Peanut Butter Popcorn

If you want a change from the normal Carmel or Candied Popcorn you are going to want to try this YUMMY Peanut Butter Popcorn!

Peanut Butter Popcorn

1 cup karo syrup (can substitute honey or half honey half karo)

1 cup sugar

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

Directions

1. Slowly heat karo syrup and sugar together until sugar is dissolved.

2. Add peanut butter and vanilla and heat on low stirring occasionally until completely incorporated

3. Pop the kernels

4. Pour peanut butter mixture on top of popcorn and mix together

5. Spread out on parchment paper to let cool

6. Eat and enjoy!!!!

T-Ball & End Of Days???

I sometimes, strike that, often wonder how the thoughts that my boys have actually come about. This one cracks me up!

As we were driving to Tyson’s first t-ball practice yesterday Tyson asked when his next t-ball practice will be, Thursday, I answered. Tyson then asked “what’s at the end of days.” I reply, “bedtime.” Tyson then asked me the same question 2 more times and my answer was the same 2 more times. Again he did not like my answer. “No Mom, I mean when Jesus comes down and then we go back to heaven with him.”

Wow, I was not expecting that to come out of my 5-year-old. So as I think for a quick minute about how I would explain this to him, it came out something like this. Well one day Jesus will come back down to earth and everybody will be resurrected and go back to Heaven. Once we are in Heaven those of us that have been really good will get to stay with our families forever and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus.

“So Mom, when will Jesus come down to get us?” I said it would be a big surprise to everyone so we always have to try our best to be good. “Mom, I hope it’s not tomorrow.” Why, I asked. “Well, because I have T-ball practice on Thursday.”

I just love the way little kids think and process everything that they are constantly learning. It makes me happy to know that even when I don’t think they are listening or paying attention to Family Home Evening, lessons at church, or our nightly 2 verse scripture reading that it is all still sinking in. I am really grateful when conversations like this come up because it reminds me that I need to always be conscious of what I am doing, because they are always watching and learning.

Boot Camp Baby!!!!

First day of Boot camp came today, I am so glad that I am doing this for myself, if you want to read how I finally came to the decision to do this for me click here. Currently I feel sick to my stomach and have an awful headache along with sore muscles that I can only imagine are going to feel even worse tomorrow. I think I pushed myself harder today than I ever have before. I am looking forward to 10  weeks of hard core training. At the end of this 10 week program I hope to have gained;

1. A healthy way of eating

2. Healthy workout habits

3. Increased my self-esteem

4. An understanding that if I am happy and healthy I will be able to take better care of my family        and those around me

Last Saturday I was weighed, measured, and had my body fat calculated numbers that I will not be sharing with anyone but my husband. In the weeks to come I will be posting my losses and I hope there will be many! I will also post the weekly menu that I am supposed to follow. The menu is really basic but is meant to be a teaching tool for learning appropriate portion sizes and the right types of food for my body. Food on the menu can be seasoned in anyway as long as it does not add calories/fat.

Here's to my first Great Week of a Healthy Life!!!

Week 1 Menu & Grocery List

Healthy Woman, Physically, Emotionally, & Spiritually

I have decided that I am ready to become a healthy Woman, that’s right Woman. This might sound selfish and I have thought this many times because, I should be focused on my family and all the other obligations that I have. Well I think I have finally figured out that in order to BE a great Wife, Mother, and any thing else that might come my way, I have to take time for me. I am ready to become strong & healthy physically, emotionally, & spiritually and I am excited for the journey ahead.

As I have thought back through my life and when I thought I was most happy a few specific times came to mind. First was when I was a sophomore/junior in High school. I was very fit and active, always out with great friends. During that time I was not eating a lot and I was exercising all the time, but to me I was finally where I thought I wanted to be. I had many family members worried and concerned about the weight I was losing and my eating habits, but I would lie and say that everything was fine.

The second time I thought of, was when I was a senior. I had a boyfriend that I thought was wonderful, I was a cheerleader, had lots of friends, doing great in school, what more could a girl ask for. I no longer could keep my body going with the little amount of food I was putting in so I turned to bulimia. I would get to a game, performance, track meet, or whatever it might have been early so that I could eat without anyone seeing(usually in the locker room), after I was done I would head right into the restroom to purge almost everything that I had previously consumed. This was working quite well for me and it did for a long time. I graduated with honors, went to college, still had the same boyfriend and started putting on some weight. After another year almost two my boyfriend and I broke up. I wish I could have figured out sooner that the boyfriend that I loved really wasn’t Mr. wonderful(I'm sure he is for someone), but someone who found the weaknesses in me and used my low self esteem to his advantage. I am not saying that I was blameless in the relationship by any means but in hind sight I wish I would have taken the advice that I received from my parents, family members, friends, and even some of His family which was, He did not deserve me and that I could find someone much better that would respect me and treat me the way I should be treated.

