A little bit more, that you may or may not want to know.

1.Where is your cell phone?
Laying on top of my entertainment center across the room.

2. Your hair?
Blah... it's hair!! No really, it's brown, and wavy/curly.

3. Your mother?
Lives in California, and don't get to see her as much as I'd like, but I call her at least 3 times a week to chat.

4. Your father?
Lives in California too, and busy working, and losing weight, and trying to control his blood sugar because of diabetes.

5. Your favorite food?
I can do burritos, tacos, tostados, and taco salad stuff ALL THE TIME!!!

6. Your dream last night?
Don't know if I actually had a dream.

7. Your favorite drink?
I usually prefer water, but juice is always welcomed if I have it.

8. Your dream/goal?
I want to be a photographer and design announcements and stuff like that.

9. What room are you in?
Living Room

10. Your hobby?
Scrapbooking, photography, blogging, reading, talking with friends.

11. Your fear?
That one of my kids will die before me. And a little less serious, that will never have a newer house then the one we live in now. Which happens to be originally built in 1893. Aghh... old houses, oh boy!

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
I'd like to have a newer/nicer house that's kept clean ALL The time.

13. Where were you last night?
At home sleeping in my bed. Thinking the home time, Little Man better not wake up....

14. Something that you aren’t?
Superwoman!!! Supermom!!! I try my best, and if you don't like how I am, well too bad.

15. Muffins?
Lemon Poppyseed!!! And Pumpkin Chocolate Chip isn't so bad either, actually it's really Delicious!!

16. Wish list item?
I want a

Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

17. Where did you grow up?
In the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.... Trona, Ca.

18. Last thing you did?
Took my kids to school this morning, after they have missed a few days for being sick.

19. What are you wearing?
Threw on my pants and shirt from yesterday before I left, I need to go get a shower.

20. Your TV?
Bugging me. We have two, and the boys think that both need to be on.

21. Your pets?
1 Dog, named Amber.

and a cat named Phoebe (yes, as in the one from Friends)

22. Friends?
Yes please!!

23. Your life?
Getting better, but can be frustrating and stressful, but on the whole, it's good!!! And I would like Chocolate and Diamonds too!! (just like my friend said)

24. Your mood?
Wanting to be lazy and go sleep, but I have an ugly mess of EVERYTHING, that needs to be taken care of so my house can be clean again.

25. Missing someone?
I wish Alexes was close by, and haven't really seen any family members on any side for a little while now, because of sick kids. It'd be nice to see someone!!

26. Vehicle?
White Chevy Venture... that seats 8!!

27. Something you’re not wearing?
Makeup, but then again, I don't wear it very often. And, of course, I don't have shoes on either.

28. Your favorite store?
Hmmm. that's a tough one!! I never have money to go anywhere....

29. Your favorite color?
I love blue!!! Starting to really like some green shades as well as purple too!

30. When was the last time you laughed?
Yesterday.. to early yet, to have anything funny happen.

31. Last time you cried?
A few days ago, I was pretty stressed and frazzled from dealing with sickies, and didn't want to make dinner, I was a little TOO emotional.

32. Your best friend?
I have a couple, Amy Ras. (one of my old roomies--- love her and the others) Alexes is a best friend too, but lives a little further away than I care for. My husband is probably my absolute best friend who isn't a female though. Lol...

33. One place that I go to over and over?
There are too many to list. DI(thrift store), Allen's ( a grocery store), Walmart, taking the kids to school.

34. One person who emails me regularly?
SPAM, JUNK MAIL.

35. Favorite place to eat?
Cafe Rio. Nuf said.

Mommy Store revisited ...

So I have had a few friends ask how I do this and decided I would do another post that talks about my "chore" system. Which works great if I keep up with it, but if I slack, then so do the kids. So now... I'm tired of slacking on it so I'm getting back to business with it.

This first one is for the daily chores, and made it so that if I print of one paper, it'll be good for a month for one child. And I just check off for each chore that was done. Because the numbers on this match up with the chores listed below. And they get money according to the list below (but if you want to try this, you just customize it to your preferences and chores that fit your family and household)

