How did they get so big?

My little boy is finally a Sunbeam. I almost cried the other day realizing that Orion's days in the nursery were at an end. He's a big boy now. His first days of Primary were a little tough. He wanted to go play with the toys. And snack time was definitely missed. But after the first couple of weeks, we told him excitedly how as a big boy, "You can sing songs, and give talks now, and learn more about Jesus, and Pray!" He seemed to get really excited about this. He asked once why Chrysalis couldn't come and we told him it was because she wasn't a big girl yet. And so he took a deep breath and really owned up to the new responsibilities and privileges that come with being a "big boy" and said, "Okay, I'm a big boy now I guess. Chrysa is too little." Sigh. His first event in primary was a Pajama Party Meet and Greet with the new teachers and after that Saturday event, he came home and said to me, "Mommy, I like Sister Bingham. I like being a big boy. I like Primary."

With a teacher that makes cute little handouts for the kids such as this crown and necklace, how could you not like primary?

And even though she is still in nursery, Chrysalis is surely learning and growing. She had become really shy in this new nursery, but our sweet neighbor who also happens to be her nursery teacher brings all sorts of crafty things to do with the kids and has really bonded with Chrysalis. She's not so shy and scared anymore.

Here she is showing off her latest sticker project. As a side note: I'd just like you to take notice of the cute little knitted sweater she's wearing. My grandmother made it for me.

I Was Tagged

I was tagged by Alyssa Groff to complete this survey in one of her posts on her blog... So here are my FOUR lists.

4 Shows I watch:

1. Glenn Beck - Who doesn't like Glenn?

2. So You Think You Can Dance - Hello, I graduated in Modern Dance!

3. HGTV's House Hunters - Okay, I watch a lot of stuff on HGTV, but I think I really like this one since hopefully in a few years we can finally buy a house. It's nice to dream about it in the meantime.

4. I Shouldn't Be Alive - My favorite Discovery Channel program. I think I've learned a thing or two in case I ever get lost in the jungle.

4 Things I am passionate about:

1. Raw Vegan Food Preparation

2. Sewing/Crafting

3. Lately, Reupholstering and giving old furniture some TLC and a paint job.

4. Home Schooling

4 Phrases I say a lot:

1. "That's IT! I'm DONE!" - When I've had the last straw.

2. "Who's My Chunky Monkey?" - To Chrysalis to which she replies, "I AM!"

3. "No Time. No Time. There is never any TIME!" - I've been saying this since it came out on that Saved By the Bell episode (where Jesse overdoses on the energy pills) about 15 years ago.

4. "Oh, I'm such a Crap!" - When I hate the consequences of a poor decision I've made, with the same tone Jim Carrey uses in Liar Liar. Without using the S-word of course.

4 Things I've learned from the past:

1. Budget your money. If you don't, someday, you'll wish you had.

2. If all you eat for lunch throughout high school is skittles, bean and cheese burritos, Sprite, and Ramen Noodles, you're bound to have some problems later in life. I’m surprised that a little common sense is not so common anymore.

3. I was a really good mom, before I had kids. When you have two kids, you'll wonder why you complained when you had one. When you have three, you'll wonder why you complained when you had two, and having one is a piece of cake.

4. Don't be afraid to Question EVERYTHING with BOLDNESS.

4 Things I did yesterday:

1. Threw a Baby Shower

2. Watched Your Baby Can Read for the 400th time.

3. Sang Book of Mormon Stories before bedtime.

4. Gave a sniffly baby a baking soda detox bath.

4 Places I would love to visit:

1. India - Love everything about it. The culture, the food, the history, you name it.

2. Jerusalem - For the history mostly.

3. Paris - because I spent four years in high school learning French and have never put it to good use.

4. Italy - Because Life is Beautiful. It doesn't get any more romantic than Rome.

4 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Being Debt Free

2. Owning a House, debt free. Not easy to do, but possible.

3. My children getting baptized, going on missions and getting married.

4. Dancing again.

4 Things I love about winter:

1. I get to wear scarves.

2. Holiday music.

3. Sledding.

4. Hot chocolate. Yes, I can make vegan hot chocolate.

So to carry along the survey, I am now tagging, Tiffany Hale and Kristin Purles.

A Great Lecture and a Free Bag of Sprouted Rice Grass

I have so many other posts I wanted to put up before this. But I am just so excited to share the experience I had tonight. It has become my latest passion to get more involved in what most people think is just a "health craze," of some kind.

Tonight I went to Good Earth (the health food store for Utah County it seems) and met Robyn Openshaw (the famous Green Smoothie Girl) in person. Thanks to my sister who stayed to watch the kids. Anyways, she shared with everyone her story of where she came from and why she went this route with her eating habits. Let me first state, she is not a Vegan or Vegetarian but encourages as much as possible for people to move toward a diet that is 60-80% whole foods. She is a single mother of four and it is nice to look up to someone who is LDS and sets such an example among these LDS communities.

