The LeBaron Bunch

Life Without Limbs or Limits?

2011-07-04T17:29:00.000-06:00

It's been a while. Too Long. I promise to get this thing up to speed, but first: Here is a wonderful video about a man named Nick Vujicic, you are sure to be inspired. Share it with your friends and family.

Half Marathon

2011-01-31T13:02:00.003-07:00

Way to go guys!!!! I am super Proud!

I decided to sign my 14 yr. old and I up for a Half Marathon. We ran it together with Mr. L and my little brother. Well it ended up more like my son running ahead with my brother, me running with Mr. L. It was a doosey, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I thought we would just take it easy and walk some of the way and mosey our way, but nope we ran the whole way. At that distance walking becomes harder than running. Besides that you start getting a lot of other pains when you start walking and it's a lot harder to get started back to running.

Here I am at mile 12

I had a greater emotional connection to this run than the Marathon that I did in '09. I think it's because Mr. L stayed with me the WHOLE time, he kept me going. I am sooooo grateful for him. He could have ran ahead and got a better time, but he stayed with me. We held hands across the finish line, it was really special. It also made me wonder how did I ever run most of a whole Marathon without him. I really relied on his "get there attitude".

My brother got 1 hr. 50 min., my son got 2:07, and Mr. L and I got 2:23 which was pretty good for not training. There has to be a balance in training...I overtrained for the Marathon and undertrained for this.

I want to keep up a fitness program and mix it up a bit without running every second so I am going to be doing the P90X program. So I will try to keep up on blogging about my experience.

Look What I Made!

2010-10-18T16:03:00.000-06:00

Ok, besides the cute little 2 year old!!

I got on a kick and scrapped together material from old torn pants and sheets, and made the skirt and a flower for her headband.

The FUN in FUNdraising

2010-10-18T15:40:00.000-06:00

This is the year of the fundraiser!! We have been involved in a total of 5 (now 7) of them this year so far. The Easter Car Show, the baseball fields, the 4th of July, and on the street corner: selling cotton candy, and a breakfast at the Ironman. Update: at Peach Days and Western Days too Luckily we were able to raise some money to send Mr. L and my 13 year old son to the Jamboree and History tour for 18 days, they just got back 5 days ago. And what a sight for sore and lonely eyes were they. They had some wonderful experiences.

We were just involved in another fundraiser, this time for Mr. L's parents, to send them to South Korea to pick up their 8th son who is serving and LDS Mission there. With the economy and their line of work, the funds just were not there, so my husband, with all of his experience raising money had a great idea...."Hey, why not have a fundraiser?"...so 6 of the 8 boys and their little sister and her faithful best friend, plus some of the wives and, of course, mom and dad LeBaron, were able to sacrifice their time to be heavily involved in running a Navajo Taco booth at the Fair for 4 days. Which was a very remarkable thing. I was so touched to see how all of the brothers banded together for the love of their parents to pull off such a tremendous challenge. They all worked together like peanut butter and chocolate, and made a very enjoyable day.

Mr. L #2 (my man) frying scones, his bro. Mr. L #4 and #5 rolling and cutting scones, Mr. L #1 cutting up produce, Mr. L #7 making scone dough, Mr. L #6 and little sister and her best friend serving people, SIL at the front taking orders, me between here and there, mostly making meat mixture. Dad LeBaron was running all kinds of errands and rescued us too many times to count, he came in the nick of time with cheese, sour cream lettuce, salsa, crushed tomatoes. I am not exaggerating, we'd be almost out of something and here he'd come with the very thing we were almost out of. Mama LeBaron worked her fingers to the bone doing all of the prep work: cooking up meat and beans and shopping, plus being everywhere making things run smoothly.

I was impressed by the generous people who just told us to keep the change or gave an extra $20! It is so wonderful to see that there is still a lot of good in the world. People are kind and giving and not just self motivated.

I am so grateful that I was able to help more than half the day yesterday. I was sooo beat and sore by the time we got home, which was late. I want to publicly thank my SIL A. for watching 3 of my kids yesterday, and a big thank you to my parents too, for taking my 2 youngest, and a close family friend, MaKayla for helping the other day, making it possible so I could help. THANK YOU!!!!!

So was it worth it? YES!!! Getting these brothers together was special, seeing them interact is priceless, hearing them rock to the super stellar band that got us through some really tough last hrs of the night...UNFORGETABLE. Dancing with Mr. L to a slow song in the middle of floor a bit SILLY but waaay FUN!! So Yes, I would hafta say it was FUN!

What Does the World Need?

2010-07-27T11:01:00.001-06:00

Very inspiring!!!!

Trying to find my Chi

2010-07-21T08:08:00.001-06:00

I don't know exactly what it is, or if I know what it is I don't know how to find mine. I was recommended a book by my SIL, ChiRunning, written by Danny Dreyer. It is a very good book, it is fun and interesting to read. This man knows what he's talking about when it comes to relaxation and running and posture and form and finding your Chi. He says when you achieve Chi your running will be effortless, you will end a run with more energy than you begin with, and you will run pain-free and injury-free. Also, your running is not powered, or fueled by your muscles. It sounds too good to be true, but I really believe what he says, I really think it can be done, if you know how to do it. You can find their website HERE!

I think I know what it is...an energy that everyone has...a life-force or part of your life-force, he says without it you'd be dead, but I know it's not your spirit. It's the same power that those Kung Fu guys have when they break through all of those 2x4s, it's a core power not strength. But where is it?

I tried to find my Chi today, I might have found it for a split second, I'm not sure. And I'm not sure how you can find Chi when you're trying to keep good form and relax at the same time. I was stiff in my shoulders, trying to be more straight and not slump over. I also, was trying to keep my feet forward and mid-foot strike and run with my feet behind me, my hips more forward.....uuuggh, can you see my frustration?

I am running with an injury, I don't even know what it is exactly, it's on the side of my knee like it could be IT Band. Also in the back of my knee, it starts getting tight with pain, but I walk and it gives me relief. I need to find this Chi soon, because I am supposed to be running over 10 miles now and I haven't run over 5 and that was over a month and 1/2 ago. And new shoes and the chiropractor hasn't seemed to help, and I can't keep going back to the Chiro. I hope soon to say that I've found my Chi, have you found yours?

Lookin for the Bright Side

2010-06-17T22:22:00.002-06:00

I keep wondering, just as you might have wondered...why did I sign up for the Marathon again? I think it every day, and everyday the answer's the same...I want something to shoot for, to work for, to prompt me to take control of my body and say "I am in charge, now get your butt outta bed!" I've said it before and I'll say it again...life throws so many things at you, it's nice to be able to say "this is what I'm gonna do now DO IT!" I think I felt antsy, I had just broken my hand wanted to laugh at adversity and say "You're not taken me down, I'm gonna sign up for the Marathon and there's nothing you can do about it!" "I'M IN CHARGE!"

So sometimes there are curve balls thrown into the mix, then what do you do? I dunno, it's easy to let discouragement in, and self-doubt, and comparisons...all of those ugly words weave their way into the looms of your soul...and sometimes you can pull them out before they shape your tapestry. I ran 5 miles 2 Saturdays in a row, my knee bothered me both times, and now I can't even run 2 miles without this blasted knee. I think maybe with some rest, but I can't rest, I hafta train. I'm lookin for answers.

I am grateful for different, eternal perspectives...putting your life back into focus. I was able to spend some much needed time with my Dear Mother at the temple yesterday. It was such a gift, I am so grateful I was able to have that time with her. She had a PET scan a couple of weeks ago and there is concern with her thyroid and colon. She has been in remission for 1 1/2 years and her hair has grown back and her energy is mostly back, but I know she will never be the same, her love and compassion and gracious kindness couldn't help but grow...I just don't want to see her become frail again...PLEASE PRAY FOR MY MOM:)

I am so grateful for my mom. I feel like any time I have with her is bonus time. Time I am so thankful I have. I want to be like her, she has so much love, unbelieveable love, to give. I am so blessed, I don't know what I ever did to be to blessed to have such a great mother...and father, and in-laws and husband. I know she would do anything for me and my family. She has shown great courage and I know my dad has given her great support and love to her.

On the bright side, Mr. L signed up for the Marathon and really kickin BUTT!!! He ran 5 miles in 38 minutes...I am super proud of him. Wish us luck.

Mother's Day...Finally

2010-05-21T12:41:00.000-06:00

Our Bishopric musta been inspired by their wives for what to give the moms for Sacrement Mtg. finally...no flowers this year, but a BIG Symphony Chocolate bar with almond and toffee pieces. Now that's what I'm talkin about...

I shared of course.

My gift to my mother: This lovely lady hasn't had her hair cut since it grew back from having chemo. My SIL Sam did a fabulous job. My mom felt beautiful again and was very appreciative. Thank you Sam for helping her feel her beauty again.

This is my mom's gift to me.
Thank you mom for helping my front yard look alive and vibrant!
Isn't this the most thoughtful gift? I told her it should be a tradition we do every year...heh heh:)

My kids gifts from church.
These hot pads and dishcloths lovingly decorated....the one with the big eyes hadda heart and lungs drawn on the other side...he must love me a whole lot...both heart and lungs a lot!
My Darling made yummo french toast with strawberries and had all the kids come to my room and sang "Mother I Love You". Unforgetable!

My gift from the fabulous Mr. L...YAY!!!!! Finally...I have wanted a bike trailer for a long time. Mr. L surprised me with one and also fixed up my bike. It was so wonderful to finally be able to ride it. I love that I can just leave on my bike with kids in tow.

My Mother-in-law gave me a couple of scrapbooking things and the most thoughtful card. And she received a gift certificate from all of her boys for a much needed pair of shoes.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2010-05-20T19:01:00.004-06:00

I wrote this over a week ago, needed to download pics.

My 8 year old daughter, Lishy and I were at the piano, she was practicing...and I was tryin to squeeze in a five more minutes of time, (she was doing so well, I didn't want to stop).

The phone rang,

it was Mr. L,

he hears Lishy in the background, and asks,

"Is she stayin home from school today?"

Me, "No."

Him, "Uhhh, it's 9:00 isn't she supposed to be at school?

Me..looking at the clock in the living room...8:35,

then...rushing into the kitchen to see the clock in there...uuuggghh...9:00...DANG!

Hurry and get backpacks..flee out the door and in a fast fury get them to school, rush home and get out of the car to run in the house...

when...

BAM...

I'm face down on the driveway, with my left hand pinned between my left hip and the cement, my foot had gotten stuck inside my pant leg and sent me sailing.

As I get up off of the ground,

I glance to make sure no one saw my awesome imitation of a clumsy person....

my hand is numb and immediately starts swelling.

Oh Boy, I knew that wasn't a good sign...

so I went in the house and grabbed the frozen peas...relief.

I didn't want to call Mr. L at work and tell him of my really good impression of being graceful...

so I went down stairs to find my partial cast that I had kickin around,

(oh yeah, because I fell 17 years earlier at Youth Conference practicing for a 3 legged race on the cement, dumb... when I was 17, weird...and had a fracture and a crack and 2 black eyes....I hope this isn't a trend every 17 years.)

I thought the Doc would just send me home with one of them anyways so to save time and trouble and money, why not just use the one I had.

Well, I couldn't find it, and it's just as well. I broke down and called Mr. L and he was very gracious and offered to take me right down to the Dr. My sweet Mother-in-law watched the kids.

So, I broke my hand pretty bad and found out I needed surgery to pin my left pinky bone back up and over to where it belonged.

A thoughtful pie given to me by Mr. L's workin buddy.

The surgery happened 2 1/2 weeks ago, and it is so wonderful feel that I am healing.

Today was a great day...I got my cast off for the first time,

and my arm didn't even stink.

My hand is very dry and peeling weird, but not too shabby.

I now have a brace on, and am starting to move my fingers. It was hard at first, I couldn't even bend my ring and pinky at all...now I can bend a bit more, so I am encouraged. The most uncomfortable thing is the pin that pokes me every once on a while.

I have missed being able to: wear my wedding ring, straighten my hair, open zip lock bags, holding babies decent, give piggy back rides to bed, wash dishes, taking care of my laundry properly, sweep with both hands, type with both hands (today I am using my left hand a bit), hold hands for prayer.

Every second of the day I am so thankful this didn't happen to my right hand or my legs or feet. I am soooooo grateful.

My husband is my sweet new groomer: flossing my teeth every night, without skipping, washing and combing conditioner in my hair, shaving and washing my right armpit, and applying deoderant, clipping my fingernails, changing diapers more, I am sooo grateful to him for his needed service and his generous love.

My Mother-in law, has been so faithful in arriving here each morning to help with the daily school scramble, doing girls hair changing and dressing baby Dolly and sometimes sweeping and other mundane tasks. i am so grateful. I am going to try to be more independent, I will miss seeing her every day.

A sweet sister from our ward, Julie Lemmon, just showed up one morning and asked what she could do to help. She was sooo awesome, she ended up cleaning my whole kitchen floor and into the foyer, and all the surfaces. It was so wonderful to have my kitchen sanitized, even if it was only for 30 minutes. They don't stay clean very long.

My mother has made me meals and fed and took care of my family for sooo many nights, which has lifted a great burden, thank you to all for your sweet kindness, and giving service.

The things I have been able to do with a broken hand...

We went bowling,

Celebrated Loo Loo's 5th birthday

I felt well enough to go to my nephews baptism 4 1/2 hours away on the day of my surgery, I am so grateful we could still go, it was great fun and a nice break.

I found a running partner and signed up for the St. George Marathon ( I am way excited). I helped run a vendor booth for the Ironman...incredible experience...okay...ummm..nothing else.

I have Learned:

-Things can happen in an instant, and loving people are willing to help in a wink. Only through others can burdens be lifted.

