Elaine's Expressions

No soup for you! Next

2012-01-31T15:13:00.001-06:00

I had a meeting for Ryan this morning and then went to Bellevue to pick up Trevor to go to a job fair. I dressed up a little bit so I could pass as someone scouting a new job instead of someone's mom who brought their kid there to get a job. The job fairs I have been to have basically been set up like craft fairs...one big room with tables for the headhunters to sit at. I was mistaken today. It was an office. One office. So, I was kind of stuck as to why I was there with my son.

So, I applied for an inbound customer service job while Trevor did the same. Ugh...not what I wanted to be doing but I was dressed up so why not? They put Trevor and I at computers so we could fill out applications. We both got put through to the second round. (Oh no...interview...crap..dont want a job) The company we went to does the hiring for all kinds of different companies in town. Trevor got a job!!! Pending a background check...which scares me in the pit of my stomach. He passed a background check for an apartment so maybe he'll pass the job one.

He was so super excited and for the first time in quite awhile, he showed a good self esteem. Just having someone with a suit on say "we want you. you're not a loser" (in so many words) boosted his spirits today. I'm going to be crushed for him if they call back in a few days and rescind the offer. If all goes well, he starts Monday. It's a great job for him. He'll be working at XM radio making $11 an hour. He was planning all of the things he would do with his money if he gets hired. (about drove me to tears because I'm nervous for him-not that I said anything of course)

Okay, get this. I got a job too. I declined because the hours are noon to 7PM and I'd never see the kids. It's a pharmaceutical rep job. I would love a sales job meeting new (interesting) people but... seeing the kids only on weekends and right before bed isn't for me. The woman said she'd keep me in her database in case they decide to offer a part time position.

After job hunting, we went grocery shopping and I got home in time to fold 3 loads of laundry and now I have to go pick up kids from school. Be back later....

The funniest thing happened when I picked the kids up. Savannah lost her first tooth. When she was showing it to me, she dropped it on the ground just as the school let out and all of the kids came out of the school. Yikes! Of course when 2 people are crawling on the ground looking for something, others join in....we had teachers, students, and parents looking for the missing tooth. (Hope no one missed their bus ride home) A teacher found it and Savannah put it back in her pocket. So funny...

But, in the middle of all of the commotion, I look around and no Evelyn. People were starting to thin out and still no Evelyn. Then, I notice that I am holding her backpack and coat. hmmm...that means I must have had some sort of conversation with her when she came out? and...she probably told me she was going to a friend's house. hmm....friend? I do know of a friend that she goes to sometimes and she was there. whew....

Quite a bit of excitement for a 15 minute period. huh? Now, what kind of job could match that?

Happy 4th of July

2012-01-28T11:18:00.000-06:00

I was talking to Brittany this morning about a family vacation and she suggested meeting in Colorado. She found a ski resort at Beaver Creek that has 4 bedroom townhouses you can rent for the week. We're thinking of going the week of July 2nd for 5 days. It's really reasonably priced and they have canoeing, hiking, skiing, horseback riding, (my favorite) spa services or just hanging out: beaver creek

I am doing respite today for a woman who has a client through ILC (same place I work). He's a nice guy similar to Ryan. I think we're going to go to the Children's Museum and maybe out to lunch.

Missed a bullet

2012-01-27T09:02:00.000-06:00

Daniel worked until 11 last night. I texted him at 9 and asked him to go to Walmart for me. He wasn't too happy about going but I'm so glad he did. Look what happened at 11:20. If Daniel had gotten off work at 11 and came straight home, this is where he would have been at 11:20:

156th and Q

Isaiahs really bad super awful horrible day

2012-01-26T18:13:00.001-06:00

Mom...So does that mean I can't have your spaghetti recipe?!

The morning started off mellow. I folded laundry and watched "Lost Boys" for the fifty-somethingth time. Then went visiting teaching and was back for the piano guy to come fix the squeaky key and tune it again. It had a few sounds that didn't sound right. He said it was caused by the humidity in the house vs the dry air from the showroom.

Isaiah's teacher called as I was going to pick the kids up. Isaiah was having such a bad day that she didn't want to put him on the bus. She gave me a long list of the naughty things he did from cutting his shirt to pushing a kid down at recess to running through the halls screaming and called his teacher a name. He spent most of the day in the time-out chair back in the special ed room. His teacher said he showed her behaviors that she hasn't seen before from him.

Today his mainstream teacher had a substitute. Well...there you go...substitute teacher. I'm glad that Daniel gets to go to parent teacher conference tomorrow at his school and I wont be able to make it because I have another meeting. (Thank God)

Fire breathing momma

2012-01-24T19:32:00.001-06:00

My lesson on Sunday went great. Sister Clegg teaches with me (we rotate weeks) and she's awesome at classroom management so everything flowed well while I delivered the lesson.

This week has been kind of tough. I stay up late watching stupid TV shows. Last night was Hoarders and The Bachelor. The man this season is not even attractive and he has 13 or so beautiful, but not-so-bright women that he dates simultaneously who get eliminated one by one until he proposes to one. It's disgusting but darn it, I watch the stupid thing anyway. They have a really mean girl on there this season who is obviously in it for the win. I doubt she'll marry him if he picks her but she's my favorite. Okay...back to my night.... So I stay up late and probably fall asleep around midnight.
I woke up at 1AM with my throat on fire.(acid reflux that I get every time my weight goes above 145) I took some alka-seltzer and 15 minutes later not any better, I took another dose of alka-seltzer, a 6 hour antacid, and 2 glasses of milk. I know it's not good to overdose on antacids but I'm telling ya, I can barely stand it until it goes away. It feels like...well, acid in my throat. You want to cough but you know if you do it's going to hurt worse. Anyhow, I finally got to sleep at 3 (sitting upward) and my alarm goes off at 5:30.

Trying my best to be pleasant and get the kids breakfast and *sigh* I'm still in my pajamas when I take them to school at 7:45 (Chance and Evelyn both had to be there early) Savannah and I watched "Totoro" under a blanket in the car until she can go into the school at 8:30.

When I get back home I shower, did my makeup, and went back to bed and ended up sleeping until noon! I was hoping I could sleep until 10 so noon kind of messed up my day. Not that I had anything going on. Housework keeps and the kids are in school unil 3:45.

It's my night to cook so I made mom's cashew chicken recipe. It was good but overly complicated. The recipe has you doing it in three separate stages, draining the oil and then putting half of it back in the pan, adding 6 egg whites to half of the recipe...and on and on and on. I rewrote it taking out the superfluous ingredients (and the half cup of wine...way too much) and threw that recipe away. Now I can make it in half the time and it tastes better.

I'm trying to convince Daniel to let me teach him what we've learned so far on the piano. He has zero interest. He wont even let me show him what the keys are. He's never touched the keys of this beautiful piano.

He says he has no desire but, I think it's because he believes he wont be able to learn and he'll look stupid because his 6 year old can and he can't. (That's nonsense....but he's pretty stubborn.) It's such an easy program a monkey could learn. I'm not giving up though. I never thought he'd read a book in his lifetime and now he loves to read.

Ren and I have a house to clean tomorrow so I absolutely have to sleep tonight. I'm going to start off upright and see if that helps! If not, I'll be playing Garden's of Time all night again...

Still no snow in Omaha!

2012-01-21T22:56:00.000-06:00

I just finished a plate of pizza rolls but before I get the alka seltzer ready, I read my email. I was going to shut down the computer and go to bed but in my email was a super super nice message from Mick. I don't know how I got so lucky to get a father-in-law like him. He's amazing!!

Brittany sent me this. Ahhh....looks very inviting. She was in Phoenix, I believe?

Today was pretty slow. Not boring. Just nothing going on. I didn't even leave the house except to go to the garage for another diet pepsi. I gotta quit drinking that stuff. I love it though. It's my fix every day....or 3 times a day...or 4.

Daniel and I tagged teamed on the kids today so I haven't talked to him much. I did bring him breakfast in bed this morning and just took him some pizza rolls. We've been lazing around doing our own things. I like down time

I showered all 4 kids tonight and had them clean up the basement inbetween showers. I am seriously hating the basement. I want to change it so bad but don't have a clue where to start. The carpet is ruined in places so I know that has to be ripped up and replaced. The furniture is awful and doesn't match. I have a phobia of darkness and there is only two tiny windows so no natural light. I don't know what to with it.

Well, it's 11PM and I still dont have my lesson put together for tomorrow's Sunday School. I'm gonna go work on that for a bit

Oh, wait! I was going to put on the new word Daniel found today in the dictionary:

Weltschmerz: Meaning "world pain." Denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. This pessimistic view was widespread among romantic authors such as Lord Byron, Giacomo Leopardi, François-René de Chateaubriand, Alfred de Musset, Nikolaus Lenau, Hermann Hesse, and Heinrich Heine. It is also used to denote the feeling of sadness when thinking about the evils of the world—compare empathy, theodicy. (Wikipedia definition) Now you know....

short video

2012-01-19T10:58:00.005-06:00

I uploaded a short video of fur elise. I don't play it perfectly yet but here's a version http://youtu.be/mty_M1KkvLw

And one of Savannah on the old piano (which hopefully is in the junkyard now) http://youtu.be/QbOW_zEvE8I

Check out this version. Wow, I have a long way to go on guitar

Daniel and I have med class re-certification in an hour so I don't have time to post much else right now

Sunny and 35 degrees with no snow

2012-01-18T15:53:00.002-06:00

OMGosh...I'm so tired today! Ren is sick but instead of doing the smart thing and cancelling our house to clean today I did it by myself. Oh my...I picked the wrong house to go solo. This beast of a house kicked my butt. What normally takes us 2 hours took me 5. I cut my finger while cleaning the knobs on the stove and I didn't have a bandaid. I searched all over her kitchen and no bandaids so I had to wrap my hand in paper towels (the right hand and I'm right handed) and wear a glove so that was kind of cumbersome. I finished at 1:45 and thought, oh good I have an hour to sit down before I have to pick up the kids and then I realized it's Wednesday. The kids get out at 2:15 on Wednesday. So much for relaxing a bit!

All three kids had gotten in trouble at school today. Even Savannah-the sweet one. Chance didn't get his work done and got in a fight with Aiden (Aiden went to the office so I hope it was more his fault than Chance's.) Evelyn couldn't keep on task in her class so had to go to a neighboring class to work for the day and little sweet one threw a temper tantrum because she didn't get the snack she wanted. Sheesh....What a day

We all went to McDonalds and got "chicken" nuggets and sundaes and said "screw it" really loud. That made the day better :)

Trevor called with a "oh no mom, my cable is going to be shut off in the morning, can you pleeeeease pay my past due?" Sigh... oh and by the way, can I bring over some laundry and dishes for your dishwasher? Grrrr......Yes, I guess so

It sounds like I'm complaining but I'm really not. My happy demeanor isn't coming through very well in this blog but I'm in a great mood. Just tired

Oh, we got our piano yesterday!!! Its beeee-uuuuu-teee-ful. It's a shiny black new Lyrica. It sounds so nice! We can't keep our hands off it! It's well worth the money I paid.

My next "save up" purchase is a new washing machine. I wont be as jazzed about it as the Lyrica but I hate the one we have. It's a pile of junk but that Sears warranty is still in effect (or is it affect?) so they just keep coming and "fixing" it. I want a red low efficiency washer to match the dryer Daniel bought last year. woo hoo...I could theoretically do laundry at night when everyone is sleeping if I had a new one. (not that I'm that big of a freak about laundry...Okay, I am but shhhh)

So, today in the car Savannah announces that she's going to ask God for a baby sister. She's a rotten kid. I told her not to pray for stuff like that....that's just mean (sarcasm) I told her to pray for a neice instead. (hint hint Britty) We settled on asking God for a puppy

Daniel is working until 11PM tonight so I'm on for dinner and bedtime.

Oh wanna here my latest? So I don't license my vehicles. Ever. Well, yesterday I got pulled over. Yikes. The cop goes "you haven't registered your car in 4 years?" I'm like um...yeah...it's too much money. She goes "I'll be right back." and goes to her squad car. (to get her handcuffs ready and start processing my impound) So, I'm sitting in my van at 8:30 AM after dropping the kids off...in my PAJAMAS with no make up on. Yeah, beauty queen. I call Ren and Daniel and say I think I'm going to need a ride here in a minute. The lady cop comes back with a ticket and says I can go. I just looked at her and said"really? You're not going to impound my car?" (I know...I probably should have just shut up and left) and she goes "you're a mom and you're in your pajamas. No, I'm not impounding your car...I've been there. Get it taken care of." Whew!!! Sweet woman. I can't believe my luck! I still have to drive it for another couple weeks. I have to wait for Daniel's tax return to get plates. For those of you who aren't in Nebraska...my tags are $2080 the last time I checked. yeah, two thousand dollars for a stupid tin plate on the back of my van.

