Conventional is not for me

Yesterday I spent the day looking after our 8 new baby chicks. One was half dead when I got it and they won't let you exchange it so I separated her and tried to get her strong enough that they wouldn't peck her to death. She kept escaping from the box and at one point jumped herself right off the counter. Luckily there was a laundry basket with clothes in it right below and that's where she landed. See, bad laundry habits can be useful! I guess chickens really are dumb. I stopped trying to separate her because she was going to kill herself trying to get in with the other chickens anyway. It was obvious though, that the home I had built for them wasn't going to work very well. I hadn't counted on them being so lively and able so quickly. This morning, the lame one seems to be doing a little better and maybe, just maybe, might survive. The kids seem to like it having them so far. Chelsey even said it was kind of fun feeling like a farmer.

Last night we went out with friends to dinner. We went to Olive Garden and that made it really hard to stick to my calories. I actually didn't, but I did much better than I could have. After, we stood out in the parking lot talking to one of the other couples for about an hour. Shocking, I know. It was good though because I learned a lot about the chickens. We were also in a Wal Mart parking lot that conjoined with the restaurant, which was very handy since I now knew I needed an actual heat lamp versus a reg light bulb. Learning learning learning. Anyway, I went over to Wal Mart and sure enough, they had exactly what I needed. Including a really big box sitting in the isle waiting to be unloaded. I asked a few workers and they told me that at 10 the guys would be there to unload them and I could have them. It was 9:30 so I figured I could wander for half an hour. The funny thing was that the things that kept calling to me to buy, were slippers and PJ's. I was way ready for bed! Ten o'clock came and no workers. Then someone informed me they were in a meeting and would be another ten minutes or so. I was really getting impatient by now and surveying the area to see if I could just get it myself. This is where the unconventional part comes in. I waited a few more minutes and when I heard an announcement for all 3rd shift to report to the truck, I was done. I moved a few heavy boxes from the top of the box I wanted and started unpacking that box. Luckily there were just a few light weight storage bins in it. I just stacked them next to the other boxes and headed out with my new chicken COOP for my babies. (Thanks Les and Sis. Parker) Then I was mad I hadn't just done that half an hour ago! Grrrrr, if you want something done right..... So I got home, made the new home, plugged in their heat and got them settled for the night. I had gotten them an automatic water thingy and made a feeder and now they had heat and a box they couldn't jump out of. They all snuggled down and went to sleep....and so did I.

More Chicks

Yesterday was a pretty good day. It's amazing that when I'm exercising and eating right, I feel better and have more energy. Funny how that works. Bo had his Halloween party and went as a cowboy. It's such a simple costume and yet he loves it. After preschool we ran to Costco. I hardly go there since I started coupon sense, but no good milk sales this week. We got pizza as usual and that was hard for me. I did pretty good, but it's just bad in a very good way. Then I found out we would be going out for dinner for Joy's birthday. How am I supposed to stay in my calories like that?? After I picked up the kids from school, I went and got my nails done. A much needed treat. Then straight to dinner with the family. I was the first one there and it was chilly so it was great to go in and have a cup of hot chocolate. Mmmmm! I ordered a meal that would fit into my calories and then they brought me the normal meal with fried potatoes and butter toast. Grrrrr. Of course I ate it. Not all of the potatoes, but enough. Tomorrows another day.

On the way home, I decided to stop at Ross and look for a shirt for my reunion coming up. I found a shirt I really liked and as I was waiting in line to check out, I noticed the girl working the register was wearing the same shirt! It wouldn't be that bad except that she was probably 275 lbs and the shirt was all distorted. I wasn't even positive it was the same till I got up there. Just kind of took the fun out of it. I still like it though. Ran to walmart to do some ad matching and headed home.

Made some Halloween cookies for Brooklyn's class tomorrow and sent everyone to bed. Today I got to sleep in a little and that's always nice. Chelsey didn't have choir so she stayed home till 9:30. After I took the kids to school, I went to the feed store to get my little chicks. I got eight of them. There were four different breeds so I got two of each. They are only 95% guaranteed to be hens. One of mine was half dead when I got it. I didn't realize it at first, but when the others were pecking at her and she was leaning up against the box with her eyes half closed I figured that couldn't be good. I put her in her own little box with food and water and she seems to be doing a little better. She is eating and not just leaning against the side so I guess that's good. It will shock me if she survives. They are really noisy!! They are clear across the house and I can still hear their chirping. Gonna have to work on that. Brandon, my BIL offered to come help out with the coyotes. We'll see how that goes. My other two chicks are fattening right up. I swear the are noticeably bigger every day! I love having my own little farm....Glade, not so much.