Her first son suffered many of the same symptoms that mine did when he was fighting off bouts of allergies, coughing up phlegm like crazy, scratching the life out of his eczema rashes, literally bleeding from every limb of his body, getting tons of ear infections, and no pill, steroid ointment, round of antibiotics or breathing nebulizer machine was the cure. He constantly had a cold or a flu of some kind and all that doctors would tell me is that chances are he would grow out of it, but not to worry. Not to worry?! How was I supposed to not worry when I was up all night, not getting any sleep so that I could attend and finish school, and kept my working husband from getting sleep as well because our little boy was having another coughing fit and flare-up and crying because the antibiotic we just gave him caused a full body rash and a fever? Even now as I write this, I am emotional thinking of all the stress and fatigue our entire little family went through in order to find this sweet boy a cure that actually worked. We were all so miserable at the time. But as I look forward to the future with a newfound hope, I realize that I have a wonderful story to tell my son in the future. He has taught me so much about what true nutrition really is. For that I will forever be grateful that I had to go through such a grueling experience. Because of all he went through, I know now how to prevent any of those things from happening to the rest of my family and that includes both Orion's siblings and his Daddy.

She went on to explain how her grandmother who was diagnosed with stage three cancer chose not to undergo conventional medicine and in so doing managed to cure herself and went on to live 25 more years. What did she do? She juiced and ate a lot of raw salads. Her uncle on the other hand was diagnosed with a milder form of cancer and decided to undergo chemotherapy and radiation. To make a long and tragic story short, he died 18 months later. I know she didn't tell that story to point fingers at anyone who has chosen that path or the one where you combine conventional medicine with natural. Too many of us are uninformed and in a world that is run by propaganda, too many innocent minds have been taken advantage of and convinced that there is no cure for all of our degenerative diseases. The Great Father of Modern Medicine himself said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." We are walking around like zombies in this world. There are cures. Real ones. Making Green Smoothies like Robyn encourages everyone to do is the first simple step that anyone can take in order to improve not only our health, but our quality of life.

I ended up staying there for about half an hour after the store had already closed in order to get her to sign some books for me and got to talking with her about everything. She even told me the story of how her nearsightedness was cured. She wore glasses all through highschool and eventually over time didn't need them anymore. This really fascinated me because it is something I have been working on but maybe perhaps haven't had the right approach because I've put my glasses back on many times and especially when I get frustrated on the road. I am convinced now more than ever before that this is still an achievable goal, no matter how difficult it may seem. I even got teary eyed and gave her a hug for sharing all her stories as they have really helped me to know that I am not alone and that our Heavenly Father really does answer prayers and guides us to find answers to all questions no matter how insignificant some may seem.

I think she is a very special lady doing a wonderful work of charity with all the advice she gives out for free. I was also one of the lucky three in the lecture tonight to receive this monster package of Raw, Vegan, Sprouted, brown rice, protein powder. I must admit I really wanted it and thought to myself when I entered the room, "That powder of grass is MINE." I know. I'm crazy. The things I get excited about. Why on earth would anyone want powdered grass and actually be excited about it? Well, let me leave you with some reasons to think about:

This particular brand uses an old world process of combining the sprouted endosperm and the bran from Raw Sprouted Whole Grain Brown Rice. This unique process creates the first complete hypoallergenic Protein which is made up of all 9 essential amino acids and other non-essential amino acids in a perfectly balanced amino acid profile.

Sunwarrior Protein has a 98% Correlation rate to Mothers Milk and a 98.2% digestion efficiency making it one of the highest digestibility and efficiency ratings of any other protein sources (compared to whey and soy).

Sunwarrior Protein powder is created with a Low Temperature natural Enzyme process that does not use any chemicals or acid hydrolysis (like most proteins do).

There is currently a clinical trial which shows promise that Sunwarrior Protein aids in the absorption of vitamins in Aids patients. There has been a direct correlation between the use of Sunwarrior Protein and the absorption of vitamins in Aids patients where other proteins do not provide such synergistic affects during the intake.

Those are just some reasons.

The most important just plain being that it is raw sprouted grass. It doesn't get any better than that. And the fact that I got a bag $50 worth for free. YAY! This is one of the most valuable things I've ever won. And I never get drawn to win anything. Hmm. The law of attraction really works. Because I very strongly visualized that bag in my hands. :)

Random X-Mas Things I Want to Remember

What is our society turning into? I thought this was funny when I saw it. You know you're on facebook too much when this cartoon actually makes sense. Just wanted to share.

This baby onesie on Hinckley cracks me up. I'm a sucker for novelty things like this.

