I love that my other children get a chance to hold and feed him, bonding with their baby bro. I love that I have a bit more freedom, allowing me to keep up with the 2 year old and the 22 year old. I am excited to be able to get back to my exercising and eating better that was sidetracked a year ago.



Maybe this curve ball is to make up for the one thrown at me last year!

wait over!

Welch baby #9 finally made his appearance on Feb 28, 2011 at 6:44 a.m. He weighed in at 7 lb 4 oz., 20 inches.

Like all our multiple of 3 children, ie. #3 & #6, he has sparse hair on top and the rest of it is quite blond.

He is my smallest baby and I jokingly asked Curtis if he thought we were running out of baby making materials. It is interesting to hold him. He feels a little fragile to me and I keep him well wrapped up so that I feel like I am actually holding onto something. He also cannot keep his clothes on. Everything falls off his little shoulders.

Regardless, we are thrilled that he is finally here and that he is healthy. His jaundice is going away and we have a beautiful little pink baby boy to love on.

*pictures to come, if I can get my regular computer up and going.

Waiting Game

Wish I had some exciting news to share here, but we are playing the waiting game....

waiting for this new little boy to join our family.

waiting to see how my mom's chemo treatments are going. Is that *&^*&(^ tumor gone yet?

waiting for warm sunshine and blue skies.

While I've been waiting I've been a bit busy. I made a sidecar for my bed from a crib. I have a smaller bed now than I've had for 16 years and there was no way that 3 of us were going to sleep comfortably in that bed. Did some looking around on the internet and found out how to make an attached sleeping place for a baby. Thanks to a nice neighbor it cost me nothing.

I also took an adorable baby blanket someone had made me and added some more flannel to it to make it a bit bigger and it is now my new car-seat tent. Love that it is tied to the handle of my car seat making the handle useable.

Made myself a new nursing cover. I've never had one before, just used whatever old blanket I could find that wouldn't suffocate the baby. I actually made one out of a cute print with boning to make a place for me to see him and for him to breathe.

Also finished up the little boys curtains today. Just need to wash, iron and hang them.

Think I'm nesting yet?????

November?

Can it really be November already? Fall just flew by and winter has made her grand appearance.

We had an absolutely gorgeous fall here. I remember when I was growing up here thinking that it was just so ugly here and wished we had 'fall' like they do in New England. All those bright colors!

I still want to see 'fall' in NE but I was absolutely amazed at the range of colors we got here this year. Usually the scrub oaks just turn brown and the quakies are yellow of course and the few maples are pinky/red/orange. But this year the oaks were all shades of yellow, ochre, orange, bronze, & burgandy along with the usual yellow quakies and few red maples. I could NOT stop staring at the mountain and being amazed by what I saw. I think it must have had something to do with all the water we had in the last year and the fact that the frost was long in coming this year. It seemed to gradually get colder and leaves turned colors before we had an actual frost. We took the pictures above up at the old ski lift before all the maples had their leaves knocked off by a rain storm. Not the best pictures but at least we have a family picture with Charles in it now (although I need to photoshop Jordan in).

Football is over for the year. We made it to the semi-finals, but were beaten by Rich again. It was a tough loss, but I have to say I'm not too sad that it's over. Life just slowed down a little.

Curtis has moved on to coaching JH Girls' basketball. It's a short season and will be done before Christmas and the practices are not nearly as long as football so we see him a bit more often now.

I finally have two teenaged boys with driver's licenses in my home. It's been so long since I've had someone I could pass the errand running off to. It's nice. Now if they'll just work on upping their GPA so we can afford for them to drive that would be even nicer!

Pregnancy is progressing well. Rather uneventful actually. It's boy #6 who will join our family in March. No name has been pinned down yet, we are running out of ideas for boys, I think. I have been fighting a sinus/cold thing for just over two weeks now and it's sure messed with my energy and ability to keep up with the work around here. I'm hoping it's on it's way out now. I have lots to do to get ready for the holidays. We are really going simple around here and I'm actually trying to make most things and have lots of thinking and making to do.

Kids are doing well, no one lost their eligibility last quarter. For us that's a huge accomplishment. They are excited to be into the 'holiday' season. I call it the 'candy' season. It starts with Halloween and does not end until after Easter. We did Halloween small, in fact, Curtis and I ran to Farmington NM to hit Sam's club and my sister ended up taking my kids trick or treating for me. That was a good trick, don't you think? At least it was a TREAT for me! We will just stay home for Thanksgiving and Christmas most likely. Trying to keep our expenses down, so that we have the $ necessary for baby and car repair. Those two things always seem to be a constant at our house.

