End of the Year

Well, it's December 31st. Another year has come and gone. I've been blogging for two years now. Kinda weird to think that.

I don't think I have anything profound to say today.

My thoughts today are the fact that I love to learn. I'm so grateful for a husband that allows me to learn and develop new skills and talents.

I will have a baby this year. That's pretty profound. Four more months to go. It's been a long hard road with this little thing. I'm hoping that my mood and my attitude about the baby and life in general is lifted. Now that I can feel this little thing moving, it's become more of a person to me. Someone that I'm looking forward to getting to know.

My head spins a little to realize all the different stages my children are in. Jen: 16, Junior, in 18 months will be graduating, needs to start studying for and taking the SATs...lots of other stuff going on with that.

Jessie: 15, Freshman, she's in a pretty good place right now. I'm thankful.

Robbie: 10, will be 11 in two months. Moving on to 11 year old scouts, in one year receives the Priesthood and heads into Young Men. That one is kinda starting to freak me out.

Lucy: 9, she's actually doing very well. She has a little victim thing going on at times, but most of the time is extremely self-reliant and works diligently at developing her homemaking skills, (currently crocheting and sewing).

Joey: 7, he worries me a bit. We just think so differently. He's a ball of energy and all about FUN!!! Me, I work inside boundaries very well, probably to my detriment. Teaching him to read is harder than teaching all of them to go to the potty. He's a good boy though. He knows what he wants to do, just has trouble imposing limits on himself. We'll figure it out.

Leah: 4, in some ways she my "mini-me". I don't think I'm as smart as she is but we have similar temperaments and ways. I'm so glad she's a member of our family. She keeps the sweetness of a little child in our home. I'm very grateful for her perspective.

New One: in utero, not sure exactly if we're having a girl or boy. They say it's a girl but I'm not completely convinced. I go for another ultrasound in a few weeks, we'll know for sure then. This new one will come into a great family. His/Her brothers and sisters will be so fabulous. This will be the first time that most of the kids are really aware of what's going on. They've seen my struggles and learned compassion. They've seen my faith tried, and hopefully learned to stay tight with the Lord. This new one will continue to bring sweetness and purity to our home. I'm looking forward to smooching and loving on it.

Sam: 43, business owner. He's a good man. He's going through some growing pains right now. We're trying to as a married couple to change some of our habits that haven't been as positive as others. We'll get there. Nothing bad, just change. It's good. I'm grateful for him.

Me: 41, pregnant homeschooling mom. I thought before I got pregnant that I was "finding" my likes and hobbies again. I guess I did. I just feel like I have to put them on hold again. I'm much more aware of finding laughter and traveling and having fun. I'm grateful for Joey reminding me that fun is important. I'm glad the new year is starting. Even though is just a flip of the calendar page, it mentally creates hope for us all.

Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas

My personal opinion is that we had a very nice Christmas. It's always great when Jen and Jessie get to be with us on Christmas morning. Everyone got to open their new pajamas on Christmas Eve. It's funny but this year was the first year they all figured out my M.O. to give PJs on Christmas Eve.

I just happened to find a video from last Christmas when the 4 little ones re-enacted the Nativity Story. It was so cute to watch and remember. So, we did it again and Jen and Jessie both dressed up as shepherds to join the fun. Leah wore her Tinkerbell costume from Halloween when she dressed up like Mary. Lucy wore her Snow Queen costume as the angel.

We all got up about 7:30 to head downstairs for the gift unwrapping. We tried something a little different but I really liked it. My friend Kristin said that as a kids her dad would blindfold a child and spin them around and send them in the direction of the tree. When they got to a present, they read who it was for and then gave it to them. So, that's what we did. It made the gift unwrapping last about twice as long. It was good too, because no one could keep track of how many presents the other had. I enjoyed it much more than just passing out gifts. There was just a smidge of suspense.

Robbie and Joey each opening their super cool RC cars. The cars go in snow, land and water. Perfect for our current climate with the snow still on the ground.
Jen and Jessie each got a cute little purse with a gift card in it.
Lucy and Leah in their new jammies.

It took me a while to get into the Christmas spirit this year because I've been so sick. Alas, at some point it did catch up to me and I'm really grateful for a lovely family who all worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

Kinda fascinated...

I've been experiencing something with myself as well as with a couple of my girl friends.  I've recognized this for about a year or so with myself.  That is....I'm stuck.  From my own choices, I'm stuck being a wife and a mother.  Oh how I cried myself to sleep so many times as a single girl.  All I ever wanted was to be a wife and a mother.  Here I am!

I actually enjoy being both most of the time.  My concern comes after watching the last episodes of The Biggest Loser this last season.  There was a 49 year old woman on there named Liz.  I didn't really like her personality BUT I learned something from her.  In the last few shows, she repeated herself quite a bit.  She called out to all women.  She said that she got so busy serving and doing for everyone else, that she forgot herself.  Now she's 49 years old and doesn't know how to treat herself respectfully.  I have identified with her words.  

I read another friend's blog today and was so impressed with her candor that I thought I'd add to the momentum.  

Last summer was probably the best summer of my life.  I combined just about everything I liked all at the same time.  I traveled with the kids all over to visit important sites of the American Revolution.  I love road trips.  I stopped going on road trips because I kept waiting for my husband to want to go with me.  He HATES road trips.  That part of me died for a number of years.  I also was anchored to a bunch of little children.  Lots of them.  And they just kept coming.  I never felt confident enough to venture out by myself with little, little kids.  

