I guess March must have been really busy. Seth and Aaron are playing soccer. Rachel and Ruby are still dancing. Danny is back with Ballerz and his school is having a late basketball season, so he's doing 2 teams at the same time. Young women's is busy. I helped Stephanie Jovaag quite a bit in March. We had Spring Break and Easter and Danny's birthday and general conference.
We went to Visalia for Spring Break. We left right after school got out on Friday because Casey and Kami were there that weekend. Everyone came to my parents' to see them. We went to the park and had a picnic, we had a party for all the March and April birthdays, we played frisbees in the backyard quite a bit. Then everyone left at the end of the weekend and the kids and I stayed until Thursday with my mom. We played miniature golf and went to the arcade, went shopping, the boys helped at Grandma Donna's, we watched movies. It was a nice, lazy spring break. We came home Thursday so Danny could play in a Basketball tournament. Then we had a nice Easter at home with Bob.
Our garden is growing great. We still have only eaten the kale, spinach and basil, but the peas, carrots, onions and tomatoes should be soon. Ruby and I love to go out an check on it every day. I look for aphids and check on things and Ruby counts all the ladybugs. If I don't remember to go out there, Ruby reminds me.
Danny turned 14. He had 4 friends over and played basketball and sting pong and had pizza and cake. They also tried the pool but it only lasted 5 minutes. Sting pong is a game Danny came up with. They play ping pong and then if a boy looses a point, he has to take his shirt off and turn around and the other boy gets to hit the ball as hard as they can at his back. They love it. Crazy boys.
My hands continue to be a problem. I had another test for MS because my neurologist thinks I could be in the 5% of people who don't show up in the brain MRI. I got an infusion of Steroids every day for 3 days. It didn't do anything for my hands, so I think that rules out MS for me. But it was a horrible drug. It made me achy and tired and gave me a bad taste in my mouth and I didn't sleep well. And then when I stopped I was really achy and tired for 2 days, so much that I had to stay in bed most of the time. I'm glad that's done. This week I'm trying acupunture.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
February 28, 2016
We went to Provo last weekend. We had a 4 day weekend for President's day. We went up to see the new Provo City Center Temple. It was beautiful. We stayed with Trina the first night and Sarah came over and we all had breakfast the next morning. That afternoon we went to the Dean's. We got the kids settled and Bob and I and Danny and CJ went to visit Bishop Gibby and his wife. Danny and CJ rode their snowmobile while we talked. It was good to see them again. That night we had a candlelight dinner with the Deans as part of their Valentine Traditions. Sunday we went to church with them and then went over to Wendy's house for dinner. We had a good weekend of visiting the right amount of people so we saw a lot but it wasn't too busy.
Friday fun nights are going great. We've started having some theme nights. We did an 80s night where we listened to 80s music while we played quirkle and then Bob introduced the kids to Pee Wee's Playhouse. And we had an Indian/Persian night where Danny and I stopped by an Indian and Persian grocery store that are by his basketball game and we got lots of treats. Then we listened to Indian music while playing Don't eat Pete with some Indian wedding candy. And then we turned on a Bollywood movie on Netflix called Singh is King. We thought we'd only watch 20 minutes. But we all loved it. We watched the whole thing and it even had subtitles.
I listened to a book called How Not to Die that talks about lots of the benefits of a whole food plant based diet and how it can help with lots of diseases. It mentioned a study where they found that a dairy-free diet cured diabetic neuropathy. So I thought I'd try it. I was unsure about how much dairy fits into the Word of Wisdom so it sounded great to try it. Bob did it with me. It didn't help my nerves. The first week I couldn't tell much difference and then the second week my hands were pretty bad I think because I tweaked my neck a little one night. But it wasn't that hard and I like some of the changes we made doing it. I fasted about it also because I wanted to make sure I wasn't being extreme in my interpretation of the Word of Wisdom, but I felt like it is definitely a good thing to do. So I think I'll relax a little about how strict I was, but still continue to cut dairy as much as possible. I also mentioned cutting dairy to Danny because our dermatologist said it could help his skin. I didn't know if he'd want to try, but he did and he's been doing great with it. He says he feels like his skin feels smoother and Bob and I have noticed that his skin looks less red and inflamed. So at least that's been nice to see a little progress.
