Eye Doctor

Today I finally visited the eye doctor in an attempt to get rid of my headaches. I have a bad astigmatism in my right eye and will only be required to wear a contact in that eye. So far, still blurry. However, the doctor told me that due to my astigmatism, the contact will require some fitting and I have to go in once a week after trying different kinds until we get it right. And, I only slightly embarrassed myself while trying to get the darn thing in and out for the first time. Let's just say that I had 2 other customers coaching me. Good times!

Best FHE Ever!

I had a very proud moment last night as a mother. My daughter planned an family home evening lesson all by herself. What was impressive was that her lesson included object lessons, a game, visuals, and hands on activities. She seriously did this on her own. She sat working at the table for a long time on Sunday night and would occasionally ask us how to spell a word. It seems I'm raising a little teacher! I'm seriously kicking myself now for not having out the camcorder before she started. Luckily John was able to get a few shots. And now, with out further adieu(because I have get as much of this down now as I can before I forget it) here is her lesson.

She told us that her lesson was about how to go back to live with heavenly father. She started out with a little object lesson. She build a course with our marble racer thingy that had 2 paths. One was a straight drop down and one had lost of twists and turns before reaching the bottom. She put a marble on each path and then pointed out that the one that dropped down straight got there fastest because it took a short cut. Just like we should do to live with heavenly father.

Then she had these 3 pieces of paper taped on the TV and had each member of the family come up to chose one and open it up.

Here are the 3 papers we unfolded.

After each one she told us that if we obeyed, loved others,etc., we will return to live with heavenly father.

Then she showed us a paper that had a bunch of drawings on it. If you look closely you can see the temple and a church.

Then she showed us a piece of paper that had a bunch of random letters on it. She asked (in her very teacherish voice) if the paper said anything. John and I were expecting her to make up something that it said instead she said, "It doesn't say anything. Just like when we're babies and we come to the earth and can't read." For some reason that caught me off guard and I couldn't stop laughing for a bit.

We were then given this puzzle (It was strips of paper) to put together. I think when the picture was done it was Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Next we played a game. Here is the game board.

The great thing about this game is that you don't need any pieces. You just put your finger on a square and then take turns moving your finger along the path. If you land on a square with a dot you lose a turn, but then you get to move 3 spaces on your next turn. Unfortunately this is only a 2 person game so we all had to take turns playing.

She also showed us that map that she had made that we needed to follow to get back to Heavenly Father.

She then got another picture she had drawn out of an envelope. She explained to us that this was a picture of Heavenly Father's money. And since Heavenly Father doesn't have a lot of money we need to pay tithing. (Interesting insight I thought.)

Last of all she showed us her back pack that she had filled full of food and explained to us that we need to be prepared because there isn't food in Heaven and so we need to have our own ready to go.

Like I said...best FHE ever! I just loved how I could see little bits and pieces of her primary lessons and past FHE's all packed into one awesome lesson.

My Battle

It seems like everyday I have a battle going on in my head. A battle with food. It's getting old. I believe the battle started when I was in 5th grade and I broke100 pounds. It was then that I realized I was overweight. I knew that I needed to be aware of what I ate, but food was my comfort. I liked food. I didn't want to give it up. And so the battle raged on, and I was losing. I continued to gain weight all through junior high and high school. I tried random diets, played sports, etc., but the weight never came off. I ate to much food for that to happen.

Then I went to college. I think it was at this point that I began to be the winner of the battle and not so down trodden. I was active, happy (for the most part :) and for the first time in my life food didn't control me. I remember my grandma telling me once that whenever I let go of whatever it was I was holding on to, the weight would come off. I guess college did that for me. I went to college on my own. Moved into an apartment with complete strangers and somehow found myself. I broke out of my shell, found self confidence, and sure enough the weight began to come off. Not because I was dieting and trying to lose weight, but because food lost it's control over me. I wasn't consumed with thoughts of what I should eat, how much I should eat, what I shouldn't eat, how much I wanted to eat what I shouldn't eat. I ate when I was hungry, I listened to my body, and I ate treats without feeling regret. Things were going great...I thought.

