Visiting Teaching Blog

Thanks to my cute sister, I found this awesome blog that has a craft that goes along with every month's Visiting Teaching Message. This is a little paper purse to go with February's message of avoiding debt.

Check it out: http://visitingteachingblog.blogspot.com/

Aria Eliana Grove

I have another niece. Silas's sister Sasha had her 8th child yesterday. I think she's beautiful and I am excited that we will be able to meet her sooner than some of the babies in Silas's family. We are planning a trip to Missouri in May, which I am getting more and more excited about all the time. We haven't been to Missouri for over 3 years now and so in addition to meeting Aria, we haven't met Gideon (Aria's older brother), Joshua (Jonah & Laura's 1 year old), Alexandria (Josiah & Kris's 1 year old), Franklin (Sis & Phil's baby...we saw them just a little before he was born), and Rachel (Sarah & Kevin's 1 year old).

WOW! We need to get out there more often!

72 hour kit...STEP 2: Food

As I have said in a few previous posts, the Southwest Utah Public Health Department has a pamphlet that I picked up from the health department that's called PLAN 9. (Click HERE to see the pamplet.)

Plan 9 is a simple guide to nine essential items to help you shelter-in-place in the event of an emergency.

STEP 1 is WATER. (Click HERE to see my water post.)

STEP 2 is FOOD. I have looked at A LOT of 72 hour kit food lists. The one I like the most is from foodstoragemadeeasy.net.

Here is the list for ONE kit:
Tang, 2- 1/4 cup servings
Instant Oatmeal, 2 packets
Granola bars, 2
Cocoa mix, 2- 1/4 cup servings
Stew or pasta with "pop top" lid, 1 can
Gum, 10 sticks
Jolley ranchers, 9 pieces
Beanie Weenies with "pop top" lid, 1 can
Fruit roll-ups, 3
Lipton Noodles, 2 packets
Raisins, 1 small box
Beef Jerky, 2- 1 oz packages
Plastic spoons, 3
Matches, 1 small package
Zip locks for tang and cocoa
It also calls for some kind of small stove. We have a one burner, propane stove that is small and is in the other part of our 72 hr kit.

Here's what I have today:


It's not everything, I have to admit, but it's more than half and I am working on the rest.

STEP 3 is CLOTHING. (Click HERE to see my post on step 3.)

Remember, it's better to have SOMETHING prepared than nothing. I love this program because it is really simple. Happy preparing!

Month in review...

So, besides our trip to Provo over the MLK holiday weekend (which I blogged about previously) this is our January...

Cleod came down the other day with 8 shirts on. It was hilarious. We even went to the bank to show Silas and his co-workers. Cleod thought he was the funniest kid ever!

My mom came to Cedar last week for a funernal and we got to hang out for a few hours, which is always nice. Ryan and Grandma Rowley have a cute bond. She thinks (and I agree) that it is because she spent a lot of time with him when he was tiny. (She stayed with us when I had my gall bladder removed just two weeks after Ryan was born.) He still asks her to sing a lullabye to him when we see her.

Grant is 15 months and has offically refused to let me feed him. It. Is. Messy.

Cute boys, just getting bigger and cuter.

Sometimes money can buy happiness. Actually, DI=happiness. I found a bag of pirate legos at DI (thirft store) for $2. It has already given hours of entertainment to the boys. Cleod and Ryan have been really creative with them too.

Grant got his hands on a lego while the babysitter was over. She said she went to the bathroom and when she came back out, all the boys were ON the table and Grant had a pirate sword up his nose.

For my birthday (which was at the end of December) my mom gave me a wheat grinder. YEA! The first thing I did was grind beans, yes beans. You can use small amounts of bean flour in baked goods or as a thickener in soups and sauces.

After two years in our house, we finally got covers for our window wells. They are so nice. Grant is a little climber and I have been afraid of him falling into the holes, but now I don't have to worry. (And of course he got on right away, little crazy boy!)

Fun weekend!

We went to Provo for the weekend and had such a great time...but I left the camera in the car so I have no photos. Bummer.

We have gone to Provo in January for the last 6 years for Silas's sister's birthday. Most of Silas's family is in the midwest, so when Kizzie married Andy, who had already been going to BYU, and moved out west, we were excited and have tried to get together several times a year.

Friday night we got there, let the kids stay up too long and then played games.
Saturday we had a shopping extravaganza. We went to three DIs, which was the best thing ever. (I love DI!) We went to the Provo DI, one in American Fork and one in Sandy. I found snow boots for Grant, some cute shirts, a book we've wanted and some decor that I am excited about using in my house.

We also went to IKEA which is basically the coolest place. If I could I would by all my furniture and accessories for my house from IKEA. We ate lunch there, yes there is a restaurant in the store, and it was yummy. We planned on taking the kids to the little daycare thing they had, but it was full. Cleod cried for like 10 minutes. He gets dissappointed easily, poor guy.

Later that night, Kizzie and I went to Ross and TJ Maxx. And on Monday we went to a board game store, Roberts, and Burrington Coat Factory. Silas found some good slacks and we found a suit for Cleod, but it was cream so I am going to keep looking.

We had a great weekend and enjoyed good company and good food! The boys LOVED playing with their cousins especially, although having 5 boys in one place for too long gets loud...and sometimes dangerous.

Only 106 days...

until the 5th happiest day of my life!!!
(Note: Number 1 is my wedding day and the other 3 are the births of my boys.)

Be prepared...take two.

So there was this earthquake on Monday...no really. It has got me thinking about whether or not I am really prepared for a disaster or whatever.

Last January, my New Year's Resolutions were centered on the word Prepare. I accomplished part of my goals and want to continue.

Last year I wanted to lose 30 lbs and I did lose 20, but I would like to get the other 10 off...

We had a goal to go to the temple twice a month. That's a little too much for us but most of the year we made it once month and it has been lovely! This once a month thing is now a habit and a must for Silas and I.

I also wanted to be better at planning out meals and I have been fairly consistent and planning two weeks of meals at a time. It still can be a pain, but once I know that I have 14 meals worth of food in my house, I can be flexible and fix what I'd like.

So here are some goals for this year:
1. Update my price list (a list of the prices of groceries I commonly buy so I know when there's a really good deal)
2. Build three-month supply of meals I can use without perishable foods like fresh meats and produce.
3. Budget better. I have a tight, organized budget...that I hardly EVER keep. Actually, it's just my grocery budget that I go over. I need to work on shopping the sales better.
4. Complete Plan 9 checklist. I have 2 of the 9 done so far.

I do feel more prepared than last year, but these goals would give me even more sense of security.
Here goes...