Frasier Moments

Enchanted Forest

2011-08-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

We visit the Enchanted Forest every summer and each time it's just as much fun.

Benji is FOUR!

2011-08-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Swimming Lessons

2011-08-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

2011-08-22T16:37:00.001-07:00

Acacia loves blueberry muffins.

2011-08-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Ben's lego towers and train tracks are getting more intricate. In fact, he stays awake some nights planning the next one.

Kiersley's First Airplane Ride

2011-08-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Kiersley got to spend a weekend visiting Grandma Vonda and Papa all by herself! Papa decided to fly over to pick her up. I wasn't quite sure how she would respond to flying - but she loved it! She has since begged on several occasions to go for another airplane ride!

2011-08-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

2011-08-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

Kiersley got her training wheels off! Benji loves to peel carrots.

Train Town June

2011-08-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Train Town = Benji's happy place!

Six Flags!

2011-08-22T16:17:00.001-07:00

Our trip was as close to perfect as possible! Minimal meltdowns and easy traveling.

2011-08-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Francesca's Wedding June

2011-08-22T16:04:00.001-07:00

The Aquarium June

2011-08-22T16:00:00.001-07:00

2011-08-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Our first day in San Francisco was wet and dreary! But we still made the most of our time by going dowtown, looking around the Piers and taking a boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge. The kids had a great time!

Silly Sleepers

2011-08-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

Ben made the kids a special "Bed Fort" that they could sleep in. They were excited. Of course, it only lasted until around midnight.

Garden May

2011-08-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

Ben is amazing! He faithfully has planted, cared for and will be harvesting from our garden! The children really enjoy helping him.

Kiersley May Dance Recital

2011-08-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

Kiersley has done quite well in dance! She loves it and has quite a talent!

Our Spring

2011-08-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

We had a long, dark spring this year. To make matters worse, our family was especially sickly. Blek! After several long boughts of excruciating migraines and many other ailments I finally decided to go wheat and dairy free. It has been a huge change in my life and with our family! But it's been worth it. My migraines are gone and the children have fared much better with some wheat restrictions. I've kept all of my experiences well documented and they will be on the website Wheat Free Wisdom in about a month!

2011-02-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

www.benfrasier.com

2009

2011-01-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

Dec 2007

2011-01-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Jan 2007

2011-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

2006

2011-01-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

2011-01-23T20:22:00.000-08:00

2011-01-23T20:07:00.000-08:00

2011-01-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning 2010

2011-01-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

Wow-ee, look at how much fun we're having!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2011-01-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

Decorating the tree is always exciting and fun! It's the beginning of a month full of traditions related to Christmas. This year was exceptionally special because all three of the children are at perfect ages to fully enjoy the Holiday Spirit. Kierlsey loved putting ornaments into our advent calendar. Benji thought it was fun pretending to be Santa Claus (ho, ho, ho). And Acacia enjoyed playing with the tree. We made lots of chocolate covered pretzels - a perfect treat for the kids to help make and deliver. And we talked a lot about the true meaning of Christmas. I tried to keep our festivities simple and enjoyable, yet still found myself a little too busy. So next year again, we will simply simplify some more!

November 13, 2010 Ben's Graduation

2011-01-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

Honey, I'm so proud of you! Receiveing your Master's Degree was a huge accomplishment. You worked late in the evenings so you wouldn't be taking time away from us. I appreciate all of your hard work to improve our lives!

Honeyville Farms Giveaway

2010-12-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! Honeyville Farms is a good place for food storage information and products. I've used some of their freeze dried vegies and I think it's a fantastic way to store vegetables. They're having a giveaway for some free items which I've been interested in trying. Check out their blog and you can enter too!
http://honeyvillefarms.blogspot.com/

2010-11-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Afternoon

2010-11-28T14:44:00.001-08:00

When we went back to D-land, my mom kept baby Acacia at the hotel so Ben and I could party with the older two. It was a perfect D-land afternoon because the lines were very short. We walked onto almost every ride we wanted to. The kids were very brave. They went on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Kiersley did Splash Mountain. I think their favorite was Winnie the Pooh. Super fun!

DISNEYLAND!

2010-11-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

What an adventure! We decided to leave Sunday evening around 10. We hadn't planned to leave so early (late?) but Ben and I were too excited to sleep. So we packed up the kiddos and my mom and started the loooong journey to Anaheim. The ride went well. The kids slept most of the night and by the time we got to our hotel around 2 pm on Monday, they were ready to party. Ben had driven the whole way (crazy, huh?) so I took the kiddos out to the pool while he took a long nap. That evening we took a walk to Downtown Disney. There was a lot of interesting stuff there!

The next morning, everyone was up by 5 am (thank you daylight savings time). The problem was that Disneyland didn't open until 10. We had a bit of a wait! Once we finally got in, we ran to Peter Pan and continued through Fantasyland and Mickey's Toon Town.

Then we returned to the hotel for our naptime. But, unfortunately, we were all too excited to rest much!

2010-10-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Halloween is an interesting experience every year. Benji has always hated dressing up. This year he had a Winnie the Pooh or Thomas Train costume to choose from. But he insisted on wearing Acacia's monkey costume. Yes, he wanted the 6 month costume. Ok Benji, whatever works!

Princess Kiersley is 5!

2010-10-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

What could be better than six princess friends over for a "tea" party? Let me just say that life that evening was very good in the Frasier household! And it will be a day that will go down in princess girl history.

Helping Mom Store Chocolate Chips!