I have been working on decluttering and minimizing the house. This week I have worked on the toy closet downstairs. It's become a nightmare lately and I just haven't felt like I wanted to mess with it. But this week I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I dug in. Mostly I'm trying to change mindsets and help my kids see that the less 'stuff' we have the less 'stuff' they have to pick up all the time. I just keep talking about it and how we need to only keep what we need and pass on to others what we don't need. Just yesterday I was talking about this in regards to Soren's cars. He has so many and they are all over the house. He said he would pick out the ones he liked and we could donate the rest to the thrift store. I may just 'donate' them to the dump! But I think he is getting the message. I'm hoping that by starting this with him at such a young age, he will have fewer tendencies to be a hoarder. 

(I hate when Blogger won't let me put spaces between my paragraphs!...hence the color and size changes!)

I think fall is falling!

Noticed some red/orange leaves on the mountain this morning. So after dropping the school kids off the little boys and I drove up to the ski lift road to check out the maples. They are just starting to turn and in a week or two they are going to be gorgeous. Unless we get a storm that blows/knocks them off the trees. Which is what usually happens. I'm crossing my fingers that we can go get some fall family pictures before that happens. We are in dire need of a new family picture, but I doubt we can get Jordan down here while the leaves last so I'll settle for a pic of those kidlets who are still at home. We are finally settled into a routine of school I think. I keep longing for homeschooling, but it's just not going to be happening here for a while, if ever again. I've decided to channel that longing into doing some 'school' with Soren who is 4 1/2. I pulled out the Five in a Row manual I bought several years ago and took myself to the library today to see which titles they had. If any. I was surprised that they had a majority of the ones in the book. So I picked up a couple with some go along books and we'll start this next week. I tried to do it with him last year, but he was just too young and couldn't stay with me. Hopefully this time around will be better. This is Homecoming week. Lots of fun activities have been going on. Montana put himself in the running for the Homecoming King. He ended up being the 1st attendant. We were so excited and happy for him. I was especially excited that he kept up with the deadlines and his homework and his cross country practices. I'm seeing signs of adult behavior! Love it. There was a cross country meet here last week. Cambria got 3rd place in the Junior High girls' race. That was exciting. Her cousin also ran after not training for 2 weeks and did very well. So glad they get to share this opportunity. Montana also ran in the varsity race. Don't know what his placement was, but he bettered his time, which is really all he cares about. Our football team finally won a game. Curtis and Ford traveled with the team to Layton and had a good experience there. It was nice to finally chalk up a line in the win column. Keeps the boys excited and working hard. All the rest of our games are 1A so they should be closer, hopefully. I got really sidetracked this summer from the things I was so anxious about at the beginning. I couldn't figure out why I lost my umph. Until one day when I asked myself why I was needing to take a nap every. single. day. And why was my gut unhappy when I was really trying to eat properly. The light finally clicked on for me and yes, you guessed it, #9 is on the way to join our family. I'm happy but a bit sad as well as the things I was really excited about I can see will be put on the back burner yet again until I get past pregnancy, birth and nursing. Oh, well. Jordan is doing well. Has a good job and is enjoying his return to civilian life. It's very strange to have an adult child out on their own. I'm groping to figure out what my role is now. Trying not to intrude too much, but still worrying about him doing the right things and remembering all he learned on his mission. Such is the life of a mother, I guess. Can't ever let go of the worrying! We are so thrilled to have a full-time job for Curtis as well. It has eased so much of the pressure we were feeling. It allows him to interact with all the youth in town and be around his own children a lot. We are thankful that he was given the chance to show what a great asset he can be. I'm also glad his job is here in town and no commuting is necessary. I have been working with the Beehives for about 2 months now. I'm so excited to be back in YW. I will get to work with my own daughters and that is something I've always wanted to do. I just need to put a bit more energy into it. It's been hard that way, as I've been the sickest I've ever been and have had no energy whatsoever. Must be my age this time around! Well, that's our life at the moment.

1,2,3,Cheeeeeeese!

I've been pondering another societal norm that I've noticed in the last few years. It has to do with cameras.

What? Cameras?

Let me begin back when I was in 6th grade. A very, l-o-n-g time ago. Not mentioning any years.
We took a little field trip to a national park near our town. I was so thrilled to have a camera to take. I think it was a little 110. Can't remember for sure. I used a WHOLE roll of film! Then I had to pay to get it developed and wait for it to come back. I loved those pictures, even typing on the back of them what they were. Which was good, because years later, if I hadn't had the info on the back I would have had no idea what the picture was of. Was I in any of the pictures? Yes, one. Out of 24, probably. The rest were of the landscapes, wildlife and scenery, and a couple of my friends.

