Did You Guess WHAT I Did Thursday and Friday (July 5/6)?

I bet you did!

I completed canning up two recipes.  I made some sweet tomato jam:

the jammy-ness stage of tomato jam

cooling to seal lids

the finished product (5 lbs of tomato)

For some reason I cannot get at the rest of the pictures.
Check 'em out HERE.
Let me know if the link works for ya.

The first couple pictures are the Chow Chow.
As for the others,
we were just goofin' off.  :)

To Store Cans

I found a neat resource for storing cans, the ones you buy at the grocery store, if you have a lil' money to spend.  And I do mean a LITTLE.  Nice, right?

If you don't have any money, but you have some cardboard, I think you could still make one.  HERE is one example.  You can find full directions HERE and the diagram HERE!  ^_^  I'm hoping to try it out myself!

Food Storage Analyzer

Although I haven't written about my desire and efforts toward food storage recently, I do still have great desire to build a strong food storage program for my family.  We are NOT there yet.  Winning the Traditional Year Supply  of 2000 calories for one person certainly gave a huge lift to my hopes that we might be able to get all we need gathered together.  With that great gift of winning that contest, I've thought that we might be around 2 months of food storage for our family of 6.  This was not based on anything... just a guess.

Well, guessing is no longer necessary because Emergency Essentials has a food storage caluclator!  It's really easy to use, though maybe a little time consuming if we're not pretty sure of what we have for food storage.  If you have a list of all you have in your food storage, it will be a lot easier for you to use this tool.  Even if you have to devote some time to it, though, I think the time you spend will be a good investment.  It's rather comforting to see where we stand, as far as the coloric intake for our family which is stored, in our food storage program.

The only real drawback (other than potential time investment; if that's a drawback) is that there is no way to alter the calory counter part for each individual in your family.  This is NOT that big a deal to my way of thinking, though.  For instance, based on the Calorie Counter I found via a quick Google search, Ria would need right under 1700 calories per day... so, an extra 300... well, I think that's negligible AND who wouldn't want to be OVERprepared by any amount, anyway?!?  :)
I recommend this tool.  Let me know what you think of it after you give it a try!  :)

Adventures in Dehydrating

So, Jess and I have been preparing for his Food Storage Food Preparation Class (held tonight to a VERY good turnout) for WEEKS. Literally. As a result, I am kookoo about dehydrating! Tonight, having finished all of the required preps for the class, I was wandering around the kitchen trying to find something I could dehydrate! Strange? Well, I've become attached, I suppose, to feeling like I'm accomplishing something even though I only have a little bit of work at the beginning. This is a huge thing for me... I feel like I don't get much done most days. I know I get the most important things done (relating to and in relation to my girls), but I definitely don't have much to show for it currently.

Anyway, in my research, I ran across this lady who has 10 (maybe more) YouTube videos. They are quite good. I knew lots about dehydrating previous to watching them, but felt edified and learned some great tips from all of her shows. I just wanted to share her with you, if you're interested.

Surprise! and some Recipes

Sweet Surprises from My Daughters
Ria has been drawing some really sweet pictures on her Magna Doodle. The pictures are ususally a preggie stick person (me) with a sun, some birds, a house, grass, and the words, "I Love You" across the top. She presents these pictures to me as surprises.

"Mama, I have a surprise for you!"

"Oh? Ok. I'm ready."

"But first you have to close your eyes."

"Ok, they're closed."

Ria moves into position in front of me, holding the picture up for me to see (usually in front of her head). "Ok. You can open your eyes and look now."

And then I respond to the picture she has presented to me.

If that's not cute enough for you... well, I'm just sad for you. But I do have more.

Last night Kathryn came to me holding the Magna Doodle with the drawn on side facing her. She kept saying, "Eye." She's been able to say this word for a while, but hasn't really used it much unless she's saying, "I." I could tell she was saying the former rather than the latter because she kept pointing at my head. It took me a minute to connect the idea that she was presenting to me a surprise, in Ria fashion!

When I finally got it I asked Kat, "Do you want me to close my eyes for a surprise?!"

As usual for Kat when I have correctly interpreted her request, she got a REALLY big smile on her face and nodded her head in the way that makes her whole body shake.

So, I closed my eyes and said, "Ok. My eyes are closed." Since the Magna Doodle is pretty huge for Kat, I also put my hand out to take it from her rather than make her hold it up for me.

She placed it in my hand and I asked, "Can I open my eyes now?" Kat doesn't say 'yes' yet, so I just assumed she would be nodding her head, which she was, and opened my eyes to look at the picture she'd given me.

I commented on how lovely it was and what a special gift she'd given me with great enthusiasm in my voice and face. She was just THRILLED. She seemed almost to vibrate with joy... in the same way she gets super happy and excited when she's playing her "Bye bye" game and I welcome her back with great joy and affection upon her "return" from wherever she's been. It is such a joy to feel her joy!!!

Recipes
So, I mentioned a couple days ago that I'd tried out two new cake mix cookie recipes and would share them when I could. I'm finally remembering and able to do it! YEAY! It hasn't taken me weeks to get to it!!! ^_^

Now, for the first, you could easily "google" cake mix cookies and get a basic recipe and use it with a chocolate cake mix. But I didn't want to use one of the chocolate cake mixes in my Food Storage closet because I'm trying to work out of 'on-hand pantry supplies' before I heavily dip into my closet stuff. So, in my cupboards I have a couple cake mixes on which the USE BY date was approaching, so I had to remove them from my FS closet. No problem, that's why I check through the stuff periodically! The problem is that the cakes were BUTTER and YELLOW. I REALLY wanted some chocolate cake mix cookies. So, I made an alteration and what I've had thus far is AWESOME!!!

CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX COOKIES from BUTTER cake mix
Preheat oven to 350 F
1 box butter cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's)
Mix all ingredients together well. Roll in hands to form balls. Roll balls in sugar. Place on baking sheet (I use stones, so I didn't need to grease, but if you use metal, you might want to coat with butter or oil) and bake for about 10 minutes. When finished the cookies will have spread slightly and developed cracks in the sugar coating. The first time I baked this recipe I did the perfect time (right around 10 minutes) and the cookies were soft and chewy... my preference. The second time I baked them a little too long, but not till they were totally burned. They were quite dry and brittle... seemed more like store-bought cookies than anything, but still VERY YUMMY!

If you decide to try this out, I would LOVE feedback!!! :)

CORNBREAD COOKIES using JIFFY corn muffin mix
Preheat oven to 350 F
3/4 cup butter (I used margarine and I think I should have gone with butter... the dough never firmed up as much as I would have preferred)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 package JFFY corn muffin mix
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add egg and beat well. Add the rest and mix well until blended and smooth. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes. Portion and roll into a ball (will be slightly sticky) and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes.