2010-10-31T20:52:00.000-07:00

I found a woman on youtube who has a lot of great information about storing food. Her name is Wendy DeWitt. One way she recommends storing certain pantry items is by using a FoodSaver special attachment to seal mason jars. This works for things like chocolate chips and cake mixes. The kids thought it was fantastic to help me pack the mason jars with lots and lots of chocolate chips!

BEN!

2010-10-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I was having a bad dream about sinking on a ship. I awoke to the smell of rotten eggs. On no! Our natural gas must be leaking. So I run into the kitchen and sniff. But the air smells clear. I run into the back room and sniff. Still fine. So I crash back into bed. Then I wake up 10 minutes later and go through the whole routine again. As I fall back into bed in a slumber stupor - it finally occurs to me. The smell is emanating from my HUBAND! Ben!!! No more Olive Garden for you!

Finished!

2010-10-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Thanx goes out to my great friend LJ. You're the best! I appreciate your time, sacrifice and patience. Thank you.

Getting There

2010-10-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

I let Kiersley get up early from her nap so she could "help" me paint in the TV room. She was ecstatic! She quickly said "painting is more fun than spitting, dancing and doing headstands!!!"

Our TV Room...Before

2010-10-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

We've lived here for over three years...and we finally completed our last major inside project! Yay! I did a little tap dance when we pulled out the ugly, disgusting rose pink carpet. Hurray! It's gone!!!

Silly Pic

2010-10-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Food Preservation

2010-10-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

I've caught the bug - I'm infected and now I want to spread it to everyone else! Food preservation is easier and more obtainable than I ever expected...it just takes dedication and comitment.

I've learned some new skills in the last few months. One is how to can meat. This is a fantastic skill to have! It makes dinner time a cinch because the most time consuming part of meal preparation is cooking the raw meat. It's also cost effective because you can buy in bulk and store long term.

I've canned hundreds of pounds of meat, and most of the time everything went very smoothly. I did have one mishap, though. Apparently I packed one of our quart jars a bit too full of meat and after I opened the pressure canner one lid exploded. It was rather exciting, to say the least. It is incredible how big of a mess on quart of meat can make. Every single surface in my entire kitchen was covered in it. Yuck!

We've also started grinding our own wheat. If flour is kept on a shelf more than three days it loses a huge percentage of the protein and other nutrients in it. I enjoy making healthier, yummier breads and other items.

For some great tips, search for Wendy DeWitt on youtube and check out her website for helpful hints!

PB&shirt???

2010-07-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life is bizarre! During dinner Acacia pulled apart her pb&j and dropped the pb side on the floor. After Ben got her down from the table he cleaned her up, but hadn't quite gotten to the floor. She started exploring and found to her delight that our bedroom door was open. So she peeked in there and found, even more to her delight that some of Ben's drawers were open. She pulled out his favorite brown shirt (and incidentally that same one he was going to where to family photos tomorrow). Then somehow she pulled the brown shirt into the kitchen, plopped it on top of the pb side of bread and did a little tap dance over everything. Then she must have sat her little bottom down and squished it back and forth. Because that shirt is COVERED with peanut butter!

Just for fun!

2010-07-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Swimming Lessons

2010-07-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

The kids have enjoyed swimming lessons - hurray!

Kiersley's Dance Class

2010-07-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Kiersley loves dancing!

Trip Part 8 The Portland Zoo

2010-06-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

What I don't understand is why these two turkey's want to be in the stroller but the littlest turkey doesn't.

Trip Part 8 The Portland Children's Museum

2010-06-22T14:50:00.001-07:00

Trip Part 7 The Hotel

2010-06-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

A few funny quotes...

Kiersley has made it clear that staying at the hotel was easily the best part of our trip! In fact when we drove up to our home in Roseburg the only thing Benji could say was "I want other house, not this house, OTHER HOUSE!!!"

Me to Acacia: "Hi sweatheart!"
Kiersley, across the room, pointing to herself: "Sweatheart's right here mom."

After watching The Swan Princess I asked Kiersley if she wanted to get married. She replied: "Maybe when I'm older...like seven."

Trip Part 6 Cannon Beach Sandcastles

2010-06-21T20:50:00.001-07:00

Trip Part 5 Maritime Museum

2010-06-21T20:30:00.001-07:00

Boats, ships and the Coast Guard were subjects focused on at this museum. The Columbia Gorge has a fascinating history of shipwrecks and folklore. It's nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific. There are more shipwrecks there than anywhere else because of the extreme weather conditions and the tricky lay of the land. Even now, with modern technology it's still a dangerous place to be.

In the musuem there's a real Coast Guard boat that's tilted on a (fake) wave during a typical storm - and just being on the ground beside it was somewhat terrifying! I learned a lot about the brave people who go out during storms to save those on shipwrecks and otherwise in dire need. There were several TVs playing footage of being on a ship during a storm...and the kids and I rushed past those. I blamed it on the kids (honey, I just don't want them to be scared) but really I was the one who didn't like it!

Astoria is a beautiful town. There is a romantic feel about it, although I imagine the romance quickly turns to terror during the most stormy times.

Trip Part 4 Astoria Is Beautfiul!!!

2010-06-21T18:27:00.001-07:00

Ben and I agreed that going up the Atoria Column was one of the best parts of our trip. The two older kids walked up and down every single 164 steps. Troopers! I think I was more winded than they were.

Trip Part 3 The Goonies!

