Lasst night Clint and I stayed up really late!! It was actually quite tiring what we were up so late doing. We gave Inky a hair cut.!! She looks so much better!! She was really overgorwn. I know that it isn't the best picture, but that is the only pose I could get that wasn't a blured mess since she wouldn't quit moving around. But now she actually has a tail, ears, and a face taht resembles a dog instead of a mop!! She is loving it!!

Isn't she pretty?? This was earlier this evening way later after church. She is wearing her new church dress. She is such a sweetie. I cannot even believe how fast she has grown up!! Clint and I figured that she is going to be baptised when she doubles the age that she is now! That just seems like a whole bunch of crazy talk to me!! She is doing so awesome in Primary. She gave the closing prayer today in her class, with help from her teacher. I am so proud of her!!

After church today I went to get Cadence out of her class and Clint went to get Chazlyn in nursery with the agreement that we would meet back up in the cultural hall. When Cadence and I returned, Clint and Chazlyn were no where to be found. We walked almost all the way out to the car and when still not finding them I took out my cell phone and had Cadence call Clint. We found out that he was over by the Bishops office. Upoin arriving, the Bishop brought us all into his office. We set a date to get Chazlyn blessed!! I am so excited!! She is going to be blessed this Sunday on the 6th of February!! I am so glad that we are getting into the church as much as we have been striving to.

Also, while we were at church today we signed up to feed the Missionaries!! I am so excited to do it and am happy that I get to help the Elders by supplying them a good dinner. I am really thinking about what to make for them. I know that I am going to make a salad, a dessert, a vegetable and then something to go as a main course. I really want them to be able to enjoy a good meal. The best part is since I got my Relief Society cook book, I have been making A TON of things out of it and only a few things that I have made have been eh! A lot of things that I have made out of it have been DELISH!! So I plan on making something out of that to feed them!:) Or if you have any good recipes that cover one or all of the categories, please comment and leave me your recipes!!

I love how Clint and I are working together more as a team here lately. Since going to that Relief Society Meeting that I went to and after discussing what the meeting was about with Clint, we have started planning Family Home Evenings together on Sunday nights. It is sometimes quite overwhelming for me to squeeze that in all by myslef on a Monday and then follow through with everything else that I have planned. It was a lot easier tonight planning it out than me doing everything all by myself!:) So anyway, our lesson is going to be on reverence and then I am making a cheesecake for dessert.

Today has been a really good day here at the Redding household. We made something new called Green Chili Chicken Tacos. That was for lunch and it was SO GOOD!!! Keep an eye out for that on my Granny blog, it's a definate keeper!;)

Also, after lunch Clint and I walked into our bedroom since the girls were both in there and to our surprise Chazlyn had used the big potty!! I will be so glad the day that we are done with diapers, but at the same time, my baby isn't even 2 yet!! So that definately makes me sad!! But yay for finally getting to the point of not having to buy those anymore. I am thinking we will be done with diapers by the time that Chazlyn is 2&1/2 at the latest!:)

Last nights date night was great!! We went to eat at Tia Rosa's. SO YUMMY!! Then we went to the Temple and walked around the inside of the Visitors Center, and then the outside for a little bit till we realized that other one of us was FREEZING!! After that we went to the DQ! Eh! Not one of my favorites, but after that we went shopping!! I got the girls each a new dress for church, 2 new ones for me and Clint also picked up a new shirt for church for himself aswell as a tie. I love shopping for church clothes now that we are actively going to church now! After all of that we went and picked up our kids and headed for home.

Today was a day that I never thought would come. We gave the girls a bath and grabbed one of Grannys towels to use on one of the kids. Oh my gosh!! I will never do that again!! The smell of the towel brought me right back to the smell of Granny's house!! It made me want to cry!! I miss her so much and a lot of the time!! Its been almost a year now, well a little less thatn 2 months shy of it, and I still have a hard time dealing with the fact that I can't just pick up the phone and call her!! SO SAD!! I lost one of my most best friends!! I always told her that she was one of my best friends, but she always thought that my mom should have been my best friend. and although I do consider my mom to be one of my best friends, Granny is just one that was at the very top of my friends list, and it makes me so sad that I can't talk to her anymore!!:(

So, I love the days when Cadence lets me do her hair, even though most days we don't leave the house. This is one of my favorite ways to do her hair, and all I need is 4 bobby pins and a little hairspray! I hate it when she has so much hair in her face. i love pulling it back with the twisty things! Oh! And don't mind that huge comforter in the background on the couch... That's just Cadence's infamous "pink blanket"!

Last night went pretty alright for me. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, and I planned beyond what was expected. Not only did I have my lines memorized, word for word, when it came time for me to recite my lines, I drew a blank! Luckily, I pulled it off by having it written down in my pocket, but even still, didn't go the way that I saw it going. The best part of it was that I did meet someone new! I told Lorianne when i got there that I didn't really know anyone in the Relief Society. She told me that I would know just about everyone by the time that the night was over! Yeah, not only did that not happen, but I didn't really stay much later after it was over. Clint was in the room where all the kids were, since only one other dad showed up as a volunteer, so Clint stayed in there with the girls. In the end Lorianne complimented me and told me that I did awesome, which I probably did, but I am my worst critic!

So tonight is "FINALLY" date night! I am not 100% sure what Clint has planned this weekend, but I do know one thing for sure, we are going to go to the Mesa Temple and walk around with no kids since the last time we did that the kids were both cranky and the experience just wasn't what it should have been. We might also venture down to the LDS Bookstore. I have been wanting to get an updated picture of Christ for quite sometime now, but only time will tell.