Last summer I took them all, the big ones and the little ones.  I don't know that they appreciated our trips, I'm sure they don't.  But, I sure do.  I took them to Lancaster, PA one day because I wanted to find fresh, farm raised, grass fed beef and chicken and raw milk and butter.  I was semi-successful.  But, then we we to a tourist spot of sorts which was a working Amish Farm.  It was more a tourist spot than working farm, but they had a garden and herbs and lots of animals. It was interesting to learn a little about the Amish way of life.  I think the kids were bored.  But, heck, I paid for it, so we did it.  After that, we went mini golfing.

There were other trips to Valley Forge, Philadelphia, Baltimore (Ft. McHenry) Monticello, Ashlawn, Smithsonian to see the actual Star Spangled Banner.  I enjoyed myself tremendously. I think the real fun and adventure of my personality appeared.  I felt like I was reborn and there was a light at the end of my tunnel.  

Recently, I've felt trapped.  At the end of all that fun, on August 14th, 2009, my 12th anniversary, I found out I was pregnant AGAIN!  I know babies are a good thing.  It was as if everything came to a grinding halt.  That super fun mom that the kids had grown to expect from the summer, has disappeared.  I have been so sick from this pregnancy.  I'm easily worn down and often depressed.  I've tried and tried to be grateful for this new addition.  I'm sure I will be when she gets here.  But, I miss the traveling and the adventure and the spontaneity that I experienced with 6 kids.  I feel as though I've been thrust back into the sad, boring life before the Summer of '09.  

I haven't figured out how to cope with it yet.  Maybe it will be a bit easier with older kids to help me.  Perhaps I'll still be able to take road trips even with a teeny baby.  

That's my story.  There are other women out there with similar stories or feelings.  Can we help each other?  Do we need help?  I dunno. 

I admit it....I lost my temper

Since doing so much canning over the last few days, I decided to kinda relax a bit.  Just take it easy.  It's amazing how children will do the same as the parent, no matter what.  The only difference is that my version of relaxing included cleaning out my closet and sitting to eat. :)  Their version is creating games that involve running crazy through my house and wrestling.

We only had an hour before we had to leave for piano lessons.  60 minutes.  I sent the kids outside to run back and forth across the yard 10 times to work out some of their energy.  Why is it that children are drawn to making messes?

They stayed outside.  I was fine with that.  About 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave, Joey comes to my bedroom to humbly announce that the water to the hose won't turn off.  I go outside to find my backyard flooded.  It had rained all day yesterday so there wasn't a lot of "give" in the ground to soak up my children's choice of fun.

The one funny part is that they had obviously tried to fix the problem.  Nearly every usable bucket from the backyard was filled up with water.  That makes me laugh.  That's about the only thing.  They decided to put the hose down in the drainpipe tube that attaches to the downspout and runs out into the yard.  I appreciate that thought as well.  Only, the combo of yesterday's rain AND today's "experiment", there is now a giant pond in the middle of the backyard.  Let's just hope it doesn't turn into a skating rink anytime soon.

At this point, I lost my temper.  I don't think I used but two swear words but there was a whole lotta yelling.  They all got banished to their bedrooms with the promise that they will be paying for this month's water bill.  Robbie started crying.  I had no sympathy.  Now, I'm in the mucky, muddy backyard (sounds like a Dora the Explorer destination), with my nice clothes on ( I was going out in public) trying to turn off the spigot or put on a nozzle to contain the water.  NO LUCK!  The kids have broken all of my nozzles and the spigot is just not working....period.

I call Sam crying and yelling.  He told me to have the boys run the hose out as far into the yard as possible so it doesn't seep back into the house.  They do that.  I call Melanie to tell her that piano lessons aren't going to happen.  But, I just cried hysterically.  She was calm and patient and assured me it would be fine and we'd make up the lesson.  

Sam called back to say he'd come home from Philly to fix it all.  I told him I'd just run to the Home Depot and buy a nozzle.  So, I left the kids at home in a fixed position.  Thankfully, the Home Depot is less than a few blocks from our house.  I waddled my way in there and found the slowest worker to lead me to the meager home and garden area left for the winter.  We found a nozzle and then both of us waddled to the plumbing department where I received a lesson in spigots.  I left with just the nozzle.  Sam will have to figure out the spigot size.

I come back home, roll up my pants and head out to the backyard.  Meanwhile, Robbie had turned off the water from inside the house.  Not a bad idea, but I was still made at him.  Though I will applaud him in my blog for his self-reliant thinking.  Go Robbie!

I attached the nozzle but left it hose extended to the nethermost regions of the the yard just in case I did something wrong.

So, the kids are now in the bedrooms until their dad comes home.  It's only 1pm.  They'll be in there for at least another 5 hours.  I don't have a problem with it.  Joey asked if they'd be allowed to eat.  I told him he could have the last quarter of the PB&J sandwich he refused to eat for breakfast and is still sitting on the table.  He didn't like that idea.  I don't care.

For the record, there has been no "laying on of hands" during this event.  

Now, I'm off to enjoy my 5 hours until the father returns.

Back in the Saddle

Well, I've been back in the saddle from a long time absent.  I discovered the other day that I was tremendously low on chicken, both frozen and canned.  So, I made an executive decision to drive up to North Philly and purchase 120 lbs of chicken.

I canned 34 pints of chicken tenders last night.  Today, with the kids' help, I was able to de-fat 40 lbs of chicken breast and prep it to be vacuumed sealed and frozen.  That was 10 packages.  I was so proud of the kids.  Robbie and Lucy to be exact.  They both learned how to work the Food Saver and make and seal up the bags of chicken.  They also helped with the actual de-fatting and used sharp knives.  I didn't look at them very often because their knife skills are VERY scary and I was scared they were going to lose a digit.  We all survived.

Defatting the chicken thighs took what seemed like forever.  So little meat and so much fat.  So, with all the fat and scraps of chicken I'm now learning how to render chicken fat into schmaltz.  I'm saving most of the thigh meat to turn into freezer meals.  Preparedness never ends.