2010-06-21T18:21:00.001-07:00

Certainly no trip to Astoria would be complete without a trip to some of the Goonie sights.

Trip Part 2 Tillamook

2010-06-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

Visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory was fun! We learned a lot about dairy farms and the history of Tillamook. Apparently a long, long time ago the farmers learned that the Oregon coast was a good place to raise cows. Because of the rainfall there is a constant supply of grass for the cows to eat. And speaking of eating, apparently cows graze six hours a day and chew their cud six hours a day. Wow! In fact, I know lots of interesting yet useless facts about cows now!

At the factory we got to see huge blocks of cheese cut and packaged into small 1 and 2 pound size packages. It must be extremely boring to be a line worker. I can't imagine doing such repetitive work (at least each diaper I change is a little different, right?).

We also got to sample different types of cheese, my favorite is definitely the cheese curds - YUM! And we also treated ourselves to some Tillamook ice cream. YUM!

We then jumped back into the car to head for Cannon Beach our temporary home.

Trip Part 1 Newport

2010-06-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

Despite being a born and bred Oregonian I had never been north of Lincoln City. So about five months ago I decided it was time to rectify this situation. Ben and I planned a trip for the month of June to hit some of the big attractions at the northern coast. For example, each year at Cannon Beach they hold a sandcastle building contest. It's famed around the world. And this year we got to go!

But not to get ahead of myself...we left bright and early Friday morning. We spent about three hours in the car driving to Newport to go to the Sea Aquarium, or "underwater zoo". By happenchance, some good friends planned to go the very same day! We had a great time enjoying the over and underwater displays. Some of the over water displays were of sea lions, an octopus and an atrium full of birds. The underwater displays were fantastic. You accessed them by walking through huge glass tunnels under the water. There were sharks, exotic fish, many many creatures. But to the kids' delight a diver inside the tank played peekaboo with them for about ten minutes. Easily the highlight of our morning! We also saw the new display "Swampland". There was an alligator, several gigantic snakes (eew) and all kinds of other critters.

It was wonderful. The kiddo's also liked the hands on display where they could touch starfish, sea anemones and other slimy things. FUN!

After we ate a yummy picnic lunch it was goodbye to Newport and on to Tillamook. (Yay for naptime in the car!)

2010-06-13T16:45:00.001-07:00

2010-06-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are far away I've added some pictures of our home. An amazing friend planted our flower beds which adds a lot of beauty to our entry way. Due to an extremely long rainy season, we still had Lake Frasier in our back yard until recently. At one point we had a duck living out there. We've got a large spot for our garden which we plan to plant tomorrow evening.

Happy Birthday Norway!

2010-05-17T20:27:00.001-07:00

Today is Norway's Independance Day. There is a huge celebration every year with a lot of parades, food and parties. Even though I couldn't be a part of the festivities I spent a lot of time looking through my pictures, reading my minnebok and journal, thinking about Norwegian food and enjoying my fun memories.

When I was an exchange student, I lived in Norway during my Junior year of high school. The school system is somewhat different there because during high school you can choose a technical or general studies school to attend. For example, I had a friend who attended a music school, and another who went to a culinary school. They still had to take mathematics and other required courses but the bulk of their education was in the field of choice. I thought this was brilliant - especially because they started and finished school a year later than we do.

Anyway, the class I was in was general studies. Each class stayed together for the entire year. So the people who I started with in the beginning of the year were the same I ended with. I knew that I would be returning to the States shortly after the end of school I remember the last day of school - nobody said goodbye to me! I tried to say goodbye to a few people but it was awkward and I gave up. I left very sad. But, alas this sad sad story has a happy ending because to my surprise - my very BIG surprise - they had planned a surprise farewell party. It was the perfect ending to say goodbye to all of my friends.

I remember learning to eat potatoes "the Norwegian" way. Usually all of the potatoes are boiled in a pot with the peels on. Then each family member takes a fork and stabs their potato and peels it with a butter knife. You proceed to cut it in chunks and eat it with the rest of your meal. My favorite was with kjotkake (meat cakes - or meatballs) and brown sauce sith siltetoy (not sure what the translation is for that one). It took me quite a while to master this skill.

One of my favorite places to visit was Vigeland Park. I'm not quite sure how to describe it; very artsy and European.

You can't mention Norway without mentioning the weather. I think the long, cold, hard winters made the summer that much sweeter. Of course, my being raised in a very moderate climate may have influenced my opionion about Norwegian winters. Though the Oregon coast has a lot of rainfall I rarely saw snow growing up. I never needed more than one layer of clothing and I never owned a pair of snow boots. But I have to say - I've never had a warmer, more beautiful summer. I've never since taken sunshine for granted. I appreciated the fruit of summer time in Norway. I loved how the people utilized the warm weather and often ate outside to enjoy the scenic view.

I think the Norwegian people know how to celebrate Christmas better than anyone I know! It's a party all the way from "lille Jul Aften" (little Christmas Eve - or Dec 23rd) to New Year's Day. It was important to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to take good care of their missionaries during this season. We were included in many celebrations. It made homesickness much easier to handle. We got to try lots of new and interesting food. Ever heard of fermented fish? Need I say more? Seriously, we were given many presents and much good food.

But out of all of this I miss the simplicity of Norway the most. Things are a little slower there or maybe it was the season of my life at the time? I'm not sure. I miss walking on the cobblestone. I miss the strong odor of the fish market in Bergen. I miss the happy people I knew there. I miss the language. I miss the "feel" of the country.