Clint had to work today. I hate it when he works Fridays, but am always glad when the pay check comes. We have seriously been doing date nights 2-3 times a month. That may seem like a lot, but it has really been nice to reconnect with Clint on almost a weekly basis, with no kids around, and just one on one time to talk or laugh or whatever!

As sad as I am to see it, I am so glad to see Cadence grow out of a lot of the things that she has been doing here lately. like throwing a fit when we leave certain places, or when certain people leave our house after visiting. I actually don't know if that is something that kids necessarily outgrow, but I am glad to see that phase end! She has really surprised me by some of the things that she has changed. I don't know if it was something that I did to cause the change, or if it was solely on her part.

I am really hoping that the kids don't give me to much trouble today. Wednesday had to be the most challenging day that i have had with the kids this week. Once Cadence gets to the point that she can't get me to cave into her behavior, she gets mad at me whines about wanting her daddy!!. Then there's Chazlyn, who does whatever Cadence does. So not only do I have Cadence sitting on the couch, crying for her daddy, but here comes Chazlyn doing the same thing in the same tone of voice!! Luckily, Clint's lunch time was about 30 minutes away from this whine fest so I got him on the phone as soon as i could to put an end to the madness!!

Things are finally starting to get better with our new puppy, Max. Potty training is even getting easier. He went from having 7 accidents the first night, to only having 2 the next night, and 1 each following night. It has really brought out a new dog in Inky as well. She is so much more active. By the end of the day both dogs are just waiting for bedtime, since they will ay down and go to sleep the same time that I do. I am just glad that I have the 2 dogs that I do have. They are both good with our kids and the kids love them, almost to much sometimes! This weekend, Clint and I are going to try to give Inky a hair cut. She is looking so bad right now, that you'd think with all that extra hair, it would slow her down! LOL!

So, this morning has felt a little sad, but at the same time, kind of happy. Today is the day before Granny's moms birthday. Although I never knew Grandma Adair, I will never forget Granny always reminding me that today was her mothers birthday. I often wonder if the work that our past relatives are doing stops to celebrate what was their birth days, or if they treat it the way we do the death day, or if it's a day that isn't acknowledged at all?? Not that it really matters, but it's just one of those things that we more than likely won''t know how it is until we get there! All I know is that I miss that lady like crazy!! I can remember being a kid and being embarrassed my by middle name. But growing up and realizing that I was named after this amazing woman, I feel fortunate and like the luckiest girl in the world having been named after Granny! I have also been blessed to be able to name my first born after Granny. I didn't name Cadence Eleanor after myself, but after Granny! That's why i so badly wanted Granny to be there for my ultrasound when we found out what we were having, because if we were having a girl, I wanted Granny to know that we were going to name her Cadence Eleanor, after her! I am just glad that I have 2 little girls, although we felt that we missed out on having a boy, Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when He sent us what He sent us. I always try to remember that we are given only what we can handle. And when we think that we can't handle it another second, we all somehow muster up the will to handle whatever it is that we get.

This past weekend, on Saturday we got another puppy!! I had been looking on craigslist for a few days, and just wasn't finding anything that I really was liking. Finally we found a dog that was for free and the owners were in Casa Grande. We texted them quite a bit Friday night and had agreed to meet at the Walmart in Coolidge. He is actually quite calm for being only 4 months old. Inky is finally doing more than sleeping all day. She is such an active little dog now. The only thing that doesn't really play in our favor with this dog, is that we really don't know his breed at all. But he has yet to disappoint! I am just glad that I finally got a lap dog! And we decided to name him Max! One of my nieces thought up the name first, so credit goes to her!!

Okay, so I have been sick now for quite sometime. Nothing contagious, just no energy, my throat hurts, my ears hurt, and my chest hurts, especially when I get a coughing spell. I was actually starting to feel better, when i thought that it was a good idea to go to the store last night just to wake up feeling worse than I had all week. Honestly though, I had been fortunate. My sister in law came out here Monday morning and has been with me to help me, but is sadly leaving me later today!:( I am just lad that someone was willing to help me so that I could get some much needed rest!

Although I haven't been feeling 100% here lately, I have still managed to make quite a bit of meals. My favorite by far has got to be the Lemon Chicken! That has been my favorite cookbook! I have made so many things out of it and 9 times out of 10, it has been DELISH!! Tonight I am thinking about making the Candied yams again!! Those were so GOOD!! For those of you that follow my Granny Blog, and are trying things off of it, this one is a must!! So if you haven't seen it go now!!

www.inthekitchenwithgranny.blogspot.com

You will not be disappointed!!

Tomorrow night is making me quite nervous!! I am going to a Relief Society Meeting, and they are doing a little skit of the 10 Virgins, and I was asked to be one!! Really??!?!? I have to get up in front of I don't know how many women, that I don't even know and do this!! The only reason that I had said yes to doing this was because, i really don't know anyone in my ward, yet alone Relief Society, so I thought what better way to get my name out there than to do something like this. I already was going and had even signed up to bring some fruit and veggies that they needed, so why not?? This is what I am having a hard time memorizing...

I did not know what day Christ would come. I learned early in life to read and study the scriptures so I knew you would come one day. Now I stand at your door and m heart is rejoicing. My lamp is full! I do not know why. Perhaps it is because I accepted the spiritual experiences that began in my teen years. Or because I accepted the challenge to "Come Unto Christ", and have claimed the motto throughout life. What a blessing that has been.

