kidney beans and stars

What does the title of my post have to do with each other???? They don't. It's just what I wanted to name it because of 2 different things I was thinking about.

First, kidney beans are killing me! Not in the literal sense but they are killing my arms. When I'm warming up on my treadmill, I use cans of kidney beans for my arm exercises. It is quite intense some mornings but I'm learning to manage. I don't have dumb bells so I have to use what I have and that something is cans of kidney beans. It's the same thing right? I'll get the same result, don't you think? lol

Stars...oh man, I LOVE doing my paper route these days because I get to see a sky full of crystal clear stars. Millions and millions of them. They are so beautiful. On Monday, I almost fell off my bike because I was busy gazing up at the stars. Such a blessing to be able to see them so clearly. We don't have the light or air pollution that Calgary does so we see them much clearer here.

If any of you are looking for a good FHE lesson, this week I read the book "Mister Penny" (it's about working together) and then we cleaned the house. I don't think I can remember a time when Tanner was so excited to clean. He wanted to empty the garbage's all by himself (normally Matt helps him do this) and actually did it. He cleaned up his toys quicker than he ever has before. Anyways, it was a great book and taught a good lesson.

Some of you might have noticed that my blog is not private anymore. I've decided to open it up again for a little while. That is why the comments have to be moderated now. If any anonymous people want to comment they can but I get to decide if their comments are going to be published. I was just feeling really uncomfortable, previously, with having unknown people make rude comments. I feel like this way, if they want to remain unknown to the public but want to (they don't have to) tell me privately who they are, then they can still remain anonymous/unknown to the public while still enjoying my blog. I hope that makes sense. I want everyone to enjoy my blog but I don't want it to be a source of contention or back biting between my commenter's like it had started to become before I made it private. Anyways, I hope that my blog will something that people want to read and find enjoyable.

To end my post I'll end with a quote that came in a local newsletter

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Music and lyrics

Yesterday at choir practice, our choir director shared an article from the Mormon Times about music from someone who is very well know in the church music industry (forgive me, but the name has slipped my mind at the moment). He talked about how Satan uses some of the most gifted, talented people in the world to influence people and about how we should not tell our kids that what they are listening to is junk because it could be the most amazing piece of music but it's not about the music, it's about the lyrics. There was more to the article but she only read part of it. I agree with that. You can have a super talented artist sing a song but unless the words of that song are inspiring and/or uplifting, then it's not a good song lyrically. I notice that a lot in music. It's just another way the adversary influences us and our children and friends. Next time you're listening to a song that you like, listen to the lyrics and see if they are positive or negative, suggestive words. It's amazing to realize just how lyrically bad songs are these days. That's why I try to play it safe and listen to church music only, unless I'm alone. I don't want Tanner to be influenced by all the bad, suggestive words in songs these days. Even when I'm listening to songs that I listened to when I was a teenager is risky. At the time, I thought nothing of it but now I am a lot more aware of the words in them and what the message they are trying to tell. I do listen to radio and other music, but if there's a bad word or suggestiveness in it, I turn it off. It's not worth it to me. I want to be able to invite the spirit into my life and have it with me all the time and if I listen to some of the songs that are out there, I know I won't have it with me.

In other news...Matt passed his gun class he had to take to get a gun licence!!! Now that he has that, he can apply at Brinks to be an armored guard...and hunt! We're getting low on deer meat and I'm trying to use it sparingly because I LOVE deer meat. It is so good. I'd like to try other kinds of wild life meat like elk or moose. Matt just has to get a tag to be able to shoot those and then we can stock up so we don't have to buy yucky hamburger. I am not a big fan of hamburger.

Tanner is enjoying Kindergarten, still. He's had a few of his friends over to play last week. I was busy making salsa, and applesauce with Susanne. If any of you have beets that you need to get rid of (or you have too many and can't use them all) please let me know. My beets didn't quite turn out so I would like to do some more. I love beets so as much as you're willing to share, I'll take.