I simply must return!

2010-05-17T20:25:00.001-07:00

In the movie Aladdin, Jasmine makes the commnet "When I marry I want it to be for love". So I turned to Kiersley and said, "Kiersley, are you going to marry for love?"

She answers: "No. I'm going to marry Caleb."

"Oh?"

"He's my best friend."

Hmm.

The Train Park

2010-04-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

In Medford there's a group of train enthusiasts who volunteer their time to creating, maintaining and running a large park dedicated to railroad history. There are several museum exhibits, and also real mini trains for everyone to ride on. And the biggest hit (in the eyes of our kids, at least) was the Thomas Train exhibit. It was a lot of fun to experience! Kiersley enjoyed herself, but little Benji was in Benji boy heaven. He had a look of awe and delight and couldn't stop from yelling TRAIN! TRAIN!! TRAIN!!! everywhere he looked.

Cinderella?

2010-04-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

"Mom, you can be grumpy to me today."

"I can??? Why?"

"Because you're the wicked stepmother," and with a big flourish our sweet little Kiersley added, "And I'm Cinderella!"

And isn't it ironic, don't ya think? Because I remember walking through the house at thirteen and moaning about all of the chores I had each day and that my parents only had me to be their SLAVE. (I wasn't melodramatic or anything.) I insisted that everyone in the whole family call me Cinderella. Kiersley's just starting on this train of thought a little early :)

Preschool

2010-04-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, I'm "homeschooling". Hah - that's what Ben thinks but what he doesn't know is that the "homeschooling" will be cut off completely and totally as soon as Kiersley qualifies for public schooling.

Ben Is 45! April Fools!

2010-04-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

I put a lot of thought into Ben's birthday this year. It was a day full of surprised. The first one started at work. My mom and I had made him a poster size card which included pictures of all his favorite things...such as his riding lawn mower, his man crushes (Jason Bourne and Rudy) and turtleneck sweaters. Then we got a goofy picture of him and blew it up and put it with these pictures. When he first saw it he didn't realized the card was from us and he thought "I must have a stalker!" Huh.

The next surprise was his orthodontic appointment. I'm mystified why he scheduled one on his birthday, however it made the day a little easier for me to manipulate. I simply called and canceled his appointment so the kids and I could meet him at Red Robin for his birthday dinner. And I must say, I was extremely dissapointed with the staff because they didn't sing to him. Don't they understand that's the only reason we went there (not to mention their Monster Burger)?

So after lunch I made a big deal about this being such a big surprise for him, and wasn't he glad that he didn't have to go to the orthodontist today? Hahaha, he never suspected the REAL surprise was yet to come.

Several weeks ago I emailed some friends and asked them to join us for a party at Anthony's. I'm not sure how in the world we all kept it quiet (especially me!). For some reason Ben decided that his birthday dinner absolutely needed to be at Tollie's so he could get a burger. "Honey," I said, "You just ate a burger." "Yes, but you can never have too many burgers." "But I've really got my heart set on going to Anthony's." "Yes, but it's MY birthday and I get to choose." Well, he got me on that one. It took the whole day to convince him that I was just CRAVING Italian food. All along, he never suspected an ulterior motive. Hahaha.

So we get to Anthony's and I park in the back. As we walk up to the restaraunt I try my hardest to block Ben's view so he won't see the huge table full of our friends and wonder why they might all be there. Hmmm? I don't know. And as we walk in everyone starts singing Happy Birthday. It was delightful! I have never seen Ben so surprised - or so red faced! It was grand, the perfect ending to our day!

Well, actually the perfect ending was seeing the gag gifts. There was a contest to see who would bring the best gag gift. I was a hard choice, but Ben finally decided the best gag gift was from Michelle (all of you who were there know which one I'm talking about). She got a prize - a copy of the Far Sides greatest hits.

And if you didn't already know, Ben is ONLY 28.

More Dress Up

2010-04-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

Our First Stitches

2010-04-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

Our Little Bear looks even more like his Daddy Bear now (matching scars).

I've seen Benji fall in the same way probably a hundred times and I'm not sure why this one had such a drastic consequence. But alas it did.

2010-04-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Winnie the Pooh visited us!

Easter House

2010-04-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

I was emotionally distraught that we never got around to doing a gingerbread house over Christmas. So I'm sure you can imagine my absolute delight when I saw these Easter Bunny houses for sale at Walmart. $10 is such a small price to pay for happiness! So I grabbed two houses, sat down with Benji to decorate one and realized that I have issues if I think a gingerbread house is going to bring me happiness. Here's the ensuing mess...

After I made the icing and tried to use it I realized that I didn't put enough powdered sugar in and the frosting was too runny. So I had to take the blobby mess out of the icing bag and put it back into the mixer (which I had to wash, by the way). Then I put in too much sugar and when I tried to use the new icing bag, it exploded. All the while, little Benji Bear was trying to sneak pieces of candy and then laughing uproariously when I caught him. But nonetheless, I persevered. Happiness, right? That's what I'm going for here...

So, I eventually got one bag of yellow frosting and one bag of pink frosting. Everything was in working order. But by then I was too exhausted to be interested in decorating our little house. And it took me getting to that point before it occurred to me...I really just don't like cake decorating. I like the IDEA of doing it because it's so creative and cute. But now that I realise the truth of the matter, I doubt you'll see me doing this ever again!

Diamond Lake

2010-04-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Diamond Lake is a lot of fun to visit in the winter. In fact, I fell in love with Ben at Diamond Lake many, many winters ago. So how fitting is it that we now bring our kids to Diamond Lake?