Tonight we are going to dinner with friends. We haven't spent time with this group in awhile so it should be fun. Tomorrow is crazy Halloween. I was going to dress up, but can't think of anything not too elaborate that I already have stuff for. Guess it's boring this year.

The world keeps spinning

Some days I just want to get off the ride and take a break. It seems like lately there are no breaks. Sure, I can take one, but then I'm just more behind than I was. My eye was twitching for almost 5 straight days and finally stopped. I'm guessing stress and fatigue. Katy doesn't ever sleep through the night anymore. We are having severe potty training set backs. Part of me thinks I should start from the beginning with potty treats, but then there's the part of me who knows she can do it and wants to just spank her little wet rear.

The coyotes are up one on me. They got into my coup and ate two chicks. I have devised a plan to get rid of them, but it will take just a little while, hopefully the other two will be safe until then. We are going to build a little pen around the coup so we can accommodate a few more bigger chickens and hopefully a little safer environment for them.

The whole "world spinning" thing makes some days a blur. I can't remember Monday at all, Tuesday is always crazy, getting ready for Pack Meeting, which went OK. Low turnout, but still fun I think. Didn't end up on the treadmill after that, just too tired.

Today I spent the morning running errands with the kids. Katy is more than a handful, two or three actually. I've never had such a strong willed kid who would fight against me so much. She really tries my patience. I scored at Fry's and then went to lunch with my mom. At Johnny Rockets, the kids eat free if they are in costume, so we went. Ran to Kirklands for some candle holders that were on sale and then home. I was READY to be at home by then. Katy went straight into my bed and fell asleep. Maybe if she would sleep through the night, she wouldn't be so tired and then so rotten all morning!

Kids have play practice tonight, choir concert tomorrow, date night Friday, then the big day Saturday (Halloween), football starts on Monday and my 20 year reunion is next weekend. See what I mean....just keeps spinning. In the words of someone else...wo is me. I'm really trying to just take a day at a time and enjoy that day without stressing about what's coming up.

Tidbits - I drove by a sign today that said "Drive Through Prayer Stand". Weird, I looked for it but couldn't see it. Interesting idea.

Yesterday I bought some hot dogs to help with the coyotes and held them up to show one of the kids and while doing so, I announced "Laurie Vs. Coyotes". Later, Bo was looking at the package and while following along with his finger, he slowly "read" "Mommy versus the coyotes". He's great. His Halloween party is tomorrow and he is beyond excited. I don't know if I have ever mentioned his computer addiction, but it's bad. All he thinks about. Yesterday at the dollar store, he got this little plastic bow and arrow set. The arrows are sticks with suction cups on the end. I haven't been able to get the kid in the house. I even offered some computer time because I couldn't keep watching him and he turned me down. I guess it just takes the right interest.

Boom Chick a Boom

What a day Saturday was. Chocked full of activities pulling us in all different directions. The older kids had youth conference starting at 7 am doing a service project Saturday morning. All the kids had play practice at 10 am and the school carnival started at 12:30. That's actually just what time I needed to be there to set up the cake walk, it started at 1. The plan was for the kids to come home from play practice, eat and go to the carnival for one hour, come home and change and go to Branson's baptism at 3, but it was harder than I thought to get them away from the carnival. Glade ended up just taking Chelsey and Stephen to the baptism, Nick and Whitley were at the church for the rest of Youth conference and my mom and I had the others at the school. One crazy mixed up day!

At the carnival, they had a chicken chase. You catch it, you keep it. I have wanted chickens for quite some time but Glade has resisted. I figured now was as good of time as any! Bo, Dalin, and Rhett all caught a chicken and two others donated theirs to our cause. We had 5 chickens total, but someone stole one before we left the carnival so we came home with 4. Dalin also was able to catch the pig, but we didn't get to keep that...thank goodness! I ran the cake walk till we ran out of doughnuts then the kids just played the rest of the time. Bo wanted to buy a pumpkin cake and the bid was only at $2 so I let him bid on it. There was only about 10 minute left, so he wrote his name down and $3. We started to walk away and he told me he was going back to "protect" his cake. He went and stood in front of the cake until it was over. It was yummy.