So, it's been nice to be useful and productive again.  I've missed it having been so sick with this little baby.  I'm grateful that I'm feeling well enough to do some more canning and preserving.  I just had to take more breaks than usual.

I did very much enjoy spending time with my kids though.  We had a bit of an anatomy lesson while doing the chicken breasts. :)  Very funny.  Glad that I homeschool for those memories right there.

UPDATE:  My final tally for the chicken was--47 canned chicken, 18 frozen chicken (approx 4lbs in each), 6 freezer meals, 6 quarts of broth, 2 pints of rendered fat (schmaltz), cooked chicken scrap for my neighbor's dogs.  I'm still recovering two days later, but I feel that I definitely added to our family's storage which was the ultimate goal.

Finances

I've never been good at finances.  I've come a long way though. When I owned my own home in Virginia before getting married, I wouldn't even open the bills because I was scared of them.  I know, most of you are aghast that I would actually admit that.  Oh well, it's true.  That was at my worst.  I'm not at my best just yet, but I'm much better than in the past.

Because we're self-employed, our financial circumstances tend to be either super great or not so much.  I'm actually ok with both.  I prefer super great though.  One of the good things about being self-employed is that you don't have a set income necessarily which means you can actually capitalize on opportunities presented, therefore making a good amount of money.  The other side of that is when the opportunities don't come, alas, we don't eat.  Of course, I've have my food storage which has saved our rear ends many times.  

But, recently I ran across a blog called www.debtfreeadventure.com.  I'm not sure why this blog appealed to me, but it did.  This fellow, Matt Jabs, decided to get rid of his $15000 i debt and grow a savings fund at the same time.  He determined to learn all he could about finances and money, etc, etc.  He has lots of people make comments on post topics that I have found to be invaluable.  I enjoy Dave Ramsey and even Suze Orman to some extent, but the real world people who can give down and dirty advice is what I seek.

Because of the advice and tools offered on Jabs' website, in just about a week, I have organized my finances.  Detailing in spreadsheets my constant bills (ie electric, gas) and figured out how much interest I'm paying on my mortgage, credit cards and other debts as a way to understand more fully what is going out my door every month.  Because of the organization of it all, I feel as though a burden has been lifted.  I'm not choosing to be in the dark anymore.  The debt burden is still there, but at least I know that it's possible to overcome.

I just wanted to document my personal success.  It's nice to not be so overwhelmed as to now even know where to start.  One step at a time.

The Great Plan of Happiness

This is the talk I gave at Diane's funeral.  I didn't write it, God did.

Good morning!  I am so thankful to have this opportunity to share with you some of Dane's very core beliefs.

One of these beliefs is referred to as the Great Plan of Happiness.  i some ways I find that ironic as we sit here and mourn the loss of our dear friend.  But, as I explain this Plan, you will see how out of our grief, we can hope for joy and happiness.

We've all made plans.  Sometimes the plan is as simple as making toast.  Other times, creating plans requires time, energy, a pen and paper and a major computer program.  But, in all plans, simple or complex, the goal is to get from Point A to Point B.  There may be a few unexpected detours or delays.  Some of these detours or delays may be from mistakes we make, or from situations over which we have no control.

Each of our plans has crucial decision, or moments or actions that must be accomplished or we won't make it to Point B.  If my plan is to make toast and I forget to plug in the toaster,  I don't make it to Point B.

The examples are endless and I'm sure each of you can share experiences when your plans didn't go quite as expected.  But, I bet most of the time, you persevered and made it to Point B.  

So it is with the Great Plan of Happiness.  Diane would appreciate a children's Primary song to introduce the Plan.

"I lived in heaven a long time ago, it is true,

Lived there and loved there with people I know, so did you.

Then Heavenly Father presented a beautiful plan,

All about earth and eternal salvation for man."

This Plan was created long before any of us were born.  From this song, we learn the joyful news that we knew each other in a pre-mortal world.  We also learn that not only did we know each other but we also knew our Father in Heaven.  Oh how we loved Him and wanted to be just like Him!  And because He is so loving and generous, He created this Great Plan of Happiness so that our Point B would be to return to Him and live with Him eternally.  This is the definition of salvation.  We were so excited for this opportunity.

It was explained to us that there would be detours and delays, some of our own making and some by uncontrollable circumstances.  But, He would give us road maps, GPS units and weather stations in the form of scriptures, faith, teachers, prayers and many others.

However, we also knew that in order to be with our Father we had to return unspotted from the world.  Clean and worthy to enter into and feel comfortable in His presence. 

This is where the Plan takes on it's Greatness.  Knowing that it would be impossible for us to remain clean through out our lives, Heavenly Father gave us His greatest gift.  In John 3:16, we read, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believest in him would not perish but have everlasting life,"

Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Plan.  It is only through Him that we can return to our Father unspotted and clean.  John 14:6 reads, "And Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth and the light, no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

This is what Diane knew down into her very core.  She had a strong relationship with her Savior.  This is what she was most sure about.  This is the knowledge and testimony she taught to the little children for whom she had so much love.  I, myself, am a better mother because she taught me how to teach my own children about Christ.

The Great Plan of Happiness hinges solely upon our willingness to accept Christ as our Savior and to simply follow Him.  We will continue to make mistakes and be hurt by mistakes from others.  But, as we repent and realign our thoughts and actions with our Lord, we will find the peace and happiness the Plan was intended for us to feel.

Sheri Dew said, "The Lord knows the way because He is the way and is our only chance for successfully negotiating mortality.  His Atonement makes available all of the power, peace, light and strength that we need to deal with life's challenges--those ranging from our own mistake and sins to trials over which we have no control be we still feel pain. 

