I love food :)

I'm to the point in my pregnancy that instead of eating meals, I tend to graze all day. From the moment I wake up until my head hits the pillow, I'm putting food in my mouth. It's kind of hard not to because my stomach is getting squished so I can only eat a little bit.

The problem? I lose the ability to stop eating. I start to eat when I'm not hungry. After all of my pregnancies, I have had to make a conscious effort to stop eating all the time.

I'm not hungry but I'm still eating. I'm eating Cheez-Its and Sprite. I know. It's bad.

Merril went to Japan...

Okay, so before time slips away from me, I need to mention that Merril went to Japan for a week during the first part of December!  He was going to the Tokyo car show with some buddies from Australia and visiting missionary companions.  Merril served a mission in Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 2 years from 1997-1999.  This trip was his first time back.  He was gone for a week and a half.  So here are some of the pictures that I liked best from his trip.  

He walked past the Cup 'O Noodles Museum and thought it was funny that there was a whole museum dedicated to Cup 'O Noodles.  

This was a cool Christmas tree in Tokyo.

Merril and his friend, Hiro, went to this Shinto shrine and Hiro bought an Omamori, which is kind of like a blessing.  You can buy all different kinds of blessings and he bought a blessing for me and a healthy baby.  Hiro and his wife actually went the following Sunday to this Shinto shrine to bless their new baby.

This is Merril in Kyoto at a Buddhist temple.

Here's more of the Buddhist temple.

This is Kinkakuji, a famous Buddhist temple in Kyoto, which is covered in real gold.

Here's Merril on the streets of Tokyo.

This is a funny Japanese sign telling people to run from a tsunami when you hear the tsunami warning sound instead of continuing to swim.

Here's a Japanese van that was at the car show.  Mooneyes put on the car show.

Merril flew standby and was bumped up to first class for the flight over.  He said it was very relaxing and the food was really good.  On the way home, the flight was pretty empty and he got 4 seats to himself and laid down and slept the best he's ever slept on a plane.

He was so busy he said it felt like he was only gone for a couple of days.  (It felt different for me and the kids.)  After he flew from Tokyo to LAX, he drove to Seattle, WA to pick up his newly purchased work truck.  Then drove home.  For a few days afterwards, he'd sleep all night, wake up for a few hours, nap at 11 a.m., wake up again and fall asleep on the couch at 7 p.m.  But now his sleeping habits are back to normal.

His new truck needs some work (of course) but it was a screaming deal.  Before and after pictures to come.

Mac & cheese alternate name...

So the other night, Merril and I planned to go out to dinner and so we needed to make something for the kids to eat before we left. We decided on macaroni & cheese and vegetables for the kids.

I didn't have any upstairs so I sent Maxine down to the food storage room to grab a box.  She came back up and said, "Just so you know, this is the last box of We're going out to a nice dinner and this is what we're feeding the kids."  (Peals of laughter from Maxine)  I replied, "Okay, I'll get more."  :)

Coming to terms...

So over Thanksgiving, I was laying on a couch and hoping to fall asleep. I was with my whole family and I could hear my Mom and sisters in the kitchen talking. They were talking about cleanliness. Somehow the conversation turned to clean houses. Now I know my house is not the cleanest, especially when compared to my sisters. But it still bothered me when my Mom said that my house wasn't as clean as theirs. So I've been mulling it over in my brain since then and trying to make a better effort to keep my house picked up.

And then it occurred to me, I choose spending time with my family vs. cleaning my house. When Merril says, "Do you want to go to the sand dunes?" and I have a sink full of dirty dishes, I totally choose going to the sand dunes. I think of all those people who lay on their death beds and wish they'd spent more time with their families. Nobody lays on their death bed thinking, "I wish my house had been cleaner!" So after thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that YES, my house isn't as clean as it could be. I've traded a super clean house for time with my husband and family. And I'm okay with that. (There's always time to have a SUPER clean house later.)

