Chummie

My girls were night-time potty trained around the same time they were potty-trained in the day. They kind of went together.

I can't say that much for my boys. Spencer has never had a dry night in his life. Nathan a few, but mostly wet. Gavin, although he isn't day trained, he already wakes up dry. I think it all has to do with how heavy they sleep or those little hormones in their body that make their bladder hold, or not hold, all night long.

I was one of those night time bed wetters until I was in the 4th grade. Studies have shown if one of the parents had a problem, 75% change one of their children will have a problem.

I guess that means I passed on that bad jean to two of my children.

Sorry.

We have never made a big deal out of wearing pull-ups at night. It's just what the boys did. So when Spencer came to me and asked what we could do so that he could stop wetting at night, I was a little surprised because that wasn't anything I had put into his head. He showers every morning so nobody would know at school.

He noticed. And that was enough. 

So I scheduled a doctor appointment because everything I researched suggested doing that first. I have the best pediatrician ever, so I really trust her. 

Her suggestion was a night-time bed-wetting monitor. I was skeptical. How could one of those possibly work? But hey, she wasn't suggesting medicine like I had taken that never worked. I thought I would give it a try and if it didn't work, we were no worse off. She said they work 80% of the time. And on those who they don't work, it is usually  because there is a problem.

Then I priced them. $100 for a decent one. But if it really worked, it was worth it.

After a week, Spencer started sleeping through the alarm. Not sure how he could sleep through the loud alarm with flashing lights and vibration, all attached to the collar of his pajamas, but he did. Nobody else slept though it.

So I would get up with him, change him into a clean pull-up and send him right back to bed. I'm pretty sure he never woke up for any of it.

I kept up him wearing the alarm for about 4 weeks. I was discouraged and basically gave up. He was having dry nights, but I figured that was because I was waking him up to pee if I woke up in the night, which was frequent. Spencer insisted on wearing the alarm. Thankfully he hadn't given up.

I kept using the monitor, knowing we had just wasted $100. Then my sister-in-law visited and said she had the same problem but it was working with her son. She said to start keeping track of how many dry night he had. It took her son 2 months.

So I did that. And within 2 weeks, he was dry every night. In the last month, he has only had 1 accident and we haven't used the alarm in the last month.

The alarm didn't teach him to wake up and use the bathroom in the night. He still sleeps and heavy as ever. It somehow trained his sub-conscience to hold the pee and not release it.

Spencer's pull-ups used to be lead weights in the morning because he had peed so much.

I tried limiting drink intake. He still wet at night, just not as much.

I tried getting him up to pee. He still wet at night, just not as many times.

All the research I did supports all of the above. Limiting drinks and getting them up in the night really don't work. The child needs to be trained to hold it or get up in the night. Spencer sleeps too sound to wake up. And Chummie, our night-time alarm, did the trick. It took 6 weeks, but worked.

It woke me up every night for 6 weeks, but worked.

Now to let Chummie do its magic on Nathan. 

I'm not ready. It was a long 6 weeks. But so worth it!

Mexican Farmer's Market and Salsa

I have the best visiting teachers EVER. One of my visiting teachers mentioned she shops at the Mexican Farmer's Market and gets a super deal on bulk vegetables (I am learning to like them) and makes salsa. I was very interested in a cheeper way to feed my family. I asked if I could at least go along with her next time she went to check it out.

I bought 4 boxes of Roma tomatoes and 1 box of bananas. I paid $7 for 23 pounds of tomatoes. Wow. The lady that I went with usually pays double that and it is still a good deal. We got a screaming deal. Probably won't see that good of deal ever again. Or maybe we will. Hopefully.

I got 42 pounds of bananas for $13. Thats pretty good too considering that would have cost me $29 at Kroger. I was happy.

Then I got home and realized I had to process all that produce.

What had I gotten myself into?

The first day was so horrible I promised to never make salsa again. Never buy bulk again for that matter. I had to blanch the tomatoes, peel them, chop them, chop onions that made me cry so hard, cut and chop jalapenos  and then cilantro. It was a lot of work.

