Live For Today... Tomorrow will take care of itself: August 2009

Future Models?

About 5-6 weeks ago Jesse and I signed the boys up for the American Mall Model Search for fun. They provide people for fashion magazines, TV, movies etc. It was free to sign up so we thought what the heck. I got a call on Monday for them to audition Tuesday night. So we decked the boys out and hussled them over to the mall for their 7:30 audition. There were about 23 people there at that audition of all ages. Frank, Ollie and one other 3 year old were the only really young ones. They each had to interview with the judges first. Frank and Ollie walked right up to the judge, Danielle, and shook her hand. They said hi and told her their names. My boys aren't exactly shy so they did well. They were flirting with twin 16 year olds in line too. These chicks were 5'11 without shoes and beautiful. Not make up pretty either. They had a natural beauty and were unpretentious about it. Anyway, after the interview they had to walk down the a cat walk and do a couple model turns. Granted they are 2 and 3 1/2 so they did not have to do much but say their name into the micriphone and walk.

Ollie said his name and I walked him down and told him to wave. He looked at Danielle and the other judge and smiled. As we were walking back I told Ollie to turn around and blow a kiss to Danielle and he did! Sooooo cute.

Frankie insisted on going up by himself. He went up to the mic and said his name. The MC asked him if he had a girlfriend. "No." he replied cooly.

"Do you want to say something into the mic for us?" Frank nodded. "Ok, lights, camera, action!" qued the MC and flipped the mic to Frank.

"Lights, camera, action!" He repeated. Then he proceeded to walk down the cat walk. I take that back... STOMP down the cat walk. The kid looked like he was stomping for roaches. Silly boy. He got to the end, showed off his muscles, and walked on back. I was pretty sure Ollie was in but was a little worried Frank wouldn't make it because of the stiff body language. Whelp, they both made the cut. Now they are going on to compete in the photo compition and the state final. That will be fun. If something comes of this great, if not, no biggie. I've had so many people tell my how cute they are that I thought I would give them their shot at fame... sort of. Luck to you boys! You have made your mommy proud.

When treats become a trial

We all know what happens when sweets are in the house... they get eaten. Usually by moms who hear their seductive cry when we are looking for something quick. Or to ease the stress of a rough day. Regardless of the reasons, we find ourselves eating more than our fair share and almost anticipating eating the last cookie or brownie so they will no longer be a temptaion.

Then there are other sweets that we don't willingly let into our house. Birthday cake, holiday goodies, gifts of chocolate, pies, ice cream for when you had guests. Evading these things are slightly easier because they take effort: who wants to CUT a slice of cake? SCOOP a bowl of ice cream? Open a box and chose a chocolate? Those thoughts give you time to reflect on your decision of eating the treat. Really, you would have to dirty a plate and fork or a bowl and spoon. Or worse, sift through the chocolates only to get one you don't want. Grrr.

I have some small solutions. Things that have worked for me that I wish to share with the rest of the sweet frienemies out there. Some are conventional truths and common sense while others fill me with rebellious joy.

First conventional: Make sure you are hydrated. Your body may feel a low because of your lack of liquids. That will send a signal to your stomach and you may confuse that with hunger. As we know quick grabs are the easiest and that sugar high does give you a little pick me up.

Make sure you are feeding yourself along with your children. As a mom we usually forget about ourselves until we are starving! Once again, looking for a boost we go for the quick grab. Make sure other options are there. Carrots, sliced cucumbers, cut celery, triscuits, or my favorite dried fruit. You really need sugar? Toss some dried cranberries in you mouth while you make real food.

When you make sweets in your house don't set yourself up to fail. Don't make 3 dozen cookies at once. Bake enough for your family to enjoy at the time. I usually do a dozen. Then take out wax paper. Wrap up and freeze balls of dough (enough for about a dozen) for later use. That way, when you want to make the effort later most of the work is already done:) This works with every dough I have tried. Brownies are tougher. I only make them when I know most of them will be eaten in one night.

Now for the fun!

We all know the scene: leftover cake in the fridge. Covered in plastic. The knife left in the pan for easier access. Less guilt when it's just a tiny sliver, right? We get tired of looking at it but waste not want not right? Throwing away food is abominable. It's just plain wrong. What do you do? I take a fork and spear it right in the middle of what is left over. Scoop out a nice size bite, eat it, and toss the rest. Pie in your fridge? Smash up the crust, stir it around the tin. take a bite and chuck it. No one is going to eat something mutilated but at least you didn't waste it right? You took a bite. Hehehehe. Oh it feels like winning both inner struggles. You didn't eat all that sugar, you did put it to good use, and you didn't waste it. Christmas goodies? Give them a time limit in your home. One week then out they go (with a mutilation send off, of course.) Chocolates are the hardest for me. To take a bite of each may make you sick. Stick with the one week rule or make sure you can be strong. I hope this lightens everyone's day and scales. Moderation is a good thing. Remember that when you take that last bite from right out of the middle and rejoice:)