When we got there, we realized quickly that Kiersley LOVED the snow and Benji HATED the snow and Acacia mostly slept through the snow. I think Benji had a rough time because it was hard for him to move around. And Kiersley really enjoyed herself because she is finally old enough to appreciate the fun and excitement of tubing and building a snowman. And well, Baby Cakes just has some growing to do before she likes anything cold.

Our Baby Isn't A Baby Anymore

2010-04-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here's our littlest turkey in February. She was 7 months here and already experimenting with standing and hesitant footsteps.

I Forgot...

2010-01-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here's the stat's that everyone's interested in:

I lost a total of 24 pounds in 12 weeks (that's 2 pounds a week for all of you non-mathmeticians out there)

I went from a size 16 pant to a size 12

I've had to cinch up all of my bras to the smallest possible option

But my thighs still rub together when I walk...so I guess another 12 week challenge is on the horizon. In fact, Ben and I are starting together on Monday.

Body for Life is finished (until Monday)

2010-01-23T21:06:00.001-08:00

You've now seen the before and after pictures. Here's my official Body for Life entry essay:

After three successive pregnancies and breastfeeding babies, my body was in a physical state that it had never been in before. In fact, my emotional and spiritual health were in a place that I had never been before, either. Being active was important to me. Chasing around three small children kept me very active…and exhausted and haggard. My cravings and sugar addiction were out of control. I didn’t have the time to really exercise. At least that’s what I told myself. The truth is that I wasn’t willing to MAKE time to exercise and eat well.

And then one day my family and I were out for a walk. It was a beautiful fall day, crisp and cool. And suddenly I saw an obese guy jogging down the path. He had a buddy with him, encouraging him by mere presence to continue his slow jog. I knew that couldn’t be easy. I knew it might be embarrassing. And I knew that it was time for me to change.

So I pulled out my sports bra from the back of the drawer. I searched for a very inexpensive used treadmill. And I started walking and jogging for twenty minutes three times a week.

After a while, I was ready to change my diet. So I approached the dreaded ‘diet’ section at the library. I planned to use Dr. Phil’s approach to weight loss. But something about Bill Phillips book ‘Eating for Life’ encouraged me to pick it up. I grabbed it and quickly realized this could be the best path for me.

I made a goal to start eating this way for twelve weeks. I was unclear on what the twelve week challenge consisted of until a few days before I started. When I realized that it included weight lifting I was excited to complete it, but knew that it would be difficult with our very tight financial situation.

So I started lifting small cans of vegetables. After a few weeks, I graduated to large cans of vegetables. Until finally I knew this wasn’t a passing fad. It would be worth it to invest in some free weights.

It took some time to work out the kinks and fall into a regular pattern. But as I felt more comfortable with the different aspects of the challenge I also felt more comfortable with my physical body. And my emotions. And my spiritual health.

Completing this challenge has been a lot easier than I would have expected. Experiencing such positive results kept me motivated to continue. Good friends and family helped remove temptations from my line of sight. People stopped offering me goodies and started asking about the challenge and what I was doing to look so great.

I have always pictured myself as being fit, healthy, peaceful and calm. I have strived to be a role model for my children. I have valued my physical strength and wanted to improve on the talents and gifts given to me.

I now feel that I am accomplishing these goals. I now feel like the outside of me reflects what I’ve always wanted the inside of me to be. I’m now content.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

2010-01-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

2010-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

Body for Life Update

2010-01-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

I only have two weeks left on my twelve week challenge. This has been an exciting and interesting transformation. It's changed my attitude about fitness and nutrition in regards to my personal life. Sure, I always knew it was good for people in general to exercise and eat right...but I never felt a personal application. I know that circumstances will change in the future and I'm leaving the option open to change my mind at any time, but at this point, I'm planning to continue on with this lifestyle. I will for sure take another twelve week challenge and see where that leads me.

Everyone is curious about the results I've experience. I've lost 21 pounds. My guess is that I've actually lost more pounds in fat weight and gained some in muscle weight. My pants size went down from 16 to 12. I feel like I've accomplished the impossible (because for most of my life this was "impossible" - only because I never believed I could make changes like this).

If any of you out there are thinking about making weight loss goals, I highly recommend this program. It's a good balance. It takes the most important components of nutrition in regards to weight loss and ties it in with the most important components for excercising and puts it all together in one neat package.

I'm planning to start another twelve week challenge at the end of this month and if anyone wants to join me, let me know!

K's Tents, Forts and Tea Set

2010-01-10T07:22:00.001-08:00

K has been very interested in building tents and forts lately. I'm glad that Ben is a supreme fort engineer because he's the official builder in our house.

I was quite surprised an impressed when I saw Ben laying on the floor playing teaset with K. This was certainly a moment to document and share.

A Santa Baby

2010-01-10T07:20:00.001-08:00

Our Spontaneous Christmas

2010-01-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

Our kids are a the perfect age for Christmas. It's become a magical time full of wonder and excitement.

On the evening of the 23rd Ben and I decided that we would open gifts the next morning because we didn't want to take them to the coast with us. So the kids and I made cookies for Santa and set out the plate and cup of milk. Then we put them to bed and got Thomas the Train set up. (I love garge sales!) The kids were definitely awake and very curious as to what was happening. And Ben had gotten me a surprise gift which I really wanted to open (I'm not the poster child for patience). So around 9 o'clock, I said: "why don't we just get the kids up and open our gifts now?" Ben looked at me like I was crazy. Then he started to grin and said, "Whatever you want, honey." So that's what we did. I went in and lead the kids out into the tv room where they saw Thomas. And wow, Benji was enthralled. He wouldn't leave Thomas's side at all. He acted like Thomas was part of him now. When it was bedtime, he even had to give Thomas a kiss goodnight.