The first time I baked this recipe I took the cookies out when they were just barely turning golden around the edges and they were fabulous. It's almost the flavor of sugar cookies and corn bread, I think. They taste really great, to me, and add a new and wonderful way to use this JIFFY mix that I love to have in FS!

The second time I took them out a little later - when the edges were pretty dark and I'd thought I burned the cookies - but the cookies are still soft and chewy and wonderful. This may be due to the margarine I used (even when cold it it quite soft), but it may be just a really easy recipe to keep chewy (my preference for cookies).

If you try it out, let me know what you think! ^_^

Jessie Sick?

A Tale Of Two Sick Gollihughs
Yeppers, and it was a DOOZY! Jess doesn't get sick terribly often. When he has in the past, he usually just sleeps a bit more than usual and then he's well again. Well, due to circumstances, he wasn't able to sleep more than usual prior to the onslaught of this illness. So, he came home from work Saturday night because he was so ill he wasn't much good for anything AT work.

If the fact that he actually came home from work sick wasn't alarming enough, he also felt so bad and weak and unlike himself that he actually broke down in a full-on ugly cry. You know ugly cries, right? The sobbing, the snotting, the wracking pain of the pain of it. Well, at least that's what they are like for me. And this was the first time for me to see something similar from Jess! This alarmed me GREATLY!

Now, I know crying is totally okay. It's actually quite cleansing for the body. Did you know? Tears carry within them chemical that are harmful to the body - so it's a release both emotionally and physically - so it is quite good for any body to release them - YES, even guys!! Really, I'm quite okay with any guy crying. But the fact is, Jess just doesn't cry. Okay, so he shed some tears at the birth of each of our daughters. And he may have actually shed tears, at most, 3 other times... but the fact that he just doesn't cry - generally speaking - causes me some concern and often alarm if/when he does/has.

Prior to this explosion of emotion, Jess cried (tears falling from his eyes) a full 4 or 5 times. That doesn't mean, however, that he was sobbing or full-on CRYING the ugly cry. I have heard him cry like THAT once and seen it, maybe, once. But even the time I can think of having seen him in an ugly cry it wasn't as ugly as Saturday night. Now, this is not to berate or make fun of my husband. On the contrary, it's more as a way of illustrating 2 things. 1: Jessie was sicker than he's EVER been during the course of our 7.5+ years together. 2: I was scared out of my skin when he was breaking down. If you did not understand how completely uncharacteristic this sort of behavior is from Jess, you might not understand my deep concern and fear over this period of illness!

Thankfully, Jess was only sick all of Saturday evening, night and through the morning on Sunday. Though his throat still hurts today he's no longer suffering with the other symptoms. His symptoms: sore throat, head ache (think migraine), eyes hurting so much he couldn't keep them open, skin hurting, feet hurting so much it hurt to walk, joint pain, achy-ness (this is separate because he mentioned it as a separate pain from the joint and skin pain), and a pretty high fever. He was in bed, pretty much, from the time he got home from work until around 10 or 11am Sunday morning.

I'm sure he would have been able to sleep all day Sunday, but by 10 or 11 I was cracking. I had slept SUPER poorly that night because my whole body was alert for any indication that Jess needed me. (He got out of bed twice, but didn't call me.) Ria was sick as well, so I was trying to keep an ear our for her. She had what Daddy had, except that she also threw up. That last bit happened at 4am, so I was up with her changing her bed, helping her get a bath, and then dressed and back in bed. That was probably about 45 minutes missing from my restless sleep. At about 6am Jess woke me because he was hungry. Totally fine since he was so weak it was amazing he got out of bed on his own to tell me this. But, of course, another bunch of sleep missing from this preggie lady's night.

So, by 10 or 11 am the girls were awake and the thing that caused my "crack" is that Kat was inconsolable. She was completely and utterly DONE with being kept away from her Daddy. She stood outside the bedroom door and kept hollerin, "Daeee!" I tried to coax her away and comfort her. It was all to no avail, however, because she just KNEW he was home and she hadn't been able to see him for much too long. So, I gave up to my fatigue and frustration and woke Jess up. Basically he just had the girls in the room with him at first. He did eventually get up with them, but I was in dream land most of the time until about 1pm, so I'm not really sure what occurred during that time! I did wake up around 1pm (getting up and around), but I was still so tired I could have easily slept at LEAST a few more hours.

It seems pretty likely that I was/am coming down with something else or having a relapse of the stuff that Jess and Ria had (since that's what I had LAST weekend, which is why I missed church then). Thankfully my experience with it was not as severe as Jessie's. Probably because I couldn't function and DID sleep more than he was able to! However, it seems more likely that I'm on the verge of some upper resperatory crapola because I woke up hacking junk up. :( OH, I HATE that kind of illness!!! That and barf are the two I handle worst. Puke is pretty self-explanatory, but the upper respiratory is really difficult for me because I was sick with that for at least 3 months when I was preggie with Ria and it's been really difficult for me to cope AND overcome that kind of junk ever since.

AH, well. I'm sure everything will work out.

Food Storage
I'm still very anxious about this issue. I haven't mentioned it much because I haven't had much to add, but I am trying to scrounge together every bit of moolah I can to get more. It is VERY slow going, though, since Jess is working fewer hours and fewer days at the Almond Blossom Cafe. This is a bit more of a trial and tribulation than I was expecting BECAUSE of my anxiety about food storage.

Homeschooling
I've found a BUNCH of really wonderful resources within the last week (actually less). I haven't made time to add them to my homschool links yet, but I plan to try to update that sooner than later. I may actually have to make more sections because I have many that are sort of Math specific now. (I've been really trying to beef up my ability to delve into Math with Ria since she's
so excited to do it now.) Last week we didn't do school each day due to my focus on keeping the house to Jessie's specifications.

The House Issue
So, when Jess laid into me about the house, one of the many unfair things he said to me had to do with his reality rather than actual reality. That is one of the amazing, powerful, and wonderful things about words: their inherent and potent ability to reveal to listener/hearer the reality in which the speaker/writer lives (or visits as with fiction writing/reading). He made specific mention (a few times during the course of expressing his issues with my housekeeping) of how the house was "ALWAYS" this or "ALWAYS" that, which he saw as extremely sickening or depressing or whatever. The problem with universal terms is that they are ALMOST always incorrect! Universal terms generally require modifiers that take away the sting of their universality. Universal terms, though, reveal the living reality for the speaker in that they illustrate for the listener what the speaker experiences. So, for Jess, no matter how many times I try to clear the counters and keep them that way, those "spots" (regardless of how long their maintainance) didn't exist AT ALL! This is particularly troubling in issues, such as this one for me, that is a sort of ingrained behavior that I am being required by my partner to change (with no help from him, I might add!).

