Family is forever

All are safely gathered in. It's so nice to be reunited as a family again. A month is too long!

The boy is back in town....

Well almost. Jeremy will be back on Wednesday and we CAN'T wait. This has been the longest month of my life! I'm lucky I live near great friends and my wonderful family. I think my girls are excited for mom to get a break as well!

Food Revolution

So I was watching the new show on ABC with one of my favorite chefs, Jamie Oliver. The premise of the show is to change the way America eats, less processed food and more fresh food. It reminded me of a devotional at Ricks given by Elder Perry which I thought was completely wacko. Basically Elder Perry encouraged us to cook like our mothers did, to stop using pre-made food and make things from scratch. I thought at the time, "weird devotional this has absolutely nothing to do with me spiritually." Well in fact I was wrong and he was very inspired, OF COURSE, and again a general authority ahead of the times.

It is no secret that processed food is killing america. I will say for myself that I feed my family pretty well when I prepare food. My kids don't get a lot of crackers for snacks, and I cook very few food items from a box and so on and so on. For example my kids have fruit or veggies with either yogurt or cheese for a snack, my breakfasts are always complete even if it is cold cereal because the cereal is rarely a sugar cereal, not even honey nut cheerios, and we eat a very complete dinner; main course, salad with a lot of veggies, a fruit, and a cooked vegetable.

I sound like a dream home maker right? WRONG.... there is still one major issue I hate to cook! (The problem is I don't cook more then 4-5 times a week for dinner because... I hate too)

I have been inspired by the t.v. show to cook with my children. So the food revolution in our home is to cook with our kids by: Having them help me with the menu, going grocery shopping together, and finally they will begin to prepare most of the food with my help of course. I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but I think it is huge.

So we kick off the Riley family Food Revolution today with the menu and shopping and the picnic we will have tonight! Think I can do it???? We don't have any other choice if I want my kids to grow up eating healthy like I did because right now they are learning my lazy habits as opposed to the good ones.

Much better today..

So yesterday was a little bit of a rough day for me emotionally. Could you tell? lol Today is better and there are two reasons.

Last night as I was all tucked into watch my Bravo shows and feeling grumpy, two sisters from my ward showed up with a good old fashioned comfort bag full of goodies! It was so nice that they also entitled the card, "Mrs. Joan Crawford", as I had previously asked. This little outpouring was all that I needed as I now at this point had someone to have a fun conversation with instead of child talk. That little gesture seemed to make all the difference.

The second reason is because Jeremy's dad reached out to him yesterday. I am not sure how many people know that the reason I have been alone for the last week and a half is because my father in law fell from about ten feet up in the air landing head first onto concrete. With all the medical drama that ensues after a brain injury we continue to hold out hope for the little things and yesterday Jeremy had a special moment and today it has brightened my day as I think about it.

tony has been unresponsive since surgery on Monday. Yet yesterday when Jeremy walked into the room, Tony lifted his arm and reached for J and then was totally unresponsive again. He hasn't done that for anyone else so I feel that this was very special. I have a couple of theories as to why. I think that one major reason is that J is Tony's first born and the bond between parent and child is quite stronger then any other earthly bond. We have to work at loving our spouse, our children we love completely and wholly without restraint. As I have thought about this it has brought so much joy to my heart. Maybe it doesn't seem like much to most but for me it is the glimmer of hope I have been looking for and that is an answer to my prayers.

I always feel much better when I recognize the hand of my Father in heaven.

Negative Nelly

I am sick of happy everything lately. Especially those people chronicling their exercise progress and weight loss. It's annoying and I don't care!!!!! Seriously good for you, I celebrate your drive and all the success you are having but stop telling me about it because well, I can't find the time right now to do it myself so I am frankly jealous. Besides that I don't just need to exercise, I need to quit drinking soda if I ever want to be a size 2 again. Why all the negativity you ask? I will tell you

Here are the reasons:

I have a sick house that doesn't seem to want to get better this winter and I am blaming myself.

My bathrooms aren't as clean as I would like.

I am unable to go anywhere due to the sickness being freaking pneumonia.

Basically when I look in the mirror I see Joan Crawford 90% of the time.

I have been alone for a week and looking to be alone for another week at the least.

And to top it all off, (Anyone know what could make this alcoholic more grumpy???) YUP I decided to go cold turkey on the soda and it started today. I can't stop thinking about just hopping in my car to go get one, just one. I am obsessing in my mind. Some of you may not understand this and that is okay because I am admitting that I am an addict. At this point I would justify selling one of my children for a soda yes just one perfect little soda that is fizzy and burns as it goes down my throat. I don't even need to drink it in the shower to have my fix....

So basically... I can't wait to watch my bravo shows tonight because well I am a Bravo whore and I love all their reality shows..... It will just be soda-less so I am not sure how much I will be able to really enjoy it.