Time went on, I got married and wasn't so active anymore. I probably gained a few pounds, but nothing significant. I still wasn't overweight. But it was at this point that the scale began to control me. I have a deep and real fear that someday I will be overweight again and I let that fear drive me. I now focus entirely too much on the food that should and should not go in my mouth and what the scale tells me instead of how I feel. I'm back on the losing side of the battle.

What intrigues me is that I weigh the same, if not a bit less than I did when I got married. I don't remember feeling fat when I got married. (Although I do remember wishing my thighs were thinner.) So why is it that I am so concerned with what the scale is telling me now. Although I look in the mirror and don't feel fat, I'm a perfectly healthy weight for my height (I'm not a stick by any means, but I never thought that was very attractive, curves are okay with me.) but I get on the scale and I have a yearning to be 10 pounds lighter. Why? Maybe it's because I have never been that thin before. Maybe that would mean reaching the unattainable goal. Maybe that would guarantee me that I would never revert to my "fat" days. I'm not sure why, but the battle is still real and raging in my head.

My goal is to end the battle. I want to get back to the time in my life when I listened to my body. When I let go of my obsession with food and weight and somehow managed to maintain a healthy lifestyle without really thinking about it. I don't want to start my day planning how much and what I will allow myself to eat that day. I'm not sure what it is I'm holding on to, but I need to find a way to let it go again.

We're Doing It!

Owen is now on his way to being fully potty trained. I haven't changed a poppy diaper in a while now, so why not. That is my biggest hang up, no potty training for me until I am sure I will not be dealing with poop (sorry to be unpleasant, but it's true!). Today is day 2 of our adventure. Yesterday we went through 7 pairs of underwear, however I was pumping the kid so full of juice and pink milk that he had more success than accidents. I'm pretty sure it's his awesome glow in the dark Iron Man underwear that is bringing us so much luck. We've had no accidents as of yet this morning. Way to go Owen!!! And good-bye diapers!

I must admit though, that I'm hoping this goes quickly. I'm already a little stir crazy. We've only been home a full 24 hours now (sometimes we go for days without leaving the house) but I think that knowing that I CAN'T go anywhere somehow makes me a little crazy. We have already watched as much TV as we usually do in a matter of a week. Good thing I have DVR (which I am loving by the way). Good thing it's Friday, and tomorrow I have someone to tag team with. As for today, another day of a lot of TV and a lot of juice!

Some partyin' goin' on...

I am now the mother of a 5 year old. Crazy. Ains had two days of birthday fun this year. She got an early birthday presents from my parents and Syd and got to go to the mall on Monday to go to Build a Bear. My mom and Syd surprised her and picked her up in the afternoon and took her. She had no idea where she was going. She had so much fun. She came home with a bear she named Ella. We are all very happy to have a new member of the family.

On Tuesday she had a day of parties. I decided that we should just have one crazy day rather than spread it all out. She had preschool in the morning where she got to take a treat and have a little party. And then she came home and we did a little party with her friends. I made John take a day off of work so that he could help me. We did a polka-dot party. We had polka-dot every thing. Polka-dot pinata, polka dot games, (musical dots, bingo, and twister scramble) polka-dot food (grapes, circle sandwiches, and chips) and a house full of polka-dots on every wall.

I was pretty proud of how my polka-dot cupcakes turned out. Cute, eh?

That afternoon she had dance and then we had a little family gathering with my parents. She chose Sante-Fe chicken for dinner (a chicken,black bean, and rice concoction) and then we opened presents and had cake. She got a little puppet show stage and some puppets from John and I that we got at IKEA when we were in Salt Lake over Thanksgiving.
She told me that she wanted a heart shaped cake with polka-dots on it and strawberry frosting. I obliged and made her a Valentines day looking cake, which she didn't like. Turns out she doesn't like strawberry frosting.

