Christmas preparations for Kassidy and Big Judd's

I want to show these but I hesitate because I don't want to seem like I am trying to spoil my missionary kid or anything. Or that I am all indulgent. I don't know. I just like her and want to do some fun things and she only has one Christmas in the mission field. 

I sent this little treat to her and her companion. I also couldn't resist sending a set to her old companion and her companion. I feel like Kassidy's first companion will always be important because she helped Kassidy get started. 

The little nativity will be able to be cut up and fit into the tin when they are done with them. It is really tiny and cute. 

Kassidy was transferred to Peru, Indiana. She said it was the most horrible thing ever. That is because she is very dramatic. She will be just fine by now I am sure. 

For anyone who doesn't know, when LDS kids go on missions we get a weekly letter and that is it. No phone calls or texts or any communication unless it is Christmas and I think Mother's day. 

So Kassidy will email me and then I won't know anything again for a week. It's a little confusing sometimes when we are communicating. 

I couldn't resist these adorable miniature things at the craft store. So I got Kassidy decked out with stuff for her and her companion to decorate a little tree (it's pretty tiny small). I have several little presents for her and her companion to go under the tree. Isn't is cute??

My mom made the little tree skirt...

And little battery operated lights!!! I am going to send it with a label to return it so she doesn't have to pack it around on her mission or anything....

I ate sugar. twice. okay...three times. 

Last year we took Nathan to Big Judd's for his birthday to eat the Big Judd burger and now it was Rhett's turn! This place and this famous Big Judd's burger has even been on this show called Man vs. Food, it is that exciting. 

Grandpa Dale and Grandma Nielsen came for support. They were totally Rhett's best cheerleaders. It was awesome. 

Here he is ready to go!!!! They had changed the rules though. Now he had to drink this whole drink, all the tater tots and the hamburger is only 1/2 hour!!!!!!!!! And you couldn't leave the table or get any help.

The waitress was in charge of timing it. 

They would give us updates as to how much time he had left....

He's getting there!!!! I had no doubt that he could do it! (embarrassingly...I think I could!)

 All of sudden...he had like 8 tater tots left and about 1 minute. And his food had NO WHERE left to go down to. And he couldn't do it. He was truly going to puke. So he didn't finish the challenge. It was a little sad because everyone in the restaurant knew and so I felt bad for him. But he was okay and hungry the next day. 

Anyway, that's all for now. I have a lot more catch up to do later!

I quit sugar but not chips and diet pop. We might have a problem.

So here is how it has worked thus far in my family. I have fairly annoying and wild little kids and pretty decent sweet big kids. I have no idea why it is like this. I don't think I did anything to make it be that way. It is just one of the mysteries of life.

Nathan decided this year he wanted to go to the regular high school instead of the charter high school. He told me he had prayed about it and wanted to. I do not have much desire to make my kids choices for them. I want them to make their own. My pressure to manage my life is too much, I want them to manage their own. So I was good with his choice. And...I was good when barely even two months later, he said he prayed again and wanted to go back to the charter school. I actually could see that he seemed less happy. It really boiled down to him just missing his friends. And having his friends with him all day. Fortunately he was able to get back in the charter school pretty easy and was very well received by his class mates who were so excited to have him back. Did I ever show these pictures? He was a good sport and let me take these pictures of him going into 10th grade....

The one thing that upset me and Nathan was he had to stop orchestra to go back to the charter school. It was his favorite class. He was able to perform in the concert still and it was awesome. He wore a tux for the first time ever and he liked it!

I mean look at that picture! It is  my every dream come true to see my son holding an instrument!!! I always waned that. But I haven't pushed it with Rhett. I use to be his piano teacher. It was hysterical. And it was not worth it! So we stopped. I told Nathan we would start private lessons again and when he was in college he could work on it some more. 

Our selfie. Thank heavens for the obnoxious selfie or there would be no pictures of me. 

 I still have not been eating sugar. But today I ate everything else. And I feel bad about myself now. I think a lot of my discouraged moments come from breaking promises to myself as far as my eating goes. Because before today I have felt very strong and very good because I have been careful with my food and no sugar. 

So I bought this book that Kristopher recommended to me. It has SO many great words in it that can apply to so many areas of life. The book is called "Die Fat or Get Tough". Here is one really great paragraph from it.... 