This year I canned Pears, Peaches, Beets, Applesauce, Salsa, Peach jam and in October I will do my Raspberry jam. I have LOTS and LOTS of raspberries so I am making lots and lots of jam (Erica, you can for sure expect to get some). I love canning. I wish I could can more but we couldn't afford too much this year. I did do more than last year, which was great. Next year, I plan on doing more than I did this year. Pretty soon, I'll be canning 2-3 times a week for the whole summer.

Well, that's about all to share for now. I hope everyone has a great week.

Books, Books, Books!!!

I'll bet you can't guess how many books I have read since the beginning of September?

Wanna know??

FOUR! 4 great books.

What were they?

I bet you wanna know that too...lol

1.Mormonville- This was a really great book. I laughed out loud numerous times. It's about a journalist that is sent to Helaman, Utah to basically find out what was wrong with the church and why everyone was following this "cult". It was very well written. Clearly not the kind of literature that Jamie or Lahni would read, but it was overall, a good book. I would absolutely recommend this book.

2. A little Sisterly Advice- the beginning and end were good but the middle really dragged on. It is about a girl who goes to college and navigates her way around the first year of college and dating etc. It was an okay book.

3. Never the Bride- I enjoyed this book for many reasons. This story is similar to the movie 27 dresses. Not exactly but sort of the same. I would recommend this book.

4. Surprise Packages- This was the 3rd and final book in a "trilogy" that my Aunt and I have been reading. It was a really good book but I was a little disappointed in the end. It ended in a way that leaves you to think about what the ending could be. I was looking for closure in the series but it's good that I can think about what happened to the characters in my own mind.

Now I'm reading 'Whale Done' for book club in October. It's basically a relationship book. I haven't started it yet but it's not a very thick book so it won't be like reading a Dr.Phil relationship book...thank goodness.

I went onto our library website and looked for a bunch of books that I have wanted to get to read from the church bookstore but don't want to invest the money in buying them. So I found a cheaper way to read them...checking them out at our library. They, surprisingly, have A LOT of the books that I want to read. They even have quite a few very 'churchy' books...like a FHE book that has some great ideas in it. I can not not read lately. I might have an addiction to it. We'll see how long it lasts.

Books, books...who could ask for anything more??? I love books!

47 Million

...dollars in my bank account....heck no! I don't even wish I had that much money EVER! because that much money would be too much for me to handle.

...people in Calgary...no, but it sure feels like it sometimes

What does this number represent????

Abortions in the world.

This is a very sad and disheartening fact. The speaker on Sunday was talking about families and he brought up this little fact. I don't get it...why do people feel they have that right to make that judgement call in behalf of a totally innocent, unborn child? Why? Don't they know that there are people that struggle every day to get pregnant or who can't even have children of their own?

When I was pregnant with Tanner and we knew that he was going to be born with Cleft lip and palate and with cysts on one of his kidneys, one of my cousins wife said that it would be better off if Tanner had died because he was going to be born with so many complications. I don't know why she felt she could or even should make that judgement call but it was never up to her to decide. It is ALWAYS up to the Lord. Sometimes it hard to see past the now and see into or even think about the future let alone eternities but we have to place our trust in the Lord and know that he knows all and has a plan for each of us. I believe that those who have abortions don't know better. In my own little world, they couldn't possibly be members of the church. But in reality, I know some of them are. This is so sad to me. People make bad choices every day but that is why I'm grateful for the Atonement. We are required to forgive ALL men...not those who we want to forgive, but everyone. Some days this is harder than others and I'm sure it's the same for everybody else. No one is perfect at forgiveness, but we all need to be trying harder to be better at it.

I was thinking today that it's almost been a year that my Uncle passed away. Sometimes this is hard for me to think about because it reminds me of my Dad and all that he missed out on... being a grandpa, seeing his daughters grow up and get married and go on missions among other things. We were so blessed to have such a great Dad who loved us and taught us right from wrong. Sometimes you just don't know what you have/had until it's gone. Why does death have to re-set the "importance-o-meter"? Why can't our families be important every day? I do know the answer to that and it's because we're not perfect. I just hope that every day we try a little harder to not only make our families more important, but to show them as well.

