~Priorities~

I don't want it to sound as if I think Ratchet is more amusing to me than Mona Lisa. But, the two of them amuse me in different ways. This is the way Mona Lisa amuses me:

When I picked Mona Lisa up from school last week she was so excited to tell me she had her highest score yet on her timed math worksheet.

After that I took her to the orthodontist where she found out she was getting her braces off next week.

When the Bear came home I told him Mona Lisa had some exciting news for him. When he went to her room to ask her she told him about the math worksheet. I sent him back saying she had more news. He came back and told me she had no idea what I was talking about.

I guess I should be pleased that she chose brains over beauty.

~Sense of Direction~

We have one of those computers in our minivan that tells the temperature, mileage, direction, etc. It is one of the priorities in all of our cars from now on. However, it apparently does have a disadvantage.

Today I took Bear's parents to the airport (as we're closest to the airport, we've become the family park-and-ride). Since the kids are out of school they came with me. As we were approaching the airport I asked Mom which airline. She said, "Southwest." I asked Ratchet if he could find the sign. And then asked if he thought he could spell it. He said, "SW, duh." Mom tried to explain that there were other letters in between and he pointed at the computer, which read SE, and said, "Grandma, it's SW just like that says southeast." Dad was still laughing when we parked.

~Nicknames~

The husband read my blog and we have decided to cut down on some of the information that we put on the web. So I'm going through and renaming the family.

Husband = Mr. Bear or The Bear or just Bear (apparently he was a grouchy child)
Kid 1 = Mona Lisa (she chose it)
Kid 2 = Ratchet (he chose it himself)

And I'll be deleting or minimizing some of the other info also.

~How do you like my new banner?~

The Bear and I spent the afternoon trying to come up with a new name for my blog.

And then I created the banner.

And then he had to fix the html for the banner to fit. I love having my own personal tech support.

Any opinions on the new name or banner?

~Would You Like Fries With That?~

On the way to dance class I had a discussion with Ratchet about something we heard on the radio. I had apparently misunderstood and when he corrected me he said, "It's true. I heard it with my own ears." Which for some reason I found rather amusing, so I said, "I'm so glad you heard it with your ears and not your nose." He asked, "Why?" So I say, "Wouldn't it be weird to hear things go up your nose?" And he says, "It couldn't. There are burgers in there."

What can I say, the kid cracks me up.

~New Beginnings~

This year for New Beginnings our young women chose a Wizard of Oz theme. I wrote a skit for it and it seemed to go over really well with the adults and youth alike. I sent it to Sugardoodle.net which has a lot of ideas for Young Women (and other church auxiliaries). They posted it today. It's currently only on the "Here's what's new" area, but will be posted under Young Women New Beginnings when she gets her new website finished.

Here is a photo of the cast.

These are the invitations.

The program was really fun. Our second counselor, Lorna, made the most amazing decorations. Then the food all related to themes from the Wizard of Oz such as animal crackers and rainbows.

The girls did an amazing job and our president, Shannon, even willed her baby to be overdue so she could attend!!!

This is my fifth straight year of New Beginnings with these amazing Young Women and what can I say but they ROCK!!!!

~Menu Plans~

Right after the Bear and I were married I created a menu and shopping list. I print them out double-sided so I don't waste paper (showing my OCD for recycling and saving paper). This is what the front side looked like.

It has worked well for 11 years with a few adjustments after having kids.

And this is what the back looks like.

After I'm finished shopping I put it on the fridge and there are no questions about what there is to eat.

I also have a list of menu ideas. They are separated into a variety of categories, including: beef, chicken, pork, fish, sandwiches, soups, etc. Even with all this in place I was still struggling with what to put on the menu each week. It seemed that the menu ideas got old really fast.

So recently I decided to try something new. Now we have each day of the week assigned to a category. And now our menu looks like this. The back has stayed the same.

The kids love it. I was surprised at how well they went for it. And my kids do not like change. They love the idea of pizza Saturday. We each choose the toppings we want and add those to the grocery list. Then we mix the dough in the bread maker (Mona Lisa's hoping to be able to do that all by herself soon) and each of us works on toppings. If we have a busy Saturday, we just pick up Papa Murphy's. And Breakfast Monday. Huge hit. Within the first week they had the days memorized. It's pretty easy since we have an after school activity almost every day of the week.

Another thing we do that works really well is having a white board on the fridge that has the headings: Groceries, Target, Costco, and Other. Whenever we run out or come close to running out it gets written on the white board. And it really does about 95% of the time. [It's Mona Lisa's big thing right now. She loves that she can write down what she (and Ratchet) want picked up at the store. I love finding items such as favrit crakrs and choklt.] It's a system that works for us and has been great.

I thought the way we were doing it was working great. But, as we all learn quickly, nothing is perfect, the same thing doesn't work for everyone, and there is always a way to improve.

~Lent~

When I was in college many of my friends were Catholic. Every year on Ash Wednesday they would discuss what they would give up that year. Even though I wasn't Catholic, I saw it as a great idea and would also give something up. Over the course of my college years I gave up skipping classes, watching R-rated movies, swearing, and caffeine in addition to other "bad" habits that conflicted with my values. And I was good at it. I usually was able to follow through better than my Catholic friends. Of course, they'd been doing it longer than I had and I think it was easier for me because it was a new idea. (Okay, I'm also very competitive.) After the first few years I recognized it as having had a big influence in my life. The year I gave up skipping classes was the best semester I had. I've only seen one R-rated movie since the year I chose to give up those (and it made me feel ugly inside). And I definitely have cleaner speech. Caffeine was gone for years until we found that, for me, it prevents migraines.

I'd forgotten about how much I enjoyed Lent until I read that yesterday was Ash Wednesday. So, I've decided to relive old times and give up something for Lent.

So, this year for Lent, I'm giving up staying up late. This is probably my worst habit. And definitely the one I need to work on the most.

Not only does this work well for Lent, it is one of my New Year's Resolutions, it is a commandment, it is an "order" from my doctor, and it works as a Personal Progress experience (which is also a New Year's Resolution). Plus, the Bear is always asking, "Are you coming to bed soon?" And I really need to mean it when I say, "Yes."

The Personal Progress experience is Choice and Accountability #1. A daughter of God can make wise decisions and solve problems. Read 1 Nephi 15:8, 2 Nephi 32:3, Alma 34:19-27, Ehter 2-3, and Doctrine & Covenants 9:7-9. Follow a pattern of regular scripture study and prayer to receive help in making personal decisions such as choosing good friends, being kind to others, getting up on time, or other decisions. Discuss with a parent or Young Women leader how this helped you. (When it says to discuss with a parent or YW leader, I just talk about it with the Bear. I also always write about it in my journal.)

So hopefully when Easter Sunday roles around, I will be able to report that I have replaced an old habit with a fabulous new one.