Until I discovered what my really cool blender could do. I knew it was really cool. But I didn't know just how cool it was. 

It chopped all my onions, jalapenos, and even tomatoes. 

I had Gavin and Nathan peel all the tomatoes. I just had to bribe Nathan with a trip to the dollar store. That 4 year old boy peeled over 200+ tomatoes. That is one dedicated worker!

And the blender chopped veggies to the pot with a little seasoning, and you get the most amazing salsa ever.

This was the final result of 95 pounds of tomatoes. 2 days of work, and I accomplished exactly what I wanted:

The experience of making salsa, blanching tomatoes, etc.

I added garlic and cilantro to the recipe. Replaced the lemon juice with lime juice.

Asparagus Soup

I am trying out that Bountiful Basket thing. 

I am trying.

Basically what it is is you place an order on Monday and it comes to a location in your area on Saturday. You get a basket with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. about $25 worth. 

You don't know what you are going to get. 

You have to figure out how to use what you get.

And eat the stuff.

I was so not raised eating a variety of vegetables. We had canned corn and canned green beans. I think that was it.I have had a lot of learning to do as an adult. To teach myself to like vegetables. And I am still not there. But I eat them and try not to let my children know this is a hard thing for me to do. I don't think they know because they all eat their vegetables really well.

So I ordered my Bountiful Basket and added some asparagus to the order. I added 14 pounds to my order. I can eat asparagus, but only in moderation. It is okay maybe once a week at the most. I had more asparagus than I knew what to do with and it was overwhelming. 

I googled what to do and thought I would try a recipe for asparagus soup. I seasoned it all nice. Blended it in my really cool blender that warms it. 

And this was the result.

We had weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth around my house. And it wasn't from me. I can put my taste buds aside for a little and make myself eat things that just don't seem right. Taneal actually liked it. She was the only one. Spencer actually threw up eating it. He does that regularly, he has super sensitive gag reflexes. Poor kid.

It really was quite good for asparagus. 

Easter Sunday

See how wonderful these pictures are? Not!!!!

Nathan wouldn't smile. We've had pictures like that for Easter before here. On that page, scroll down to the group shot and check out Camie. She still gets mad that I posted that picture. I wouldn't be real if I didn't.

After church, we went to Troy and Becky's house. They were nice and invited Bonnie and Jarom over. Because they knew I would LOVE it if Bonnie and Jarom came. They also invited over my good , great, awsome friend Jana. 

Gavin still hadn't got the hang of what you do with the basket.

Spencer searching for eggs.

She truly looks like a teenage. Woah!

Nathan with quite the attitude change from the morning.

Silly Danielle. Always making a face for the camera.

Camie and Audrey. These girls are growing up!

Dying Easter Eggs

We dyed Easter Eggs this year for Easter. 

Before Easter.

Not the week after.

So I took pictures as proof.

Bonnie and Sage came to join in on the fun.

And really, it is so much fun. My kids are getting older and it is so much easier to do things without a baby in arms. I haven't had this happen to me in . . . well, never. Not since Taneal was born. I forgot there was life without a baby in arms. I loved those years, but I am loving these years too and being able to enjoy my older, able children.

See how much fun they are? Seriously this is great. My crew is so awesome!

And look at their creativity! 

Gavin FINALLY learned to use the mouse

I know this is silly, but Gavin finally learned to use the mouse.

My girls could use the mouse around 18 months. My boys a little slower.

Gavin is 2 years and 7 months and started using the mouse today.

Not that I want him on the computer all the time, but I do have some fun educational toddler games that have been frustrating for him. He sees his siblings play and is always trying to get at the computer and click away.

Now he can have his turn and think the world is great!

Canning Chicken

I am not a domesticated woman nor do I ever care to be. I do care for convenience in this ever busy world I live in. As much as I would like to not be busy, I am. 