Just to clarify

I mentioned that I use raw pumpkin seeds in the trail mix below...these are not like raw seeds right out of a pumpkin. They are called raw pumpkin seeds and they are green in color. They are a bit more expensive than the regular cooked pumpkin seeds or sunflowers but if you mix them with the sunflower seeds, it's not that expensive.
And yes, seeds are NOT considered a nut. That was news to me too when Tanner was allergy tested.

A little bit of randomness

I have to laugh sometimes at some of the things I read in the paper. Today I read about a girl whose hand was grabbed by a seal and took her for a swim. She was 5 years old and the article said the girl was upset "...that the seal didn't ask her if she wanted to go for a swim." Potentially this could have ended in tragedy but it didn't. Oh, the silliness of people...

I found a nut free trail mix a month ago that Tanner loves and since the school is suppose to be nut free, it is a perfect snack for him to take. This is HIGHLY addictive (well, at least for me) but very enjoyable.

2 parts granola
2 parts sunflower or pumpkin seeds (I like to use raw pumpkin seeds)
2 parts raisins
2 parts dried fruit (we like a mixture of any of the following: banana chips, mangoes, craisins, dried blueberries or yogurt covered blueberries, apple slices, coconut, dried strawberries)
1 part chocolate chips or chocolate covered candy (like smarties or m&m's)

If you use dried blueberries, they are a bit pricey but they are really good. My Mother in law told me you can get the yogurt covered blueberries at Safeway. I only add about a handful of the m&m's because that is what Tanner would pick out so I only put a little bit in. You can buy all this stuff in bulk at Superstore (except the apple slices. I used my food storage apple slices. And I'm not sure where to get dried strawberries) for about $10-15. Since it's just the 3 of us, I don't need that much but if you wanted it just for snacks for your kids to take, it would be cheap.

Tanner is really enjoying kindergarten so far. They went on a hunt for Chester the raccoon. If you haven't read any of the books in this 3 book series, I strongly recommend you do. They are such cute books and have a great message. The first book is called "The Kissing Hand". The name of the other 2 have escaped me but I got them from my Relief Society Presidency as a gift when we first moved into the ward when I was pregnant with Tanner. Tanner loves treasure hunts and they're fun to do.

What else is new???? We went to Calgary this past weekend for a little vacation. Matt and I didn't really get to go anywhere and Megan and Dean are starting up a little business of photography so we were some of their first subjects.

Normally at this time of year, I already have Tanner's Halloween outfit thought about and his birthday cake in mind. I'm sad to say that I haven't even thought about any of that. I guess I'll be looking for ideas soon enough.

Tanner had tubes put in his ears on Monday. He's such a trooper. He took his baby (his monkey) and said that baby would protect him. When they brought Tanner back up to the room, the nurse said that Tanner told her that he had the most fun ever! I had to laugh a bit at that. After all that he has been through, for him to say that surgery was fun is kind of funny to me. It is the easiest and quickest of all the surgeries he's had so it doesn't really surprise me too much. Anyway, he's fine and happy and I can tell he hears better. He's not always asking us to repeat ourselves. And the T.V. isn't blaring when he's watching a movie.

Well, I think that's about all for now.

Here's a thought for today, When life gets tough to stand, KNEEL

Pictures!!!!

Here are just 3 of the many pictures that my dear sister, Megan, and her husband, Dean, took for us this last weekend while we were up in Calgary.

Matt and I



Our family



Tanner on the Monkey Bars

Is it me, or is the world becoming more corupt

Today in the paper I read a short article about a lady (forgive me but I can't remember the name of this "famous", very 'hot' newscaster lady) who was being interviewed on Oprah about a headline she was in this summer. It was about an inappropriate video being put up on youtube and about how she didn't know about the hidden camera that was taping her. Now, to me, people get so out of joint for having their inappropriate videos put up on youtube but people don't have a problem with nudity in magazines or billboards. What is wrong with this world????? It's the same thing.

