Food Storage Analyzer

I just tried out the Food Storage Analyzer on the Emergency Essentials website.. It was very easy to use and I wouldn't have to figure out anything, the tool does it all for you! Awesome! I really like that you can not only add your big food storage items, but also your canned foods and other items you get from the grocery store!

Mood Swing

Bear with me.

No, I am not pregnant. Could be highly hormonal, though. Lately I have been feeling blah. Very blah. Sometimes I just get tired. Tired of not knowing what will happen in the future. Tired of trying to decide what I should be doing in my life and where I should be going. Should I work or should I not? Am I focusing on the wrong things?  

 I just happened to get to go to Relief Society today and our lesson was about work. I don't think it was any work in particular, but just work in general. We talked about the value of teaching your children how to work by doing work together with them. My Mom taught me a lot of things, but working was not one of them. She was a busy woman with 4 kids under the age of 6, and it was much easier for her to just quickly do the work herself rather than get one of us to help/do it. I can definitely see how much easier that can be at times. To this day I still struggle with knowing how to teach my kids to do things. For a long time I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do simple everyday things(like clean the corners inside the windows, you know, where after you wipe them out they still have gunk?) and I couldn't understand why I didn't know how to do it. It was because my Mom never taught me, she just did it for me. And now I am trying my best to figure out how to teach MY kids the value of work. I am struggling.

I tend to get swept up in the worldly things that you don't really realize are worldly until that is all you think about and worry about. Like crafting(another thing my Mom is not gifted in). I dream of the day when I can find a pillow cover I like and immediately run downstairs and sew up one just like it without even breaking a sweat. I scour blogs daily looking for adorable new decorations I can make. And then yesterday I decided I don't want to. I don't have time for it. I am still trying to figure out how to feed my kids semi-nutritious meals three times and day and two snacks and keep the house clean on a daily basis. I just can't do it all.

Another bombshell was dropped on me today while I was reading the Ensign. There was a couple of articles in there that I am sure were put there specifically for me. You know, the ones where you are reading them and fighting back the tears at the same time? They were like that.   The first was about staying out of debt. But the debt part wasn't the part that applied to me, it was the living within your means part. Why is it that no matter what we have, we always want more? The grass always seems greener on the other side. It is probably just me, but it always seems like everyone else has more and better things than me. And this crazy jealous part of me rears its ugly head and makes me think, why not me? Don't I deserve all of the things that so-and-so has?? Don't I deserve a house with a backyard that my boys can run wild through as long as they want?? Don't I deserve a new car, or a new flip HD camera, or an Ipad, or a new fridge, or new clothes whenever I want? And then I read the article and it talked about something I DON'T think about. There are people out there who look at me and what I have, and their crazy jealous part comes out. And then the guilt from being so ungrateful comes. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the 'things' I think I need that I don't even realize what I already have; The PERFECT husband who seriously treats me better than a queen. The most adorable two boys in the universe. We are all HEALTHY and ALIVE. We have a roof over our heads. We have cars that get us from point A to point B(and that's all we really need). We have food to eat. We have all our bills paid every month. We have insurance. Kacey has a good job and works for good people. We live close by family and friends. We have a church on every corner almost. We live in America. The list goes on and on.

So. I have decided to try and keep it simple. Do I really need all of these things that everyone else seems to have??

 Nah. I have all I need right here. :)

I am just going to focus on the things that really matter.

Music, anyone??

Got some new music playing in honor of V-day..... Enjoy. :)

Unfinished business.

I have a really bad habit that I must share. I start projects, and don't finish them. I have good intentions, I just get distracted and find other projects, and forget about the one I had started previously. So one of my goals for the year is to finish projects that I start, before I start other ones. Here are a few of the projects I have started in the last few months....

This will be an advent calendar....

This will be a wreath....

This will be some curtains for the boys' room.....

And I am happy to say, this one I have already finished. Sorting and organizing the too-small-but-still-too-big clothes.... :)

This will be the year of purging. Junk, that is. I am tired of all the clutter, and it must go. 

Stay tuned for the finished projects.....

December

As I sit here trying to think of what we did in December, I keep drawing a blank. Why does it take so much effort for me to remember ANYTHING. Ugh. Annoying. Here we go..... The first weekend in December is our annual girl's night out for me and my sisters and Mom. We go down to Salt Lake and see the lights, take a carriage ride, and go to the festival of trees. This has been a tradition since I can remember, but after my Grandma H died we didn't do it for a while and have since started back up. It is really fun because we basically just laugh and make fun of each other the whole time. This time Heather (long lost older sister) was able to come (Yipee!) however she was like 11 months pregnant then. I am sure you could imagine what that was like! I tried to talk her into riding in a wheelchair, but she wouldn't go for it. It was a really fun weekend and a much needed break for me. 