So I would just write each child's name on the paper, and keep it in a binder so I can check off at the end of the day, whether these things were done or not. Now here is the one I made for the Weekly Chores... And I have Week #1, Week #2 etc... across the tops of the columns up through #5 and have numbers down the side that correspond with the weekly chores listed below. And in the blank spaces, I write the child that is responsible for that week to do that chore. And left a place to mark off whether it was done. (And really it's up to you how long you want them to stick with that chore.) These are the ones that I felt didn't need to be done daily, but needed done at least weekly and some of these could even just be done monthly, just depends on your family and your preferences. But this is how we like to have it done. There isn't a set day to do it, just that by Saturday everything needs to be finished for sure. That way it gives them flexibility with school going on and homework, and not feel too pressured during the week. I've also made it so that I wrote each of the weekly chores on one note card and let the children "choose" which ones they get to do for the week, or for the next two weeks, or the entire month. (You get to decide). There are a couple that are geared for the younger kids, and I usually like to keep them with that, or another sibling is assigned to help them, if I'm unable to assist. And I made a way to check off the chores that get done to keep track of who gets paid what. The kids are in charge of doing certain weekly chores for a few weeks, and then we switch it up. Although the younger kids will probably keep theirs because it's manageable for them to do.

So I made a list of Daily and Weekly chores.

Daily Chores :
1 Make your bed $3
2 Get Dressed put dirty clothes in hamper $3
3 Brush your hair and teeth am & pm $1/ea
4 Clean up your toys, and other things $1
5 Yard cleaned up at the end of the day $1
6 At least 20 minutes of reading time $2
7 Make sure your room is clean at the end of the day $5
8 Help with dinner and dishes. (wash & dry) $3/ea
9 No dirty clothes in the bathroom area $1
10 Tidy up the living room, before bedtime. $5
11 Anything else Mom or Dad asks you to help with. $???

Weekly Chores
1 Vacuum the living room floor and the hall $5
2 Mop the kitchen floor $12
3 Clean the floor in the bathroom $5
4 Scrub the toilet $3
5 Clean the sink area $5
6 Dust the furniture in the living room $3
7 Vacuum the bedroom floors once a week. $3
8 Straighten up the videos and entertainment center $3
9 Clean up the laundry room - vacuum the floor $7
10 Wash your bedding and replace on your bed $10
11 Help weed the garden and other flower beds $5
12 Scrub the tub. $5
13 Anything else we ask you to do $???
I've also printed some up with the amount set to $5.00 instead of just $1.00.

And I just have a set time to do the mommy store. So ideally once a week, to keep them motivated, and just add new little things to the store. I get a lot of my stuff from the dollar stores that we have around, or the cheap candy items from Walmart. I can even make up computer time vouchers, for so much time on the computer. It can even be something like a coupon to go with me to DI to pick out a new outfit (because that's where I love to get them new clothes), the ideas are limitless. You could even up the ante a little and get a gift card for a dollar theater and let them buy it for like $100 mommy money of something like that. Find what motivates your kids, and go with it.

The nice thing I can also take away this money, if they break the rules (well not really rules but just the things that they know should be done... or that just aren't tolerated. )

Ways to Earn Mommy Money
1 Be nice to each other, and no fighting. $1
2 Do your daily chores without whining $1
3 Be in bed by 8pm at night and up and ready to go the next morning by 7:00am $1
4 Do your daily homework and reading time $1

Like no fighting, if I hear whining... if I find something not put away after asking them once to put it away, I can take money away. If they whine at all they don't get money for doing that chore. They can ask for help from a sibling but the money gets split between them.

Just be sure not to misplace your stash of money that can be earned, and don't lose where you put your bag of Mommy Store items that can be bought. So yes it is kind of like a treasure box, but I just keep mine in a bag, and just try to add a new item here and there, and try to keep things in there that would appeal to the gender(s) of your child(ren). I realized that if I put a higher price on something, more work was done, in order to earn enough to buy it the next time we opened the mommy store.

So you can come up with your own name... and design your own money... and just go somewhere to print if off if you don't want to do it all at home. Some days you'll pay out a lot, and others nothing. The more kids you have the more you'll use up (ideally). I know this works for my kids now, but as they get older the types of things in the store might have to change.

If you would like to get my file that I started and go from there, just email me with your email and I can send you the attachment.

Questions??? Just ask or email me.

Three Stooges...

I was looking for a certain picture a few months back

and for some reason had misplaced where I thought

it was. But when a certain 4 year old boy named T-Man

intentionally "kicked" over my piano bench....

GUESS WHAT!!! ???

I FOUND IT !!!

I thought it was in there, but every time I went to check

I just couldn't locate it.

Now why would I get so excited over a picture,

well it's priceless!!!

I'm sure we've all had those bouts of trying to

schedule a time that works for your family in between

church activities, school functions, illness, family gatherings

etc...

So you pick out the "PERFECT" outfit, trying to

coordinate everyone, so that nothing clashes when you

get the picture finally taken. You make sure

everyone has their hair cuts if they are needed,

and you are doing the last minute face inspections,

and clothes straightening.

