Outakes

Trying to get a good picture of my boys together is pretty much impossible these days. Between them either crying or running away or someone (ok me) having their eyes closed, it takes a lot of effort. And snacks. And bribes. We were at the park last week, and I wanted Dean to try to get a few good pictures of me and the boys for this post. We were able to get a few OK shots for that post, but most of them looked like this...

One day

One day my boys won't run to give me a hug with a big smile on their face when I return from being away.

One day they'll be too embarrassed to give me kisses in front of their friends.

One day they won't need me to rock them to sleep.

One day they won't ask for me to hold them.

One day they won't want to cuddle in bed when we first wake up.

One day they won't ask me to read them a story on my lap.

One day they won't need me to kiss their boo boo's.

One day they will be all grown up.

But they will always be my babies.

What I done did

At end of this blog post I wrote a list of things I wanted to get done last week, and said that at the end of the week I would post what I actually accomplished from that to-do-list. Well, I'm a little late in posting that, but better late than never.

So, I did not get everything crossed of my list. Shocking, I know.

I didn't get around to cleaning out our window seat storage, and I took a look at the top of the filing cabinet and deemed it wasn't that bad. So, it remains untouched. Oh, and the toys. Nothing happened there.

But I did get my fridge cleaned out.

And got my food cupboard organized.

I organized the shoe basket, getting rid of shoes that no longer fit my big foot of a son, and went through all the boys clothes (Although not all the bins made it downstairs yet. I just hate going down there.)

I also got a lot accomplished that wasn't on my list though. Like 2 batches of chicken stock, 4-5 batches of yogurt (I lost track), made a big pot of sauce using fresh from the market tomatoes and soaked like 10lbs of beans. Well, more like 3-4lbs. But still. That's a lot of beans you guys. Now I just need to make bbq baked beans and refried beans with them!

So, I am pretty satisfied with what I got done. I definitely still need to finish that list though, but it will have to wait until next week. This weekend we have our annual Church Family Camp, so this week is FULL of writing lists, shopping, baking/food prep, packing...oh the packing. Just writing that makes me wonder how I am going to get it all done without pulling my hair out. If only we could just live on cereal all week. Life would be so much easier.

My secret love

I have a secret.





I love cereal. Yup. Now you know. Any cereal. All cereal. From Cheerios to Captain Crunch. Raisin Bran to Waffle Crisp. Organic Peanut Butter Puffins to Puffed Kamut. I never met a cereal I didn't like. In fact, I am drooling just thinking about all the yummy cereals there are to eat. But here is the thing: I don't eat it. Oh, I have eaten plenty of cereal in my day. I grew up eating the Standard American Diet (SAD). I'd have cereal for breakfast, snacks and sometimes dinner. But not anymore. I have rarely bought cereal for about 4 years now. Because, now that I know what I know, I just can't buy it.

You see, cereal. It's not good for ya man. Yes, most of it has HFCS and processed white flour which are obvious red flags. But what about Organic cereal you ask? Sure there is no HFCS. It's made with "whole grain" and organic ingredients. That's all fine and dandy. But the issue here isn't necessarily about the ingredients. It's how it is made. ALL cereal is made using the same process called extrusion. Which is basically using high heat and pressure to make corn take the shape of a "flake". Or whole grains in the shape of a hexagon (Crispix anyone?). It destroys all the nutrients and messes up the protein structure making them toxic to our bodies. You can read a lot more about it in this great article here.

I have been thinking about cereal a lot recently. Don't ask me why. Just dreaming of what used to be, I suppose. Then today a blogger I love re-posted that article, and I was again reminded that my relationship with cereal just isn't meant to be. And then, out of the blue, just minutes after reading that article Dean sends me this picture saying "I'm getting you one".

Thankfully Lucky Charms is not high on my list of fave cereals (although I can't say I hate it) so I was able to turn him down without much despair.

All this said, I must confess. Even knowing what I know, I have occasionally given in to the temptation and have...gulp...eaten cereal. Sometimes while at my family's house I will grab a handful from their pantry. And a couple months ago when Dean and I had our anniversary trip....I brought a box of cereal with us for my i'monvacationguiltypleasure snack. In the evening, when we came back to our room after the entertainment for that night was over, I'd have a glass of wine and some organic gluten free Envirokids peanut butter and chocolate Leapin Lemurs. It. Was awesome.

Family fun day: Riding bikes

Today was our family fun day! Although it would have been a perfect beach day I just wasn't feeling beachy today. Instead we decided to take a bike ride around our neighborhood and up to a close by park, and break in our new to us bike trailer. It was quite hot out, but the boys enjoyed the ride and Dean and I got a good workout in! We will definitely be doing more of it, as long as my bike hangs on a little bit longer. I got that bike when I was 12 years old for $60 at K.B. Toys with my own money. It's just a little sad that I still have it. About 3 out of the 10 gears still work, and I am counting on only the front brakes to stop me. Not the best situation for riding downhill! Here's hoping I don't go flying over the handle bars!

