Salt and Pepper

That is my accomplishment for the week!
I know I know... you're thinking... accomplishment? Salt and Pepper? WHAT GIVES!

This year our relief society (church women's group) has challenged us to be prepared through food storage and self reliance. At our last enrichment night they passed out these great booklets that give you a week by week suggestion on things to purchase or set aside in preperation.

Now I've always wanted to build up a years supply of food and water and have all my 72-hour emergency kits ready to go if I needed to run out the door with my family in tow. But sadly... I've yet to accomplish that.. but there's hope! I have been inspired by this wonderful weekly breakdown. I no longer feel overwhelmed at the thoughts, "what do I buy?" "How much will I need?" "Should I really have all that wheat that I myself can't even eat?!"

I am now spurred on by thoughts like, "I can spend $5 a week and gradually add things!" "I am comfortable with what I am buying and how I am storing it" "It may not be a years worth now but in a year it will be alot!"

So that is my accomplishment this week! For March week 3 we were challenged to buy spices. I bought salt and pepper with my $5 for our food storage. It may sound minuscule compared to the big picture... but I now have something that I can spice up my potato pearls and macaroni with. :)

If you would like to join me on this food storage and self reliance adventure please check back frequently! I plan to list every weeks suggested item and let you know what I've done with that suggestion. The key here is to make a plan and stick to it! I chatted with my husband and we agreed that for now $5 a week/$20 a month was something we could do without flinching. Now that amount may grow but it will be discussed and thought about before it changes.

Next weeks assignment.... MIXES! Spend $5 on mixes that you can put aside and store. IE: cake, pancake, bisquick, muffins, or make your own!

Yay for accomplishments!! Make sure to let me know if you want to join me on this adventure!! We're all in this together! ;)

another new adventures!!

I'm so excited! I've been invited to be a regular contributor to the Modern Molly Mormon blog! Click the button to the right to check it out!
I will be known as "Mojo Molly" which I think is the perfect title for me! I just typed my "molly" intro that will be added to my profile and I get to contribute to the blog every month... actually at least 3 times a month!
So I get to share my witty repartay with the Modern Molly Mormon world! SO FUN!! So please go support this great site! I find something fun and uplifting every time I log onto it.

YAY!! :)

my big blackberry mess

I wish I was talking about food! My phone... my pretty, red blackberry curve is having tanrums that I cannot calm. You'd think having 3 children I could handle this small piece of machinery that is my sanity most days but no! And here's the best part... I'm one month out of my warrenty. SERIOUSLY!!

I decide that I can fix this problem!! Hello I'm super mom... nothing can defeat me!? I take my sweet berry down to the battery store to check the battery... I'm brilliant right? WRONG! NOTHING wrong with the battery! Even when the phone "caputs" the battery has a full charge... this is not going to be easy is it?

So my sweet loving computer geek husband (he actually gave me permission to refer to him as that... love him!) said he would try to "swipe" it for me to re-set it and hopefully get it back on track. Well that would involve erasing all my contacts, messages, emails, calendar, etc. to get it working again... ummm... YIKES! I'm scared to china that I'll lose everything on my phone! It would be like killing my second brain!! NOT SO MUCH! So I try to back-up all the phone goodies onto my computer so as not to lose them in the "Swipe". BRILLIANT! I upload the software onto my computer, get it all set up to go, grab the USB cord... oh wait! There is NO usb cord for the phone!! Now we're on day 9 of barely any phone existance and I have to find this cable so I can save my second brain and it can be swiped and be good as new!

HOPEFULLY!! This swipe may or may not detox whatever crack my phone has been smoking.
oi!! I love modern technology but some days I wish I was churning butter with a wooden crock.

d-land day 3 details

Now that I'm back in the land of the living I can share our final disneyland adventures! We had a GREAT last day! Because we had the goal of staying until the midnight closing (I know we're NUTS!), we decided to head to the park around 11am. We were there for 13 hours of fun filled... well fun! The morning started out at Splash mountain which is now one of Abby's favorites. Then headed to tomorrowland to gather toy story buzz blaster fast passes. We then took a journey on It's a Small World which has been revamped a bit but is still as classic as ever. The next trip was on the train which took us back to tomorrowland and the monorail. Heading to lunch we rode the monorail into downtown disney. Let me tell you... I wish we had used the monorail more on the first day. It was a great way to travel out of the park for less expensive and quieter meals. We ate lunch at the Jazz Kitchen which was DELICIOUS!! They had a great kids menu and Neil and I enjoyed yummy fare as well.
After lunch we headed back to park and used our fast passes... obtained more fast passes and then used those. I don't exactly remember the order in which we went on rides but we hit all the kids favorites which were basically the "mountains". IE: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad Mountain. We had hoped to get on the Matterhorn which opened the first time at about 9pm last night but the line was INSANE!! The highlight of the evening was watching the Fantasmic show!! We got our seats an hour early and are glad we did... it was packed!! The show was WONDERFUL and we all enjoyed it... highly recommend!!

