Sleigh Bells Ring...While Heading into Fall

I just realized that above my front door on the inside is a sign that says, "Merry Christmas". It's a good thing that I am gearing up to paint my entryway so that I can actually take that down. But it brings to mind the fact that once again, we are four months away from Christmas, and four months when you are a grown up goes pretty darn quickly. So earlier this week I got started on my Christmas shopping.

No worries - I didn't go crazy. I have a big family reunion the week between Christmas and New Year's Day so I am trying to budget accordingly for it, which requires me to plan ahead. Alright, let's face it - I'm a planner anyway. But tell me that you won't be jealous when you are out in the crowds in the freezing cold (except for my Arizona readers) trying to find something. Believe it or not, there are a bunch of sales going on for back to school and I am taking advantage!


First things first - this morning we had a back to school breakfast for the founding board members and a few others for Providence Hall. We met at the park, wore the kids out, ate lots of yummy foods, and got caught up. We hope to make this an annual tradition. Thursday night we had back to school night, and while I attended last year's back to school night as a board member, this year I was just a plain old mom. Which brought tears to my eyes for all that entails. I have probably gone to Josh's school 100 times, but never as his mom. He's almost a full year older than some of the Kindergartners starting there, but in my eyes he is just way too little. On the flip side - I can't wait until he starts on Friday!

Clearly he is ready for Kindergarten...

Emily and Patsy

Emily's really cute twins!

Digging into breakfast

Paige Robb and MelissaLaurie and Paige (I told them to pretend they like each other)Erin and Alicia

Because I put in a bazillion hours during the founding year of Providence Hall, I get to pick my children's teachers the whole way through. I picked Mrs. Proud for Josh's teacher. She is the lead teacher and I have heard amazing things about her! A few people have told me that their children's ability to read skyrocketed in her class. Josh is a beginning reader and is doing pretty well, but I can't wait to see what this will do for him. He is rather apathetic about starting school, telling me that he just doesn't want to go "a whole three hours a day"! He doesn't get it that he has been doing that in preschool already. The countdown is on - five more days!

Josh and his teacher, Mrs. Stephanie Proud

Check it out now!

Off to the left you can see the link for my new blog - appropriately titled "All the Sanity in Me". It is actually not going to include anything about my kids. So this one will remain the kid/family/friends blog and the other one is the rambling about stuff blog. I have bigger plans than that for it, however, which will be revealed to you at a later date. I like revealing at a later date. It makes me seem mysterious somehow. Just to tempt you....it will include things like guest writers...links to cool things...reviews...

http://allthesanityinme.blogspot.com

Torn

Josh starts school a week from Friday. Not 12 kids per class preschool. Real Kindergarten. I feel like I am throwing my child into the lion's den. Is he ready? Have I prepared him enough for the big bad world?

On the other hand. JOSH STARTS SCHOOL! No more crazed, bored Josh! In theory anyway.

Over the weekend I got the rest of his school clothes. He seriously can go two weeks without me doing laundry. That was my goal. I'm not a fan of laundry. I also didn't buy him one stitch of non school related clothing. I expect him to come home from school (at noon) and change back into his pajamas. Just kidding. Thanks to his best buddy who happens to be a head taller, he has a lot of clothes that he will be able to change into after school.

His birthday is also coming up in a few weeks, which he likes to remind me of 12 times a day. I have no idea what to get him. Legos? They get scattered and pieces are lost. Trains are old news. Trick Tracks didn't bring the desired effect. Basically, I don't want to buy toys. He wants a remote control car. The one we got him before is broken. You get the picture. I've thought about a couple more computer games. He has a zillion books that have been collected over the years. But really, I want something that will bring excitement to his face. Because the crestfallen look just breaks my heart. I'm willing to listen to suggestions on this. He does have a leapster so a game might be a good option. Educational is what I am going for, but something that he will really use and like.

Why I Love My Kids #982

Last week my boss was chasing after her cat and fell off the bottom stairs, crunching her foot. She lives around the corner from me, so once I got wind of it I immediately ran to Kneaders, which is my go-to place for injuries and illnesses. Clara was at my mom's, so Josh and I headed over.

While I was talking to Jackie, her daughter took him upstairs to show him their cats. Jackie's daughter has tattoos all up and down her arms, and was wearing a tank top so Josh could clearly see them. Tonight Jackie told me about a conversation between Josh and her daughter.

Josh: (In a concerned voice) I really like your tattoos, but, did you know that Heavenly Father doesn't want us to have tattoos?
Jackie's Daughter: I know, you are right. You should never get them. Instead you could just use stickers, because they come right off.
Josh: That is a great idea.

Thankfully she thought it was adorable and wasn't offended at all. My sweet little goody-two-shoes almost six year old. I just love him. And what I really love was that he prefaced it with "I really like your tattoos...." like that would soften the blow since she obviously didn't get Heavenly Father's memo about the no tattoo policy.

Lost!

Since June 29, 2009 I have lost 25 pounds. It hasn't been easy. In fact, it has been harder than any other diet I have done. But it works, and that is what matters to me. After a solid year of trying so many different things without success, I finally was able to find something that would help me.