The second week in December was finals week, and I don't remember much except a blur of body parts and numbers. I did pretty good on my test though....

The third week in December, sweet baby Hunter was born, and I got to go down and spend the whole day with Heather in her hospital room. She did SO much better this time than she did with Tay. (Who happens to be her only other child, and will be 11 years old tomorrow). So Hunter was quite a shock! Gosh, he is cute. I want to drive down there and hold him. Right. Now.  

Pictures just don't do him justice. He is SO cute. 

Christmas also happened that week, and that was fun. Got lots of goodies, and Santa went overboard as usual.( Do you ever get out of the mood to take pictures, or do anything of that sort?? I do. Alot. Unfortunately, this was one of those months.) I did get a few pictures though.....

Then we had the last week, and New Year's eve. We pretty much are lame old people now, and just go to the in-laws house for lots of food and card games. We had a good time.

My cute little sis. Who is having a little GIRL in June. I can't wait!!!

The birthday boy.

This is Neb's signature look. It makes me laugh.

This is what happens when I say "make a funny face." Kacey's face is real funny, eh? Not!

P, in his element. Outside.

Goodbye 2010.

The End.

November

My baby turned 1! It is hard to believe it has been a whole year since he was born! I am a little sad that he is no longer a baby, and is now a toddler. However, he is so funny and his feisty little personality is coming out like crazy. We had a party for each family again this year, and G loved the cakes. He almost ate the entire first cake.

G also had his first haircut this month. You can't really tell from the front, but the back was all fuzzy all the time. So he needed a trim.

Before:

After:

 I have no idea how I ended up with such CUTE children. I am in love with them

Family Photos

So WAY back in October, we got our pictures taken again by a friend of mine in my ward who does really amazing work. I love how they all turned out!! You can see her website here.

October

P got to go on his very first field trip this month. We went to a corn maze/fish hatchery in North Ogden that we have been to before, and he had a blast.

He almost didn't make it in this picture. I had to change G's diaper in the car real quick before they were ready to go in, and I had P right next to the car with me. I literally bent down to pick up G, and when I stood back up, P was nowhere to be found. I looked all through the other parents and couldn't find him, looked in the fish hatchery, and just as I was starting to freak out a little, I found him up the hill aways, by the fence. Sometimes I don't know what I am going to do with this boy.

( He is on the right side, top, second from right.)

Goofy smile...

(He couldn't be bothered with looking at my camera for 2.4 seconds, so I could get a good picture of him....Typical P. :))

Boy, oh boy did we get a surprise this year. My older sister has been married for 11 years, and has an eleven year old daughter. Us Tingey girls are generally broken in that our girl parts don't quite work the way they should. She and I are different. She tried to have another baby for a while after Tay was born, but gave up and was content with that. Then one day in April of 2010, she texted me to say she had gotten a positive pregnancy test that day. I was floored. I don't think you understand. She was the last person on earth I thought would have another baby. In fact, when I told Kacey about it, this is how our conversation went.....

Me: Guess who in my family is pregnant!

K: Lindsey!

Me: Nope.

K: Your mom??(who has had a hysterectomy.)

Yea. 

We REALLY didn't think she would have anymore.

But she did, and so we had to throw her a shower!!

My camera was on the fritz this day, and for some reason I couldn't get a clear picture. I will have to try to find some pregnancy pictures of her from someone else.

(Cute Belly!!)

This was a fun game where I made all the guests drink out of bottles. It was hilarious!!!

One day P decided he wanted to drink out of a bottle just like G. It was cute.

Kirk G turned 60(gulp) this year. I still can't believe it.

And Pam put 60 balloons on their lawn for the occasion. 

Happy Birthday!!!

Septiembre

After September, the months all become a blur. The Fall 2010 semester has been the hardest one for me yet. We did do some fun stuff this month, though. Kacey and I hadn't been on a real date for I don't know how long, and this month we decided to start going on one every month. Kacey was first, and boy was I surprised!  We ate at a favorite restaurant of mine here in town, then he took me to the North Ogden divide and we watched the sunset together, ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and drank (fake) champagne. Oh, and then went to a field in Willard and danced in the moonlight to our song. It was beyond perfect. I am a lucky girl.

We have also been trying to do more fun stuff as a family, other than hang out at home or go for walks. I hadn't been to the circus since I was little, so when I heard they were coming to town, I was all over it. 

We had a great time.

And P's $12 B & B snow cone tasted especially good that day.

Crazy.

Gross?