Fresh and Easy

Do you have a Fresh and Easy near you? It’s my new favorite store. One was built near us last spring, but sounded kind of expensive to me so I didn’t go for a while. I finally went a few months later because someone had said that they had awesome flowers and I needed to buy flowers for someone. I was just going to buy flowers and check out the store but ended up filling my cart. You see they have theses fantastic 50% off deals. If food hasn’t sold by the “sell by” date it goes on 50% off. And it just so happened that I went a few days after Memorial Day, so all of the meat that they packaged on Memorial Day needed to sell. I bought about 15 lbs of meat and came home and froze it.


This last time I went there were a lot of breads at 50% off, french bread, wheat bread, tortillas, naan (they have great naan), and pita bread. And all that stuff freezes great! And if you need to pick up something else at the store, their normal prices are . . . well, normal. $1.59 for a dozen eggs (unfortunately that’s normal now), $1.15 for a cake mix. They are really decent prices. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Fresh and Easy has coupons for $5 off $20 or more. I get them frequently in the mail and you can always get some at the store food for the next week. Last time I went I forgot my coupon (curses!). At the check out they asked me if I had a coupon (even though 90% of what was in my cart was already 50% off), I said I didn’t, so he gave one to me! Did I mention that they have great customer service? I have at least 3 people ask me if they can help me every time I am in the store.

They even do 50% off with flowers. These only cost me $2.00!

FYI the best time to go is around 10 am. They have normally finished marking products down but they haven’t all sold yet. Don’t worry if they aren’t done yet. If you see something that isn’t marked down but should be, just ask. OK I’m done advertising, just check out the store if you get the chance.

How to ensure laughter to the point of tears

Have your 5 year old teach the lesson for Family Home Evening.

Don't you just love school pictures? They are never really great shots but they always bring great memories.

We let Alan teach FHE once before (when neither John nor I had really planned anything) and it consisted of Alan rambling on about dogs. Well Alan has been asking again to teach and we told him that he could but he needs to prepare with one of us before. He remembered yesterday and worked to prepare a lesson (from the nursery manual) about feelings.

When it was time for Alan to teach he stood up on the step stool and did really well. He held up pictures that he drew of different feelings and asked as when we have felt this way.

Alan: This is scared. When do you feel scared? Dad?

Dad: I feel scared when I see my kids doing something dangerous.

Alan: Very good Dad. Mom?

Mom: I feel scared when my little boys run off and I don’t know where they are.

Alan: I already knew that Mom, you’re going to have to think of something else.

Hyrum: I feel scared when my bad guys . . . yadda yadda yadda.

Well it sure is more entertaining when he teaches.

Caught Red Handed

I remember sneaking treats when I was a kid. I also remember getting caught. If my Mom walked in the room and I had food in my mouth I would just stand there with my mouth shut but my jaws slightly apart to allow room for the food in my mouth. I’m sure I must have looked silly but I was always surprised that somehow my Mom always knew that I had been getting into something. Well I’m a mom now and I caught someone doing the exact same thing. He was sneaking some food right before dinner and trying to hide it with that silly slack jaw look. I won’t say who it was, but it wasn’t Alan or Hyrum!

Little Bundles of Joy

We have a lizard. And that lizard had babies. The bad news, is that this lizard, is not our pet. This is a lizard that must have snuck into our house and laid eggs here, because we are finding those babies everywhere! Their scrawny little bodies barely an inch long and an opaque pinkish color. They pop out of the clothes while folding laundry, or you might catch one learning to fly, as if falls off the ceiling and hits the blade of the ceiling fan which sends it flying across the room. We have caught 4 in the last week. I know blogs are more interesting when they have pictures on them, and I thought of taking a picture, but those things move too darn quick. When John catches them (I squeal too much so that’s John’s job) he doesn’t dare open his hand for a picture or they will escape. However, if you have ever wanted a baby lizard for yourself, come on over. If you can catch it, you can keep it.

By the way, I went to the store yesterday and I remembered to bring my bags. Yea! That’s the second time in six months! Today I went to the store again. Guess what I forgot.

I WANT to go green.

I really do. I got my CFL’s, I recycle, and long before gas hit $4.00 a gallon I wrote car companies asking them to build more fuel efficient vehicles. I even think we should go the way of China and outlaw plastic grocery bags altogether. So why is it that I keep getting plastic bags at the grocery store? I have a plethora of reusable bags. Having bags isn’t the problem. It’s remembering to bring them in the store with me. I even started keeping the bags in the car so I wouldn’t have to remember as I leave my house. But they still sit there in the car. Not until I am in the grocery line does it even cross my mind. So they sit in my car while the cabinet under my sink is being overrun by plastic grocery bags. Do you use reusable grocery bags? If so, how on earth do you remember them?

Bad Guys

When talking to little boys what would you expect “Bad Guys” to be? Maybe the boogie man, or kidnappers, or perhaps a bank robber. Well, talk to my little boys and you’ll find out that the “bad guys” are actually their best friends. They might be imaginary friends, but still best friends. It started about a year ago, Alan kept talking about his bad guys. John and I tried to discourage it because we thought he was blaming bad things he did on “his bad guys”. Well as it turns out, the bad guys, do good things. Alan wouldn’t admit that they do good things because well, they are bad guys, but actually they are fathers, they have little boys, and they do homework. Hyrum picked up on it and now he has bad guys too. Just today Hyrum’s bad guys helped him win at bowling. So if you hear my kids talking about their bad guys, don’t worry, they aren’t plotting against you, they’re just probably making plans to play this afternoon.

Today

John and I were married on August 11, 2001. I remember waking up one month later excited to celebrate our one month anniversary but we didn't do any celebrating that day. I heard John coming home from work and he stopped in the hallway outside our apartment talking to one of our neighbors. I couldn’t hear the exact words that were spoken but I could tell that something had happened. Something big.

John told me what little he knew and we turned on the radio (we didn’t have a TV at the time), and we tried to piece together what happened. The reporters didn’t know exactly what had happened yet. I don’t think it was until the end of the day that I really figured out what happened. It was devastating. I didn’t know anyone personally involved, but the knowledge that people would willfully do this shook me.

September 12 was different. The day started out feeling terrible, but as I drove to class that day things changed. One of the radio stations switched to only playing partiatoic songs, and as I drove through neighborhoods listening to songs about our country I saw every house with a flag flying in front. There were blood drives going on everywhere, competing businesses were working together to raise money for the relief effort. Instead of our country being torn down, it felt like we were being built up. We are United as a country.

A few months later I went to hear a lecture that was given by a social worker who went to New York to help in the aftermath. She was at Ground Zero when a flag was pulled out of the wreckage. As she watched, words from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow came to her mind.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.

So I fly my flag today. Proud of our country and knowing that God does not sleep, but that he can build us up after any calamity.