A Busy Mom's Guide to Weight Loss

!. Drink lots of water... non-sugared flavored water works if you don't like the taste of tap water

2. Wii Fit is a wonderful thing... definitely useful for getting back in shape while the kids are around

3. Exercise while the youngest kids are napping or make a contest out of it with older kids

4. You don't have to give up the foods you love, just decrease the portions

5. food addiction is very real, but don't confuse it with eating out of boredom, a busy person will generally eat less often

6. remember that milk is a food, not a drink, nursing moms should try to include some in the diet for it's multitude of benefits

7. remember that this list is made by a mom, not a dietitian, nutritionist, or doctor so when in doubt, ask a professional

Rabbit Roll Call!

Still in the barn:

Holland Lops:
Cinderella - BSD, tort
Cherokee - SSD, tort
Dynomite - SSB, tort
Tatyana - BSD, blue tort
Rena - SSD, black
Halo - SJB, sable point
Chauncey - SJB, tort
Nina - SJD, tort

Mini-rex:
Evan - chin SB
Evan II - chin SB
Palmer - chin SB
Copper - caster VC JB
River - blue SB
Marc - chin JB
Quicksilver - chin JB
Bianca - BEW JD
Eve - BEW SD
Earline - BEW SD
Destiny - castor VM SD
Watership - blue DS
Baby Blue - blue SD
Chinseraphim - chin JD
Smoke - chin SD
Que Sera - squirrel JD
Daytona - chin JD
Try me - broken chin SD
Try out - chin JD
Bart - black otter JD
Giselle - black SD
Shadow - black SD
Mary - broken black otter SD
Miranda - blue otter SD

English Spot:
Mercury - gold SB
Honey - chocolate SD
Venus - chocolate JD
Cull buck - black solid

Mini-lop:
Jasper - BSB, chin
Jackie - BSB, chestnut
Landslide - BSD, black
Starlight - SSD, chestnut
Katie - BSD, black steel

Havana:
Phoenix - broken black
Jewel - black
Mimi - black
Thunderstorm - broken blue
Imagine - white

AFL:
Pie - BSD, black
Kellogg - SSB, black
Eclipse - SSD, black
Reba - BSD, tort
Mambo - SJD, tort
Cameron - SSB, tort

Jersey Wooly:
Lulu - REW

Belgian Hare:
Papi - JB

Other:
Tina
Tessa
Doe 1
Doe 2
Doe 3
Cull B1
Cull B2
Cull B3

Best Holiday Gifts

This year's best gifts by far... Wii Fit balance board for David. The whole family loves it! Heat pack made by myself for David. Again the whole family loves it. We keep it draped over an oil heater and it heats up quickly and drapes around the neck nicely. Jessi got a Nintendo DS, which Ari has been coveting and has decided to buy one for herself at her birthday next week. Aydi got a very nice wooden kitchen plus wooden play food and steel pots/pans. My mother pitched in and made her a very nice apron set to go with it. She and her sisters have played with it every day since the holiday! Definitely a hit. Ari received a stunt bike, but the cold prevents her from getting full use of it as of yet. Though this spring I'm sure she'll have great fun.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Ever wanted to try this? I've done it twice now and can tell you it's great! You can use things you have to hand or get fancy. I just want a plain mayo, so here's what I do:

4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt (I measure in my palm)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2/3 C canola oil with 1/4 olive oil

Mix everything but the oil in a tall container, turn on stick blender and add oil to mix slowly at first, then pour in as mixture thickens.

Black pepper can be used if you don't mind black flecks in your mayo. I like the mix of the vinegar and lemon juice, but if you like your mayo to taste more like salad dressing, then sub out the lemon juice with an extra tbsp of the vinegar. Also, I like to mix the oils because that's what I have to hand, but you can use all canola, olive, or even sunflower oil.