-To be more compassionate, and hope to see someone's need so I can serve them.

-To delegate menial tasks...diaper changes to Lishy who's 8, she loves to change diapers...who knew. And my 3 year old, Tank likes to help me turn socks the right side out. And, Loo Loo's likes to fold towels.

Mr. L is 37, and other Hulabaloo!

2010-04-15T15:01:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to my best friend! I am so thankful for this man that I proudly call my husband and father to my children. He has never-ending energy and wisdom, and love. He is quick to forgive and to say he's sorry. Anyone who knows him is blessed! He is a loyal companion, faithful saint, and intelligent resource for any trivia or general conversation. He is a hard worker and spends many hours serving the community..right now as the Baseball President, and as the County and State Delegate. He is a very handsome and talented man, and I am still in love after 20 years of knowing him!

When both of your families live in town you get to celebrate your birthday 2 sometimes 3 times!! So we celebrated with Mr. L's family on Saturday and had an impromptu easter egg color and hunt. Then had another party with my family and general rumpus on Sunday. So that 's why we had half eatin cake, we didn't need another cake.

Then we had another party with the Stout and Murdoch-Durkin Families, we had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner and played a game of baseball! a very fun and memorable birthday!

Dippin the egg in all the colors=some unknown color on the egg and the hand.

Here's 3 year old Tank, tankin up on the Easter candy!

Mama Mia

2010-03-13T10:57:00.004-07:00

I finally watched the movie "Mama Mia" with Mr. L. He saw it up at a conference without me and has been singing the songs ever since, especially the song "Honey, Honey". Sounds cute, well the girl who sings it in the movie can really sing it, so cute and sweet. You can hear it on my playlist.

So, we're watchin' the movie and I just start crying. I'm crying because my own daughter is growing up sooo fast, I'm crying because I couldn't wait to get married (I married right after I turned 19), and I'm crying because I moved away from home which means someone's missing me and crying because my bedroom's empty and I'm not coming back. You can guess that someone's my mom.

It would be soo hard to say goodbye to your only daughter, it makes me cry right now. At least I didn't marry some MOJO down at a bar or somethin, I did marry a wonderful man. I am soo grateful that I had some sense of mind to be attracted to, and marry a decent man at such a tender age.

I was soo selfish though, all I could think about was me, me, me and how wonderful it would be to never hafta say good bye at the door step, and when your get home you're both home. Being married has been so wonderful, I am so blessed and so grateful. I know it makes it easier to live in the same town as my mom, my girls (and boys) better do the same, dang it.
Just being a bit sentimental.

Time to get my butt in gear

2010-03-08T08:44:00.004-07:00

"We will remain the same until the pain of remaining the same exceeds the pain of change."

This is my favorite quote of all time. Whoever coined this phrase was a very wise person and understood human nature. Hey, just a thought maybe this person struggled with some human inadequacies too.

No pain no gain...you don't know what you've got until it's gone...you don't grow until you get out of your comfort zone...age before beauty...heh heh...(I am refering to running with my man ;). What do all of these quotes have in common? RUNNING!!

I took a sabbatical from running....lotsa excuses...it's too cold and I don't wanna hafta get all of those layers on...it's too early...I've gotten up dark and early and am not ready to face the dark again...I like my extra hour of sleep...on and on it goes.

It gets to a point when you start thinking more negative thoughts, you don't like the undisciplined, blobby person you are becoming. Not to mention your clothes are getting tighter...you're sucking in and it's still not "in" enough, and it's too hard to suck your butt in.

Glorying in your past successes do not mean a thing...it is what you are doing with your life right now!!! The only thing about looking to your past successes is that it does give you more drive..."Hey, I've done this before, I can do it again." But do you want too? YES!!! Perserverance and enduring to the end is what matters. So right now I am ready to make my change, and get my butt and gut in gear...I am ready to commit myself to running at least 3 times a week. No MoRe eXCuSeS.

There you have it, I am ready to shed my winter coat, and maybe I'll conquer a few other things along the way...maybe I'll have more energy and be a better mom and housekeeper, among other things *wink, wink*

It's so hard to say good bye

2010-03-05T11:16:00.006-07:00

Have you ever wondered what heaven would be like? Maybe you already have an inkling. You may imagine a place where all your loved ones are...a place where, maybe new people are...people you met a long time ago, but don't quite remember how you know them, but you love them anyway. A place where there is no comparison, no keeping up with the Jones's. I believe heaven is a place where we can learn and grow from each other by helping each other, understanding, and inspiring, and loving each other...UNCONDITIONALLY. A place where there is no fighting and all the gaps are filled in because we are drawing from each other's strengths. I believe it is very possible to have Heaven on Earth....when all the stars are aligned and God is smiling.

I reflect every day on my little piece of heaven . It has only been a week, but I have been so uplifted from a very special visit. We were blessed to have Stephanie and Vince and their 2 beautiful daughters stay with us for 1 1/2 days...not long enough but, enough time for us to:

Rekindle and renew relationships...

...go to grandpa's farm...

...go shopping, and shooting...

...squeeze in a big family gathering...

and of course...E.A.T.

...watch the Olympics...

...play on the computer...

or rather...

laugh our heads off while playing on Ronnie's

computer...

...and stay up really late to make up for lost time...

Pretty much take time out to play, play, play.

A friendship and sisterhood revisited and strengthened...and all the beautiful and familiar feelings that come with that.

It's hard to say good bye...I say hello and good bye to that deep feeling everyday....

take a breathe...shed some tears...let the air out in a slow sigh...

sniff...and try to control it...remembering that profound gladness that quickly turns to sadness...yearning to be with someone that you know is really living but you can't see or touch them...sniff...SNORT...b u c k u p...

find your strength,

and revel in the joy and be grateful that you have been able to have such a special memory to share with such special people.

New Blog Link is fixed...ooops

2010-02-20T22:57:00.002-07:00

I am sooo excited to finally share with everyone, that I have started another blog. A blog about food and health, and beautiful design, and ideas....and redoing things. I hope it will help me become a little more prepared in meal planning to have a place that I can store some of my favorite recipes. Or rather experiments that worked... Please feel free to share tips and ideas with me as I try to focus on becoming more organized. Drop by and leave me a note.....Now go Get Your Apron On!!!!

Artist of the Day/ Stephanie Lee

2010-02-10T13:49:00.002-07:00

What can I say I am a bit biased as she is my husband's first cousin, but she is a very amazing artist, and an even more amazing friend and person. I have known Stephanie for about 20 years, wow! And it has been so fun to see how she has grown and matured as this awe-inspiring, and humble artist. She's also a wife and mother of 2 (not a wife of 2, just to clear that up).

I wasn't planning on making this a Roast for her, but she has such awesome skills. If her beautiful one of a kind jewelry or paintings don't catch your eye (you're probably blind), then her thoughtful and deep words with move you both body, and spirit. Here is one of the most thought provoking posts, the part about "What if" is especially amazing, but it's just a drop in the bucket, there are so many pearls of wisdom here.

Her pieces can be found all over the world, as she has traveled teaching about, but not limited to repurposing junk metal into beautiful art to wear. She also does some awesome renditions on canvas as well. She just recently taught in Australia among other places last year, and has a full schedule of classes spanning from Washington state to Virginia.

You can see one of her pieces here found in Kelly Rae Roberts home. Kelly Rae is an awesome artist and author and inspiring decorator too!!

You will also be happy to know she has a book, Semiprecious Salvage. Umm, yeah, HELLO!!! An awesome book with all of her secrets, her how to's and her beautiful writings, and beautiful eye candy.

I am soooo thrilled to see her and her beautiful family in 2 wks, I can't wait.

You can find more info on her book here at Amazon.

I love you STAYFUNNY!!! *HUGS*

My Eagle Scout!!!! Finally

2010-01-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

Besides all the bicycling and merit badge clinics, and summer camps...here is the Main Event that finished up getting his Eagle Scout....

The Project
Eaph's project consisted of goin up to the baseball fields 1-3 times a week for 4 weeks.
Doing
lotsa digging....and getting lotsa people involved...friends, parents, and Uncles!!
Then measuring and putting up forms and pouring and finishing concrete.
Now the baseball bleachers no longer sit on grass and gravel.
Thank you to all who helped!!

The Eagle Presentation

Congrats Eaph!!! We are so proud of you and all of your hard work!

And a lot of credit to his leaders...and especially his dad.

{Sorry I didn't want to take time to beautify the pics}

6 of the 8 LeBaron Uncles singing a beautiful song,
Legacy of Scouting

Grandma LeBaron wrote the music and N. Furse wrote the Lyrics.

It was absolutely marvelous...
all their voices blended so perfectly.

A Special Presentation

Being the gun man that he is, Mr. L found another excuse to buy a gun!!

A Henry Golden Boy 100 Years of Scouting Gun...

With Eaph's name on it and an awesome 100 yrs BSA insignia!

Too bad it's pretty useless, it's too pretty to shoot.

Maybe someday it'll be worth a lot of money to his great- great -great -grand kids.

Thank you to everyone who came and supported us!!!

Artist of the Day/ Kristin Chenowith

2010-01-13T15:33:00.008-07:00

Kristin does such a wonderful job on this song, she is just as darling as the song, I love it. Her singing and acting skills are so impressive, not to mention she's funny and beautiful to boot.

The first time I saw her was on the movie RV. She was traveling around with her really hyperactive husband and two kids, who loved to sing. I also saw her on Jay Leno once, dang funny...and very comfortable with the skin she's in. Here's little bit more info about her....

Wikipedia says: Kristin Chenoweth (born July 24, 1968) is an American singer, musical theatre, film, and television actress, and author. Some of her best-known roles have included her Tony Award winning role as Sally Brown in Broadway's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, her role as Glinda in Broadway's Wicked, and her role as Annabeth Schott in television's The West Wing. She most recently appeared in the role of Olive Snook on the ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies for which she won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy.[2] Chenoweth is also the face of Jude Frances jewelry.

Chenoweth has a distinctive speaking voice. In FHM's March 2006 issue, she compared her voice to that of Betty Boop.

Chenoweth is a classically trained coloratura soprano, and well known for her skilled singing technique and artistic interpretations. She has a vocal range of four octaves.[3] Chenoweth is able to sing the note "F6" (1396.913 Hz), also known as "F above High C".[4]

Christmas 2009

2010-01-08T15:21:00.001-07:00

The reason these photos look so nice is because
Ronnie from blubellephoto took them.
It is his precious baby girl posing as the baby Jesus.

Christmas Eve with the LeBaron's packed with lottsa stuff...good food, good music, good conversation (if you could hear over the good rumpus goin on), and really good kids...no one even fought over who would be Mary in the Nativity. Well 4 year old Loo Loo's on the other hand...well we just didn't have a camel outfit for her to wear....not good = a good old-fashioned temper- tantrum.... Goood Fun!

The Best of Christmas at home

At g-ma and g-pa LeBaron's

At g-ma and pa Evans's

Notice I'm holding my first Easy Bake Oven.

My favorite gifts: great memories of course. My thoughtful husband for wrapping me up some more dough enhancer, and vital wheat gluten, oh and yeast. My very first pressure cooker, we're gonna have some fun. My red coat.

The most useful item a Sharp Steam Mop, and Sharp Rechargeable Sweeper. Oh, and the Sharp hand vac. Hmmmm, someone wants me to be cleaner. How thoughtful! Something I wouldv'e never bought myself. Oh and my favorite was the long over due Easy Bake Oven!!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-05T15:59:00.015-07:00

Christmas Eve pj's with g-ma and pa Evans and Uncle Al

What.... 13 years old?

2010-01-05T14:25:00.002-07:00

Before

After

Yup!!! 13....Eaph said just the other day, "First falling on the ice and getting stitches and now this broken plate....my 13th year has been very unlucky so far....well, I did get my Eagle, and I guess that was lucky!" (Which is another post for another day:)

For his party we used the GPS. The boys would find the coordinate and end up at one of their houses and their mom would have them do a service project. Most of the projects were raking up leaves as you can see. It ended up being a very fun day, plus it made everyone feel good because they did service too!!!

Another fun birthday I did with a GPS was for Mr. L. I hid birthday presents all over town and he found them by following the different coordinates on his GPS. It was really fun. The funnest part was when my friend, (ahem...Lorilee) replaced the DVD gift and wrapped up some lingerie in it's place, and made it look like the original DVD package...very inventive indeed...and hilariously unforgettable.

The 12 Pains of Christmas

2009-12-08T12:12:00.003-07:00

I have been hearing this song come up every once in awhile on the Christmas radio station. So funny, and so true.

15 Years on the 15th!!!! and a Photo Shoot

2009-12-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

K, so it's almost been 2 months since our 15th Anniversary, but it's worth writing about anyways. WARNING long post...sorry.

A HUGE Thank you to my BIL and his 9 mo pregnant wife for traipsing all over the temple grounds to try to take our picture. He did a fantastic job...you can check out more of his work at: http://bluebellephoto.blogspot.com/

This matches the vision I had..except Baby Dolly (or The Boss ) was in mid flight...she should be standing, dang it.

This little girl would leave at the least provocation. We could not for the life of us keep her put. So her nickname is changing from Baby Dolly to The Boss :)

We couldn't keep our formation. uuggh
So Mr. L hadda wonderful idea, just play follow the leader. She wanted to walk anyway, and the kids had lotsa fun.

Dang, look at all of those little munchkins!!!! We are truly blessed~ even though by the end of the shoot I was about ready to scream.... :)

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Time flys when you're having fun, or when you're not getting anything done., and you run outta time to do everything by the end of the day. I guess raising kids is getting things done....maybe undone and then redone. It's the cycle of the undoing/redoing...nothing really gets done ultimately. At least raising kids is a permanent fixture, all the teaching and re-teaching does eventually sinks in. Sometimes it takes years before you notice...all the repetition does pay off.