I am always looking for ways to make life easier and I am not afraid to work. 

Meal time is a challenge for me. Actually food is a challenge for me. I wish we didn't have to eat. I eat because I am hungry. If I wasn't hungry I would probably wither away because I would never eat. And when I eat, it has to taste good or I would rather go hungry.

Even though I would choose hunger over yucky food, my children do not feel the same. I have to feed them. I can't let them starve. 

So how do I feed them good food without all the work day in and day out?

I learned to can chicken.

So much more convenient and it is good. It doesn't taste like the cans of chicken you buy that you aren't sure if it is chicken or tuna.

I bought a pressure canner because I was sure I would continue this. And you know what? I loved the results. This is seriously the best invention ever. I have no idea why everyone doesn't do it!

It is simple. Gather and wash your jars.

Put the chicken in the jars. Yes, raw chicken. I bought 160 pounds this time round because if I am going to can chicken, I want to get it done so I don't have to do it for a long time again.

Add 1 tsp salt (double check this), wipe the rims clean, add lids, screw on bands. Place jars in pressure cooker. The pints can be double stacked. 

I borrowed a pressure canner to make things go faster since I was processing so much.

Let the chicken cook at 10 pounds of pressure for 60-90 minutes (depends on the jar size how long it cooks). And then let the pressure come off all by itself. When all the pressure is gone, take the jars out and let them sit on the counter 24 hours until cooled. Make sure all the jars have sealed by touching the tops of the lids to see if there is any give. If it is solid, it is sealed.

So what do you do with the chicken after it is all canned? You open the can, drain the juice, and the chicken falls apart. It is like the chicken cooked in a crock pot for hours. You add it to anything. I used it instead of ground beef and made tacos. So good. I use it in taquitos. Chicken enchiladas  Hawaiian haystacks  Chicken salad sandwiches. Bar-b-q sandwiches. Chicken noodle soup. It can be used anywhere that you need shredded or cooked chicken. About the only thing you can't use it for is grilling. It makes such simple meals.

And I have 160 pounds of canned chicken. I wonder how long it will last?

Jackets make you cold

This Spring hasn't really felt like Spring. The weather can't decide if it is still Winter. It doesn't really matter because there is nothing we can do about it. Just complain.

Nathan refuses to wear appropriate clothing for the weather. He wants to wear shorts in the winter and long sleeves and long pants in the summer. He is 4. And when he makes up his mind, there is nothing I can do about it.

Today is another one of those cold days that should be hot. My house is nice and toasty warm. I had errands to do today (actually a Pilates class) so I had Gavin and Nathan put on their jackets before we loaded into the car parked in the nice and warm garage.

Nathan began to refuse his jacket like Nathan always does. But what was funny to me was his excuse.

He said he is never cold except when he wears a jacket. And that was why he didn't want to wear his jacket.

So in his 4 year old thinking,  it is the jacket that makes you cold, not the weather. And he is kind of right. He isn't cold unless he wear a jacket because we only wear jackets when it is cold.

Day of Song

After watching Les Miserables, I was inspired. Maybe not in the way this movie inspires most. I had the idea of having a day of song. A day where we cannot talk, we must sing our conversations. No speaking whatsoever!

I introduced the idea to my children at supper tonight. I started singing to them. I sang and sang everything that I had to say. I sang them my idea. I sang about scenarios of going through McDonald's and having to sing my order to the cashier and what they might think.

Right in the middle of my singing, Nathan (4 yrs old) started putting his hands over his ears. He quietly asked me to stop the singing. I told him I couldn't, that I had to sing. His voice got louder and louder with a desperate sort of plea mixed with absolute annoyance.

But I couldn't stop until he was screaming at me.

Then I decided I really shouldn't push his buttons. That wasn't considerate of me.

So I stopped.

But I was having so much fun!

Nathan then proceeded to tell me in his exasperated voice, "that was the most horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, (and about 20 more horribles) thing you have ever done! Please don't EVER do it again!"

