I'm So Scatter Brained!

Ok! So for those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with ADD when I was young. And I know that a lot of people grow out of it byt he time they are an adult. I have suspected for a while that I haven't grown out of it. And now I am pretty much certain that i have not outgrown it. I cannot finish anything i start without wanting to start something else first. LOL!

So here is my newest idea. I decided i am going to write another book. Yes, I know what you are thinking! But Becky! You are in the middle of one, book, have another one in the wings waiting to be started, a screenplay that you have an idea for and need to start, and yet you have an idea for another new book that you want to start? And the answer is Yes! I do. However this is not a fiction book. This is a crafty book! A book of patterns that I have made! WooHoo! I see so many craft books out there and I have so many patterns of my own that I have made and I thought, Well! Why not just make my own book? So, I can currently collecting all my ideas and all my patterns so that I can do it :) So i can start my newest book! Of course I will have to start it after I finish my current book, but at least I have my ideas together in one place and ready to start when I have time. You know, because I am just not doing enough right now!

Real Food For Healthy Kids!

I have been feeling very sluggish lately. I have noticed my kids having some acne on their faces. I have noticed my son going crazy after sugar. I have noticed my children asking for sweets all the time and me craving them myself.

So I started analyzing my diet. And their diets and realizing that we are full of processed foods, sugar and salt laden with very little nutritional value. That we lack the fresh fruits and veggies we should be eating. Also that we are eating way too much hydrogenated oils, potatoes, white flour, and all around filler crap that isn't doing us any good.

A year ago I came to the same conclusion that we had too much of this stuff in our diets, but I wasn't able to keep up with it, since we moved twice and have had a lot of upheaval in our lives. But i feel once again that we need to get back to basics and a simpler more wholesome way of eating.

So I found this book that I think is absolutely fantastic!

It has everything in it that I have been looking for. I have tried other books that say they are "healthy" or written by nutritionists. Only to find they are full of condensed soups, white flour and vegetable oils. Which I am trying to get away from. I love Coconut oil and Olive oil. Fresh foods and minimally processed foods. Which this book has. Some people complained that there were no pictures, but I really didn't care. I found the recipes so simple and easy to read, that I didn't need pictures to tell me how to do it. Also the ingredients are simple to find and don't cost a fortune.

I have found breakfast, snacks and lunch are our big problems. Dinner is pretty easy for me. So what I did is I told the girls to look through the book and see what they wanted to make for one breakfast, one lunch and one snack for the week and they could each take turns making their special items this week. They loved the idea!

I also found this book:



Which I am going to use for curriculum for the girls for this next year to teach them about nutrition. There is a workbook that goes along with it.

I have decided that the only way I am going to be able to change the way that I eat and eat less and better, is if i get everyone involved. It is just too hard to make a meal for me and a meal for them. So it is time for a change! For all of us!

Our Summer Schedule

Summer is already here! I can hardl;y believe that we have one more school year behind us! I just feel like we have so little time left. Brit is in 5th grade now and I just feel time slipping away from me. So I figured that with so many wonderful
museums and stuff out here we would try to visit some this summer. We would
love for you guys to come and join us to any or all of them! Just let me
know if you can come and we can work out a time :)
Also we are going swimming up at the pool here about 2-3 times a week so if
you would ever like to come and join us for a swim, just give me a call :)

Ok! Here is our schedule:

Griffith Observatory : June 24th about noon
http://griffithobservatory.org/

KidSpace Children's Museum: July 1st about 10:00 am.- This one is a bit on
the expensive side. 10.00 a person, so I am going to get a membership to it
so we can go more often :)
http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
e> &cvridirect=true

California Science Center and Natural History Museum: July 9th about 10:00
am - these museums are next to each other
http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/GenInfo/PlanningYourVisit/Hours/Hours
.php

Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana: July 16th about 10:00 a.m. They have
grossology about the body and a tinkertoy exhibit right now. Both of which
my kids would love!
http://www.discoverycube.org/default.aspx

La Brea Tar Pits: July 29th about 10:00 a.m.
http://www.tarpits.org/info/hours.html

Santa Monica Pier: August 5th about 2:00 p.m. The carousel and the Aquarium
don't open till 2:00.
http://www.santamonicapier.org/directory.html

Zimmer Children's Museum : August 13th about 10:00 a.m.
http://www.zimmermuseum.org/about_us.htm

The Huntington Library: August 19th about 11:00 a.m. They have great art as
well as a huge botanical garden.
http://huntington.org/default.aspx

On top of all of that we will be going to the Ford Theater Family series
this summer. We are going to go to about 5 performances. They are really a
lot of fun! They are a great price, 5.00 for adults and free for kids.
http://fordtheatres.org/en/events/category/id/36

Ford Theater Family Series
Big!World!Fun! Family Series
Troupe Vertigo
Sat. July 3 at 10:00 a.m.