So Mr. L and I got married in the St. George Temple for time and all Eternity 15 years ago!!!! The best day of my life, and every day since that day have been pretty darn wonderful.

We went on a hike the day before, and had tinfoil dinners. It was soo fun!!!

Of course we hadda take another pic with the sunset. It made gorgeous backdrop!!!

The next night we went to Made in Brazil, oh my goodness, and yumminess...and expensivenesss (good thing we hadda coupon:)....but oh so good. It was a glorified salad bar, with some really exotic things to put on your salad and it also hadda side bar with potatoes, rice, stroganoff, and some other really fatty scrumptious foods. Then these guys go around to the tables bringing meat straight off of the rotisserie...a lot of people really digged this, like Mr. L. I passed, I'm not a big meat eater. But very great food!!!! The most memorable time was the hike, I highly recommend it!!!!

Artist of the Day/ Improv Everywhere

2009-11-13T10:55:00.011-07:00

WOO HOO!!!! I did it, I downloaded a video!!!! You will wanna turn off the music for a sec, unless you want Boston to join in.

You can go here and see more fun stuff about the group:
I Love Lunch! The Musical

This is such an awesome video of this Improv group that goes around public places to perform... They call themselves "Improv Everywhere". This particular one is at the Trump Tower Restaurant. A Today's Show co-host, Ann Curry, is part of it. Waaay funny!!!

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Maintenance, Not again!?!

2009-11-09T14:34:00.008-07:00

This is what my life is all about....maintaining....I can't imagine anybody having other wise. Anyone out there that doesn't maintain? Okay, so we all know about it..it's pretty universal. I hate maintaining...there I said it. ugh!!! Don't let my 12 year old read this. I tell him all the time in my very cheery, encouraging voice.."You need to just keep your room clean, you know? It's all about maintaining it. A little at a time." "Same thing goes for your grades, just do whatever you can to maintain that A ." On and on it goes. My life is all about maintenance: maintaining the laundry...the floors...the desk...pantry...kids...dust..what dust?...relationships...cars...garden...hair...body... I went running for the first time since Oct. 15 and this is what it feels like to not maintain... I don't like it...I felt pregnant or something. It made one of my bad days training for the Marathon feel pretty darn good.

Oh my goodness! I am not being grateful....I am ashamed...I am soooooo grateful that I have kids, and relationships and a garden to maintain...and hair and a house to dust (or not). That reminds me I need to maintain my gratitude...to the list. to the list...

11. An answered prayer...something lost that was found...aka. my lost camera.
12. Being able to run two miles without stopping and without too much pain.
13. A Thank You.
14. A homemade card.
15. My husband spankin my butt every time he passes. Well almost every time...it's a disappointment when he doesn't.
16. Butterfly kisses...which leads me to....
17. Eskimo kisses. mmmmm
18. Being called MOM....in 6 different and profound ways...makes me all teary eyed.
19. A crisp (not too crisp) Autumn morning right when the sun is coming up.
20. The warmth of the sun on my face.
21. A cute sweater to layer up with...oh yeah!! This weather is starting to grow on me a bit.
22. I really am grateful for ...... apparently. As you can see I do ...... a lot....
23. I am grateful I have a full and happy life that I CAN MAINTAIN.

Wow!!! I'm already past 10 for this week... should I say for last week. I'm behind. I gotta maintain my blog better. I encourage all y'all to express your gratitude in some way. Link if you are gonna do it on your blog and I will follow you. It is such a great way to see that you really do have enough...it will bless your life. LINK UP!!!! HUGS!!!

Thank you Saskia for doing this...read her gratitude journal here.

A Season of Gratitude

2009-10-28T13:48:00.000-06:00

I love this season....the wonderful Holiday Season. Not the cold so much, but the effervescent feelings of nostalgia it brings.....school beginning, my birthday, my anniversary, Halloween, the birth of my first son, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the birth of my 2nd son....so so many wonderful memories and feelings are flooding over. The thing with this season, though, is that it can so easily become a season of wanting and needing and having-to-have instead of a feeling of gratitude.

The two don't exist at the same time...being without and being with. Just like hot and cold or faith and fear. It's the cup is half full/ half empty concept. So my goal is to minimize and simplify Christmas, and be more grateful for what I have. By minimize I mean cut the wish lists shorter & do more hand made things...they mean soo so much more (...so I guess that's not really simplifying too much). But I think it will give a greater sense of satisfaction. Here's a great link with some great ideas, and Just Organize Yourself has lotsa great prep ideas. Here's another great link!!!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm gonna try focusing on my blessings, and I'm gonna start by writing 10 things that I'm grateful for every week. So here goes:

1~ My family.

2~ Freshly ground wheat.

3~ A wheat grinder.

4~ Homemade Wheat Bread right outta the oven.

5~ When lost things are found (I really hope I can find my lost camara soon, hint, hint).

6~ The sound of scissors cutting fabric. (Oh Yeah!! A project is about to begin.)

7~ The sound of a sewing machine.

8~ A good, deep conversation.

9~ Finding children's handiwork...their names or pic drawn in my notebooks. Not on my walls or furniture.

10~ Finding the perfect quote.

The Retiring of the Running Journal~

2009-10-26T13:34:00.004-06:00

Running Journal

6-2-09 I am soo grateful that I'm not bowlegged or pigeontoed or flatfooted..sounds funny? It would be harder to run.
6-5-09 I am grateful for my eternal best friend and love and our 6 little blessings.
6-13-09 I ran 4 miles for the first time ever.
6-18-09 I didn't die from running in the middle of the day.
6-20-09 Running 5 miles this morning was a lot easier than running 3 in the heat of the day. I DID IT ~ 5 MILES
6-22-09 We ran 3 miles in 21 minutes....woo hoo!!!!!
6-27-09 6 miles baby!!! Under an hour at elevation 8,000+.
7-4-09 We ran 7 miles, not bad. Then we did a bake sale fundraiser for Dixie Care and Share and raised just under $200.
7-10-09 8 miles, woo hoo!!!! Under 10 minute miles.
7-11-09 A big day...We did another fundraiser-Rummage Sale, bake sale, and car wash...we raised over $600 that day!!!! Way to go Us!!
7-17-09 I can barely walk, but we made it...10 miles!!!!
7-22-09 WE RAISED $1000 for Dixie Care and Share!!!!
7-24-09 Whew!!! 11 miles was a bit easier with my new pair of Asics 2140's on.
7-31-09 12 miles all by myself, then my DH met me 1/2 way on his bike and helped fight the mosquitoes.
8-7-09 We ran farther than a 1/2 marathon today... 14 miles, it wasn't too bad. Just 12.2 more to go...sounds easy.
8-15-09 Thank you to the best Running Partner evaaahhh. Nissa kept a good pace...16 miles. Where is my Runner's High?
8-21-09 This 16 miles was a bit easier running out and then back.
8-28-09 17 miles, thanks to my handsome man for running with me today. He saved me.
9-4-09 18 miles. My hips need help...Man, we can't seem to get our long runs together. Thanks again to my man for running and biking with me.
9-14-09 The Pinnacle!!! 20 MILES!!!!! It's over, a big burden is lifted. Thank you to my darling husband for getting up early and getting me through a really tough run. Nissa saved me, totally came and surprised me and ran the last 5 miles home with me. I am crying.
Tapering for 3 weeks
10-03-09 26.2 Miles The Marathon!!!!! was awesome. I ran 99% of the time. I made it to the end, and never hit the wall. Amazing experience. I coulda kept goin if it wasn't for my I T Bands, they killed. But finally, it is over, for now anyways. Very special. I am a new person.

The St. George Marathon...Finally

2009-10-14T08:13:00.004-06:00

Thanks to the Spectrum Newspaper

Here's a link to some more pics taken by my BIL from Bluebelle Photography!!!

The Marathon is done!!!!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!! I think I ODed on icy hot. Is it possible? I stopped at every aide station and got pretty close to a few strangers totally rubbing my legs down. I am a very modest person, and here I am lifting my shorts up as high as they can go without revealing a bum cheek. Luckily the last few times my darling came and ran along side me and rubbed them for me. But then others saw how awesome and vigorous he was that they got in line too. "I want that guy, he definitely knows what he is doing!" I am really hamming up a very, very difficult part of my race. The hardest part were my I T Bands. It hurt soooo dang bad, it was almost unbearable, but every time it got unbearable there was an aide station with very willing strangers ready to rub them down.

Oh hooray for all the wonderful volunteers!!! They were there at just about every mile marker handing out Vaseline, icy hot rubs, Gatorade, water, cliff shots, oranges (I do not recommend oranges, uugggh I hadda slightly bad experience after eating one, and it dealt with a lot of bubbles and aspirating a bit) and bananas. I had no problem with bananas, they were fabulous. I haven't really trained on the GU, but it settled really well in my tummy, I had one before my run and 2 more during. I tried taking little bits of GU along the way, and it was a lot easier than trying to gulp the whole pack all at once. I also had some ibuprophen, and sports jelly beans, and some electrolyte pills. Just some info for those who might run someday.

Gettin ready to get icy hot!!!

On a good note, I was really feeling great, my lungs, my muscles, my mental, my tummy!!! All absolutely fabulous. It was unreal how wonderful I felt, and it was a darn good thing because I don't know if I coulda handled more than what I was dealing with.

Surprisingly a lot of my fears didn't happen, no uncomfortable, crampy tummy, which meant no diarrhea, (a big fear), no big ol' blisters, just one tiny one. No hitting the wall that I've heard so much about. What a wonderful gift. No cramping when I stopped to drink or get rubbed down (well my I T bands cramped). No heartburn from too much water or Gatorade. K, a lot of fears, sorry. I could probably keep going, but I am just so grateful, I didn't have these other issues.

Oh Yeah!!!

When we arrived at the Vernon Worthen Park there were all these people standing in line waiting for their turn to get on one of the many, many, many buses. The bus just kept on goin, and goin, and going...up, up, into the mtns.. .Sheesh... When we finally arrived there, the street was lined with flags for us to run through...Awesome!!!! It was cold...so good thing for the fires they built. It's a good idea to wear layers and dispose of your layers along the roadside as you start warming up on your run. Also, it's a good idea to cut up those thick girls tights and make sleeves to pull off even later.

Then there is the time when you hafta leave you warm abode and go stand in line to go pee, and if you're lucky, ah hem...how shall I put this?...poo. And hopefully if you hafta do the latter you at least have toilet paper. I recommend bringing some form of T. P.

There are porta potties at most mile posts, and you hafta wait in line or you can go behind a pink bush. You throw a lot of things out the window like discretion. Sorry. Let's just say, when you hafta go you can't and when you shouldn't go you hafta. ..'nuff said...

I saw sooo many people, big and little, skinny and slightly plump, TALL and small, tan and white (me), people with pain, people who I kept passing, and kept passing me back. A lady with her lipstick and foundation on and ultra blonde hair up in piggy tails. Someone with some really cool yellow shoes, make that 2 people. Some really cool signs....Like... "Cash for Klunker Shoes"...and..."That's Not Sweat, That's Your Fat Cells Crying"... A couple of 14 year olds. Some people that would just walk up the hills. I ran up all the hills, but was still passed by those who walked the hills. I remind myself...I'm still good enough. When I got closer to the finish line I saw more people walking than I had seen the whole time. This was a hard time for a lot of people.

At mile 22 my darling man met me and took some pictures and even ran with me for a few miles. It was so wonderful to have him with me, what a special time. He helped me with my legs a lot. When we arrived at his bike he hopped on it and rode to the side for quite a while, til about 24. Not soon after he left, I saw my brother Mark, and brother-in-law Tim. They started running with me, it was so wonderful. It woulda been pretty draggy if it wasn't for them talking to me and entertaining me.
Then we turned the corner and there it was the balloons, the people, the finish line!!!!! I started crying and hyperventilating!!! I had to stop, and gain control, 'cause I couldn't breathe. So down the stretch I went, and before I knew it, Tim and Mark had gone and there was my Darling with all our kids minus one, and they ran the rest of the way with me to the finish line. A very special moment.

This is what all the training was for, FOR THIS MOMENT!!! Oh my goodness it was super awesome, it was heaven. There were my parents and another brother, and my in laws, and sis-in-law, and 2 more brothers-in-laws with their wives and kids, rooting me on. When I got closer to the finish I just couldn't control myself, I sprinted to the end. It actually felt great...I felt no pain. I finished at 5:08:42 about an hr later than I was hoping for. Oh well, I finished. And I feel pretty darn good... it is over. A chapter in my book is filled, {this might cover more than a few chapters in my life}.

After the finish line, I got my medal and there was my dear, dear training partner, Nissa, with a big smile and a hug. I lost her at the starting line, so this is the first I had seen her. We ate a bit and then I went and found my family and got lotsa pictures. My Darling gave me some beautiful flowers, as well as my mom...so fun!!! We then met with everyone at the park and had a taco salad lunch.
What a good time. It was haaarrd, but it was very remarkable, and life changing. I am grateful I was able to do this, I have been able to be healthy the whole time I have trained, and close to injury free. A BIG THANK YOU to a loving Heavenly Father....I will be forever grateful. When you're training for a Marathon, it's hard to really know if you will ever really make it to the starting line, because of the rigorous training schedule and chance of injury. My I T bands have been a very real problem, but I am grateful it was at least doable, I will heal eventually. Thank you to all that supported me, I couldn't have done this ultra crazy thing without you. WOOO HOOOO!!!!! Everyone should run a Marathon, put it on your calendar, Oct. 2, 2010!!!!!! See ya there!!!!