 "There is simply no mortal equivalent.  Not in terms of commitment, power, or love.  He is our only chance.

"Our responsibility is to learn to draw upon the power of the Atonement.  Otherwise we walk through mortality relying solely on our own strength.  and to do that is to invite the frustration of failure and to refuse the most resplendent gift in time or eternity."

As we accept Christ as our Savior and work to create a strong relationship with Him, we will find ourselves choosing what is right with ease.  We will find ourselves serving other with pure hearts, desiring to lift burdens to that they can feel the peace of Christ.  We will find ourselves feeling abundant measures of gratitude.  All of these things will only bring us closer to our Point B.  It truly is a Great Plan.

Temporarily, Diane's spirit is separated from her mortal body.  Because of Christ's supreme sacrifice, Diane and all who have lived and died including ourselves, will one day have our spirits reunited with a beautiful and immortal body.  Never to die again.  Jesus Christ took back His perfect and immortal body as an example of what we would all receive.  We know that Christ was in the image of His Father.  So we know that our Heavenly Father has a perfect and immortal body as well.

Once we have all been resurrected and have received our perfect and immortal bodies, we will have the opportunity to stand in a final judgement and be accountable for the life we lived.  Did we accept our Savior?  Did we stay true?  Did we use the road maps, GPS units and weather stations Father provided for us to overcome our trials both self-made and those out of our control?  Did we repent?  Did we use the grace that was offered us?  Did we serve others and share this Great Plan?

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love and cherish each of us.  We are their children.  They would never set us up to fail.  We are all here to make it successfully to Point B.

My heart is full of gratitude that Diane was an active part of my life and that of my family's.  I'm grateful for her example.  I'm mostly grateful for this Great Plan of Happiness, that God created for us all.  Diane is just a step ahead but the destination is the same for us all.

Amen.

My Friend, My Sister

This is a hard post for me to make.  One of the dearest friends I've ever had passed away this week.  It was not unexpected. 

Diane Paul and I became friends when she called me to serve as a counselor in her Relief Society presidency over 10 years ago.  She quickly became more than just someone with whom I served in church, she became a friend and finally my sister.  I'm the oldest in my family, thus I never had a big brother/sister.  Diane filled that role for me.

She taught me how to be a better mother.  I always called her about medical concerns about my children before I called the doctor.  She was a pediatric nurse.  She taught me how to relate to my children.  To be patient with them.  To teach them during play and work.  She showed me how to teach my children to include Christ in their lives.  I'm so grateful for such an example.  I don't think I could ever express it adequately.

The picture above is when my 4th baby Leah was blessed.  My mom and dad were serving a full time mission and couldn't be there for the birth or the blessing.  Diane stepped in and served as my mom.  She came to the hospital the day and the day after the birth and spent the day with me.  Just like my mom would've.  The day of the blessing was especially hard for me because my parents weren't present.  Diane was there to help me get Leah dressed in her blessing gown and just fuss over both of us.  

I have many other memories and pictures of our friendship and her membership in our family.  

There's much more to write but I'm finding tears welling up and I don't want to do that right now.  This will do for now.  I just wanted to honor my dear friend and sister.  I will miss you more than you'll ever know.

I'm not a negative person

It's been three months since I've blogged.  I've thought of blogging but I don't feel as though I have anything to say worthwhile.  I stopped blogging about the time I started feeling the effects of all day morning sickness.  I've been so sick.  I'm sure I've not been as sick as other women, in fact, I know that.  BUT, I'm really sick for me. I have a very low threshold for pain and discomfort.  I'm not a wuss, but I just prefer to be well.  I've been so blessed to have a healthy body most of my life.  

I haven't written because I've felt so sad, negative and despondent that I haven't wanted anyone to know.  I didn't want to bring anyone down or roll their eyes at my constant complaining.  I feel badly for my family because they've had to take the brunt of it.  They've earned a place in heave for sure after this experience.  

I'm usually able to find the good in any "bad" thing.  I've really struggled with that a lot.  I'm not being very successful in my efforts.  I can see good things but I really can't embrace them.  It's so not like me.  

The best part of my day is going to bed because my nausea is alleviated for a few hours.  The worst part is waking up in the morning because I know there's a long day of homeschooling, child rearing and generally being awake that I have to deal with.  I don't think I'm learning much from this experience.  That's frustrating me as well.  I just feel hopeless.  

So, that's enough of my ranting.  Only 23 weeks and 2 days to go.  I can endure anything.  Maybe I should read the scriptures more especially the lines that say "and it came to pass".  

Book Give Away

Many of y'all know that I've been on an Americana Tour this summer with the children.  I have learned so much and my patriotism has swelled.  I don't know what the children have learned or gleaned from the visits to historical sites but I'm grateful that I could take them with me.

So, I was tickled pink to find out that an author has begun to write books about the early years of our country with a fictional slant.  I'm anxious to read them.  There is a book give away for these books.  You can check it out at: 

 http://annebradshaw.blogspot.com/2009/08/give-away-2-epic-historic-romance.html

Thursday

My, oh, my.  It seems like it should be at least Friday.  I'm really not one for hoping days pass quickly.  Although this week just seems like a long one.  I'm just tired I suppose.

Today the family and I are taking a trip for a couple of days down to Baltimore and DC.  Robbie needs to work on some activities for his Weeblos badge and Arrow of Light.  We're very much behind schedule with only about 7 months to finish nearly everything.

I'm finding that the Weeblos requirements are quite confusing.  I'm sure that's why we've been so slack this year.  I like checklists and to know exactly what I need to do.  I find the Weeblos book to be all over the place.