Here is the synopsis of our daily "adventure". We are now proud owners of $50 worth of disneyland kids pants! That's right... Abby decided she had to go pee NOW while we were doing the sleeping beauty castle walk through... 1 set of narrow stairs and a whole lot of people. I grab her and as fast as I can get out of the walk through all the way yelling "toddler needs to pee... excuse us!" She made it to the potty but not before wetting enough that she needed new clothes. We took a trip to the baby care center... my new favorite d-land find! (Jill, we'll chat about this great place before you leave!) Bought a pull-up and some wipes (much cheaper than the $12 panties in the store) got all cleaned up with brand new tinkerbell pants on and we were off to the next adventure. After we saw fantasmic we got on Pirates of the Caribbean. While we're about to get on the boat Mason starts jumping up and down, "mom I got to go NOW!!". So we rush through boat out the exit and run to the nearest bathroom while mom is yelling yet again, "kid who has to pee... excuse us!". He makes it into the mens room (because he won't go into the ladies with me) and I'm thinking great we made it! WRONG!! He comes out 3 minutes later with his pants SOAKED... mom I didn't make it. There was a line for the potty. I later learned that there was no line just someone in the big ie handicapped stall. OI! So we meet the rest of the fam and ride pirates with Mason's soaking pants, and then head back to the baby center with newly purchased pants in hand to clean Mason up.
Joy of Joys! So Abby and Mason got lovely clothing souvenirs and I got a whole lot of laundry! :)
We're sad our Disney adventure is over but we look forward to heading back next year sometime. Signing off from the land of Happily Ever After! :)

Last day at Disneyland :(

We did it! We made it through 3 whole days at Disneyland with lots of fun happenings, a few mishaps and a WHOLE LOT of memories!! I can't wait to get home and post some pictures. Seeing that it's 12:45am and we just got home and I can barely keep my eyes open let alone lift my fingers off the keyboard I'll bid a goodnight with no "details" But fear not! I'll be back to write the whole final day story when I can function... well when I "think" I'm functioning. :)

D-land day 2.... California Adventures

Today was another dawn to dusk day in sunny southern California! We awoke this morning at 6:45am to get ready, fed and out the door by 7:45am. I HATE early mornings... let me say it again.... I DO NOT DO MORNINGS! It's pathetic really. :(
We drive to D-land, park, tram it into the theme park and get in for early admission Magic Morning.
While Neil, Felicia (cousin extraordinaire), and the girls head to fantasy land to ride rides, Mason and I head to first aid... yes just moments after entering the park... because what we thought was a slight sunburn on his face turned out to be a MAJOR allergic reaction to something. Hives all over his face, ears, neck, chest, tummy, behind his knees and in his arm pits and elbows... itching everywhere... and we have NO CLUE what's caused this. Fun huh? So Mason has a little chat with d-land nurse about itching, what does your tongue feel like? can you swallow? do you feel dizzy? the whole sha-bang. Everything checks out and we're off to the enchanted something or other store to buy childrens benedryl. We pay for our $10 bottle of meds, get him a dose and are off to join the rest of the family in the now PACKED fantasyland. My poor little man was so well behaved! Especially considering the crowds, noise and the fact that his body was being invaded by little bumps everywhere. He's a trooper!

So after a quick jaunt on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and It's a Small World we head over to California Adventures. FUN PLACE!! None of us had ever been so every ride was new for us all. Our favorites were Soarin' over California and Toy Story Mania. Both were loved by every member of our family! HIGHLY recommend if you go. :) Neil, Felicia and I LOVED the California Screaming roller coaster. Great for adults... not so much for younger kids. We had a yummy overpriced lunch, rode a few rides, saw a few shows and then headed back to D-land for Finding Nemo's submarine ride and Fantasmic. It got REALLY cold when the sun went down which was a bit stinky but had very little effect on the overall attitude of the gang. We watched the show, busted out of there and are now safely back at the Villa with popcorn and hot cocoa. Who could ask for anything more? .... well maybe a bit more sleep right?
Stay tuned for more vacation adventures!

Chillaxin'

Today was our "chill" day. We slept in, looked at tidepools on the beach, swam in the beautiful resort pool and ordered snacks and drinks poolside. We ended the evening with delicious dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. The kids loved seeing their second cousins and I enjoyed visiting with my family that I rarely get to spend time with.
It's been nice to have a day "off" full of chillaxin' activities. Tomorrow it's back to the vaca grind with another full d-land day! 'Till then! :)