Clear counters in the home in which I was raised were almost never seen. That is not to say that my Mom was a horrible housekeeper. It is, more, to say that counters were not THE priority in home maintainance. Now, I understand that I am not beholden to the past in which I was raised. I am completely free to design my life as I see fit. And I am. I'm just working on making so many HUGE changes that counters are just so far from the radar as to be nonexistant. And, I beleive, rightly so - really! I mean, when someone has anger issues - regardless of the degree, in my opinion, changing that life-long behavior is SUCH a huge mental, emotional, and time consumer as to make other changes difficult, if not impossible.

Given that the dealing with the anger is difficult enough to tackle alone; in addition to changing from a daily yeller to a NON-yeller, I am also modifying my physical behavior (from sedentary to daily exerciser!). This, too, is not just as simple a change as it might seem, especially for many thin women for whom exercise and daily activity have been a part of their life. It, for me, is a whole reality shift! It means that I have to spend at least 30 minutes outside of actual exercise in preparing for and getting out of the activity of exercise. That's not really such a big deal, especially for a person who values themselves enough to spend that time on themselves without wondering a bit if they are worth it. (Peek into one of the issues I face daily.) On top of that comes the aggravation of dealing with the daughters... they are not completely cooperative and rightly so - who wants to sit in a buggy for 60+ minutes. This compounds my issue (the peeked at one) because I'm inconveniencing my girls and their aggravations causes some in me - and then I'm back to fighting myself and my anger issues! I could continue, but will desist for now.

Basically, my point is that Jess makes all these demands - on top of what he already knows I expect of/for myself (he has made it clear that my anger issue and physical appearance are displeasing to him, in a very kind way - if that's possible about two issues that are almost a part of ME). And then he wonders why part of the house fall apart. ARGH! And then he reveals to me, by his words, that the efforts I have made (successfully) in the past don't even exist to him.

The whole point, really, in giving so much detail and explanation on this subject it to get to the thing that's really troubling me right now. Jess hasn't commented about the maintainance of the house/counters/table. It's very disheartening because I can see how his revealed reality is created - if he doesn't often or adequately acknowledge improvements, they just fade from memory! :( Very frustrating for this WORDS OF AFFIRMATION chica, I must say!

I'm done ranting for now. Till later!

Cute and Funny

Jessie's CLASS
So, today is the day Jessie finished preparing and presented his class. He did a good job in the presentation of it. I have to say, though, that this whole thing seemed really important to him! I must explain this point. If you know Jess, then it will NOT surprise you to learn that not much of anything fazes him most of the time. Usually he's as cool as a refrigerated cucumber even when the situation might call for some quick movements. When he was in his externship for his Culinary degree, one of the main complaints his supervising chef had about his behavior was that he did not seem to have a 'sense of urgency'. If you know Jess, you're sitting there nodding your head in complete understanding of this "problem". If you don't know Jess, let me illustrate further.

Totally off track info about Jessie
Jess doesn't react to most things. It's amazing to hear him laugh out loud (and music to this chica's ears, I must add!). It's actually frightening to see concern or fear in his countenance. There was once that I was much more extremely alarmed than I would have been in the situation alone because of Jessie's concern. We were driving home from the temple and we were eating pistachios (in the shell). Ria was actually doing quite well at unshelling them, but I guess she decided to try to "suck" a nut out of a shell the way she saw/heard her Daddy do. The hoover move wasn't nut specific, so she inhaled the nut AND shell and alarmed me AND Jess by sounding like she was choking to death. Jess was actually driving (SUPER unusual on temple trips) and I looked at him just as he was reacting. His face was this horrible death mask and he was breaking and swerving into a right hand turn off of the main road onto a side road. We actually left rubber on the road (driving the VAN!). When I saw his face my heart jumped in my throat BECAUSE he looked really concerned (for Jess, of course) and then his physical reaction (the way he drove the van) was just more than I could handle. I didn't actually start crying, but I felt all the same physical reactions I feel along with tears of relief. So, perhaps this isn't such a wonderful example if you don't know Jess, but it's close to the best I've got.

I'll go for another one... when Jess is mad he doesn't usually look mad. His face doesn't get all screwed up in a scowl (most of the time). Instead he throws or breaks things and every once in a while he yells. While this may also not be the best example, I "throw" it out there to further illustrate the difficulty in "reading" this husband of mine. He's a subtle read, for sure! I'm like reading a youth novel: it's all out there. Jessie is like reading an adult mystery novel: the hints are so misleading that you're TOTALLY surprised by the wrap up at the end! (Ok, so this might be a bit more extreme than Jess normally is, but I think hyperbole is appropriate given the kind of "read" I am!!! heeheehee)

Back on track now
My whole point in sharing ALL that tangent information (isn't it amazing how geometry figures into literary work!!) is to share that Jess was snippy with me and the girls as he was trying to finish preparing for his class this afternoon. He was short with me when he was trying to locate alternate recipes for the packet of recipes he wanted to have available. And he was short with and annoyed by the girls when they were hanging around him as he worked on the computer. If you know Jess AND me, then you might think I was talking about myself because when I'm under stress this is the behavior I generally exhibit. However, I was the cool cucumber today; believe it or not!

While this is not terribly extreme behavior for most people, it's VERY telling when paired with the man called Jessie. He was concerned, excited, and generally all tied up about the upcoming class! (My opinion, of course, from my point of view.) WOW... he cares! ^_^ Of course he does... I mean, he considers it "OUR" Ward. Most everyone knows him and of course he would care how he performed in front of them. It's just really REALLY rare for him to show any sign that these things/thoughts effect him at all!

I just finished reading the above information to Jessie and he asked me to make note of some information I have, however inadvertently, left unmentioned to this point in my blog. I will quote my DH, "I am Super Human. No explanation needed." I'm sure you may want an explanation, and I will happily explain further if anyone leaves a comment letting me know they actually WOULD like further info on the Super Human I married. :)

A Cute and Sweet Kitty Kat Moment
I have been rather anal with the girls about picking up their toys for Jessie's imminent arrivals home since he "laid into" me about the house last week. I must add here that while Jess didn't actually yell or say much of anything most people (women specifically) would consider mean or nasty, there are degrees and that confrontation was a level 3 relative to our relationship. As I was letting Ria know she needed to clean up in preparation for Daddy's arrival home, I went to the bathroom.