Bumdinger 2

2009-09-16T16:34:00.000-06:00

I have great conversations with the voices in my head. One of the more popular ones that keep popping up, or should I say...pooping up? is on the subject of....you guessed it...our own built in waste system. I have come up with an invention to beat all inventions. It is very simple...so simple, in fact, that I can't believe no one has marketed it yet.

Just take a trip to your local hospital, or medical supply and and have em hook you up with a cathater and then run the hose into an IV and...Voila'!!! You got a build in relief & hydration system. I think there should be some kinda filter in there somewhere. It's a work in progress.

As for the matter of the numero 2...a colonoscopy bag. Or you can do what I do, wear brown on my long runs, I think that might help create a camoflauge....you know, just in case.

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Bumdinger 2

I've thought n thought about it;
I know I'm not alone.
On matters of holding it
in on the long runs home.

It's something we all face,
I'm certain it's a curse
There's no way around it,
we've faced it since our birth.

Haven't figured it out,
this subject on the buns?
Let's just say that it gives
new meaning to long runs.

I think this is so cool,
I can't believe it's true.
That someone hasn't yet,
made a Bumdinger 2.

I know you want to know.
What's the Bumdinger 2?
I will try and tell you
without really telling you.

Just run 'round the corner
to your local drug store.
Grab a hose and needle
and prob'ly a li'l more.

No drugs are required,
to make this Bummer work.
Just a bit of effort,
sense of humor with quirk.

You'll be makin guesses
I'm trying to be discreet.
Ladies don't talk this way,
not even on the street.

It provides relief for
the all purpose athlete.
No more off road stopping,
now running is complete.

So when you see me running,
don't even bat an eye
at my weird contraption.
Just let me run on by.

20 Miles

2009-09-14T09:33:00.004-06:00

Wow, a lot has happened I have run 18 miles a week ago Saturday and 20 miles today. Do I have permission to celebrate? I should be out in the streets yelling and rejoicing that I made it home. Really the 18 wasn't much different than the 20. My mental was a bit harder with the 20, I kept feeling a very urgent feeling, an impatient feeling, when I am in so much pain like when I'm in labor. I just want it to go away. I felt antsy, and restless and kept snapping at my poor darling husband this morning...early morning....telling him to talk to me, to tell me Book of Mormon stories....just get my mind busy, dang it.

Then, when I had run about 15 1/2 miles who came and saved me? Nissa, whom I haven't seen for waaay over a week. I don't even remember the last time we ran together. I've been outta town. She rescued me and ran the rest of the way home with me. I am crying...thank you sweet Nissa. I made it home, We made it home.....WE DID IT!!!!!!! So my DH saw that I was well taken care of so he went home to get the kids fed and taken care of. So when I arrived there they were waiting for me, what a sight...my little bit of heaven on earth. It has been a very special day. Which brings me to my next post...
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GOOD FRIENDS

They are hard to find. But the friends that have blessed my life I haven't had to try. They came to me. While I was in Salt Lake last week I hung out with a really great friend, Malisa, that I haven't seen in 8 years, I can't believe it. But we picked up where we left off. We met while up at Logan. I was an at home mom with one kid, while my darling was attending USU and she moved in across the street. She was very friendly and would come over every so often and come and talk to me, which I was very grateful for. I really needed that friendship at that time. I need it now, actually. I will never forget how genuine she is. Thank you Malisa for being such a great friend. Things I have learned from you...be friendly, don't be afraid to get to know people, you compliment freely, you are an awesome house keeper, very organized, a good mother, and a go getter, you have done some amazing things to your home which has inspired me like...putting up all the crown moulding in your house minus the basement, built a beautiful mantel all by yourself and painted your kitchen cabinents white, put up wainscoting in the bathroom, laundry, and daughter's room. She's an awesome designer. Thank you for your friendship and for putting up with me for 3 days straight. I love you.

Trina was introduced to me through a couple of mutual friends...we just kept meeting each other. There was no stopping us. Our boys played and our girls played together. It was a good match. Things I have learned from her...being a good friend not matter what...she has given to me so many times, without ever thought of return, I owe her so much. She has faced a lot of her fears, I am so proud of her, she gives me courage to face my own fears. She too, is a good house keeper. She has taught me about style, wear clothes you look good in. I may not always follow that rule, but she still taught me it. She forgives fast, maybe too fast, she and her husband have a lot of love, they love people, and they especially love kids. They are both really hard workers, and I love them a lot and am grateful for their example of friendship.

Nissa, oh what can I say? She a very special person...my running partner and friend extraordinaire, and business woman of the year. This woman may look skinny but boy is she tough in every sense of the word and then some. Also, tough as in strong willed too. She has a very funny sense of humor that just grows on you. She loves people, and is very friendly, just so likeable. Oh, we met when our boys just couldn't stay away from each other in kindergarten, and I am grateful. This lovely lady will not be caught without a smile, and it suits her rather well as she has a really big smile that is very contagious. She has helped me through some tough runs, like today. She saw my text this morning that I was doing my 20 miler today and she wakes her husband up and says "let's go find her". So they drive around until they find me, she jumps out, and what a rush. I was totally flabbergasted!!!! Good friend? Oh yeah!!! Thank you for runnin me home, it's just what I needed. Thank you for believing in me, I will be forever grateful, I love you!!!

I have been blessed with the best of friends, and most of all my best friend, my Eternal Companion, my handsome man. He is very talented in soo many ways, in music, singing, smarts, street smart, book smart, people smart. He is always showing his affections to me. I love how he loves me. He has taken such great care of me and our family, we have never been without. He's a hard worker. He gets up and reads the scriptures every morning with the kids. He wakes up really early to go running with me. The support he gives me makes it possible to even do all of this training, I literally couldn't do it without him. I am always amazed at the good man that he is. I knew he was, and then he'll do or say something that really lets me see how good he really is. Did I say he was handsome? He has a lot of wisdom, I rely on that heavily...maybe too much. He is my soul mate, and my much better half. He is my hero who has been through a lot of pain lately, and never complains. Thank you for being so patient with me, and for being such a wonderful father. I love you so much, thank you my sweet man.

Life is Like Running a Marathon

2009-09-02T11:12:00.010-06:00

I was soo inspired by this awesome video that a lady named Jen Tucker put together about running the Boston Marathon. Very worthy of sharing. Thank you Jen!!!!! Here's the link, well worth your time....

This one is great too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZWx1nMx5oA

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Attitude Change

I have a new respect for marathon runners. How do they do it over and over again? and Why? I ask that question a lot. I have days I feel uninspired and then I come across some awesome quote or get some awesome video on an e-mail and it gets me goin again.

This is hard....I am trying to keep a positive attitude. Just 2 more long runs before the reeeeally long run. We have 18 this weekend and 20 next weekend then 9 then 8 then 26.2...

I am always amazed at the neverending support of my family. I couldn't do this without my darling husband and a rocking running partner. I don't know how people do this alone. It definitely tests your mind, your head and your brain, and your body. It's days like this, after only 8 miles, and I'm beat and sore, and can't move very well, that I get discouraged. Maybe I should eat, that would help.

......................................................

My Cravings

-Mother's frosted Circus Animal cookies,

-Meadow Gold Ice Cream Sandwiches,
-Red Vines,
-Pita Sandwiches with turkey, sprouts, cucumber, tomato, and pesto,
-Spinach Salad,
-Sunday Dinners at my parents or in-laws, or pretty much anytime I don't hafta cook,
-Chuck-a-Rama,
-Homemade, freshly ground, wheat bread,
-Homemade granola,
-Sam's Choice Black bean and corn salsa (found at Wal-Mart),
-Chi Chi's Mango and peach salsa with Santitas yellow corn chips,
-Fresh peaches, apricots, tomatoes, apples,
-Pepperjack cheese with wheat thins,
-Good Conversation...deep, thought provoking,
-Sleeping in and snuggling,
-An inspiring movie

Running for a Cause

2009-08-18T08:51:00.002-06:00

Whatever Boys Can Do Girls Can Do Almost Better

Here's an awesome pic my handsome man took while riding his bike. I think it's funny....he's riding a bike wearing his shoulder sling taking a self portrait with me. He is multi-talented!!!

Honey, can you say loooong? Oh my, am I feeling it, but I must admit running 12 miles this morning was easier than running 10 two weeks ago. One of my biggest motivations was trying to keep going so the mosquitos wouldn't get me, I forgot my repellant. They somehow caught up with me though.

I've been running with my husband this week, Nissa (my running partner) is at a beach helpin out at a summer camp. But I hafta say he ran the whole 4 miles with me on Monday and kept up the whole time and at the end he put it in gear and passed me up. What the!?! It takes me months of running and running having a baby and running some more, and he hasn't ran for two years, plus he just had shoulder surgery 1 1/2 mos ago and he passes me. Why am I always compelled to be humbled? But he was sore for a few days and I wasn't. In fact he was soo sore that he decided he would bike while I ran. I guess he had a good enough of an excuse to buy a new bike. So he rode his bike on my 6 and 12 milers. It's those long runs that getcha, he kept up with me pretty good.

........................................................................................................

Speed Limit

Limit? What limit? I am always astounded as to what the human body is capable of week after week. I can't believe I just ran 12 miles today, I finished in 2 hrs. I am so grateful how well things went today, because 2 weeks ago I could hardly walk after running 10 miles. I was very discouraged, thinking all that bad self talk, "How the heck can I keep doing these long runs if I can't even walk now?" On my run today my hip and knee behaved, I didn't have any problems, I was able to keep going. My foot is hurting though. It's always my right side, that leg is shorter, maybe that's why.

I learned a trick so your I T band doesn't bother your knee, turn your foot out, it helps. Whenever my knee started hurting I turned it out, it really worked!!!!! I am so grateful that I can run, this has been an incredible journey and a summer I will never forget. I'm still not loving to go running, I dread it sometimes, most times, but I love that I can run and that I'm healthy. Glory to God, I am nothing with out Him.

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The Fundraiser

Here we are at our 4th of July Bake Sale

Just an update, Nissa and I had to raise $1000 for Dixie Care and Share, they have our Marathon ticket..... and WE DID IT!!!!! The burden is lifted, it is sooo nice to not be worrying about that any more. I found to best way to raise money was to think BIG....we decided to do our first fundraiser: a Bake Sale at the 4th of July festivities, we raised just under $200.

The Jam Man, that owns Old Nauvoo Jam, donated 3 cases (36 jars) of jam for our sale, I really believe it was inspiration to involve him . I literally baked bread allll dang day on Friday. It was successful as we sold all the bread and the baked goods and about 1/2 the jam, that was a great day.

The next week we had 2 more fundraisers...a Car Wash at Lin's parking lot that I was over, and a Rummage & Bake sale that Nissa was over. I was astounded by the wonderful donations for the Rummage Sale and the awesome volunteers helping at the car wash. Our best helpers were the Beehives and Mia Maid girls from the ward, my husband's 15 year old sister, and 25 yr old brother (he brought a couple of friends and was an animal at washing) my son Eaph, the City Princesses helped too. My Father-in-Law came and helped a bit, and later my handsome husband came and helped shoulder sling and all (he had shoulder surgery in June) and he brought our 7 and 6 yr old and our little 4 and 2 yr old they washed too. It was quite a sight. We had very generous people telling us to keep the change. Plus we were really consistant washing cars the whole time.

We made $234 at the Car Wash and close to $385 at the Rummage Sale. That with the donations and my Mary Kay order we were able to hand a $1000 check to Dixie Care and Share. A HUGE thank you to all of you that came out and supported us. What a Blessing, and what a BIG burden lifted...now we can direct our energy to...you guessed it....running!!!!

11 Miles and Counting

2009-08-03T09:08:00.003-06:00

Here is evidence!!!! Finally a picture of us together...This is our 11 mile day, and look at those happy faces. I don't know about Nissa, but it was harder putting on that smile than it was running. I have the hardest time putting on a happy face. Here we are on the home stretch, Yee Haw!!!

2 months from today is the Marathon, yikes!!!

Nissa has put together an awesome blog for us...check it out at

http://2moms1marathon.blogspot.com/

Training, not for the weak

2009-07-06T08:24:00.008-06:00

It's really the 17th today...(I had such a bad experience I am now just finishing this post almost 2 weeks later.)

I didn't know if I should write this post because I really like to dwell on the positive, but I realized we all have bumps in the road and that's what makes us stronger. Plus, I can look back to today and see just how far I really have come.

Today we were doing a bit of training, and it kicked my butt {no sissy word will substitute here}

We were at the track attempting 1/2 mile intervals, which is 2 times around the track. We took the first 1/2 mile at an easy pace, then the second 1/2 we ran it hard, oh my word, did I feel it, and am still feeling it. I'm running with a stallion runner. Then she says k, one more time. I'm like back to back? Yeah! So I made it the first lap but on the 2nd (this is a horrible flashback) I couldn't catch my breath. It reminded me of when I was in labor trying to do the Lamaze breathing technique...I ended up breathing into a bag because I was hyperventilating. That's what happened here, I was hyperventilating, and it felt like a panic attack. I never wanna experience that ever again.

On a better note, we did it again a week later. We took it at our own stride and it was a bit easier.

The disguise

2009-06-30T19:50:00.005-06:00

That tricky squash
Such a beautiful squash flower

Our container garden, the big one is the squash plants

My 12 year old son, Eaph, hates squash, he crinkles his nose even at the mention of the word. {Honestly, the name isn't too appetizing is it?...S.Q.U.A.S.H.} So the rest of the kids pick up on big brother's bad attitude...problem....Nope, no problem, because you do a little trick and... voila you've got a completely different veggie. Instead of slicing the zucchini in circles or semi- circles you slice 'em into sticks so they blend in with the carrots and onions and green beans....
Eaph rockin' out to makin his first batch of bread, all by himself

Eaph is eating his stir fry and picks out something that doesn't look like a carrot or an onion, and asks, "what's this?" "Uuuhh, I dunno", is all I can think of, but I thought a bit and the next time he asked me I was ready, "it's a leak, it's in the onion family"....Needless to say he and his siblings ate it all up. I confessed to him later, but he hasn't had a problem once he realized it was all in his head that he didn't like squash.

