Thank You, Mom

We've all heard of those moms that get frustrated and go on strike. Well, Brandon and I had to do that last week. Not only are our children ungrateful for what they have, they tend to be very rude whenever we prepare meals for them. I've taught them polite ways that they can decline to eat something, but instead they choose the "YUCK! THIS IS GROSS" route, without even trying it. So, after trying several other things, we went on strike. For one week we did not prepare them a single meal -- breakfast, lunch or dinner. They had to pack their own lunches for school. Without doing that or breakfast my mornings were so nice! For those who may be a little worried about our tactics, they did not starve. I'm not sure they got any nutrition at all, but I think they learned that it's not all that fun to prepare all the meals. And they had to do all their own dishes! That was a really good part of it too. The saddest part was that they were not allowed to eat anything that Brandon or I made, so we couldn't share with them no matter how bad they wanted it. And believe me, we heard about how we were only making the things they like during the strike. Somehow taco soup suddenly became Chloe's favorite meal. The point was to teach them a little appreciation for all the work we do for them, not necessarily to make them like what we make. Did it work? Thursday night during dinner this note was delivered to me:



Just for the record, the meal that was so yummy was just soup, but I made some bread bowls to eat out of which were the real hit.

Last Week

My blog has been kind of hit and miss lately. I'd apologize, but Brandon reminded me that it's MY blog, so I can write whenever I want about whatever I want. The sad thing is I wish I wrote more often, but life happens and then I forget. That being said, on to what I've been up to.

We've been in the mood for plays recently. I was going to take Chloe to see "Our Town" in March, but then found out how much those tickets were so we decided to go to "Singin' in the Rain" at our local theatre. I've also had an urge to go see "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" lately -- ahh the memories that brings back! I told myself if I ever saw a production I was going to get tickets. Well, I saw an ad in the paper the day after I got our "Singin' in the Rain" tickets. I couldn't justify two dates in one month, but Brandon suggested we all go and make it a family date. I wasn't going to turn that down! It was a high school theatre, so tickets were really cheap. That's how we spent our Saturday. And this week we have one more play. The girl's friends are in one that their school is doing.

My parents came to visit for a few days last week. They gave Brandon and I a night out, while they took the girls to dinner and bowling. I'm kind of weary of eating out these days, but my super smart husband just got on the internet (his favorite place to be) and searched for "healthy restaurants." Who knew there was such a thing? Well, I did, but I didn't know anything resided close to me. I thought you had to go to California or someplace. But he actually found some. I already knew Chipotle was an ok choice, but we've eaten there before. I opted to try one of the new places. We went to Jason's Deli, and let me say YUMMY! Plus, it felt so good looking at a menu that had organic symbols all over it, plus several vegetarian choices. And I didn't have to order a salad. Then they ruin it all by offering free ice cream, but my dinner was so good that I succumbed to the ice cream and splurged a bit.

Sunday we had an interesting Sacrament meeting. It was Jeff Packer's homecoming. His Uncle Alan (a member of the seventy) came, as well as his grandpa (Boyd K.). I've never attended a regular Sacrament where the whole Stake Presidency and two apostles were sitting on the stand. I also noticed another guy I didn't recognize sitting amongst the choir. I asked Brandon who he was -- security. The rest of the meeting was pretty ordinary, except Brandon got to join us for Primary to fill in for a teacher. That was fun having him around.