Since I can never decide which card to make to send out to friends and family, I usually make two. This year, I made four. Call me crazy. But walmart makes it so easy. Chances are you probably got one of these four. And if you didn't like it, well then you can at least see all four of them here. I just wanted to post them all to remember what I did this Christmas. Someday, I will most likely look back and wonder why I spent two hours at walmart arranging photos on the computers to order cards. Oh well.

After all that work, I think this one was my favorite.

Adventures in Sledding

My cute hubby is such a kid.

Alex shows Orion how to make snow angels.

My dad teaches Chrys how to throw snowballs.

Isn't she pretty?

My mom and Gio, just before going down the hill.

Since I grew up in Southern California, I never really went sledding much as a child. Okay, I never went sledding at all. So I'm really living it up right now. Sadly, none of this video is of me sledding. Somehow, I guess I always end up behind the camera. What can I say. I guess I'm a mom. But we really have been having fun sledding this year. And as a mom, I am always anticipating all of my children's first reactions to new experiences. It was my little girl's first time sledding and playing in the snow. She actually takes to it a little better than I remember Orion taking to it when he was the same age. He likes it a lot more now but still hates when the snow kicks up into his face. Anyone who's been sledding knows that when it's that cold, it almost burns your face as it hits.

This last week, my parents were also in town and my sister and I decided that these grandparents are just too young not to go down the slopes. We practically dragged my mom up the hill, sat her onto the sled, and shoved her down. She was about to change her mind and get up, but my dad came to the rescue and pushed them down. I guess my sister was stuck in a small dip and since my mom was leaning back, they weren't able to get going without some help. If anyone knows my mom, they know how chicken she is about doing anything daring. About six or so years ago, she went on a four wheeler with my dad in New Hampshire and to this day swears she almost died that day. Now she swears she almost broke her tailbone and spine. I'm so glad I caught this on video because I laughed so hard I was almost in tears. This is probably only funny to my family, but to see this little old lady, that is my mother, going down a slope on a sled, freaking out all the way down, is just too much for words. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve and Day 2010

So here is the Christmas Eve and Day footage I promised. And I promise this is long and boring unless you happen to be a grandmother or grandfather. But we're happy to share our Christmas with anyone else who wants to take a peek. Love you all and hoping your Christmas' were as Merry.

Christmas 2010 from Ligia Huntington on Vimeo.

Another New Year, A New Resolution

As I sit here reflecting quietly for the short moment in which all three of my sweet children sleep, I had some thoughts I wanted to write down. I feel behind on my blogging all the time. Things happen and I want to write them down and post fun pictures as a way of keeping somewhat of a scrapbook/journal but the time escapes me faster than I can think. I suppose that if all I did was blog all the time, then I wouldn't have anything to blog about. Ha ha!

I have a Christmas post I wanted to do before posting this but I will have to get around to it a little later as I don't want to lose my thoughts. All the Christmas video I want to post for all you grandparents out there is still coming. I promise. It will just be a little out of order but who cares, right?

As I sat taking mental notes of what was being said at Hinckley's blessing (because Chrysalis was determined to sit on my lap, nowhere else and with no one else) and as my sister Tiffany took some notes, I later realized there was a theme to the blessing that stood out both to my sister and myself. Perhaps it is a message to me in some way to remind me of the things that I need to do as his mother in order to assure that he will grow in the direction that our Heavenly Father would like him to. The theme that stood out to me was that of doing good works. Doing the Lord's work and helping the church to grow requires so many different talents and services.

I think back to the times I spent at BYU doing service projects that were required as part of a class. I don't think I did them out of true charity then. I did them for a grade. How sad is that? In any case, I am grateful that certain teachers and classes required of us certain projects because I now think back and wish I would have had a more charitable attitude towards these assignments. The beauty of this situation is that I can still do things now. Now that I actually have a stronger desire to BE of service to others. I think of all the "good works" that our late prophet Gordon B. Hinckley did and I want with all my heart to be the example that my sons and daughter need in order to be more charitable. Not out of obligation but to truly feel the pure love of Christ.

I sit here reflecting on all the gifts and talents my Heavenly Father has so graciously bestowed upon me and I have to ask myself, "What have I done with these gifts to serve his sheep and lift others up?" I am selfish. I guess it's human nature to feel greedy. But I can still tame that and so am determined.

So with the beginning of the new year, I am not making the resolution to lose weight anymore. Everyone makes that one. Not that I am going to ditch the vegan lifestyle or anything, but I'll be the first to admit that every year my goals always seem to include: working out more, eating healthier and losing weight. If I'm really being honest with myself, that seems to have been the resolution I've made every year for about the past 15 years or so. Is that a bad resolution? I don't think so. But this year, my strongest and most resolute of goals is to do more Good Works. To be more Charitable. To Serve my Fellowmen. I'm sure the opportunities will present themselves a lot more as I seek them. I've always used the excuse that I don't know what to do and when and where to go and do it. The truth is, I've never sought for it. With three little ones, it's hard to hold myself accountable sometimes so I share this publically in order to stop making excuses for myself.