Fast forward to today in our digital imaging age. My young teenaged daughter got a camera for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I've had one for a few years. While I love the ease of picture taking and deleting the not so good images, I hate storing thousands of digital images on my computer that are never going to be printed. But that's not my issue. Here's what I've noticed that has me scratching my head. While I tend to take pictures of my kids and things we do, I've noticed that the teen and early-mid 20's crowd tend to take pictures of . . . . .themselves.

Why is that? It honestly never enters my mind to take tons of pictures of myself in various poses and various states of dress. In fact, if it ever enters my mind to take a picture of myself I quickly throw that thought out, thinking how puffy I look in pictures. But I don't think that taking pictures of myself would be something I would do even if I wasn't 'puffy', if I was not overweight and out of shape.

What drives people to photograph themselves all the time? I believe that it is a product of our 'it's all about me' society. This generation of people has been raised with the notion that they are special, wonderful, important and that it's all about them, individually. Therefore, it follows that there is nothing better to take a picture of than their wonderful self. I also believe that it's a longing to be like the 'rich, famous and beautiful' people who are paraded across the magazines and screens, telling us how we should look, what we should wear, drive, eat and spend our time doing.

Going through my daughter's pictures one day I found a ton of pictures she and her good friend had taken together before we moved. At first, I thought it was nice and that they were cute, but the more I looked at them and thought about them, the more unhappy I became. Not that there was anything risque about them. It was just the dumb poses that they struck, the stuck out lips as if they were trying to make their mouths look more 'luscious' for lack of a better term. Too much sexualization if you really looked at it. I know these girls had no conscious intention to try to sexualize themselves, but because of the society they have been born into and have been drowning in ever since, they did it unconsciously. I have realized that I have a huge responsibility to try to steer them away from such behaviour and if they must have a camera, to teach them some photography skills to encourage them to take pictures of other things.

The end of the story: my daughter's camera was left laying around, of course, and the screen was broken. I'm not all that sad about it, either. I won't provide another so quickly and will do it with much contemplation and if I feel good about it.

A "Measure" of Success....

One of the societal norms that is having an impact on our family currently is the fact that the world has basically one 'measure' to determine if a family/person is successful.

When that measure is held up against my DH and myself at the current time, we are failing miserably. That is painful not only for us but for our children and our extended family.

That measure is this: how much money a man/business makes and spends determines his success and thereby his 'worth'. More money made/spent = successful, good. Less money made/spent = nonsuccessful, bad(for lack of a better word).

One example. I have never understood why the amount of money that a state spends on a child's education is the best measure of how good an education that child is getting. Utah consistently ranks in the bottom of the pile based on that measure. It would seem to me that any entity that can take a small(relative) amount of money and make it stretch and serve as many people as possible and have a high rate of return(graduates) would be considered a great success. In business it would surely work that way. Why not in education? But for some reason, it is touted that more money spent means that a state/school/district is doing better than one who spends less. I don't get it. Probably never will.

Same thing can apply to a family. We have been a one income family for a long time who has tried not to spend money frivolously. We don't take fancy trips, we don't own new vehicles, we don't go to movies or buy recreational vehicles. We live a very simple, family-based life. By the world's measure we are not good parents because our children do not have their own bedrooms, we do not give them every toy/electronic device they want, we will not be able to pay for their college educations, etc. Heaven forbid they should have to work themselves through school. However, they are good kids who are making good choices, we get along very well most of the time with very little anger in our home. There is much music, laughter and fun. As my children get older, they are exposed to more people and different families. My oldest just returned from a mission and thanked DH and I for the home he grew up in. Said he had no idea how many people lived in a home where joy and love were not a part of life. He was so thankful that our home had had fun, joy and that the Gospel was a focus.

I realize that to the world it looks like my DH and I have made some very poor choices, i.e., not getting a college degree, having 8 children, having mom stay at home. What they don't realize is that all of those decisions were not made lightly, but with thoughts of trying to follow the counsel of the prophets and trying to follow the inspiration of the Spirit to do what was best for our family.

The day that my DH went to pick our oldest son up from the daycare center(another societal norm I had swallowed at that point in my life) and found him crying in a corner, in a very stinky diaper, while the 'workers' chatted away ignoring the children, was the day that school went out the window. We chose our children over a higher education.