With that said, one of the things Robbie needs to do is have a working knowledge/understanding of the government, the history of the flag and the National Anthem.  So, we're taking the kids to Ft. McHenry in Baltimore where the Star Spangled Banner song was written during the war.  We've been there before but the kids were much smaller.  Six years ago in fact.  If you visit Ft. McHenry, you can actually buy a Star Spangled Banner flag and have the park rangers fly it up the flagpole there at the fort.  They will then fill out a certificate saying that your flag has been flown at the fort.  It's a very cool gift idea and heirloom as well.

A Star Spangled Banner flag can be identified by it's 15 stars and stripes.  But, instead of trying to count the stars look at the stripe right under the field of blue.  If it's a red stripe, then you've got a Star Spangled Banner flag.  Cool huh?

After we visit Ft. McHenry, we'll head down to DC to the Smithsonian to go and see the actual Star Spangled Banner flag.  I'm quite excited about that.  After that visit, we'll probably wander the Mall and visit some other museums.  

It's my hope that through little trips like these we'll be able to instill in our children a love for the country that so many have fought and died for.  In our case, we're going to need to live for it in order to return it to the way the Founding Fathers & Mothers envisioned.

My Addiction

OK.  Most of y'all know that I'm a self-reliance addict.  I guess it's better than being addicted to tobacco or alcohol.  

Within the last month, I have added a fourth pressure canner and at least another 100 jars to my arsenal.  

That's it.  That's all I have to write about it.  I know I have issues.  I can admit them.  I just don't think there is such a place as Self-Reliance Anonymous.  I don't think I'd go even if there were.

July 4th, 2009

We had a nice Independence Day. It's wasn't slammed and packed but we did do a couple of nice things. Believe it or not, watching fireworks was not part of it.

We started a new tradition this year. We will be reading the Declaration of Independence on Independence Day. This is in the same vein as reading the Nativity Story on Christmas Eve. This idea was actually suggested on one of the Yahoogroups I belong to. As soon as I read, I knew it had to be part of our family.

I can honestly and ashamedly say that I had never read the entire Declaration of Independence. I was quite amazed and the difficulties outlined by Thomas Jefferson that the colonists had been enduring. What is most unfortunate is the fact that we seem to be in the same boat 233 years later....this time at our own doing. Very sad!

But, I have hope. I have hope in my posterity that as I teach them about our Founding Fathers and what they did to deliver this nation to us all, my posterity will rise up and take it back. I will do my part, but I do believe a lot of it will come with the generation that is being raised now.

Teaching my children hard work and self reliant skills will be the backbone of their success. We all need to reinforce goodness in our children and gratitude and kindness.

One of the "signs of the times" before Christ comes, is that men's hearts will wax cold one toward another. There may be very little I can do to change the course of my country and the leadership that is elected and the selfish decisions that are made and what happens as a consequence BUT I can commit to being kind and full of love and service. I do not have to be part of that "sign". I can also teach my children to do the same thing. The more we all commit to a more loving and service oriented way of life, the more prepared we will be to meet our Savior when He comes.

Moving on. We also went to the Phillies vs. Mets game over in Philadelphia. Last year we went as a family and discovered that the Phillies organization goes to great lengths to honor the armed forces. Sam and I felt that this was so patriotic and fun at the same time. So very "American". We decided that we would continue this as a tradition as part of our Independence Day celebrations.

This year was no different. When we got to our seats which were just under the giant scoreboard, we saw a HUGE flag being held together by dozens of national guardsmen/women. They seemed to have stood there forever. Finally, the announcer directed our attention to this giant flag at which time the military wo/men started to unfurl it. It was gorgeous. The wind caught it a bit and it waved across the ball field. It did take up about half of the ball field. It was beautiful.

While it was unfurled, we stood with hands over our hearts and repeated the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem. I spoke and sang as loud as I could. I wanted somehow for the Founding Fathers and Mothers to hear my voice as I committed as passionately as they did when they said, "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

The baseball game was a good one.  Phillies beat the Mets 4-1.  We sat up on the scoreboard porch with a whole bunch of drunks.  At one time there were about 4 security guys and an armed police officer making sure a potential fight didn't actually happen.  Lots of foul language.

It was a beautiful breezy day.  I'm so glad we went.  I love doing stuff like that with my family.  

Kitchen Odyssey Continues

So, we went to the Ikea yesterday to buy the kitchen. What we thought would be about a two hour trip over the bridge turned into a five hour nightmare odyssey.

Sam and I took Joey with us because he needs some time away from his siblings. Put him in the Smaland to play. We went upstairs and finished tweaking our plans. Done.

Sam stays upstairs to have the girl key in the order. She's very abrasive and I left to go get Joey. I should've had a clue that with abrasive girl things were not going to go well after that.

I get Joe and head back upstairs. Sam tells me after she keys in the order (without doors for the cabinets, mind you, because they don't carry them in stock. I'll have to go pick them up at the warehouse in a week or pay $159 for delivery.) that it'll take them about an hour to "pick" the order so we can take it home.

Sam and I wander around the store for about 1/2 hour - 45 minutes. Then we sat down to wait. And wait and wait and wait and wait. All in all...we waited for them to pick the order for THREE hours. They then said that most of our order was picked but they were still looking for a couple of other pieces. Sam and I took the list with us and checked everything off as we loaded it in the truck. We were missing a few things and they packed something wrong as well. Back in the store we tell the chick Bianca of the wrong and missing parts. This is where I start to lose it.

Bianca then takes our list and tells us she had to go through the items to make sure we didn't miss anything. Well, I was greatly offended and put out. EVERYTHING is loaded. How the heck is she going to see what's missing in there???? After she goes around and around my vehicle I just left and went to find the manager.

