"I love to see the Temple" by Riley

YES, that is chocolate all over Riley's face. Mother of the Year award right here!

The happenings of the week

This week kinda went by in a daze. Can't really remember too many things about it, so we will just go kid by kid, oh and David too.

David:

Worked this week, then on Friday morning he took Riley and headed to Kingman to do a side job for our friends, The Westbrooks. He came home on Saturday night, just in time to watch Keagan start throwing up. Super fun!

Barb:

I think I probably had the MOST exciting week. I have really stuck to my diet and happy to say that I have lost 7, yes 7 pounds so far! 10 more to go before Christmas, wish me luck! I also threw a "Scentsy Party" for my friend Jeanette from Kingman. It was fun to have people from the ward over and it gave me an excuse to cook yummy things (not eat the yummy things, just cook them :)
Pictures Here:




I also took my "Before" measurements, I really had been on the diet 5 days already, but I KNOW that I have already lost more inches... YIPPEE!


Keagan:

Keagan, my little sweet Keagan has helped me this week make her birthday party invitations (very exciting stuff to a 6 almost 7 year old) she also had some :girl time: with Mom, while Dad and Riley were in Kingman. She requested to go to McDonalds where she ordered a hamburger, fries and a drink. I got a lettuce chicken wrap, hold the wrap and the sauce, so a chicken lettuce plate they should say. We also painted her nails in a "Pattern" pink, purple, pink.. ya, you know the drill. It was fun!

Riley:

This little man of mine is a wonder, a wonder that he has lived through yet another week. He is getting to be VERY sassy, and that is an understatement. I think he gets that from me (CRINGE!) He goes around asking everyone if "anyone wants to be shooted" the answer is always no, but that doesn't seem to matter. Seconds later I have to flop down on the floor and act like I am dead. tons-o-fun. I was glad to see the little guy go with Dad for a day's break. I know you think I am kidding but the little guy can TALK YOUR EAR OFF! I never have a moment of peace. sigh.... HE did spend one day throwing up, but that's what he gets for kissing a one-year old with the stomach flu ON THE MOUTH! That little girl is going to need counseling. He has NEVER done anything like that before, so I didn't really know what to do. Guess he learned his lesson, and then he was nice enough to share this stomach bug with Keagan. Fabulous!

Maddy:

Maddy is cruzin' everywhere! There is nothing that little girl can't get into, some of the weeks tragedies include:
1. the toilet paper in the bathroom (I am not sure how she got a hold of this, but I am guessing she had an accomplice) she completely unravelled the whole roll, then started eating it. YUM!
2. The DVD cabinet. I didn't even notice it was open, but minutes later she has EVERY, yes EVERY dvd, all 200 of them out and on the floor.

She has two teeth now, which makes chopping on fingers extra fun and spectacular. We love this little girl, and a bonus: Her dark hair and dark eyes are getting darker EVERYDAY! Yippee! In our family pictures we will have to sing the song, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong" :)


Keagan dancing with Maddy, so cute!

Maddy waves "bye-bye"

F.H.E

This week for FHE we made a 'thankful' tree. So we wrote things we were thankful for on the leaves, then put the leaves on the tree. It actually was a fun Family Home Evening. There were a lot of things we were grateful for, some including:

Families
cars
carpet
food
fruit (that was mine)
toys
teachers
jackets
kitchen aide mixer (mine again)
husbands ( again... mine)
books
couch
lotion
showers
fires
snow boots
fireflies
brooms
blankies (these last ones were the kiddies)

So all and all it was a success.

Keagan is a Star (we already knew that, right!)

This week Keagan was Star of the week, so on Friday she was able to bring "show and tell" and she decided she wanted to bring her little brother and sister. So off we went to school to show off Riley and Maddy to Keagan's class. Needless to say Maddy was a hit, and Riley was unusually shy... hm..... Suspecious.

and another....

Change seems to be the theme of my year. And yesterday's news was no exception. After meeting with my heart Dr. we came to three conclusions:

1. My heart EF rate will never be what it was
2. We need to get me out and about again (for personal sanity reasons)
3. Diet will now play just as big of role as medication does

diet, yes, I used the "d" word, the forbidden word in our house. Those who know me, know that I Do. not. diet. I love food, it was the one stress relief that worked, and now... GONE.

I feel very overwhelmed about the three new things I have learned, and in light of trying to keep my positive attitude I just keep saying, "The only thing I won't miss is my waist line!"

So what can I eat? I am asking that same question, I will meet with my Dr. again along with a dietitian next week, but this is what I do know:

I CAN NOT eat anything that is an animal bi-product. Like, eggs, milk, cheese, meat. No grains. Like, Bread, pasta, rice *all my fav's by the way*

I CAN eat dark leafy greens, for calcium. Lots of nuts, but that will be kinda tricky with Riley's highly allergic nature. I will just have to wash my hands and brush my teeth ALL the time.

Fresh fruits, mainly the ones with seeds. staying away from Bananas. All fresh vegetables.

and the kicker....

I CAN'T COOK ANY OF IT! No cooking.

What? you might ask.... EXACTLY. Now you know why I went to be crying last night. So any suggestions or support would be greatly appreciated.

I am off to go have fruit and salsa for breakfast. yum. (sarcasm intended!)

to leave this on a positive note.... yesterday Riley asked me to keep his toys away from "swiper" I asked who "swiper" was, he said Maddy! (Swipper is the fox that takes things on the show Dora) Put a smile on my face for the whole day.

I love my little family, especially the three littlest ones!

"Potty Trains"

We are potty-training Riley right now, and he is doing GREAT! An occasional slip on the back end (which is to be expected), and yesterday he said, "Mom, are there really potty trains?" Yes Riley. There are "potty Trains" they come to good boys who do poo-poo on the potty.

Which he did yesterday, which yes, he got up bright and early this morning and wanted his potty train.

Way to go Riley!