It seems that perhaps events have coincided to make it possible, even necessary, for him to return to school now. The best part? He is a different man now with different goals. We have different goals as a family. Now he is going back to get a degree in a field where he has great talent and abilities that he did not want to acknowledge before and would not have chosen because it is not as lucrative. He is getting a degree in education and a teaching certificate. This man has a way with people, children in particular, and can be a force for good in many lives this way. A much different goal than the one we had 20 years ago. Money. Yup, we had swallowed that societal norm/measure whole.

Over the years experience has taught us that money does not equal success. We have learned that we would much rather measure ourselves by a different measure. We think that a better measure would be: success equals following our Savior and our Father and doing our part to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. Building a strong family culture. Serving those around us the best we can. Having enough money to care for ourselves and help others as we can is important, but it is no longer the focus. It does not determine what we study, who our friends are, how we raise our children, the number of children we have or how we spend our time. It's just a tool to be used with wisdom and judgement in this life. If we stretch it as far as possible to serve as many people as possible, isn't that good?

Why I do what I do

That title makes me think of Fiddler on the Roof.....

Why do we do what we do?

This is a question I have been asking myself a lot in the last few years. Now I wonder why I didn't ask it of myself sooner. So much time gone that would have been better spent if I had.

I've decided that it all boils down to one thing.

TRADITION!!

That begs another question. Whose tradition? And where did those traditions come from?

When I really started asking myself why I did certain things, the only answers I could come up with were "it's what we've always done" or "everyone is doing it, so it must be right". For me it began with wondering why we just accepted public schooling as the norm and from there I have begun questioning e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. And wondering why I swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker!

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8

That's why I swallowed it. I was spoiled through the philosophies and deceit of men's traditions, or as I like to call them, 'societal norms'.

I am not trying to say that all 'traditions' are bad. Tradition is a very important tool to help bind people together, particularly families. What would Christmas be without traditions?? However, I have decided that I do not like the fact that I have been conditioned by our society to accept certain 'norms'. It makes me angry to think how my agency has been removed from me in many ways. I think that from this point on in my life I will always go kicking and screaming when anyone tells me I 'have' to do something. I want to know why. I want to know the reasons behind the societal norms. This has become my main educational focus right now for myself. To look at all areas of my life and see how we've been conditioned and to examine, research, study and come up with my own 'norms' or truths. I will no longer accept societal conditioning and have come to know that nearly all these conditionings were never for our good.

And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. Doc & Cov 93:39

The conditioning that we have been subjected to has led us away from light and truth and caused us to be disobedient. It's all in Satan's plan to destroy as many of God's children as he can. And he has lots of helpers on this earth doing the conditioning for him.

In some future writings I will share how I, and by extension, my family, am bucking the 'norms' society has put in place.

*note-If you're wondering if I'm including religion in this questioning, the answer is no. I have already gained my own testimony of Christ as my savior. I'm thinking that getting at the truth in other areas of life ought to be a similar search, ponder and pray routine. Not just an acceptance of what we are told by others. In fact, we are encouraged to gain our own testimony, and not to rely on the testimony of parents, friends, missionaries etc. That being said, there is no doubt that there are some 'norms' in the LDS faith that are just traditions and have little to do with the actual truth. Those I have questioned as to whether they are needful for our family. Some we continue, some we don't.

Core Phase Summer

I wanted to write about some of the things rattling through my brain, but I just can't seem to find the time to write about serious things. I am still working on them in my head, but I wanted to post anyway.

During the last year, with so many changes in our family life, it became apparent that this summer was going to be a bit of a challenge. Due to the fact that Dad was not living with us full time from Aug to April, and Mom was often overwhelmed parenting 7 kids alone, some very bad habits were acquired by all of us during that time.

Mom would 'shut down' every night after dinner. No reading to kids, no playing, no nothing. Mostly just vegging in front of the computer or hiding in her bedroom, reading her own books.

The teenaged children would either 'hole up' in their rooms, reading or listening to music or sleeping, or be gone from the house with friends til late.

The younger children were left to fend for themselves and went from room to room creating havoc wherever they went. The bickering and quarreling were constant.

No one did their jobs on their own initiative. It usually required Mom losing her temper to get anyone to move and do anything. The most frustrating part was the fact that the kids would declare they didn't even know what the jobs were, when we've had the same basic daily jobs for years now.

So when the family was finally reunited this spring, Mom and Dad decided that we were going to have a Core Phase Summer. We were going to go back and focus on learning to obey, to work, to be responsible for that work and to contribute to the running of this household. Also to be trustworthy, honest and have integrity in all we do.