The next thing I know Kitty Kat is hollerin, "Daee, Daee..." this is, of course, how she says "Daddy." I thought she was confused, thinking Daddy was already home. She came into the bathroom and repeated, "Daee," but this time I could see her body language. This little lady communicates at least half of what she's trying to say with the way she looks at things or with the things she does with her hands. So, the body language bit with Kat is SUPER important!

Okay, so Kat comes in and says, "Daee," while patting her head. I asked her if her head hurt (which didn't really make sense since she was saying Daddy, but she does pat her head to tell us it hurts). She shook her head and repeated the previous with an added look up onto the counter in the bathroom where we keep the brush. AH HA! It came together. "Do you want Mama to do your hair for Daddy to come home?" I asked her. She smiled really big and nodded her head in the way that makes her go a little off balance when she's standing up. (Very cute, in case you were wondering!) So, I told her I would be happy to do her hair and she turned around and backed up into the place she and Ria stand when I do their hair. I put it up in a little half up pony-tail. When she turned around she was standing in the way she does when she's looked for feedback on how pretty she looks. And, of course, to this adoring Mama she looked like a beauty queen. So, I told her that I thought she looked beautiful and I was just sure her Daddy would love her hair! She was super duper pleased about that and went prancing off!

When I told the girls that I saw their Daddy Kat went, as she usually does, running around the house yelling, "Daee!" until he actually came inside. I honestly don't remember any comment from Daddy about her hair, but I think she was just pleased as punch to feel pretty for her Daddy's homecoming.

The most interesting part of this tale is that I haven't ever made a big deal of personally doing my hair or anything for when Jess comes home. Nor have I made a humongous issue of making sure the girls are combed or brushed for when Daddy comes home. So, it seems to me, that this is just a little girl being sort of prissy in a really sweet adorable way - that I actually LOVE... I've always wished to be a girly-girl and I'm just happy as a bee in a field of flowers that my girls are (or are becoming what I have wished to be).

My Big Activity for the Day
As lame as it is, my big activity for today was the accomplishment of clearing off our dining room table. It was not piled high, or anything, but there were a number of things pushed up against the wall. While it was totally not a big undertaking, I was so super tired after lunch! I actually laid down (more to get Kat to take a nap), but didn't get up for an hour because I was so exhausted. I didn't get any sleep, of course... my issues with sleeping during the day strike again. It's not a conscious chosen problem, because I actually gave myself permission to fall asleep, but it didn't work. It's just a difficulty I've had for as long as I can remember. Me and naps just don't jive, man! I keep hoping that this time I'll be able to nap, at least for little stretches , once the new baby is born. I'm sure that fatigue was a contributing factor to the PPD I endured for way too long after Ria was born... I couldn't sleep at night because she didn't (often) and I couldn't sleep during the day because I just couldn't, most of the time... and then I had to work on top of it. What a mess that was! Anyway... obviously I'm not too impressed with my accomplishment of the day since I've totally changed the subject. ahwell....

Ria and "Her" Movies
Have I mentioned before how MUCH Ria loves to watch movies? Well, she DOES! Since we stopped watching TV, movies have been, for the most part, a reward for doing other things, with Ria. Usually, in the last 9 months or so, she gets to watch a movie after reading class. Currently, though not this week, she gets to watch a movie after reading, math, and testing classes (which happen one right after the other). She doesn't mind and actually seems to really enjoy "math class," which, as it happens, is really more of a penmanship class. But I call it "Math Class" since it's the first time we have actively worked with numbers in a focused manner since we've lived here.

I try to have a "Girl's Night" at least once a week with the girls. This is basically a night that we have a "picnic" in my bedroom or in the laundry room and watch a movie. Both girls LOVE these times and Ria asks to have one of these nights on a regular basis. I know part of her desire is for the time we spend together, we three, but perhaps the bigger part is the movie. :)

On a rare day, I will actually let the girls watch a short movie (or two) for no reason what-so-ever. Usually this happens on Sunday, which Ria hasn't quite put together yet. And the short movies are our Living Scriptures (they are about 1/2 an hour long). Ria LOVES to watch movies for "free" as it were! She just thinks it's THE coolest thing. It's not a good habit for Mama because Ria asks regularly for this sort of thing after each time she gets it (so by Wednesday she's usually stopped asking for a "free" movie).

If you ever wonder what you should get for Ria; I'd say movies would be a hit every time. She loves anything PRINCESS and Barbie. And, believe it or not, the Barbie animated movies are QUITE cool and GOOD!! They (those I've seen) always have a moral to tell and tell it in a very accessible manner. They are sweet and pretty easy to watch, too! But she also loves TEA set stuff, cooking stuff, and dress up stuff. This is totally unnecessary info at this time because there is no reason that anyone reading this should purchase anything for Ria... but still. I guess I'm just rambling in fatigue at this point. Perhaps I should end my blatherings. Till tomorrow....

Poop and Other Current Events

POOP
Yes, this entry is about Number 2! Kitty Kat's in particular. :) In the past week, Kat has pooped 2 times on the potty! YIPPEE!!!! This is such wonderful news to us - especially as we have the arrival of the third baby approaching ever faster. It would be truly lovely to have only one child in diapers (as I did when Kat was born because Ria was using the potty day AND night before Kat was born).

I planned to use Infant Potty Training (also known by many other names) from the beginning with Kat, but the move when she was 3 weeks old, and the multitude of physical and emotional issues I had subsequent to the move caused me to change my priorities. I have had many days during which I've let Kat run around naked butt, but not NEARLY as many as Ria did respectively. Actually, by 20 months old, which is how old Kat is, Ria was already totally using the potty during the day by herself! Kat usually isn't interested in using the little toilet. She'll happily sit on the big toilet, but even though she grunts and pushes, prior to the two poops of this week, she rarely produced anything.

A huge difference between Ria and Kat's toddlerhood is that when we lived in VA, Ria and I didn't get out too much. Ria, Kat, and I go all over the place regularly! Before summer started, we had at least 4 outside obligations each week as well as any play time we spent out and about. IPT definitely isn't terribly conducive to an active lifestyle.