Back in June my friend posted on facebook that she was starting the hcg diet. My boss has been doing it on and off for the past six months and had lost a bunch of weight so I knew that it worked. I have just been holding off in order to keep it as a last resort. Well, it was last resort time! So I decided to go for it and see what would happen.

During the past month I have had to endure a 4th of July breakfast, a BBQ, a vacation, family dinners, birthday parties, family reunions, picnics, and so many food related activities I have lost count. In fact, had I not been doing this diet, instead of losing 25 pounds, I would have gained 5 pounds at least considering the sheer amount of food that I had to avoid. It has taught me a lot about just how food-centric my lifestyle is.

So here is my final picture taken today. I am going to start a second round (Dave is doing this one with me) at the beginning of September, but it will be a shorter round this time and I hope to lose about 15 more pounds before my high school reunion on October 3rd. Bottom line, it is hard, but it works. And I am hoping that I have made enough changes mentally to never go back!

March - August 2009

An Open Apology to Anyone that Enters My House

August launched a major remodeling project. Or should I say projects. Multiple messy projects that will take 100 years to finish. Starting with the office, we are going through and painting, well, everything. Which means 100 years because we are slow at these things. Right now I can open my front door about a foot before it stops dead. It's a good thing we use the garage for exit and entry purposes. That being said, just understand that if you come over to my house for the next 4-6 months, I have no idea what you will encounter. I can't guarantee that it will be clean, organized, or a house of order. In fact, President Julie B. Beck would faint dead away if she opened my front door right now. I'm just sayin' - it's that bad.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I'm excited about these projects. I'm excited about the changes that will be made. I'm excited to see what it will look like when it is done. I'm excited that in my head it will be beautiful and organized and when people walk in the door they will ooooh and ahhhh and want to copy me. (Snort) But most of all, I am excited to be excited about home decor and organizing again, because for the past two years my extracurricular world has revolved around work, that one school on the hill, and two callings at Church. Not to mention that whole weight loss journey that has improved of late. And family reunions and travel.

Now that I mention all of these things....what on earth have I gotten myself (and Dave) into?

It's a start!

New Blog Coming in 2010

I know - it's August, right? What?! 2010? Yeah, but did you also know that IT IS AUGUST? I mean, where did 2009 go? Christmas will be here in about 20 minutes. Have you done your shopping yet?

Anyway, per tradition I am going to start another blog next year. And since the flood has finally been chronicled to death, I am changing everything - the look, the title, the address. More info on that to come. It will take me a while. And when it finally is ready, I will be going public again and using aliases for my kids again. I'm also asking that you don't link to my blog on yours if possible, so that I can protect them. I mean, all you have to do is google my name and my old blog is #1, even though I never used my last name on it! I also won't link to yours without permission.

Some blogging themes for next year will include:
Gardening (surprise, surprise)
House remodel
Kids in school
Travel
Visitors
Family Reunions
Neighborhood Gigs
Music
Movies
Books

And whatever else I come up with!

Time For Change

As of tomorrow I am being released from my short lived calling as Relief Society Coordinator. It's a relief. That is one hard calling I tell ya! It never is done, never is organized, and really - you just don't want to know who isn't getting theirs done. Not to mention the excuses each month. I'm not a perfect visiting teacher by any means, but "I've been busy" doesn't fly with me. Judgmental enough Heidi? - yes. However, I have been juggling two callings, a job, kids, and family reunions almost the entire month of July and still managed to bake brownies for my peeps and take them a letter. Have I missed months before? - yes. But busy isn't my excuse. Just do it - call, write a letter, or actually set foot in their home and be a friend. Rant over. If I have offended anyone, well, that is why I made my blog private! :)

Anyway, in conjunction with this change, I decided to paint my office today. They really are unrelated, except that I had already planned to paint almost the entire month of August (read: no family reunions, visitors, or travel planned) and I figured since I can now shred seven months of visiting teaching reports, that will enable me to have a little more space in here. It's also been a dark red for five years and contributes to my anger management issues (see above paragraph). I'm actually quite sick of most of the colors in my house and since I am not going anywhere, I figure paint is the cheapest way to remodel (for the time being). I don't have it all done yet so I'm not going to post pictures, but it's pretty exciting stuff for me and I really love it so far. Next up: the entryway and big red wall - going away! After that, Clara's bedroom, playroom, and then I will finally tackle our bedroom.

Dave asked me to teach Gospel Doctrine tomorrow. It's not an advantage being married to a Sunday School President. He tried calling many subs and there was no answer. Dadgum caller ID. It's the same reason why no one answers the phone when I call them for visiting teaching reports! Anyway, it's on Nauvoo and fortunately I am a descendant of approximately 456 teachers. Plus I read The Work and the Glory series three times (now you can judge me). Mock all you want, but that series comes in handy memory-wise when your husband asks you to teach a lesson on Nauvoo. Don't worry - I will not use it as a source. Well, maybe I won't.

And finally, in the last month I have lost 23 pounds. It has been really hard and really wonderful. I finally feel a little bit of control, plus I don't have to do laundry as often since I can actually fit into the majority of clothing in my closet.