I have my medication recert class tomorrow and have to take Trevor to his diversion checkup and take the girls out selling girl scout cookies so tomorrow is going to be a busy one

Oh, Isaiah just walked in with a 100% point card from school. My golden child today!

Gordman's and JCPenny can help

2012-01-14T09:01:00.004-06:00

I had all of the housework done and laundry finished yesterday and I'm piddling around the house with nothing to do so I tackled Daniel's closet. He's such a pack rat. He has so many clothes that it takes effort to move them to hang up clean stuff. I started at the back and worked my way forward tossing shirts that are either ugly, old, or doesn't fit. I ended up getting rid of 43 shirts. 43 shirts! What guy has 43 shirts and all of them either tan, black, or blue? Goodwill is certainly stocked with shirts today.

So, I felt a little guilty for my purge and with the assistance of Ren and Tracy, who knew where to buy men's clothes, I went and got him 14 new shirts. I only bought one blue and one black one. Today he's wearing a yellow shirt and he looks so nice. I found a new hoodie for Trevor and some pants and pajamas for Isaiah too.

What else did I do yesterday.....Oh, Daniel and I went to lunch (had to soften the blow and show him what I bought)

Ren and I cleaned a house after lunch. It was easy...just bathrooms and floors. $25 a piece for an hour job is pretty good

Trevor came over yesterday. We haven't seen him all week. He doesn't have a car and not really a reason to come into town except for Fridays when he picks Mackie up from her parents house. So after getting Mackie, they went over to Cameron's new apartment and hung out.

Brittany sent me a picture of herself poolside with palm trees in the background. Must be nice!! She's in Arizona getting paid to lay out. She's nannying in warm weather.

Today I'm finishing Trevor's blanket and the jelly bean blanket for Brittany (should she EVER have kids) and starting on a hat for Mackie. That's it for my corner of the Saturday.

Monday

2012-01-09T07:03:00.001-06:00

I'm on my last day of antibiotics and feeling much much better. Isaiah woke up with pink eye yesterday. This has got to end soon. I was talking to people at church yesterday and it seems that most families have had something or another go through their houses too.

Speaking of church, I'm liking my new class. I have 6 boys and a girl. You know who the star is: yup, the girl. They're a great bunch of kids. We'll have fun this year.

Trevor stopped by last night and nabbed onto the blanket I'm making. I finished Ren's slouchy hat and Clay's socks. Well, kind of done with Clay's socks. I made two but they are two completely different sizes so I need to make two more. I probably should have used sock number one as a pattern ;) We have such nice weather that it's not really hat or heavy sock weather anyway.

We skyped Brittany on Saturday to show her Evelyn's hair. Evey had a birthday party at a salon. They got their hair done and nails and went out to pizza. I forgot to take a picture of her hair but it was really cute

How is this for a great New Year's resolution? Living an abundant Life

I have a ton of stuff to do before I get out the door. Have a great day

Still sick

2012-01-05T17:08:00.000-06:00

I picked Trevor up today and took him to his appointment at court. This is the view of the courthouse (on the right) from the top of the parking garage. It was a beautiful 60 degrees today. Pretty awesome for January 5th

I went to the doctor after being sick since Saturday. I have a sinus infection. I'll be so glad when the medicine starts working. I've been eating ibuprofen every 4 hours for almost a week.

The kids went back to school today. Evelyn got a standing ovation on her Idaho project.

I was pretty impressed with Trevor. His apartment was clean and his bed made. He had a full cat litter box and overflowing garbage can in the kitchen but progress is progress! (I'm sure he loves me posting the cleanliness of his apartment on my blog--oops)

Here's something interesting: Mind Reading Plants

Cold

2011-12-31T18:12:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning with a bad cold. Got a headache, a stuffy head, a sore throat, and some goopy eye thing. Yuck...

Daniel took the kids to the park and then to cold stone ice-cream so I slept for a couple hours.

Happy New Year....damn

My favorite state is...

2011-12-30T07:02:00.001-06:00

Evelyn and Chance are working on research projects for school. Evelyn is doing hers on the state of Idaho. I had this bark from a pine tree which I think looks much better than poster board. Don't you? She put a picture of her cousins on as a "little known Idaho fact". (Her cousins live there-haha!!) That part cracked me up. Evelyn can be so goofy sometimes.

Chance is struggling with his project. There's not much fun you can do with wombat research. They live in alone in mountains so I guess we could take a mound of dirt to school. Maybe not...

Oh, and why would I have bark from a pine tree? :) My friend Joe (In Idaho) sent it to me when I was building my frog habitat.

Lots of nonsense

2011-12-29T08:47:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday the kids and I went to the Children's Museum. What a trip those kids are. I felt sorry for the moms there with little kids (around 1-2) I remember running around crazy trying to keep track of four of them. You find one and have three other to chase down. This year has been a breeze. I sit by the fiberglass cow and knit. The last time we went we had a hard time locating Chance when it was time to go so I had him paged from the front desk. The kids remembered that and all of a sudden, I hear "Elaine Edwards, please come to front lobby. Savannah and Isaiah are waiting for you here." They thought that was really funny--paging mom...Little stinkers.

You gotta watch Savannah. We've always dubbed her "the sweet one" and she completely uses it. I was watching her talk to a family of three and all of a sudden, they give her a dirty look, get up from their chairs and walk away. I go over to her and ask "what was that all about?" and she says "I told them they were blocking the good toys." Naughty!!!

Chance painted around his eyes with big black circles and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead and ran around being Harry Potter the rest of the afternoon. He needs to work on the English accent ;)

I got a little turned around on the way home from the Children's Museum. Okay...a lot turned around and ended up on 108th and Maple (only about 100 blocks away!) so we went to that little Pizza Hut over there. It's a dive but the pizza is the same. When we were half done with our cheese only pizza (ugh) I texted Daniel and half-joking told him to scrap work and meet us for lunch. He was all over that but by the time we finished he still wasn't there. Oops...I told him we were on 120th and Maple instead of 108th and Maple... told ya I was all turned around

We were going to go to the zoo after I got done cleaning a house yesterday but by the time I got home, Trevor wanted to get back to Bellevue, I had to get Ren's Christmas present (better late than never! Suzanne...yours is still coming) and Isaiah couldn't find any clean clothes anyway. Isaiah finally gave up on the pants and wore pajamas all day. Chance was in his church clothes because I can't seem to get the laundry put away so we would have been a motley crew at the zoo.

Today is supposed to be beautiful. 55 degrees on December 29th. How cool is that?! The girls are still sleeping at 8:45 AM and I have a huge pile of junk all around me that I need to go through. I keep a wicker basket in the kitchen that is kind of my junk drawer. I had the silly notion to clean it out today so I have piles all around my computer and on the floor. I doubt I'll get it all done since I keep taking procrastination breaks to play Gardens of Time (playdom.com) , unload the dishwasher, make a kid breakfast, blog, or watch a netflix movie.

Speaking of Netflix, I discovered Catherine Cookson movies and they are really good. They have a Withering Heights kind of feel to them. They're romantic and WWI-era-ish. I'm really liking them. I stayed up until 1AM last night (or this morning) watching "The glass Virgin." Daniel says they are from an English mini-series. How in the world he knows about English mini-series is beyond me!

Brittany called yesterday and said she loves the scarf I sent her. I was worried. It took 5 balls of super bulky yarn. It's 8 inches wide and probably 6 feet long. It's what she asked for but I thought I misunderstood until she asked for anther one. I'm going to finish Clay's socks and Ren's beanie and start on another scarf for her. Britt--pick a color.

I hear Isaiah's new drum set turned up to the obnoxiously loud level so I better to quiet him down before it wakes up Sleeping One and Sleeping Two. Have a great day!

The day after

2011-12-26T10:36:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful Christmas we had. I cannot believe the generosity of friends and family. Most of what the kids got for Christmas was already wrapped so I didn't see them and wow...we were amazed and thankful and humbled by the awesome gifts! Evelyn got the whole set of Harry Potter books (which she went nuts over), Savannah got a brown Baby Alive doll. I got her a white one and was so surprised to see a second one because those things are $30. All of the kids got clothes which in my family is loved. I always got disappointed as a kid to get clothes but my kids get all excited when they open clothes.

Isaiah's favorite present...yes you know! Barbies. He opened it up and screamed BARBIES then ran to the fridge and took Santa's letter and said "See, Santa got me these!!!"

Chance's favorite presents were ISPY books. He goes "now I don't have to be in trouble for not returning the ISPY books to the library". True Bubby, he checks them out and then doesn't want to give them back.

Oh, the girls got really pretty hats from Brittany. I'll have to post a picture of them. They're just beautiful.

Speaking of Britt, I got a Scentsy and I just love it. Brittany sent 4 wax bricks with it (Christmas Cottage, Just Breathe, French Lavender, and Hazelnut Latte) I put most of the first brick in it and it filled the whole house with Christmas Cottage. I love it

I had to wake everyone up at 8 yesterday. I know! Sleeping in on Christmas morning?! We were done unwrapping presents and had a quick breakfast then went to church. We only had an hour Sacrament meeting and no classes. The primary choir and the adult choir sang beautifully.

After church we just lazed around and at midnight Daniel and Trevor went to see Mission Impossible IMAX. I guess it was a completely awesome man movie.

Okay, I need to get moving. Evelyn and I are going to buy shoes and boots and I need to get my sister's present to her! I got her tickets to the Playhouse.

Suzy, I'll call and let you know what's going on with the girls's presents. I'm so sorry you don't have them yet!!!

Mom-missed your call twice yesterday huh? More apologies. I'll call you today too.

You're going to laugh but my New Year's resolution is not to procrastinate and here's a big one for me....return phone calls! I hate the phone. Hate talking on it and returning calls almost never happens. So if everyone would text me instead of calling that would help me out immensely on keeping my New Years resolution!!

Poinsettia Care Tips

2011-12-25T12:37:00.000-06:00

Poinsettia Care Tips

Christmas Eve Day

2011-12-24T11:01:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we packed everyone into the van and drove to Sioux Falls to have lunch with Mick and Sandy. They brought Ruby with them (Barbie's oldest daughter ((Barbie is Sandy's daughter))Anyway, that was a nice surprise!! Sandy is really good at gift giving. She got the kids movies which was absolutely perfect for the 3 hour trip back to Omaha. We watched Mater's Tall Tales, Little Rascals (yes, the original show), and part of Secret Garden.

Trevor went with us (gotta have someone to pinch under the arm in the restaurant) Mackie was with her other family (The biological ones--they treat her badly...we dont like them much) but she's not much on road trips so we probably wouldn't get her to come anyway.

Everyone was hungry again by the time we got back to town so we stopped at 5 guys burgers. We had overly greasy food. The restaurant was dirty, dirty bathrooms, florescent lights, cement floor...bleech.

Ryan had a great time in Sioux Falls. He mentioned twice during the conversations yesterday that he's not happy he does volunteer work all of the time with no pay. He says he wants to stock shelves at Radio Shack. So Monday, I'm going to see if we can find him a real job. He used to get paid when he worked for his last day program but the company switched and now they fold towels for Douglas County for free...kind of mindless if you ask me.

We pulled into the driveway last night and Shari and hubby
pull up with a huge plate of treats. I mean really good treats...like fudge, soft cookies, cherry bing bars.... Delicious!!

I'm getting kind of winded here but I have to tell you, we let the kids open one of their presents already. They chose Ren's present. I had my own motives for this one...I can clean house and bake alone! I sent Daniel to the store to get markers and stuff to bake cookies for Santa. Christmas is starting off very good :)

Happy Birthday Isaiah (continued)

2011-12-18T15:30:00.001-06:00

Isaiah woke up this morning and the first thing he said was "They're going to sing to me in church today." It's been an all about Isaiah at our house. He's had a great day. The Moodys came over with a card and $5 which we all know what he's buying with it...another Barbie :) He's really dove into the Harry Potter thing but Barbie will probably always be his favorite

We turned in our Primary manuals today and picked up next year's manual. I'll be teaching 8 year olds and we're studying the Book of Mormon for the year. Just glancing through the manual I can tell it's quite a change from teaching the 5 year olds.