THE BIG CLASS
Jess has tonight and tomorrow night off from the Club. Tonight is just the night off and tomorrow night is a night he requested (otherwise he would probably be working 6 nights again). It's much easier to deal with his long work hours at the Club lately since his hours at the Cafe have been cut WAY back. However, this is not my point. My point is that Jess has been actively working hard to prepare for the class he's teaching our Ward tomorrow night! ^_^

He's VERY excited! He was asked, by the Elder's Quorum President, if he would be willing to teach a class on using food storage in meal preparation; specifically wheat bread. The members in our Ward know that we've lived off of our food storage a few times, so we have some real experience and perhaps a little expertise. :) Our Ward had a day at the Bishop's Storehouse a little over a week ago and they wanted to have this class soon after so people could learn techniques and make use of their stores.

Tonight he's been making bread. He's tried out a couple other recipes that he plans to present for tasting at the lesson. He's also going to make at least one more item that's a little bit more like the main course in a meal. All of this is just bits to taste, so we're not feeding the Ward or anything. He's so excited... I've mentioned that already, but it should be repeated at least a couple more times because he is! :) He's thought about it a LOT, he's planned the food to present/share, and he's worried about getting his thoughts down into an outline so the class will flow smoothly. He's even thought he might be able to do this sort of thing monthly - or, at least, after each Bishop's Storehouse trip. I really think he should be a Prof... perhaps he'll listen to me someday. ;) You know how guys can be!

When Will I Get To Be On Stage Again?
Ria asked me this today. She was very let down to hear it wouldn't be for a while. But she persevered and asked, "You mean, in 2 months?" When I told her it would be longer than that she asked, "Maybe in September?" I told her it would be a lot longer than that to which she suggested October. ^_^ I finally told her that she would have to wait until next May, which was almost a year away. She looked a little downcast. I told her it was really only about 11 months away and she seemed happier. She is very excited to return to dance class and enjoy the stage and adoration of the audience once more! I love it!!!

The girls and I watched Kung-Fu Panda online today. Ria was very impressed with the Kung-Fu moves performed by all of the characters and asked if she could learn how to do that! I'm happy about this because I plan to start our kids in Karate at 5 years old (assuming fund-age allows). I actually would have started Ria already if we had enough moolah for it! But I think it's even better that she now has some inclination toward that sort of education... so the wait, in this case, is definitely worth it. ^_^ I just wish we had a piano because she's stopped asked quite as much for music lessons. :( *sigh* Hopefully she'll still be excited about it when it is possible.

Cleaning, Walking, and Movies
I have really enjoyed the respite this summer has offered, thus far. Life has been slower since dance class and Play at the Park has ended. We still go to Story Time most weeks, but I've actually missed a few for various reasons.

Thus far I've almost got the house back up to par (the cleaning) - much to Jessie's relief and pleasure. However, if I didn't know him, I wouldn't really know that he was relieved and pleased (especially pleased). Such is life with a man who doesn't get the fact that he's married to a Words of Affirmation chick... no matter how much I tell him. I did spy The Five Love Languages on his bedside table, but I'm not sure if one of the girls put it there or if he did. ahwell What can I do more?

I'm still walking, though last week was down to 4 days. The main reason for the down by one day is the blood issue and not feeling well Saturday night (missed my 5th day by missing my Saturday night walk). I subsequently missed church on Sunday, so I really wasn't doin' so hot physcially. Tonight was a woosie walk (all by myself, since Jess is home for the night) because I started it with a headache. I'm trying not to push myself too much since the bleeding bit and all. It was a pleasant walk, for sure! I continue to feel really good about the walks - even if it's really REALLY difficult to start after 2 days off (Monday). I think, perhaps, I feel even better about those days than others because when I walk I overcome my natural tendency to quit when something is difficult or dull. YEAY me! ^_^

I've found an URL from which I can pretty easily watch movies. I don't even know where to begin, really, but I've been watching movies again. Mostly, I think, "family" is the best and safest genre. I started watching one movie that looked quite okay, it must have been rated 'R' because not 10 minutes in I saw something I did NOT want to see. So, I'm checkin' on the movies I watch outside of "family" a little more carefully now! I watched the newest Harry Potter last night. COOL movie. I mentioned the movie the girls and I watched today... I've seen the new Narnia movie. Also very cool. I should, perhaps, keep a list somewhere of the movies I'm watching... but I don't think I'll actually devote time to that. Sorry. I'm watchin, though. ^_^ Any suggestions?

Jumping Belly
Like jumping beans, ya know. This belly... rather: BABY!!! is moving all over and strongly! I've now been feeling REALLY strong movements for more than two weeks, with some of them so strong that I can see it on the outside. The outside visibility aspect of the baby moving is going on at least 1.5 weeks now! With Ria and Kat we didn't see this kind (or even feel this strong) of movement until sometime around 25-30 weeks. This baby started at about 22 weeks (earlier??) and now at 24 weeks (tomorrow) I see the baby kick once a day most days (usually more). And I certainly feel strong movements a lot more than that. With Kat and Ria Jess usually had to press into my belly pretty firmly to feel the movements I felt, but this baby won't move if you press hard. You have to just rest your hand on top and the baby kicks up to it!

Ria is the first in the family to feel the baby move! She felt him/her move for the first time today! Jess was sitting there and saw the movement, but didn't feel it when Ria did (he wasn't trying at the time). When he did move to try he pushed in, so the baby stopped showing off. When he laid his hand on my belly gently, a moment later, he felt the strong movements (rolling as well as kicking!) and commented on how the baby was "really moving around in there." Yeah, no need to tell me! I wake up with the kicks already! I can truly NOT imagine how this baby will feel at 36 weeks!!! I rather hope the space gets tight enough that baby won't want to try to stretch out. Fat chance? Well, a girl can hope, right! :) Kat missed this bit of action because she fell asleep in her eating table (it's really NOT a high chair, so I can't call it that!). She almost laid her head down to sleep, she was THAT tired! Poor Kitty!

The Things They Say

Responding to a Question
I learned/heard about the three month food supply in FL from the friend who said he would do a year anyway. Since talking about the Articles of Faith "issue" he has been concerned about the whole issue. I learned yesterday that there are many states that have laws about how much food a family can store. For instance, in Hawaii there is a law (difficult to find) that states that if a household has more than 1 week of food stored it can be seized and disposed of as the gov't sees fit. Strange, but with the documentation that went along with the information, it seems true! The thing about these laws is that they are NOT easy to find. I've looked for, literally, HOURS thus far and not been able to find the law referred to for FL. I have asked around and an older man I spoke with told me that he lived here (in FL) when the law came about. Initially the powers that be were trying to pass the law to be for one month supply of food, but there was an uproar about that. So, they compromised at 3 months. I wish it wasn't so terribly difficult to determine the validity or situations under which this would be the case. Some of these laws are set up in such a way that the action becomes illegal only during times of duress... which is why you would store! So, if you store and it's in the law that it's illegal during the time for which you need it... you're wrong! ARGH! So frustrating.

