Spring Break

On Monday we picked up our new foster son. He went to elementary school with Sassy and will hopefully attend Jr High with her, too.

On Tuesday I worked in the morning. It was cold and yucky. Wednesday we were supposed to go up the canyon and hike. Weather did not permit :(

So we went to see Alice in Wonderland instead. Then we went to the mall and got lunch after we looked for some pants (unsuccessfully, I might add) for Sassy. We ended up going to the other mall to get her some pants.

Alice was alright. At first I sat there thinking that I was just not a fantasy type person. However, as the movie went on I liked it more and more. In the end it was pretty good. I am considering buying it when it comes out.

Thursday I deep cleaned my room. While that may not sound like much fun it sure feels good to look at. Then I got my hair cut and Sassy and I got our eyebrows waxed. Tree Monkey spent the day with a couple of her friends.

Friday I talked on the phone with our grammie and then I took my foster sons to a town way north of us so the oldest one could get step 2 in his tattoo removal. It's laser removal and they are doing it for free because it's gang related. He wasn't in a gang, but he did have friends who were. He is excited to get his tattoos removed.

Today, the lovely Saturday that we had..........beautiful weather........found me and my mom having a mother/daughter day with just us two. We went to see the lovely BYU Ballroom performance. They are amazing! They are celebrating their 50th Anniversary so they had previous members do a number at the beginning. It was fun to see two couples that we know. Then I know one of the Tour Team dancers. I watched her grow up. So beautiful and graceful. She has such grace, poise, and technique. It was amazing.

Then Sassy and I went grocery shopping. She planned the meals, developed the shopping list based on what we didn't have and we went to get it. This daughter loves to cook, bake, and try new things in the kitchen. She has some allergies and food issues but finds some yummy food to create for us. She will make a young man very happy one day. She makes me happy and proud now!

Monday is back to the grindstone and working. It was a lovely break. I could have used another week just to play.

It's About Time Don't Ya Think?

For over TWO weeks straight life has been beyond busy. Waaaaaay beyond.

I've been squeezing about 10 hours of work a week in. Yes I said squeezing in work. And only 10 hours of it.

I have a little fact for you all. The afternoon hours that take place after school are not long enough to get all the kids needs met with doctors offices, dental appointments, therapy appointments, court appearance, and sports activities. Well when you have 6 kids that you are running around, anyway.

1. Diet update. I'm still going. Not strong. See, these boxes of Girl Scout cookies showed up at my house and well, they are pretty darn good. Good enough to eat a box of them. Now I only open a box when the whole family is home. Assures that one box will not be consumed by me. The calories in those morsels of deliciousness are insane!

2. More diet update. Think you can eat just one? Yeah, I though the same thing. So while I was doing my grocery shopping I let Sassy choose some Pringles. They have this limited time only flavor called Honey Mustard. What they should be called is "Lay's has nothing on me and you won't eat just one chip, but you will eat one can." Yep that's right. I ate the whole can of chips. No more of those coming in my house.

3. So needless to say I am eating more raw right now to try and cleanse the badness, that tasted so very good, from my body. I am getting more energy as time goes on. My Fibromyalgia pain is decreasing. My arthritis pain is not affected by my diet. I had hoped it would be, but the positives are enough to keep my going and who knows . . .Maybe in the longer run it will have an affect.

4. We now have a total of 3 foster sons. Caseworkers are asking if we could make room for one more. Are you kidding? I would have to quit my job and add on to my home for that to happen. It's big enough and we'll work with our 3 and then we'll take more, just 3 at at time.

5. Monkey J (our oldest foster son) took 3rd place in the 200 yard dash on Tuesday the 17th. Good thing the school colors are green. Kept 'em from getting pinched. He is really a sweet kid. His grandparents and his aunts and uncles are great and provide him great support. We had a BBQ over at his aunt and uncle's home and got to meet them all.

6. We celebrated Monkey Wrench's 18th birthday! That will need to be it's own post.

7. We also had just over 40 people come to our home for a BBQ on hubs birthday. It was awesome. We have such great friends and family. They truly are a blessing in our lives. It was so great to have those who could come and celebrate with us. I have a funny video of the pinata break. So funny the men who were supposed to be holding the pinata couldn't.

8. Thanks to you all for being patient with me. I'm trying to get caught up but that means more reading than commenting. Sorry.

9.

Monkey D

Monkey J

Monkey E

Random Stuff Coming Out of My Brain

1. I am still amused by anonymous and her friends. I find it interesting that people choose to be offended over the posting of a newspaper article and then sit in judgment on me as though I am the one with the problem. Like I said, amusing.

2. Sassy had 10 friends over for a Mary Kay party on Friday night. It was fun. The girls were giggly and loud when they talked, but it was so amazing to sit back and watch and realize that some of them are looking so grown up. They are young ladies instead of little girls. I found myself trying to figure out when my little bit turned in to this beautiful young woman who bakes cookies, clean the kitchen before and after her party and feels so comfortable in a large crowd of friends.