Savannah woke up sick again. Ugh...she has the same thing Isaiah had yesterday. So, that means Chance will be sick tomorrow and Ryan on Tuesday. I've lysol-ed and Clorox-wiped everything that will stand still this week

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

2011-12-17T19:18:00.000-06:00

Today we went to Red Robin for lunch and then The Children's Museum for Isaiah's birthday. His real birthday is tomorrow so we'll do cake and presents after church. It was an exhausting day. That children's museum always wears me out

Daniel worked part of the day and I super cleaned my bathroom and bedroom before we celebrated Isaiah's day. My bedroom was growing a life of it's own. Every surface had some kind of pile or another and was kind of getting out of control. I had to do something about it before I started to lose children in there.

I have to go to Walmart tonight and get some stuff for my church class tomorrow. I promised them all treats since this is one of my last week teaching them.

Isaiah's grandparents sent Isaiah some stuff from Arizona for his birthday and Christmas. I love the stuff they send.

Daniel at the children's museum. He's such a kid:

Savannah and Evelyn are doing much better today. Evelyn's cough is almost gone and Savannah is breathing at almost 100 percent again. Isaiah woke up sick yesterday throwing up and having diarrhea but it passed by noon. Thank goodness. I swear, when one person in this house gets sick they all do.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

2011-12-15T07:12:00.004-06:00

Called it...Got 3 hours of sleep. Savannah ended up in the ER last night. She wasn't breathing right when she was sleeping at 10 so I picked her up and put her in the van and took her in. They did 3 back to back breathing treatments and then oxygen for an hour and she perked up like it was noon. Not a bit sleepy. (meanwhile, I'm nodding off and on in a really really uncomfortable chair)

We had a chest xray while we were there. Why not? nothing else to do at 1AM right? and it looked good so Dr. Harrison will probably call it asthma and not some scary respiratory disease. So, that's good news.

The ER doctor and 4 nurses sang her happy birthday and gave her a cheetoes colored stuffed animal once they got her patched up. She's doing much better this morning after another breathing treatment. I do believe she'll be well enough to go to school and have her birthday celebration :)

Me...I'm going to clean a house, go to Sams, and then take a nap before the pizza machine this afternoon.

Later.......She had a pretty good day. I took her with me to work. She even helped clean. Then we went and got our nails done and then lunch anywhere she wanted to go. (McDonalds...typical 6 year old)

One of her presents was a gigantic bear. He traveled around with us today. Savannah with the edible bow from the cake:

13 things to keep in mind

2011-12-14T11:44:00.002-06:00

Okay, I know this is a tad morbid but I ran across this article today and it's good. Plus, who wants to think about this when you're grieving over someone who just died? 13-things-the-funeral-director-wont-tell-you

I picked Savannah up from school today and she was wheezing and having trouble breathing. I'm so tired of ending up in the doctor's office every time someone coughs in the house. I gave her a breathing treatment at home which helped until I got her to the doctor. The doctor said it's probably asthma but sent us for a chest x-ray to rule out scary stuff like tuberculosis. He did another breathing treatment with a different medicine and put her on a steroid. Plus, added two inhalers that we do twice a day. She left the doctor feeling great and now (an hour later) she's having trouble breathing again. The doctor's office is closed so I'm thinking we'll end up in the emergency room tonight. I hate this! Not a very fun way to spend her 6th birthday

I'm a bit worried about how much her medicines are going to cost. The doctor gave me a coupon that takes $75 off one medicine and a coupon for $20 off another. That can't be a good sign.

2011-12-10T11:15:00.000-06:00

We got a family portrait done (minus Trevor and Mackie) Kind of bummed that they didn't show up for the photo! I'll mail this out to whomever would like one. They're a little more posed than we usually take but the quality of the photo is really good.

Today is Saturday and Evelyn and Savannah are going to see Junie B. Jingle at the Rose theater with their girl scout troop. Isaiah and Chance and I are making oatmeal cookies. I'm disappointed with the way the batter turned out but they smell great in the oven. I've been trying to create a recipe where the cookies stay big and fat. Mine tend to flatten out. I got some great hints this morning from the women on a game I play (Playdom.com Garden of Time) so we'll see how they work in 8 more minutes

Got some good news last week. Isaiah is full mainstream now. That means no more Special Ed classroom. How awesome is that?! He takes a point card to school and has been on "level 1" for weeks (that's the best you can do on your point card) So, I'm really excited. We celebrated by going to Dairy Queen. I swear, I must be the only mom who orders 4 vanilla ice cream cones at DQ. They don't even try the other flavors...no toppings... just plain old vanilla.

I met a woman at Sams yesterday with beautiful skin. I don't usually strike up conversations in stores with strangers but she was so pretty that I had to say something. I must have looked like a stalker but she seemed flattered. (She wasn't backing up shielding her kids from the crazy woman in Sams) She told me her secret...ready for this? Vitamin E that she gets from the dollar store. I think it's more genetics but she swears that it's the $1 jar of Vitamin E.

Daniel is working today. I hate it when he works Saturday but we need the money since it's Christmas and all

Evelyn and I are started the next Harry Potter book. We're on Order of the Phoenix now. It's bigger than the last one at over 700 pages. I can't believe we are able to finish them!

Oh the cookies turned out great. Big fat thick oatmeal cookies. I did it! Savannah said they were so good she licked her napkin.

Who's on first?

2011-12-08T17:55:00.000-06:00

Evelyn at dinner: Remember when we went on that trip and Grandma Sharon was there?

Me: You mean Brittany's wedding?

Evelyn: No, the one where we went swimming with Grandma Sharon every day?

Me: Yes, Brittany's wedding

Evelyn: No, the trip where we went to Yellowstone and saw bears and ate at that restaurant?

Me: Yes, Brittany's wedding

Evelyn: No, the trip where we went to see Scott and.... oh... yeah, Brittany's wedding

*sigh*

2011-12-04T21:02:00.000-06:00

Chance is getting better on the piano. I put a new video on You Tube Chance
and also here: Chance again

Sunday

2011-11-27T20:12:00.000-06:00

Evelyn and her friend Lilly at Halloween

Today was pretty mellow. Daniel always lets me sleep in on Sundays and he gets the kids breakfast and everyone ready for church. Gotta love that.

We went to church and then out to the trail center to see the gingerbread display. The display isn't as great as it used to be but it's still worth the trip.

Chance and I went to Trevor's last night to help him clean his kitchen and when we got back Daniel had made his mom's fried chicken (minus the pound of garlic salt)

So, it's a quiet end to the Thanksgiving weekend. Tomorrow the kids go back to school. I have a house to clean in the morning and then to Bellevue to take Trevor job hunting....again... Someone please hire him!

Tinks and Boxes

2011-11-26T13:07:00.000-06:00

The tinkerbell room is done minus the curtain and the twinkly lights. My pictures are from my phone so they're not the best. The whole room is pale pink and it's prettier than it looks. I really want to get the girls white 4 poster beds but it's not in the budget right now. I'm trying to get through Christmas on one income plus finish buying a piano.

Okay, so Chris calls and talks to Daniel and says he's in town and sets up a dinner. AAArghhh! What is wrong with him? Daniel is too sweet to tell him "no, my wife can't stand you,we wont be having dinner together!" I handled it but it's so irritating how he constantly tries to contact us. He just doesn't get it no matter how rude or blunt I am with him. He confuses "I forgive you for mooching off me for a year" with "I want to be your friend." I wish he'd disappear forever but like a wart he keeps coming back.

On a lighter note... I decided to make Daniel's Christmas this year. After 14 years of being married, I finally caved and want Daniel to have his boxer. So, I go on Craigslist and put an ad out wanting a boxer puppy. I got several calls and almost accepted a white boxer puppy (until I googled white boxers...ewwww they are so ugly!)

Then a man from Northern Plains Boxer Rescue
calls me and clues me in on how I'm going about getting Daniel his dog. First, he said get your ad off Craigslist! The only ones who are going to respond are people who have dogs they don't want for a good reason. Second, if they are free or if the boxer is white...RED FLAG! We talked for about a half hour about the pros and cons of getting a puppy especially a boxer puppy. This man has 77 boxers that he has in foster homes all over the country and there is so much to consider with our specific situation. It all boils down to:

1-Get a full grown dog that is spayed/neutered and house trained
2-The whole family needs to interact with the dog several times to make sure no allergies (a big issue for the girls) and that everyone reacts well to the dog
3-Need one that has been around small animals (like our ferret) so Mr. Wilson doesn't become a snack (never thought of that one)

So, I filled out the application online to start the adoption process and answered questions as to what is not acceptable for our dog (biting, aggressive to men/aggressive specifically to women, food aggressive, barking, too timid...etc)

I was impressed with the rescue idea because they have an adoption process similar to adopting a child. Background check, home visits, references, and matching dogs to families. That way we are sure that we dont end up with the last disaster we had with the Beagle From Hell.

I took my ad off craigslist and have gotten some nasty phone calls from 2 people I had been semi-seriously talking to about getting their puppies. The one with the free white boxer accused me of being a breeder who just doesn't like white boxers. (ugly..dont know why anyone would want one ...breeder or not)

We went out to eat last night and I had to take a picture of Trevor with his cotton candy.

Well, it's 1PM and I'm still in my pajamas!

The Tinkerbell room

2011-11-24T17:04:00.000-06:00

The tinkerbell room is almost complete. This is one side of the room. The dark green stripes is painters tape. The west wall (where the window is) has a small mural of tinkerbell and the wall opposite of the striped wall is a solid pink with fairies and butterfly decals. I'm going to get a purple tinkerbell colored curtain and some twinkly lights (when I find ones that have a white cord and not the green ones that Christmas lights have)

I have a bunch more to write about but I need to help with dinner real quick

Britt's visit home

2011-11-19T08:16:00.001-06:00

Britt and Scott got here Thursday afternoon and we went to HuHots for dinner and then the Funny Bone comedy club. Finding the comedy club was an hysterical event in itself. We had 15 minutes to get there and we planned dinner right across the street from the club so we wouldn't have to rush. After dinner we walk across the street and no comedy club. They moved it 50 some blocks away. So we rush across town and actually made it on time.

Friday morning Britt and I went to see the new Twilight movie. The movie was supposed to start at 10 and by 10:15 it still hadn't started. A guy comes in and says they're having problems with the film so they moved us to the 10:45 show across the hallway. That worked out because they also gave us free passes. So, now I have 2 passes to see it again.

After the movie, we went back to Britt's hotel and picked up Scott. Quick trip to Sams and then pick the kids up from school and then drop the girls off at the dollar store with their Girl Scout troop for Secret Santa gifts.

Dinner was French Dips and then we watched Jackass the movie in the basement. (after the kids went to bed)

Today we're doing our Thanksgiving dinner (Ren, you're invited of course--I just haven't had time to "invite" you guys) and we were supposed to have family pictures taken but it's cloudy and probably going to rain so I'm not sure it's going to happen since we wanted outdoor photos.

Where's my son?

2011-11-15T16:19:00.000-06:00

Trevor came over today and said he is going to get a haircut and get a job. I never thought the day would come that he'd voluntarily cut it all off

Math games

2011-11-11T19:27:00.000-06:00

Chance's head is almost back to normal size. It's taken on a purple tint but getting better.

I took the kids to Math night at their school. For such a boring titled event, I thought we'd be there 10 minutes and we could escape but the kids had a blast. The free hotdogs helped. Isaiah and Savannah played math games on the computer tables, Evelyn spent most of her time chatting with friends, and Chance found a puzzle table. I had no idea he liked puzzle games. They gave him a piece of paper with a pattern on it and he needed to take plastic and wood shapes and recreate the pattern on the paper. (Karen, whats that called?) Chance sat there for an hour doing these puzzles.

The best part was that it was a completely free activity. The book fair was there too but I accidentally forgot about that room on purpose. The kids are getting used to me saying "I don't have any money" and they aren't asking for so much stuff everywhere we go. I wish I was so frugal when I have money.