Yeah, it's squash disguising season. Let's make some zucchini apple pie, and relish, and even add it to jam. I just put it in with the fajita mix and had some killer fajitas....it worked really well. How do you do the disguise?

My extraordinary, super-duper, unsurpassed, exceptional mother

2009-06-29T08:28:00.012-06:00

I took my dear mother to Tuacahn to their production Footloose a couple weeks ago for her birthday. {I highly recommend it...very well done}It's a heckufa lot better than what we were doing a year ago...me throwing her a hat party for her upcoming chemo. uuugggh..... We had a great time....

If I could just freeze time for the moment and make it last a bit longer. Life gets a bit harried and unexpected turns come our way. That moment to spend with just my mom was glorious to be sure. I am in heaven in her presence. I am enveloped in a soft, cozy blanket of love, unconditional love. She is so kind and without guile. She always finding ways to serve me, whether it be coming over to just say hi and ends up helping me with my floors or dishes or just snuggle kids and steal them away for the afternoon.

She loves to be a grandma, she is the first in at least 3 generations to be one. She always says: "I am so grateful I was able to be a grandma, I was just hoping I could live long enough to raise you kids, but look at me I made it to be a grandma, what a blessing. They feel like they're mine." Let's not leave out my dad...he is a super grandpa..along with my mom they make the perfect grandparent duo of selfless love, and never-ending patience. They both are very gracious, kind and generous.

Ways I will never be like my mom...her pores...did I say pores? What pores? None, zippo. I break out at least once a month, still. Her soft skin so soft....her face...her hands are younger than mine. Her porcelain, unblemished, clear skin, not a mark on it, yeah and we will probably be getting wrinkles together....what? And hair? What hair, her arms are as soft and smooth as the day she was born. As you can see she's beautiful But hey, I am okay with the skin I'm in. Love what is...

So since I will always have freckles and breakouts the one thing I can change is my spiritual blemishes and between my parents and in laws and husbands example I'm on my way.

Thank you dear mother for raising me so I can lift my head up high, thank you for being strong when dad was working outta town at the fire station, thank you for taking us to church so faithfully, thank you for trusting me, and believing in me, I believe in you....thank you for loving me and serving me..you have eased the burden of raising 6 kids...thank you for your Christ-like example. You were and are so courageous fighting for your life. Now you've conquered your Goliath, and you will keep on conquering.

I love you dear mother, my sister, my best friend...I am so grateful to have you longer in my life. We can celebrate this milestone...You're still here to bless so many more lives and people will draw strength from you...Look at you? You super, phenomenal woman you.

Pink it's like red, but not quite

2009-06-18T18:01:00.008-06:00

Thank you Aerosmith for getting me through another run. Okay, and Def Leopard and Bon Jovi, all that butt rock. Man I gotta get some new music.

When you see me runnin, or anyone you know or don't know just....

honk,

smile,

wave,

thumbs up,

all that wonderful encouraging stuff.

It helps a lot. I got people smilin at me not knowin who I am with my hair pulled up and my sunglasses on. They are thinkin' "who is that crazy lady with the white legs?" It's just me.

My ipod musta ran outta battery today, because half way through it stopped....arrrgh. I didn't realize my dependance on the thing. It really helps.

I kept finding myself lookin for the next spot on the road pretending it was shade from a tree. I was becoming delirious. Not to mention it was 3 in the afternoon, I know....stupid, yeah it was, but I needed to run today. My husband had surgery on his shoulder yesterday so I couldn't leave him this morning with no one to care for him. I made it through. Hurray for me!!!!! Now if I can just do the 5 miles on Saturday.

My new runnin shoes

2009-06-05T12:42:00.003-06:00

I'm in love all over again...

Get your own pair here: http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/shoes/brandsforshoes/keds/women/PRD~406503/Keds+Spright+Wedges.jsp
Or just hop over to Kohls~

Wicked~Girls Day

2009-06-04T16:36:00.006-06:00

Jumping for joy...Wicked baby!!!!

An illegal picture of the stage,

Yeah we we're in the nose-bleeds,

hadda use binoculars, but I'd do it again,

and again.....
Another illegal pic , I almost got my camara confiscated, (not really....)

My sis-in-law (red head) started it all, she was soo thrilled that Wicked was coming to Ut, so we surprised her for her b-day last July and got her tickets...she cried.

At Olive Garden, with our *virgin* daquiri's

waitin for the the real food to come out...

Good food rounded out our trip...yummo!!!

{A BIG THANK YOU TO AUNT CINDY FOR WATCHIN MY LITTLE BABY DOLLY SO I COULD DO THIS.}

Running, a Spiritual Experience?

2009-05-28T08:11:00.003-06:00

I am happy to announce that my endurance levels are increasing. Yay!!!! Last Saturday I didn't get my run in because I went turkey huntin', or as folks around here say "huuntuun". My first time ever hunting anything...but I got "nuuthuun". I went again this morning and shot at one, that was crazy...

So, Saturday I had to fit in a run...we were headin' over to my parents and I decided to jog there. I have never done that before, and it really passed without too much difficulty. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself running up the two hills, they weren't the brutes I thought they would be.

I found a lot of courage as I past a home where 6 kids, with 3 still at home are helping their mother through the last stage of her life, as she is dying of cancer....
I am running for her.... I am running for my mom who battled cancer last year and will always be battling the repercussions of it.... I am running for my dad who has had his hip replaced and faces the crippling effects of arthritis everyday.... I am running for my darling, handsome husband who has a herniated disk and can't do the things he loves, and when he does he does it with great pain... I run for my children, because I'm not pregnant right now and I can move. If I never knew what it was like not to move, I probably wouldn't appreciate moving so much. I feel free, I am in charge of my own destiny.... I run for all those people I see in the morning out walking, hobbling their way down the street...they can't run, they can barely walk, but they face their day with courage and do this thing that is unnatural. I run for those who can't run because they are going to work...

I am getting stronger, and I am soo grateful that I can run. Thank you to our Father in Heaven. I know He will help me find the strength to face the more difficult days to come.

Artist of the Day/ Kelly Rae Roberts

2009-05-27T11:26:00.005-06:00

I just found an awesome link to the wonderfully, inspiring home of artist Kelly Rae Roberts. Her art is really well done, and as you can see her art is not only limited to the canvas she paints on, but her whole home is awe-inspiring... Love it.

Oh and here is her book: Taking Flight...I hear it's a really good read and motivating as well, with some tutorials on some projects.... You can read more about it here or even purchase it here.

Mama Enchanted

2009-05-26T10:26:00.007-06:00

Book Review: Ella Enchanted, written by Gail Carson Levine... I just finished reading this book, very awesome. It is the retold fairytale of Cinderella. Very well done. I have to admit I didn't know for the longest time that Ella Enchanted wasn't just a movie...when I found out I felt errr.. pretty dumb and uneducated. But if you've only seen the movie, don't judge the book by the movie. The movie doesn't do the book the justice it deserves. In fact, the movie doesn't follow it very well at all.

The book has a very strong character..Ella, she as we know was given a gift from a fairy at her birth to be obedient, which in the wrong hands can prove detrimental. Ella found ways around always doing what others told her to do....yes, she did what she was told and then some, let's say. Her quest is to find the fairy that bestowed the gift on her to undo it, so she wouldn't hafta be obedient, because she was afraid to marry thinking her obedience could harm her future husband and family. The end of the book is really empowering, as she has found that through her selflessness she is able to find her true self. But will she ever be able to make her own choices? You better check out the book and find out. This book is definitely a keeper.

Reading the book has really made me think a little deeper about my own life like: what kind of character do I have? What do I choose to do when told to do something? Do I have the right motivation?

I keep finding that my life parallels in some way to Ella's..how many of us moms have our path laid out day by day by the demands of our children and husbands? A lot of times our whole day is planned without our even putting forth any effort of planning. Even if a list is made it is always at the mercy of poopy diapers, a drink or snack, meals, crying, sleepy babies and 2 year olds, and now summer is upon us, so it's keeping after the kids to stay on task.

Instead of getting the things I want to get done, I find myself more busy keeping my kids on task. But, the difference between Ella and me is I choose to do those things, because of love. It's amazing the things that are prompted by love. I love my life, and am grateful that I can be home with my kids and have my life planned around them.

The one thing I have control over is my attitude, it's mostly good, I also have control over when I get up, and I choose to get up and run. That is probably a big reason why I run, cause it's one thing I can control, and also, because I can. I have found the perfect name for me, just call me... "Mama Enchanted".

Marathon

2009-05-18T16:45:00.003-06:00

I have so many things going on in my brain... a lot of it is self doubt. It takes me about 25 min to run 2 miles, dang, how can I run 26.2 in 6 hrs. I run everyday, and am just glad I get up in the morning and get the bed off my back and try to be fit and not balloon outta my clothes.

I was gonna run the marathon, I told my sis-in-law, but I wasn't gonna train I would walk/run it if I have to, then she burst my bubble and said the first person that ran the marathon died. uuuuggh....so I decided not to do it, at least not this year, I didn't wanna train. So I get a text from a friend asking me to run it with her. Dood, wow, umm okay.... She says there is a great 26 week program to train for it. I was in unbelief, what did I just say? Okay? My word, I have prolly never ran more than 2 miles ever, straight. I don't think I have even ran 3 miles. I think I could prolly do 3, but you know this self talk stuff?

So now I am in a commitment stage, part of me is there and a lot of me isn't. I told Nissa, my marathon friend, I was honored she would ask me, as I was really surprised, I feel like I don't know her that well. She told me she thinks I'm a strong woman, how can I say no to that? And how can I not face everyday knowing that someone is counting on me to be there? And to top things off we don't even have tickets to run yet, they are in a bidding stage at Dixie Care and Share, so we won't know for sure if we have tickets til middle of June, and then we have just over a month to raise $500 dollars for their cause. Nissa is pretty confident we will get them. Where does she get all this awesomeness? Well, I am becoming more inspired because I have had people already ask how much I need. I could cry. Just as I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of the marathon, I am overwhelmed by the wonderful support, and belief. Now if I could just convince myself.

Happy Dirtday...

2009-05-04T10:22:00.001-06:00

K, this is waaay past due, as is a lot of things I have taken pics of and never posted. remember computer problems? This is Spring Break and we had a lot of fun at Whitney Pockets. Two of my bros came for the day and two of dh bros and their kids came. That meant the kids had fun with cousins. They played hard, going up, up, up the sand stone and sliding down, down, down on their bottoms. Which ment their bottoms were literally worn out by the time we were done. In fact Loo Loo's bottom got soo worn out it worn right down through her underpant and to her little hinney, it was pretty sore for a few days. There's a pic of her going up with her toosh worn through. Oh and it was Dh's birthday, it was the most perfect birthday evaaaahhh doin what he loves best, makin everything in the dutch oven (I didn't even cook once), goin four wheelin, shootin, campin, being surrounded with the ones we love. O, and a lot of dirt.

There it is again

2009-04-16T18:52:00.009-06:00

Lishy

(K, just assume if I haven't posted in a while I am having computer issues. Even though the new hard drive seems to be working fine all the pics are not on here. So here is a post I have been intending on doing since summer... )

Our 7 yr old daughter, Lishy, or as we sometimes call, Lishywishywashywoo, noticed an unexpected rhyme while we were driving down the street....

She'd say: "There's that funny rhyme again:

OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE

CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR."

It was pretty funny. I'd also have a flashback of Jurassic Park. I mean who doesn't when they see that?

Random thoughts put to rhyme.

2009-03-13T18:16:00.007-06:00

We were up waay late, (okay my husband was up waaay late, I fell asleep) with our 12 year old son, Eeph. His Science Fair project died. So my advice don't base your project on anything that can die, like a plant. So they were up revising and redoing last years. I woke up a bit groggy and wrote this:

O the Science fair is really not fair.

What takes weeks to grow lays dead o'r there.

We stay up late to fix our mistake.

It wins by a landslide and takes state.

K, he really didn't take state, but he did win at the school last year on this project. I just thought it would be ironic.

peculiarly interesting

2009-03-13T17:46:00.005-06:00

The middle of your face is pretty interesting.

It is really quite hard to keep from resisting.

So use your index or ring to swab it clean.

And instead of eating it I hope you fling.

Sniffles

2009-03-13T17:38:00.002-06:00

My new phone came yesterday, it's up and running, the mourning is over. Yay!

What is that tickle that's not so funny?
It makes your nose itch and far too runny.

Why am I writing this allergy ode?
Maybe if I'm nice it'll leave it's abode.

Cell Phone Services

2009-03-12T08:53:00.013-06:00

I regret to inform you that my cell phone has died. It died approximately at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, March 10th.

Services for Li'l Red will be held at the LeBaron household at 3:00 today. Please don't send flowers, cash gifts would be greatly appreciated.

Roses are red

and violets are blue.

My cell phone is dead,

So I can't call you.

I lived so independent and free

When no one could get a hold of me.

I thought that I didn't need you in life

'til my husband had troubles getting hold of his wife.

Come to find out it was nice with a phone.

The benefits are numerous, I'm certain unknown.

Now that you're gone I feel lonely and lost.

To have a phone work I would pay any cost.

I didn't need you and was feelin' just dandy.

But the text was so good and really quite handy.