Big!World!Fun! Family Series
Wicked Tinkers
Sat. July 24, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Big!World!Fun! Family Series
Viver Brasil
Sat. July 31, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Big!World!Fun!
BOXTALES Theatre Company
Sat. August 21, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Big!World!Fun! Family Series
LA Opera
Sat. August 28, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Lastly! We will be going to Orange County for 2 weeks this summer to stay
at my in laws beach house. If you would like to come visit us we would love
it. We will be there July 14th-21st as well as August 30th-Sept 4th. The
week of August-September we will be going to Disneyland at least twice.

Let me know if you want to get together!

I'm a SAHM of 4! "Oh is that all you do?"

It was funny because I was on the phone with a guy the other day who needed some help with a photoshop job and I was looking to see what he needed.
He said "What do you do?"
I said, "I am a SAHM of 4 kids."
Then he got quiet for a minute and said "Oh! Is that all?".
I burst out laughing! I said "Are you serious?"
He said "Yeah."
I said "Seriously? You just asked me if that was all!"
He said, "Well yeah"
I said, "Ok! Well, I am SAHM mom of 4, I homeschool them. They are in the entertainment industry so I take them all over. I am writing a book, I have a photoshop design business, a clothing design business, and I am a photographer."
He said "Oh! Well at least you have a nanny to help right?"
I said "Nope."
"Do you have a maid"?
"No, I do it all myself"!
Then he was impressed! ROFL! It was amazing to me though that because I said I was a SAHM, he thought I did nothing all day! Sigh... Such is life! But now here on my blog I have set the record straight and hopefully no one thinks that I don't do anything!

Well we have been busy busy here in L.A! We have had homeschooling and auditions and jobs, and homeschooling, and friends and park day, and birthday's and and and! Whew! I ha vent had time to sit and think let alone blog at all! The girls have been booking quite a few jobs lately. All 3 girls did a TV pilot this last weekend. Brittany and Angel became the face of a Korean TV network 2 weeks ago. And Brittany did a Disney TV show pilot 2 weeks ago.

Brittany and Brianna have an audition today together so pray for them that they get the job! That would be so fun!

We went to the natural history museum last week and it was a blast! The girls had so much fun watching the anamatronic dinosaur walk around.
We are starting gymnastics, soccer and piano classes in a week and a half and the girls aer so excited! I am not looking forward to policing Christian for 3 hours on Mondays, but next year he will be able to start as well.

I am busy busy trying to work out and lose weight as well as working on my novel that i am writing. It is coming along really well. I am about 2/3 of the way done with it. I have 2 other books in the works as well that i want to start, but i am thinking that my current novel will be in 2 parts, so i will need to start the 2nd book soon as well. I am having so much fun writing it that i am having a hard time putting it down.

On top of all of that I am working hard on getting some new graphics and stuff done to re-open my Etsy store. I have a bunch of new clothing and mommy and baby designs as well. So I am busy!

So, that's all I do! I better get back to eating my bon-bons and watching TV now!

What is success?

A few days ago a lady on one of the homeschooling groups I am on said that her husband would only support her homeschooling her son if she could name 3 successful people who had been home schooled.

I was so angered by that! I thought, seriously? That is what it will take for him to support you in your decision? Success? There were a slew of people who chimed in saying, go to this site, go to that site, here is a list, look here, give him this. And all of those just angered me more! Until, I ready this post. I thought that this post was the best one out there. And though the lady who wrote this didn't get all the support from the group that she should have, I am here to support her 100% in her views and commend her for speaking up!

"Wow! I always Find these requests to be difficult. I was Home schooled. I consider myself to be successful. Though I guess there are some that would consider me normal/average. However I chose after attending Some College not to continue as I felt it was not helping me in reaching my Goals. I know of other Homeschoolers who are Craftspeople, Artisans and Artists who either didn't attend or finish College. Are they Not Successful????? I also Know folks who did college, got degrees, make a very good income and hate their jobs and are not happy. Are they Successful????