I know, it doesn't seem like much, right?? The one thing that I am struggling the most with these lines is the way it is worded. I am just hoping and praying that this is a good move on my part and that everything foes well and that I don't regret going, as I have done with church since going, since I am just not fitting in as well as I would like to! With any luck, this is a good thing....

I picture I couldn't resist posting.... She is sleeping with her ELMO!! Cadence had a really rough night last night! After we got home from Target and got the kids settled, Cadence was in her room going to bed. All of a sudden Clint and I hear her screaming and crying in her room! To bad for me, i had taken 2 Nyquil tablets and was quite groggy, but somehow managed to get myself to her bedroom! She had rolled off of her bed!! Luckily the only thing that she hurt was the space between her upper lip and her nose. Needless to say, she no longer wanted to sleep in her bedroom, so I was nice enough to make her a pallet at the foot of our bed. When I saw her this morning I couldn't resist taking a picture, and then thought that this was just to cute to not post! The picture is a little on the dark side because it is still dark outside at 6:50am!!!

By the time that Clint had gotten home from work yesterday, the girls and I were already to go. We went to Target last night. Since we hadn't had any dinner, we ate at the little food place that they had there. Here are a picture of each kid last night...

Yes, Chazlyn is wearing a Polar Express shirt from Christmas time. The kid is growing so fast, that I let both of my kids wear shirts and clothes that were for a past holiday after it's already over!

Since I was still recovering somewhat from being sick yesterday, i didn't really get to much cleaning done, so my goal for today is to do more than I did yesterday! Clint always gets me a head start the night before when he knows that I will be cleaning the next day. I love that he is ALWAYS so helpful to me after having worked all day. He is the best thing that has happened to me. He is always doing what he can to help me out whether or not I am sick, or healthy. He never fails in being there for me!:) I just <3>

This week has gone by pretty fast! I can't believe that tomorrow is already Thursday!! I love that my hubby only works 4 days out of the week! Even if he has to work on a Friday, it's only until noon! It makes me really thankful for my parents. I was pregnant with Cadence and we were moving in with my parents. If it weren't for my dad working where he works, and has worked for I think almost 35 years, Clint never would have gotten a job there. The hours aren't to bad and it pays the bills!:)

Today I made an alfredo sauce from scratch. It was delish!! check out my Granny blog as that is where i posted a pic and the recipe! The recipe I used calls to serve it over noodles, which is fine, but I just served mine with bread sticks and I am not even kidding... SO GOOD!! It is a little on the heavy side, so a little goes a long way. The girls ate it up, they LOVED IT!!

Things are starting to look on the upside of things. I was really sick over the weekend, yesterday actually being the worst!! Clint stayed home with me, and I only got out of bed a few handful of times. I normally would have told Clint just to go onto work, but I was feeling awful! I was up at 2-6am. My throat was hurting, my neck was stiff and was painful even to touch, my ears hurt, my body ached, I had a horrible headache!! Clint was trying to find a doctor to bring me to, but after a while I told him that we should just get some Dayquil and Nyquil and that I should just go that route just to see if I could fight whatever it was that I battling to get rid of. We ran up to Walmart sometime yesterday, came home, I took 2 Nyquil tablets and zzzzed off to sleep. I got the best sleep last night! I woke up feeling a little on the sluggish side, took a Dayquil and i was good to go!

On the upside of this past weekend is that WE FINALLY GOT A NEW BED!!! And this is no bed, this is a "KING SIZE" BED! To most people this may not seem like that big of a deal, but to us, never having one and getting one is awesome!! I would post a pic of it right now, but until we get the bedding that was sent with it, I am not posting any pictures of it!! I have an awesome aunt and uncle that so thoughtfully gave it to us. I have a thank you card sitting here waiting to get mailed out tomorrow!:)

I thought that I was doing a good thing earlier today when I decided to map out as many dinners and I could with what we have here at home. After doing that and thinking about making what I had picked out for dinner, I realized that I couldn't make half of what i thought I could without butter!! And the one thing that I could make without butter took 4 hours to make and we would have had a really late dinner, which i am not for!! So now I have to wait for Clint to get home so that we can run back to the store today just to get some butter! Ugh!

Today is going to be a big day, just like yesterday...

Yesterday, Clint worked for 6 hours of overtime. He got home and we all got ready since we had an appointment in Chandler that we were late for. And since we were late, we had to wait awhile. Blah! And all we waited for was a 3 second meeting. Pretty lame I think. After that we went over to Clint's families house. We were in need of a date night, so we left the kids and away we went to the Olive Garden. We had a very nice dinner together. After that we went to Walmart, since we are getting a King size bed, and had no bedding that big, we bought some there and then went back to get our kids. I don't think that we got home till 10:30pm last night. I hate being out late especially when I am tired!!

Today we are cleaning. Then sometime later after I have gotten in touch with my parents we are going to get our bed, and get that set up. Later this evening I have Bunco. And then after that i get to come home! Although that doesn't sound like a lot, with 2 rowdy kids, it most definately can be!

On top of everything, Clint's alarm, that is only supposed to wake him up 4 days out of the week for work, woke me up this morning. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep and slept for a couple hours longer. Cadence was up in the night after having a nightmare, so she was in our bed too, which is never comfy, since she kicks and hits in her sleep! I can only take so much of that before I surrender and just get up!!