As many girls do I gained and lost weight over the next few years, continued with my bulimia and then eventually moved to SLC. My parents purchased a condo for me and several roommates to rent out and it was a Fantastic place. I was always having people over, ward parties, and just a great time. Still my self esteem was so bad that I always turned to my eating disorder for comfort. Bulimia was my friend, I was very carful to hide my disorder and it wasn’t until I finally told my roommate that I was able to get help. I was able to get a great therapist at a Wonderful Eating Disorder Clinic in Orem. After 2 years of treatment I was finally in a really great place with myself, eating healthy, exercising a normal amount, and really loving who I was.

I found a great guy that I am married to, Graduated with my Bachelors, started having kids, and now here I am. In the past I have always come up with excuses for why I am not eating the best or exercising or why I gained the weight that I have. Time to be done with all the self-pity and throw it in the garbage and that is exactly what I am doing.

I have enrolled in a 10 week Boot camp for Women only, to give myself a boost to healthy living. I love that my family is 100% behind me. My sweet boys are always asking me about boot camp and when it starts and what I will be doing. Steve is a great support and knows that if I become healthy the whole family will become more healthy. I am most excited that I am finally doing this for me, not anyone else although in the long run it will benefit all those around me, but it starts with me!

 

Sunday Nap..........Not Gonna Happen

Sometimes, all I really would like is a nice Sunday Nap. Today is one of those days and it is not happening.
It is not to often that my oldest takes a nap but today he is. One would think this is the perfect senario for a good nap, right, wrong.

While Tyson is sound asleep Parker will not stop coming up the stairs, which in turn keeps waking up Chloe. I have even tried having him lay with me, not working like it should. As it is, if the kids are not asleep, mommy can not be asleep.

Maybe next Sunday will be the day! Conference Sunday right, just kidding (kind of)

Three GREAT reasons worth not having a Sunday Nap.

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A Few Favorites

I first started Blogging in 2008 and stopped in 2009, lame I know. Anyway I decided that I wanted to import the posts from that previous blog into this current one so everything would be together. While looking at my old posts I found a few that I really loved.

Great Job Parker

Building With Yamma

Pepperoni Grease Pools

Random Post

Time to visit Santa Claus!!

I just found this post in my drafts while looking through some of my past blogs so I thought, what the heck, why not put a random post up.

Secret Passageway

I just love my 2 MISCHIEVIOUS Boys!!!

The other day I was in the house folding the never ending pile of laundry while my boys were playing out in the FENCED backyard. The doorbell rings and as I am getting closer I hear lots of giggling that sounds all to familiar. When I open the door, I find 2 little boys with huge smiles on their faces and hear a big, “Hi Mom!” “How did you get to the front door,” I asked.

“Through the SECRET PASSAGEWAY,” Tyson says.

When He said that, I thought he meant the pet door in the garage, so I asked him to show me. They were both super excited to show me, “The Secret Passageway,” laughing as they run through the house to the back yard.

As I watch them run to the back side of our yard I notice the fence slats looking crooked and then it happens, both boys start to climb through the fence. I pulled out my phone and got a pretty good picture of them going through, “The Secret Passageway.”

I don’t know about anyone else, but I was unaware that the slats could be pulled out like that, apparently I am a little naive when it comes to fences. Sometimes my guys are a little to smart for their own good. I still am trying to figure out how the thought of, I wonder if we can move the fence apart, even crossed their little minds.

Needless to say, they think their discovery is just the greatest thing ever and still had not stopped laughing. I was trying to keep a straight face while explaining to them why it is important not to use, “The Secret Passageway,”again. I think I got through to them but only time will tell.

FYI ----- The fence slats do go right back into place.

I think I will blame my DAD for their Mischievousness!!!! Love you Dad!

Patience Truly is a VIRTUE

I have always thought of myself as a patient person in all aspects of my life, but I am truly grateful when Heavenly Father takes the time to humble me when I am not remembering how important patience is, especially, as a Mom.

This situation has come up on other occasions when I guess you might say that I get consumed in other things and last night it was getting the kitchen clean. We were going through our regular routine at bedtime, PJ’s, reading, scriptures, prayer and then off to bed. Tyson fell asleep really fast and Parker was told to stay in his bed. I believe Parker came up 3 times because he needed to “go the the bathroom.” The first time was legit but the next two he was forcing himself to go. So I preceded to tuck him in again and said “Parker you need to stay in bed or I will have to take a token away for tomorrow.” “Otay, mom,” he tells me.

As I start cleaning the kitchen again I hear little footsteps, “Mom I need you to hold me.” I dry my hands pick him and carry him down stairs, rock him for a few minutes, tuck him in and tell him that I will come back down to check on him. Again I hear, “otay mommy.”