Back to the chickens. We stopped at the feed store to get some food and that's where we found out they were broiler chickens, which means no eggs. They will get fat in a month or so and be ready to eat. Kind of a bummer. Now we have to mail order some hens that will give me eggs. Glade was very opposed to the whole chicken thing and told me I would be building my own coup. I told him that was fine as long as he didn't complain about what it looked like or where I put it. Obviously we couldn't get one done that day, so a friend agreed to house our chickens for a few days. We decided to go to dinner before we took the chicks over and while there, another friend calls us and tells us they have an extra coup we could use! Who has an extra chicken coup laying around??? I'm so glad you did Clayton's, we are more grateful than you know! We went over and loaded it up and now our chickens have a real home. Glade is warming up to the idea of chickens now that he doesn't have to build a coup. It's a really nice one too, they will be safe from the coyotes. I'm gonna take care of them on my own *evil laugh*. It was an exhausting day with a happy ending.


The kids Love the chicks!

They are at a weird inbetween stage of growing their feathers so they don't look so good right now.

Coup de' Smith

Look at me.....I'm blogging!

I'm not sure where the time goes, I know some is wasted on my Bejeweled addiction, but that is minimal. I know I've done some laundry and read a little and taken a few naps, but it doesn't appear as if I've been that busy, but apparently too busy to blog. I think it has a lot to do with feeling the need to blog about a big event but the task seems overwhelming. I've decided to blog about vacation in pieces instead of the whole thing at once. At least it might get done that way.

Our garden is still growing. I'm just crossing my fingers that something dumb doesn't happen to ruin it. Actually, we've already had a close call. Somehow, that zone of our sprinkler got turned off while we were out of town so it didn't get water at all while we were gone. It seems to be ok, we'll see. I've canned more apple pie filling, gotten pack meeting planned and made my trip to the scout store. I was given the task of creating two baskets for a Stake funraiser coming up and that should be fun. I had Bunko last night which was really fun and much needed. This weekend is jam packed and that always stresses me out. It always goes fine, but having that much going on in my brain is a hassle. I wish I was good at just letting it all happen and enjoy each thing instead of stressing and just being glad when it's all over. I'm SO happy the weather has been nice. I've stuck to my diet every day except yesterday and I will blame that on Bunko.

Before Bunko we went out to dinner at the Wildflower Bread Co. Leslie and I shared Butter Nut Squash Ravioli. It was like having "fall" in your mouth. Delectable. Other than that and eating too many of these awful snacks Camille made, I've done really well.

So, in a nutshell, time passes quickly. I'm grateful to have such great family and friends and people to love and care for my family. I love my Bunko girls and my great kids (who aren't always so great) and to have an adoring husband......what a blessing. I always get a little emotional and sappy when the holidays are approaching. It gets worse each year. Yesterday the girls and I watched "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving". The title is a little misleading, but it was a nice story and tears were involved. It actually was a sad story, but you know...happy ending and all. Normally I love Halloween, but this year I haven't gotten into it that much. Now I'm just ready to start on the two biggies coming up. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! (Oh wait, that's actually in August...when school starts.) I think it's a toss up.

I WANT to blog

I got up early to blog this morning and instead spent over an hour searching out names for family history. Man, that is time consuming and addicting! I found another generation though! I think that is why I have started and stopped so many times. It's frustrating when you can't fully immerse yourself in it. Truly, that's all I can think about right now. I have SO many things calling to me right now and I don't want to do any of them. Blogging about my vacation is one of them. So in an attempt to keep my life in order, I closed the suitcase and got to my day.

After taking the kids to school, I went to Albertson's to re-get what I left there on Saturday. That's a whole nother post! It went fine except they overcharged me $6 and I didn't realize it till I was almost home. I still have to go back and get it. When I got home, I pulled weeds in the garden. Fun! Corn is growing well as are snap peas , but the rest just has a few here and there. It's weird how some grow and some don't. After feeling like it was mostly weed free, I came in and got my butt on the treadmill. Glade and I have committed to a 20lb challenge. We have both become lazy in our eating and stagnant in our weight loss so we decided to get back on it for another twenty pounds, hopefully by the end of the year. I have lost all stamina in running. I thought I might die. Now I have to start from scratch and get it all back. With how I felt today, I can't imagine how it ever felt good or how I was able to run like I was. Gotta start somewhere and sometimes its WAY back at the beginning, but I'm doing it.

