Christmas cookies

I love making Christmas cookies. There are some kinds of cookies that I only make at Christmas time. I must be crazy, but I love doing it. I don't always make them to give away. I have in the past and it was so much work making large batches of cookies. This year I am making most of them just because I want them. I am making peanut butter cookies to take to the ward Christmas party. I plan on making gingerbread cookies, spritzes, biscotti, my grandma Louise's special chocolate cookies, and of course the sugar cookies the kids will help me decorate. I made chocolate chip cookies a few days ago, and I dipped pretzels in white chocolate on Wednesday. I need to make cinnamon rolls, and homemade chocolates. Maybe toffee and caramel corn will be added to the list. I think I might have to go to the store to get enough supplies, even though I always keep certain baking essentials in the house at all times. I know it seems like a lot of stuff to make, but it helps the time go by faster. This is the perfect time of year, since this baby really makes me want desserts. I feel like I can get away with eating said desserts because I am pregnant and I am suppose to gain weight anyway. I just won't know if it is baby weight or dessert weight. There is a certain amount of freedom that comes with that thinking. I hope to get everything made. May the rest of the Christmas preparations go as well.

Christmas gifts

I like to make something every year that I can give out to my friends and family. I found something this year that will be easy and useful. It requires a lot of ribbon. Luckily, Joann's had their holiday ribbon 50% off this last week. I could have saved a fortune, but I just bought twice the amount of ribbon. I wanted to make snowmen out of pavers stone. Problem is the stone I need is a seasonal item and is not carried in the stores right now. I will have to keep it in mind for next year and buy the stones in the spring. I am still at a loss as to what to give to the neighbors. I have the cute jars, I just need something to put in them. I might end up doing candy, but that is so boring and no one really needs more candy at Christmas time. Last year I made pot holders. I put them with a bag of walnuts from my mother's tree. Last year I made pillowcases for my nieces and nephews. Nothing as fun or exciting is coming to mind this year. I may have to go the easy route and make it something store bought. But I have always enjoyed the homemade gifts that I have given and received. I think they mean a bit more because someone has put a little bit of themselves into the present. Now if only I could get Lila to tell me what she really wants for gifts this year. We have a few more weeks before I have to get her something. Here come the holidays.

Tattle tales

I can't stand it when my kids come and tattle on their sibling. A lot of times there is nothing I can do about what happened. They bicker all the time. And I am having a third child to add to the mix? I barely stay sane as things are now. They seem to think they can't clean up after themselves. Bribery doesn't even work with these two. Grant has the day off from school and the trouble began before the sun came up. My kids will be the death of me. Or they will send me to the insane asylum.

Halfway

Twenty weeks have passed in this pregnancy. The ultrasound showed us that our daughter is growing well and looks to be well developed. We don't have a name for this little girl yet, and this is driving me crazy. I try to find things to keep me busy, but I tire quickly. The holidays seem to be looking over me and we haven't even reached Halloween yet. The fact that stores have had Christmas things out since the end of September doesn't help me feel any better. I don't want to think about having to get gifts for people. I want to enjoy getting ready for a good Thanksgiving dinner. I loathe the change in temperatures. I don't look forward to snow. These next 20 weeks are going to be more difficult because of the time of year and being pregnant. I am glad I am halwfay, but I do not look forward to the next 20 weeks.

Baby #3

Well, I got a surprise back at the beginning of July. I will be having a 3rd child at the beginning of March. She will be our second girl. I had to find out at 16 weeks what the gender was. This entire experience is such a surprise, I couldn't wait any longer. My feelings are very mixed about this whole thing. Lila will be almost 4 when this baby comes. I was thinking about my "5 year plan" and it involved possibly finding a part time job. Now that has been pushed back even more. Maybe in 7 or 8 years I'll find something to do during my days while the kids are in school. I have always hated being pregnant. It's a scary time for me because of possible complications. I hope to make it to March without going on bedrest. I don't get morning sickness, but I was exhausted for nearly 12 weeks. I was taking two naps a day. I had all sorts of plans for the summer, but they went out the window because I was tired all the time. My poor kids were bored to tears often. Now that Grant is in school I have more energy, so Lila and I do some fun things during school time. I still get tired and need naps, but not as often as before. I am always congested. I can't sleep if I can't breathe through my nose. I haven't had a good nights sleep for months and I won't have a good nights sleep for many months to come. I find myself bursting into tears because I don't want to be pregnant. Then I feel ungrateful because I should see this as a blessing not a burden. I have friends and family that can't get pregnant. I should be thankful that getting pregnant has never been a problem. I just have to get through another 5 months of this. Then I will have to deal with all the newborn stuff. I guess I'll deal with things as they come. I will search for the good in this situation. But I am still having a hard time with this at the moment.