She was really cute and happy (most of the day) and she was her ever grateful self. She is my favorite person ever to watch open presents. She is excited and grateful no matter what she gets. Although there was a moment of disappointment when she opened her puppet stage from the back side and it looked like an empty box. My little girl is getting older and older, and she 's getting the sass to prove it. (But I'll save those stories for another post!)

My Little Man

Need I say more?

More so than I thought...

I guess my kids are even more self-sufficient than I thought. I entered the kitchen the other day to find that Owen had used scissors to open the go-gurt he had gotten himself.
And then he was using soap and water to clean-up after himself. What a responsible little guy.

You're Welcome!

Saturday will now and forever be known as one of the best day's in John's life. I finally relented and let the poor guy order dish. We have managed to not pay for TV our entire marriage (technically we had to pay $7 a month for the first 4 months of our marriage to get local channels, but I don't count that). We had always managed free cable until we moved here. So for the last 3 years, it's been rabbit ears and a crummy picture.

And now, because I am a loving wife, and because our tax return will pay off our car, John will now have all he as ever dreamed of; ESPN, DVR, and a clear picture...it doesn't get much better than that! What's funny is that he made a diagram for me to point out the pro's and con's of both Dish and Direct TV and then after he called to order it he informed me that he would be carrying around the little flier that lists all of the channels we will be getting until the set-up guys come on Saturday. I have a feeling I'm going to have a fun week of hearing about all the shows I can DVR and what I will be watching for the next month.

Self Sufficient

Yesterday I slept in until 9:00. This would have been okay had the kids not woken up around 8:00. I guess they got sick of me putting them off because when I finally came out of my room Ains proudly announced that she had made breakfast. Granola bars and fruit loops. Good girl. Now that I know my 4 year old is capable of making breakfast I can sleep in more often.

Another First

I caught Owen singing his first real song today. He's been singing gibberish for a while now. It was nice to recognize a tune.

Real

I've been thinking lately that my blog is not accurately representing the happenings in our family. My goal when I started this blog was not to only share activities we did, but also our regular day to day happenings and feelings. Unfortunately, I've let the real stuff slide.

I find myself wondering why I leave unpleasant things out. Like why did I not mention that John I were arguing for a good portion of our trip to McCall. Why did I not blog about the time I was so frustrated with my calling I was brought to tears. Why didn't I blog about taking Ains out of dance because we just couldn't afford it. Why didn't I blog about being so frustrated with the kids that I just locked myself in my room. Sometimes I think it's easier to just leave the unpleasantries out, but then my record wouldn't be accurate.

I blog so that I have a record for my family. I will print it out eventually and make it into a book. I want it to be something that my children and grandchildren can look at for years to come. And when they do read what I've written, I want them to see all of the fun things that we've done, but I also want them to remember that we were a real, normal family with hardships and trying times. I love hearing about other people's struggles because it makes me feel more normal. I need to share the normal part of me too. So there you have it...my goal is to make my blog a more accurate representation of what's happening with our family, good and bad.

A little trip to McCall

This past weekend we took a trip to McCall. Kort's grandpa-in-law was nice enough to let us use his cabin again so the entire Welch clan was able to go up for a little get-away. I took the kids up the first night alone because John had to work, he then met us up the next day for some serious sledding. It was a nice way to end the Christmas break. We got to hang out with Michael's girlfriend, play in the snow, play games, relax, and eat a lot of food. All in all, a nice weekend....except for the fact that Owen decided to throw up in the car on the return trip (again), I really hope he's not planning on making this a tradition.

The only time I got out the camera was while we were sledding. So here are a few of our sledding shots.

Michael almost plowing me over with the kids. Ains and John Ains walking up the driveway after her daring first flight down the icy driveway. She just hopped on a sled and flew down, my mom was so worried about her she took off running down the hill after Ains. Ains crashed on the pile of snow in the back of the picture and hopped up laughing and yelled, "That was AWESOME!!!" It was hilarious. Owen trying out the scooter sled. And last but not least, proud Owen after climbing a little hill.