A good laugh at someone else's expense

There is nothing better than a good laugh. At someone else's expense gives me a fiendish delight. Don't hate! It's all in good fun. We have a pair of elders in our ward right now that make me laugh so hard. Elder Swan is the the straight man and Elder Roberts is the goofy slapshtick one. HILARIOUS! Roberts takes all these videos of doing stupid things like eating the world's hottest chili pepper, waxing his eyebrows, and such. His face and reactions are pricless. Swan is the guy who says something absolutely hilarious with a dead pan face. That makes it even more funny.

Tonight we had the elders over for dinner and after dinner Roberts said he wanted to conquer his fear of snakes and asked to hold ours.

"I just fed him a few days ago so he shouldn't bite." I teased.

We gave him the snake and he did ok. He would hold it but it kind of made him nervous when he couldn't see the snakes head. He wanted him to be more active so I told him to put the snake down on the couch.

"If you want him to explore just sit still. Don't make any sudden moves right in front of his face or he'll get scared and coil back." I warned him.

We all sat down to a game and Elder Swan reached forward (across the snake) to give Elder Roberts something. Kaw, our snake, frighted by the shadow, jerked back towards Roberts. In that same instance Roberts, eyes wide as saucers, jerked back too. He looked ready to jump off the couch and scream like a girl. That was the first time. The second time it happened wasn't much better. As the game progressed I asked Elder Roberts if he would put the snake around his neck.

"I won't do it but I'll let you do it." he said, putting on his brave face. So, Jesse put the snake around his neck. Still as a statue, Roberts began to FREAK OUT.

"Ok, I can't see his head. What's he doing? Is he by my adam's apple? Ok, I'm done you can get him off now." The ranting went on as we laughed and sat.

"Seriously Bro. Wattson! Take him back." Jesse took a picture with Elder Roberts camera and we all just kept talking. Then Jesse decided to get something in the kitchen. Turning like a robot Roberts continued,

"Wattson, seriously, oh snap. Get him off me. AHHhgh. Is he crawling? Wattson?!"

All this time (an eternity for Roberts. In real life it was about 2 minutes.) I was laughing so hard I all most peed my pants. Jesse finally came back. As he took the snake off of him dragged the snake's tail up his neck and gave Roberts the worst case of hibbie jibbies I've ever seen. The sad part is we didn't get a video. Oh well, maybe he'll let us do it again:) What a good laugh.

I own something!

My car! Jesse and I made our last payment on our car this month. Wow! I can't believe we are the official owners of our vehicle. Thank goodness we still fit into it:) Two hundred and fifty nine dollars a month is now... going to another debt. Debt is a scary thing. I am starting to see the light as we slowly crawl our way out of that hole we dug one swipe at a time. As we tighten our belts and put our plastic away I realize how lucky I am. There are those with thousands in school loans. Some have mortgages they can no longer pay. My debts? They are mostly self inflicted wounds from over rationalizations. " I NEED this because..." "This can't wait because..." " I can't save right now because.."

Shut up Rachel. Shut up.

Once I told myself that, it was a little easier to put a rubberband around all those devils and close them into a deep dark place. I have them available if something tragic happens (major mechanic bills etc) but out of sight out of mind really does work. If you don't think you can live without the credit cards think again. You can! Keep a balanced check book, work a budget, and once your money is gone, it's gone. I have to say it's quite liberating! The best part is... I own something!!!!!

Unforgetable lyrics

Lady Gaga has a few hit songs on the radio right now. Frank LOVES to sing along. We were sitting at the table tonight eating dinner when he started singing "poker face". And I quote

"Cutie pie, cutie pie, don't need, let's poke our face." after which he poked his face. Soooo silly.

Funny stuff

I was helping my mom download some pictures from girls camp and came across this one. This is my sister Heidi practicing archery. Yes that is a tutu:) Oh man, this brought back alot of girls camp memories.

FHE is hard to do

FHE, Family Home Evening, is hard to do when you don't have a set schedule. We have tried and failed to do FHE regularly with the whole family. So that means some weeks we have it on Monday and some weeks we have it on Sunday. That never kept up for long. Well, some members of our ward go out to the beach every Monday for FHE during the summer. "What a great way to get into the habit," I thought. We decided to go a couple Mondays ago. It was so much fun and the water was perfect. Though Jesse is gone this week we went again. I love my big ward family. Plenty of eyes to watch the kids and plenty of helping hands. It started my long week off right. The pictures below are courtesy of Stan Coburn. It's nice to be in pictures every once in a while:)

Frank and I jumping the waves