Who's reading?

I would like to know who is reading this blog. I am looking into going private so leave a comment so I get an idea of who needs invites.

Finding motivation

For the past few days, things have been quiet here at the Ashby house. I haven't wanted to do any of the big projects that are crying out to be done. I know the weather is great, but I can't bring myself to paint the doors in the basement. It's too much work getting the doors off and outside. I have sewing projects I need to do but I just need a break from my sewing machine. I finished one big upholstery quilt only to have another one to start on. My craft room is a mess and really needs some attention. But I am lacking the motivation to get any of this done. I clean the house instead. I am avoiding folding laundry or cleaning the kids rooms. I made an attempt at cleaning Lila's room. The gullywumpus bag ate a lot of her toys, even some of her dress up clothes. We are still working on just how she can earn them back. The kids are getting restless with the activities I plan. We did lots of fun stuff in the beginning of summer so this last month seems to be dragging. I know it will go by quickly and I should be preparing for school. But I'm still having trouble finding the motivation to do stuff. Maybe I just need a few lazy days.

A new look

I didn't want to cut my hair and I don't have money to buy a new wardrobe right now. So I thought I would change the background on my blog to give me a new look. I seem to be putting things on facebook more than on my blog lately. Grant learned to ride his bike without training wheels on Thursday, July 8th. He told his dad later that evening that he "felt like a new man". We are looking at buying him a bigger bike soon. We have to pay off the vacation before we can do that. The kids are enjoying the grass in the backyard. Grant still misses his dirt. He thinks it was much more fun than grass. But yesterday he did somersaults all the way across the backyard. He was laughing and really enjoying himself. I think he just needs to spend more time outside and he'll see how much fun grass can be.

June

June went by so fast, but we managed to pack things in. We put in the grass and it survived while we left on vacation for 16 days. My sister came to stay at my house to watch the cat, and make sure my garden stayed alive. The grass is green, thick and is right out of my dreams. My lettuce bolted so I have to pull that out and start again. I think I'll try a different kind.
Our vacation took us through Wyoming, Nebraska, part of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota, back though Wyoming, then home to Utah. It was just over 4000 miles in total distance traveled. We had a wonderful time seeing old friends and showing the kids where Mommy lived when she was a little girl. Here's a list of some of the things we did on the trip:
Steamboat Arabia, Missouri
St. Charles Historic Downtown, Missouri
St. Louis Science Center, Missouri
River boat tour of the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri
Historic Nauvoo and all that entails, (many activities, a day and a half stop), Illinois
Wisconsin Dells, Upper Dells Boat Tour, Wisconsin
Miniature golf at Pirate's Cove, (Grant got a hole in one all by himself) WI
Lake Michigan, at the beach in Sheboygan, WI
Bonfire in the backyard, (how I miss that)
A friends' farm where the kids rode horses and pet all kinds of animals
Parnell Tower, 60 ft tower tall enough to see the Kettle Moraines
Kids did Blue Harbor indoor water park with Gma & Gpa Schuette
Crystal and David go to Six Flags Great America (since kids were otherwise being entertained;)
Milwakee County Zoo, WI
Toy Story 3 in 3D
Vollrath Park in Sheboygan to test out David's new golf discs, all 5 of them
Lots of Wii games (we won't ever have one, I'd never get Grant away from it)
Playing in the hot tub, (it makes a good pool for 6 and 3 year olds)
Walking around Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota (what a tourist trap, but fun)
Mt. Rushmore lighting the mountain at dusk, ( at 9:30, late for the kids especially with a time change) South Dakota
Badlands National Park, SD
We missed driving through the Black Hills because of a severe thunderstorm that we managed to get caught in. We went back to the hotel and watched a movie and played in the pool, there was a slide.
In between all of these activities, we drove in a lot of rain for the first 4 days. Rain is different in the Midwest. It comes down in sheets for long periods of time. We don't get rain like that in Utah. We saw one amazing lighting storm coming home from Great America.
It was a great trip and the kids did pretty good in the car. We had no "Are we there yet?" statements, but we did hear, "Where's the hotel?"
We saw a lot of water towers on the trip and somewhere along the way the kids thought that if you were the first one to see it, you got to sing a song. Lila always sang "Follow the Prophet", and Grant's choice was "Book of Mormon Stories". So as you can probably guess, there was fighting over which song was going to be sung. My kids were fighting over singing Primary songs.
Now we're back and have no plans for the rest of the summer. I pulled out my "Oh, what Do You Do In The Summertime" calendar and started filling it with activities. We went to the craft store and got supplies for craft days. Grant wants to do them all right away. We have library trips planned. The Living Planet Aquarium was on the schedule for today. The kids were well behaved, and since they are both getting older it is easier for me to take both of them out. I had to stroller or diaper bag with me. I loved it.
I know my schedule will fill quickly one middle of August hits. I better get started on some of my craft projects that had to be put on the back burner for the month of June. I have two upholstery quilts to make for friends who got married in June. they make great picnic blankets.
I did both of my bike rides the first two weeks of June also. I wasn't able to go as far as I wanted due to time constraints, but I rode 33 miles the 1st week and 25 miles the next week. I love getting on my bike and riding forever. I might try to get another supported ride in this year. We'll see what July brings.