Did you know Robert Pattinson played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter before he was Edward Cullin in New Moon? I did not know that until today. I still think Zac Efron could have played Edward better

Quite a goose-egg

2011-11-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

I had a meeting this morning and I thought after the meeting I'd go to Joannes and shop for sock yarn now that it's cold out again. I barely get out of my meeting and the school nurse calls and says that Chance thought he would see how his hoodie would work as a jump rope. It didn't.

So instead of Joannes, we went to Walgreens and got some Children's Tylenol and the car he's been eyeing there. He could have stayed at school but I'd feel better having him home to keep an eye on him.

Watching too much Food Network

2011-11-04T19:02:00.001-05:00

I made some blueberry cream cheese cupcakes today with lemon blueberry frosting and got out Daniel's cake decorating stuff and did some fancy frosting. I say fancy but they don't look all that fancy. I'll post a picture when I'm better at it. I can't fit a cake decorating class into the schedule (and can't afford it anyway) so I'm doing the self taught method :) I really should have done a video yesterday. It was really really funny trying to figure out how to work the frosting bag with all of the tips that Daniel has. I had no idea how to fill the bag so I'm spooning in the frosting that was too thin and the bag is flopping over and frosting is running down my arms and all over the counter. It was a mess! I got that part down now thanks to a YouTube video. So much I didn't know! haha

Anyway, we have way too many cupcakes around the house now. The kids have stocked the neighbors and Evelyn took 14 to Girl Scouts today and we still have about 40. Yikes... I guess I should wait a week or so before attempting the cranberry chocolate ones

Chance went to see the new Puss in Boots movie with Aiden's family yesterday after school

Ren's friend, Zack, is in the hospital with chest pains and I'm really bothered by it. Not so much for Zack because 1-I don't really know him and, more importantly, 2-we have excellent cardiologists in Omaha and I know they're taking good care of him. What has my panties all in a bunch is Tracy (his wife). I remember too well how scary it is to have your husband in the hospital with chest pain. Daniel had open heart surgery and 2 stents on 2 separate occasions and every ordeal in the hospital is horrible.

Speaking of Daniel, gosh, he's a butthead today. We were supposed to do lunch today but I forgot about it and planned my day differently. By the time he texted me and asked if we were doing lunch, I didn't have the money for another lunch out (we already did that twice this week) and was elbow deep in frosting anyway. Then he gets all mean. He apologized later but his apologies are so lame. They start with a "sorry I'm mad" (?) Anyway, I blew it off by the time he came home from work but now he's pouting and has this lasting "poor-me" thing going. Ugh...men....I sometimes wish he had an "off" switch...I'd put him in a coma for the evening until he put his happy face back on.

The girls had scouts today and afterwards, two of their friends came over (kids of the woman I'm taking a yoga class from) They're good kids but you add two more kids in the house and it gets kind of noisy.

Brittany and I made plans for her trip to Omaha in 2 weeks. We're going to HuHots, the comedy club, Jones Brothers, bowling, Panera, and then seeing the new Twilight movie. I know I've already written about the movie. I'm just excited!! Brittany sent me a text that said she's glad to come home for Thanksgiving this year because she doesn't have to "pretend to be happy to see Spencer." I swear, if I had known that years ago, I would have severed those ties sooner.

Speaking of Brittany, she's doing well. She got a raise today from one of her jobs. Yay!

Daniel got a 91% on his food safety class. Another yay

Speaking of texts, I got an email the other day from Daniel's dad. He's just about the coolest father-in-law on the planet. He said that he prints out my blog and him and Sandy read it every day. I had no idea their life was so boring! Kidding Mick! Kidding!! My blog is just silly rambling stuff about my day but it's really nice to hear compliments. You know?

Time to start the kids's bedtime routine...

It's not the blood that bothers me

2011-11-02T16:11:00.001-05:00

Ren and I cleaned a house this morning and then Daniel and I went to the best sandwich shop ever. It's called Gandolf's NY Deliand it was really good. I had the Rockefeller Rueben. The menu was huge and a little pricey for a deli but it was worth it. Daniel's sandwich was monstrous.

It rained and snowed today (first snow of the season). I didn't have time to change after housecleaning so I wasn't exactly dressed for cold weather. You know how you get cold and just stay that way all day? I came home from lunch and changed into sweats and a hoodie and got in bed with my overheated ferret and watched “Shallow Hal” for the 4^th time. Love that movie. It makes me chuckle every time.

I looked online yesterday at the nursing classes I have to take after I finish my CNA and I about had a heart attack. It felt like a heart attack anyway. My pulse was racing, I got all anxious sick feeling. I have three years of college down so I thought that since I have all the cores done that it'd be a breeze walking right into nursing classes. However!!! I'm English heavy. (that was my major) I took two History classes, 3 Humanities classes, Biology 1 with a lab, and a bunch of English. No math classes whatsoever. My thought was to get the English and cores done and then tackle math. I put arithmetic out of my mind and now I feel overwhelmed and I haven't even started again! I need to take not only Algebra (the last class I had was high school Algebra—ie. “bonehead-math”) but I also need Calculus (heard the name..no idea what it is) Chemistry (groan...oh my gosh) and Trigonometry (again..heard the name...no clue what it is) And I don't have to just get through ONE of each type of math...I need to do Chemistry 2,Trig 2...etc..

So, I panicked. In fact, as I write about math I feel anxious. I don't have a learning disability but I have serious fear of numbers. I'm not throwing in the towel though. I'm going through with it. I can't even get into nursing school until I finish my CNA and that is 77 hours. So, if I start now I'll be that much more to the advantage. It's really scary though. Scarier to me than spiders.

I know I can do it though. It's just something new I need to learn. It'll just be a little bit harder for me than the young kids but I can do whatever I want to really. There are a lot of really dumb nurses out there that made it through school.

Coming off a sugar rush

2011-11-01T19:04:00.001-05:00

The kids were so irritating at dinner. I thought I'd share a typical family dinner. Daniel is working tonight but usually he's egging them on. I should appreciate the weirdness because it wont last forever huh? Family dinner

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

Is this a scary house or what? Click on it to make it bigger. Ewwww

The kids had their Halloween parties at school. I went to the school and saw their parade out the front doors and down the sidewalk. Everyone except Evelyn was happy to see me. She got all embarrassed that I was there! Brittany wasn't mortified to see me at school until Middle School!

Speaking of Britt. Her and Scott will be home on the 17th for Thanksgiving. So looking forward to that! We're going to go see the new Twilight movie and eat Jones Brothers cupcakes. I have a little vandalism planned for Trevor and Scott. Nothing too big... Just righting a wrong ;) shhhhh

Daniel took the kids out trick-or-treating so we have a ton of candy now. So much for the weight I lost...oh well, easy off--easy on!

I did my TB test today. So, now all I have to get is my transcripts from UNO and I can enroll in the class I want to take.

Here's a picture from the kids's friend's Halloween party. I think I only have Savannah captured though

Halloween and a career change

2011-10-29T07:35:00.002-05:00

Trunk or Treating pictures from tonight

Trunk or Treating was fun. We were a half hour late and out of candy a half hour later! It was a blast though. The parking lot was full. Santa made an appearance so that was an added bonus.

Yesterday stuff:

Savannah and Evelyn's girl scout troops had a combined activity at Walnut park yesterday. They celebrated the founder of Girl Scout's birthday by picking up garbage and they learned about the woman who started Girl Scouts: Juliette Gordon Low

Stephanie Watson came to do yoga with the girls. She comes to Chance's class every month to do yoga. Although it was cold and windy, it was so nice to just be still and breathe. A few of my friends take a class from her on Thursday nights and since it's already included in the monthly fee we pay at Lifetime Fitness, I think I'm going to start going.

We went to Millard Road House for dinner last night. I had fajitas. It's so much easier to go out as a family now that the kids are getting older. Chance still makes stacks out of the jelly packets and Ryan rocks in his chair but it's better. I've noticed the same thing at church. I remember how it used to be when all 4 were babies. I can't even imagine doing that all again.

Well, it's October and most of my life-changing events happen in October. This one is no different. I've decided that I'm going to get my CNA license and go to nursing school. I spoke with the school and they said since I have 3 years of transcripts I can get my LPN in 9 months. I think it's a good back-up plan should Ryan's dad win physical custody of Ryan and my income disappears.

Wednesday

2011-10-26T19:46:00.002-05:00

Savannah cooking dinner

I uploaded a few more videos of piano practice. They're not the best but we're getting a new piano for Christmas so they'll start sounding better :) I don't know how to put all three on here but they're all on YouTube here:

Chance practicing

2011-10-25T18:11:00.001-05:00

Aiden's Halloween party was Saturday. I stayed through the party with the kids because Isaiah was invited and you never know if he's going to be good or not. He was golden. Not a problem at all. The kids had a blast. I haven't had batteries in the camera and my cell phone wont take pictures anymore (no idea why) so I don't have any of the party. Their costumes are adorable so I'll be sure to take pictures before they go trick-or-treating. (I found Daniel's battery stash)

I took Ryan to Nobbies today and got his costume.... $60 ouch. He couldn't be persuaded to get anything cheaper and it's his money so I let him. I plan on letting him drain his checking account before Christmas as I think I may be losing Ryan next year. I know.... don't really want to talk about it...his dad wants him to move home...it's a bad deal for everyone involved (especially Ryan). Daniel is out shopping for a big screen TV for him. I figure we should let him buy everything and anything he wants because once he leaves our house he'll be living in poverty.

The primary president called me today and said she has seen a huge improvement in Isaiah since I started teaching his class on Sunday. Her counselor told me the same thing last week. I love it when people compliment Isaiah. It makes me happy. I think I'm being moved to another class to teach. I love the 5 year olds but its all good.

Daniel is taking a food safety class to get his AAA rating for food service. He needs that for his hotdog cart. He's learning all sorts of stuff that makes me not want to eat at restaurants. Sliced lemons is one of the germiest things in a restaurant kitchen. The lemons are never washed properly, if at all, and when you slice them the knife brings the bacteria from the peel right through the lemon and then they drop it in water and it infects the whole glass. Ew

The other gross thing was hotel room glasses. The plastic wrapped ones are good but the glass ones are taken from the kitchen, put on a tray that was probably not ran through a sanitizer, then carried from dirty room to dirty room until they are most likely put in the bathroom (of all places)

Theres more but stuff's burning in the oven I think. Maybe it's just my oven smokin'?

2011-10-22T19:59:00.001-05:00

A true love story

Nothing much to write about today but here's a nice story

and Savannah and Evelyn goofing around on the piano. You can't see it but they have matching pajamas and matching hair cuts. (Savannah closest to the camera)
Savannah and Evey

Friday

2011-10-21T20:00:00.001-05:00

I dropped the kids off at school this morning and looked at my list of things to do, crumpled it up, and threw it away. I went home, got back in bed, and watched TV until noon. It gets better...I made a grilled cheese sandwich and played yahtzee on pogo, took a nap, and watched more TV until the kids got out of school.

After school, I took Chance to the consignment shop and found 2 pair of jeans and came home and made leftovers for dinner

It was a gooood day!

Halloween on a budget

2011-10-18T18:10:00.002-05:00

I met Nancy and Candance yesterday for breakfast. I haven't seen her for sooo long. It was great to catch up. The last time we got together, her baby was Marcus. He's in preschool now and she has another baby. Time flies...I was kind of sad that I didn't even know the new baby...who by the way, isn't a baby either. She's.... omgosh...I don't even know how old she is but she's talking a little...

I scored big this morning. I stopped by Goodwill to check out Halloween costumes and ended up finding one for all four kids. Evelyn got a snow white costume that would've cost a small fortune had I got it at Disney. Savannah is going to be a kangaroo, Isaiah is a court jester, and Chance will go as a vampire. After Goodwill, I went to Nobbies
and got a wig for Evelyn, a hat for Isaiah,and teeth and blood for Chance. Costumes done for under $40.

Chance's friend, Aiden, is having a party on Saturday and invited is three siblings. We have the church "trunk-or-treat" the next weekend and of course trick or treating on Halloween so these costumes are going to see lots of use.

Daniel and I went to Cheddars for lunch today. Val suggested it and I'm glad we went because it was delicious. I was full after the gigantic onion ring tower but got my burger down anyway.