Remember doing all of this, right?

Oh you don't!!! Oh, you probably have perfect children.

Mine aren't!! At least not when I really need them to be.

So a few years back say when my three girls were the only

children that existed .. I took them in to get a picture taken

only to find them doing their darnedest to be as uncooperative

as possible. It was insane!!!

Here I am the mother of three beautiful girls (none of which,

really ever let me doll them up) and they are acting like

hoodlums!! My goodness, what are their parents teaching them!??

Oh wait, that's me. I'll calm down a bit.

But the photo session may not have picked up the best

looks on their faces, but the photographer got the shot that

I loved the BEST!!!

And to this day.... I look at it and now I LAUGH!!!

So here is to a GOOD LAUGH!!!

This Old House...

If I were to post pictures of how my house looks right now,

you'd seriously think I had just survived a category 5 hurricane!!!

More like 5 LITTLE HURRICANES !!!

Because you see I have five little monkeys and they all like to jump on the beds,

and throw their clothes on the floor,

and run around wild trying to wrestle with each other all the

while making shrieking noises that instantly cause a headache to settle in,

and not leave till you decide to finally go to bed for the night,

and sometimes not even then.

It's pulling nail and tooth just to get them to

do anything worth value to help "clean-up"

or better yet "GO TO BED".

People often ask me what my favorite time of the day is...

well I can tell you when it isn't ...

BEDTIME!!

Followed by, the hour right before DINNER,

and first thing in the MORNING.

Does that about cover it?? I think so.

Why aren't those my favorite times?

Why??

Well, because those seem to be the times during

the day when my kids are the whiniest,

grumpiest, LOUDEST,

getting borderline obnoxious, rather annoying,

and they possess little patience,

and aren't agreeable to

"HELPING"

out when asked.

They seem to fight with each other a LOT at that time of the day.

As far as bedtime goes... it's BAD!!!

I live in a house that is ever so small.

It is very OLD!! So yes, it does have CHARACTER!!

BUT, there are disadvantages to this house,

and not just a few but a lot!!

First off, we have a three bedroom house,

and there are five kids....

2 boys and 3 girls....

and mom and dad.

(The dog sleeps outside, in case you were wondering)

Boys sleep in the front room,

while the girls have the back room,

and I share the room in the middle with Chris.

We only have ONE bathroom,

so needless to say,

we have an open door policy in our family when

someone is using the shower.

We have very few outlets in our house and even

fewer phone jacks. Every heater vent in the house

is placed directly under our ILL windows.

(meaning no insulation).

There isn't a place to store linens, the master closet

is a MASTER JOKE!!

And with five kids trying to use the same space in

two different rooms. Well, that makes my job of getting

kids to bed really TOUGH!!

They share a room, and the staggering bedtime... doesn't work,

on a nightly basis because of the things that have to be done.

One girl eggs the others on, and vice versa .. like they

have some kind of GIRLS club in there, and

they only hold their meetings, once Mom or Dad has

turned the lights off to the room. They giggle and

laugh, and talk for hours.. for some reason they just

don't want to go to sleep.

T-man, well he's pretty easy about getting to bed, but his

little brother Little Man, is a different case altogether.

I used to like my evenings so I could do my quick 20 minute

pick up through out the kitchen and living room and then

I could sit and enjoy a TV show, or read a book, or work

on some other project of my choosing.

(yeah, yeah, so I'm blogging right now...

it's being counted as my journal time)

Now, this is how I spend my evening:

My two year old doesn't want to stay in his bed,

and the bedroom door he's mastered the art of

opening it, so he'll just come right out. After several times

of taking him right back to the bed and covering him

up and him telling me "Your mean mom!" (in a grumpy voice),
I sometimes try to rub his back, and sing even more

songs to him after singing to him for 20 minutes when

I first started.

Call me mean if you want, but sometimes, I will just hold the door knob

so that he can't come out. So I sit on the floor in front of

his door, and hold the handle, while in the other hand

I use my other hand and hold a book and read.

This method works some of the time. Like 20% of the time.

While I'm trying to get him to stay in his bed, and fall asleep

the girls keep coming out, and complaining about

anything and everything. They don't remember for some

reason that I said it was time to go to bed. Not time,

to make more demands on MOM, especially

ones that you could have taken care of earlier in the

day. The whole while, T-man has probably been

asleep for 45 minutes. The house looks a wreck, dishes piled to the sky,

overflowing from one counter top to the next, over to the table.