"Fat people believe they can cave in to cravings without consequences. Fit people know caving in is a slippery slope that leads to obesity....Cravings are like mini addictions that must be mastered. The best thing about overcoming cravings is they become less powerful every time you conquer them. Your success in this process sends a clear message from your mind to your body that says "I'm in control and you're not. I'm the master and your're the servant. Stop craving foods you can't have." Fat people feel helpless to stop themselves while fit people are in total control. You begin taking control over cravings and that sets the stage for ultimate victory: taking control of your diets and exercise..and finally...your entire life. Fit people carry their success into everything they do. While fat people believe being fit is only about their health and looks, truth is, our success in this area will make you richer, more fulfilled and happier, If you an conquer cravings, eventually, you will be able to conquer anything. Fat people use the same focus, discipline, concentration and tenacity as successful people in any area of life. The principles are the same and simple to follow. It may not be easy in the beginning, but every time you choose to ignore a craving it will get a little easier. All you have to do after that is stand guard and block the old habits from returning. 

Forgive yourself for all your past failures and decide to start your life over today. Everything you're not happy with is now considered a 'do over'."

It is seriously an inspiring book. I look through it when I screw up and want to keep fighting. 

AND

Because sometimes you just have to put you pet mouse and your pet bird in the doll house. 

And Kate loves it when it gets cold because the cat comes in to cuddle. 

dog school rocks!

So I mentioned that I would tell you the fascinatingest thing about the dog training. It baffles my mind a bit.

I CANNOT stand a dog that pulls you when you are taking it for a walk. I won't even take a dog for a walk if I have to fight with it pulling me. 

So in dog school we of course worked on that. The dog trainer has really worked hard to understand dogs and she has read and read and she has a degree in school that has to do with animals and she seems really to get what is going on. 

Because Brody doesn't carry himself very proudly and he has anxiety she does not want us to treat him negatively. So instead of reprimanding him in anyway we ignore him. And I am not kidding, he gets it! If he doesn't do his trick right I turn my back to him and he instantly is attentive to figure out what it is I want from him. So when he jumps up on me and I don't like it I just turn around and he slides off and he learns to stop. 

So while we are training him to heel we don't say one word to him that is negative. When she told me what we were going to do to teach him to heel I did not even believe it would work. 

You walk and the second he gets ahead of where you are comfortable with him heeling (which at first is every second) then you turn and go the other way. If he gets ahead again you turn around again. At first you literally get dizzy. We all had to take turns because it was crazy at first.  But by the end of the dog training Brody was heeling. 

I was seriously amazed. She said it is because he wants to go one way and if he pulls you are like "you want to go that way? nope!" so somehow he gets it that he needs to stay where you want him to. It's crazy. Brody is so smart that it is really fun to work with him. 

(Dog trainer)

So I have a lot of Halloween pictures. Sorry if you have to see them after Halloween. 

Nathan and Rhett went camping with dad so it was just me and the little kids. They got more candy then ever before this year. I am not even sure why. 

Because it was so ridiculously silly we had to go to Arby's and get free bacon. If you said "Trick or Meat" you got free bacon. Um......weird. 

This is my BIL Frank. They also gave us chocolate. Yay. 

(I did not eat any sugar though. Didn't even really care too much.)

Picachu and Cat Woman (she changed from being the clown) ready to go. The best thing ever happened! A flood of kids ran by and my friend was driving along in her suburban. She is one of my favoritest peoples. I jumped in with her and we got to chat for the whole time our kids ran like crazy with all of the other kids. It kept mine going fast and it kept me sane!

I have a little bit of a problem. I have grody varicose veins. Twice now (once last year and now recently) I have felt burning and they have like exploded under my skin. So now I have a huge bruise. I could have my veins stripped but first I would have to wear compression socks and see if that somehow worked. But I have no pain from them. And I don't want to wear those sock. At all.

Dog training!

Um.....I love school. Like as in a really really a lot. As in I can't wait to get there and I smile all through class and LOVE IT! Part of it is because I am past my general classes and get to do the classes that are just for my major and that are very interesting to me.

I NEVER planned on going back to school. 

I ALWAYS planned on staying home and homemaking my whole life long. 

I am  EMBARRASSED that I did the typical mid life crisis thingy and had to go do something for "me" now. 

Kristopher said I definitely had a major mid life crisis. 

SO EMBARRASSING!!!!!!! I did the exact thing that is stereotypical for a 40 year old housewife. 

So five days and no sugar. Feeling awesome. Feeling free. Not missing it. Well a tiny bit when I saw a Reese's Peanut Butter cup on commercial. I was like "ohhh....hello sweet little friends". I love those. But I am NOT going to risk going back into bondage wanting sweets. I am not. 