Also, today is the day that the Steelers play the Ravens. It is going to be an intense game since we are rooting for the Steelers to go to the Superbowl!! I will never forget when they went the last time and played the Cardinal's. That right there was an intense game!! I went to my parents for a Superbowl party, where all the Cardnal fans were. I was so glad with only seconds to spare, and the Cardinal's leading, the Steelers came in and won the game!! I have never really been into football or sports for that matter, being with someone that is a die hard fan of the Steelers, has kind of rubbed off on me! It's kind of exciting too! I love how both of our girls get so excited and so into the game every time there's one on that dad is watching.

Here in a little bit I am going to have to go figure out what dessert I am going to make to bring to bunco tonight. I don't know whether I should make cookies, lemon squares, or if I should make mini cheesecakes. All I know is that I am bringing a dessert! I know that we have to go to the grocery store sometime today anyway, so I can always pick some stuff up to make something different.

Cadence and her drawing

Here is some of... Cadence's art work that I...

Have been enjoying...

These past few days...

I have noticed that she has gone through a drawing stage. Not to sure how good it is for being 4, but at least you can tell what it is, so that does say something for her. I love that she is getting creative and wanting to learn and do so many things that I truly wish that our budget would allow. Trying to make up for those things that she wants so bad is really pulling at the heart strings. I have always wanted to be able to allow my kids to be able to take the classes and buy the equipment that is needed for them to further their learning, but yet at times I feel that I have failed them this opportunity. Although Cadence has a laundry list full of things that she wants to learn, I feel that some of those are important, like learning how to read and to know what sound each letter makes. I am going to take what money Clint gives me from our income tax and go out and buy her these things that would be most helpful to her learning. I got an idea in writing a little story book, putting them in a little photo album with really easy words for her to learn and having her learn that way until I can get her the things that will really help her to learn to read. I will post pictures of that on a different day!

What I have noticed here this past week about my kids is it seems that they have traded places in the whole bedtime routine. Cadence, who has been the biggest night owl for most of her life, is now going to sleep each night at a pretty reasonable time. As with Chazlyn, she is the one that would always go down for the night fairly early, is now staying up way later than usual. It is driving me nuts!! I am beginning to wonder, is this normal? What has brought on this change? Is it something that I did as the parent that has caused them to switch? It is really nice to see Cadence getting the sleep that she needs now. Before, she would be asleep after me, and be awake in the morning shortly after I was up, which is to early for her to be waking up. But now... she is going to be by no later than 10pm and sleeping until almost 9am each morning. I have been able to tell what a happier kid she has become since her sleeping habits have changed. I knew that there was no way possible for her to be getting enough sleep for her age, but then there really wasn't a lot I could do. And the night terrors were the worst with her, since she wasn't getting an adequate amount of sleep. Now if I could just get Chazlyn to do the same thing...

Change Course...

Oh my goodness!! Yesterday was HORRIBLE!! It seriously felt like a Monday! I have really been wanting to incorporate the rocking chair that was Granny's that is making great decoration in Chazlyn's room, out in our living room. I moved every piece of furniture out there except for the TV, over and over again. Clint got home and did the same exact thing, just to put it back the way that I had it in the first place It just doesn't have a good feel to it. I liked the way that he had done it last night, but he didn't the longer that he looked at it, but likes it alright with the way the it is now, but it is driving me crazy!! I kept telling him that I would just put the chair back in Chazlyn's room since we were having a hard time fitting it in, but he insisted that I leave it!

Although I had a lesson planned, Monday somehow got away from us, as did Family Home Evening. Tuesday came, and with our furniture situation the way that it was, it never happened then either. Here we are at Wednesday, half way through the week, and I am sitting here wondering, is today going to be the day that I will actually be able to give this 3 minute lesson that I have planned on prayer and where to turn to?? And that's when it dawns on me... Am I "really" praying hard enough?? Am I spending enough time on my knees?? Am I even doing what I am trying to teach my family?? My answer is... No... I felt guilt as I pondered that, and not a guilt that I want to carry. Here I am, almost half way through the first month that was to bring new change, but have I changed with new resolutions, or am I continuing on the path of last years failures? Well, today is a new day, a day that has a fresh start. Why wait for the new year to begin to have new resolutions, when each day we have a fresh start at making that change. Changing the way that we eat, or getting out and exercising, or simply getting down on our knees and praying, and starting out the year with a better relationship with our Father in Heaven. That's where I am. My husband has made a commitment, and has started reading the Bible. He does it every night. What I am doing every night that could bring me closer?? Today is my new starting point.

Isn't it funny how we can go, day after day, doing the same thing, and it kind of gets to us after a while? I am kind of giggling as I think about my children and wonder, are they tired of the same thing day after day?? Each morning, or most mornings, they both wake up in a really good mood, never once hearing a complaint out of their mouths about waking up to she same house, with the same stuff, doing the same thing. I guess that it helps only having one that has a big vocabulary, and one that can't even put 2 words together. But even still, I wonder if they ever want to get out of the house and do something that is different. As my sisters motto is Simplify, I am going to make mine Change... No wait, isn't that the motto that Obama used to even get into office?? Mine is going to be Change Course. That means that we are going to change our course in the opposite direction. We are going to church now, but we need to be doing more than just that. The same thing with us eating better, but we could be doing more than just changing our eating, we could always exercise?? I don't know, i kind of am to the point that I want to take a step out of my comfort zone and live a little more, but in a good way.

Our dinner experience...

Here lately I have been giving the girls paper, pens, pencils and crayons to draw with at the coffee table, and this is one that Cadence drew. The round swirly thing at the butt is what she says is him pooping eggs!! She is hilarious!! Where the heck she comes up with this stuff, I will never know!! Kids say the darnest things!!:)

I know that this is kind of a dark picture, but this is some of the bows that I have been making. These are so simple and really easy to make that I spent one night just making a bunch of them. It's almost therapeutic in a way, as long as the kids are cooperative!