Our garden is in and we have plants! I did some seeds and some little plants. So we'll see what happens.
Friday fun nights are going great. We've started having some theme nights. We did an 80s night where we listened to 80s music while we played quirkle and then Bob introduced the kids to Pee Wee's Playhouse. And we had an Indian/Persian night where Danny and I stopped by an Indian and Persian grocery store that are by his basketball game and we got lots of treats. Then we listened to Indian music while playing Don't eat Pete with some Indian wedding candy. And then we turned on a Bollywood movie on Netflix called Singh is King. We thought we'd only watch 20 minutes. But we all loved it. We watched the whole thing and it even had subtitles.
I listened to a book called How Not to Die that talks about lots of the benefits of a whole food plant based diet and how it can help with lots of diseases. It mentioned a study where they found that a dairy-free diet cured diabetic neuropathy. So I thought I'd try it. I was unsure about how much dairy fits into the Word of Wisdom so it sounded great to try it. Bob did it with me. It didn't help my nerves. The first week I couldn't tell much difference and then the second week my hands were pretty bad I think because I tweaked my neck a little one night. But it wasn't that hard and I like some of the changes we made doing it. I fasted about it also because I wanted to make sure I wasn't being extreme in my interpretation of the Word of Wisdom, but I felt like it is definitely a good thing to do. So I think I'll relax a little about how strict I was, but still continue to cut dairy as much as possible. I also mentioned cutting dairy to Danny because our dermatologist said it could help his skin. I didn't know if he'd want to try, but he did and he's been doing great with it. He says he feels like his skin feels smoother and Bob and I have noticed that his skin looks less red and inflamed. So at least that's been nice to see a little progress.
Our garden is in and we have plants! I did some seeds and some little plants. So we'll see what happens.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
February 7, 2016
We put in a garden. The bricks and dirt are in, now we just need water and plants.
We had new beginnings last night. Bob was the priesthood there and Rachel was there. It was fun to be there together. Danny babysat.
Danny and Rachel got braces. It was nice for them to be able to do it together. They both took that day off school. We went to the mall after to spend their money because I accidentally told them they could have $100 for getting braces. At first Danny didn't want braces at all. And then he really wanted invisilign. So I told him if he really wanted it he would have to pay $300 toward it. He's been saving his dog walking money. But it didn't seem fair to get invisilign for Danny and make Rachel get regular, so we told her if she picks regular we'd give her $100. So in the end Danny decided against invisilign and they both collected on their $100. Danny bought shoes and Rachel bought a bunch of stuff at bath and body works. Then Bob met us at the mall and we had lunch at the food court. It was fun to have the day with my big kids.
Then the next day I let Aaron, Seth and Ruby stay home from school and we went to the snow. Danny and Rachel couldn't miss 2 days of school and Bob had to work. Ruby didn't get to go to the snow in Visalia because she was sick and she's been asking when she could go. We had a great time. We were the first ones there and it didn't get too crowded. The only sad part was the snow was too cold to make a snowman.
We had new beginnings last night. Bob was the priesthood there and Rachel was there. It was fun to be there together. Danny babysat.
Danny and Rachel got braces. It was nice for them to be able to do it together. They both took that day off school. We went to the mall after to spend their money because I accidentally told them they could have $100 for getting braces. At first Danny didn't want braces at all. And then he really wanted invisilign. So I told him if he really wanted it he would have to pay $300 toward it. He's been saving his dog walking money. But it didn't seem fair to get invisilign for Danny and make Rachel get regular, so we told her if she picks regular we'd give her $100. So in the end Danny decided against invisilign and they both collected on their $100. Danny bought shoes and Rachel bought a bunch of stuff at bath and body works. Then Bob met us at the mall and we had lunch at the food court. It was fun to have the day with my big kids.