As a Stay at Home Homeschooling Mom taking care of my Family and Home, I am Probably not who or what you are looking for as a "Homeschooling Role Model". However I pay my Taxes, Volunteer in my Community, and have never been Arrested. I Love my Life! I am Happy with Who I am. And yesterday I heard from My Sons the best thing that I could. They were happy and were thinking that if they ever had Kids that they would love to Homeschool them as well. That it was sad the experiences and freedom that they were having growing up with couldn't be experienced by every Kid, especially Public Schoolers.

I am a successful Homeschooling Mom. I was Homeschooled. I am nothing special. But I am Happy. Not everyone grows up to be a Doctor, or a lawyer, or a Scientist, mathematician, or an Author. However there are those that do and do so without College. There are a lot of different Paths to happiness and lively hood. I think that Homeschooling in all of its many forms, for many People, helps them Find their way better than some of the more Traditional options.

Wondering exactly what success is..
ladystyx "

I absolutely agree! A couple of years ago my husband was making quite a bit of money in a very good job. And that gave us quite a few luxuries. We bought things we didn't need, had a huge house and were very frivolous. As a mother I spent a lot of time spending money on my kids, not spending time with my kids.

Then my husband lost that very good job and we had to take a hard look at ourselves, our finances and where we were in life. To the outside world we were "successful". But to us, we were failing. We moved to some farm land and decided to change our lifestyle. We changed our view of success as well. No longer do we see monetary wealth as a status of success. Now success to me is measured in the love my children feel, the comfort of family, nourishing foods, happy times and love of the Lord. And as a homeschooler I measure success differently now as well. No longer is getting everything 100% correct as important and successful as realizing why we got something wrong and learning from it.

I think she is right on in her thinking and defining of success. Look at how many "successful" people have been arrested, addicted to drugs or alcohol, go from marriage to marriage, have children out of wedlock, etc. Is that really how we define success today? Lots of money? If it is, it shouldn't be.

To read her full blog post on this feel free to go to her blog:
http://nobleladystyx.blogspot.com

Getting in the Writing groove!

Well as I annouced a couple of weeks ago, I have started writing my 5th novel. And I seem to be getting much further along with this one than with most of my others. It seems to be going well. Except that I have to write when i get a minute, which usually means i get interupted about 30 times a day. My girls come and talk and talk and talk to me while I am trying to write. Christian wants to play, or eat or be changed or make a mess. You know mommy stuff! LOL!

I also get inturupted by having to sew, yes I did say HAVING! LOL! Sometimes I feel that way. You know when I promise a new Valentine's dress. Or outfits to go to Disneyland, stuff like that. Which I still have not finished. Manly becuase they are so incredibly time consuming form all the appliques on them. I swear to sell them i would have to charge about 200.00 a piece on them to make it worth my time. Which is why ladies do charge 200.00 a outfit. It isn't bad when you have no distractions and you can jsut do it. But when you homeschool and the kids are home all day, it is a bit different.

It is going pretty well staying with my parents right now. The hosue in Buttonwillow is so rained in that we haven't been able to get in to it, in over a month. And even if we could, we probably wouldn't be able to get back out. When we tried 2 weeks ago the car got stuck in the mud and we had to be pulled otu by a neighbor farmer with a tractor. I almost ahd a pain attack as the car started sliding down teh embankment into the ditch. My mom has been sick since she got back form my brother's house over a week ago. Now Brit and Christian are sick and I am trying very hard not to give into the sickness that wants to take a hold of me!

Well, that is about all from here. I guess that is my journaling post for now. Miss my friends and hope to see them soon!

My babies! Sigh... They grow up so fast!

Ok, so I started taking some pictures of my kids again and was once again reminded of how fast they grow up.

I feel like the precious years are quickly slipping away. I feel like the daily chores and schedules and just... things are getting in the way of me enjoying my children's childhood.

Everyday, they grow and learn more and it is beautiful to watch and see, and sad to see the fun silly things go away as they become more aware of their ages.

We were looking at some old videos of the girls dancing a few years ago. They were HILARIOUS! They were cracking up at themselves, and I was cracking up. And then Brit said, "Man I was such a dork". It made me so sad! She wasn't a dork! She was adorable. And it made me realize that in 3 weeks she will be 10 and how different she is now. How grown up she is getting. How grown up they are all getting.

I feel like as a mom it is my duty to love them and rear them and cherish them. And I think I need to spend more time doing that, then some of the other selfish things that I do, just for me. So here they are, my babies!

My latest Novel!