Allowances

What is your rule/policy/guidelines on giving allowances? This is what my thoughts are...totally random, but nonetheless mine. I think .50 a week is sufficient for Tanner, but does he earn the money or just get it because? That's my problem. I want to instill the value of work so I don't really want to give him money for doing chores (or rather, being/teaching him to be responsible for certain things). So what do I do???? What works for everyone else? What doesn't? What do YOU think? I really need some ideas/suggestions. The thing with Tanner is that he is constantly asking for money or asking us to buy things for him and we want him to appreciate the value of money and that you don't just get what you want (despite what certain other people may feel). I remember getting an allowance as a child but I can't exactly remember if it was attached to anything. I remember having chores but I'm not sure if we got paid to do them. Maybe Megan remembers...do you????? Is 5 almost 6 years old to young to start giving an allowance? Nevertheless, I need some suggestions.

Birthdays

What is your rule on birthday parties? We didn't decide what our guidelines are for birthdays are until we moved to Raymond. Tanner is allowed as many friends as the years he is turning (this year he get to invite 6 friends because he is turning 6) but I guess my question is do I let him invite all 6 or do I make suggestions on the 6? He has been to many parties for kids that I would not really encourage him to invite to his party because they aren't really playmates of Tanners. The other thing that on "weak" day I have conflicting feelings on is the pressure to invite all the kids that he's ever been to their party. That would make for a huge party. It's hard when they get older because the get invited to so many parties and you don't know if that parent is going to expect an invite to your child's birthday. The other thing is that we do not do goodie bags. What parent wants their child to come home with more toys and things? I certainly do not. I mean, I guess it's fun for the kids to get something but my thoughts are that they got invited to a party and got fed fun food and cake and got to play games. Shouldn't that be enough? It's a lot of pressure sometimes. I don't want Tanner not to be invited to parties because of the guidelines we have set for the parties we have for him, but we just can't afford to have 10 kids come to our place, eat food, and take a loot bag home. We are simply trying to be modest in our life and that, for us, means not having big birthday parties.

The other thing Matt and I have been talking about lately is sleepovers. Tanner had his first friend sleep over last night and Tanner has slept over at one of my best friends place because I had to work late. I talked about it with Matt and then with a friend of mine and she said it would depend on who it was. I think that's how I would like to do it too, but it's still too early to tell. I read about an alternative to sleep overs called "late overs". The child comes for the evening until a set time (decided by you and the other parents). They get to do all the things that you would normally do at a sleepover like watch a movie or play games, eat the junk food they normally eat (or healthy if that's your choice) and then they go home at 10 or 11 or whatever pre-determined time. I like that idea for a lot of reasons. But I do think the occasional sleepover with certain children is okay. I don't know, what's everybody Else's thoughts and or guidelines on this subject. When my sisters and I were little, sleepovers were 100% okay. We slept at friends' house that were in our ward and that was it. OH! except we did sleep at our neighbors house when my Dad was in hospital and my Mom stayed with him and when my sister got hit by a van. We grew up with these neighbors and played with them almost daily. When we got older we were allowed to sleep at the friends' house of the kids my Mom babysat but that was when we were grade 6 or older (from what I remember). These are kind of big stages now because of all the bad things that happen or could potentially happen at a sleepover. There are so many kids that have been assaulted or abused at sleepovers so it's not a simple thing anymore.

We have been having a great summer so far...still...lol. Tanner is in swim lessons again this week. Today I almost had to throw him in because he was refusing to go in. What a turkey! He got to go up to Calgary again last week too. He had a great time and came home with an adorable haircut. They went to the zoo and saw the Koalas and watched the Elephant show, went swimming, to the Aerospace Museum, and for a sleepover at Aunty Carolyns.

Well, that's about it for now.