The floor has crumbs, and spills that haven't been officially

cleaned of in months probably. The laundry is piled high, on the

love seat in the living room, because I don't have anywhere

else to place them, when I don't have time to fold them

and put them away. So if I get lucky and have a night where

Little man actually falls asleep by 8 pm or earlier,

I'll take that time to fold the laundry, so that first thing in the

morning it can be put away. And/or I'll wash up the dishes

that still need to be done. On the nights that he doesn't... well

guess what happens, it gets pushed to the next day.

And the daytime, doesn't always prove to be fruitful either.

And don't forget that this increases a bunch, when someone or

several in the house are sick.

** Don't forget I'm not getting a lot of sleep during the night.

Because Little Man doesn't stay asleep. Time to talk to the pediatrician

again. Because he needs to be checked out, and find the cause of him

not staying asleep. I'm so exhausted.

I send my girls to bed between 8 and 8:30pm and they are usually still awake

easily until 10 - 10:30 and sometimes later...

But I bet if I had a room for each of them to be in, they would

fall asleep a lot sooner. And I wouldn't have to deal with all the

whining and complaining.

I know someday, that will happen, well maybe not the NEW HOUSE,

but that I can send them to bed, and within 15 minutes they fall asleep.

Ahhh, that is a moment worth waiting for!!

In the meantime...

I'll cherish them for the crazy little, excuse giving, drink needing,

bathroom going, playing, arguing, and giving me hugs and kisses

people that they are.

Cheer Class = Game Time....

So my girls are involved with an after school cheer class this year. They are so excited about it, and the best part is, they only have a school ordered cheer t-shirt with any bottoms that are Red, Blue or White and even Khaki is an option. Which is a good thing since that is one of their school colors they get to wear.

Well last Tuesday just a few days ago, they got to do their first performance. So dang cute, and kind of funny too!! These are girls made up of 4th grade through - 6th graders I believe... not sure, so I'll have to check. But the fact that the girls are all having fun, and trying to help promote school spirit at the 7th & 8th grade volleyball games is fantastic.

And not to mention the trip down memory lane for myself!! I started playing volleyball and basketball while I was in 7th grade and pretty much continued with it until I graduated high school. I love the nostalgia that came with watching these kids play their games. I see all the improper techniques, and the lack of getting three hits on each turn with the ball, the crazy attire, and just the plain silliness that is taking place. But I also saw the Freedom team, (the one my girls cheer for and attend) coming together at the end of a play whether it ended good or bad, and gave each other hi-five's. I didn't see them not liking the actions of another team mate because they messed up, or completely missed the ball, or went to bump the ball and watch it fly through the sky with such speed and height that it not only went over the net but smacked the back wall, or see the guy that was really tall, and somewhat still awkward while going through a growing phase try to tip the ball to the other side but while doing so end up in the net, or crossing the middle line and causing the play to be over, and losing their possession of the ball. Or the server who tries to serve overhand but didn't get a good hit and came up short and didn't go over, or when the ball landed in the court right between three players - none of which who attempted to get the ball.

And while noticing these different things this week (because I got to watch another game two days after the first) I had memories flood back into my mind, but they didn't end so pleasantly with the hi-five's at the end from all the team mates.

But as I've been thinking about my life lately and the way that I interact with others and vice versa, I would like to think that this is exactly how we need to be with each other too. It doesn't need to be something that just takes place on a ball court/field or anything of that nature. It often comes down to being offended by something someone else does, or thinking you are better off than someone else, or just plain better then "Joe" or "Sally" next door.

As members of the human race, and taking and breathing each other's "air" ( no matter what it has just been polluted with) we have a right to be kind to everyone, to befriend those who are less fortunate with material things, and those who haven't yet discovered who they are, or why they are here. It's our job to be a team, and say good job to the other even while they might not be at their best, or even know what that best is.

Watching these kids play, and seeing how they interacted with each other was such a vivid reminder of how I need to be more in my life. Not that I'm intentionally mean but there are areas in which I can improve.

And not to mention it felt really weird to be a parent attending one of these games, instead of being the one on the floor playing. I loved playing sports... and hopefully when my kids are all a little older, and don't need the constant help from me, maybe then I can take a stab at it again. Not to mention it's a fun way to stay in shape once you get in shape. And the friendships that are formed is just one of the benefits also.

Time to become accountable...

It's Monday again, and I can't believe what's happened today. Or rather what hasn't happened today. I think I opted for the "lazy" day today. I've been thrown off the schedule this last week due to parent teacher conferences at school. And then with General Conference (which takes place 2 times a year, where we get to listen to the leaders of our church give us talks that are spiritual, uplifting, and help us to do better) I am coming off from a pretty lazy weekend. And it's Monday, and I just haven't gotten back in the groove yet.

