My diet and other randomness

This week has been very crazy. I am so sorry that I haven't posted, but school has been very busy and stressful. It is so hard to have a growing family and go to school full time too and keep my house up.

Texting- Anyway, to all of those wanting to know if we decided to get texting or not for Todd, yes we did!!! Thanks for your input. I told Todd that we were going to try it for one week and if for any time, texting begins to overcome his life then we would cancel it. We also made him and his sister help pay for it. One of the things that has a big deciding fact in this matter is that we receive texts all the time anyway even though we don't have texting, because I am going to school and friends from school text me about assignments and Karrilyn also has friends that text her, so we end up paying for those texts anyway. Wish us luck!!! I really think Todd won't abuse this, because he is such a good kid and I can't see him texting all day and night. We will see.

Diet( new way of life)Next thing on my mind, I have been on a diet(a way of life change) now for almost four weeks. It has been hard, but I have a great husband that also did it with me. I can't believe that he put up with it. Yes, we actually paid for a new diet plan that is out there and it really worked and helped quite a lot. If you are really interested, let me know and I can give you some information on it. It is definitely not for everyone.

The good news is that my husband lost 18 pounds and I lost 12 pounds. I was really thinking that I would have lost more, but I must be getting old. You are told that you do have the possibility of losing between 10-30 pounds, so of course, I am on the tail end of the weight loss. I guess I should add that I lost the weight in the first three weeks on the diet and the last week has just been a stabilization, but you are still pretty much on a diet but it is less strict. It is supposed to help you to not gain back what you have already lost. The other good news is that I feel great. We both had our blood drawn before and then again after and it lowered my cholesterol 45 points and also my blood sugar. It lowered my husband's too but not as much as we had hoped.

Would I do this again if I knew what I know now? yes, I probably would. I have learned a lot and I really think it has helped me to change how I live and how I eat. I haven't had any sugar for almost four weeks, that is just part of it but it does feel good.

School-The last thing on my mind is that I just can't believe how close I am to being finished with school. The end of this month I will be finished and then all I have is student teaching in the Fall. I am so excited but I will truly miss all of the friends that I see all day every day. It will be sad too.

I definitely need some fun ideas for this Summer down here in southern Utah. If you have any ideas let me know.

Easter Memories

With Easter getting so close, I have been thinking and thinking more about past Easters. I really enjoy this time of the year. It is supposed to finally be Spring. I love to drive down the road by my house and see baby lambs. They aren't there yet but they will be soon. I love to ponder about the real meaning of Easter and the resurrection of our Savior.

As I was thinking, I remembered my husband and my first Easter together. On Easter growing up we had usually had an Easter hunt and possibly a new dress or something like it. Being the oldest, I was still used of this and wanted to start our own traditions. I decided that I would have to do something special for him. I bought plastic eggs and put candy in them and also bought him a shirt and a camera case for Easter. I decided that it would be fun to hide the eggs before he woke up and also have breakfast ready for him. I started to get everything ready for breakfast and hid the eggs. He woke up and started to look for the candy filled eggs and then we both noticed a bad smell, a burnt smell of some sort. He continued to look for the eggs and I kept trying to figure out what the smell could be and then I remembered that I had put a plastic egg in the oven for a hard place to find. I had turned on the oven to preheat it and it had melted the plastic egg and all of the candy all over the place. What an Easter to remember!!

We still laugh and tell our kids about our first Easter together. How crazy!!!

I hope you all have a great Easter and remember not to hide Easter eggs in a preheating oven.

To text or not to text, that is the question

What do you think about texting?

My 16 year old son wants texting real bad. He just received a cell phone for Christmas and I guess it is not real great if he doesn't have texting. We have been trying to decide for quite some time now if we really want to cave in and just get it. I don't want it to be something that overtakes his world. I think some kids get so overcome in it that they say things on texting that they would never say to someone in person. These things concern us.

Reasons against
1. I think kids forget how to communicate with words sometimes if they are texting all the time.
2. I also have seen many kids ignore people they are around because they have received a text or are texting someone.
3. It costs every month $20 more.