More Pleasant Thoughts
Ria has been saying this phrase lately that just tickles me to no end! As with most children, Ria LOVES to help. It seems she most loves to help when it is difficult or impossible to find a way for her to help, but still... it's nice that she wants to! :) I needed to move a 20 lb. bag of rice from the kitchen counter (about the height of Ria's head) to the closet in which I store most of our food stuff at this point. I was feeling super weak and my tummy was very upset after going through some boxes looking for chili for Jess. So, I was just sitting there waiting until Jess was done washing his hands so I could ask him to bring the rice to me. Jess asked what I was doing and I told him. Ria said, "Can I help! I have lots of help!!" That is the phrase that she has been using pretty regularly lately. I just am so tickled by it! :)

Seed Saving
I've been collecting the seeds from the Easter Lilies that are growing in our front yard. So far I'm about 1/4 way through filling an old couscous container. I'm so excited! I want to get it half full so I can send some seeds to my Mom and still have lots to start the flowers going next year. I love having my yard full of those blooms!

Our landlords have mowers who come regularly (though not as regularly as I think they are supposed to). I am happy they don't come often when the flowers are in bloom. The last time they came I wasn't available to ask them to leave some of my flowers. I wanted to ask them to do that so they would go to seed and I could collect the seeds. When I saw the yard I was deeply touched because they'd left about 1 foot by 8 feet patch of the flowers! So, I've been actively collecting the seeds from those flowers for the past week or so. How thoughtful, right!??

Last year, when the flowers were such a comfort during some really stressful times I asked them a couple of different times to leave a big area of the flowers for me to enjoy and they did. They didn't care about NOT cutting some grass. But then, the fact that they REMEBERED! I just think that it's one of the nicest things that someone who doesn't really know me has ever done for me! ^_^

Food Storage
Just because it is occupying my mind I wanted to share that as part of my food storage I'm going to be purchasing some heirloom seeds to can at the Bishop's Storehouse. I'll probably buy from Burpee, but there are some other companies I want to check out. Just in case you don't know why I would go that route: heirloom seeds are REAL seeds. They don't just grow up to be what the picture shows, but you can get seeds FROM those things you've grown and reliably get the same crop from those seeds you claim from your growth. Lots of seeds sold in grocery stores and WalMart are hybridized. That means that the only way you can get what you see on the package, consistently, is to use the seeds from the package. No seed saving! That's not really a problem if you have money to buy seeds every year. It's also NOT a problem as long as things stay as they are... but since we know they will change (just don't know when), it's much safer to go the heirloom route so that you can have what you want when you grow and seed save!

Happy Memorial Day
Jess has had the morning off from the Cafe today. He worked on the car and determined that he would not be able to remedy the problem(s), so he's going to try to sell it for a bit to reclaim some of the money we've just put into it. He says the engine is worth $1200 by itself. So... we'll see what happens with that.

Currently, he is grilling hot dogs and hamburgers because we HAVE to have hot dogs on Memorial Day (according to Jess). I'm not feeling too stable in the belly, so I'm having a hamburger and some chips.

It Happened
Saturday Jess spent most of the day working on the car again. That's problem enough in that it means the girls aren't getting Daddy time and we are not having family time. Selfishly it's REALLY horrible because it meant that I felt like I had to take the girls on my long walk because he had to make dinner while I was gone. Jess doesn't cook too well with the girls underfoot unless I'm around the clear the floor around his feet.

I was preparing to go on my walk and Jess said, "Would it be so bad to skip one day?" No, one day wouldn't be so bad, but since I'd already skipped Thursday because he was home (unexpectedly) my response was, "Yes, it really would be so bad!" I was upset about the whole thing so I didn't talk to him about the subject until I got home. YES it really would be SO bad! I've come to LOVE my walks! It's an hour during which I do NOT feel guilty for ignoring my daughters every whine and whimper. It's an hour during which I'm not going to be touched unexpectedly at any given moment. It's an hour, the ONLY hour of the day, during which I'm doing something good for myself. It's an hour after which I see myself differently when I look in the mirror (LITERALLY!). It's an hour, after which I feel better, happier, calmer, than I do in the evenings on the days I do NOT walk. So, YES, it really would be SO bad to miss walking an extra day. I still want to try to get that 6th day because I know it would be another evening I would feel better in general and like how I look more! But I'm trying not to be upset with my good accomplishment of 5 walks a week, especially with the increased minutes.

Breakdancing
Jessie's new obsession! Go figure, right? :) I will try to talk about this more in the future. Lunch is ready and Jess is antsy.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

WORTH WHILE

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong;
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
But the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent,
When nothing tempts you to stray;
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor on earth,
Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
Who had no strength for the strife,
The world's highway is cumbered today;
They make up the sum of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile-
It is these that are worth the homage on earth,
For we find them but once in a while.
_________________________________________

This poem is one I found as a youth and it touched me deeply then. I even had it memorized for a time. Parts of it have been racing through my mind and heart for the last month and I finally did the searches to get it written down where I can read it regularly during this last week. I just thought you might like it. I hope it is as inspiring to you as it is for me.

Interesting News as of Today
Jess will be teaching a food storage Food Use class next month. It'll be about 1 and 1/2 weeks after our Ward has a Bishop's Storehouse/Cannery trip. Our Elder's Quorum President was talking to Bishop, and I heard, that he was asking to do a class about using the food storage shortly after members in the ward have added to their home stores. That way they could learn how to make use of it. I'm very excited about this assignment (request) since this subject is so dear to me (if it wasn't for food storage, we would have had to ask for assistance from the church a LOT more than we have thus far)! It should be interesting! ^_^

When Jess and I first came together, he'd never really heard of food storage. But it has always been a source of deep concern for me. I've had nightmares about this subject from the time I was quite young. Although the nightmares have been garish and very upsetting, I'm grateful for them because I have a very keen interest in HAVING food storage as a result of them! Even though Jess didn't really have any previous knowledge of or belief in food storage, he still encouraged/allowed me to put food aside as our stores from the very beginning. There was a bit in the sort of middle of our relationship thus far that he sort of made fun of me for being such a storer, but I know he has gained a testimony of it. I know this because whenever I do talk to him about my plans or what I've done for it, he is completely supportive and totally NOT teasing me about it anymore! He is a gift of a guy! ;)

Further Food Storage Stuff; Dealing with LAW
A friend of mine, Joey, challenged me last week to find the law behind the rumor that we in FL are only allowed to have 3 months supply of food storage in our homes. He and I have both looked extensively and have found no such documentation. If you know how I could find this information, please tell me. I can use all the help I can.