So, I sit here and wait, wait, wait, wait... for a new one to come,

Wasting time writing a silly phone poem.

Not Again, 3 mos supply

2009-03-09T16:53:00.001-06:00

Who has their three months supply? I just received an e-mail, maybe many of you have too, about the Pandemic Flu. Let's just say it's not if, but when it will happen. It has been forecasted to happen within the next 2 years, so probably plan more on the sooner than the later side, because I don't know when the forecast was cast.

I have read a couple of sites that have condensed down the 3 months into 15 meals made 6 times. Here is the link from, Just Organize Yourself, with pictures and recipes. And Safely Gathered In has a lot to say, they have a lot of pictures and how to's. From canning to 72 hr kits to making your own wheat grass. Very, very good site. Once I get my meals finished up I will share them with you, and I encourage you to do the same. I'm always up for food ideas.

The Family Closet

2009-03-04T13:24:00.004-07:00

A while back I was watching TLC and saw a program about a family that just had their 17th child, (I think they have 18 now). They are the Duggar family, and they had a very efficient way of doing their laundry. For starters they had 4 washers and 4 dryers and a family closet. Yup all of their clothes were in a closet, okay not a closet a room big enough to accommodate all of their clothes.

I thought what a wonderful idea keep all the clothes in one room eliminate dressers and toting clean and dirty clothes all over the house. I came across this website about family closets.

It has a diagram and pictures and links. I am always curious as to how other ladies do their laundry, any ideas? Do ya think the family closet would work?

We're waaaay better than Ringling Brothers, what?

2009-02-26T15:48:00.019-07:00

What can I say? It's Tank

My little Sunbeam, in the red.

6 yr old Buster tying Loo's dress.

My dear friend asked me at church, "Are you writing these things down?" Here's me writing it down. Oh my goodness, I know we all ask the question, "Why do we even go to church we're not getting anything outta it anyway?" And, "Isn't it breaking the Sabbath to go or be apart of a circus?" Apparently not, we do it every Sunday.

So of course my morning began with the normal Sunday scramble, we got to church in time to take my 2 and 3 yr old to the potty, my boy Tank is 2 1/2 and just learning and didn't go, but he was big to try. We get back in our seats just in time to start the circus. I decided to write things down on the program and every time my 3 yr old girl Loo Loos saw me write on Tank's back she wanted me to write on her back. It was pretty funny.

First things first. Have you ever arrived at church only to find out your have a hole in your stocking, something unknown on your skirt, sticky stuff on faces and TooTHPaSTe on your daughter's dress? This is just the beginning. Thank goodness for the all-terrain wet wipe, although it couldn't fix the hole in my stocking. Hmm, maybe I shoulda packed some duck tape.

Next up is the juggling act. Tank wants me to hold him and so does Lou, time to hand over the baby to DH and try to balance two kids one on each knee, so far they're happy. Oops, they start to fight, it's time to send one over to grandma. Thank goodness we are in the same ward.

We sit in the very front, I'm a LeBaron now, buck up it's tradition, I guess. So we are setting the standard for the ward or the substandard, or the standard not to be. People that used to sit behind us now sit a couple rows back. Some brave the 2nd row behind us, k the Gifford's do, bless their souls. Maybe it's dry council Sunday and they're into a little more action, I don't know.

The Copy Cat. I love it when it's time to sustain someone into a calling and they say "Any opposed" and my 2 yr old's hand almost always goes up. Hey, he saw us with our hands up, it's his turn.

Walking on Eggshells. During the Sacrament I just pray the kids won't touch all the bread when they're finding the biggest piece. And I hope and pray they don't dump the water from their semi-empty cup into the other cups as they put their cup back into the tray. And please cover you're mouth when you cough and sneeze. aaaak, I'm going insane. No one's ever experienced that I'm sure.

How does he do it? The Incredibly Small Gum Chewer. Somehow 2 yr old, Tank got to church with some mysterious gum. My guess, from the trash, but he is enjoying it soo much and it's keeping him quiet for now. So I was very amazed that after eating the bread and the water from Sacrament he managed not to swallow it, impressive.

I always take baby Dolly and nurse her after Sacrament, Loo came along. So we get to the mother's lounge and I can hear my son Tank over the speaker. I guess that's one advantage to sitting on the front I can still keep tabs on my family. If I can hear it from the mic who can hear it in the chapel? aaaaahh too loud

Last act same as the first. Loo decides she needs to go to the bathroom again, Dolly's now in a nursing coma, asleep and here I am trying to keep her asleep and take care of Lou's business in a very small stall. Not funny.

Oh the joys of motherhood. Why do we take them to church? Why? You get hear the most precious and unforgettable prayers at night. Over time you know you are somehow taming your wild animals and training them to be church-going, proper citizens. Not to mention you're going to have grand kids someday and so the circus goes on, only this time you simply smile because, hey, pay backs.

Anything's Possible

2009-02-26T15:41:00.003-07:00

What can you do on the way to church? I don't know how many of you scramble to do a few last minute things, but this is what I was able to accomplish on the way to church. Fix my baby's hair bow, put on lip liner and lip gloss and mascara, change a shirt (reeeally fast and discreetly, don't worry no one saw, I hope) put on nylon socks and shoes. Wheww!!!

My Man's on Youtube

2009-02-22T20:21:00.004-07:00

What can I say? This is pretty self-expanitory. My man knows how to survive, and took the time to document it so we can learn how to live under dire circumstances. Man vs. Wild eat your heart out. Although, this video brings up the question which one is wild, the man or the wild?

Everything you wanted to know about me, but were afraid to ask.

2009-02-10T13:57:00.010-07:00

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I feel this almost nagging feeling that I should write some random thoughts on my life and blessings. Oh say about 25 of them. I was tagged to do this a few times on facebook a while back, but didn't do it on there. Maybe I still will. But I really did do it, I just wrote them down in my journal, so here goes...

1. I truly believe I live in a fairytale, (I'd say musical, but I'm not that good of a singer) I know no one is perfect, but I wouldn't change my life if I could. I know a good solid foundation in the gospel of Jesus Christ is a BIG reason my life is so perfect (even if it wasn't perfect it would still be perfect, because it is perfected in our Saviour) Thanks to a mom and dad for raising me strong in the gospel.

2. I love all things hand crafted, knit, crochet, glass work, needle work, clay...love it. I want to know how to do it all.

3. I have 6 kids- 3 boys, and 3 girls- boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. 12, 7 1/2, 6, almost 4, 2 1/2, and 7 mos.

4. I love reading cook bk's, organizing bks, decorating bks, get rich quick bks...because I like to see things done and wish I could do it- it's a good way to dream.

5. I had my 1st and last leading lady role as Elmire in the play Tartuffe on the Dixie College stage my Freshman year.

6. I don't have any sisters so I tend to think all my friends should be my sister- we should act like sisters and share our clothes and ask advice and go to the park...etc.

7. I don't get offended. Well, not too easily. I get offended over foul language, and such.

8. I love decorating (at least in my mind) I have so many ideas going on in my mind that it takes a while before I actually settle on some thing.

9. So since I love decor, anytime I'm at someone's house I automatically (sometimes secretly, sometimes I ask) want to go through their home.

10. I am married to the first and last boy I kissed. I have never regretted it, ever.

11. I cut everybody in my family's hair and my mom's (when she had it) I don't cut my hair. (well, not anymore.) For some reason they think I can cut hair. It took a few oops before I got DH right. Now there is no way I would let another woman get that close to him, cutting hair is a very up close and personal thing.

12. I have never drank any type of alcoholic beverage- never had coffee or tea and never smoked ever.

13. If I haven't seen someone in years I am able to pick up right where we left off as if no time has ever passed. I take friendships very seriously. So let's have a chat.

14. I'd much rather do this than clean my house or do laundry.

15. I looove it when the sun comes up in the morning and shines into my kitchen. But I do welcome the night after a long day too.

16. I always wanna run on a nice sunny afternoon. I don't always do it but I think about it.

17. I floss everyday (and brush, of course) with my DH. He gets me my floss and brush every night.

18. I just about like everything I eat and will probably try anything once- I ate sushi for the 1st time last year- didn't like it. But I found out that I like Bleu Cheese dressing-yum!!

19. I want to go on an overnight backpacking trip w/ my DH. And maybe someday I'll get strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim.

20. I made bread for the first time ever last summer- which means grinding the wheat.... and it turned out perfectly, I don't know why I was so afraid to do it. Homemade wheat bread is my favorite kind, and maybe a slice of banana bread or two.

21. Most of the time when I see some decoration or craft or bracelet I think "I can make that when I get home." But do I ever do it? very rarely.

22. When I was 14 I told my mom that I was gonna marry Mr. handsome man LeBaron, and I did.

23. I have been pregnant or nursing for 8 going on 9 years. I haven't been myself for a while. Or is this the new me? We have 5 yrs between our 1st two kids so I am immensly grateful for all these little ones. Our prayers where answered one right after another.

24. I still have my Christmas lights up on my bed from 2 Christmas's ago, it's unanimous they're gonna stay.

25. I am so blessed with children who want to be righteous and a loving husband who has always provided so well for this family. He is such a caring husband and father and is still my Knight in Shining Armour. He is my solace, and my wise friend. He is my counselor and confidante. Not to mention a very handsome man. I am soo thankful to have such a wonderful and tender man who still loves me with all my faults. I have such a blessed life.

There, now I feel very naked, now that I've let it all hang out. I am feeling a bit uneasy. Maybe queasy. I want to know more about you, you do the same thing.

I've fought it long enough

2009-02-07T21:42:00.007-07:00

I have to finally admit it isn't ever going to go away so I might as well face the fact that I need to plan dinner. I have been inspired to start a menu for the week, heck for the next 2 weeks or even for the whole month. So I am going to commit myself to making menus and sticking with it.

My family's favorite meal is Hawaiian Haystacks, so we will have this probably every 2 weeks and some version of pizza everyweek, and try not to be too greasy unhealthy about it. I have found there are sooo many different ways you can do pizza, plus, the kids really like to help make it. Also, have a spaghetti night. We'll see how long this lasts. Also, depending on whether the kids like this idea, I will try having breakfast for dinner once or twice a month.

I am always curious as to how other moms handle the dinner scene, so if there is anyone out there that would share, pleeeease do, I wanna hear your comments. I dare you. Also, share some of your family favorites.

Which brings me to.... thanking Erin, (my new friend that I have never met, but who isn't afraid to post on my blog. Did that make any sense?). Thank you Erin for inspiring me to make weekly menus. Now that you know me a little too well, it's embarrassing, I'm ready for a change.

Second Chances

2009-02-05T13:32:00.003-07:00

I mentioned my second chance I had with my mother, but neglected to say anything about her 2nd chance. My mom has always talked about all her regrets (we all have them) since I've been married. You know, things she wishes she would've taught me before I left the nest. Well sewing was one of them, so this was such a dream come true. She was able to teach me a few techniques of sewing that she wasn't able to when I was still home. Well, she probably tried but I'm the one that wasn't ready to learn. So she gotta 2nd chance too. I hope we can have a lot more SECOND chances together.

It isn't about the dresses

2009-02-05T08:56:00.007-07:00

For a long time now I have had the desire to make dresses for my girls, and I knew I couldn't do it alone, (really I didn't have the energy or know-how.) So my mom has this great idea, "Hey, why don't we make Christmas dresses for the girls, I'll help." So weird, she and I were thinking the same thing.

So we got some great fabric, cheap too. My mom is a wonder woman and figured out a pattern from their existing dresses and we got to work. My mom came over to my house and spent hours making patterns and sewing (and unpicking, I messed up a lot). So in the end they turned out pretty good, they are a bit wainkey here and there, but good enough.

I soon figured out it was more than just making dresses, it was about making memories with my mom. You see this is my second chance with her, she battled breast cancer last year. I saw my healthy, robust, angel mother shrink, her clothes got looser, her energy was zapped, her hair came out by the fist full, and she never complained EVER.

I am soo grateful for the time we were able to spend together, and to see the joy, and excitement in my mother's eyes as we created these dresses. Thank you mom for your patience and sacrifice to make these memories possible, I look forward to doing it again, love you.

It was Tattered and Torn

2009-02-02T08:49:00.004-07:00

I got these little ladies from the DI and thought maybe they had some potential. They were dusty and falling apart, but put on a little paint and some new fabric, and voila' you got yourself a little shabby chic. Not too shabby.

Scared to Prepared

2009-01-29T08:37:00.007-07:00

First off, I am soooo grateful that I live in a mild climate, I can stand heat, it's the cold that well, just sends shivers up my spine. Cold seems to wreck more havoc. You've probably already heard about what's happening in Arkansas, and Kentucky, millions of people are suffering in the icy cold and will be without power until February. Pray for them.

I don't like bad news, (no one does except the media) and there is waay too much of it lately, but, let's put it into perspective...

A few questions arise about their situation...how were they prepared? Do they have enough water to sustain them if their pipes break? Aaaaa, what about doing laundry? Do they have a wood burning stove to keep them warm if the gas doesn't work, what about those whose heat is electric? Do they have enough wood to burn? Do they have batteries for their flashlights, or enough candles to see at night? Do they have enough food (or diapers) because they can't go anywhere to buy food? In nine months are their hospitals going to have enough capacity in the maternity ward for all those babies that will be born surprisingly at about the same time? Hey, hypothermia, can't be too bad, right? *wink*

So, I've been thinking about the 8 families that lived on their food and water storage and without power for 3 days, they documented it here. So thank you to http://www.allaboutpreparedness.com/3dayexperimentdocumentary.php for documenting it. But here is a little exerpt to tease you (I will eventually add more in later posts) I know it's long but well worth the read:

Three Days Without Running Water

In our three days without electricity or water we all learned to love being able to turn on the tap! What a blessing that clear, clean, fresh, and ready to use water is! It comes to us to use in hot warm or cold! These are a few things we learned:

Were the recommended 14 gallons for two weeks adequate?
This amount equals 1 gallon of water per person per day. I can’t even begin to tell you how much water that isn’t. Think about it like this:

· Personally I drink 12 cups a day. A gallon is 16 cups. That leaves me with 4 cups or one quart to brush my teeth with 3 different times, wash my face once in the morning and once at night. To cook whatever food I eat and not only that but wash dishes too. That doesn’t include washing any clothing or taking even a spit bath. One gallon isn’t hardly any water at all.

