Housework and Fun Should Not Be in the Same Headline

I'm an Internet junkie. This has led me to be an email junkie - see, I have to sign up for stuff while I'm out there searching around. That means I am on a lot of lists and one such list is called Squidoo of the Day. A Squidoo is kind of like a blog but kind of like a website but kind of....actually, it never really took off and I have no idea why I'm still on the list. But I am and I read the headline every day and then delete. Until today. One caught my attention: Housework: How to Make It Fast and Keep It Fun.

Make it fast. I understand that completely. My kids understand it even better than I do! It is amazing that around here the speed of chores is actually faster than the speed of light. But then comes the "Keep it fun."

My problem here is simple - when did housework become fun? I can't keep it fun unless it was already fun. And to my knowledge, it is not fun. It is boring. Tedious. Dirty. Smelly (Think the bathroom floor after boys/men). I hate it. So, I figure I must be doing something wrong. Thus, I ran to the squidoo of the day to see what I had been missing all these years.

1. Use a timer. Hmmmm... that makes things fun? Having some idiotic timer tic toccing in the background, letting your know it is going to go off before you've had the chance to finish? Plus, around my house, timers are set for bad things - you know, set the timer for 15 minutes and don't come out of your room until it buzzes. This is not working for me. On to number 2.

2. Listen to music. Ok, lady. I do this. I put on something I can bebop around the house. I dance and I swirl. And I still hate cleaning.

I desperately look for tip 3. Guess what? No more tips. Nope. Seems that I didn't have it all wrong this whole time. It appears that our squidooer is just easily amused!

Now I'm off to tick tock around the clock!

I looked for a picture of someone in my home doing housework - 22 years of kids and no photos. I think this should tell me something!

Weight Loss Journey

For the past 2 years, I've been trying to lose weight. And I'm happy to report that I've been successful. I've lost 68 pounds. It is like taking a 6 year old off my back.

I weigh often. And I knew that I was losing, but it wasn't until I looked back at photos that I realized just how heavy I had gotten and just how much weight I had lost.

How did  I do it? Low fats. Low carbs. Counting every calorie I put in to my mouth. It is true what they say - what you put in + what you put out = how much you lose or gain.

I didn't do a lot of exercise. I tried a few times, but I really hate it. I love to swim. Perhaps, at some point in my life, I'll have the opportunity to do that on a daily basis. Until then, I'll struggle along with  the occasional walk and some Wii Fit.

If anyone would like recipes that I've used to get to where I've gotten, feel free to contact me. I'll gladly send them on!

50's Sock Hop

Rebekah went to a church dance with a 50's theme and she knew exactly what to do - raid Temple Theatre's costume shop! You have to admit that she looks very Laverne and Shirley!

First Soccer Game

Katherine has been in scouts and 4H for a long time. However, over the past year, she has become disinterested and spent the summer trying to figure out what she'd like to do this year. Soccer and karate. Really? My non-sports-minded kid wanted to do sports? So, we started with soccer. Her first practice was Sept 2 and her first game was the 10th. They played well, especially given that they'd only had 3 practices. They held their own in the first half, but lost 5-2 in the end. They were just flat worn out. That happens when you only have 13 players. That equals very little time to rest.

Katherine did a great job. I could tell that she was new to the game and sometimes had that confused "OMGosh, where am I supposed to be" look, but her teammates were great and called instructions to her. And her coaches are awesome and always have feedback.

She had practice again last night and again on Friday and then game two on Saturday. I'll post a few pictures here, but if you'd like to see all 180 (this is culled down from the original 675), you can go to http://photobucket.com/soccer1.

Family Vacation - Aug 2011

This year, we went to Topsail Island for 5 days and then on to Myrtle Beach to play tourist. At topsail, we went swimming and paddle boarding and kayaking. We took long walks. Enjoyed the sun, And simply relaxed.

Then we went to Myrtle Beach and played tourist. We went shopping at the outlet mall, we saw the Carolina Opry show, we had a play day at the pool and finally, we went to the water park.

Busy, Busy Summer

We had a very busy summer this year. Kimberly was gone all summer working as a life guard at Camp Graham GS Camp in Henderson. She loved it. Her camp name is Sunfish and she is having trouble adjusting to Kimberly again!

Rebekah went to YW camp, was the March Hare in Alice in Wonderland, went to Stake Youth Conference, and then to EFY. Although she spent the summer with us, we never saw her!

Katherine went to YW camp and the GS camp. She has decided to stop GS and 4H (except for the camps) and has moved on to Soccer and possibly karate. We shall see!

Keith and I went to Myrtle Beach while all the kids were gone at camp. It was a nice trip and I loved every minute of it! I even went parasailing!!

Catching Up - Sort of

Here it is, 16 months after my last post. So much has happened. I kept saying, I'll get to it, but I never did. And I tried to upload some pictures to show a snippet of what you missed, but blogger just wouldn't cooperate. So, here is a list:

Summer 2010

Rebekah was in Jungle Book
Corey (Keith's youngest daughter) married Mehmet
I got called as seminary teacher
Kimberly spent the summer as a camp counselor
Katherine was old enough to go to YW camp

Fall 2010

Seminary started and I began teaching Doctrine and Covenants
It snowed in November
Keith and I went to the Lowe's house in DC for Thanksgiving

Winter 2010-11

Christmas was wonderful
Matthew came home from his mission - that was a wonderful day full of happy tears

It was brrrrr cold
Kimberly started at CCCC
Rebekah was in Macbeth

Spring 2011

Rebekah turned 16 and took friends ice skating
Katherine turned 13 and took friends rock climbing
Kimberly turned 19 and didn't do anything very special!! lol
Kimberly acquired a new boyfriend named Bradley Johnson. (Still dating today)

And now I will start anew and give you actual posts for the summer months!