Now, that's another story. I find him on the floor and say, "They tell me you're the manager". He turns around and looks so haggard and worn out. I continue with, "doesn't look like you want to be the manager today." He agrees and asks me what the problem is. I explain. Unfortunately the haggard manager didn't really care so much for my plight. Seems like he tried to move things on a bit but really, that didn't work either. They finally come out with a couple of other parts and break the news that they don't have three of the pieces we need but they'll UPS them to us from the warehouse.

Again, I did raise my voice a wee bit and explain that if I didn't DESPERATELY need a kitchen I'd have them unload it all and I'd find myself another kitchen. They didn't really care. They were haggard also.

While Sam was giving Bianca our name and address for the UPS shipment, she told him to please call the main store manager and complain. She said that the employees complain all the time about the lack of staffing but they're not heard. Boy oh boy! What a day.

We did get home, unloaded the old nasty kitchen from the Ronald House out of the kitchen with the help of Jen's boyfriend Brandon. He's a nice young man. That was helpful.

Today Sam starts to build the new new kitchen. Let's hope it goes well.

Happy Independence Day!!! We'll be heading off to the Phillies game later this afternoon. It's one of our new family traditions. Since last year, that is.

I'm still hoping for a kitchen sink this weekend.

Yesterday

I had a nice day yesterday. Nothing spectacular happened it was just a nice day.

We've been trying to install a new kitchen. The story goes... The Ronald McDonald House is one of Sam's clients. A couple of weeks ago Sam was over there and found out that they were getting a new kitchen and that their old kitchen was up for grabs. So, we put our name on as many cabinets as we could get our hands on. The cabinets were not all in good shape but we figured we'd be able to piece them together to make one good kitchen for our house.

Last Saturday we spent the day gutting the old nasty kitchen. Those of y'all who have been in my house know that the kitchen was nasty. I've hated it forever but have done the best I could with what I had. So, knowing we'd have to pick the "new" kitchen up on Monday, we got rid of the old one on Saturday. Rested Sunday.

Monday morning Sam and I went out looking for flooring. We were so not prepared for this adventure. Not even a little bit. Found the flooring at Lumber Liquidators. It's a nice floor. I'm very happy with it. I finished painting the kitchen with "help" from the children. Sam and Jen made THREE trips to the Ronald House in Camden to get the cabinets. Once we got them to the house we realized how incredibly dirty and disgusting they were. The kids and I did our best to scrape and scrub the grime off of them. So nasty!

Long story short. Sam was moving around some of the cabinet pieces yesterday morning trying to figure out how best to use them and lay a design of sorts so we could get a counter made because I still don't have a kitchen sink. I was downstairs at my computer when Sam came down with a very sour look and said "talk me off of the ledge". I smiled and even giggled a little. We talked about the cabinets and how nasty they were. I told him that I would make the best of the situation. He said he didn't want to give me a nasty kitchen. So sweet!

We talked about it a little longer and then decided that we would go to Ikea and see if they had a kitchen that we could afford. We stuck the kids in the play place and started to lay out a new kitchen. To our utter delight and surprise a new kitchen wasn't going to cost as much as we thought. Especially since we were going to have to replace doors and buy a sink cabinet for the Ronald House cabinets anyway.

It was as if a major burden had been lifted. We both recognized that the Ronald House cabinets were a blessing in disguise. We've needed a new kitchen for forever but the thought of the effort and the cost just turned us off and we were never prepared to pull the trigger. Having a deadline to get the Ronald cabinets made us pull the trigger. We painted and put in the new floor before we realized that they weren't going to work. But, all in all, it's working out and I'm happy and excited to have a new kitchen.

After we left Ikea, I drove Sam to work and then took the kids on a little field trip to the Betsy Ross House in Philly. It was a nice little jaunt. Only took us about 45 minutes. With the kids along, they're not into museums and historical sites just yet but we've been learning about Betsy and the American Revolution. They had a storyteller there and the kids really enjoyed her a lot. If you're in Philly and have a few minutes, the BR House is just a couple blocks east of the US mint on Arch Street. I recommend it. Nothing spectacular but just a nice filler. They have a little courtyard set up where you can sit and rest in the shade of the trees and get a little something to eat. The tour is self guided because the house is so very small. It's only $3 for adults and $2 for children.

I enjoyed be a little spontaneous with the kids. They wanted to stay in Philly and do other things but I needed to get back home with holiday rush hour looming.

I just enjoyed yesterday. Today we're supposed to go pick up the cabinets at Ikea and spend forever putting them together and hanging them. YAY!!! But it's been a very long adventure so far. I'm hoping to have a kitchen sink in the next couple of days. That's my hope at least. We did order a new dishwasher to go UNDER the counter. YAY!!! That'll be here on Wednesday.

Random Ramblings

I need to blog. I just don't think I have much to say lately. Life is just in autopilot right now. That's certainly not a bad thing.

Robbie finished his baseball season finally. With so much rain, the games had to be postponed and postponed. He's playing in the All Star Game tonight. I hope they give him a good chance to play. He also got to go to baseball camp last week. That was a good thing for him. I think it helped to realize he can always get better.

We're busy trying to put in a new kitchen. We got the old kitchen from the Ronald McDonald House in Camden. The cabinets are pretty nasty from really never being cleaned for 11 years. Hundreds of people have used that kitchen and it shows. We've been busy scrubbing and washing trying to make them look like we actually want them in the house.

I painted the kitchen a really pretty green. I think the name of the paint is Winter Hedge or something. It's a hunter green color. We got new flooring from Lumber Liquidators. It's a "hand shaved" look dark teak patterned snap together floor. It's very pretty so far. The white cabinets should look nice in it.

We really weren't prepared to redo the kitchen even though we knew when we'd have to pick them up from RM House. Thermafoil coating on the face of the doors is pulling away from the wood on the doors so we'll have to get new doors. This may not be a bad thing cuz I'll be able to get the style I actually like. We just don't have a sink. I can manage without countertops and even cabinets but not having a sink is starting to get on my nerves.