My backyard

I have lived in this house for 6 1/2 years now. We finished the basement in Feb-Mar '09. Now it was time to finish the backyard. In May we had someone come and put in a sprinkler system while we were in California. We thought about doing it ourselves but after looking at things closely we knew it was out of our league. Then it was time for grass. David took off work on Tuesday the 1st of June. It rained so we couldn't work in the yard. On Thursday we were able to go out and till the yard some. Weeds were an issue. I used the tiller during the day and David was able to come home and work in the evenings. I put in 4 terraces on the south side of the house all by myself. I leveled most of the yard. David moved more rocks than we ever thought possible. But after all this prep work, we had sod delivered on Wednesday the 9th of June. With the help of two wonderful people in the neighborhood we were able to lay the sod on both sides and the back of the house. We no longer have dirt in the backyard. The kids want to go play on it but we must wait. We are going on vacation for just over 2 weeks so when we come back the kids should be able to play on it. The timing of things was done on purpose so it would be easier on the kids and us parents. We have been having some rain so the grass is staying wet. The temperatures are in the low 60's which is strange for Utah in June, but works out great for the new grass. David made a comment about everything being done with the house. I made sure to tell him our next project is hardwood floors in the upstairs. But that is for next year.

Milestones

Lila is now a 3 year old. Her birthday fell on Mother's day this year. We were in California on our Disneyland vacation so we celebrated at Grandma Harriet's house. We gave her a fabric sided market and lacing books. Grant gave her a Snow White crown. Grandparents gave her a bunch of new clothes, (little girl had very few shirts). Her cake was pink with princess things on top. It said Happy Birthday Princess Lila. It was a quiet day. The week that followed was crazy. We went to Disneyland 5 days that week. We are now ready to rest from playing. The kids had a great time. We made Grant ride the Tower of Terror in California Adventure. He covered his ears the entire time and wouldn't go on it again. Lila was afraid of the Matterhorn, but she liked the ride when it was over. We made her go at least 4 times. We did get to the beach, but we only stayed for a short time. The water was cold and the temperature was only in the mid 70's. They kids collected shells and sand. We went to some tide pools where we found some hermit crabs. We had breakfast in the park with Minnie. It was expensive but the smiles and laughter from my kids was worth it. My favorite ride was the Toy Story Midway games in California Adventure. Grant gives me a list when I ask him what his favorite was. Lila doesn't have a favorite but she asked for Alice. We saw more characters than we did two years ago. Lila went to see the princesses. She was brave and went up and gave them hugs and had her picture taken with them. The weather was perfect every day we were there. The kids stayed happy most of the time. Now we have to plan for the next vacation in June. I have two big bike rides before then. School is almost over. Summer is coming. Full steam ahead!

A Journal

I went to a wonderful Family History fireside last night with David McCullough as guest speaker. He was amazing. He told of finding journals and how that brought these people from the past into the present, making them alive again. No one lives in the past, they lived in their present. You must learn to understand their present if you want to know them. He told us how he found a diary of a US ambassador to France during the times of Napoleon when Paris was engulfed in civil war. He found this diary in the Library of Congress of all places. He then said to write a journal and give it to your library or college or even the Library of Congress and then you will be forever quoted because it will be the only diary in existence from our time. Then I thought of what I will leave behind. I need to write things down. I have wanted to organize a project for a while now. Both of my children have been named after a great grandparent. I want my children to know who these amazing people were. I am hoping to get stories of them from the living children, that would be my parents, aunts, David's parents, aunts and uncle. If we don't write things down in some form, think of what we will be depriving future generations of. A young John Adams wrote in a small book with tiny script about wanting to read about the world and famous authors. He even wrote at the age of twenty about probably being a man of little consequence. We never know if we will be influential in the coming years. But I am grateful a young man decided to write his thoughts down so he comes to life for us years after his death. So I will write something for my children and my children's children, so when they read my words I can live again for them.