I have really been wanting to try a new tradition for Monday nights, before having Family Home Evening, which would be dinner. I am also loving my Relief Society Cookbook, and have tried new things out of it. Well, while planning out our dinners with what we have for 2 weeks, I came across a recipe for soft pretzels, and thought, what a nice, easy and light thing to make, so I was pretty dead set on making those for our pre-Family Home Evening meal. The thought wasn't setting to well with me and I really felt that I needed to do a trial run to see how and if these were even going to turn out. Since it was my first time making these in my life, I thought, stick to the directions. Bad idea!! They actually probably would have turned out a lot better had I used flour to roll them into ropes, to then form into a pretzel! I sent a text to Clint immediately stating that this is what I was wanting to do, but this is what didn't turn out, and he was due home in an hour and a half and I had no back up plan!! I frantically start going through the same relief Society Cookbook looking for anything that I could make in a pinch. I came across a pizza dough recipe that didn't seem to difficult so I immediately got started, and made 2 pizzas out of all the dough that it made. To my surprise, the second pizza came out of the oven right as the garage door opened! Whew! I saved dinner!! The olives in the picture look green, but they are black olives!! It really wasn't to bad either!:)

I had the BEST day!!!

Yesterday really was such a better day for, I feel all 4 of us! Chazlyn went to Nursery just fine, which was a relief since she NEVER lets us go to class without being a lot of trouble. Cadence on the other hand had a hard time with letting us go, but she went and had a good time, and so that's a good thing for her. Then there's Clint and I. Class was really good. I love that the Dees were the first to befriend us. They have just been the best family to us. After we split for the 3rd hour, I was asked to give the closing prayer, which I accepted, and I made a new friend. Her name is Tara Schneider. My goal is to meet one new person a week. I still only know less than 10 people, but the more involved I get the more people I will get to know!:)

The lesson that we had in both Priesthood and Relief Society was on Fasting. The only thing that I could think about was the fact that our family was going to have a family fast the Sunday before Granny passed, which thankfully we never had to do, and that was not setting well. I thought that I was going to be sick! I was going to mention something about it during the lesson, but it's really nothing that I like to talk about since we are going to be at a year here before much longer, actually 1 week after Clint's birthday. Not fun that it falls on a Sunday, as it's not going to be a fun day. Although, Clint and I were talking about that and I told him that we may be missing the Sunday after his birthday, and with a puzzled look, he asked why. I told him that that marks a year since Granny passed and it's going to be a hard day for me. While we were at church and were talking to Tyler Dees, while Kelli sat writing, he was telling us that Kelli's dad had passed away on the 23rd of December and that's why they hadn't really been around. So I kind of look at this like healing. Besides that, Clint questioned me with, "Is that something that Granny would want you to do?" So, I look forward to going to church on the 20th. Clint also mentioned that if I am actually having a really hard time with it while we are at church that isn't the church a good support system for me?? Gee, he's right!! And the sad part is that I know all this, it sometimes just takes hearing it every once in a while to get it. I love that my husband is in this with me!

We finally got our grocery shopping done and are stocked for at least 2 weeks. I am looking forward to making somethings this week that I have never made before, so trying something new is always fun for me. I am so glad that we have decided to do grocery shopping every 2 weeks. It was a disaster last night!! I hate grocery shopping when the kids are tired. We just needed to get it done before today and Sunday was unfortunately the only day that we could do it. But, the best part is that we don't have to worry about going during the work week. THAT'S always a hassle too!

Yesterday we also found out that we have Home Teachers! I really wish that I knew who they were. We don't even know their names, and so hopefully that goes over really well. I love that Clint is getting more active in all of this, and that he isn't doing it just for me!! I asked him about that, and he told me that if he was doing all of this for me, that he would have been baptised along time ago, but he's taking his time, going at his own pace and will probably be inviting the Dees over, who are the Ward Missionaries, just to talk church with them before actually taking the discussions from the missionaries. This is going to be a really good year for us! For as involved as we are getting I can't help but think that when Cadence doubles the age that she is now, she is going to be baptised! This is going to be the year that I am going to have the family that I have always wanted growing up. I love that the Lord has His hand in my life and that He's helping me and my family out along the way. This is a happy point in my life that I am really enjoying right now. We have been blessed!

From what Clint found out from the lady that does our taxes is that we won't be able to get them done until sometime in February. Something about itemizing that is causing us to have to wait to file. We are both just looking forward to getting that money so that we can for one, get out of debt and for two, get our car 100%. We have decided to hold off on getting a second vehicle until next year. This year we are focusing on getting out of debt, next year, or even the year after that we are going to get a second vehicle. My thing is that I want to have a car here at home with me by the time that Cadence starts to school. I will be fine, just having the one until then. So that's what we are doing and are looking forward to!!

Since the 28th of December I have had no pain caused from my gallbladder. I am thinking along the same lines as my mom, when she said that I probably passed a stone! I am kind of looking at all the pain that I was having as a blessing and a learning experience all at the same time. Had I not experienced such pain, to put myself threw a cleanse, and then to be pain free without ever having to go to the ER, is amazing!

For some dumb reason I decided to wake up between 4 and 4:30 this morning!! Now if we just had church at 9am like we use to I would be able to nap shortly after getting home. Now I am going to be ready for a nap before we are even out of church! Ugh! But nonetheless, I am looking forward to going to church today. I made little hair bows for the girls to wear in their hair today for church, and so I am super excited about that!