President's Day snuck up on me. I wasn't expecting it until next Monday, but luckily someone pointed out to me that it was this week. That would have been really sad if we had gotten ready and gone to school, to find out that it was a holiday! Instead, we slept in a little bit. Then I made German pancakes for breakfast. I was planning to take Chloe shopping for some shirts (she's out of long-sleeve school shirts), but as I got to thinking about where we should go I decided it would be fun to go to Park City so we just went. It was really fun. We got a lot more than shirts for Chloe. They both picked out their Easter dresses, we got a birthday present for my nephew, Sophie got a couple pair of pants (Yes! she is growing!), and I got Chloe one outfit for Spring, because I know that will be here before we know it. Oh, Sophie also got a pair of sneakers. So, after all of that, we still hadn't had any luck finding shirts for Chloe that met the dress code. Can you believe that Ralph Lauren doesn't sell polos for girls size 8-20? Boys yes, but girls no. They have infant-6x, and then jump right to women's. I tried to get someone to explain it to me, but no one could. Well, Chloe keeps telling me about her friends who wear really cute clothes, and she wonders where they get them. I have no clue! Then finally we walk into a store and she yells, "This is the shirt Cassidy has!" Turns out she finds like 4 shirts Cassidy has. I guess we now know where Cassidy shops. She picked out this cute shirt, and I noticed they went up to size 20 (girls). I thought I could fit into it, so I showed it to Chloe. Of course she loved the idea -- she LOVES matching. So, we found one in Sophie's size as well. Now we all match. We wore our new shirts today. I'm sure we'll have to have a photo shoot sometime. I seriously need to get taking some pictures! Sorry for the lack in this post :(

Food, Inc.

Our legislative session has been going on for the last two weeks, but there aren't a whole lot of topics that interest me this year. I have my kids in a great school. All of my Utah congressmen are on board with me in my fight for a parental rights amendment. So, what's left? My new battle is my health.

I think of myself as having always strived to live a healthy lifestyle, although I'm learning more and more that most of the "good" choices I've made aren't really that good. And I've always followed the rule that if you eat your veggies than you can have your dessert, but that's changing too. About a year ago I started down a whole different path. The health provider through Brandon's work offers an incentive program where they pay you to meet certain challenges. Last year they opened this plan up to spouses, and I was eager to jump on board. Like I said, I already loved trying to be healthy, but to get paid for it too? Just what I needed to make me stretch a little bit. What I wasn't ready for was the very first challenge -- to give up sugar! I thought that was a little excessive, but I gave it a go, and you know what? It wasn't that bad (for me).

As the year progressed I took part in all the challenges (although I didn't complete them all). At this same time, a fellow blogging friend I have was documenting her eating habits. Everything she said resonated with me, and I tried to incorporate some of her ideas. I have yet to sprout my wheat or do sourdough, but she's the one who introduced me to green smoothies. Then in June another friend I have (I'm really not that popular) invited me to go hear Jim Simmons speak. I had no clue who this man was, but the things she told me about him made me feel like I needed to be there. When I got there, guess who I ran in to? My blogging inspiration! I knew I was meant to be there, and everything this guy said resonated with me. I went home excited to drastically change my eating habits, but it wasn't until my birthday that Brandon got me Jim's book, The Original Fast Foods, that I had a guide to help me (with recipes!). I haven't been perfect at following it, but we're making progress.

Also, sometime this past summer (or maybe even earlier) Brandon told me about a documentary being made he wanted to see. He didn't want to go to the theatre to see it, but thought maybe we could rent it sometime. It came and went from the theatre. I had thought about maybe getting it for him for Christmas, but it slipped my mind and didn't happen. A few weeks ago he asked me about maybe renting it for a date night, so I looked it up. Redbox didn't have it, but Blockbuster did. We ended up having a couple other movies we needed to watch first, and put it off. Then a week and 1/2 ago I sat down to for a minute and turned on the tv. Oprah was on, and it didn't take me long to figure out what she was talking about. Brandon called in the middle, and I said, "Guess what Oprah's doing her show on? FOOD, INC.!!" Even though it was Brandon's idea to watch this movie, the show really made me want to go out and get it. And the end of Oprah she announced a special deal they were offering through Amazon, so I bought it that night. It came with a special downloadable edition, so we were able to watch it right away, and then the DVD came a couple days ago. Brandon's now watching it with the girls. This movie has not changed my life, but I hope it's helping me think more about the changes I do make and make conscious choices. I think it's important enough to share with everyone. Please watch the trailer below, and anyone who wants to watch the movie is more than welcome to borrow our copy.