Maxine's Christmas recital and our tree...

Maxine's Christmas recital was last night. She was pretty nervous but played excellently. She played "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and "Auld Lang Syne".

(There were more pictures but other kids were in them. I don't want an irate parent mad at me for putting their child's face on the internet.)

And I had a request for our Christmas tree so here it is.

There's only 1 stocking hung on the wall so far but I'm hanging the rest today. My Mom and sisters tend to have those really pretty, professionally decorated-looking Christmas trees. Mine is made up of ornaments I've collected over the years and some balls. These are some of my favorites!

This is a Ravensburger puzzle ball ornament. 60 puzzle pieces snap together to make an ornament. We think they're fun and tear them apart every year so we can assemble them next year.


This ball is a hand blown glass ornament that was hand painted in Venice, IT. We bought it when we were visiting Italy as a family during Christmastime. That was 5 years ago.


These paper stars were brought back from Sweden by Merril's little sister, Megan. A light is inserted and they glow. I'm very fond of them.

There's a collection of kid picture ornaments. Maxine made this in preschool.

This Hallmark ornament was the first one I ever collected. It was given to me by Grandma G.


Under our tree lies our baby Jesus in the manger. When the kids do selfless deeds, they get to put a straw in the manger. The goal is to have it full by Christmas.

Other than that, I'm just trying to get things finished up and wrapped. I keep telling myself it's fine and I still have 2 weeks left. I'm usually done by now but I'm lagging behind this year. :) Merry Christmas!

Chia Obama...Hilarious!

I was just died laughing because I saw a commercial for a Chia Obama. The commercial made it seem like having a Chia Obama would be a great tribute to our President. I had the exact opposite impression.

Earrings...

We put the kids "to bed" at 8:00 p.m. but I don't really make them lay down and fall asleep until 8:30 or so. So I sent the kids off to their rooms at 8:00 and started to watch a movie. Maxine and Juliet came into the living room about 20 minutes later and said they'd made earrings. (My girls can't get their ears pierced until they're 10 so they love dress up earrings.) They'd cut a beaded necklace and taped it to their ears. I thought they were really cute and creative.

(Jack looks like some crazy stalker that's going to jump them and steal those earrings)

As a side note, I wrapped presents today! I hadn't wrapped any so far and my tree looked so sad without some presents underneath it. So I wrapped until I ran out of tape and gift tags. :)

P.S. I've procrastinated something I have to do today. Bummer. I really put things off sometimes! One of my less desirable qualities.

"It's a Wonderful Life"...Fabulous Movie!!

It's Christmas time so I always have to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" at least once. We received a black and white copy on VHS which allows me to watch it in its entirety, something I never was able to do as a kid. As a youth I always seemed to catch the movie part way through. My sister, Jeannie, hadn't seen it all the way through until a couple of years ago. If you haven't, I'm going to make a plea to you to do so immediately.

From Wikipedia: The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody. Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and the contribution he has made to his community.

It's #1 on the American Film Institutes most inspirational American films of all time. George feels like a failure because he doesn't have any money and hasn't done anything huge in his life but learns, no man is a failure who has friends. Makes me smile and cry every time. :)

Taking pictures...

I like to take pictures of my family and possibly my garden. I don't particularly like to take pictures "professionally." My Mom thinks I take pretty pictures and could easily get paid, although I'm not sure my Mother is a trusted source. (Not because she doesn't look at pictures but because she's my Mom, she has to say stuff like that.) I think I take pretty good pictures but if I take them for other people, then the pressure is on. What if they're blurry, what if the lighting is bad? What if I'm really not that good at taking pictures because I've never taken a photography class in my life and I'm really just messing around with all the settings until the pictures look right?

For the most part, if I take pictures for other people, then it becomes work, not fun. I'm stuck for hours in front of my computer in post production until my eyes are tired and my mouse hand starts to look like a claw. Anyway, I'm rambling. It's just how I felt today.