Too many cooks

If you've seen my kitchen you can imagine what it's like when a family of 6 all crowd in at the same time. Literally standing room only. My kitchen is the worse thing about our house. It is essentially a hallway from the living room to the family room. Sometimes it seems like a closet. When the dishes are stacked up and the counter tops are cluttered I start to feel claustrophobic. However, I don't mind having one person in the kitchen to help make dinner, and we are used to the tiny space.

We have been learning a new form of "too many cooks" lately. Tom and I are on a diet. The kids get one meal, and we get another. Or Tom is eating when I'm not and vise versa. This morning I'd had it. Tomato juice still on the counter top from Tom's lunch, two spices still sitting there (not having been returned to the drawer), and no salt to be found. Argh! It's bad enough that the dishes play musical chairs according to which person did them last, but do I have to search for the spices I need every time I'm making a meal...which right now is about 5 billion times a day?

I'd had it. I told Tom that if he is going to cook he MUST put things back where they go at the very least. Salt belongs in the kitchen, not on the dining room table (at least until I find another salt shaker!) I mean, it's one thing to clean up after him once a month when he decides to cook dinner for the family. It's another thing right now to clean up after 4 people who are cooking at various times of the day.

Can't wait until the diet is over and I can cook one meal at a time again.

Here's a couple of my new favorite recipes:

Lemonade

1 cup water

2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed

10 drops lemon drop stevia

10 drops vanilla stevia

ice

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

1 cup frozen strawberries (mostly thawed)

2 - 4 tbsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed if possible

1 cup ice

10 drops lemon drop stevia

10 drops vanilla stevia

Yummy!

The good news is...

I had Tom take a photo when I reached my second 10% goal. That means I have lost 10% of my body weight twice. I wanted a photo of me sitting so I could compare it to when I weighed a similar amount on the way up the scale. I've had several people tell me I'm smaller now than I was then. What do you think?

Then at 185 pounds ----- Now at 181.2 pounds

If you think my tummy is smaller now you'd be right. It is actually smaller than when I weighed 160 pounds 20 years ago. WooHoo! I'm on my way now. Total lost so far: 45.8

For my actual progress photos, look to the right! There's quite a change!

Look what I found!

I woke up bright and early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to spend the time looking through my closet again. I found the shorts I haven't been able to wear since Hannah was a baby! I currently weigh a few pounds less than I did when James and Hannah were born. My plateau is OVER!

Oh, and for the first time since we moved to Idaho I got the "renew by mail" thing for my driver's license. Tom gets them almost every time, but this is the first time for me. Problem is...I already look quite a bit different than my photo. I'll be looking even more different by then...so I guess I'd better just go in and get a new photo taken for my license.

And this is my Mother's day gift from Tom. He found it at a yard sale. Pecan wood table and matching chairs. This is the nicest table we've had so far, and it's sturdy!

I'd better be careful. Last year my gift was a new recliner...and then I crushed my foot and used the recliner ALOT.

First Letter!

We got Timothy's first letter today, and he is doing great. Three days in the MTC, and he was loving the Spirit, his companion, the other missionaries on the floor and the leadership of the MTC. He said he is with lots of polynesian boys and thinks that is cool. He said he was pretty comforable with the first discussion, getting to know people and letting them know that they care about them.

I always worry about my boys in the MTC because I had such a rough time there. Johnathan had some rough spots, but pulled out of it soon. Timothy hasn't been bothered by a thing apparently. I shouldn't be surprised that they would have an easier time in the MTC than I did. All my struggles were related to the issues I carried around with me. My boys haven't had to deal with those same issues...Thank goodness.

The Drop off

TUESDAY...Our trip to Utah was very long and boring. The wind was blowing badly which made driving a challenge, and I was happy to let Tom drive as much as possible. One of our family traditions is to do a temple session the day before the missionary leaves. We attended a session in the Salt Lake Temple that evening.

Tim, Tom and Ann

Tim, Carol, Ann, Angie and Tom

Steve, Carol, Tim, Tom, Ann and Nancy

One of the talks during General Conference really touched my heart. It was about turning to the Lord in our trials and how it can affect future generations. Seeing these three men together in the temple made me feel so good. My dad, Tom and Tim...three generations of good and righteous men.

WEDNESDAY...We stayed with our friends, the Grubers, while we were in Utah. Their son Gordon loves Tim so we thought we'd better let them have some time together before Tim left for the next two years. Here we are at Emmett and Ethel's in Lehi having ice cream on the way to the MTC.

We stopped in a corner of the Marriott Center parking lot to take photos and say goodbye to the Grubers.