Daniel picked up some overtime tonight so I'm watching Dancing With the Stars results show by myself tonight. That is after I take the kids to get hair cuts. That ought to be fun... (not)

Ren and I have a new house to clean tomorrow. I'm hesitant. You never know what you're getting into with new job. Especially when you reaaaaallly look close at someone's bathroom.... wish me luck ;)

Happy Birthday Daniel

2011-10-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was non-stop. I cleaned a house from 9-noon, went to Lincoln and ran errands until 3, picked up Skieler at 5 and then Daniel and I met the Guidry's for Daniel's birthday. We went to Carrabbas for dinner and then Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

This morning Val and I we had a primary training at 8:30 and then we went to some consignment shops and I found some really cute clothes for the girls. I saw Nancy at the training so we're going to do breakfast on Monday. I haven't seen her in about a year....I think? So much to catch up on!

Daniel took the boys grocery shopping and the house is relatively quiet so I'm going to catch a quick nap before dinner.

I like meat

2011-10-10T11:41:00.004-05:00

The weekend went so fast! Monday again....

I woke up Friday morning at 4AM feeling like I either had food poisoning or the flu. Daniel took care of the kids all that day while I slept for the next 20 hours off and on. Note: don't stick a toothbrush in your mouth when you're nauseous no matter how bad you want to...(yeah...that was fun)

I started feeling a little better Saturday night and even made it to church on Sunday. Today I'd say I'm 99% back to normal. Just a little tired

I took three of the kids to the dentist this morning. No cavities!
I need to do a better job of helping Evelyn brush however. Her teeth are so crooked that it's hard for her to do a good job. The dentist gave us a referral to an orthodontist but seriously, she doesn't even have all of her adult teeth in yet.

I spend more money on that girl medically! We had parent/teacher conferences last week and I had to tell her teacher why Evelyn doesn't have her eye therapy started yet. Um...well...because I don't have $5,000 up front. Her teacher says she can get Evelyn eye therapy for a lot less than that through the school's resources. So happy! They'll put her on an IEP for vision/reading. (IEP stands for Individualized Education Program which is normally for special education kids) which will open up resources that I normally wouldn't have.

So, after the dentist, I dropped off a form to the over-priced eye therapy people so they can share information with the school and get the ball rolling on fixing Evelyn's problem.

Then we stopped by Schmitt's music so the kids could try out their new piano. The salesman couldn't believe the kids have only had 9 lessons. I tell ya, "Simply Music" is the way to go.

Okay, back to parent/teacher conferences...Chance is doing really well. He needs help in writing. I'm excited about that because that's where I excel. (good thing it isn't math or I'd be knocking on Uncle Clay's door a few times a week) I read Chance's journal that he keeps every day at school. The teacher doesn't read them but requires them to write every day. (Brittany: you're gonna get a chuckle out of this one) His journal had me laughing. Every page (no joke) says "I like meat WTHECK? I like meat?! That's all he can come up with? hahaha. (Mrs. Kavanagh didn't find it as hysterical as I did.)

Today is the only day I have to clean my house and I just don't feel like it. That's probably why I'm still babbling here...procrastinating. I have stuff going on every day this week. So, I should be more motivated to take care of the abode.

Speaking of abode, I had a meeting Friday morning with my boss. She stops by on Fridays to check Ryan's books, check the house, and leave spending money for Ryan. I about had a coronary when I woke up (remember, I was sick) and looked at the clock and realized that she was coming in 15 minutes.

Daniel had the kids that morning and I could only imagine the breakfast mess that waited for me in the kitchen. I flew out of bed...okay, not flew...moaned, cried, and slumped out of bed. I get to the kitchen and it's spotless! including the floor. Oh...good husband! I left a note on the door for my boss to come in and do her thing (I'm going back to bed) on the way back to bed, I looked at the kids's rooms and beds are made and the place looked terrific. Good good husband.

I talked to Trevor this morning. He's looking at going back to school at ITT instead of Metro

Drugs, pianos, and repair men

2011-10-05T18:42:00.001-05:00

Trevor had his court date yesterday. He was prepared for his jail time but the prosecutor had a heart and recommended adult diversion program. He's been on it as a juvenile and it seems like pretty much the same thing. Drug tests every week, drug and alcohol counseling, and NA meetings. So, this morning I took him to Immanuel for the drug evaluation.

Trevor and I had a conversation about why he wont quit smoking pot. That's usually a topic we argue about especially after spending 2 whole days together but he was pretty mellow today. He says he physically can't function sober. He says he gets shaky, paranoid, irritable, and can't hold a thought in his head. I was pretty hesitant to swallow that because, to my knowledge, marijuana isn't addictive and that all sounds like withdrawal to me. Being me...I can't just leave it alone so I talked to his drug therapist and she agreed with Trevor. She said that's very common to hear from adults with untreated ADHD. The good news is that it's completely treatable with medication. I've seen people trade one addiction for another and I'd hate for him to become an alcoholic substituting pot to feel his sense of normal.

As we were leaving, I stick the key in the ignition and click...click...click... my van wont start. Ugh...I'm clear across town at Immanuel....grrr. I tried it for a forty five minutes, attempted to jump start it and eventually had it towed to the dealer. Daniel picked us up and we went to Chinese buffet (I'm still full 6 hours later)

I got a new battery, an oil change, and a tow bill all for the not-so-low price of $300 (which is better than the first estimate I got of $500.) I'm glad I get my van back tomorrow morning. I have no idea how I'm getting the kids to school though since Daniel has to be to work at 6 but I'll figure that out in the morning.

I dropped Daniel back off at work after lunch and Trevor and I took his Tahoe, went to pay his rent and then stopped by Keyboard Kastle and found the piano I want. It's $3500. Ouch. KK only does 90 day lay-away and I can't fit that $3500 into the budget in 90 days. So, I'm still looking for a piano. There's such a noticeable difference between a new piano and a used one that I'm pretty adamant on getting a new one even if it is twice the amount of money. I'm going to check out Schmitt's tomorrow and I'm sure my tuner has an idea on where I should go. If I'm spending that much money for a piano, I'm taking my tuner man with me for sure.

I talked to Britty on Skype last night. She's coming home for Thanksgiving! Yay!!

I got a new book in the mail: Daughters in my kingdom

Since I was gone all day today, the house is pretty much a mess...so I should probably get that done before bedtime

Happy Adoption Day Chance

2011-09-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

Today is Chance's 6th anniversary of being in our family. Daniel made him a football cake and he got an indoor sandbox (kind of like those zen sandboxes for executives but with tractors and tiny rocks) We read him the traditional "I Wished For You" book (Neither Daniel or I can read that book without getting teary)

Happy Adoption Day little man!

Saturday went on and on and on

2011-09-25T09:48:00.002-05:00

Skieler come over to babysit Friday night so Daniel and I had date night at Cheesecake Factory. I had Steak Diane and Shrimp Scampi. I couldn't finish the cheesecake so I brought it home (not a good idea....I'll get to that) When 2 people go there for dinner they sit you in tables really close to other people like you would in a Japanese restaurant. We met a couple next to us with a great sense of humor, so that was fun.

Yesterday the kids and I started our day at the chapel to practice the primary program. (That's where all of the kids in our congregation sing and do prepared inspirational messages during the service) The kids loved the treats after practice--popcorn with skittles and m&m's.

Right after practice, I dropped Evelyn off at her friend's house, took the other 3 kids home and helped Trevor load the van...ate that leftover cheesecake because it looked delicious and I didn't have time to make lunch....and then drove to Bellevue to finish moving him into his new apartment. I thought I was having an allergic reaction to Mackie's cat because I was stuffy and sneezed all day. Since I can barely breathe today, sneezing, and stuffy, sore throat, I realize I just have a cold.

Anyway, after Bellevue, I got home in time to shower real quick before going out to dinner with Val but Evelyn's friend called wanting to know when I was picking up Evelyn. Yikes!!! I forgot about her! Bad mommy! I got my hair dried, did the makeup in the car and drove across town (again) to get her. I was late for dinner but no worries....Val and I ate at SmashBurger which was awesome. Then, if that isn't busy enough...we went to the Relief Society broadcast (President Uchtdorf's talk was amazing) and then to Jones Brothers for cupcakes. Wow! (Totally worth the $3 for a cupcake.) We hung out at Jones Brothers until they closed. I had such a good time

So, my diet yesterday consisted of popcorn, cheesecake, greasy hamburger, and cupcakes, and 2 alka-seltzer. I don't know what makes me think I can eat like that....

This morning I have a full-blown stomach ache and a head-cold. I'm sending the kids to church (minus Isaiah) without me. I don't have time to be sick this week...I have houses to clean, my sister's birthday, Chance's adoption day celebration, visiting teaching, and a visit from my boss's boss.

plunkin on the piano

2011-09-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

I'm so bored today! Not bored enough to get anything done that I should be doing however! I uploaded a video of me playing two songs on the piano. They're the same songs that Chance and Evelyn are learning so not that exciting.

Daniel and I have been watching old "All in the Family" episodes at night so today I googled how to play the theme song. Told you I'm bored. I'll put that one up too. I probably can sing about as good as Edith, but my playing is bad enough on it's own!

Simply Music

Moving Day

2011-09-20T05:33:00.003-05:00

Well, it's 5:30 AM and I've been up since 3:30. Evelyn woke me up because she's itchy and then I couldn't go back to sleep. She did, thankfully. I gave her benedryl which doesn't help the itching or the bumps but it does give her relief since she can sleep. The doctor switched her antibiotic for the strep and she's had one dose of that. They only gave us a 2 days dose so I guess we're supposed to finish out the 2 days and the rash is going to go away? I'm kinda confused on that one. I do know that it's going to be a long day for me starting this early!

I have a pretty busy day planned. Ryan has a dentist appointment at 9 and unless a miracle happens in the next 3 hours, Evelyn will be home again today. We're going to be moving Trevor from his friend Brandon's house to his own place.

Yes, he finally got an apartment! It's official and the lease is signed. He moves in today at noon. Yay!!! He's supposed to be over here at 10 so I can take him to find a job close to where he's living. The good thing is the apartment is in Bellevue (40 minutes away) which is too far for his scummy friends to get to and Trevor doesn't have a car to transport anyone. Plus, not knowing anyone over there, he shouldn't have a problem getting a job.

It's a tiny one bedroom with a big red wall in the living room and it smells weird. I told him I'll clean as he's moving in and cautioned that he might not want to sit on the carpet until he can rent a steam cleaner. The smoke detector didn't have a battery in it and no fire extinguisher in the place. (Two items I'll get for him today) I don't recall if he has a microwave or dishwasher but it was cheap and the owner seemed real nice. The apartment is about as good as my first apartment (which isn't saying much but it's a place)

Daniel traded the Yaris in for a Tahoe yesterday. He had to have something to tow the hotdog cart. It'll be much better in the snow than the Yaris was that's for sure

I'll post apartment pictures. Tahoe pics, and Evelyn's rash pictures later today

Mutated Strep

2011-09-19T11:48:00.001-05:00

Evelyn's strep throat seems to be clearing up after being on antibiotics for 7 days and this morning she woke up with a head to toe itchy rash. Look how swollen her face is :( The doctor says the strep mutated into a skin rash. Ugh... Poor kid! She's was out of school three days last week and now she's home again.

This rash is even on the bottom of her feet. Poor kid.

I wanna live on Diamond Planet

2011-09-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

Ren and I cleaned a beautiful house today. It's a big one that I call the mansion. We get to do this one every other week. If we could get two more regular jobs to do on the opposite weeks of the ones we have now, we'd be full and not have to look for any more customers. I think I'll make that my goal next week....

Evelyn has been home sick all week. I'm pretty confident she can go back to school tomorrow. Poor thing is bored out of her mind. It's hard to keep her entertained when she's too sick to go anywhere and too tired to change out of the pajamas anyway. Tonight she was bouncing around the living room with Savannah and I thought that's a good sign....but then she had to lay on the couch for a half hour to recover...Poor baby. We're almost done with the second Harry Potter book. A few more days and we'll be on to Prisoner of Azkaban

Diamond Planet

2011-09-12T07:56:00.000-05:00

Evelyn's video isn't working so I put it on you tube it's HERE

Coincidentally, she's sick today with either a sinus infection or a bad cold. Change in the season, I guess. So, it looks like I'll be reading a lot of Harry Potter today!

and less than 24 hours later

2011-09-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

I usually love Saturdays. This one can be over soon and I wont mind. Welcome Sunday....

I cleaned the bishop's storehouse this morning and went to piano lessons with the older kids

This afternoon we're going to sign papers and pick up Daniel's truck. I hate the car dealerships. They're like the mafia. So not what I want to do on my Saturday. I'd rather go to the dentist. Bellevue Toyota are such crooks. I'm sure they're all the same though.

