The Money Shot

So Benny and Will got a hold of the camera.

I had no idea that they had used it.


They were pretty sneaky about it.

They actually put it back in its place


With no trace of any mischief

Some of the pictures were pretty good

But the fact that Benny and Will were collaborating together on something "naughty" is a little unsettling




There is no telling what these two could do if they team up

Especially Will, you can just tell he is going to go places in life

Vava Loves her Sissy

What would I do without Hannah?

My typical oldest child. She makes toast for the boys in the morning, and entertains Avril while I make dinner. She is so underpaid through her allowance....

Our dreams

Ray and I are very similar in so many ways, yet so VERY VERY different.

For example, last night I dreamt that Ray was in love with another woman.


Last night Ray dreamt that he was called to be the next prophet.

Mission Presidents

My parents have been called to be Mission Presidents of the Buenos Aires West Mission in Argentina! We are so excited for them. I just don't think it has sunk in yet that they are going to be gone for 3 years. I just have to focus on how blessed the people are in Argentina to have my parents helping to spread the gospel in their country. We love you guys and are so proud of you!

Friday = Weigh Day YAY!!...not really

-3 lbs

So, basically I am back to where I was two weeks ago, or was that three?? -12 lbs. I just can't help myself when there is anything salty in the house. It just calls my name. ALL DAY LONG it calls my name.......

The Christmas Card

This was the Christmas card you were suppose to get

This just wasn't our year for a Christmas card. I can't really say why, but it just never happened. I made the list of everyone it was supposed to go to, I even bought the cards. I just never sat down and got it all put together. So of course I thought we would send out a New Year's card....that obviously didn't happen. So now that Valentines has come and gone, I am going to officially admit to myself that a card just isn't going to happen.

There, I said it. I feel much better now........

Does that include HER?????

So we have this neighbor to the right of us, who has made it known several times that she isn't exactly thrilled to be living next to a family of six. Four of those being rambunctious kiddies. She actually had problems with us even before we moved in. When Ray would work over here at night hammering inside, she would knock on the door at 10:00 pm and tell him that he needed to stop because it was too loud. So we honored her request. Then when we moved in, she would knock on our door at 2:00 in the afternoon and tell me that the kids were playing in the yard too loudly. She wanted to know if we could work out a schedule of when the kids would play in the yard. I kindly told her that would be impossible and we left it at that. Then a few weeks later she came over at 8:30 pm to tell us she could hear our kids playing in their bedrooms! This time she caught Ray after a long days work...and there was no filter. (don't worry, no profanity. But no niceties either) We hadn't heard from her since.........

until yesterday. Her latest request is for me to work out a laundry schedule with her, because apparently the smell of our clean laundry drying in the dryer gives her a headache. She wants to know when she can open her window and not smell our CLEAN laundry. (keep in mind this lady smokes) At this request I let out a deep sigh and just said, " there is no way I can tell you when I am going to be doing laundry. Sometimes we are doing it at 2:00 a.m. if our kids are sick" Her reply was, " I know a normal family only has a little bit of laundry to do and only does it one or two days a week, but you guys are different." I just kind of stared at her with a slight smile on my face. By that, she realized a schedule is not going to happen and went inside.

I have been thinking alot about this situation. My first reaction is that this lady has "issues" and it is perfectly fine to ignore her request. But the more I think about it, the question comes to mind if this is who Jesus was talking about in Matthew 22:39 when he says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?" Is it really HER He is talking about? Isn't Jesus talking about the nice widower Ann who lives on our left, who we happily take fresh baked cookies to, and check on when the power goes out. Or Becky and Bill who live on her left, who always take a minute or two to play catch with Benny and Will before speeding off in their red VW bug? Or Robbi and Conrad who live to their left, who I can call any morning and have Hannah catch a ride with them to school. Or even the lesbian couple who live across from us, who work on their front lawn in skin tight, jean cut-off shorts every Saturday. Isn't that who Jesus is talking about. He can't mean our neighbor and her crazy requests. And if He does, what does that mean I should do in this situation?

The conclusion I have come to is this:

I think it would be fine to ignore her request. She is a little bit irrational. But I also think their is a higher road to take, and that would be to treat her as though I do love her, and to consider her needs the same way I would of a family member that I truly do love. And if a family member was sensitive to smell, I would switch to scent free laundry detergent.

What are your thoughts?

Yikes.....

+3

Yeah, you read right. I was actually very good this week. honest! I even started exercising, but I am not about to claim that I gained 3 lbs of muscle.

We did go out for sushi last night, so I am hoping that part of this is from the soy sauce??? (you know, too much salt causes water retention....it's possible right?) Well, I am going to claim that as the cause and stay in my delusional world and just work for better results next week.

To My Valentine.....

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....

I love that you have a million pictures of you "dunking" in your high school scrapbook

I love that you like to match me

I love that you still make this face at least 3 times a day

I love that you do things with me, even if you really don't like it

I love that you can hang out with my brothers

I love that you throw up after every time you water ski

I love that you let me be me

I love that you have the same clothes 10 years later

I love that you dress up for Halloween

I love that you knew it was time to shave your head

I love that you love your mom

I love that you tell people you are glad I didn't really know you while you were in a band so that I could love you for you and not for being the lead singer of Spivey's Corner

I love that you are my Valentine

Do our kids look related to each other??

Hannah

Benton

William

Avril

I look at other families at church and all of their kids look so much alike. Each of their babies are like cookie cutters of each other. I keep getting questioned at the grocery store if all of these kids are mine. I am not sure if it is because of the number of kids running around me, or their looks. What do you think??

The Power is out AGAIN???

With all of these rainstorms here in Cali, our power has gone out a few times now.

It is always fun at first to eat Carls Jr by candle light. (Doesn't Ray look so pious by candlelight?)

Then Ray builds a fire in our wood stove that we always intended on getting rid of. (don't let the flash fool you, it's only the fire giving us light) We all just sat around the fire while Hannah and Ray played songs on the piano. It's amazing to me how convenient and complicated power makes our lives at the same time.

Then we decided it would be fun to all sleep in the same room. After Ray dragged our mattresses and blankets out to the family room, the power came on 5 minutes later.

Let's just say it wasn't a good week.....

Yes, that is a goose egg. As in ZERO lbs lost!

It started with an innocent day off for a little super bowl food and that turned into taking Monday off, which turned into taking Tuesday off which lead to a half day of dieting on Wednesday. Finally by Thursday I panicked when I realized that I had to weigh the next day. But it was too little too late. So, to get me back on track I am pledging to lose at least 2 lbs by next week.

I have to admit, this is getting hard! It was all fun and games the first two weeks, but now I keep wondering when am I ever going to feel satisfied after eating a meal? I am always still HUNGRY!

Get out and VOTE!

I don't want to tell you who to vote for

JUST

GO

VOTE!

Week 3 of Healthy Eating

Our power has been out today because of the rainstorms here in Cali. I am sure you all have been anxiously waiting to know my results for this week. (I know, I know, I am sure that is not the case, butI have to tell myself that lots of people will be checking the blog on Friday. That is the only way I can stay away from eating ice cream endlessly all day. ) I seem to have hit a steady groove. This week's results are:

-2 lbs

I am not sure how next week will go. I plan on totally pigging out on chips, dips, treats, etc. on Sunday. I plan on making every single recipe that I salivated over while watching the food network shows on super bowl appetizers. (and we aren't even having anyone over) hee hee