One last caveat, yes it is made with raw eggs. I use fresh ones to be safe and don't make a lot of mayo only to let it sit around. I tried to make some with the whole egg (some websites swear by it), but could not get it to thicken correctly. I may try again some other time, but for now I figure why mess with something I know works by using only the yolks. I save the whites for other uses.

Tonight's Holiday Memory

Tonight Jessi & Ari wanted to wrap some packages. So I got out some gifts for extended family and a couple other gifts, a roll of wrapping paper, and the bag of wrapping supplies (tape, pen, scissors, labels, etc). I was helping Ari with her packages by taking off pieces of tape and handing them to her. Well apparently, the adhesive on this particular roll of tape was more sticky than usual. I had a small piece on my finger, maybe half an inch long, and since Ari was finished with her package I was offering it to Jessi. Jessi tried to snatch the tape off my finger, I felt the pull and thought she had it, she then tried to affix it to her package only to realize that the tape was still stuck to my finger!! She tried to grab it again, looked at her own hand and saw the tape was STILL on my finger! It took a third try for her to get it off, but this time I'm rolling with laughter at the tape that just did NOT want to go on the package.

Aydi's ER Visit

We got back from the ER about an hour ago. Only 2 hours, I thought they did fairly well. Aydian was trying to brush her teeth with Jessi, but rather than go and get the stool to stand on, she tried to stand on top of the diaper pail. It went out from under her and she came down (I think) cracking her jaw on the sink. Aydi started screaming and Jessi yelled that she was bleeding. I thrust Korben at Ari and went to the other girls and held Aydi to me. I briefly peeked at her lip and saw blood and a wound. Then there was more and more blood, so when Jessi brought a fresh wad of tissue paper to change it out I got a better look... at a very large gash on the inside of her bottom lip. I looked over at David briefly and said I thought she might need a stitch. Then I lifted her to my lap and took the tissue off again... and noticed that the hole went clear through her lip.

When David saw that he jumped up immediately and I wrapped Aydi in a blanket. We jumped in the van and went off to the hospital. She was a VERY good girl, stopped crying as soon as she was strapped into her carseat in the car (David drove, I sat in back with her with a wet cloth on her mouth). The ER doc looked at her lip and said yes it would need stitches... then he handed her about 6 stickers and me a pad soaked with numbing fluid to hold on her lip. She was having fun putting the stickers all over herself, David , and I til the doc and 2 nurses came in with a large blanket. They swaddled her to hold her arms down, then 1 held her jaw/head, 1 held her body, David held her legs, and I stood at her head coaxing her to look up at me.

The doc put in 3 stitches around the wound (it was bigger than I thought, but was a puncture, the lip itself wasn't torn through thank goodness) and was done in about 15 or so minutes. The inside of the lip looked bad too, but he said that would heal in just a few days, it's the outside that will take longer. David said later that she didn't really even struggle at all, and she barely cried the whole time. My big brave girl! I think I had it harder just having to stand there and watch... though it was very interesting.

The Tree that Almost Wasn't

Our tree is a small 4 footer that I got several years ago. I've always had trouble putting it up and taking it down, the base just never wanted to come apart without a lot of trouble. I even tried greasing it this year to make things easier. Well, earlier today Aydi had grabbed at a bell and (luckily I was standing right there) the whole thing began to topple to the side. I couldn't get it to stay up, but I shifted one of its 3 legs and it stayed up. Earlier this evening I warned everyone that it was especially fragile this year and to really make an effort to not touch it.

Not 2 hours ago my husband, David, and Ari were yelling at the top of their lungs for me to come (I and Jess were having a 'chat' about attitudes... go into that later though), when I went in the whole tree was leaning precariously sideways. David was sitting in the chair and said it just came over on top of him. He managed to catch it though. I looked and sure enough, that one leg was completely off. I had the girls take off all the glass ornaments, then I laid it on it's side on the table. When I looked at the base I realized there was no saving it. The place where the leg slides in had completely sheared off.