Mackie and Trevor are moving out today. Surprising how one heavy baseball bat to the knee makes your kid not want to live at home. I lose anyway because now I have to remodel his bedroom and pay for his doctor bill. I hired a dry waller this morning. I can only imagine what that bill will be.....

New Videos of piano lessons

2011-09-09T18:04:00.005-05:00

I had a 4 1/2 pound roast in the fridge so I made Ren's bbq sandwiches today and oh my...they are delicious! I'd share the recipe but I don't know if it's her "secret" recipe or not. I got a little irritated having to go to three stores to find a tea strainer but other than that it was super simple. Daniel did the eyebrows up-eyes wide open look when he tasted it. Good sign!

I did another first today. I ironed. Yup...me ironing. I don't own an iron let alone use it. I went over to Edith's house (the woman I clean for on a volunteer basis) to help her rearrange her bedroom and she mentioned she had a pile of clothes to iron so I offered to help (with the warning that I haven't ironed in 15 years.) It wasn't so bad. She has the Cadillac of steam irons and I stood there in my own world ironing, thinking of stuff, and enjoying the quiet house. *pssst...no telling Daniel*

The girls had their first girl scout meeting today. They made tie-dyed shirts

Isaiah had his first lousy day of kindergarten. He's done so well up until today (this year) that I'm not really worrying about it.

Did you know diet coke mixed with lemonade is delicious? Me either....tried it at the fountain pop station at the convenient store.

The kids and I started the second Harry Potter book yesterday. I forgot about Dobby! haha

Fries are done....see ya'

Chance doing a Chinese version of Dreams Come True....

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T18:23:00.001-05:00

First thing this morning we met our photographer, Judith and got the kids's school pictures done. We went to Chalco Hills like we did for our family photos. I am expecting Judith to perform a miracle putting our package together because the kids were not easy to work with.... "the sun hurts my eyes...I'm cold....I'm hungry...Evelyn is looking at me funny....." No one cooperated by sitting still for a good picture and their clothes aren't what I would have wanted for pictures but our appointment was at 8:30 AM and I forgot about it until Daniel came into the kitchen at 7:50 and said "how come no one is ready?". Ooops...

Daniel has been sick today so he was up 347 times last night (I'm exaggerating a little) so I didn't sleep well either. He has scraped together enough money for the hot dog cart and was super excited about getting it today but the woman he is buying it from isn't available until Wednesday. Poor guy! He's been all Christmas-excited all week to get it.

The kids and I finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last night (by staying up until 10 reading and knocking out our last 3 chapters) so this morning after pictures we rented it (thank you Blockbuster online). Watching this movie with them was awesome. There is certainly a "magic" about Harry Potter. They absolutely loved it. I downloaded The Chamber of Secrets this afternoon and tonight after Family Home Evening we're going to start the second book.

Tomorrow, is a slow day after the kids go to school so I'm going to make my third rasta hat. This one goes to Brittany who says she wants a gray one.. A gray rasta hat? she's so adventurous! ha! My second one was quickly snatched up by Trevor's friend Spencer and the one I am making today is going to the third stooge... Brandon. I love seeing the "kids" in my hats :)

Well, my homemade mac and cheese is done so I better "feed the troops" as mom says...ciao for now

My Sunday School class, minus a few kids (I hope their mom's wont mind me putting this here...) They're adorable and so smart

Rasta Saturday

2011-09-03T17:08:00.002-05:00

Ren and I have been spending time at Joannes. Oh I love that store! I made a rasta hat for Trevor. The thing practically glows in the dark and he thinks the colors aren't bright enough. Getting him into a yarn store to help me pick out colors will be as difficult as it is to get him in the church pew!

Daniel went truck shopping today to get something to haul the hotdog cart around so I took Savannah and met Ren and Skieler at Red Robins for lunch. I really have to quit eating out before my pants get tight again. I did such a good job of losing weight by not eating out and faithfully drinking my zija but I'm favoring a fat winter, I think! Winter.....I hate to say it, but I'm welcoming a midwest winter. This summer was so hot! Last night at 10 it was in the 90's for pete sakes.

Chance, Evey, and I went to piano lessons this morning. Evelyn is such a natural at it but the new song has her irritated because she has to play it slow and she didn't pick it right up like the other 3 songs we've learned. She has limited patience. I see a lot of Brittany in her today!

I learned the intro to Enter Sandman by Metallica this week. My piano teacher didn't appreciate it. ha! She said "what?! Metallica!" I can't help it, I've always loved Metallica :) and I found a you tube video....okay, I searched it out...

Yesterday was Evelyn's teacher's birthday and she didn't tell me until I was dropping her off at school. Before I ran to HyVee (a grocery store) and grabbed whatever flower arrangement they had in the cooler, I called a friend of mine who owns a flower shop. I've never used her before and Oh My Gosh....I am so glad I did. I didn't take a picture of the flowers but for $20, I got the most beautiful and original arrangement. It was all yellow, had a layer of yellow roses and another layer of a different yellow flower...oh, I can't remember what the other ones are but she put a pretty little charm in the middle of one of the flowers. It was better than Piccolos and cheaper. Here's her site...www.brandilion.com

Spring Cleaning (or fall)

2011-08-29T19:20:00.001-05:00

Not much new going on. I lowered and organized all of the kitchen cupboards and wiped them out. That's been the big project. I found some roll out organizers for the pot and pan cupboard that I'm going to put together in a few weeks and then I'm starting on Evelyn and Savannah's room. I'm planning a big pink princess room!

I went through all of Brittany and Trevor's baby pictures today and clipped the ex-husband out. He's not their dad and they hate him anyway so no point in having his face in the albums every time we look at them. He's a loose end that can be clipped now that he's disowned us.

Jeremy stopped by today. He looks good. He got a job close to our house so we may see him more.

I started doing a little volunteer cleaning for a company in town that helps the elderly. I have a sweet little German lady who I cleaned for today. I cleaned her entire apartment top to bottom in an hour today so she'll be an easy weekly clean. I say volunteer cleaning because the state pays minimum wage. At an hour a week and a 30 minute drive....you get the picture

The kids and I are about half way through the first Harry Potter book. Evelyn is loving it. The other three are lukewarm but they sit and listen anyway.

Everyone is doing good with piano lessons. Chance, Evey, and I have three songs learned and Isaiah and Savannah have two. Daniel and Trevor are actively resistant to learning.

It's a boring post, but not much has been going on

Evelyn's first piano lesson

2011-08-21T20:16:00.002-05:00

Evelyn playing the first two songs she learned at piano lessons. (Excuse the untuned piano...we're having it tuned this week so it'll sound better) The first song is called Dreams and the second one is Thunder. I recorded Evelyn instead of Chance and I because she plays them so much better than we do!

I had to snap this one of Chance. He's a little bit sleepy at church

2011-08-20T07:31:00.000-05:00

Look at this "wacky" bracelet I got yesterday. My visiting teachers brought it over yesterday. The beads are all different and don't really go together...on purpose. It's to remind me that as women are all different but together, we each shine. My visiting teachers are awesome

10 things that make me happy when I'm grouchy

2011-08-18T09:13:00.003-05:00

I'm grouchy this morning so I'm thinking of 10 things to be happy about...here goes:

1...Nancy's Disney vacation photos
2...My closets
3...Savannah playing piano better than me
4...The officer who was willing to listen to me and put a cop in front of my house so Isaiah can safely get on the bus in the morning. (Cars don't stop)
5...A cold diet coke at 6AM
6...Mascara
7...Wilkie Collins
8...Having a quarter for Aldi's
9....Teaching primary
10..Those laughing babies on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4abiHdQpc&feature=related

Wednesday

2011-08-17T17:19:00.003-05:00

I took care of this area in the kitchen. It's not perfect but it'll do until I think of a better system. It got the papers off the fridge.Click on the pictures:

Kids eat free at pepperjax on Wednesday and I don't feel like cooking so I think we'll do that

I spent all day running around paying bills. (I'm a cash girl right now) It worked out pretty good because everywhere I went, I talked to people about our business and left fliers. I got a callback from a woman who is 9 months pregnant and can't bend over to clean house. We couldn't come to an agreement because she thought $80 to clean a 3 bedroom house was too high. She was snotty so I didn't try to work with her. Pregnancy hormones....no thank you

Daniel bought a bed, 2 dressers, and a nightstand from a Boys Town auction so I had that to deal with today. I wish he would ask me before he does stuff like that. We don't need a new mattress for any of the kids. A dresser for the girls is nice but Daniel wont get rid of the one we already have. So, basically, I spent $130 for a bunch of furniture that we don't need and I'll have to put in the storage room to collect dust with the rest of the crap we don't need. It seems like I throw one thing out and he adds 5 more.

It's all about Clay

2011-08-16T22:26:00.002-05:00

Well, I went and bought closet organizers and after I opened the box and read that I needed a hacksaw and toggle bolts (not included) I did what any normal person would do....called my brother-in-law. Clay to the rescue. The first thing he did was throw the instructions away and made me a closet. I have to admit, I'm super happy with it. Be sure to click on the pictures to make them bigger. Take a look:

I could do a better job of hanging things up nicer but I wanted to get my picture in my blog. I did the painting and am going to somehow get the closet doors off.

Oh, and I dragged the shoe cubby into their room for a bookshelf (no picture) and instead of throwing the dresser away, I painted it the same color as the closet and now I think I'll keep it:

My goal was to get it all done in a day. Thank you Clay, it was done in a day! Tomorrow's project.....the junk pile in the kitchen:

Closet Vamp

2011-08-15T21:36:00.002-05:00

Here's my project for the day. The shoe cubby. It's always been an eyesore. I keep the closet doors closed most of the time so no one stumbles across it. It's where the kids come in from the garage and dump their stuff. I took the doors off and did this today:

total cost: $30 . You can't see it very well, but that color is a bright red. I call it "Josie Red" (hi Karen!)

I'm redoing the boys's closet tomorrow. Here's the nightmare I have going in there:

Look how tall that bar is? The boys can't reach their clothes so most of them get pulled off the hangers and end in that pile at the bottom for me to hang back up. What's the definition of insanity again? Stay tuned tomorrow for the after picture :)

Week's recap

2011-08-13T17:22:00.002-05:00

Evelyn and I went to Walmart to spend her birthday money. She loaded up on art supplies but saved enough money for a late (8PM) dinner at Dairy Queen so here she is with a hamburger in one hand and ice-cream in the other. It was the first evening you could actually eat outside without sweating.

Isaiah was so excited on the first day of school. We were expecting the white van to come get him so you can imagine how stoked (do people still say stoked?) he was when a real yellow bus came and collected him. Yes, that's my recycle bin in the background....we're green haha

I've been looking forward to sending him to school for a full day but when I saw him get on that bus, I admit I was a little teary. He is in a regular elementary school that has a "behavioral classroom" within the walls. His teacher has 5 students and 2 paras so he'll get lots of one on one direction. This classroom claims that they don't call the parents, but send home score cards to let us know how the day went. Since Wednesday, they've called twice.

I picked up my friend Karen's daughter, Josie from the airport yesterday and took her to Sioux Falls. What a sweet girl! She's exactly like her mom was when I knew her in the 80's. I-29 is still closed from the flooding so we had to detour through hillbilly hell (Blair Nebraska) but it was a pretty drive nonetheless.

I get to do the funnest delivery tonight. A guy called me and said he's out of town but wants to send his girlfriend flowers to her work this evening. The flower shop couldn't offer him his kind of delivery so he called Busy Bees. Lucky me! I'm really looking forward to it. I picked up his flowers this afternoon and Oh My Gosh...The bouquet is gorgeous! It's huge. The flowers took up my entire front seat of the van. I am to go to a special candy shop in the OId Market to get her favorite candy and then show up at her work at exactly 9:05. He had his card fed-exed to the flower shop. The whole ordeal is quite an over-the-top gesture. She must be someone very special

Daniel walked into the coolest deal ever. He has been wanting to open a hot dog stand downtown so he found the cart he wants from a company in Pennsylvania (I think? Somewhere out East) and was getting ready to sell a bunch of stuff to get the money to do it when a different cart practically fell into his lap. The woman who is selling the cart to him now used to be a vendor in town with her husband. Yes, a local! The husband passed away and she's not only selling the cart for the same price he was going to buy the other one for, but she's also going to sell him her inventory, contact list for suppliers, all the extras he'll need. PLUS, she's going to come with him and help him set up and work with him until he's comfortable on his own! She knows how to do events and knows the regular customers in the area and all the ins-and-outs. How cool is that I ask? Just her knowledge alone is worth more than the cart.