Our plan had been to give Thomas to both K and B, but K wasn't very interested. So I was glad I had wrapped up a few other things like coloring books and some cookies for her. They were both very happy with how things transpired. And so was I.

12 Days of Christmas

2010-01-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

Someone who was really sneaky choose us as recipients for the 12 Days of Christmas. And let me just say, I am very curious about who did it - and if it was you, I want to know!!! This was something that took several people a lot of time, organization, dedication and service. I felt like this experience was the epitome of the True Spirit of Christmas for several reasons. This was true giving. Whoever did this didn't expect any recognition, in fact they worked very hard NOT to be discovered. They were creative in their gifts and gave our family things that were very useful and fun. This brought our family together. The kids thought it was very magical and amazing that gifts simply showed up on our doorstep. And when Candy Land showed up, we set it up immediately and played together. And recieving the Santa cookie plate and cup gave our family a new tradition to start (which, by the way, Ben as Santa Claus has declared that this is a great Christmas tradition).

You know what, though? I think maybe I was more excited than the kids because throughout each day I thought about what we might get that evening. Which also made me think about ways that I could in turn serve other people and help bring them the same Christmas cheer I felt.

So...whoever you are out there...THANK YOU!!! That was one of the most fun and cheerful Christmas seasons I have experienced because of you. I appreciate your sacrifice of time preparing, shopping and giving us these gifts. And thank you for making them gifts that required family participation. This was truly a Christ-like gift.

Kiersley's First Talk In Primary

2010-01-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

When a member of the Primary Presidency called and asked if K would give a talk, I wholeheartedly agreed. That is, until I found out what the topic was: "I think of the Savior when I take the Sacrament". Now, all of you seasoned moms can just roll your eyes at me. In fact, I'm rolling my eyes at me. Anyway since I've not worked in primary for a very long time, and never since I've had small children in primary before, I felt slightly panicked when I wondered how in the world I was going to explain to K about the doctrine of taking the Sacrament and all of the symbolism etc. Until my mom came to the rescue. She said, "Shawna, all you have to do is say things like...I think of Jesus getting baptised. I think of Jesus performing miracles."

Ooooooh! I can do that!!! It's a good thing I have so many positive roll models in this whole mothering experience or I think I would definitely lead my kids astray...not to mention giving the primary kids a little more information than they could handle.

So, back to Kiersley. We worked on her talk about a week before hand. She got to color a couple of pictures about taking the Sacrament. We used nine different pictures of the Sacrament and the Savior's life. We went to the church and practiced it so she would know exactly what was coming when she gave her talk. And let me just say...she did a great job (proud mommy moment). She remembered her whole talk and showed off each picture at the right time. Wow, she did a better job than I do on my talks!

It's times like these that I have a more clear view of our future. Most days are so busy with preparing food, doing laundry and keeping everyone happy (and not pounding on eachother) that I forget my children are growing up. When people talk about their kids being baptised or learning how to drive or going off to college, I always think "no, MY kids are never going to be that old!" And certainly I've heard many people talk about how time sneaks up on you. This is a concept I clearly understand because I feel like time has ALREADY snuck up on me. What? K's already FOUR??? I can't believe it!

Oh what a morning!

2009-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

K and B were being naughty this morning so I put them both in time out. Then the phone rang and I got sidetracked. I've found that if it's very quiet my kids are almost always up to something I'm not going to like. This knowledge has made me unusually careful about keeping an ear out for any silent disturbance. This time I didn't realize how quiet it was because I was busy on the phone. I THOUGHT the kids were in time out but in reality B snuck out and was waking A up from her nap. And K snuck out and was cutting her hair in the bathroom. YIKES!!! NO, DON'T DO IT!!! But it was too late. Everyone ended up taking early naps today.

Body For Life Update

2009-11-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

I've stayed very close to the diet and exercise routine and I'm seeing and feeling GREAT results! It's exciting to feel my body change (and not get bigger!). Here's a list of things that I have always craved that I hardly notice missing:

milk
cereal (especially Corn Flakes)
chocolate
yummy gooey sweets

Here's another list of things I never thought I'd eat and enjoy:

peppers
red onions
lime juice
cabbage

I started out the challenge not doing the suggested weight lifting, but after a week I decided it would be necessary to stick with the whole plan. I've become better at lifting weights and have increased my weights from two cans of condensed mushroom soup to two large cans of peaches, and now I use three pound weights (just wait and see...I'll be as buff as Arnold Schwarzenegger soon).

I'm also following the Body for Life suggested cardio workout. I NEVER thought I would be interested in running (well, to be honest it's more of a meandering walk/jog).

So...at this point I am very pleased with this challenge. I like eating often (six times a day) because I feel even in my energy and consistent in my moods. I like exercising because it's a great jump start to my day. And I like having a "free day" to eat whatever I want.

Dedicated to Kandle

2009-11-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

I worked all morning to cut Benji's hair into a mohawk. I cut a little, got interuppted, then cut a little more. By the end of the morning B was saying "Stop it Mommy!" (and I deserved it!). After it was perfect B looked in the mirror, made an exclamation and pushed his hair flat against his head while he said in a high pitched voice "Mommy! Hair!! Fix it!!! Fix it Mommy!!!"