We've been eating out a lot. That starts to wear thin after a while.

The best part of the new kitchen is that I will have an UNDER THE COUNTER dishwasher. I haven't had that luxury in about 11 years. I am so excited!!! More excited than all of the new storage space I'll have. YAY!!!!

I'll post pictures of the progress and final product once I have a final product.

easter 2009

Joey loses a tooth!

My boy lost his first tooth today.  It really doesn't seem possible that he's that old.  I want my little boy back!!!

This is right before he lost it.  He looks happy but he was so nervous.  That tooth was barely hanging there by a breath.  I reached in with a tissue and before he knew it, I pulled it right out without any resistance.  I'm sure that poor boy thought he was going to have a baby with all the worry that was on his face.  

The process is complete.  One little boy with one little tooth.  They other tooth is about a 1/4 of the way up.  I'm sure there will be many more to come.

I want my little boy back!!!

Opening Day!

Robbie started baseball again.  Opening Day was on April 4, 2009.  He's playing on the Astros this year.  Orange, Black and White are the colors.  I think they look rather smart.  All the other teams are a single color and white.  We get three colors.  

They played the Yankees for their first game.  Robbie was actually on the Yankees last year.  

He started off the day playing third base.  I think he did a pretty good job.

He's a cute little thing, isn't he?

He struggled a little bit with batting but that's ok.  This was just the first game of the season.  Robbie's a good ball player.  He needs to improve his batting but he has an ability to be very aware of what is going on around him during the game.  
This picture was of him jumping out the way of a wild pitch.  Of course, nearly every pitch in Little League is a wild pitch.
Robbie did get himself on base. (He walked)  He was able to steal second and then his teammate Dalton hit a double which got Robbie home.

I like this picture too.  He just looks happy to be playing ball.

Robbie got to try his hand at pitching as the closer.  He did a pretty dang good job.  In fact, he made the winning play of the game along with the first base player.  I was just so proud of him.  He was aware of his surroundings and did what needed to be done.  I was also happy to see his skill level rising to meet the challenge.
This is a picture of Robbie's team lining up to shake hands with the LOSERS!!!  I'm a great mom huh?  Don't judge.

Pasta pasta pasta....and God

Most everyone who reads this knows that I'm quite obsessed with food storage and home production skills.  If you didn't know, you'll for sure know after this post. :)

I have six children and a husband.  That's eight people to feed on a regular basis.  One of the things I've noticed is that the older they get, the more they eat.  HA! So, I am having to adjust my food storage accordingly.  We eat at least three pounds of spaghetti noodles when having spaghetti.  We'll eat usually two pounds of other types of noodles.  This will very little leftovers.

Pasta has become increasingly more expensive over the years.  But, usually I have been able to get Barilla pasta for about .09/box with coupons.  This only happens about once every two years or so.  The last time I got pasta was about 1 1/2 years ago.  I got over 100 boxes of pasta for .09/box using coupons. I still actually have a couple boxes of orzo and pastina from that pasta run.

But, for the last few months I've been having to buy pasta like everyone else...full price or a minimal sale.  

I realized about a week ago that in order to have a three month's supply of pasta I would need to have at minimum 36 boxes of pasta.  That really isn't enough but it would get us through if I were careful.  So, I decided that I needed to go ahead and just bite the bullet and start buying pasta a little at a time to work up to the 36 boxes.  I had a few at home but not like the 100 boxes from earlier.

In this process, I said a little prayer asking the Lord to please bless me with good sales on pasta.  I checked the sales circulars with hope and faith (really), but nothing.  No worries, maybe next week.

Upon opening the coupon inserts this last weekend, I found a coupon for .50/1 Barilla pasta.  Do you know what that means here in NJ?  That means that with double coupons that coupon would double to $1/1 box of Barilla pasta.  Oh my.  It was if the flood gates opened on me.

I've never really had a hard time finding coupons online in the past.  But, this time seemed to be a bit more challenging.  I had to work with my limited amount of patience, but yesterday it all paid off.  

I found a coupon clipping "business" and ordered 30 of these coupons (max order) and 10 of the inserts in which these coupons were found plus an extra coupon off the whole wheat kind of pasta.  That's 50 coupons total.

Yesterday these coupons arrived.  I went over to Pathmark and found that they had a sale on it for 4/$5.  Making each box after coupon .25.  Not bad.  I can only use 4 like coupons at a time at the Pathmark.  

I needed to run to ACME for some other stuff.  Once there I picked up their sales flyer and just about peed myself.  I had forgotten that they had Barilla pasta 10/$10.  Do you know that that means?  I got 46 boxes of pasta for FREE.  

For the day, I got $262 worth of groceries for $35.  Oh my goodness.

I am overwhelmed and quite unable to express my awe at God.  Most will say that it was just coincidence that this all happened.  That's fine.  But, I KNOW, that our loving Father did it.  He knew that I would work hard to find the coupons and to go every day if need be to gather those boxes of pasta.  He trusted me.  And I trusted Him.  I knew He would bless me with the sales I needed to add to my food storage.  That really doesn't express my true feelings.  I don't even know how to do it justice.  I was willing to pay for the pasta and only asked for decent sales.  But, He went beyond that and gave me more than what I asked for.  I am so thankful.

BTW, I got a raincheck for 20 more boxes of FREE pasta.  I have 76 more coupons headed my direction as well.  Within the next week or so, I'll have a year's supply of pasta.  How great is that?

April Fool's Day!

Leah seems to have been playing April Fool's Day jokes on me all day.