Thus far I have done searches for Florida Statutes, food storage; Florida Law, food storage; and lots of variations of that sort. My friend has used the term "food hoarding" and many variations on law in Florida for his hours of searching. He's also looked for Executive orders concerning the subject and come up with NONE!

This is SUCH a big deal to me because I REALLY believe that we (Gollihughs and, really, everyone else!) should have a year supply (at least) of food storage for our family because I want us to follow the prophets. BUT I also believe that even our current prophet wants us to obey the Laws of the Land (as our Articles of Faith say we believe we should). So, I don't want to disobey EITHER through ignorance, hearsay, or misinformation! My friend had said a while back that he was going to do a year supply regardless, but since I spoke to him about the whole Articles of Faith thing, he's been troubled.

This week I have been particularly troubled by this subject. I feel like Heavenly Father was telling me what I should do through a talk given in Sacrament Meeting today. It was all about following the voice of the prophet and how the current prophet's words trump all preceeding info. I'm still uneasy and I know I need to pray about the whole thing....

END
If you're wondering why I'm posting on Sunday... well, this post has NOTHING to do with work (thus, not working on Sabbath). AND I actually have a bit of quiet time to myself.

Anxiety Decrease and a Talk With Sage

If you couldn't tell already, my entries here are pretty much about my obsessions and our daily activities. I mentioned a couple times already my anxiety about our food storage situation. Well, today I made a purchase of some things for our supply that has decreased my anxiety a little. The items I purchased are not the staples, but since we have lived off our food storage exclusively for a month and almost exclusively for MANY months, I know that these "extras" will keep me feeling a little more normal. That's SUCH a huge thing when trouble hits the fan... at least for me! I found this site MANY MANY moons ago and revisited it since the anxiety hit a few weeks ago. I made my anxiety decreasing purchase from this site and HIGHLY recommend it! http://internet-grocer.net/ They have the basics, of course, but they also have a wide variety of extras I haven't found elsewhere. In particular, I haven't found the canned cheese or butter elsewhere. And while I have seen canned meats elsewhere, they never sound as appealing as the developers of this site make theirs sound. Also, REAL SALT is a pretty big deal. I know there are lots of places to buy it, bt I felt like the price here was quite good. Jess is going to check on his prices and I'll let yall know how they compare (assuming I can remember!).

Joy School this morning at "our" little playground near the library. It was really nice! Sage was there with her girls and another sister from the ward came. I was so happy about that!! :) We had a really nice time visiting and chatting and the kiddos LOVED their playtime. So, basically, Joy School has become a "Morning at the Park." Mostly it's evolved to this because we wanted to welcome younger children (and parents), but also because it's less stress for Sage and me and the girls (our most regular attenders) just love playing together!

Sage brought me home (the whole two blocks). I felt so lame accepting the ride, but it was SO sunny and hot. I already had a bit of pink, so I'm sure I would have ended up with a GOOD burn had I walked the girls home. And Ria is wearing a long-sleeved dress today. She doesn't care about the heat, she says... and I warn her not to complain because she's made the choice. BUT I can't help but feel concern when her cheeks are really pink and she's not drinking enough water. *sigh* What to do! I'm trying to help her/let her learn from her choices rather than strong arm her.

Sage let me borrow her FHE book (TOTALLY going to buy one for myself!!) and I was reading the dark section yesterday and just bawling. Actually, the tears were flowing, but I was not audibly crying because I didn't want the girls to know I was upset. They were playing SO nicely. I was so upset because I've been feeling more and more that I'm doing things the wrong way as a Mama and the things I was reading was just sort of confirming it. :( So, I'm striving to make some pretty significant changes. And, as we all know, change is so totally NOT easy. Especially if there are others involved. I totally understand! I mean, even though the way I have been has not been as wonderful as I should be it's what Ria is used to. So, she's resisting my change. I just have to endure... to the end. And WHAT a challenge! Perhaps THE challenge of life, right? ahwell

That last bit was not where I was planning to go, but anyway! Back to my initial "TRAIN" of thought: I put my stroller into the back of Sage's van and noticed some rice. I asked her a question and that got us talking about food storage and the food issues in the news. I think I have expressed my deep admiration for this lady before. She is the mother of 6 and completely plans to have more. She, herself, is the second child (I think) in a family of 10. And she is just an AMAZING Mother!!! I mean, gosh... I hope I can grow up to be like her!! She's also a return missionary, which should give you a good idea of how spiritually mature (etc) she is. I think her name is just perfect for her. Not only is she wise (like a Sage), but she's also neat and interesting and just really cool (like a spice in life!). Anyway, I was able to share with her this really great guide for buying food storage from the grocery store. It's a monthly guide and by the end of the year you'll have around a year supply of most of things. Some things are higher and others lower. Basically, from our conversation, I felt a confirmation of the urge I feel to compile our "legal limit" of a 3 month supply for each person in my family. So, the rest of our tax return (after the purchase made today) will be spent at the grocery store and on air-tight storage containers for food storage.

I highly recommend http://www.beprepared.com/ for really good gallon buckets, air-tight lids, and metalized bags (though I don't have a sealer... there ARE some for sale on http://providentliving.org/ I believe is the name of the site. I know for sure, as of today, that if you go to http://www.lds.org/ and look on the front page for the bit about home storage you can jump to the correct catalog pages that include a sealer! It's pretty expensive, but you could make it a sort of community purchase! I would love (AND HOPE) to do that. Of course, you could also use the church storehouse OR possibly borrow one FROM the Bishop's storehouse. The info is pretty easily available on the providentliving site. Anyway... I'm going to stop rambling about my current obsession and CATCH YA LATER! :)

A Walk in the Rain and a Sunny Morning at the Park

So I've been walking for a couple of weeks. This week will make three. I have a great desire to have an easier/better labor with this baby than the last. I definitely think I was beyond out of shape when I had Kat. Given that I realize that AND that I started this year serious about getting fit... I've decided to stay on course - except that I'm NOT following my plan to train for a 5k anymore. That's really just foolishness at this point, especially since I have breathing stuff happening ALREADY! (It's totally normal to get out of breath when preggie because the baby displaces the guts which sort of squish the lungs a little. Plus the lungs have to get bigger to provide for the additional oxygen requirements of the Mom AND babe.) Even knowing all that doesn't make the discomfort any more comfotable, but at least it's not as scary as it was the first time!

