Opinions?

We are stumped on a name for this little lady. We always thought we would have all boys so I never thought about girl names. We like Savanah and Abigail BUT with Keaton I KNEW that was his name at about 5 mos. This one I am not so sure. Have you heard any good girl names lately?

P.S. Yes, Savannah after the movie Savannah Smiles (didn't you LOVE that movie? Did you know you can get it on DVD for 7.99! Amazon.com....gotta love it!)

Childrens books

Keaton and I love to read. We would cuddle all day in bed and read if given the time. We read when we wake up for 15 minutes or so and then we read at nap time as well (yes, you heard me right for some reason the little fella decided he wanted to nap again.....3 weeks STRAIGHT, my Heavenly Father must have decided to bless me :). The problem is the last couple of times I have picked out DUDS. Usually we get two or three good ones we can read time and time again and only a couple of one timers. We love great funny, or interesting stories. He also loves to learn about stuff (right now we have 4 non-fiction shark books we have to read before we can move on). You guys really came through on the books for me. I am still using that list. What can you do for my little Keaton?
P.S. Roar of a Snore.....a GREAT kids book!

Today as we were leaving Costco I decided to tell Keaton about Martin Luther King and why we celebrated him today. Growing up in San Diego MLK day was a much bigger deal. I went to a High School where I was the minority. My hair that in Utah is brown was blond among my peers. I sat at lunch with people of dozens of nationalities. I was exposed to many different cultures and my best friend of all time was black.

I started telling Keaton the battle that the black people went through for equal rights. I kept it very simple telling him that some people thought that if you had brown skin you shouldn't share the same drinking fountain, the same school, or the same church. I told him how King worked to change that. I started crying (I am sure partly prego hormones). It really felt that power of that great man that stood up for what was right and did it peacefully.

This week we will have our first black President (my MIL is quick to tell me he is only 1/2 black.... I don't think it makes much of a difference). I am AMAZED how far we have come as a country to judge by the content not by the color. I have to say I did not vote for him. Having said that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE what my Blog friend Michelle wrote about today. PLEASE check it out. You will love it too (regardless of political or religious persuasion). Here is the link . Leave her a comment and let her know if it touched you too.

May we all try this year as everyone we know is struggling through their own trials to judge less, and lift more.

Annual Spring Park City Trip!

The last two months the "News" has been tempting us with all the great deals we will be able to find after Christmas with the poor retail sales this season. I was wondering if it was going to pan out.
Anyone who knows me knows I try to buy a majority of our kids clothes in Park City in September and January. This last October....kinda disappointing. This January.... AWESOME. Here are some deals you might want to head up for.
P.S. If you are going to go to Osh Kosh or Carters let me know I have some coupons.


I have been looking for some new boots for Keaton. He uses them like crazy so I wanted some good quality ones. I found these at Children's Place (as a note CP had the fewest bargains) for $12. I had to buy some sparkly stuff for our little lady too. The retail $48.62.....paid....22.28.
Old Navy had additional 1/2 off their clearance. I got Keatons coat for next year.... ELEVEN BUCKS!!!! The retail for my O.N. purchase $95.85.... PAID 22.28. Not too shabby!

This was my SECOND trip back to Carters. I had to go back for the snow suit. The lavender snow suit (size 2) has separate snow pants and a warm fur rimmed/ embroidered coat (please note I really wanted the pink.... out in the right size) that set alone retailed at $65. Total retail 165.13.... PAID 29.28.

Gap was not too shabby either. They had additional 30% off their clearance. I REALLY needed new brown shoes for Keaton and wanted something leather. The brown leather shoes were 40% off so they were only $11 and this season Gap. Total retail 96.58... PAID 35.72.

Osh Kosh had this big section of $1.99 little miss clothes. I got two pants, two zip up hoodies, two dressy shirts, and a DARLING corduroy jumper. The retail 167.87.... PAID 14.98. HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG?

The first Carters trip takes the next TWO pictures. My favs? Carters footie jammies, sparkly pink sweater, and a PETTI SKIRT!!!! Total retail 325.12... PAID 45.48.

I plan this out. I save my pennies for the deals. I find if I can get things off season I don't ever pay retail. When you are living on pennies this is crucial to really pinch them. I also really care about quality. I would much rather pay $12 for CP boots for next year then $18 for Wal-Mart ones next fall (my M.I.L. is always sure I am going to guess wrong on sizes, I have never had trouble with that, I always shoot high then I can get even more wear out of them). Hope this helps. Let me know if you get any great deals elsewhere!

P.S. Grand total retail 899.17.... paid 170.02 for over FIFTY pieces!!!!