Evelyn, Chance, and I had our second piano lesson this morning. We learned the first song in the "Simply Music" program called Dreams Come True

Daniel is off helping someone move and I'm on for dinner so I better get it done. Ciao

First day of school Eve

2011-08-09T15:44:00.003-05:00

Evelyn with her lemon cake from her home birthday party

So, I kicked Trevor out again last night. I'm so sick of his mouth. We'll see how long it lasts.....It did feel good to throw all of his belongings in the driveway like I did when I booted Chris.There is something about the act of throwing that relieves tension. What is that anyway?

Today was sheer peace. No profanity, no disrespect, no talk about drugs, no group of teenagers sitting on my porch smoking cigarettes and throwing the butts in the yard. Just me and the four little ones having a nice day drama free.Is this how normal families live? Boring...but calm?

Evelyn had her friend Melody come over for a few hours since she didn't get to come to the birthday party. She's a sweet girl

I had a meeting at 8:30 for Ryan so Daniel stayed home from work and watched the kids. When I came home, the breakfast dishes were in the dishwasher, the counters were wiped, and all 4 kids were dressed. Nice Nice surprise. I've been having Trevor babysit a few mornings a week and every single time I come home there is some disaster or another to clean up and the kids look like they're homeless children.

Oh, tomorrow is school! I have ZERO planned after I drop them off. I'm planning on putting the phone on silent and maybe watching a movie by myself. How cool does that sound huh? I'm reading "No Name" by Wilkie Collins. I read it a long time ago but it's still good

Ren and I cleaned a house yesterday that was already clean. It was like cleaning the temple (without the nice feeling) I'm not sure why he had us come over since his house was basically spotless. It's good however, to get a job like that after the move-out house where we spent two days working on.(I'm not complaining, I'm thankful for the dirty houses)

2011-08-07T15:47:00.002-05:00

(Posted for help cleaning it)

Dirt and Tiarras

2011-08-05T17:03:00.001-05:00

I had the thought today that if I'm cleaning behind strangers refrigerators and stoves that I might as well clean behind my own. And if you're going to clean behind the appliances and then push them back against the wall, you might as well take a picture to prove you did it. huh?

Evelyn has been easy to entertain today. Her and Savannah have played princess all day. They're sporting nail polish, lip gloss, purses, tiaras, and dresses

Happy Birthday Evelyn

2011-08-04T11:56:00.002-05:00

Evelyn is 7 today. She had her party at Pump It Up and had a blast. 2 1/2 hours flew by. If we do another party there we definitely need more time. It was great having someone else do the supervising, serving, and cleanup though

I love the big party chair for the guest of honor

August already and school starts in six days. Isaiah goes full time this year. The bus picks him up at 7:45 and drops him off at 4:30. Gosh, that's a long day. I'm excited for the break but I haven't been away from him that long (on a regular basis). It'll be weird.

The housekeeping business is going good. We've already learned that we need to charge more for move-outs and maybe have an extra person when we have tough jobs. We worked our butts of last week but I loved it.

I found the closet organizer that I want for the kids's closets and one for Daniel and my closet. I've been wanting to do it forever but haven't taken the time to find what I want. So that's my next weekend project.

2011-07-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

A picture that Evelyn drew

Daniel took the kids swimming yesterday and to do errands with him so I spent the entire day watching movies and knitting. It was an awesome Saturday being a bum. Good husband.

I'm not doing much today either. We went to church this morning of course and during Sacrament meeting the bishop asked everyone to do their "I'm a Mormon" profile on Mormon.org. I was writing it and realized how incredibly boring I am compared to other people on that site. I wanted to spice it up a little bit so I don't look like the LDS cliche...You know what I'm talking about: goes to church, raises a bunch of kids, does laundry, serves jello twice a week. I need to get my pilot's license or something...

2011-07-24T08:43:00.002-05:00

Time flies.... Look how cute they were as little ones!

Daniel took the boys shopping for school clothes yesterday at Pennys. Isaiah got some really crazy light up shoes that light up all over the shoe not just on the sole. He's a happy boy

I booked Evelyn's princess-girls only birthday party at PumpItUp yesterday. It's her first party that isn't family only and she's totally excited. We'll still have our family party but this one is just her and her friends.

I mailed the Busy Bees Flier yesterday. I found a great deal on printing on Craigslist. I think once we get that flier posted everywhere we'll start getting calls. If we get 2 clients a day during the school year, I'll be happy.

Denise and I went to see Jane Eyre yesterday and that's all I've done this weekend. It's too hot to spend much time outside so my house is really clean and my kids are really bored. They're ready for school to start. So am I actually. :)

I just found out I'm teaching in primary again so I better get a lesson started

Oh I almost forgot! I stepped on the scale and I've lost 15.6 pounds in 3 1/2 months. Yay me! Thank you Zija!

Getting ready for school

2011-07-19T21:36:00.001-05:00

This funny little stickman showed up on my desktop. I don't know how it got there but he's my picture for the day :)

Savannah had her kindergarten doctor appointment today. I made the mistake of telling her she would have to have immunizations. She was so worried :( While we were waiting on the doctor, we googled diptheria, measles, chicken pox, and polio pictures so she could see how important shots are. She was interested but she still wasn't convinced that she needed them. The doctor was impressed at her polio knowledge however. haha

I took the girls clothes shopping today at Chilren's Place. I got a good start to a girly wardrobe. Evelyn was all about skirts with leggings where Savannah just wanted accessories....belts, necklaces, sunglasses, frilly bows, and purses. I could have bought her 5 garbage bags and hair bows and she would have been happy.

Naturally, our shopping trip didn't go without a little embarrassment when in the dressing room Evelyn goes "oh no! I forgot my underwear!". Why can't they say those things quietly? We left the mall $260 lighter but Daniel said he'd buy the boys's clothes so I don't have to shell out more for them. (we have separate finances)

As I was going through their clothes weeding out the ones that are too small, I found out that Savannah has 2T's and 3T's still in her drawer and Evelyn had some shirts that are still new but never worn. Ugh... So we went to Walmart and bought a bunch of hangers and hung all of their clothes up. Maybe that'll help if they can actually see what they have. I have some 4T dresses to give away if anyone in town wants them.

Isaiah had a big meltdown at Walmart because I wouldn't buy another Barbie. Poor kid screamed all the way through the store. Scratch that...I mean poor mom. It's been a long time since he's made a complete spectacle of himself in a store. I wasn't too embarrassed since it happens to everyone once in awhile.

Trevor met with his attorney today. He was going to take whatever the judge handed down to him but today the attorney says no, we're pleading not guilty and going to fight it. I'm really nervous about it because a guilty verdict means 2-12 years in prison. He's (the attorney) is fired up and says he can beat the charges. He says the arresting officers made some mistakes while arresting him . I don't think I should post the facts here but suffice to say the attorney thinks it'll be okay. Trevor's witnesses are 2 heavily tattooed, long-haired, baggied-pants, unemployed, pot-smoking guys. The state's witnesses are two uniformed officers....I think I have reason to be nervous.

School starts in 21 days. This summer is going by so fast! I feel like we haven't done anything. Well, we did got to Idaho to see Brittany get married. Other than that, we've only been to the zoo once, children's museum twice, and once to bowling. Where the heck do the days go?

Busy Bees Grand Opening

2011-07-18T20:50:00.002-05:00

Well, Ren and I are all finished putting together Busy Bees House Keeping and Errand Service. We got the legal stuff done and with the exception of a few loose ends, we're good to go. I'm super excited about working with my sister. That's the good thing to come out of all of the mess I was in....Ren and I started our own business. Busy Bees on facebook

Daniel signed up with the Red Cross again so he'll be going out on special jobs and local fires. He loved doing it but with his client and working at Boys Town there wasn't much time to do volunteer stuff. Bryan moved out last week so that frees up quite a bit of time! I shouldn't really say that I'm glad he's gone because that isn't very nice, but the more I think about it, the more I think that it wasn't a good fit. When one door opens....you clean it with Windex and move on :)

Okay, it's not HUGE news but my phone crapped out today so I spent an hour at Sprint (mostly waiting) and upgraded to a Blackberry. Yes, I have a big girl phone now. No, I don't know how to work it. I can send a text message and get emails from two accounts and get on facebook. Not bad for 10 hours of work huh? haha!

All the time I spent dinking with my phone put me way behind on the housework. I looked up at one point and realized that the place looked like a "tornado went through it" as mom would say. I had the kids help me and we buzzed through the house in less than an hour. Of course, as I write this, I hear them banging around in the basement. I'm kind of thinking the basement may have to be redone

I colored my hair brown today and gave myself bangs. It looks okay for doing it myself... If I still don't like it tomorrow when I'm rested I'll make an appointment with my sweet gay hairdresser. Poor guy fixes my hair more than I'd like. Why is it that the best hairdressers are gay men? (Karen excluded)

Chicken Pot Pie for dinner

2011-07-14T17:38:00.001-05:00

Savannah at bowling

My boss came back from vacation. I was totally embarrassed to face her. She didn't say much but there was definitely an elephant in the room. We learned this afternoon that it's all over now and we're safe. Thanks for the prayers you guys.

I talked to my friend Teresa a few days ago. I haven't spoken to her in over a year. Life gets so busy that we just don't talk often. Her and I will be on the phone for hours so it's not like it's convenient. It was nice talking to someone who has been through the same stuff though. She suffers from panic attacks so had some good advice about depression.

It's Brittany's birthday today!! I can't believe my girl is 21 Holy Crap!! How can time fly like that?! Her life is so exciting...new husband, new house, trying for a baby...exciting stuff

I finished reading "now you see her" by James Patterson and Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz. I just started "velocity" by Koontz.

what a boring post...huh?

New week

2011-07-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

The kids and I went bowling on Saturday. This is a familiar picture huh? This picture is Chance bowling when he was 3. Still gets excited at knocking those pins over. I bowled a 96. haha There wont be any bowling tournaments for me!

I have to take Savannah to the doctor today. One of her eyes is matted and red. It looks like it's infected. We walked down to Dr. Wendel's house down the street yesterday and he said it's most likely allergies. I'm worried that the couches might still have dog dander in them. It cost me $200 to get them cleaned and I'm not looking forward to another round of couch cleaning. But if it's the couch or the kid, I guess the couch goes. ha!

Daniel got home around 5 last night very tired and grumpy. Go figure....He said he didn't enjoy his weekend alone. He missed his family. I can totally understand that (personally I'd do just about anything for a weekend by myself!)

I couldn't sleep last night. I went and laid on the couch at 1AM (which smells fine to me) and finally took a sleeping pill at 2. So this morning I feel like a zombie. I got to sleep until 8 so that's a big blessing. Ryan's day program has already called me wondering where he is....oops..So, I need to get moving and get the day started

Camping in South Dakota

2011-07-09T08:59:00.001-05:00

Daniel sent me this picture this morning. I think he's enjoying camping with his brother! He's kicking it in Madison South Dakota. He said it rained a little last night but not too bad.

Our agenda today is take Savannah to ballet and look for new patio furniture since I sold our ugly stuff.

I am so glad that this week is almost over. I can honestly say this has been one of the worst weeks of my life. Second only to Daniel's heart attack when we first got married. haven't heard from Ryan's guardian all week although I have called him nearly 10 times. Everyone else has tried to call him too. If he were a normal person I'd be worried that something happened to him. I'm sure he's just being irresponsible. Everything worked out without him anyway. We, meaning the state and the company, took his silence as approval. He is supposed to be here to pick Ryan up in an hour but I am doubting that he'll show up.

Ryan had a great time at camp. He got back Thursday and except for sleeping he hasn't stopped talking about camp.

My project with Ren is coming along nicely. I have some paperwork to do and we both have some research but we should be good to go in a month or so. Maybe sooner? I'm excited! I'm thinking that this is the good thing that will come out of all of the bad. We would never have thought of it if I wasn't in crisis mode this week!

2011-07-06T13:44:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm coming around again. Sometimes life just tries to knock the wind out of your sails huh? It does to me anyway. This is the second July in a row that something terrible has happened. Enough summers already! Sorry for being so irritatingly cryptic.