Reasons for texting
1. Todd is a great kid.
2. He is willing to practice piano without arguing with me if we get it.
3. We all received texts anyway from other students because they don't know we don't have texting so we end up paying for about 6 texts a month anyway, which adds up when you don't have it on your plan.

What is your take on texting? Do you think if you had a son that wanted it, would you get it????

All Dressed Up

I just have to say that I have the GREATEST KIDS.

I just can't believe that Todd is old enough to date let alone go to Prom. Last weekend he got all dressed up and went to prom with a great girl. They had a lot of fun. I am so glad that he got to go and with such a great girl.

All boys at my house LOVE sunglasses. It is COOL.

Isn't her dress beautiful??? I think they both look so great. I am having so much fun with my kids. They are the greatest. I am glad that I can share all of these great times with them.

Todd is my son that always says " Mom, I know I made a good choice in my best friend( meaning me)"( from the movie Cars).

Doesn't he look great???

I Feel Loved

I Feel My Savior's Love

I feel my Savior's love in all the world around me
His spirit warms my sould through everything I see
He knows I will follow him, give all my life to him
I feel my Savior's love, the love he freely gives me.

A couple of months ago I went to a fireside and the speaker talked about the many ways that we feel our Savior's love in our own lives. Lately I have thought about this a lot. I am so thankful for my Savior's love.

I Feel My Savior's Love:

1. when my kids give me a big hug or kiss or say thanks .

2. when someone calls when I am having a bad day just to say hi.

3. when I have to sign up for a Science lab this summer and the teacher is a friend of mine.

4. when a sister or sister in law sends me an uplifting note just to tell me I am loved.

5. when a friend sends me cookies in the mail.

6. when my kids tell me that I am their best friend and that I ROCK.

7. when my husband emails me a nice love note.

8. when my kids grow up to be teenagers but they still are good kids.

9. when I am worried about something, but reassured by a friend or husband.

10. when I see a beautiful sunset.

11. when I go to church and am very spiritually uplifted.

12. when someone smiles or just makes my day.

13. when I am on a walk on a Spring morning and hear the birds chirping.

14. when I have major back problems and they continue to get better.

15. when I go on a major diet and my husband decides to do it with me and I actually lose weight.

There are so many times in my life each and every day that I feel my Savior's love for me. Even when there are trials and hard times I can still feel his love for me.

What are the many ways that you feel loved in your life???? I hope you have a great Sunday!!!!

Try these out

I guess everyone has heard of the No Bake Cookies that I just posted. Sorry. One of my friends just tried my recipe and had never tried them.

So here is a yummy but lowfat recipe for Chocolate Muffins. They do have some ingredients that you might not have on hand, but I think they are worth it especially if you are looking for healthy and chocolate. They might not be a Costco muffin but they are great for lowfat and watching what you eat.

Chocolate Muffins
3 cups of Fiber One Cereal
Soak cereal in 2 1/2 cups water for 10 min, I usually put it in a bowl.
Add Krusteaz Fatfree Fudge Brownie mix, you might have to check a couple of stores.
Add 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Spray muffin tins with pam or grease them. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Weight Watchers: 1 point
I hope you enjoy these and that this is a recipe that is new to you.

Another note
I can't believe it is snowing... When will Spring ever come???

You should try these yummy treats

I haven't posted a recipe for a while and with Easter and Conference weekend coming up I thought some of you might enjoy an easy yummy recipe to try.

My family loves this recipe and it is real EASY!!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

No Bake Cookies
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1/4 cup milk
pinch of salt

Bring margarine to a boil on medium high heat, stirring constantly.

When it reaches a good boil time for 1 minute continue to stir.

Remove pan from stove onto a hot pad. Then stir in the following ingredients:

1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp vanilla

Continue stirring until mixture cools and holds its shape.( Stir and stir and stir)

When cool drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper

Yummy!!!! You can double this recipe if you desire but boil the mixture for 2 minutes instead of 1 minute.
Enjoy!!!! These are great for any time.