Yesterday when Priscilla and Brittni dropped Cadence off we found out what was causing all of my father in laws problems. Luckily it had nothing to do with his heart! So yay for that! What caused all this is what gets me. I guess we all have a liquid somewhere in our ears and his crystallized and that's what caused his heart to start beating really fast which led to him passing out. The scary part of all that is it can happen with no real warning. So hopefully the doctors took the steps that were needed to stop that. It still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, I am just glad that it his heart is fine!:)

Since I soaked the acrylic nails off that I was wearing, I decided to get up and paint my nails this morning. After i had finished, I glanced over at Clint asleep on our bed. I just feel so lucky to have been the one to marry him. I am so thankful that he is able to provide for our family and let me stay home with the kids. He always seems so willing to help me with the kids after I am so stressed out from them not listening all day. He was beyond helpful when both girls were newborns, Cadence more so than Chazlyn since I handled Chazlyn a lot better. I never really had to take the night shift and still don't with our little night owls. I know that I got lucky in that since I know of a lot of new moms that don't get that. I feel so blessed and so lucky to have him in my life!:)

Like I said, I made some more hair bows for the girls hair last night. After I have them both ready later today I will take and post some pics of them. I am still going to try to learn to make the bows like my sister makes, since I love those more, but for now I stick with what I know how to make and save the learning for later.

I am still hoping that I have a good day, and hope that all my readers out there, if any have one too!!:)

Waiting is sometimes the hardest thing to do...

We found out a couple of days ago that Clint's dad is in the hospital. And all we know is that his heart started beating really fast and then he passed out. From what we were told they were going to do a stress test on him yesterday. Hoping that they know something by now, but I am not to sure if they do. All I know is that this brings me back to the Granny and Grandpa McCall days and I don't like it one bit! Although Clint's dad is up in Nevada and that makes things a little more complicated. I am just being prayerful that the doctors will be able to treat his problem and that we can just move past this.

The weirdest thing with my asthma has been happening here lately. I have always had asthma, but nothing more than exercise induced asthma. Here lately I have been woken up in the night not being able to breath. I thought that this was something that I was supposed to grow out of?? Just not real sure what has brought all of this on.

I am so glad that I have made a deal with Cadence to grow out my own hair. She has a history of climbing on counters in the middle of the night after she has been put to bed and getting a hold of scissors and cutting her hair. I have had to take her twice to a salon to get it fixed. So after being at my wits end with her I did something that I sometimes wish that I could take back. I told her that if she would quit cutting her hair, I wouldn't cut mine either. But that if she did cut her hair that we were going to shave her head. How awful is that?!?!?! I feel so guilty for even letting a comment like that come out of my mouth towards her. I am just really hoping that that day NEVER COMES!! And the thing that I have noticed about Cadence and disciplining is that I have to follow through with what I said i would do, otherwise she walks all over me. So now I have hair that is past my shoulders!!

I am really just looking forward to tomorrow! I am really loving Sundays for some reason all of a sudden. We used to not enjoy Sundays so much since it's the day before the work week starts and really, who wants to start the week with a Monday?? It's the day after the weekend and the day that things start all over again! I love having my hubby home!:) I am just really starting to look forward to going to church!!

While we were at Walmart yesterday I found some ribbon that was marked down to $1 and bought two rolls of it. One is red and the other is kind of an off white.. I figured that those are two colors that my kids can wear more times than not, so I am going to make a couple different kinds of bows. I am still trying to figure out how my sister makes the ones that she makes, but am just going to make the ones that I already know how and save learning something new for later.

Today is the day that we get our Cadence back. She stayed the night over at Clint's family's house. I am not going to lie, I have really enjoyed Chazlyn so much more! She is a lot of fun o watch when she is playing with her sister or interacting with other kids in Nursery or at family get togethers with her cousins, but she is even more fun when there is one on one time with her! She has so much personality and the sweetest little disposition. My mom told me that she is a lot like I was when I was a baby, very happy and easy going. Those are two words that I can also use to describe Chazlyn!

Cadence on the other hand, LOVES attention!! If we are paying a little attention to Chazlyn and think that what she is doing is so cute, Cadence will turn around and do the same thing as Chazlyn expecting to get the same recognition as Chazlyn! We are having a bit of a problem getting her to realize that there are a lot of big girl things that she does that we think are really cute too, but not the ones that she has to act like a baby. She has reverted back to a lot of baby things since and before we had Chazlyn that I would like her to get past, but at the same time, I want to be able to enjoy my little four year old and not wish her a day older. I am really getting to the point that I don't want my kids to grow up as fast as they have. I used to be the parent that just wanted to get out of the baby stage already! But now that both of my little girls have grown and it happening really fast, I wish I could have just paused time and really enjoyed them. I have done a lot better with that since having Chazlyn, and what I find to have been my problem in the first place is that I was severely depressed after I had Cadence, but did nothing about it. I just told people what they wanted to hear and moved on. It pretty much wasn't until I had Chazlyn that I actually didn't want to go down the same path that I had after I had Cadence. I started acknowledging that I was having problems and not just dealing with messed up hormones and not seeking the help that I knew that I could get. Having Chazlyn had me looking at being a mom a lot different than I did after having Cadence. But now that one is four and the other is pushing two, I think that I have grown and have really started to enjoy what I now consider to be my blessings and nothing less than that.

Lots on my mind this morning...