We love sledding

My sister Amara did a GREAT post on sledding with her kids. I think we all can relate with Kai and sympathize with Amara. Click here to check it out. Keaton is deprived in the virtual fun category but anytime with cousins he is good to go. Lee, my brother Garret and my Dad took the kids sledding. Me being the ever diligent pregnant girl settled on taking the pictures. All went well until my Dad totally wiped me out in a horrible steering accident. Luckily all is well AND I got some fun pictures :)

Tempted

About a year and a half ago I stepped down from a very good career to be my kids Mom full-time. I have LOVED every moment of it. I made as much as Lee so we took a 50% pay cut to make it happen. Things have been tight. Many things we used to see as necessities are now not so much. Lee has worked hard racking up overtime to keep us afloat. I have still audited and ran the major office for my company about 10-15 hours a week (2 nights) to make ends meet. I have never had any regrets. I have been offered many positions to come back to full-time. I have always easily respectfully declined.

Tonight was different. Lee and I have had a rough couple of months. His company has cut off overtime until the end of January. I was on audit hiatus through the holidays. Things have been tight. Tonight my boss offered me my dream job at a salary that would more then DOUBLE our current annual income. I would also get my 5 weeks vacation back, and I would get disability pay when I have this baby. To say I didn't think about it would be a lie. I thought about the glamour of the position. I thought about the 4 potty accidents Keaton had yesterday. I thought about the travel we used to be able to do all the time. I thought about the never ending laundry and my horrible wardrobe. I thought about not robbing Peter to pay Paul. I thought about being able to get a years food storage. I thought about financial security in an unsure time.

I then had this picture pop up of Keaton taking a bath his favorite way (see above), nice and long with goggles so he can say "presenting Keaton Palmer, here I dive into the water!". I thought about eating breakfast at such a leisurely pace Keaton can entertain me with a story or two. I thought about the swimming lessons we are currently doing and the Kindermusik we just finished. I thought about our walks to the library where Keaton tells me about stuff. I thought about the PAIN I went through as I took Keaton to daycare for a year and a half. I thought about yesterday when we forgot to read our family scriptures and Keaton brought me the book and asked me to read. I thought about the naps I can occasionally steal cuddled up with Keaton. I then thought about all that times 2. I would miss it all with our little baby too.

I declined. Maybe you think me a fool, maybe for someone else that is not the right call. For me it is. I think Lee summed it up best when he said, "let it go Babe, that is not what you are called to do right now". What a wonderful life I live.

Bran Muffins (6 weeks)

My Mother-in-law made these. This was the first time I got a good "sugars" reading for breakfast without meds. I ate it with a slice of ham and a Clementine. I think all the fiber balanced everything out. They are really good. This makes a huge batch. It is from a make a mix book she has she used when Lee was a kid. It makes 60 muffins. You make the mix and it actually gets better with time in the fridge. She then can make 1/2 doz for Sunday breakfast for 6 weeks (my own feeling is I wouldn't push it over a month but I am a little paranoid even though the book says they are fine for 6 weeks).
Combine:
1 C. oil
1 C. sugar

add:
4 eggs beaten
1 quart Buttermilk

Boil:
2 C. water
then add:
4 C. whole bran cold cereal (All-Bran)
Take off heat and let sit for 5 min.

Mix:
2 C. 40% bran flakes (Raisin bran is good, remove raisins)
1Tbsp Salt
5 tsp. baking soda
3 C flour
2 C Whole wheat flour (I am sure you could do all whole wheat although I would only do 4 1/2 C total since whole wheat absorbs more liquid).

You can add raisins each time you cook them (although they are great without).
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes at 400.

Christmas

In case you were wondering Christmas DOES come without chocolate.... Amara was wrong. We had a nice Christmas. We have been so busy with family activities (you would never imagine how many) and trying to keep my blood sugar in line I haven't blogged in awhile. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. Here are our highlights:

On my Mom's side there are 25 of us cousins. We don't get together a ton since my Grandparents died but we have been close our whole lives before that. Last summer I planned a camp out for the group. I was thrilled at the attendance. This year we had a Christmas party. We had almost the whole group again. I think we all really miss the times we have had together, with most of us married and a nice starter crop of kids it was quite the group. I don't think I got any "great" pictures but here are some. Here are 3 of my Mom's 4 brothers and my Dad.

Here are the great grandkids that were there. I can hear my Grandma now, "aren't they all just wonderful!"

We had Christmas day at my Mom's. Here are our 3 one year olds right now, we sure love 'em (in case you were wondering the two are Garrets twins, the third one is Gavins little Maggie.... no they didn't know they were going to match).

This is from Christmas eve at my house. Kai refused to be Joseph so my elegant Mother stepped up. Keaton was a pretty fidgety Wise Man.

Santa came to our Ward Party. Who do you think was the first on Santas lap before they even finished the announcement? It is amazing, he has been telling me lately that he is 15. He disclosed his real age though to get up there with the 3 and younger group. He is certainly our Crazy K.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!