Okay....So Brody.

First I need to tell my awesomely awesome neighbor friends that I am so sorry our dog chased your little girl down the street and bit her bike tire and nipped her bummy. I am assuming he was herding her. 

But I took it very seriously. But I couldn't just get rid of the dog because I have a 12 year old boy who threatened to run away if I did. 

So I signed Brody up for THREE MONTHS of dog training. 

And I took him to the vet and got him on anti anxiety pills. IT DOESN'T EVEN SURPRISE ME THAT WE JUST HAPPEN TO GET A DOG WITH ANXIETY. It is just the way the universe works. Of course the one dog we would pick would have mental illness. Of course. 

And I bought him a muzzle so that he can't bite. He hasn't actually broken skin but he sometimes makes me nervous. 

So our first day of dog training was SO fascinating. 

The dog trainer completely ignored Brody. In about three minutes Brody went up and sniffed her and wanted attention. Dog trainer ignored her. Brody was comfortable. 

Another lady comes to Brody and calls him and wanted to pet him. Brody growls at her. 

The dog trainer observes that Brody cannot handle any pressure on him. (Which is why he DOES NOT like our little kids 

who maul him all the time. 

The dog trainer also talked about the way Brody carries himself is very unlike a border collie. He has no confidence and is very scared. She says he is growling because of fear and not meanness. 

She said anyone who comes to our house 

needs to completely ignore him. 

And since he has been on the anti anxiety medicine he has really done a LOT better. So I have hope. 

So one of the first steps was teaching Brody he was NOT in trouble when we put the muzzle on him. So she helped me and she just stuffed hi full of treats. He soon left the muzzle alone and quit fighting with it.

Then we worked with him at home...

Treat after treat

 Introducing Hannibal Lector! 

Brody seems to oddly feel safer in his muzzle as well. And I can relax because I don't have to worry about him. And when we practice socializing him at dog training it is good because people are like "RED ALERT! DOG WITH MUZZLE!!!!" And no one tries to pet him. So that helps Brody be more relaxed and not feel like anyone 

is expecting something from him. 

The trainer taught me the coolest thing to get Brody to heel. I'll tell you tomorrow. I had also bought a shock caller but the trainer said it wasn't the best method with Brody

 because he is so timid. 

We have taught him about six really great tricks. He is actually getting very well trained. 

Okay, talk to you later!

Day two! And Day four.

This cracks me up. This was how are old dog Josie felt. She was the best most patient dog ever. 

So one day my friend Becki and me and my brother in law Danny drove up to visit my family while camping. We had to take this cute pictures of us and the leaves. It was fun. I sort of cried on the way home because I felt bad leaving my kids. But I couldn't spend the night this time. I love my little chickies. Also when you aren't with them for a day or so suddenly you forget they were driving you crazy.

Bo has had to have some more dental work. I actually had to force him in the room. He did not want to go. But he dealt with it and is a newly committed brusher! He is doing much better. He had to have a space maintainer because he also had to have a tooth pulled. 

 Bo is still doing puzzles like crazy! We have one (or two) set up in our living room at all times. He is actually pretty dang smart when it comes to them. He is figuring out really hard puzzles. 

So four days and no sugar. The beautiful amazing thing is that after about four days (which is hardly anytime at all) your body forgets that it NEEDS 10 candy bars in one day. And it becomes possible to give it up. I love chocolate. It is my friend. And cake and cookies and peanut butter bars and ice cream with Oreos and mint and FUDGE and carmael apples, all of it. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But you know what happens to me when I eat it? It becomes my master. It makes me spend 15 dollars in one day at the gas station. And it would make me do it the next day too. It makes me break the Sabbath and sneak out during Sunday school to buy mavericks Reeses peanut butter cup cookies and hide them in my purse for later that night. It is 

IN CHARGE of ME!!!!! 

It is my drug.

And I don't like that. I can't afford it and I DESPERATELY don't want to gain my weight back. And I don't like always thinking about getting my next hit. And I'm serious. So I have to give it up. Completely. And make the cravings go away so it becomes manageable. 

I'm still learning. And relearning. I'll let you know more later about stuff I am learning. 

Still in therapy. Still a blessing to me. Still working on what is called in therapy lingo, "termination" (of therapy). It is a process most don't understand. I wish I could just sit with all of you and share the gifts that have been received to the depths of my soul. It was so unexpected.