I once again preceded to clean the kitchen, (irritated because it is taking so long) and after about 20 min I remembered that I was going to check on Parker. Now, I should have gone down right then but I took about 5 more minutes to finish what I was dong. When I went down to his room expecting him to be asleep I find my sweet little Parker laying in bed like I told him to, wide eyed but looking so sad. I asked him why he was not able to go to sleep and this is his reply,

“I just want you to hold me Mom.” My heart pretty much sunk, as thought to myself how many times he has already asked me to hold him. I apologized to him for not taking time to hold him and he of course said “it’s otay mommy, I love you.”

After holding him in the rocking chair he asked if I would lay by him. I laid down next to him and stroked his hair and he fell soundly asleep.

Wow, I felt like an awful mother at that moment but at the same time I am so grateful for humility and that I have the opportunity to learn and grow everyday. I hope that I will remember next time that whatever it is I might be doing or trying to get done, it is not nearly as important as my precious children that I have been entrusted with or my wonderful husband who I love so much.

My Sweet Parker

Spilt Milk

So I am sure many moms will relate to this, SPILT MILK.

As a nursing mom I love knowing that I am providing my babies with so many nutrients and antibodies that will help them for the rest of their lives. I am grateful that my body is able to produce the nourishment that my babies need and feel that it is a great blessing.

Tonight I was needing to pump because I was working and my sweet brother and sister-in-law took the kids because Steve was working also. I finished pumping and had to clock back into work before I could take the bag of milk to the freezer. Once I was able to take it downstairs I noticed that the bag my milk was in had a hole and I had lost about 2 oz! To me that is so frustrating but it brought back to mind a funny story, now, but when it happened I was so upset, sad, frustrated, and felt like a bad mother. So here is my first story of being a nursing mom.

Tyson was just over a week old and was home but he had to stay in a suitcase of lights because his bilirubin was off balance. Now, keep in mind that while needing to be under the lights the only time we were supposed to take him out was to feed him and change his diaper.
That night there was a big storm and our power went out, which means, we could not have him under his lights. We drive to my Sister-in-laws home so that we can plug the lights back in. During this time I was also really sick and Tyson was not nursing well. I had become so full, I was crying, along with not being at home, worrying about my baby because he was not under the lights for about 30 minutes(which really wouldn't have made a difference in hind sight), basically I was having a meltdown of sorts. Steve does not remember any of this by the way(blocked from memory).
My Sister-in-law remembers that she had kept a manual pump, so I remember trying for what seemed like forever to pump and all I remember getting was about 2 oz. Even with that I did feel some relief. As I stand up to go into the kitchen I knocked over the bottle of my precious milk and it was all over the floor. At that point I just started to cry. I am not sure what Steve was thinking, but he headed to Wal-mart to buy an electric pump, and probably to escape his crazy wife that was crying because 2 oz of milk spilled, and thinking that I was hurting Tyson because he has been shorted a few ounces of milk (I put it to being a new mom, not crazy). Once I was able to hook up to my brand new electric double pump, I felt so much better, although I felt like a cow that was being milked. I have decided that sometimes dignity goes right out the window when you are a Mom.

Now that it is almost 6 years later I am happy to say that Tyson is a healthy, active boy that doesn't seem to be affected by the few ounces that were missed that Crazy, Stormy Night!!

I love being a Mom, and I am glad that I have the ability to look back on events that have
happened and can laugh and enjoy the journey that I am on!

We Love California!

The kids and I had another great trip visiting Papa & Grammy. This trip out we were lucky enough to go to Disneyland thanks to Grammy and one of her friends, that was able to get us in for FREE!!

We did our normal fly into Long Beach early Sunday Morning(I think we had to leave the house at 4:30AM Yikes!) Papa picked us up and we headed straight to church. The boys are always excited to be the visitor in primary & nursery. Grammy always makes a delicious Sunday dinner for us, always great when I don’t have to make it! Chloe really enjoyed dinner!

Then I believe we had a movie night watching Star wars with Popcorn, Yum Yum!

Monday morning we left for Disneyland, Yippee! This trip was great because I had brought a stroller and Grammy also had one. I didn’t think that I would be using a stroller for Tyson but that is what ended up happening. When we get to Disneyland we meet Bro. Kimbrell at the monorail which is by the Lego store so of course we have to take pictures.

Everyone was really happy at the beginning of the day. We started out on Buzz Light-year and the Rockets and from there went to all the rides through the castle(drawing a blank on the Land.) At this point Tyson was not very happy and He ended up getting sick poor kid. He felt a bit better of and on throughout the day but for him it definitely wasn’t the best Disneyland trip for him. Several times Tyson would curl up in the stroller and go to sleep, it made me sad to see my big boy not feeling well at “The Happiest Place On Earth.”