I guess maybe we shouldn't have a day of singing?

Blue Bell Fun Run 5K

I think I may have my kids on board with this running thing. I told them they could have all the ice cream they wanted if they would run a 5K. Plus, they would get a really cool shirt and would have the bragging rights of saying they ran their first 5K when they were 11. Or 8. Or 6. How cool is that? I didn't mention that a 5K was 3 miles. Or that there would be hills involved. I did tell them that they had to run the whole thing or all the ice cream would be gone, they needed to pass up all 4,700 people running so there would be as much ice cream as they wanted to eat.

Whatever I said or didn't say, they were excited to run the race and had so much fun doing it.

Thankfully for good friends. I seriously have some of the best friends ever. I could not manage my clan without them. I signed up for the event, the 5k, and also signed Taneal, Camie, Danielle, and Spencer up for it as well. I knew Nathan (4) would want to run, but I figured the 5K would probably be too much for him. They had a 1 mile that kids could walk, so I signed him up for that.

I can't be in two places at once. Jana stepped in and helped. She took Nathan and Gavin, along with several of her children, and walked the mile. Seriously awesome woman. 

These are all my kids and her kids. Wow. That's a lot of kids.

Here is the 1 miles crew after finishing their run. Can you tell they loved it?

And of course all the Blue Bell ice cream you could eat. Why would you not want to run a race and get the best ice cream in the world after?

I had Taneal buddy up with Spencer in the 5K. She had run one 5K before and this was his first. I knew he would be able to do it, but might need a little push to run up the hills. I predicted it right. She pushed a little and he ran the whole thing. Can I just say how amazed I am? He is only 6. Wow! And he LOVED it! Spencer does love to run. When I did the Color in Motion 5K, I asked him if he would be interested in running it next year. He said he would really like to, just didn't want to get the color all over him. Yah, that means that race isn't for him. But the Blue Bell race? Perfect for him. And he did so well. Go Spencer! And GO Taneal for helping make this a success for Spencer.

Here is a circled picture so you know where they are:

I buddied up with Danielle

Danielle did so well until the last 1/2 mile. And then she rocked! She wanted to walk. It was a big hill and I totally understand why. However, I wanted her to accomplish something hard and I didn't want her to have regrets later. I ended up holding her hand and kind of pulling her along. That and lots of encouragement. And she did it! When we were driving home, she told me she almost started crying because it was so hard. She also said her legs felt funny towards the end of the run. I asked her if they felt like jell-o. She got this surprised and silly look on her face and said said that was exactly how her legs felt. 

Danielle was so proud of herself after. And rightly so. She really accomplished something hard. She was able to push herself and that lesson in and of itself is invaluable.

Camie was my child I was worried would just want to walk the race. Even if I had been her buddy to help her along, it wouldn't have made a difference. When she decides something, she digs her heels in and there is no changing her mind. She had her friend, Kayla, with her. Not sure if that helped. There was excitement in the air. Camie beat Danielle and me to the finish line. She admitted later that she walked part of the last hill. But seriously, that was fine. She made good time and finished a 5K. And check out her as she was finishing. She obviously was having a great time.

Here is a closer look at her. She was having fun!

Here is Camie and Kayla eating all the ice cream they wanted.

Taneal and I enjoying the ice cream, too.

Camie, Kayla, Lindsay, and Danielle

We couldn't pass up the Blue Bonnets. Spencer insisted I get his picture. He even had me print it out at home so he could take it to school and show his teacher.

Silly Danielle.

Taneal, always a good helper and such a trooper. She made it so we had a great time with the race. I love that girl!

Here is the start of the 5K. There were over 2000 people doing the 5K.

Danielle right after the race. She really did work hard.

Nathan found an awesome climbing tree. I think this is the first time he has actually agreed to let me take his picture!.

My 3 boys in the tree. 

We had a great day. My kids are excited to run this race again next year. I wonder if we ought to wait or sign up for something sooner?