Hannah, Tim, James, Tom and Ann

Tim and Gordon

From there we drove to the MTC. We were directed to a curb where they had 25 numbered signs, each one car length apart. Elders were standing on the curb to be hosts to the new missionaries. We unloaded Tim's luggage, hugged and said goodbye. The elders took Tim into the MTC and we drove away. I liked doing it this way much more. The old way was drawn out. Short goodbyes are much nicer...like pulling off a bandaid...quicker is better and less painful. I still got teary, though.

Another family tradition is to eat at the Brick Oven after dropping a missionary off. So we met the Grubers at the Brick Oven and had lunch.

Now I'm wondering...why does the quietest person in the family leave the biggest hole?

I can't wait for my first missionary mail! Or for Mother's Day!

$202.73

That's what the second pre-mission repair cost. The rear brakes on the bmw (big mormon wagon) decided to go out this weekend. Good thing they did it before the trip and not during! This repair and the fridge are still cheaper than the repair we made before Johnathan's mission.

Change

I was looking at the three kids tonight and realized that Wednesday we will be down to 2 kids at home. I can't believe it's that time already. When the kids are little you never think the day will come when they leave home, but it does. Wednesday we will drop Tim off at the Missionary Training Center and we won't see him for 2 years. We are excited to see the growth he makes in the next two years, but I think I'm really going to miss him. I have a special bond with Tim. From the time he was born we could communicate without talking. We just know what the other is thinking and can read each other's body language perfectly. I never even heard him cry for the first five weeks because I could read him so well.

Tim and the friends that came to hear him talk today.

The family after Tim was set apart by President Christensen.

Tim saying goodbye to Aunt Linda (aka...second mom)

James took this photo of my front flower garden.

Birthday again

Tim is 19 today! Happy birthday, Tim!

This cake was a result of the service auction we had last month for the Relief Society birthday. Helen Lester made the cake and it was delicious. I'm so glad I didn't have to make all the cakes this year.

Sending missionaries

One thing we learned when we sent Johnathan on his mission is that whatever cost estimate you've heard...double it! About 2 weeks before we were taking Johnathan to the MTC the van broke down. We ended up replacing the fuel pump at the tune of $800. This time we had to call a repairman to fix the fridge. Fortunately, it didn't cost $800. When we realized there was a problem we moved all the freezer items to the food storage freezer, and the milk and cheese into a cooler filled with ice. The problem was the fan had broken down...$148 plus half a gallon of milk.

Another thing we learned was that as soon as Johnathan was set apart, the blessings of having a missionary started kicking in. From that point on and for the next two years, things seemed to last longer and run better. We had a few break downs and repairs (the biggest was crushing my foot and Tom's fall off the ladder), but all in all things went rather smoothly...until Johnathan came home and things started breaking down.

While we were getting Johnathan ready I heard so much about the "sacrifice" a mission was. The boys sacrificing time, schooling, money and jobs. The parents sacrificing money, time, support and their child. I couldn't see it as a sacrifice. I served a mission and I knew the blessings Johnathan would be receiving. I knew they outweighed anything he was giving up. I saw it as a priviledge for Johnathan and for us. It's an amazing opportunity to serve the Lord, serve his children and the blessings received are amazing.

I knew that our family would be blessed for having a son/brother serving as a missionary. As far as I'm concerned the greatest blessing I received was the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves me. He knows me and loves me no matter what, no matter how imperfect I am. I didn't know that before. I'm excited to see what blessings Tim's mission brings.

Never a dull moment

A day in the life at the Jenson Funny Farm

While we were dropping the boys off for the campout they locked the keys in the van. Hannah and I got a ride home with one of the other mothers and then realized that the only house key is in the van and John's cell phone was in the house. We finally found an unlocked window, I got down on all fours and Hannah stood on my back so she could reach to climb in. We would have waited 35 minutes for John to come home, and I couldn't wait...if you get my meaning. LOL

Birthdays

I'm falling behind on blogging this month. It's birthday month here at our house and I haven't written about it yet.

On April 4 we had John at home for his birthday. It was great having him here and celebrating his 22nd birthday together. After two years of not having him to celebrate with we appreciated the time together much more. The fact that it was also Easter AND one of the greatest General Conferences ever was just frosting on the cake. Our friend Pam made a cheesecake for John's birthday and it was delicious. Thanks to Pam for that wonderful service.

Today was James' birthday. He's 15 now. It's great having adult children. All those years of throwing parties while the kids were young...now I get to reap the rewards...LOL. James planned a party at the park, and I talked Tim, John and Laney into being the chaparones for the party. I just sat here for 3 hours doing whatever I wanted and making dinner. The kids came home to eat tacos (a great easy meal for a whole bunch of teenagers) and then I ditched to attend a stake Relief Society leadership meeting while Tim, John and Laney held down the fort at home.

James wanted a spongebob cake so this is what I came up with late last night. (I started before work, but the cake mix cake fell apart and I had to start over from scratch after work.)

Next is Tim's birthday next week.