I am really looking forward to dinner tonight! We are having spaghetti, yellow, and zucchini squash!! That is one of my most favorite meals! My whole family eats really good on nights that I make that too! I usually make that on Monday nights, but I think that we just had some yellow and zucchini squash, carrots and a small portion of chicken last Monday. I could live off of squash!! It is SO YUMMY!!!

When I woke up with Clint this morning, I woke up with a lot weighing pretty heavily on my mind... As my thought wondered off onto Granny, as they usually do, I thought... it's January 5th!!! Today marks the passing of my Great-Grandpa Dorsey!! I never knew him since he passed before 4 out of 5 of my siblings, including myself were even born. While Granny was still here, and I was with her in years past, I always let this day get to me. The last time that I went with Granny out to Deer Valley to go to the cemetery, she said something out loud as I waited for her off in the background that I will never forget...

I am trying this whole thing with giving Cadence chores. I have a feeling that she really isn't grasping what that means. She makes cleaning a lot harder on me, because she just won't do it!!! I try to entice her by making cookies, or something, and yet that still doesn't work! It can get real frustrating at times when she acts like she's 4 going on 14!! I really dread the day that I do have teenagers!!!

Speaking of Cadence, she has been awake since before Clint left for work this morning, and has worked her way into our bedroom. She is watching cartoons right now, yet I would rather her be sleeping!! That just means that she better take a nap at some point today, and hopefully the same time as Chazlyn cause I am going to need one too!

I have started getting really bad headaches again! They aren't just headaches, they are like the headaches that I was getting when I was pregnant with Chazlyn. I am not saying that I am pregnant, as that's pretty impossible, I am just saying that that's what it brings me back to. The sleepless nights because the pain was so excruciating. Those are sure days that I don't miss, but now that they are trying to resurface, I am not sure what to do.

I am not real sure how often I am supposed to do it, but when it comes to getting in and doing a deep cleaning on my house, I must not be very good at it. I spent most of my day in my bathroom cleaning out EVERYTHING!! I scrubed EVERYTHING!! And the really sad part about that is that I AM NOT EVEN DONE YET!!! Almost... but not yet! My plan is to finish it today, and then start on my bedroom and work my way out. I guess that's what SPRING CLEANING is for, right??

Last night we had to go to Fry's to get some milk. Since I had been busy most of the day, I opted to not get ready before leaving. I wound up regretting that!!! We ran into the Dees at the store!! I was so embarrassed!! They are a couple (not even sure that they have any kids) in our ward. Actually Tyler was one of the first people to befriend our family, so getting caught at the store like that sure taught me a lesson. Yikes!!

So I have this most rediculous goal that I am hoping to hit by my 27th birthday. I want to be 3 dress sizes smaller!! My plan?? Well, I plan on eating nothing but Multi~Grain Cheerios and veggies until then. I am also hoping that I will be able to go walking, but with the weather being SO COLD, not to sure how that's going to happen. i thought about starting my Biggest Loser Workout again, but really, I don't have an hour to devote to it with 2 kids that don't really take naps anymore. I was thinking that if I really am going to have anytime to devote to a workout dvd, it's going to have to be in 10 minute incriments, not 1 hour!! I guess that today would be day one since I ate some tasty walnut bread yesterday, but only a thin slice and a small portion of chicken on top of my cheerios and veggies. I don't want to cheat!!

As I was cleaning yesterday, Cadence comes up to me, holds up a card that has the number one on it and says,"Mom! The number one!" She is starting to recognize what her numbers look like!! She is even starting to write out what different letters look like! I didn't know that she was supposed to know this stuff yet! It has really been neat to watch her learn!:)

Close to the end of June in 2009, I made the choice to kick my brother in law out of our house. At the time I didn't appreciate the things that he was taching my 2 small kids and so that's what I did. When we were over at Clint's sisters for Christmas last month, this brother in law of mine had gotten something for me for Christmas!!! I never saw it coming!! Although he did come out here for Cadence's 4th birthday, just not her 3rd, or Chazlyn's 1st. But regardless, i think that things are getting better with the 2 of us. He even actually talked to me a little bit, which again, totally caught me off gaurd!!

I can't believe that it has almost been a year...

I can't believe that it is already going on a year... I don't even think that I have healed yet from losing her... I know they say that life goes on, and it does, but it's moments like I am feeling right now that are sometimes hard to swallow. I went from calling her everyday, to spending as much time that I could with her, to having it all taken away... On March 20, 2010, I was ok with it. I knew that she was better off, and I still do. But it's the earthly things, I guess that I am missing the most right now.

I felt inspired to start another blog a couple of days ago. It is called...

www.inthekitchenwithgranny.blogspot.com

It has a lot of recipes that have come straight out of her recipe box. There are others that I decided to add that have been raved about by family and friends that I have included in that blog aswell. I find that I am having to make a lot of the recipes just so I am able to add a picture to go with each recipe. I think I still have about 7 more pictures to get, and 8 pictures already posted. I am hoping to add more either during the week or weekend, if I have to wait that long.

Today is the day that Clint had to go back to work. The girls and I really enjoyed having so much time with him being home, but then reality sets in. Since I sleep the best when I know that he is here, I am once again back to the mornings of waking up between 4:30-5am in the morning. I look back on our dating days when he was working graveyards 5 days a week, and how I could never go back to that. We tried that the Christmas of 2009, when he worked a second job, and was doing the whole over night shift. I think that I woke up every hour on the hour while he was doing that.