A bad boo boo, the brightside, not running a race and gettin' things organized

Life man. It can knock you off your feet sometimes. It was all just weird and awful and I am glad it is over. I got this tiny little cut on the bottom of my foot while doing dishes, from a piece of glass that was in my little kitchen throw rug. It bled. I put on a bandaid. It stopped bleeding, so the bandaid came off. It's summer, so unless I am going to a store or the gym my feet are bare. We played outside, we spent the weekend at a friends lake house (swimming, boating, etc.) and a week after cutting my foot we spent the afternoon at the beach. At this point the cut had pretty much healed up, but once home from the beach it started to hurt. I thought maybe something was in there, so I soaked my foot and dug around with some tweezers. I didn't find anything. The pain continued to get worse. We were now in bed on a Wednesday night, and the pain was so bad I could not get to sleep. It was a throbbing, sharp pain. Top 4 most painful things I've dealt with. By 1am I was pretty miserable, so I woke up Dean. He was very sweet and got some couch cushions stacked up in bed to elevate my foot and got an ice pack. It took awhile but I finally got some sleep, even if it was only 3 hours. I was up by 5am. I lay there awake for a couple more hours until the boys woke up. Dean got them up, and we made plans for my sister to come watch them. I knew it was definitely infected. All swollen up with red streaks across my foot. I don't have a primary care doctor right now, so we went to the ER.

Thankfully there was no wait. Yes, it was infected. They prescribed an antibiotic and highly recommended I get a tetanus shot as well. Now, if you know me at all you know that I will do anything I can to avoid taking Advil let alone take antibiotics, let alone get a VACCINE! I was so bummed about it, but we felt like it was necessary. So, with the tetanus shot in my arm and prescription in hand we were free to go.

The pain in my foot became bearable as long as I kept it elevated. Getting around was entertaining, to say the least. Will and Sam were highly amused. By that night (Thursday) I began feeling sick. It all came on so fast. Fever. Body aches and chill. Headache. Sore throat and coughing. For the next 4 days I felt like that. I was convinced it was a bad reaction to the tetanus shot, having read that flu like symptoms could be a bad side effect. But then by Tuesday I had a rash all over my body, and by Wednesday my entire body from my fingers to my face was constantly prickly and tingly. It felt like needles all over my body. I did not want to have to go back to the hospital. I was trying to stay strong and get through it, but I was done. I couldn't take it anymore, physically or mentally.

Up until that day I hadn't cried through any of the foot pain or feeling sick. I'm naturally not a big cryer. But I found myself leaning over the kitchen sink trying to hold back tears, and a thought went through my head that if I were to cry it would mean I was giving up. That I would be letting this "sickness" win. But just as soon as that thought went through my head it was like God was telling me , "NO! That's bullcrap. Just go ahead and freakin cry already would ya?" So I did. I cried. And I cried and I cried. It felt good. As soon as Dean stepped in the door I started sobbing. I just didn't know what to do. I didn't want to go to the hospital, but I had no other answer of what to do. So, back we went.

Turns out I was allergic to the antibiotic I was taking. I had it stuck in my mind that it was the tetanus shot, but looking back it's like, "Duh!"

So, here I am today. Feeling pretty much back to normal. The rash went away within a couple days once I stopped taking the antibiotic. My foot is just the tiniest bit sore, but overall I am well. As I was dealing with everything I was trying to look on the brightside of things. Thankful that my husband makes his own hours and was able to be with me when I needed him and not have it effect his paycheck. Thankful that I have in-laws willing to watch my boys at a moments notice (and parents that could have as well!) Thankful that even though I missed out on mom's night out or the barn dance, I at least didn't have to show my face in public while having the biggest and worst cold sore I have ever had.

I am also bummed about not being able to run the 5k I have been planning on doing. I was really looking forward to kicking butt and beating my last time. But the race is this Saturday. It has been 12 days since I have worked out last (I'm dying to get to the gym!), and my foot is still a bit sore. So, it's not looking good.

During being sick and not able to walk, I would literally daydream about just being able to do the dishes or walk downstairs to do the laundry. It gave me some motivation to take advantage of my good health once it returned, and really try and organize and de-clutter my house. But since I know myself, and know that this self motivation to kick butt may be short lived, I thought I would make myself accountable to anyone who reads this. So, here is what I would like to accomplish this week (along with staying on top of normal housework):

- Organize/clean out my food cupboard

- Clean out my fridge

- Clean out/organize window seat storage

- Go through boys clothes and pack away stuff that doesn't fit (Also make sure ALL storage bins go back to the basement!)

- Go through shoe basket

- Clean off top of filing cabinet

- Go through and get rid of toys

I will post at the end of the week, and see what I've accomplished!