· We found that it takes about one gallon of water to do dishes for 6-10 people and about ½ gallon to rinse. This dish washing is vital to not get diarrhea. You could use paper plates. That would be about 1000 plates per person per year. Oh and cups too, along with the plastic wear.

· To brush teeth each person got a cup of water.

· We mopped the floor with the left over rinse water from the dishes. We flushed the toilet with leftover water from washing dishes and clothes. There was no water wasted!

· To wash clothes we only did a small load of socks and undies, a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans. We used 2 gallons of water and that was skimpy.

· To wash faces and bodies, we each used 2 cups of water warmed. (We were sure happy when we could all shower again.)

· We also used water in food preparations such as cooking rice, adding water to soup, washing potatoes, etc.

I think you can see from this minimum usage we were still went over our 1 gallon per day per person.

How did you heat the water?
This was difficult. As soon as the water was heated it was used up. We used fireplaces and cook stoves, galvanized buckets were invaluable for this. Also heavy pans are a must to withstand the high heat of open flame. We also felt we needed to find something to suspend a pot rather that having it right in the fire.

Was your stored water ok to drink?
It was, but we trade it out every 6 months. Some was a little flat, but we just shook it. She water storage article for more on this.

How did you wash clothes?
To do the smaller lighter fabric we used a toilet plunger like an agitator in a washing machine and it worked quite well. For jeans and heavy fabrics you would have to have a washboard. Laundry soap is really hard on hands. You need some kind of gloves or lots of lotion.

What are the things you need to purchase?
Galvanized buckets
Washboard
Toilet plunger for laundry
Post suspender
More hot pads.
Lotion
Rubber gloves
Big container to hold water if it had to be brought from long distance
Some type of wagon to put that barrel or container in to transport it.

One thing we learned is how valuable water is, literally not one drop was wasted.Independent of one another all evaluation forms said each family wanted to store much more than recommended.

Thank you to http://www.allaboutpreparedness.com/3dayexperimentdocumentary.php for their sacrifice to do this experiment and taking the time to document it for our benefit.

Running...a love/hate relationship

2009-01-20T09:34:00.004-07:00

My dear friend that I go running with at 5:45 AM is now going with her husband, (I think). And here I am sittin' like a frog on a lily pad doin' nuthin'. I am soo used to getting my exercise all over with by 6:20 that I don't even think about it during the day, (I am right now obviously) so it doesn't get done. Well, the other day I went by myself and here are a few things I learned:

Don't go right before dinner, you come home beat and you still hafta make it.

Don't spit against the wind, you can guess why. So turn your head and spit, and you'll see a nice end over ender goin' to the side of the road, and not in your face. (yup, girls spit, well this girl does anyways).

You don't hafta hold it in when you're by yourself, yup let-r-loose, no one can hear you. I might as well say it, I'm referring to, if you haven't already guessed it..farting (omh, did I just say the

f-word?)

It was during the day, so whenever someone passed me I tried to look like I was in shape.

You're running and you hope the running pants you chose camoflage your hinney, so it's not one jiggly mass catching up to you. You don't worry about that when it's still dark.

K, even the smallest of them need a sports bra to keep them in place, it's hard to run with your arms being clutched up to your chest, plus it's a bit embarrassing. And in my case it just may make my milk come in.

You're wondering why I run? I don't know..it might hafta do with that I can. I love that I can move. I am sooo grateful that I can move, when I'm pregnant I don't wanna move and I'm soo big all I wanna do is lay down and veg. I never wanna be heavy like when I'm pregnant, so I move.

Oh, that just reminded me, my dad has arthritis reeeally bad and he told me once that he used to dream that he was a little boy again and he would be running, soo sweet and sad. I can run, thank you to our Father in Heaven that I can run.

Ode to Baby Dolly

2009-01-14T17:00:00.009-07:00

Art's sister, Me, and my SIL, and in the front Baby Dolly, of course.

Dolly just got done doin' her favorite thing eating, and yup that's her daddy.

Dolly with big sister Lishy

Her second favorite thing to eat.

Here's a link to another reeeally precious pic of baby Dolly that Art's brother and SIL(the one pictured above) of Blubelle Photography took of her. http://blubellephoto.blogspot.com/

My sweet, sweet little baby Dolly is growing sooo fast, I am holding her right now as she sits on my leg, my left leg, grunting like a cow in heat, very loudly. I think she is trying to do something in her pants. K, I know she 's trying. She is 5 months old now...no wait...OMH...she's 6 months old and I can't believe it.

--->(on a side note my DH just fixed our plugged toilet down stairs and cleaned up the water mess, I am sooo thankful for a HaNDy MaN)

The things I don't want to ever forget: nursing, I love to nurse, it is sooo sweet, I love the sound of contentment as she drinks. It's a good chance for me to sit or lie down and relax while I snuggle my baby, a much needed break for me. Plus it's guilt free because, I'm still doing something even though I'm laying down.

These little Darlings definitely are another testament to me that there is a God. But beyond the miracle of making and birthing a baby, a woman has these built in milk making and dispensing machines, and babies have this God given ability to suck, astounding.

I love how she puts things in her mouth and is ravenous about it (I know I won't think it's so cute in another year, but soo adorable now) So I'm nursing her and she comes off and immediately she sticks in a finger or thumb or she fusses while I'm feeding her baby food because I just can't get it in her mouth fast enough.

Today, she was getting a bit cranky, probably hungry, and I started bouncing her on the bed and she was crying and laughing at the same time. So funny.

She is such a blessing and is soo sweet and patient with me and makes it tempting to want another, and if it is the Lord's will (I never thought I'd say that) I would do it again (heaven forbid j/k)

Her daddy calls her "Dolly", and I think it's very fitting. I have soo many blessings, I am soo grateful that I'm a mother. (ha ha I just did spell check and have waaay too many "sooo's". sorry) I have her in my left arm asleep, yeah and my arm is too, and I'm typing with one hand, what a sight.

Food Storage, Everyone's doing it.

2009-01-10T22:16:00.008-07:00

So, Harmon's is having a caselot sale and we just bought 10, 45 lb buckets of wheat for $20 each, a good deal. ( I'm pretty sure it is anyway) I have this driving desire to get it and more of it and want everyone to too. How many of you have a three months supply? I guess this would be for the long term storage, but I will keep replenishing this because I use my food storage.

Here is a great website to help you get started at safelygatherin.blogspot.com, a good resource. Also, as I was browsing trying to bulk up on info I came acrossed this great website where a lady and her family, plus 7 other families, put themselves in a situation where they didn't use electricity, or running water, so they lived off of their food and water storage for 3 days. They document about their experience here. Very interesting and eye opening. Now get prepared because, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." And knowledge is power. And E=mc2 Now go get-r-dun.

Keepers

2009-01-08T18:01:00.007-07:00

So, when you think of a "Keeper" you might think I am referring to some position in the Harry Potter Quidditch match, but nope, it is an alternative to a tampon or maxi pad, but it's not disposable. ummm, interesting. Another word for them is a "Diva Cup". I just read about it here and you can order one here and read even more about them. I just thought I'd share that little bit of info with ya'all. I'd never ever heard of them before, has anyone else?

I thought this too, but my SIL said it in her comments... good for your year's supply, I agree, thank you :)

Emily D. says "let's get quizzical"

2008-11-13T12:33:00.014-07:00

Miss Fabulous Emily D asks what is Vital Wheat Gluten and powdered honey (btw it's just what is sounds like, powdered honey or honey in a powdered form...) and what is Dough enhancer. I will tell you the text book answer and tell you what my MIL Queen of Yeast..err... no wait... the Queen Breadmaker (sounds better) says. First of all, what isn't Vital Wheat Gluten? It isn't an herb or a flower, I know it's not a nut or spice. I do know it isn't a whole lot of things it isn't an intrument of distruction or a musical one either. The possibilies are endless, I could keep going and going. But that would be just showing off and I'm the modest type. So, I guess it could be a type of tool, tools aide in making a project or process become easier, it provides a leverage. So onto the text book answer from our friends wikipedia says that vital wheat gluten is...

a food made from the gluten of wheat. It is made by washing wheat flour dough
with water until all the starch dissolves, leaving insoluble gluten as a gummy mass, which is subject to further processing. Wheat gluten is used by bakers to increase the chewyness of breads.

Dough enhancer. hmm let's see. Wikipedia says.... No page with that title exists.
Okay, so let's go to the next better reference....k that just sounds weird, how about an even better reference. (there we go) <3>

vital wheat gluten and dough enhancer help the bread stay together so it

doesn't crumble when you cut it or toast it. It also makes it so the toaster

doesn't start on fire from all the bread droppings. (sounds like she's had experience.)

As for the powdered honey, yup you sure can subsitute sugar or regular honey for it. I put powdered because it makes the mix so you can make it ahead of time and just add water. It's pretty handy that way.

Make your bread and eat it too.

2008-11-08T22:57:00.007-07:00

I was just on a blog http://www.safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/ a very good blog about preparedness. Preparedness is one of the things I have wanted to write about on here. I took a fabulous class about incorporating your food storage into your daily menu and it was sooo informative. It made bread making appear to be so simple that I actually dared attempt to make bread for the first time ever last summer. It turned out really good. I did find out that hard red wheat makes really heavy, dense bread that doesn't rise. I thought it was because I was a novice breadmaker and didn't have skills, but found out it was really the red wheat. I really like red wheat for pancakes though, good texture and nutty taste. So the hard white wheat is what you really want to make your bread with. There I just saved you some time and money, learn from my mistake.

On a side note I used to think the really good moms ground their own wheat and made wheat bread, what someone would prolly call a KooL-aiD MoM. Well I found out I was the one making it hard because really it's all about putting in the time and having the right ingredients, it's really not too bad.
This is a pic of some very yummy bread that I just made. I ran out of ground wheat so I subbed the rest with 1 cup of wht flour and the last of my flax seed and about 1/4 cup each of cooked millet and oatmeal. I liked crunching on the whole flax seed but I think it mostly passes through your body and ends up whole in the toilet bowl. So I think the MiLLeD flax is the way to go. Hey, I made a rhyme. It turned out very scrumptious. The millet and flax added a great crunchy texture. So for the recipe.
Just a note---> in the class I learned that you can substitute ground up white beans cup for cup in place of shortening, butter, or oil in a recipe. I do it all the time to make bread. It works perfectly. My teacher Tere Foster put this recipe together. She did everything powdered so all you had to do was add water. It's great.

10 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
1/2 c. ground white beans
3/4 c powdered honey
2 T salt
1 T dough enhancer
1 T vital wheat gluten
a pinch of ascorbic acid
2 T SAF instant yeast (she says no other will do!)

So add about 4 1/2 cups very hot water to the dry mix. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes on high. Turn out onto floured surface. Oil hands and shape into buns, loaves, subs, pizza dough, soft pretzels, or one large loaf, etc. Baked or unbaked, the dough freezes very well and can be thawed as needed.

With my bread I used about 7 cups freshly ground wheat flour, 1 cup wht. flour, 1/4 c each cooked millet and oatmeal and flax seeds, like I mentioned before. Sooo good.

An old dresser gets botox

2008-11-05T22:16:00.008-07:00

So, I haven't been on here for a while because my dear husband tore out the floor from underneath my computer, so I didn't have access to it for a while. Now my computer desk sits on a beautiful, prestine tile floor. Thank you Artie.

I started painting furniture because it was old and it needed a face lift. Plus everything was a hand-me-down and I needed to make it do. Now I like the old looks new thing. I'm okay that everything isn't new all the time as long as it has a good structure and is sturdy. I really liked the lines on this dresser. It was originally white with a lot of crusty old paint on it so it needed some help. I saw a dresser in Kid's Rooms magazine and copied it. I like things a little quirky and I looooove this dresser. It took me a while to finish it but I think it turned out fabulous and I'm proud of myself.

A lot of times I do things that quickly gets undone, like the laundry, the floors, the bathrooms, the kitchen. I know you all know what I'm talking about, so painting is one thing that has a more permanent effect on things. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I run outta things to paint. Maybe come over to one of your homes. {Oh my goodness I'm listening to Walking in a Winter Wonderland. Yay, Christmas is coming.} *BTW, there's a ladybug walking on my desk, weird*

LeBaron Boy #8 Mission Bound

2008-10-15T08:41:00.007-06:00

Art's brother Christopher got his call to the Seoul Korea West Mission, and will leave Dec.3. He is the 8th son to go. Art's parents always go get them from their missions too. They have been to London, Connecticut, Australia, California, Alaska, Africa, Montreal in Canada, and now Korea. Wow!!! Kudos to Bonnie and Larry!

Blog tag, I'm it again

2008-10-14T10:18:00.008-06:00

A) The rules are posted at the beginning.
B) Each person answers questions about their sweethearts.
C) At the end of the post, the person then tags people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.