We don't have the funds to replace the tree, so I was becoming very disappointed (and so were the girls). Then I happened to mention to David that I still had the iron base my mother had given us ages ago that we normally use when we get live trees. I even knew where it was too. I was thinking about maybe trying to get a small live tree. Then David had an epiphany and he took all the legs off the old tree's base, then said, "will this fit in the iron base do you think?"

It looked like it might, so I got the iron base just awhile ago and dusted off the cobwebs and oiled the screws and tightened it down on the old base. And surprise, it works!! So the kids will have a tree this year after all. Yay!!

Jessi's Lie

So yesterday I instructed Ari to clean the elder girls' room because I wanted to clean everything up so we could begin decorating for the holidays. She later brought me a piece of folded paper and said, "looks like Jessi has been passing notes." I glanced at the paper and put it aside to be addressed later. When Jess came home, I asked her, "have you been passing notes during class?" To which she replied with an emphatic "no." I asked her twice more with the same result. Then I got the note, hid it behind my back and told her that I would give her one last chance to tell me the truth, because I already knew what her answer was supposed to be. She then said that she was allowed to talk to people before class.

I finally pulled the note from behind me and read it more carefully myself. I told her I could recognize her handwriting (which I could) for one of the parts. There was an insult to the teachers choice of professional attire written by another person. Jess and I went back and forth a few times and finally I told her that I would repeat back what she was telling me and she could say whether it made any sense to her. She said they were allowed to talk before class until the bell rang. She said that her friend was sitting all the way across the room. She said that the note was not passed via several people, that her friend brought it over to her, yet they weren't supposed to be walking around the room willy nilly before class. So I then asked her if she would believe it if that was told to her.

I told her that I flat out did not believe her when she said she was not passing notes during the class. I told her that if she were caught doing it there was a chance she could receive in-school suspension (detention) and that the insult written would likely hurt her teacher's feelings, that the teacher is a person too, and if the insult was found in Jessi's hands, that it could color the teacher's opinion of Jessi. I told her that she was old enough and mature enough to make the right decision herself, that I would not police her in any way, and that I would not make her tell her friends to stop passing the notes. However, if she were to be caught and receive detention for doing it, that her punishment for it would be severe.

She reached the age that she needs to start choosing the right path for herself. She needs to make her own decisions. I can only hope that I've raised her to choose the mature and responsible way. If not then she will be choosing to accept the consequences of her actions. After all, for every action, there will be a reaction. Perhaps not always immediate, but it will come.

Empty

An idle thought I had a little while ago...

Once you've reached the pinnacle of success, where else is there to go?

It can be applied to anything, but I was thinking specifically about rabbit breeding and showing. I've been in the hobby a long time. Not as long as some, true, but much longer than many. My rabbit herds have fluctuated, changed, evolved. I look around now at some of the breeders I knew back when I was new and I wonder what has become of them. Some have gotten out of rabbits, some have changed their breeds, and a few have simply disappeared. A couple I know were top breeders on a national scale, but now their animals are only mediocre. So what happened to their drive to succeed? Did it begin to wan when they would win every show they would attend? What meaning do the awards have when you know you will win them every time? What meaning do GC legs have when your 'average' rabbit has 25 or more? Do you lose your edge when you've got nothing left to strive for?!

Perhaps the song is right:
"There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
always gonna be an uphill battle
and sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
it ain't about how fast I get there
it ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb."

Last of my Wisdom

That phrase just has an odd ring to it. However, as of this evening I no longer have wisdom teeth bothering me. However, the extraction was of the kind that you hope you never have to worry over. Sometimes I hate having sensitive intuition, because it started screaming at me the moment the kid walked into the room. He had an overly friendly, Golden Retriever quality about him. You know, overeager to please, but not exactly sure how best to do it. Fortunately an older man came in behind him, I could read 'experience' all over his face, so I did relax somewhat. Not for long however.