Then the next day I let Aaron, Seth and Ruby stay home from school and we went to the snow. Danny and Rachel couldn't miss 2 days of school and Bob had to work. Ruby didn't get to go to the snow in Visalia because she was sick and she's been asking when she could go. We had a great time. We were the first ones there and it didn't get too crowded. The only sad part was the snow was too cold to make a snowman.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
January 24, 2016
We've implemented Family Fun Night. I've felt like we're so busy all the time and then when we're not, we all just wast our time instead of doing fun things together. We're good at having fun together on trips, but not as good at home. So Friday night is Family fun night. We play games or watch movies or anything else. The kids love it, especially the littles. The bigs don't say they love it, but they have fun.
This week we've added a scripture component to family fun night. I've been working with the bigs for several months to help them do regular personal scripture study. They struggle. Also I always mean to read scriptures with the littles but I struggle with that too. So we made calendars for all the kids for them to mark off each day they read. Then they can bring their calendar to family fun night and if they have 6 or 7 days marked off, they can get a candy. We just started last week. They were all so excited! Seth and Ruby have been reminding us to read scriptures to them every night.
Last weekend we had a 4 day weekend because of MLK day and a teacher in-service. The teacher day was only for Somersets, so we used that day to go to Adventure Dome. It was empty. We had so much fun. There were no lines. The sad part of the day was when Rachel went on a roller coaster and lost her glasses. We ordered new ones this week. In the meantime she is wearing my extra pair that are weaker than hers.
We had a big talk with Danny and Rachel because phones were being used too much. We mixed love and logic with How to win friends and influence people (which I just read and loved!) to have the discussion. We talked about how phones are a privilege and they need to be doing awesome at all their other stuff to have them. Danny hated the discussion, Rachel reacted great. However the discussion has been doing great things for both of them. Rachel is trying to use her time better and Danny is working harder at school.
This week we've added a scripture component to family fun night. I've been working with the bigs for several months to help them do regular personal scripture study. They struggle. Also I always mean to read scriptures with the littles but I struggle with that too. So we made calendars for all the kids for them to mark off each day they read. Then they can bring their calendar to family fun night and if they have 6 or 7 days marked off, they can get a candy. We just started last week. They were all so excited! Seth and Ruby have been reminding us to read scriptures to them every night.
Last weekend we had a 4 day weekend because of MLK day and a teacher in-service. The teacher day was only for Somersets, so we used that day to go to Adventure Dome. It was empty. We had so much fun. There were no lines. The sad part of the day was when Rachel went on a roller coaster and lost her glasses. We ordered new ones this week. In the meantime she is wearing my extra pair that are weaker than hers.
We had a big talk with Danny and Rachel because phones were being used too much. We mixed love and logic with How to win friends and influence people (which I just read and loved!) to have the discussion. We talked about how phones are a privilege and they need to be doing awesome at all their other stuff to have them. Danny hated the discussion, Rachel reacted great. However the discussion has been doing great things for both of them. Rachel is trying to use her time better and Danny is working harder at school.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
January 10, 2016
We had a great Christmas break. The first week we did lots of baking and kids had friends over and we slept under the tree and went to see the cactus garden. Aaron got strep throat 2 days before Christmas. This time the doctor offered 10 days of amoxacillin or 1 shot. Aaron was so disappointed that I chose the shot. But it was awesome to not have to remember to give that medicine twice a day for 10 days. He got better really fast and was feeling fine for Christmas.