2009-11-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Ben was on National Television again this morning on the Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC. Ben comes on about 2 minutes into the clip. Pretty cool!

Weekly Update

2009-11-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

So I've lost another pound. Hurray! But more importantly, I've notices some really positive changes...

1. I can't prop Acacia up on my tummy anymore when I'm walking around.

2. I don't have to suck in an astonishing amount of tummy when I'm putting on my "skinny pants".

3. I can now cross my legs much easier than I could two weeks ago.

Hurray!

My Inspiration

2009-11-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

I started reading the book about the 12 week challenge a couple of days ago. (I'm pretty sure you're supposed to read this book BEFORE you start the challenge...oops.) So in the first couple of chapters it asks you to ponder several questions like:

Are you ready for a change in how you feel?
What are your reasons for making the decision to change?
When you look at yoruself, do you honestly like what you see?

*Personal Female Discussion Ahead*

I've thought a lot about what preceded my desire to make this goal. There are three things that stand out. Ben and the kids and I were out on a walk several months ago. We saw an obese guy and a buddy out running (jogging). And I realized that if he could do it, I could do it - despite my personal "handicap". Which brings me to the second thing...my "handicap" are my breasts. They are a little out of control. Breastfeeding has turned my 32DDD's into monsters!!! Who even knows what a J cup is??? Let's just say running (or any movement) causes me to be rather front heavy and off balance. So one of my biggest goals in this challenge is to loose breast wieght! The third thing that has motivated me is that I realized my eating and sugar cravings (addiction) was getting out of hand. I knew that I needed to shift or my body was going to respond negatively.

Body For Life Update

2009-11-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

It's been one week since I started this challenge. The challenge consists of nutritional goals, aerobic excercise goals and strength training. It has been GREAT! I've followed the nutrition and aerobic parts 100%. When it came to strength training, I didn't plan to use this particular method so I didn't start on it at first. I learned, however, that it would be better to follow the program completely. So I bought a very inexpensive used home gym and grabbed three different sizes of canned soup and started following this weight program.

I have really enjoyed this eating plan. You eat a carb and protein together at six small meals and snacks, and add vegies with two of these meals. So, for example if you want to eat a dessert, you add protein powder to pudding to get your carb and protien together. Every week there's a "free day" when you can eat anything you want. So yesterday was my first free day. In the book, Bill Phillips says that your free day quickly becomes self regulating. And I can tell you from experience - it's true!!! Let me tell you about my eating yesterday. I woke up and ate Cream of Wheat (with NO protien powder). Then at lunch I ate a hamburger from Red Robin. Yum!!! During the afternoon I ate one of my favorite candy bars (Idaho Spud). In the evening I sampled several different soups and Thai food. Then for my evening snack I ate ice cream from Dairy Queen.

I was so SICK all night. My body ached, my muscles felt yucky. My tummy groaned and complained. I won't do THAT again! I think I will probably be more prone to take a "free meal" rather than a whole day.

What really amazes me, though, is that despite ALL the food I've eaten the last week (and it has been a lot!) I've still lost 9, yes NINE pounds. Sure, there's probably a lot of water wieght in those pounds, but I don't think it's all water wieght because my clothes are looser. Already I can feel and see a difference. Hurray!!!

Body For Life Challenge

2009-11-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

I am commit-o-phobic. I long ago learned that I would rather NOT fail than to try something new (yes, I hear the collective gasp from all of you positive thinkers out there).

So I'm jumping out of my comfort zone and I'm committing (AHHH!) to the Body for Life 12 week challenge. Here's the link...

http://bodyforlife.com/challenge/index.asp.

I'm excited at the thought of making some positive changes in my lifestyle, both in my excercise and eating habits. But I'm also SCARED...because...what if I FAIL??? I was talking about this with a friend earlier, and she also committed to do it with me - thanx JL!!! I'm even more excited to start now!

So I took the pre-pictures. Yikes! Is that what I ACTUALLY look like??? Yes, I'm sharing them with my blogging world in an effort to keep my efforts consistant.

Acacia in a Pumpkin!

2009-10-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

So this is what happens to baby when mom is left with too much empty time on her hands...

Yummy Cookies!

2009-10-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

Young Living Oils

2009-10-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

Young Living is a brand of essential oils that are a very high, therapeutic grade.
I studied aromatherapy in school, and use it often in my massage practice and at home with my family. Even though I know of the healing properties in oils, I'm still surprised whenever I use them with success. For example...

Acacia is my only baby who has ever had diaper rash problems. I tried creams, ointments, different diaper brands and new wipe brands. But nothing helped - in fact the rash got so bad that it turned into a fungal rash. YUCK! So A's doctor told us to use a medicated cream until the rash went away. So we used this cream. And used this cream. And used it some more. Finally I called the DR back and said the rash was not improving. So they said to use the medicated cream several times a day. Which I did, but with the same results.

After several months (almost A's whole life!) my mom suggested using some lavendar oil to see if it might help. And believe it or not - one week later the rash was completley gone, and hasn't come back.

Wow! I love natural remedies!

2009-10-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here's Benji's playdough masterpiece and one of Baby Acacia's new tricks. Her other one is flipping over in the bassinet. What a smart girl!

Kiersley's Party, and isn't she amazing?