We have implemented a 'points system' taken from a pamphlet by LaDawn Jacob. I hesitated to go back to 'job charts' as I much prefer a 'family work' approach endorsed by Donna Goff and Kathleen Bahr. The trouble was that no one was participating willingly in the family work and mom was getting that Old Martyr Syndrome again. We decided that the charts would be used short term (summer) to help kids 'see' their responsibilities and be accountable to mark them for the work done.

So far, it's a mixed response. There are some kids who are not marking their charts even though they do the work and therefore they are not earning any points. Mom has to be vigilant in checking up on jobs done to make sure charts aren't being marked for jobs not done. Points can be converted into money for school needs or minutes of screen time. I'm hoping that as the summer continues they will see the value of doing the work AND marking their charts.

We've had to take a hard stand with some of them. We've had to use the Little Red Hen story to illustrate that if they do not help out around here they will not participate in the bounties of the work. It's very hard to deny a child the ability to sit at the table and eat dinner with the family for not doing any of their work that day. (They are provided simple food and drink so no one is starving.) It has however opened their eyes to the fact that we are very serious about what we are trying to teach them about working and contributing to the cause.

Wish I had known 10-15 years ago what I understand now about the importance of teaching these life basics to my kids. My older boys would not have to be shifting gears in their thinking at 16 and 17. But it's never too late and we will not shirk our responsibility as parents, even though it's hard to start over by unlearning old habits and learning new ones. As with all good things, the work will be worth the final product.

As you can tell by the change in the title of this blog things are happening in my life.
Things that are prompting me to do lots of introspection and reflection.
I'm beginning to question why I do what I do and if I still want to do what I do...
And if I don't, then what do I want to do?

I think that the thoughts and ideas that I have in my mind now have been there for a long time, on the back burner, waiting for the right time for me to examine them.

The right time seems to be now, 2010, and I hope to write about some of my thoughts and ideas and the directions I find myself going.

The family and our life will still be written about but I'm hoping to dig a little deeper into my own mind and heart and address some of those things as well.

Hope you'll stick around.

He's Home After Two Years!!

After two very long and short years, the day we've all been waiting for finally arrived. Elder Welch was flying home from Montana,

due to arrive at the SLC International Airport at 9:10 am on Thursday, May 27, 2010. Here is our little welcoming party.

We weren't able to bring all the kids since they were still in school. It's also not much fun since you can't go anywhere inside the airport to greet them. Just wait at the baggage claim area.

So we left the school aged kids home and told them to make a big banner to welcome him home.

As we parked the car and entered the airport we went past little family groups who had missionaries leaving that day. Lots of tears were being shed and faces were sad. It made me really glad we had listened to the counsel given to us at the MTC about not going to the airport to see our missionary off. Saying goodbye once at the MTC was enough.

It sure felt good to be there to welcome a returning missionary.

I knew there would be tears but ones of joy not sadness.

His bag was the first on the baggage claim carousel. So we thought he would be down quickly. Imagine our feelings as we watched missionary after missionary come down those stairs, be greeted by his/her family, gather bags and depart and we were still sitting there.

I finally saw a pair of feet step onto the escalator and as they descended I saw a young man leaning GQ fashion against the handrail and KNEW it was my son. I think Charlie knew it too because he began walking to this 'unknown' man. Then Soren came flying by, yelling, "Jordan!" and leaped into Jordan’s arms. That's all it took and the awkwardness was gone. We gathered up our son and his things and headed home.

He looks just like we remembered. Not much about him physically changed in those 2 years.

On the other hand, he is so much more spiritually mature now, he is truly a man. It's amazing to witness that growth in your own child.

He has jumped right back into family life. He has easily taken back the title of 'biggest tease' although he's nicer about it now.

It feels so good to be a 'whole' family again.

The countdown goes on.....

Down to 17 days.

We actually got to talk to the 'mish' for a couple of hours last night. It was so wonderful to hear his voice and realize that in a few short days that voice will be booming through the house again.

He took the time to talk to each of the children individually. What a precious gift to his mom. They are all so excited to have him come home. He has, however, promised each of them certain things that will take place when he gets home, such as bike rides and triple dates and such. I hope he's up to fulfilling all those promises.

This month is shaping up to be a very busy one so I'm sure the next 17 days will fly by. Between talks in church, a pioneer vignette for Youth Conference, Activity Days, Father/Son campouts, and just the general end-of-school-year rush, May 27 will be here before I know it. I probably ought to get to work on some of that stuff......Cya!

Lovin that Ticker

Yeah, that one right over there. The one that tells about how many days I have left til I get to see my boy!

I can't wait.

It's going by pretty fast at this point too, which is fun and scary.

Scary cause I'm not exactly sure where we are going to put this 'boy' when he gets home. We're working on it.