I still need to put the rest of the laundry away and do something with my apples, mop the floor, plan pack meeting, pay the bills, and find all my Halloween decorations. That may have to slide this year. I just want to wave my wand and have that all go away so I can get back to the suitcase! I need to blog my trip before the details fade, all in due time.

Heading Home

It's a bittersweet day. We are heading home a little early from our trip to visit family in IL. We weren't planning on leaving till Saturday, but the weather has been cold and rainy which leaves us mostly stuck inside, so we decided to go ahead and leave for home. The good part is that we did everything we wanted to do and saw everyone we wanted to see, well almost (you know who you are). It was a fun week with so many good memories made and others relived. I have so many pictures that I couldn't upload till I get home so I will post more details later. Our van is packed FULL! I came home with my pressure cooker and 13 dozen jars my Gram got for me, plus a suitcase full of really old pictures I was able to collect and 9 pumpkins that we didn't have on the way here. It's a tight fit, but we got it all in. So many projects to get started on now that I don't know when I'll have time to be a mom! Just kidding of course. Hopefully we will be home by Friday night which gives me all the weekend to get things put back together before school starts again.

Although it was cut short a little, we had a great time. My dad and Jo were most hospitable as we trashed their home and filled their garbages. I hope they know how much their efforts are appreciated. It's no little chore to take in 11 extra people!! We love you guys. Go West young Smiths! We're coming for you Jack!!

Almost There

It's been a long 26 hours! We drove through the night trading off and on every 5 hours or so. The kids have been fantastic!! I'm seriously so impressed with how nice and cooperative they have been. Almost no arguing, no fussing, everyone slept all night...no unplanned potty breaks. It's been unbelievable. We got here in record time as well. Can't beat that! I'm already tired of fast food. Yuck. Last night while I was driving and feeling yucky about what I had eaten all day, I decided to get a work out in. Glade and the kids were sleeping so while "cautiously" driving with the cruise on, I used Glade's big soda bottle and did every arm exercise I could think of and had room to do. My arms felt like rubber when I was done. I did crunches and toe raises and leg lifts all while sitting in my chair. Then I started moving my legs back and forth and making a punching motion in the air with my free arm to get a little cardio going and Glade woke up. From the silence I hear "what kind of move is that??". Even if I only burned a few extra calories, at least it was something and it was very helpful in staying awake. We are only about 2 hours from our destination. Very excited to get out of this van and give my rear a rest! It's been cold and rainy and beautiful! I will try to keep updated as things occur so I won't get so behind and not want to do anymore.

Holy Sale!

Coupons...hate 'em....love 'em!! I was a little panicked about going out of town and missing the deals for the week. As soon as the paper got here today, I went through it and decided I must go NOW! This week with Bashas has been really frustrating and exhausting. They were out of all their sale items all week. Several trips with nothing to show for it except rain checks. That was my motivation for going early this morning to Albertson's. I was glad I did, because I took the last of a few of these items. Here is my haul for the day:



-9 boxes of cereal
-10 bags of steamer veggies
-12 bags of Chex mix
-6 pks of mini delights desserts
-5 pks of cookie dough
-6 Tony's pizzas
-2 cans of frosting


$20!!

My to-DONE list

Hear the quiet? It's a beautiful sound! Today has been go go go. Luckily my big girls have already started their fall break so I could go get done what I needed to without any babies. Today I was able to:

-Get my new tire (did I mention it went flat as I was picking Stephen up from Priesthood on Saturday? Thanks for the rescue Clint.)
-Go spend my Children's Place gift check before it expired. (3 shirts, 2 pants = $16)
-Oil Changed/Car Washed
-visit to Bank/WalMart
-Nails done
-Haircuts for boys
-Dinner
-Traditional Halloween Activity (It's a secret)
-Catch up Blog

I'm a little tired. Tomorrow is a stay at home and pack and do laundry and clean day. Except the ortho appointment, scouts and a choir concert.

Sunday in the kitchen

This weekend was General Conference for our church. I always love to hear our leaders and feel inspired to do better. It's tradition for us to have a big Sunday breakfast and then sit together for the morning session. This time we had breakfast burritos, which are always a hit. I had gotten 15 lbs of pork on sale this week and needed to can it before we leave on our trip, so I got that started so it could process during conference. Once conference was over, I started the second batch of pork, made a batch of cupcakes to take to Sunday dinner and then started on cinnamon rolls. That is also a tradition for us, but I just wasn't feeling up to it, but my kids made me feel bad so I did it anyway. Glade always takes them on a walk after the first session to get them outside and moving around. This also gives me time to clean up breakfast and do cinnamon rolls. They turned out really good and once I started working in the kitchen, I didn't mind it at all. I took pictures and will blog about it on my other blog.