2009-10-25T17:07:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Kiersley's fourth birthday last Wednesday at play group. We had a costume party and invited our play group friends. It was a lot of fun! We had bat and ghost sandwiches, eye punch, pumpkin german chocolate cake, mummy dogs and peanut butter and celery with ants. YUMMY!

I was reading in her baby book yesterday. Now that I'm on my third baby, I realize how remarkable K was. She was turning over at TWO months!!! She could walk while holding on to two of my fingers at four months. She took her first steps at 7 1/2 months, and started fully walking at 9 months. And since then, she has NEVER stopped! She runs with form that amazes me. She has incredible balance, agility and flexibility. She is just amazing!

A Little Breakfast With Your Sugar

2009-10-25T17:02:00.001-07:00

Sometimes with three little ones, one manages to go undetected on the mommy radar. But there's definitely a loud beep sounding in my mind when I see Kiersley up to the table eating her cereal under her blanket. Hmmm...did I leave the brown sugar out again???

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

My sister, Kandle, surprised us with a visit a few weeks ago. I never knew this, but apparently she is a "Master Pumpkin Chooser". She loves going to the pumkin patch, picking the perfect pumkin and then carving out all the slime and guts. She thinks it's great! So Monday morning we packed all the kids up, drove the car out to Kruse's pumpkin patch and spent about an hour choosing pumpkins. When we weighed in, all the pumkins together were 87 pounds! Wow!

Watching the scenery

2009-10-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

After discussing mini DVD players for use in a vehicle my dad made a comment that went something like this..."what ever happened to just watching the scenery?" I internalized that comment with the idea that in MY family we would NEVER use mini DVD players in the car. After all, I never had one so my kids didn't need one either. Right. How often can I possibly be proven wrong?

About a month ago the kids and I went on our first trip over to the coast to visit my parents. Now that we have three kids and only one small VW Jetta the kids are jam packed in the back seat. And Benji discovered the joy of pulling Kiersley's hair. In fact, he discovered that he could actually alternate between pulling hair and smacking her head and poking her eye. And the longer we were in the car, the more cliches came to mind and I found myself saying them outloud. "I'm going to stop this car!" "Don't make me turn this car around!" "YOU ARE GETTING A TIME OUT!!!" Benji also discovered that as much as I would yell, I REALLY didn't want to stop the car to punish him. My son was turning into a car terror.

For our next trip to the coast I borrowed a DVD player from a friend. It was the most relaxing drive I've had in four years.

I have now amended my ways, eaten humble pie and plan to purchase a portable DVD player. Because, after all, my kids might not need one but I sure do!

Ben Frasier goes Viral and then on to National Television

2009-09-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Check out the National Television Clip:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

We don't lie...(and hopefully Ben won't read this)

2009-09-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sheesh. The important lessons in life always seem so very...important. But maybe what I need to do is simply way lay these lessons for later when I'm not the prime example for my children.

Kiersley and I were having a discussion about lying the other day. When you do one thing and say another thing it's called "lying"...yada yada yada. And we get time out's for lying because it's not nice...yada yada yada.

So I was making this really yummy dessert (which will remain unnamed) the next day and Kiersley and Bear were helping me. This recipe has nuts in it, and Ben despises nuts - anything nutty - which I'm sure it's 100% psychological because if he doesn't know there's nuts in something he will eat it up with no problem. Sooooo anyway, as we poured the nuts into the mix, I whispered to K "don't tell Daddy there's nuts in this!"

The instant I said it and saw her eyes calculating, I realized my mistake. (But is it REALLY a lie when I'm doing it for his own good???) I quickly back stepped and said "uh, ummm, uh I mean TELL DADDY! Tell Daddy about the nuts!!!" That's what's called over-correcting.

She never did tell Ben. And he still doesn't know.

Do you think she learned the lesson?

Or the real question is...do you think I learned MY lesson? I guess not, because he still doesn't know about the nuts.

The Sleeping Quandary

2009-09-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

Kiersley and Benji share a room. It's a small room, there's not a lot of extra space. We're also planning to put Acacia in the same small room as soon as she's sleeping through the night. Sooooo, to increase our sleeping area, we bought the older kids a bunk bed. But they don't like the bunk bed (which we're currently using as a psuedo dresser). Sooooo, Kiersley usually sleeps on the crib mattress and Benji still sleeps in his play pen. But apparently these spots aren't good enough...because the other night K insisted on sleeping in the laundry basket. After she fell asleep, Ben tried to transfer her to the mattress...but she woke up and said she wanted to stay in the laundry basket. We didn't hear from her again until right around midnight. She decided it wasn't so comfortable after all.

You will learn two important things about me with this post. Yes, my three year old still uses a binkie. And yes, my children often go to bed in their clothes. It cuts back on laundry :)

2009-09-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

Keri Blue is an incredible photographer! She has a very creative taste and comes up with new ideas that constantly surprise me. Thank you Keri for spending so much time to make these perfect!

2009-09-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is Kiersley's first

day of preschool. As you can tell, she's very excited. When I dropped her off I asked her if she wanted me to stay with her for a few minutes or leave. She asked me to stay. About two minutes later she came over to me and said, "Ok Mom, I want you to leave now." Alrighty then! I felt a twinge of sadness - my little girl doesn't need my anymore!!! Followed by a silent cheer - yahoo, my little girl doesn't need my anymore!!!

K's going to St. Paul's Barnabus program. She goes twice a week for three hours at a time. It works out in such a way that Ben can drop her off and pick her up most of the time. So his truck is the "bus".