Bob has a few friends who have a tradition of having Chinese food on Christmas eve. So we tried it. We got Panda express because all the kids love it. Then we did the navity and opened sibling presents. Christmas morning we got up at 7:00. Danny got shoes and socks, a speaker and a charger and a sweatshirt and lights for his bikes. Rachel got a new bike (it was so cute! It's a cruiser that has gears, it's pink and it has a cup holder-that's her favorite part), I made her a bean bag chair, pajamas, a brush and a beanie hat. Aaron got a new mountain bike, a couple remote control helicopters, some fun encyclopedia books, a sweatshirt (all the boys got matching ones. I was a little worried about them not wanting to match, but they liked them enough they don't care!). Seth got a batman imaginext toy that he and Ruby we wanting. They play great with all their imaginext guys and setups. He also got some legos, hi ho cherrio, Ruby and Seth got a lego subscription that is kind of like netflix for lego sets. Ruby got magformers, spirograph, a batman ship, playdoh set, clothes. The kids all got a ping pong table. The sad part was that I forgot I needed to buy the paddles and every store is closed on Christmas so they couldn't play it! Bob got a new computer, an egg sandwich maker, a sweatshirt and a selfie stick. I got a new camera lens that will be good for family pictures. And Bob got me a robot vacuum and a robot floor mop. I love them, especially the mop. It cleans so well. The vacuum is a little slow and random. We named the vacuum Zoram and the mop Zonda. We went over budget this Christmas. I've been working more and I hadn't added that money into the budget yet, so it was easy to just keep spending it. I've added it to the budget now and we'll use the money much more productively. But it was kind of nice to just spend for a while and not worry too much about it. We also decided to start a new tradition on Christmas Day to have a family testimony meeting. Christmas eve is more about the Savior, but on Christmas day we just eat and play, so we thought we'd add some religion to that day too.
The day after Christmas we went to Visalia. We had a good time playing with cousins. Everyone was there except Casey. Grandma Monte and Grandpa Gene and Grandma Donna were all there. Ruby had a runny nose when we got there that turned into strep a few days later. But we got her on antibiotics (no shot this time) right away and she felt better fast. Luckily no one else got strep, but lots of people got colds. The sad part was that she was sick on the day everyone went to the snow. She was really sad about that. She and I stayed home that day. It was my birthday. We also went to see some Christmas lights in Tulare one night. My grandparents and parents and Danny, Rachel, bob and I went to the Fresno temple to do baptisms one day. It was really great to be there with all of them. It was so great for Danny and Rachel. I'm so thankful for my family. We ate a Sal's on the way home. We made several shopping trips. Did a few puzzles.
We had a nice New Years Eve. We played mall madness and watched the ball drop and had sparkling Cider. Ruby made it to 11:00 and fell asleep, but everyone else made it until midnight.
On New Years Day we drove home so we could have one day left of the break to do our celebration of Kwanzaa. I love that tradition. The kids worked hard and we got so much done. We went to see the new Star Wars Movie as a reward.
This week has been nice to get back on schedule. Bob and I have been working on our 2016 goals using the same program we used last year. I love doing that with him. It's so nice to get on the same page and have such good discussions.
We're going to put a garden in our backyard. I had a garden expert come look at our yard and he's going to help us set it up. He says as long as you plant at the right time, anyone can garden in Las Vegas. I hope he's right.
Bob has a few friends who have a tradition of having Chinese food on Christmas eve. So we tried it. We got Panda express because all the kids love it. Then we did the navity and opened sibling presents. Christmas morning we got up at 7:00. Danny got shoes and socks, a speaker and a charger and a sweatshirt and lights for his bikes. Rachel got a new bike (it was so cute! It's a cruiser that has gears, it's pink and it has a cup holder-that's her favorite part), I made her a bean bag chair, pajamas, a brush and a beanie hat. Aaron got a new mountain bike, a couple remote control helicopters, some fun encyclopedia books, a sweatshirt (all the boys got matching ones. I was a little worried about them not wanting to match, but they liked them enough they don't care!). Seth got a batman imaginext toy that he and Ruby we wanting. They play great with all their imaginext guys and setups. He also got some legos, hi ho cherrio, Ruby and Seth got a lego subscription that is kind of like netflix for lego sets. Ruby got magformers, spirograph, a batman ship, playdoh set, clothes. The kids all got a ping pong table. The sad part was that I forgot I needed to buy the paddles and every store is closed on Christmas so they couldn't play it! Bob got a new computer, an egg sandwich maker, a sweatshirt and a selfie stick. I got a new camera lens that will be good for family pictures. And Bob got me a robot vacuum and a robot floor mop. I love them, especially the mop. It cleans so well. The vacuum is a little slow and random. We named the vacuum Zoram and the mop Zonda. We went over budget this Christmas. I've been working more and I hadn't added that money into the budget yet, so it was easy to just keep spending it. I've added it to the budget now and we'll use the money much more productively. But it was kind of nice to just spend for a while and not worry too much about it. We also decided to start a new tradition on Christmas Day to have a family testimony meeting. Christmas eve is more about the Savior, but on Christmas day we just eat and play, so we thought we'd add some religion to that day too.