Anyway, my goal is to walk 5 days a week, at least, and walk for 1 hour each day. The first week I did 4 days. But last week I accomplished my minimum goal! YIPPEE!!! I'm on track this week even though it totally looked like it was going to rain when my walk time approached. But I decided I really couldn't give myself that excuse and got the girls and snacks and water ready anyway. We left and it was overcast, slightly windy, but nice weather otherwise. It did sprinkle and even sprinkled sort of hard at one point, but I kept walking and finished the hour! I wasn't soaked, which is good. And the buggy/trailer I have is AWESOME! I would recommend it to EVERYONE who wants to be active! It's a hybrid, which means that it converts from a trailer you can use behind your bike to a jogging-style stroller. It is as manueverable as a jogger, which can get frustrating sometimes, but isn't enough of a detractor to take away from all the advantages. What ARE the advantages? Well, the one I have is a two seater, BUT has a seatbelt configuration that will safe and comfortably ride just one child as well! The belts go across the lap AND over the shoulders and basically connect at one point in front of the child. But they are NOT easy to manipulate. Ria can, finally, put her own on, but cannot completely unbuckle. So, it's safe! :) Another advantage is that it will safely carry up to 100 pounds of kids! Awesome, right!?? That's two large toddlers!!! There's TONS of room in the buggy/trailer, too, as in leg room! Another advantage is that it not only has a bug net built in, but it ALSO has a wind/rain shield built in!!! This was the advantage that made it totally possible for me to walk in the rain and not worry about my girls!! What a BLESSING!!! Another HUGE and MARVELOUS advantage is that this buggy/trailer converts with ABSOLUTELY NO TOOLS!!!! If you think I'm not serious, you really should not doubt me. I would totally NOT lie about something like this! The front wheel is securely in place when in use, but disasembles by the push of some buttons and extraction of the handbrake. It took a bit of figuring with the little handbook, but it makes SO much sense, mechanically!!! OH, and the front wheel stores in the back of the buggy itself so you can carry it WITH you, which means that even if you go for a bike ride, you can walk your children after you arrive at your destination!!! And the back wheels release SUPER easy for packing in a vehicle. AND it folds up with a tug on two sturdy pull handles; one on either side of the buggy!! When you check out the site and see that it advertises for SIMPLE, EFFORTLESS, QUICK on the front page where you see a lady packing a single stroller... well, I'm SURE that's totally true for the single stroller, but for the double it does require a bit of effort for me and average to strong chick, but it IS SIMPLE and QUICK!!!! Do you wonder where I found this amazing miracle of a buggy? Well, I'll give you the address: http://www.babyjogger.com/ And mine is, of course, the Switchback/Hybrid. I wonder who would ever buy the Tailwind because you'd still need a regular buggy/stroller... but I guess if you HAVE tons of money.... We don't. We invested in this buggy with our tax return in 2007.

You might be shocked by the tag, but the cost is TOTALLY worth it if you're like I was - single car family - planning to do EVERYthing walking. I don't do grocery shopping walking, but will as soon as the new WalMart is up!!! It's going to be under 2 miles away. TOTALLY do-able, even for cold stuff, as long as I plan it well during the hot months. :)

Just as a note about babyjogger... if you have one, or one on the way, but plan to have more, I would HIGHLY recommend the initially higher/greater investment in the double bike trailer hybrid because it TRULY is worth it. And the singleton will ride in it safely as soon as s/he can sit up reliably! There are other options.

I've already got a plan for a third child. I'll use my sling for walks at first, but for long walks that won't last more than a few months. So, there's another THREE seater jogger I've found that is reasonably priced. So, we'll buy that will next year's tax return. I usually walk all over town during the week so it's a valuable investment for my family. Also, for bike rides, I'll purchase a bike seat that will be right in FRONT of me on the bike! So, we'll still have the mobility that I'm so happy to have with my current buggy/stroller... except the rain might hold us up a little because the new stroller doesn't have the built-in amenities and the bike seat isn't rain proof. :) Now, if I happen to have twins growin in there, I'm not really sure how we'll do the bike thing... but I hope to figure it out. I'm SURE I will figure the walks out... probably Ria will start biking a LOT! :) She would love that right now... but not the whole way. I'll just have to build up her endurance.

Moving right along...

Today we did Joy School with Sage and her daughters. It was the PERFECT weather! Seriously! The sun was out, but mostly hiding and the wind was only gusting gently. We played at one of the NUMEROUS playgrounds in the area... Flagler County really is good to parents!! The playground we enjoyed today has two swing sets; one for big kids and toddlers and one for babies. There are also two play/climb areas with slides. One meant for the smaller kiddos and one for the "older" who are 12 and under. It was lovely to spend time with my friend. She's the awesome chica who will help me with my girls for the birth of the baby currently "in the oven".

And currently I'm waiting for the eggs to boil to make salmon salad (like tuna salad for sandwhiches). It's yummy already, so I'm pleased. The eggs will just finish it. You know, of course, that kids AND preggie mamas are supposed to have very limited amounts of tuna and if they have it it's supposed to be a certain kind. I can't even remember the specifics because I decided it would be better to steer clear of tuna once I learned the bits and details of why to avoid it. Basically, it's all big fish because of mercury, I think. My brain is really muddled right now about the research I did on that subject. Anyway... we actually do Salmon (Alaskan, preferrably) for our food storage, which is what we're eating for lunch. Working on keeping it cycling, ya know. :)

Oh, my brother Josh shared with me that it looked like the extra money from the gov't to stimulate the economy is going to be a lot more than I was told it would likely be. So, I'm sort of hoping for the same. If it is, I think we're going to be able to "officially" have our food storage completed!!! In Florida we can only have 3 months supply - law of the land and all. And given my experiences with the Lord's will and His examples to me of why I should live faithfully, I feel very strongly that we should not exceed the limits places on us by the gov't. Now, I'm not going to be such a stickler that I'm going to count my pantry items and such as part of the food storage amount because I REALLY feel/believe they are different for different purposes. Like, to me, food storage is in case of imminent or pending disaster of any kind (loss of income is our most frequent experience with disaster to effect our abity to provide for our families nourishment). While pantry is the stuff you use all the time and have to worry about keeping stocked and worry about running out of on a weekly basis. Anyway... I TOTALLY know from experience that pantry supply is extremely valuable when life necessitates use of food storage exclusively. Pantry almost becomes gourmet extras! But anyway... I'm so excited to discuss this more with Jess and hope we will be ABLE to use much of the money (if not all of it) for this purpose! I've been feeling anxious about food storage, which I KNOW is a blessing from past experience and I need to heed the anxiety!

More later. Must finish lunch.