Working in the Garden

I love my new raised bed garden. I have planted the lettuce starts and green beans went in today. I will add zucchini when the time is right. I am thinking about growing roma tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce this year. I don't think I will do peppers since I am not planning on making salsa. I have a yam that put out greenery that I will put in the ground and see what happens. I did this with a red potato the first year we were in this house and it was the only thing that produced. I love having a garden.

First Ride of the Year.

I love getting on my bicycle and just going. I signed up months ago to ride the bike tour that is in connection with the Salt Lake Marathon. I was going to do it with a friend but due to medical circumstances she had to back out. It was on April 17th. The ride was only 24 miles long and was mostly downhill. I got to ride on Salt Lake City streets very early in the morning. We left from the George Eccles Bridge at the U of U at 6:00 am. It was still dark, but the temps were already in the low 50's. I finished in just under 1 hour and 30 minutes. I got to the finish line at the Gateway a few minutes before the 5 K runners left. I was given a medallion for finishing. The bike tour wasn't timed like the marathon was. After I was done I felt like I was just starting. I hope to find another ride this year where I will get to go a greater distance. There were no stops on this short ride, but that was okay because it was such an easy ride. I might do this ride again next year. Maybe I'll make David ride it with me. The feeling I get while on my bike must be the same that some people get when they run. I hate running, but riding a bike is a great high. Plus I get to see so much more on a bike than I would just running. I hope to work my way up to being able to do a century ride. That's 100 miles in a single day. I guess I have some crazy in me.

A New Vacuum

Well, my Electrolux vacuum that I have had since 1997 became possessed a few months back. I was cleaning and while holding the vacuum had a major shock. This must have shorted something in the machine because it started having issues. The machine would turn on when I touched the machine anywhere. Then the head no longer turned and it would turn on all on its own. Telling you it was possessed by the Vacuum demons. This demon gets into your machine and makes your life horrible because you can't clean your house anymore. Then it plays the dirtiest trick, it destroys your vacuum so you need to buy a new one. Oh well, my vacuum had a good run. Over 12 years with mostly minor problems. So I did the crazy thing and bought the new model. It is lighter, has better suction, no handle board to get shorted out, a true HEPA filter, 20 year parts and labor warranty for the canister, 5 year warranty on the other parts. So if the demons come back for this machine the problems will be covered for the next 20 years. I really like the fact that customer service comes to my house to see what is wrong with the machine. Areus electrolux is a great company. Someone tried to sell me a Kirby before Christmas but she took over 3 1/2 hours of my day without telling me at the beginning that she was trying to sell me a machine. She told me she was just out cleaning a room for free. I thought it was a cleaning service that if I liked what they did I could buy their services. She made me so angry that I will never buy a Kirby simply because the customer service was manipulative and deceiving. Back to what I bought, I also bought an upright for the downstairs for quick pick up. A Spring Cleaning sale went into effect at the beginning of the month and with my trade in I got a great deal on the machine. In the end I spent $1604 for two vacuums. The tax was over $100. I will not be buying another machine for at least another 12 years, hopefully more like 20 years. I know you think I am crazy for spending that much money on a vacuum, but it beats buying a Hoover or a Dyson every 4 to 5 years. In the end the cost would be the same, and I have a better machine in the intervening years. Now I am off to use my new vacuum in the house where the old machine has been causing problems. My house will finally feel clean.

Big Day

Today is a big day for our Lila. She begins potty training. So far we have had much success. I took her 3 times this morning with no results. Not ten minutes after I took her the third time, she took herself and finally tinkled. She has now done this four times already and it is only noon. We had a bit of an accident because she was playing outside and didn't get into the house in time. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. I told her to say goodbye to her diapers because she won't be needing them anymore. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Finding Time

