Bright's thoughts

Take note of when they are walking away from eachother at the pool. Look at their reflection. Though we may seperate, we are always together. I love thiking about MY wedding day. What a wonderful day! Scott and I were married in the Dallas Texas Temple.

Last night I attended Fifth Grade Parent Teacher Night. First, I can't believe I have a fifth grader!!! Where did time go? Second, I learned something myself last night! the whole evening was dedicated to letting us parents know how the spelling system is going to go. I got there a few minutes late and doen't know the name of the new system. It has something to do with grouping. Some words are CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant), otheres CVVC, some have a "e" at the end and so on. So they are trying to get the kids to group the words in groups to learn how they are really spelled. It was interesting they put up words like digestable, expressable, credible, edible and asked us to figure out why certian words had ABLE and others had IBLE. There was a whole page of these words. I was looking and trying to figure it out. I hate puzzles. THEN it hit me! The words with ABLE are words WITHOUT the ABLE! The IBLE words are NOT words. Digest and Express versus Cre...

This is an amazing story. A few weeks ago, a guy in Tennessee was going from WalMart to WalMart buying up all the ammunition he could get (that they would sell him). One of the WalMarts that he went to caught on to what he was doing and called to let the other WalMarts in the area know that there was a guy buying up all the ammo. When he got to one of the WalMarts he stepped up to the counter and asked for a basket full of Ammo. This time the store had the police there waiting for him. The officers approached him and he got very excited. Finally one of the officers tried to calm him down and asked him why he wanted to buy so much ammunition. Realizing that they were were just wondeing why he was going from store to store doing such a thing, he stared at them with a puzzled look on his face and said that he couldnt' believe that they were so calm knowing that the Russians had just taken over Georgia. He said that he would be damned if they were going to cross into Tennessee without ...

Things have a way of happening around here that make me feel a wee bit chastened and a lot loved. Yesterday after my doctors appointment and my anger subsided. Scott came home early (WOW!), dinner wasn't ready and the house was a disaster. We talked for a few minutes and he said two things to me that REALLY hurt. First he said "your depression is contagious". I said something to the affect "Fine, I'll go bury my head". Then a few minutes later he said "It is hard to help someone who isn't happy with what they are going through". you might ask "how does any of that make you feel loved". Well that didn't, it is what came next. I went to my room and laid down and he came in to work on the FHE lesson. I didn't want to be near him so I left and said I needed to make sure homework was done. He followed me! ARGH!! He said he would make dinner (JAW DROP!). He asked me to do the lesson, at that point I had turned on the TV and wanted t...

I am Woman hear me roar. I am woman in pain for 2wks hear me whine! I managed to get into the doctor today, by way of a cancelation. My Gastro said "no it doesn't soundlike crohn's" and my Gyn says "I don't think it is endo". So I get emotional and mad. No one seems to care what it is, just that it isn't in their specialty. So of course I couldn't remain logical, I got mad. My sweet hubby was there to help me make my point. Unfortunately, I wanted to hit him too. What is the problem with emotion? WHy do I have to be logical. Why is it they can't say, "let's try to figure out what it is". Not one said "let's do some blood work". I did leave with an appointment for surgery, but he doesn't think it is my endo giving me all this pain. "It is moving, endo doesn't move" he says. Well, what do you think it is sir? "I think it is bowel, maybe not crohn's but not endo". I got ...

The Ant and the Grasshopper An Aesop Fable retold by Rose Owens One summer day a grasshopper was singing and chirping and hopping about. He was having a wonderful time. He saw an ant who was busy gathering and storing grain for the winter. “Stop and talk to me,” said the grasshopper. “We can sing some songs and dance a while.” “Oh no,” said the ant. “Winter is coming. I am storing up food for the winter. I think you should do the same.” “Oh, I can’t be bothered,” said the grasshopper. “Winter is a long time off. There is plenty of food.” So the grasshopper continued to dance and sing and chip and the ant continued to work. When winter came the grasshopper had no food and was starving. He went to the ant’s house and asked, “Can I have some wheat or maybe a few kernels of corn. Without it I will starve,” whined the grasshopper. “You danced last summer,” said the ants in disgust. “You can continue to dance.” And they gav...

I ponder this every now and again. My kids just have no clue that other kids help out aroudn the hosue more than they do. They really have it easy. I have it hard. Or really we have a messy house. I have a friend who has 7 kids and on on the way. I have NEVER seen her house a wreck. Honestly, it is immaculate. And she amazes me. Her kids have a wheel on the fridge and they have set chores for the WEEK! They are like mopping, vacuuming, dishes etc. So each child has one for the week. My kids get mad when I aske them to empty the dishwasher. Okay, MAD isn't the right word "WHY ME?" are the right words. Hmmmmm.... My job as a mother is to teach them to be responsible and I'm failing. They don't listen to me, they WILL listen to dad. Why is that? I have thought about following my friend's example, but my kids don't want to be in charge of the dishes for a full week. Honestly, neither do I. That si why I keep thinking of ways to get them invol...