3. I'm not sure how my wonderful and hair brained oldest got such a wonderful girlfriend. She is so patient with him and understands him so well. She is wonderful addition to our family and we enjoy her so much.

She went with me and Sassy to my mom's last Tuesday night. We went to help my mom hang curtain rods. The current ones were hung with 4" screws. Ridiculous. Also VERY funny. We were trying so hard to get these very long screws out and were dropping things, trying to operate a screw gun, and ended up having a very fun time.

She comes to church with us when she is not working on Sunday and has become such a fun and needed part of our family.

4. We have two foster boys. I know that I get annoyed when they do repetitive things, but I also know that they have certain disabilities due to the choices of their mothers that they can't help.

Monkey J will be with us for a while. He fits in and he loves being in a family. He even got some time with my mom this last Friday when he and Monkey Wrench went to a college dinner with grandma. He came home just amazed at his experience.

Monkey E is one of those kids that just doesn't know that he doesn't know. He is sweet and likes to work side by side of you. He was thrilled to learn to clean the bathroom and do his laundry. He normally lives (and is going back to) with his grandparents and his grandma just does things for him. He is so tiny for his age, but doesn't let it affect him. He even has some pride in it.

I guess I should mention that our boys are in foster care due to their actions. They were both from abusive situation when they were young and those experiences have shaped some poor decisions on their part. That is how they got placed in foster care.

5. Hubs is working on our 3rd bathroom. He is tiling it currently and only has 2 nights a week to do this so it's slow going, but it is progressing. It will be so nice to have a 3rd bathroom with 6 kids in the house.

6. My stake calling is finally picking up and getting fun. It's nice to feel like I have purpose in the duties I have agreed to do for my church. I do all the publicity for the Stake Activities. This means the YW basket ball, YW camp, and a Neighborhoo Family Dance that is coming up in March.

7. Diet update- I still do mostly Vegan and I'm considered vegetarian due to my consumption of eggs and butter. I have been replacing regular products with Vegan ones for me while preparing for my family. I don't miss meat. I love the variety and creativity I am coming up with.

I even made sugar cookies with Agave nectar instead of sugar. No one noticed and I got to eat cookies. They tasted the same, but didn't have refined sugar in them.

Here is my though on all this shopping I do- Why do I pay more for less processed food? Shouldn't it cost more when it goes through all those processing stages?

8. Oldest turned 21. I need to get a birthday post up about him. He is working two jobs and is rarely home so we don't get to celebrate until Friday night. I'll post then. ;)

Well that's all for now, I think.

Thanks for hanging on so long.

Week 2 Update

This week I did add some cooked food. I kept it Vegan except for 2 occasions. Where I broke down and ate what my family was eating and what my boss bought for lunch. Stayed vegetarian though.

I had the good energy up until Thursday and used up every ounce of it. Friday and Saturday I continued to push and get things done that needed doing. Today I am paying for it.

My legs are hurting badly and my shoulders, right hip and right knee are in pain as well. The pain kept me up last night. I was so tired that it was intermittent and I didn't wake up enough to take any pain medication.

This is not bad news for the dietary changes. I have talked with people who have lived Vegan for their whole lives. I got some good ideas and was able to add a few more cooking things to our pantry that will help us all change how we prepare food.

Even given the pain I have been able to get more done than in the past. Hubs gave me wise counsel and told me to remind myself that I am not cured of anything yet. I can't take the inch given me and use it go a yard.

So I'll be slowing down just a little and try to take care of me while I am healing my body.

When I add a few more things I will be posting recipes that I try and like on this site. This will include breads and other meals.

For our dinner tonight I substituted frozen stir fry veggies for the meat on my spaghetti. It was delicious and more filling than the meat.

I have changed the salt we use as well. We now use RealSalt which is pink. Better for you with a great taste.

I'm liking this more each day. Our fruit and veggie bill has increased three fold. It is still cheaper than buying all the meat I was buying.

If you have questions I will answer them. I am no expert. I just know what I am doing. You can ask in the comments or email me with the link on the side bar.

Hungry??? I Cooked!!!

Updated to say I fixed the linky by removing some extra crap letters and symbols from the linky.

Does this Look Yummy?!
Go here and get the recipe for Russian Chicken. I did substitute chicken breasts cut in half for the drumsticks. That's rice pilaf and mixed veggies with it.

Don't forget to check out the other recipes. I am one busy momma and I love trying out new recipes that don't tire me out ;)

Here are the reviews:
Monkey Wrench- Perty tasty stuff, Tasty little morsels (he ate 3 pieces)
Guest S- It was really good
Tree Monkey- Hmmmm mmmm mmm Delicious!
Massage Monkey- Good stuff Maynard (A phrase he learned from grandpa - only edited)
Mini-me- This is good (she usually doesn't like anything, being the picky eater she is)
Me- I was in heaven with each bite.
The Mr.- :( He's in bed sick with the flu :(