Lately, I seem to lose track of the days and wonder exactly what I have accomplished. The last two days have been filled with the desire to do nothing because I came down with a cold. Looking back over the week I think a lot of time has been spent of Facebook, watching television and just zoning out. I need to get things done...laundry, cleaning, craft projects. When I look back on the week and see the progress made in these parts of my life, I managed to get the kids laundry folded and put away (a big step for me), I cleaned out the pantry, the kitchen table has been cleared at lest twice, the living room is presentable after the books are put back on the shelves, I am in the process of making my birthday cards for card group,I made 2 doilies on Friday to donate to a friend for a silent auction. I rode my bike 3 times for 30 minutes.
Well, when I look back I guess I did get some things accomplished. This cold is just kicking me while I'm down. I need to get back to my scrapbooking. I managed to get 62 12x12 page layouts done when I went to St. George for the annual Ashby sister's and relations scrapbook weekend. But I haven't even looked at the rest of my pictures since then. I need to print pictures out from June of 09 up to the present. I hate taking the time to upload everything, as evidenced by my lack of pictures on this blog.
David and I made a sketchy itinerary for our big vacation in June this year. That in itself was a great big check made on "the list" Now with the weather turning nicer we have to get the back yard in so the kids can play without bringing in half the yard back in the house as mud on their shoes. I love that Spring is here, but it means a lot of work is coming with it. Now I just have to find the time to do all I want to. Garden here I come.

Cards

Okay, so no pictures yet. But I decided to make some cards and see if people are willing to buy them. I have three made up already with another two in the works. I had the idea to do this a few years ago but I had some friends who thought it wasn't a good idea. Why I ever listened to them, I don't know. I gave a friend 16 different cards for her birthday. She is not into paper crafting of any kind, even though she is a very creative person. Paper just isn't her thing. She loved having so many different cards. I have been making cards for a group exchange for years and I happen to make extra every time I make them. So I was able to go into the "archives" and find a plethora of my creations to give her. It gave me the momentum to begin a new project. I don't know exactly what I am getting into, but I am enjoying making cards.

I procrastinate.

I have been wanting to put up pictures of Grant's birthday since the 10th of January. Here it is nearly a month later and no pictures yet. I hate how long it takes me to post pictures on my computer. I could do it on David's computer, but that means venturing into the Man Cave. I need to just do it. I need to print pictures, also. I have over 1000 photos to scrapbook, but that only takes me through June of 2009. I told myself that I would get pictures printed every month. So much for that idea. Well, for all of you waiting for pictures you will have to wait a bit longer. WE;ll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe pictures.

Grant is 6

Grant had a birthday and it was not stressful like last year. He had a party on Saturday. He wanted to go bowling so he was allowed to invite 3 friends. We managed to get all the car seats in the van and the boys had a blast. Lila was allowed to come because she was the sister. They had a blast and then we came home and opened presents. Grant got a Nerf gun with a laser sight and lots of Ben 10 action figures (Kevin, Gorvan, and Brainstorm). He already had Chromostone from after Christmas. We gave him Kevin Levin's car ( a Ben 10 toy). The 4 boys sat in the corner of our living room and quietly played with the Ben 10 stuff for a good 10 minutes. We ordered a cake that we had to design ourselves to look more like a Ben 10 cake. Grant loved it. Plus we had to put Ben on it so he got another action figure. I have pictures to post but I am on the wrong computer to do so. Grant is nearly 44 inches and 36 pounds. He is skinny! He still doesn't like pop, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He loves candy corn and tootsie rolls. He is a smart kid and is learning to read quickly. He is a very sociable child. It gets him into trouble at school sometimes. He is an amazing kid.
On Sunday, his actual birthday, he opened gifts throughout the day. Bakugans for breakfast, Voltron DVD's for lunch, and rockets, Ben 10 figures (Humongasaur, Swampfire, High Breed, Anodite Gwen, and Nanomech), another Bakugan from Lila, Glow in the dark stars, a foam rocket launcher, & 2 real rockets. I think that was everything. I might have missed something. He has been happy with his toys and plays with them constantly. Television holds no appeal compared to his imagination.

Do Better

I am supposed to start the new year with a resolve to do better. Better at what? you may ask. I will do better at keeping up on the housework...did I just write that? I will do better at cooking dinner...what? I will do better with my children...but they are so unpredictable. Well, I will just try to do something better every day. I might try to work on my piano skills, or pick up my guitar and really work at getting better. Maybe I'll organize my scrapbooking and other craft supplies and try to keep them that way. I guess my motto for the year is just "Do Better". I don't have to get anything perfect, just better than it was the day before. I'll do better at keeping up my blog. Do better at getting pictures posted. Do better with my health. Do better at the garden this year. Do better with the backyard landscaping. No matter where I look in my life I can always see something that I can do better, since I know I'll never be perfect in this life. May we all "do better" this year. Find something that will make you a better person and work on it. Think more of others this year. Do more service for others. Be better at being grateful for what we have. Everything we do can make an impact on someone else. Try to make that impact be for the better. I'm going to try and make this one last all year, and maybe beyond that.