What is your husbands name? Art LeBaron
How long have you guys been married? 14 years tomorrow, woo woo
How long did you date? Since I was 16, then he left to serve a mish when I was 16 1/2, then he came home after 2 yrs, then a month past and we got engaged, then got married 5 mos later. So in all about 12 mos. Wow that's not very long, but I did write to him his whole mish and felt like it was a very wise decision, and still do. If fact everyday I am always so grateful that I met such a wonderful man.
How old is he? 35 1/2 (that was easy)
Who is taller? Art
Who can sing best? Art
Who is smarter? Me, ha ha, just ask anyone.
Who does laundry? Me, although he surprises me occasionally.
Who pays the bills? It used to be me and automatic computer payments, but now Art pays them, maybe by this time next year I'll be paying again.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me, always have always will.
Who mows the lawn? Mostly my 12 year old, and Art does the trimming.
Who cooks dinner? Me, but Art does some great dutch oven.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? That's a toss up, we're pretty good at that.
Who kissed who first? I don't know it was pretty mutual, our eyes connected and the mood was right, you get the pic.
Who wears the pants? Pretty much Art, I let him, and want him to. Don't get me wrong I am fiesty when I need to be, and we have excellent communication skills. Also, what Cindy said: he honors his Priesthood and wears righteous pants.

Time to tag some more peeps, so I tag: Marianne, Tiffany, Emily, Saskia, Rennie, Becky, and Rustie.

*I'm gonna take a break from playing tag for a bit and get back to my regularly scheduled blogging.

I'm too quirky for my blog, Emily D. tagged me

2008-10-07T22:23:00.006-06:00

Wow, this is my first tag, I'm tagged to write down my quirks, 6 of them to be exact. I found out number 1 quirk when I was responding to Miss Emily.

So here goes:

1. I have a hard time trying to explain myself whether I'm typing or praying or just everyday conversation, and what takes a normal person 3 words to express I take 3 sentences, and I am always finding myself doing run on sentences when I'm typing, so that is quirk #2.

2. Most of the time I go back and proof read everything I write and break-up my sentences, but I will leave this untouched so you will see the real me, writing or typing run-on sentences, there that was a mouthful. Alright, maybe I am exaggerating the run-on a little bit.

3. I like the fact that my clothes are washed and not dirty anymore although they get wrinkled while they sit gleaming there waiting for me to fold them, ugh. Yet another run-on.

4. Sometimes I don't do my hair for the day because I'm not going anywhere, which is stupid because I am so glad when I'm all put together because then I'm all ready to go places if I need to last minute. That quirk really bothers me and I want to change that, only I have the power.

5. I make cornbread for breakfast, and love that it is already made or ready to mix up for morning, I like my cornbread with syrup and milk.

6. I can't stand my fingernails painted but always have my toenails painted, and I always floss my teeth at night, yes it has reduced my cavities, I can't stand not flossing. (I know that makes 7 but I thought it would be good to show you I do something quirky that's good. No wait that's more like a habit, hmm what's the difference?)

So I am supposed to tag 5 more people. So I tag: Lisa, Cindy, Sam, Brooke, Stephanie, and Natalie. (sorry that's 6)

"Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity"

2008-10-01T21:57:00.009-06:00

My friend Becky e-mailed this to me (btw thx Becky) and
it really makes you grateful for
our right to vote. It's worth the long read.

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers;

they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920

THIS IS MOVING. HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF WE EVER KNEW......

that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

(Lucy Burns)And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

(Dora Lewis)They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,

when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.
For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was iNFeSteD WiTH WoRMS.

(Alice Paul) When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I thinka little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men:

'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made.

G.O.L.F. Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden

2008-09-29T11:00:00.018-06:00

K, so this is an embarrassing pic that Art took, but this is how I felt: so aWKWaRD & unnatural, trying to hit that tiny ball. And to think this is what I wanted to do on my birthday go around with my toosh out trying to hit a teeny ball. Boy do I have a lot more respect for TiGeR WooDS.

Here's my man lookin' HOT ;D He just looks like he owns it, like he was made to do the Wimbledon, no wait that's PiNG PoNG. tee hee.

Although, I felt ridiculous it was a fun time to spend with my hubby. And no it wasn't even his idea. I got to where I was at least hitting the ball and even whacked it pretty good a few times. In fact, I got soooo good that I hit the 100 Yard sign, I RoCK... watch out Tiger here I come.

33 CaNDLeS

2008-09-25T08:08:00.015-06:00

Here I am nursing again, it's pretty slow typing with one hand. Okay, so I'm slow anyway. So my mother-in-law and sisters-in-laws and their families came over and brought me dinner on Friday night to surprise me for my birthday, it was way fun. After dinner the girls decide, no wait, the ladies decide (that's how you can tell you're getting older when you can't tell the difference anymore) to go out to get drinks. In LDS terms that means a non-alcoholic, piña colada , or daiquiri, or a virgin *blush & giggle* one. So we go to Ted and Allen's restaurant and say "We just came for drinks" they sit us down. Here we are four girls, errr uhh ladies and a baby traipsing to the back of the restaurant excusing ourselves as we bump our way through everyone to get our buzz for the night. Although, it looked like we were already buzzing because of all the giggles. We sit and look at their drink menu 100% alcoholic beverages. So, a little chagrined, we get up and leave and go to the next place hoping they have what we want.

We get to Buffaloes restaurant, and ask first if they serve the very, virgin drinks, and they did. We sit down and order, and mmmm yum! Good times. We had sooo much fun we're gonna have Girl's Night Out every month. Thank You Bonnie and girls for the fun time.

Powdered Toast?

2008-09-15T13:49:00.007-06:00

I heard someone say that is just wasn't right to have food in cans, like powdered honey, powdered eggs, powdered butter, powdered milk etc. I am one of those people that uses canned products on an average 3-4 times a week. Depending on whether the cow is producing well I don't use as much powdered milk. Sometimes there is a lot and it needs to be used or I need to use up the buttermilk left over from making homemade butter (yum! Is this butter hand shook? "What About Bob?"). Oh and the eggs, yes powdered...they work just as well. Although you can scramble them I don't recommend it. It is very uncanny how their consistency is a lot like real eggs, only different. Plus with the price of eggs nowadays you know powdered really works. Hmmm, I wonder if they have powdered gasoline? That's pushing it. Who remembers the Ren and Stimpy cartoon and powdered toast man? Fortunately, that's the only place powdered toast resides is in cartoon land. What about the powdered honey? Better save that for another day. Blonde question: Is there such thing as powdered water for my food storage, you know where you can just add water? Ha, ha I made that up myself.

Heretofore quoth I

2008-09-04T17:07:00.011-06:00

I read this somewhere and thought it was worth sharing. Sorry it's sooo long but it's definitely worth reading. It's a little overwhelming but read one a day and focus on it.

An Angel says, 'Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.' Here are a list of things to help prevent that worry:
1. Pray 2. Go to bed on time. 3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed. 4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health. 5. Delegate tasks to capable others. 6. Simplify and unclutter your life. 7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.) 8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. 9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects overtime; don't lump the hard things all together. 10. Take one day at a time. 11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern,find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it. 12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases. 13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra housekey buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc. 14. K.M.S. (KEEP MOUTH SHUT). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble. 15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday. 16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line. 17. Get enough rest. 18. Eat right. 19. Get organized so everything has its place. 20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life. 21. Write down thoughts and inspirations. 22. Every day, find time to be alone. 23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray. 24. Make friends with Godly people. 25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand. 26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope isoften a good 'Thank you Jesus .' 27. Laugh. 28. Laugh some more! 29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all. 30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can). 31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most). 32. Sit on your ego. 33. Talk less; listen more. 34. Slow down. 35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe. 36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

Stick 'em up this is a photo shoot

2008-08-19T14:18:00.018-06:00

my three sons- ages 11, 5, & 2

my beautiful girls- ages 7, 3, & 5wks

the peek-a-boo and tongue pic
woo woo;)

Ronnie and Sam were soooo gracious to take our pics. They turned out pretty darn good. Thank you Ron & Sammie:) We love, love, luuuuv them.

You can see more of their photography skills at their new photoblog: http://blubellephoto.blogspot.com/

Collecting Sand @ Sheep Bridge

2008-08-07T16:26:00.010-06:00

<---so big in her first suit.

building a sand castle.

The tub said it all when we got home. We accrued some great specimens:} Got Dirt?

So we went with the in-laws and Uncle Don and his new wife and their friends. Anyways, we had fu-u-un as you can see.

Oh and look closely and you may be able to see a bare bum- or should I say a "le-bare-bum"? Ha Ha. (That was so funny I forgot to laugh.) We had a blast.

Hangin' in Hatch on the 24th

2008-08-01T13:10:00.010-06:00

Our first trip as a completed family. As you can see we had a blast in Hatch. We had waaaay too much fun!!! Oh and the weather was so so nice.

Hangin' at the park, jammin' with grandma & pa and uncles, and cousins, ridin' & fishin' and just havin' a good ol' carefree time.

One of my most precious memories is the pic of Levi holding Julia. Right before he fell asleep he said, "I just never get tired of holding Julia". So sweet, why do they hafta grow up?

The Belly Bump's Last Stand

2008-07-17T17:11:00.012-06:00

Captain's Log (err.. I mean Pregnant Lady's Log) : Tuesday, July 15, 2008 02:11 AM

I can't sleep, because I keep having contractions... & I can't stop thinking that I didn't finish folding the laundry & some still needs to be put away, the kitchen needs a controlled burn to properly clean & sanitize it, my hair is a mess & I have nothing to wear, & I still need to pack for the hospital & I don't even have a car seat yet & what if Julia is really a Seth?

BY THE WAY....
*This song "Daughters" by John Mayer was playing on the radio on our way to the Hospital!!!

Captain's Log: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:12 AM

It's almost been 12 1/2 hrs since Miss Julia arrived... let me back up a bit. So my labor stopped about 8 AM and didn't start up again until 4 pm, so I took advantage of the time and slept, since I didn't get any the night before. But my labor only lasted 1 hr. what in the world? My mother-in-law suggested I get checked at my Dr's, so I did and I was progressing. He suggested I go on a walk. So I did and boy did that do the trick. We headed to the hopital and found out I was at 7 cm when I arrived at 7:30 PM, so they got me right into a room, gave me my IV and called for my Soma the Epidural. Hurray!! Art delivered Julia at about 9:31 PM after pushing through 2 contractions. The dream ending to a dream delivery and she really was a girl. WOW!!

Let the piercing begin

2008-07-01T07:12:00.005-06:00

I knew my Mother-in-law was sweet but she definitely went up a few levels. Her oldest son wanted to give her a nice gift for Mother's Day and chose some beautiful pierced earrings. A great gesture except for the fact that she doesn't have pierced ears. So she and her daughter decided to git 'r done. I'm impressed:)

The Mad Hatter

2008-06-17T08:09:00.008-06:00

My mother is everything to me, she is a very loving and compassionate lady, grandmother and friend, and she is a fighter. She found a lump in her breast in April and soon after had a lumpectomy, and just started chemo yesterday. I just can't stand the thought of that going through her body, but my DH reminds me that it is going to save her life. She is remaining positive and says she has grandkids to live for. She is just precious. I hope that I can be as strong as her during my hard times, ie: 7 1/2 months pregnant.

So, I wanted to do something for her to make her feel special---I threw her a Hat Party/ Birthday Party!

What we did: talked a little about breast cancer, because my mom wanted the ladies to be educated, my nurse friendgave me a great idea, you can represent breast lumps with candy, for example: nerds = small undetectable lumps, jaw breakers or dum dums = med. size, large enough to detect if your familiar with your breasts, ( I don't know if it applies to men) and peppermint patties = big, (of course) likely dangerous lumps.

Then the fun part of opening all kinds of hats. We had a good time, oh and I read a tribute I wrote about my mom from my journal. All in all it ended up being a fabulous day for my courageous mother. Plus, it helped me because I felt like I was finally doing something for my sweet mother. But, I am grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with her and serve her more. Let's look at the bright side, right?

Holy Calf/ Birth Control is Overratted

2008-06-11T08:43:00.005-06:00

You don't see many people with cows anymore, but my husband's family has one. Father LeBaron insisted on having one for all his 8 boys to milk while they were growing up. (that sounds like they had 8 cows, no just one at a time.) They said they weren't raising cows they were raising boys. (dang, I need to get some skills, some typing skills.)

So My husband's family is outta town for the week and this cow is gonna pop, and last night it did. It had a calf, it was really special to see a new creature come to this earth. Our 11, 6 and 5 year olds were there to see it too. Pretty fascinating, not too gross.

The really cool thing is the calf started trying to stand up about 15 minutes after it was born. The cow kept licking it preventing it from doing so though. It finally stood up on it's skinny legs and was walking around trying to find a teet but the mother cow wouldn't let it. Anyway pretty interesting. Now my 11 year wants to see our baby born. His dad says wait until you have your own.

Now for the second part of the title! My husband and I have been married for 13 1/2 years! :) I can't believe it. We really struggled to have our second child, but with the help of a doc we found out I had low progesterone. So never really figuring out the birth control thing we are now pregnant with number six. Unbelieveable (does this have spell check?) so now we really need to come up with some solution as we are ready to have this one complete our family. BTW we have a boy, a girl, boy, girl, boy and now we're having a girl. Why mess with perfection? oh and did I mention I don't know that I can manage anymore. I love them to pieces though.

Why the LeBaron Bunch?

2008-06-09T13:08:00.001-06:00

Most LeBaron's I know come in bunches so I don't know why the name wasn't selected, (now I hafta think about grammer, which I'm not good at). So we're pretty lucky I guess to have gotten "The LeBaron Bunch" name. I chose it because of the Brady Bunch the 3 girls and 3 boys, which we are supposed to have by early August.

Thanks to Sam for getting me excited about doing this. Well, I'm not supposed to waste all my time on this so I'll write more later.