So here is one of the first ones I would like to attack this year. As I was browsing one of my favorite sewing tutorial sites I came across this:

http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/

I can't think of a better way to put my sewing abilities to good use. And it's a service project I know I will have fun with. So if anyone would like to join me and make some of these, I will probably spend this month working on a few to mail to Little Dresses for Africa. Sweet and simple. And I imagine some little girl on some part of that continent will enjoy my efforts more than I can fathom, even if for but a small moment. Wish me luck. Here's to "Standing a Little Taller," "Being a little Better," and "Forgetting myself & Getting to Work." Suggestions from the Giant Among Men himself.

Your Baby Can Read . . . continued from a While Back.

This is something I've been meaning to update on. A year or two ago, I started this and blogged about it then too. So, not because I'm his mother, but this makes me happy. And no, I don't spend hours with him reading like I probably should. Your Baby Can Read really has been so helpful. Luckily, for any mothers out there who want to get in on the secret of helping their young children learn how to read, the DVD's are now available at walmart. I'll let the video do the talking. Here is Orion just shy of four years of age:

"Pretty Incredible," are my thoughts. Especially since I greatly underestimated my own son's abilities to read this young.

Christmas Craft

These stockings started out as an idea a couple of years ago. Just never got around to it. So last Christmas, I bought the fabric and trim to make them.

This year, (after so much chaos to get them sewn, then having to un-sew them in order to get them embroidered right, getting the wrong color embroidered onto them, ripping it off by hand, getting the embroidery redone, re-sewing them together, and finally getting them hung on the board that Alex cut for me to paint on) the stockings were actually hung.

Next year, maybe we will have them stuffed. Either way, I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. Hopefully my kids will love them for many years.

Hinckley's Blessing

So, this time around, my mom wasn't at our church with all her recording equipment and everything, and nobody there knew shorthand. So, it's a decent thing that I actually prepared a little bit for Hinckley's baby blessing. Last night, I thought about what Heavenly Father would want me to bless him with and I wrote it down and did my best to remember all the pertinent points. As an added benefit, I can share with everybody else who wasn't able to make it, what was said. So I'll write what was said in the blessing part, so far as I wrote it down last night, as the giving the name part is usually pretty standard:

"Hinckley, we have given you the name of a prophet of the Lord, that when you remember your name, you may remember him; and when you remember him, you may remember his works; and when you remember his works you may know that they were good. Therefore, Hinckley, we would that you should do that which is good. We counsel you to follow the example of wise and faithful men who have gone before you. We bless you that you might choose to be disciplined in all aspects of your life, and that you will do what needs to get done, when it needs to get done, so that you can dedicate your life and talents to the work of the Lord.

We bless you with unshaken faith and a firm testimony of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and his atoning sacrifice. We bless you that you will be filled with love for all of God's children, and that you will be able to let that love, and the Spirit of the Lord, guide you in all of your decisions. Throughout your life, never stop learning. We bless you with desires to obtain knowledge AND wisdom and to use these gifts as the Lord would desire of you.

We bless you with charity, and that as you grow, you might learn how to interact with all people, and in all situations, in a way that will always show your love for them and for Heavenly Father. As you do this, others will feel that love and because of your actions, they will glorify Heavenly Father and be more able to feel His love.

We bless you that as you follow this counsel, and apply the blessings you have received, you might find joy and happiness throughout whatever situations you face in life. We further bless you that if you follow the guidance that Heavenly Father will give you through the Holy Spirit, eventually you'll be able to return to His presence and become like Him. We love you and we perform this blessing in the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ, amen."

Again, there were some things that I may have said differently, but for the most part, this is pretty accurate to what was said.

Anyways, while on the topic of priesthood blessings, I'd like to share my feelings briefly. When I blessed Orion, it was a fairly short blessing. What I remember most of all was that I advised him to develop his talents, and that the most important talent he could ever obtain is the ability to love others and develop true charity. As we've watched him grow, we've been amazed at how true this blessing has been. He tells everybody how much he loves them. Elliot got a kick out of it shortly after we moved back from South Carolina. Orion would walk up to him and say, "You know what Elliot?" And then after Elliot asks, "What?" Orion would respond very matter-of-factly, "I love you."

And it hasn't just been his words, his actions are gentle and soft. He truly does have charity. And as far as his other talents, he does a great job of developing them. He loves learning how to read, he organizes his toys in a way that shows really strong engineering traits, etc. Anyway, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. My point in all of this is that Orion and Chrysalis both have really followed what was said in their baby blessings. It's taught me more about the importance of taking my role as a priesthood bearer, and especially father, more seriously. I'm really grateful that I took the time to prepare for Hinckley's blessing.