I didn't get much of a nap since I was waiting for meat to process and dough to rise but it was all good. We went to Glade's parents for dinner which was also nice since I had made such a mess of my kitchen. Nick and Brooklyn were still sick so they stayed home. Poor Brooklyn, the cupcakes were for her birthday and she didn't even get to go. I should have left Bo home too, but I thought his fever had gone. He has still had one all day today. I wish he would kick it. Now that makes 5 kids that have had fevers. I'm kind of hoping Katy will catch it as we drive back to IL. Her just wanting to sleep all day wouldn't be so bad for a car ride!

Little Bo Sleep

This is the night of Brooklyn's party. One of her friend's mom and I always end up chatting way too long. Last night she stayed talking till 12:15 am. The girls just kept playing and all my other kids were still milling around as well. The girls came and told us we had to see something. That always makes me nervous, so we went to see what was going on and this is what we found. Little Bo fell asleep sitting on the computer desk watching Rhett play a game. He had had a fever all day and shouldn't have been awake at this hour anyway. I guess he just decided to stay put and give in to sleep. Poor guy.

Brooklyn turned TEN!

My Brookie girl has reached the double digits! Her birthday was actually Wednesday, but I wanted to wait and post it after she had her party. It was a good weekend to have it since Glade is out of town and I had nothing else to do. She invited friends over and we had pizza and cake. They danced and jumped and giggled and just played like girls do. They are all very sweet and polite and made for a very easy evening. They decorated the cakes themselves which was very messy, but they loved it. I'm pretty sure all the mess is still waiting for me. She had one girl stay the night so they are still partying this morning. Happy Birthday Brooklyn!


These pictures are actually on her birthday. We sang to her and gave her a few of her presents in the morning.

All she really wanted was these little "texters". You can text back and forth with someone if you are close enough. Cheesy, but she was thrilled.

The traditional birthday spanking.

Brooklyn and her good friend Anna

Brooklyn, Katy, Becca, Bria, Calli, Nakona, and Anna

She got some great loot and loved all her gifts. I think the fuzzy Halloween toe socks may have been a hit!

Sweet Girls

DANCE!!

Cake and Ice Cream

She thought for a really long time about her wish. I was afraid the fire alarm might start going off.

This is the left over cake mess. We made little individual cakes and then two bigger ones. They frosted and decorated them. The eating of it was much less. I think after all the pizza and soda, the cake part wasn't quite as desirable. They all stayed till about 9:30 playing her new HSM dvd game.

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

Then don't blog! I have wanted to recount many a crazy mixed up story, but just didn't have the energy. CouponSense has been very rewarding at times, but completely exhausting, frustrating and embarrassing at others. I will save the embarrassment part by just saying - I got a lot of Pringles I wasn't supposed to have and extra sausage for a few pizzas. What I will say on a positive note is that I have found that Customer Service in the grocery stores I have visited has been outstanding. Believe me, if I had been on the other end, I would have thrown my butt out the door. I guess I haven't yet grasped the "organized" part of this whole thing and I have felt much more disorganized trying to juggle it all. I have lost then found important things in my mess of confusion. Almost every transaction has ended me at the customer service counter getting some kind of refund. I'm pretty sure I'm saving money, but going to the grocery store used to be so much simpler!

Besides that, Brooklyn had her tenth birthday which I will post separately, we are preparing for a long road trip back home and Glade is out of town running the St. George Marathon and conference is this weekend. I haven't had a date in WEEKS, ok...two, but there aren't any on the horizon either and two kids have fevers. In dealing with it all, I ate a lot of pizza. Now I feel like crap. Did I mention my allergies have been out of control??? Oh yah...this is why I haven't blogged. Stephen gave me the crispiest part of the pizza because he knew I liked it and said I could have it since I had had a rough day. I told him it was all good and that some days require a little more hurdle jumping than others which tends to wipe you out, but in the long run....you're better at it. I'm trying to keep in mind that all things are for our good, but right now I think what would be for my good is a long, undisturbed night's sleep. Are you listening Katy???