The rides that were the highlight of the trip were Buzz(4 times), It’s A Small World(3 times in a row), Tarzans Tree House, Autotopia(6 times).

The least favorite rides, Peter Pan for Parker(Tyson wouldn’t go on it) and then they both came out of Mr. Toads crying with Grammy in tow. I have decided that the rides in that area are quite scary for little kids, After the reaction to Mr. Toads we just skipped the others.

By the end of the night we wanted to see the new water show in California Adventures but were not able to get a very good spot unfortunately. Parker and I had a great time on the carousel while Tyson slept. I believe we rode it 4 times in a row, He loved getting off the ride and then running back into line to get on again. I love to listen to Parkers Happy giggle and I heard it a lot that night.

The next day I decided to VETO the beach since Tyson wasn’t feeling the greatest so instead we went to their favorite park. The boys call it the “BEACH” park because it has lots of sand.

By that night all of my kids had fevers and I was not looking forward to the plane ride home in the morning but what do you do. All in all we had a wonderful trip but it was time to go home and head straight to the doctor to have kids checked.

Parker had a fever of 102 in this smiley picture. Tyson always goes to the back of the airport bus and sits in the same seat. He loves his seat and I am not sure what he will do when that seat is taken by someone else.

The results……………Tyson had some sort of a virus, Parker was checked for RSV but when results came back a few days later he had a different virus. Chloe tested positive for RSV poor girl. I am really glad that we already owned a nebulizer since all of the kids had to use it one right after the other for a few days. Tyson was also prescribed an inhaler and then the boys were also put on a steroid of some sort. Yes we were having a lot of fun at our house. After everyone finally started getting better Chloe got sick again but this time with Colic which is another type of respiratory virus. The doctors told me that I would need to sleep right next to her because with this specific virus babies can stop breathing while asleep, thanks that is what I want to be worrying about. Needless to say I did not get much sleep for the next few nights.

 

 

 

Being Mom

As I am rocking my baby to sleep tonight I look down at my pants to find, boogers, I think food of some kind, and throw up from cleaning up my little guy less than an hour ago. As I take time to think of all the crazy things that go on during a 24 hour period all I can do is smile and giggle a bit. There have been many times I have wanted to cry, scream, lock myself in a room, or SLEEP ( I have done these on occasion ) but overall I would never want to change anything about being a Mom.

Being a mother is the greatest Blessing and Calling that we can receive from our Father in Heaven. I feel so honored that I have been entrusted with teaching, guiding, and loving these three precious kids of mine.

I am grateful for the gospel in my life and for the opportunity to be an eternal family.

I Love being a MOM!!

Trial run

I just found this app to blog from my phone and wanted to try it out.

I love this picture of Tyson!

Time To Play Catch Up, again!

So I might get last Christmas on here one day, but not today. We are about to head out on another adventure to California to visit Papa & Grammy and unfortunately it is without Steve again. I am so lucky that Steve works so hard so we can go play, it also helps being able to fly for FREE!!! Love that perk of my job, anyways, we had a Great trip in January. I think it would be appropriate to call our last trip “The Beach Vacation,” since we spent our 3 full days at the beach! We love the Beach and it doesn't matter where it is, as long as there is sand, and water we love it!!!

We had a great time collecting Shells for our Travel Craft. The boys did a great job placing their shells on the hearts so that I could glue them down. My favorite part about this craft is that we can put them up every year at Valentines because I mounted them for display.

Tyson loves to play in the waves even when the water temperature is only 57 degrees!! He also is great at meeting new friends. Anytime a new kid would arrive near us he would tell me another friend is here. On the first day a huge group of Chinese kids showed up not speaking any English but he still had a Great time playing with them.

Parker, loves the sand! He likes to play in the water a bit but loves the sand. I would have to say his favorite part is taking a shower at the beach. By the time I am putting down all of the beach stuff Parker will have stripped naked and is turning on all the shower spouts. I have a great picture of his naked butt, but I would probably get turned in if I posted it.

Chloe had a great first visit to the beach even when she was hooked on to the front of me while chasing our umbrella about the length of a football field. I did catch the umbrella and would have probably won on AFV if it was caught on video. She loved laying on the Beach and she was really good at falling asleep. Chloe even handled having sand on her face courtesy of sweet big brother Parker.

Our first Beach day was spent at Huntington. Day 2 was at Santa Monica, where we also went to the aquarium under the pier. I was amazed to see all the different Sea Stars that are in the area, absolutely beautiful! Then that night we went to the Street Fair in Huntington, which has become a tradition for us. The boys love trying all the fresh fruit samples and we always stop at the craft booth. Our 3rd day we went back to Huntington and at the end sat down at Jacks on the beach and had ice cream!