My SIL gave me a bunch of apricots and they HAVE to be used TODAY or they will be wasted! So, my day will be sticky...anyone want to help? ;) Jam and leather hear I come!

Apparently YES it can. I was studying some things before going to the doctor. It looks like some of the symptoms I am having and blaming on crohn's could possibly be my endo. My youngest is almost 3yrs old, which means for three years endo could've been growing, minus the time I was on a birth control. My Body didn't like those I tried. So for the majority of that time I have been a prime target. It could explain why the crohn's seems cyclical. Pain starts a few days (4 or so) before my period. THen starts to go away after the period. I am on day 11 of the pain now and I feel better than yesterday (VERY bad day). So if it goes away in a few days, maybe it is Endo). It doesn't feel like what I experienced before, though. My Gastro gave me a script of prednisone (hate that stuff). He was going to start me out on a half dose and let me wean off in a week if it was working. After asking more questions, he said he thinks it is the endo. He told me not to take...

I have been having classes at my house lately (2-3 months) and I have sat down and created a blog for that. I hope to keep this one more personal. My "learn with me" blog can be found at http://learnwithmeclasses.blogspot.com/. You can click on the title above to get there. :) I need to figure out how to transfer stuff over there.

  Today is the first day back to school. I can't believe it! We have a fifth, third and first grader. Seems like yesterday Lindsey was in kindergarten, not 6yrs ago. WOW! Where did the time go. They are each super excited! Monday for family home evening each of the kids recieved a Father's blessing. They were each incredible. What a blessing it is to have the priesthood in our home. I hope the girls grow up to respect it. This morning we had pancakes and scrambled eggs with Orange Julius to drink. We read some Book of Mormon together and had Family Prayer. They are properly equipped to go to school. Scott said the prayer this morning and asked that the teachers be led in what they teach and that it is only good. My biggest worry about public school is that the curriculum will change and they will be forced to teach things that are not in accordance with our beliefs. When that happens I will take my kids home to be taught by me. I'm not ready for that. I hav...

Just over 5yrs ago I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I was pregnant with my fourth child. Apparently I wasn't fitting the normal crohn's pattern. I was put on Asacol, prednisone and another drug. I was taking about 30-40 pills a day. I hate prednisone. I would try to wean off and the symptoms would return. So up I would go on the pred. Along with the prednisone came gestational diabetes. Prednisone interferes with glucose levels. I developed UTIs, one after another. Prednisone also interferes with healing. Works great on inflammation, but terrible for a sick body. I had a UTI the last 12wks of my pregnancy. NICE! Didn't help that my bladder was weak and I leaked urine. Most women will understand, that happens. SIGH! Fast forward, I delivered my sweet baby and dove into German Chocolate cake. The gestational diabetes was gone you know. :) My OB, went to the cafeteria and saved me a piece so I could have it after I delivered. what a great guy! The symptoms went away s...

We were out running around last night and went to Wendy's. You know it is aways so cold in there. I wonder how cold it is and what their electric bill is, jsut of AC. I noticed, my kids gobbled down their food and came asking for more! That was a first! Usually they pick at food when we are out. Dirves me nuts. This time, the girls all asked for me to buy more. Either they are growing up or the saying is true. On the way home I explained that when you are cold your body is burning more calories to keep you warm, so you tend to eat more. I don't know if it is really immediate or not...it seemed to be last night. Dejah, was a hoot, she said "Mom, I think we need to put a fan ont he bench where Katie sits". It took me a few minutes to connect what she was saying. It was hilarious once I realized what she said. Katie's is my picky child. I guess, Dejah thinks her being cold would solve that. Katie didn't like that idea at all! "I'm not eati...

First, what is a wonderbox? A wonderbox is an insulated "box" that uses the heat in the item to finish cooking it. You can make rice, stew, cooked wheat, roast (so I have heard) and even BREAD. The gist of this is you heat the item , say RICE to a boil then cover it and put it in the wonder box and let it cook. SINCE HAVING TROUBLE WITH MY PICTURES ON BLOGSPOT I MADE A WEB ALBUM you can view http://picasaweb.google.com/brghtii/Wonderbox To make wonderbox bread you first need to make a bread dough like you would normally. On the second Rise or 1st if there is only one, you put the dough in a cereal bag that has been greased. Twist tie it so it is closed. Put the cereal bagged dough in a Oven bag (Renyolds). twist tie it with a loop so the water doesnt' get in it. Put warm water (about 1/4 pan full) in pan and set the bread dough (in bags) in it to let rise. The warm water will make it rise fast. Once risen bring the water to a boil (with the bread dough in it) k...