The day after Christmas we went to Visalia. We had a good time playing with cousins. Everyone was there except Casey. Grandma Monte and Grandpa Gene and Grandma Donna were all there. Ruby had a runny nose when we got there that turned into strep a few days later. But we got her on antibiotics (no shot this time) right away and she felt better fast. Luckily no one else got strep, but lots of people got colds. The sad part was that she was sick on the day everyone went to the snow. She was really sad about that. She and I stayed home that day. It was my birthday. We also went to see some Christmas lights in Tulare one night. My grandparents and parents and Danny, Rachel, bob and I went to the Fresno temple to do baptisms one day. It was really great to be there with all of them. It was so great for Danny and Rachel. I'm so thankful for my family. We ate a Sal's on the way home. We made several shopping trips. Did a few puzzles.
We had a nice New Years Eve. We played mall madness and watched the ball drop and had sparkling Cider. Ruby made it to 11:00 and fell asleep, but everyone else made it until midnight.
On New Years Day we drove home so we could have one day left of the break to do our celebration of Kwanzaa. I love that tradition. The kids worked hard and we got so much done. We went to see the new Star Wars Movie as a reward.
This week has been nice to get back on schedule. Bob and I have been working on our 2016 goals using the same program we used last year. I love doing that with him. It's so nice to get on the same page and have such good discussions.
We're going to put a garden in our backyard. I had a garden expert come look at our yard and he's going to help us set it up. He says as long as you plant at the right time, anyone can garden in Las Vegas. I hope he's right.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
December 20, 2015
I don't have MS. Yay! Now I'm waiting for some nerve conductions tests. I went back to physical therapy to try that again. It was good. I had a blessing of comfort last Sunday for it. It was good to not have MS, but I still don't have any end or diagnosis in sight. Last week I was up a few times in the night because of my hands. One night I prayed and I got a nice reminder of ways the Lord has led and blessed me. Like eating healthy and how much better I've felt and paying tithing and generous fast offering and how blessed we've been financially. And I felt that this will be another thing that the Lord will go through with me. Then Sunday I had a blessing and it was different than my other blessings. It was a lot more counsel and talked about how the Atonement is for physical, as well as spiritual and emotion, pain. It said to learn more about that. Also this week my hands have been doing so much better. They haven't kept me up at night since my blessing. I still wake up and have to change positions, but I haven't had to sit up.
School is out. I'm so glad. That last week before school was out was so busy. We had 2 dance recitals and a piano recital and a big Christmas activity for YW. I loved going to the girls' recitals. They did a great job. Ruby just loved being on stage. Rachel liked it. Aaron and Rachel did great at their piano recital. It's nice we have most of this week off before Christmas. So we can get to a lot of the Christmas traditions we haven't had time for yet. And then we're looking forward to a lazy week at my parents' house after Christmas.