Below you will find a picture of her in a self-induced Triaminic stupor.  Yes, that's right.  Lucy came downstairs this morning while I was doing laundry and told me that Leah had gotten into the medicine.  I hurry upstairs to find nearly half the bottle of grape-flavored Nighttime Cold & Cough Triaminic GONE!

I called poison control.  He did the math for her age and weight and said she should be fine.  If she started with tremors and hallucinations, I needed to RUSH her to the ER.  Great!

Well, thankfully nothing like that happened.  She climbed up in the rocking chair and watched tv for a bit.

Oh, but she wasn't done.

A few hours later, I came up the stairs and smelled something burning.  Leah had put a small piece of bread in the toaster and it was about a split second from bursting into flames.  Disaster averted!  Thank goodness!

A little later, Robbie came and told me that Leah had made a mess in the bathroom.  I rolled my eyes.  She was into there soaking wet with hand soap ALL OVER the dang bathroom.  Water and soap.  And she was still in quite a daze from the overdose earlier in the day.  You'll see that in the picture below.
Finally, Joey came to me and said, Leah was playing the brown sugar and the white sugar.  GEESH!!!  Actually, she had gotten into the cinnamon and sugar shaker and it was everywhere.  This was evidently BEFORE the soap/water incident which is why she was covered in soap/water because she was washing all of the cinnamon and sugar off.

I can't wait for this child to go to sleep tonight.  She has worn me out!  

So funny

Yesterday, I went to the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia. I took Jessie with me and we got to BYU get tromped by Texas A&M.

That's the first part of the story. I had been talking about Brigham Young University here and there throughout the week in preparation for the game.

Last night the phone rings and Lucy checked caller ID for me. It came up "Brigham Young.." (the rest was too long to fit) They are calling for their yearly fund raising.

Lucy reads the name out loud and without missing a beat exclaims, "You know him?!" That just made me laugh out loud. So, cute!

The Survivors Club widget

I highly recommend taking this quiz.  The author of this book "The Survivor's Club" interviewed all sorts of survivors from every type of situation from a woman being eaten by a lion to an economic collapse.  He says that there are five types of survivors and everyone fits into at least one category. 

My quiz result was that I am a Thinker.  I actually have to agree with that.  The only criticism I have of the quiz is for those of us who are Believers in God and call on His name in the midst of a crisis.  I found myself wanting to answer both.  That's just for your information.  

Leave a comment and tell me what you are.  Enjoy

What is this?

This looks like something yummy and chocolately, doesn't it?  Boy, don't I wish!!  I was trying to make healthy Ezekial bread tortilla chips.  Alas--I left them in the oven WAY too long.  I have never burnt anything this bad ever!

Leah's First Haircut

Leah is 3 years old and has never had a haircut.  I've trimmed her bangs here and there but it was time.  :)  With Lucy, I was an idiot.  She had beautiful hair.  I cut it on her first birthday because I was a really stupid mother.  My mother-in-law told me that it's an Italian tradition to cut a baby's hair on their first birthday.

First of all, I don't know if that's true or not.  I'm gullible.  Secondly, my MIL didn't make me do it--I was just trying to create a little tradition in my family.  

So, poor Lucy got all her hair chopped off.  I was a silly, stupid little mother.  Thankfully, it all grew back.  YAY!

So, I vowed that I wouldn't do that with any of my other daughters.  Leah started life with not even so much as fuzz on her little head.  It took her forever to grow hair.  Finally, it grew down pretty close to her cute little bum and it was time.  She loved getting her hair cut and being a little diva for a few minute.  Alyssa is the hairdresser.

In the beginning...Leah starts with a lot of crazy, long hair.  The little wound on her nose is from Joey smacking her in the face with something hard.  
                  Getting the little drape put on her.

She thought having her hair put up in clips was so fun.  The girls at the salon made her feel like a little princess.  
                       Almost done....just trimming up those bangs.
TADA!!!  All done.  Now we can see those precious little eyes.  I didn't have Alyssa cut much off the length.  I wasn't ready for that just yet. 

Trip to AC

I took the kids down to Atlantic City last week because the temps got close to 70 degrees---INLAND!  It was pretty cold down there with the wind whipping away.  But we still had fun.

I love that my children are smiling.  We had a nice trip to the shore.  Chilly but nice.
I got a little trigger happy with this photo.  The incoming bird actually does snatch that pizza crust right out of Joey's fingers.  It was way cool.  You can see the other kids in the background waiting for the take.
                    Barefoot on the beach in February.  Ain't life grand!

                       On the boardwalk at Atlantic City, NJ.

Hardly Blogging

I haven't blogged at all in nearly two months. I've thought about blogging but I just don't have anything interesting to blog about. I think about it.

Those things that I would like to share on a blog have just been too private. I've done a lot of thinking and praying about some of my circumstances and those that are rearing their ugly heads in the world right now.

We did sell our investment property back in January. We got the offer on Christmas Eve and went to the settlement table on the 26th of January. I have felt very blessed. The Lord has been so good to me and my family. I do appreciate all of those who prayed and fasted in our behalf. It works!

My day

How did I make my day different than all the other days?

I started a diet today. I decided that I might as well start it now as opposed to waiting until Monday. Monday's the day I start everything. So, I did something different.

I was a little more focused today. Before I left a room, I tried to remember where I was going and why I was going there. More purpose. So often I wander around and forget the reason I got up in the first place. So, today I practiced focusing.

I exercised today. It was at 5:30pm. BUT, I carved out the time. I only exercised for 10 minutes with my new The FIRM WAVE thing. I felt the burn. So, today I moved my body on purpose.

I served someone. My husband. He leaves to go to California on Monday. I know he's going to be busy the next few days with some other stuff, so I washed his clothes so it would be easier for him to get it all together. So, today I lifted a burden from someone.