But, I'm coming out on Tuesday morning armed with a major to-do list that consists of the following:

• Clean the kitchen. PERIOD.
• Fold all laundry and put it away.
• Clean up the living room, and place all furniture in it's place.
• Make salsa to use up my tomatoes followed by bottling them.
• Make strawberry/blueberry jam or jams depends on what I decide to do.
• Bottle the peaches for food storage.
• But before I do all this I need to take the girls to school.
• Drop Thomas off at his preschool class.
• Watch the girls perform a cheer or two at the school's volleyball game. (Take Pictures for the yearbook)
• Send out email to the yearbook committee and set up a meeting.
• Practice the piano. (since my nephew asked me to play for his baptism on Nov. 7th and I'm not very good)
• Sometime I need to go shopping for some jeans without holes in them for myself. (I don't want to go through another winter wearing the same ones I did last year with holes)
• I need to workout for at least 90 minutes. (35 - 45 of which is to be aerobic, and then do strength training as well) Time to get back in shape before the holidays.
• Try to figure out which scrapbook pages I want to get done this week. (I have a lot I can do)
• Put dinner in the crock pot before I get too busy, so I don't forget to have dinner ready after we come back from the volleyball game.
• At 7pm I need to head over to my friend Elizabeth's house for our recipe exchange night. Which reminds me, I need to gather at least 1 if not more kid friendly recipes to share.

And of course, I have two children still at home that demand a lot of attention too. So what do I do? Ignore, half ignore, pay attention to them, or just have them help (which could be disastrous). Plus there's lunch in there that half the time I forget about, because I just get busy doing things and before I know it, I have to go pick up my girls, and it's nearly dinner time.

Baked Potato Soup

Okay so I posted this over on facebook, but I wanted to have it on my blog for safe keeping as well. Now my mind is churning for other possibilities of what I can do. I've got my wheels churning for how to improve another dish, I've loved to make, but it just isn't quite how I'd like it. But for your tasting pleasure try making this recipe... it is so GOOD!!!

6 large Red Potatoes
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of Chicken Broth
12 oz. Evaporated Milk
2 Tbsp Butter
1 1/2 tsp of Seasoning Salt (add more if you need to)
4 slices of Turkey Bacon
1/2 - 1 1/2 cups of cubed Turkey Ham
Green onions to garnish with
Steamed Broccoli to add on top

You can either use the oven or microwave to bake the 6 red potatoes that have been previously washed. When the potatoes are cooked set aside and let cool. (In the oven this could mean about 45 - 60 minutes with the oven at 450 degrees and in the microwave just squeeze in on the potato to test for doneness) Cut one potato in half and scoop out and slightly mash the insides, set aside. You'll need to dice up the rest of the potatoes that are left, and set aside.

While the potato cooks, get the rest of your ingredients ready and gathered. I boiled 2 cups of water in the kettle and then added about 2 tsp of granulated chicken bouillon, to make the broth. Dice up the onion and set aside. Cook up 4 - 5 slices of bacon (or less) I used a stone and baked them in the oven. But I also cooked a few pieces in the soup pot and removed. I then threw in the diced onion and cooked it in the bacon "grease" (turkey bacon doesn't make a lot so butter is needed to help saute the onions, but I'm sure you can use olive oil as well). Cook the onions till they are transparent, then add the 2 - 3 cloves of minced garlic to the onion. Cook just until you can start to smell the cooked garlic. Add the flour and mix into the onion and garlic. But don't let it get too browned (it will proably turn brown naturally because of the bacon being cooked in the pan first). Then slowly add the chicken broth and the evaporated milk. Add the smashed potato you set aside earlier and mix into the soup. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for about 5 minutes add the diced potatoes and the cubed ham, if desired.
Mix into the soupy mixture and make sure all of the potatoes and ham get well coated. Cook till heated through all the way. Maybe 5 - 10 minutes. (could be longer though)
Cut up the bacon, or break apart into small little pieces. While all the soup is cooking, steam some broccoli if you desire to have it on top when you eat the soup. Cut up green onions and add to the top as a garnish, and the bacon that you have cut up as well. Serve Hot/Warm.

Makes about 4 - 6 servings (Depends on who's eating.) We have 2 adults and 5 kids, and some of the kids don't eat a lot.

I didn't come up with this solely on my own, I did find the basic recipe but tweaked a few things to make it my own. Hope you like it!!