Well, I am working hard on my novel and I have 4 chapters so far. I am really excited becuase from one chapter to the next I am not quite sure where to go, but it seems to just come to me and flow out pretty good. I am really happy with it so far. It is a VERY rough draft right now, there is a lot of filler that needs to be added. But I am happy with how it is shaping up.
It is my 5th novel that I have started. And the second one that I have actually gotten past the first chapter on. I have several choldren's books that I have written that I would love to get published. But since 3 of them are all gospel oriented, the market for it is small. But I will figure out a way to do it in the end!
I love to write and have written tons of poetry in my lifetime. I am really enjoying the novels though. Seeing them unfold, come to life out of my own imagination and be soemthing that I wrote. It is almost like giving life to something that wasnt there before. And even if no one else ever reads them, I will read them and be satisfied.

Standing Fast and Immovable in Faith!

I read a couple of quotes yesterday from the January 2009 Ensign. The Visiting Teaching Message. I absolutely loved them!

Cheryl C. Lant, Primary general president: “Our personal conversion comes as we begin to live the way the Lord wants us to live—steadfast and immovable in keeping all of the commandments, not just those that are convenient. This then becomes a process of refinement as we strive to make each day a little better than the last” (“Righteous Traditions,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2008, 14).

I loved that! As we live all of the commandments, not just the ones that are convenient. I think in this world today many of us do what is easy and convenient because that is what everything is geared towards. Convenience. Food, entertainment, activities, everything. But when it comes to being a Christlike person, it isn't about convenience, it is about obedience. I doubt it was convenient for Daniel to continue to pray and get thrown to the lions! I doubt it was convenient for Ester to Walk in and speak to the king! I doubt it was convenient for Noah to build an Ark! But they did it because they stood for what was right and lived the commandments, even when it wasn't convenient!

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “You cannot today remotely imagine what that decision to be unwaveringly obedient to the Lord will allow you to accomplish in life. Your quiet, uncompromising determination to live a righteous life will couple you to inspiration and power beyond your capacity now to understand” (“Making the Right Decisions,” Ensign, May 1991, 34).

I love that too! You cannot imagine what the Lord could do with you in your life if you were obedient and faithful to all of his commandments! What a great thing to wonder! It started to make me wonder what I could be missing out on. What kind of better person i could be if i would listen more and be more obedient! That would be so cool to know. I sure hope that by the end of this year I am at least a little bit closer to finding out!

If you would like to read the whole article here is a link to it!
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=a883515e04f5e110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Focusing on me!

So I have decided that this year I will focus on me. I have to say it is going pretty well. And I feel surprisingly more incontrol of my life. I have been working really hard these last 2 weeks to get myself back into the routine of controling my appetite as as well as start working out! I am doing pretty good! I have been blogging a lot on my feelings and successes and that seems to be helping a lot! Along with the support I have been getting from my online Weight Watchers groups :)
This week has been difficult, but I made it through and feel great!

I'm Puttin it ALL out there!

Ok, so I am now going to put my New Years goals out there for everyone to see! I check in with these on a daily and weekly basis, but I figured if they were out there where anyone can see them, then I would be held more accountable. So here is my list for the year of goals that I want to accomplish:

1. Read the scriptures daily, with both the children and personally.
2. Say prayers daily, morning and night, personally and as a family.
3. Have Family Home Evening once a week.
4. Go to church every week, early or on time.
5. Go to Temple monthly.
6. Do the genealogy for my family.
7. Lose my last 25 lbs and gain a healthier more active lifestyle.
8. Take time every week to write my 4 novels that I have yet to finish.
9. Read the lesson for church ever week before church. For both Sunday School and Relief Society.
10. Learn how to use my camera better and take a photography class.
11. Learn how to do zippers and pockets in sewing pants.
12. Spend time every week for myself. Do something for myself every week.
13. Brush my teeth, my hair, take a shower, get dressed everyday.

Ok! I know some of them sound like simple things but believe me when you're a homeschooling Mama of 4, sometimes those things aren't so easy!
Ok, so that is my list for the year! I guess I should also add that I want to blog every week on there too :)

I have 2 new blogs!

I have 2 new blogs. One of them has nothing on it yet so I will post it later when i have stuff on there. It is for my sewing business. The second is for my new years goals to change who i am and what i do for my body and my health. Feel free to stop by and make a comment. Feel free to voice your encourangement or come feel inspired! Thanx for looking!
http://www.DoItOrDontDoItThereIsNoTry.blogspot.com