I have a really big day ahead of me, and I am not even leaving the house. My goal for the day is to get as many rooms in the house clean as I can. I am going to try that everyday that I know that I am not going anywhere, is to clean as many rooms in my house as I can. On top of that I need to get laundry done! The doing the laundry part is fine, but when we have so much build up, the putting it away is what I struggle with at times. Pretty pathetic, huh?? I don't even like that I sometimes let myself get into slacking mode. It is like church to me, either you're in it, or you're not, so I either get it clean and keep it that way, or I don't know and wish that I had.

Not sure if it was before, after, or both that I inherited little hair clip things that belonged to Granny, but over the weekend I decided that instead of letting them just sit on a shelf I decided to do something new with them. I learned how to make hair bows! As exciting as that may have been, they aren't the kind of bows that I like that my sister makes, but they were fairly easy to make and so I made up a bunch of them and attached them to the hair clips that I had. Cadence and Chazlyn are begging me everyday now to put at least one in their hair regardless if it matches or not. But I guess that it doesn't hurt to let them wear them around the house and not match!:)

We are trying something different around here, and that is to do grocery shopping 2 times in a months time. So my goal is to make out a grocery list that we are able to utilize for 2 weeks. I already have this week planned out, but need to start preparing for the next 2 upcoming weeks. As we are just starting this, depending on how it pans out for us, we may go to doing grocery shopping once a month. It is just a hassle sometimes with both kids wanting candy and cookies and the list goes on from there, and telling them no, and them having a meltdown! Yikes! So the more time that we spend outside of the grocery store the better!:)

Our New Years Eve!!

I wound up doing something last night that surprises even myself. I stayed up until 2am!! I think that once I get to a certain point, which would be past my bedtime point, I will be up for hours past that. We had fun though just staying home with the kids. We lounged around in our Jammie's, we got subs from Subway, and the girls each got to pick out a candy, in hopes that they too would make it to midnight, neither of them did! The date kind of makes me laugh! It's 1/1/11! That's got to be an easy birth date to remember! LOL!

So, I learned this new trick that I am really looking forward to trying. It's a really inexpensive way to clear up your skin. All you need is lemon juice, sugar or brown sugar, and a cotton ball or round. You put a pretty good amount of lemon juice on the cotton round and then sprinkle about a teaspoon of sugar on that and rub that all over your face, and then rinse of course. I am really looking forward to giving this a try. And it costs a fraction of the price of face wash, and that makes it even better!

Today I am going to make this recipe that I found in my Relief Society cookbook. It's called Razzleberry Crunch. It sounds so yummy! I am so glad that we got into our ward when we did, otherwise I would have missed out on this cookbook that I am loving so much! Besides that, our ward is great! I know that I was having some trouble feeling like I was even apart of our ward, but with time, things are finally getting a little bit easier. I am just really looking forward to tomorrow. Yeah, I know... the day before Clint goes back to work! Yuck! But no, really, I am looking forward to not having to rush out the door after already missing part of Sacrament Meeting. WE HAVE 11AM CHURCH!! That is going to be such a better time for us, well at least the girls and I. With football season being in full swing, Clint is more than likely going to be missing some or parts of his games. But that's alright, as long as the Steelers aren't playing on that day. My kids are total fans. It is so cute to watch them yell at the TV with their dad! Although I always said while I was growing up that I never wanted to marry someone that liked or played the guitar or one that liked sports. I for one never cared for sports, and growing up with guitars in the house! I couldn't wait to be with someone that didn't play! Well, I wound up marrying a guy that played guitar in high school and even after that, and a life long Steelers fan! It really hasn't been a bad thing. I let myself be open to the fact that it's something that the man that I married has always liked and found that I kind of like it too!

In just 4 short months and a week from now my hubby and I will be celebrating 5 years of marriage!! Kind of crazy how fast that time went by. We had 2 kids, bought a house, and had so many other adventures in just 5 years!! This is huge for both of us!! Having been married once before this time, 5 years is a long time for me too!! Yet life is good and we couldn't ask for much more than that.

Last night while we were at the store and had bought marshmallows for Rice Krispie Treats since we had everything else. Upon returning home I went ahead and made them. After letting them set, Clint went ahead and tried one. Oops! I totally burned them!! They were no good!! Don't even ask me how you can mess that up, when they are like super simple to make. But leave it to me to take something simple and mess it up!

After staying up until 2am this morning you would probably think, I am going to sleep in. Yeah right!! I was up at 7:30am this morning! I woke Clint up briefly when I got up, and although he was in a "I am asleep state" he was like I am going back to sleep! I have always wanted to be the type of person that could sleep any time of day and for long hours, but that's just not how my body works. I am usually in bed before 9:30 or 10pm every night and then will sleep until at least 9am. If I up past 11pm I will more than likely be up earlier than a normal person would be. That is one thing that I would love to change about me.

Now that it is going on 1:30pm in the afternoon and i have already baked, instead of the Razzle Berry Crunch, I went ahead and made Double Decker M&M Brownies. They are still in the oven so I am not sure if they are any good. yet again that is a recipe out of my Relief Society Cook Book. I am trying to make a lot of new things that I have never tried before. I will probably make the Razzle Berry Crunch sometime this week. I also plan on posting and sharing all the recipes that I try that I find that are good. I enjoy cooking, baking and making new recipes. I am not big on fish, Chinese, pork, beef, or even Italian food, so if you find a recipe shoot it my way so that I can try it. Even if it has beef or ground beef in it I can always substitute chicken or ground turkey in its place so send it my way anyway if you are up to it. Actually after the dishes are done and I get my baking dish clean I am going to go ahead and make the Razzle Berry Crunch today. I already have one recipe that I am going to post later after I make it. So I will post later tonight.