I recieved this in my inbox this morning and thought it was very thought provoking. Many quarentine periods are THREE MONTHS. The First Presidency has asked us to obtain a three month supply of foods we normally eat (that we can store). I think it was revelation, personally. U.S. Cities Would be Locked Down, Quarantined Under Pandemic Flu Response Plan Sunday, August 10, 2008 by: David Gutierrez | Key concepts: pandemic, quarantine and natural health (NaturalNews) The federal government would need to quarantine infected households and ban public gatherings to contain pandemic flu, according to a computer simulation study conducted by researchers from Virginia Tech and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "You wouldn't go out to the movies. You wouldn't congregate with people," said researcher Stephen Eubank. "You'd pretty much be staying home with the doors and windows battened down." The consensus among health experts is ...

  When I made Mozzarella a few weeks back I took a few pictures. Above are the main ingredients. Powdered milk (note the date (1999), oil (pretty much any kind), rennet, and Citric Acid (not pictured).   This is a picture of the curds after putting in the citric acid and the rennet. No whey seen yet.   The seperation of the whey and curd...tasty!   Finally the curd. The recipe? Okay..... CRUD! Apparently my computer isn't letting me copy it...I will add it later. ARGH!

Who me? I guess. Dang! I want to be back to my pre-baby size. Hmmm...is that even possible. How come some women can shrink back to their teeny tiny flat tummy way after having kids? It just ain't fair! Just ain't! I lost 30lbs in 2007. That is amazing! Too bad I gained 10 of that back in 2008. Okay, so I was diagnosed with crohn's and I haven't been excercising. I'm sure it is the latter of those two that caused me to put on the weight. SO, now I want to loose 20lbs. A friend who is doing weight watchers recommends that I start with 10% of my current weight. SO....that will be NOT 20lbs. So my goal is 14lbs. That isn't too bad, right? 14 isn't that much! I can do that easily! Possitive self talk, that's right! I CAN do it! I lost 30 from 2/07-8/07. Fourteen should take, what? THREE! I can do that! Okay, Halloween here I come! No cow this year I'll be a Vixen (only for my hubby). I was a cow petty much since I was pregnant wit...

Definitions of denial on the Web: the act of refusing to comply (as with a request); "it resulted in a complete denial of his privileges" the act of asserting that something alleged is not true (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that denies painful thoughts abnegation: renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others defense: a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense" I think I am in denial and my denial fits the bold defintion above. OR is it this one? Denial (also called abnegation) is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. Yep that's it!

Last night we had our Enrichment meeting where my group did some alternative cooking methods. It turned out well! My friend Cindy and my mom helped with the cooking and clean up. I could not have done it without them. We did two desserts, Zuchinini Brownies (weight wathcers), and a chocolate cherry dump cake. A mock lasagna and teriyaki chicken with rice. Not to mention all the salads that were brought. OH I left there SO full it wasn't even funny! Our methods of cooking you ask? Three Apple Box ovens, 1 dutch oven and an wonder box. All but the wonder box uses charcoal. We had trouble with the charcoal first getting it started, then keeping the food hot. There was a good breeze which is GREAT for cooling us off, but it does the same with the charcoal. The dutch oven did fine (teriyaki chicken) which is what I was most worried about. Supposedly each Kingsford bricket adds 35* tot he apple box oven, thus if you use 10 you can keep a 350* temp. Well, last night it didn't work tha...

I have four girls who all are sucessfully potty trained. I have one boy and we are on the verge of attempting this. Do I go pantless? Do I go underwear? Do I go pull ups? Are boys different (other than the obvious) than girls? Oh dang, what to do!

I dont' know if you know about FreeCycle.org or not. It is a nifty way of getting rid of unwanted items whether it is an old smoker you've had for 13yrs and used ONCE or a Yamaha keyboard your husband wanted to keep even though you have a digital piano. These are my two most recent items listed on FreeCycle. I posted them both on Saturday as I was working on the garage. I got NO hits on the keyboard so I broadened the reach and posted it on another freecycle group. Well this morning I ahve 9 people who want the keyboard. Now, who to choose..... Do I pick the mom tooking for something for her autistic son to play on, the one who wants her son's to take piano lessons so they can be of more service on their LDS missions, the one who herself is going to be taking lessons, the one who is borrowing a keyboard while her kids are taking lessons? I skipped the ones who were jsut "I want a keyboard". I may jsut pick a number from 1-9 and call it good. I wish I could ...