School is out. I'm so glad. That last week before school was out was so busy. We had 2 dance recitals and a piano recital and a big Christmas activity for YW. I loved going to the girls' recitals. They did a great job. Ruby just loved being on stage. Rachel liked it. Aaron and Rachel did great at their piano recital. It's nice we have most of this week off before Christmas. So we can get to a lot of the Christmas traditions we haven't had time for yet. And then we're looking forward to a lazy week at my parents' house after Christmas.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
December 6, 2015
We went to Utah for Thanksgiving and stayed with Katrina in their new house. We got there Wednesday night and we went to Kenton and Jackie's house for dinner and then went to a BYU basketball game with them. Thursday we ate with Katrina and Sarah and lots of Josh's family. Friday we went to the Temple to seal Linda and her sister and brother to their parents. That night we went to Temple Square. Friday we had a birthday party for Katrina then went to BYU then to the Dean's. Sunday we went home after church. It was so cold that weekend. It was right around freezing for the high. It was miserable to go outside. It was like that last winter the week we went.
In the spring I had a beehive activity at my house where we worked on family search. It wasn't a super fruitful activity for the girls, but as I was showing one of the girls something on Bob's line and I pulled Linda up and she had a green temple. I'd never thought to look at her before. She'd never been sealed to her parents. So from there we found out none of the living kids had either. And her mom Dorothy hadn't been sealed to her parents. So part of the reason for going to Utah was to get that work done. It was so awesome to be a part of that and help it get done.
I had my MRI. I go this week for the results. I still really hope I don't have MS, especially after talking to Katrina about her's. But I looked up diets for MS. I found that the most successful diet is exactly a strict interpretation of the Word of Wisdom. Whole food plant based with no meat or dairy. I didn't want to have to cut dairy out all the way. I hope that doesn't mean I have MS.
Kata and the 3 youngest Deans came to visit this weekend. It was fun to get to see them some more and for the kids to get more playing time in.
Seth past his orange belt in karate yesterday. He's been doing a lot better in school this year, but I've realized he's uncomfortably shy. So we've been working on helping him make friends. Aaron continues to have hard days. And to spiral things out of control when he doesn't get what he wants. We haven't been back to see Jeremy for a few weeks. It started to get where he was telling us the same things, it felt like. Aaron just really needs to put the things into practice, but that is slow to happen. Rachel is doing a volleyball clinic at school in addition to dance and piano. She's really liking it. Danny's school didn't end up having a basketball team, but he has kept in contact with the kids on the NLV team and one of the dad's is a coach so all he had to do was ask and they put him on the team. It's nice for him to not have to take the winter off. Ruby is doing great in preschool and she's so fun to have at home.
In the spring I had a beehive activity at my house where we worked on family search. It wasn't a super fruitful activity for the girls, but as I was showing one of the girls something on Bob's line and I pulled Linda up and she had a green temple. I'd never thought to look at her before. She'd never been sealed to her parents. So from there we found out none of the living kids had either. And her mom Dorothy hadn't been sealed to her parents. So part of the reason for going to Utah was to get that work done. It was so awesome to be a part of that and help it get done.
I had my MRI. I go this week for the results. I still really hope I don't have MS, especially after talking to Katrina about her's. But I looked up diets for MS. I found that the most successful diet is exactly a strict interpretation of the Word of Wisdom. Whole food plant based with no meat or dairy. I didn't want to have to cut dairy out all the way. I hope that doesn't mean I have MS.
Kata and the 3 youngest Deans came to visit this weekend. It was fun to get to see them some more and for the kids to get more playing time in.
Seth past his orange belt in karate yesterday. He's been doing a lot better in school this year, but I've realized he's uncomfortably shy. So we've been working on helping him make friends. Aaron continues to have hard days. And to spiral things out of control when he doesn't get what he wants. We haven't been back to see Jeremy for a few weeks. It started to get where he was telling us the same things, it felt like. Aaron just really needs to put the things into practice, but that is slow to happen. Rachel is doing a volleyball clinic at school in addition to dance and piano. She's really liking it. Danny's school didn't end up having a basketball team, but he has kept in contact with the kids on the NLV team and one of the dad's is a coach so all he had to do was ask and they put him on the team. It's nice for him to not have to take the winter off. Ruby is doing great in preschool and she's so fun to have at home.
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