My last extraction was a breeze by comparison, that doctor used a surface numbing gel on the inner and outer side of the gums, then left for about 10 minutes before he even bothered to touch my teeth. I literally felt nothing but the pressure he warned me about. This kid only put the gel on the outside, claiming it did nothing on the inside (he's wrong incidentally). So he starts with the Novocain on the outside and it was a small prick, but otherwise fine. When he moved to the inside of the gums however, the pain of injection was more substantial, especially since I'd had no surface numbing (thanks a bunch) and since he kept pulling out then back in. He stabbed me several times and each time I'd jump, he'd then tell me to settle down. I'm not sure what exactly he thought I was going to do.

He stood for maybe 30 seconds, then started poking around the tooth. It was fine right up until he started pushing in on it and I cried out slightly in pain. "oh, not quite numb?!" Gee, what gave it away I wonder. So back in he went with the needle, spilling more in my mouth I think than he got in the gum. By the way, that stuff tastes NASTY. Then he tries again, and again I cry out in pain. About this time the mentor (professor?) came back to see what was taking so long. The youngster told his mentor that I was still hurting, so the old guy took the needle, opened my mouth and jabbed a previously as yet unknown nerve. "That's the one," he claimed as I jumped, yet again.

Starting to see a pattern here yet?!

So then the youngster took back over and wrestled my mostly disintegrated wisdom tooth from it's previously secure bed. He packed gauze on the extraction site and I sat up. He looked me over and exclaimed, "do you want to sit for a minute, you look really pale." Well duh!! I was shaking like a leaf in a full hurricane gale! I finally did get up and accepted the extra gauze and instruction sheet from the front desk lady.

"Did they give you any prescription the last time you were here?" The youngster asked me, I shook my head no and tolk him I just used ibuprofen for the pain. He nodded and I stepped out the door. Then I went out of the building and promptly collapsed upon the wooden bench that was out there. No way was I going to get in my car and try to drive while in such a shaken state. After several minutes I did go to my car and drove home. The shakes subsided, I concentrated carefully on my driving.

The end result: one removed wisdom molar, a dull aching pain at the extraction site... in spite of the Novocain they practically drenched me in, and a very numb face, from the eyebrow on that side to my chin, including the nostril and part of the ear. It's very disturbing to have a slightly numb eye I must say. At least it is now done. I truly hope I never require another tooth extraction.

Tis the Season

This is my favorite time of the year. While I'm not exactly religious and don't really follow a specific denomination, I do enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds around this time of the year. For me, the biggest focus is on my family. I don't do a lot of gift giving outside my immediate family, after all, with 6 members in our immediate family alone, it can be quite a substantial holiday. Add into that the 6 nieces and nephews shared between my husband and myself, plus both our sets of parents and their spouses (yes, we both have divorced parents, both mine have remarried and one of his has remarried). So as you can imagine, our modern family is rather robust. My favorite part of the holiday, out of all the favorites, is the time and effort I put into selecting and/or creating the offerings to my family.

A few years ago I began my crafting hobby. I knit, crochet, sew, paint, make from-scratch soap and a few other odd crafts. I love to create something from raw materials. I admit my favorite is the yarn arts. It never ceases to amaze me how a single thread can become fabric, toys, and so many other beautiful things. However, with this tendency comes one difficulty: finding the time to design or locate patterns and to create the items I wish to give away. The funny thing is that I tend to give away or sell everything I make. I don't even own a single item that I've created over the years. I just have more fun making for others.

So far for this coming holiday I have made a crochet soap saver bag for my mother. I'll be making a batch or two of special soap that will be split around to various people. I'm cutting out several pairs of fleece pants for my son. For him I'll also be making a fleece 'stuffie' which is just a very simple stuffed toy, and a taggie ball. I might use a similar pattern for a fleece ball for my youngest daughter. I have plans for a bean bag tic-tac-toe game for the elder children. Then there may be some crochet play food to go with my youngest children's main holiday gift (a wooden kitchen play set). Each niece or nephew, other than the two oldest, will be receiving a crochet toy.

I have fun doing all of it, though it does keep me quite busy. Speaking of which, I have fabric to cut out. Ta ta!