Ren and I might be doing something kinda cool though. It's still in the research stage so I wont write about that either just yet.

Evelyn had another eye therapy appointment today. I like those appointments. She goes in with the doctor for an hour and I get to read a book in a quiet room. Very nice. We stopped by Burger King on the way home and now we're considering a trip to the grocery store while Daniel has the other 3 kids. Kind of a slow day. I'll take it though.

I think Daniel is going to Sioux Falls Thursday to see his brother and dad and avoid the stuff here this weekend. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly here and there wont be anything life changing to deal with when he gets home....there I go again...cryptic...

Brittany made me feel good though by wanting us to move to Idaho if it gets bad here. She's funny...she said "not in Pocatello but an hour away would be good. haha" I hear ya' girl!

2011-07-05T00:12:00.002-05:00

Oh My Freaking Heck

2011-07-03T21:46:00.000-05:00

After a crisis that seemed insurmoutable, I have always been able to look back and say "I'm so glad I went through that. I learned so much! I wouldn't trade that trial for anything." Well....here we go again! God help me weather this one too and let me learn something really really great.

4th of July weekend

2011-07-03T10:20:00.000-05:00

We got up early yesterday and went to the church's 4th of July picnic breakfast. It was delicious. I usually skip out on church dinners and activities but who can resist a picnic in the park?

Here's Savannah trying to be a big kid on the outside of the slide. I don't have a picture of myself climbing up there to get her but that happened

Savannah on the bridge at the park. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. The kids went swimming and I cleaned house and napped. My laziness is all Ren's fault for giving me that incredibly comfortable couch!

Ryan starts his week at camp today. I dropped him off at the bus and when he started to see everyone else who was getting on the bus he didn't want to get out of the car. Everyone was senior citizens! He was the youngest by probably 40 years. We were just about to leave when he decided to give it a shot. I told him that the counselors have my number and if he hates it to call me. Poor kid.... I hope that there's more people his age there. The bus makes several stops before they get to Okaboji so maybe young people will be there too.

Okay, I'm gonna be late for church if I don't get off of the computer!

Look at me! I'm humble (a tongue in cheek post)

2011-07-01T14:54:00.003-05:00

Oh my gosh...I am so broke.... 4 weeks between paychecks is challenging to say the least. My boss was supposed to come over with $500 an hour ago and she called and said it's going to be delayed until the 5th.

So, I sold the patio furniture! I only got $40 but now I have an excuse to get new stuff should I ever get a paycheck again. I have a bunch of junk in the basement that can go too so maybe this lack of funds is actually a good thing. It makes me declutter. I'd say in about a week, Daniel will let me get rid of his grill (not the coveted green egg but the old one)

Trevor got hosed in court yesterday. We were so confident walking in there but the arresting officer said that Trevor admitted to the charges and since a cop is considered a professional witness, there's no way he's going to beat it (according to his attorney) Trevor says he didn't admit to anything and has 3 of his own witnesses to back him up. So it's 4 tatooed-baggy-pants-pot smoking young adults against one respected police officer. Yeah...you know who'd win

The very best we can hope for is a reduced sentence. If he pleads guilty, he gets anywhere between 2-12 years in prison. If he pleads not guilty, he'll be found guilty (per his attorney) and then we ask for a reduced sentence. We're asking for 2 years and possibly out in 18 months. Not the best day in court. huh?

It is a zillion degrees outside today. I stepped outside long enough to get the mail. Not gonna do that again until September.

The kids are napping and then Daniel is going to take them to the pool. He doesn't mind the heat.

I finally got the carpet cleaners here and the couch is free of pet hair. The girls are still sniffling so we may have to do it again but it looks pretty good.

Anyway, that's it for me. Stay cool!

New couch

2011-06-28T10:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon was crazy. At the same time I had the landlady here to cut back the roses, house painters were here painting the house, my boss was in the kitchen, and Clay came by to drop off our new couch. The couches aren't exactly new. They're from Ren and Clay and I really like them in our living room. Both Evelyn and Savannah are sick today from playing on them when I wasn't paying attention. They're allergic to dogs and cats and Ren has both. I vacuumed but obviously not good enough because they're all puffy faced today. It's all good though because the carpet cleaners are coming tomorrow morning so we'll just spend the day outside today :)

My quest to find something to do when the kids go back to school is coming along nicely. I just got a call from Boys Town. I have an interview next week as a tour guide on the campus. They need a happy person with a loud voice. That's me! I haven't told Daniel yet that I applied there because he'll mess it up by trying to "help" me get the job. (His intentions are good but he starts trouble at Boys Town)

I have an interview at the library at 2 today. I'm really excited about that one. It's a volunteer position but who wouldn't want to hang out at the library all day?

Daniel is taking the kids swimming today. I can't wait until I fit into my swimsuit the way I want to. I might even go with them. The scale says I've lost 10.8 pounds. That point 8 is just irritating...I should've gotten a scale that only has whole pounds.

Okay, Anderson Cooper is just funny. I love his "rediculist" Kim Kardashian made it last night to his list:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/06/27/exp.ac.ridiculist.kardashian.butt.cnn?iref=allsearch

Dilemma: You're out of sunblock, you have 30 cents until payday and your fair skinned blond kids want to go to pool.

Solution: Dig around the medicine cabinet, find the Zinc Oxide. Mix it with hand lotion or olive oil (because it's white and too thick) Voila! sunblock.

Wedding photos

2011-06-25T14:14:00.002-05:00

The wedding photos are in and they are awesome! I posted a bunch on facebook but here are a few for the blog. (click on them to make them bigger) This is Britt and Scott with his parents Jeanne and Jeff.

Britt's two beautiful bridesmaids and best friends

Happy Dad!

Ha Ha!!!

Is it cloudy? I hadn't noticed!

2011-06-21T11:31:00.003-05:00

Trevor has court in a week for that stupid felony charge. His public defender is such a nimrod who doesn't have Trevor's best interest at all. He's bossy and rude and borderline mean. I guess that's what you get out of a public defender? The public defender said Trevor either goes on "adult diversion program" or he can accept the felony and go to prison period.

I was so worried about Trevor going into court with no one on his side. We spoke to a real attorney weeks ago who said the state doesn't have any evidence to convict him of a felony and he can get the charge completely dismissed...that catch: we can't afford him. Especially with my new job, I only get paid once a month and that's 2 weeks after court.

Trevor called and begged this new attorney to take his case with no money down and let him make payments. (hey, it was a long shot) A few minutes into begging the attorney stopped him and said he wants Trevor's case and will accept a "gentleman's agreement" for payment after court. Hallelujah!! What a big relief to find an attorney with kindness and compassion. THANK YOU REN!!

Ahhh.... One less thing for me to stress about this week. Trevor called the public defender and said bite me. (love it)

We are babysitting Sadie the school ferret. Mr. Wilson is pretty happy. He's never had a friend and he's running around like a maniac chasing poor Sadie :)

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:23:00.001-05:00

My little ballerina :)

So, I survived speaking in church today. I get so nervous. While I'm sitting on the stand waiting for the sacrament to be passed the Bishop looks over at me and mouths "how do you feel?" I give him the thumbs up and mouth "no sweat" but I felt like I was going to puke. I spoke slow enough to get the information across and I didn't see anyone sleeping so I think it went fairly well.

I think Daniel had a nice Father's Day. The kids and I made him breakfast in bed and let him sleep in a little bit. The stinker knew about the watch I got him a month ago! I kind of had a feeling that he knew what I got him today he said that about a month ago, he saw a yellow invoice sitting in a pile of junk I dumped out of my purse and he thought it looked like I had a pawn ticket in my purse. So, he gets a little irritated that I would pawn something and he picked it up and it was a Kay's Jewelry invoice. Dang it... found out! I'm so not good at keeping secrets even when I want to keep a secret! He loves his watch though. I'm super close to paying it off. I got a 12 months same as cash deal so even though it went on the Kay's card, I don't have to pay interest.

I just overheard Daniel telling the kids a story tonight and it just made me all weepy. He can be so sweet sometimes. He tells the kids true stories from his childhood instead of reading them a book. Tonight he didn't tell them a story at all, he just told them how much he loves them and how happy he is to be their dad. *choked up* how sweet is that? I love it when he's superman when he thinks I'm not looking. I need to try to remember that when I'm so frustrated with him that I want to throw his clothes in the yard

I weighed myself today and I'm down 10 pounds....only 15 or so to go....

Next week is going to be a hard one. I have some things coming up that I've been worrying about for awhile. I don't really see the silver lining yet but we'll see how it goes

Friday

2011-06-17T18:59:00.002-05:00

Flat teacher getting an eye exam. (Evelyn's summer project.)

Trevor watched the kids while Daniel and I went out to lunch today at Senior Matias. We haven't been there for over a year. It used to be one of my favorite Mexican restaurants but today It was so gross! They changed the menu to mostly American food with some Mexican food (red flag.) You probably should go someplace else if the menu has turkey sandwiches next to the enchiladas..... The company was good though :)

Mackie got her car back from her house and she was able to put plates on it without her dad's name on the registration. So, if he comes to mess with her car he'll be vandalizing someone else's property. We haven't heard a peep from her parents so maybe they've given up harassing us. Either that or its the calm before the storm.

Evelyn and Chance finished piano week. I have a call into a more permanent piano teacher. I've heard good things about the "Simply Music" way of teaching piano so I think we'll go that route.

I started the process of cleaning out the storage room. It is such a disaster! It's the room where we throw everything like camping equipment, Christmas decorations, food storage, winter clothes, and crafting stuff. It's a nightmare in there. Organizing it is quite the project but one I can do in 30 minute increments. We keep that room locked so it's not a big deal to do a little and just leave it for the next day.

Isaiah and Savannah have ballet tomorrow and we have some Father's Day stuff to do and I think we'll take the kids swimming.

Unraveling (sometimes)

2011-06-15T19:13:00.006-05:00

My "big kids". Spencer and Emily on the left, Brandon and Jessie on the right. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Chance is loving piano lessons! He is just beaming when I pick him up and likes to practice a few times a day. Who knew that he'd be the one to want to play? Evelyn is sort of lukewarm about lessons. I think if it were any longer than an hour she'd be complaining and she doesn't like to practice at home.

Evelyn had her 2 hour optometrist appointment this afternoon. He changed her glasses prescription to a stronger pair and we'll have 4 more testing sessions and then ongoing eye therapy sessons. Her next appointment is for "visual efficiency evaluation", then "visual information processing", "Visual information processing part 2", and the "parent consult".

The optometrist is going to put her in contacts next year because, he says, her glasses are going to be quite a bit thicker and he doesn't want her to have problems with people teasing her at school. I'm kind of impressed with him even being concerned about people making fun of her. I wouldn't have thought of that. He says contacts for kids have really advanced in the last decade. He dilated her eyes and said they will return to normal in 2 days. WTHeck?

My contacts aren't as uncomfortable as when I first got them last week. Everything is still blurry but getting better

I had Steam-Away come over today to clean the hallway and our bedroom carpet. The ferret has been peeing next to my bed. Grrrrr... I rearranged the bedroom and got the carpet cleaned so hopefully my little rodent will use his litter box again. Weirdo. He's as dysfunctional as the rest of the family.

Speaking of dysfunction. I am just not doing well lately. I'm happy most of the time and then out of the blue, I crash. That's the only way I can describe it. I get incredibly sad and anxious and everything seems black and dark and hopeless. All I want to do is sleep on those days. With 4 kids and Ryan, that's not at all possible. Yesterday was horrible. Today is all better like nothing happened. These bouts of overwhelming sadness is awful. I talked to Dr. L (Isaiah's psychiatrist) briefly last week about it and he calls it "situational depression" or "adjustment disorder." He says its caused by trauma, is usually short term, and comes from not being able to cope with stressful situations. I haven't any traumatic events so all I can relate it to is the stress of Trevor and Daniel which I wouldn't categorize as trauma and certainly nothing new. There is no cure for situational depression so no need to take medication (Thankfully). He suggested therapy. Great....therapy... Yeah, I'll get right on that....

The clients going to summer camp over the 4th of July weekend so I think we're going to take a weekend trip to Kansas City and see a baseball game and maybe go camping

This day can end now

2011-06-14T22:11:00.001-05:00

What a shame that there were no cliffs in Nebraska to drive off.

Mackie drama and other human stuff

2011-06-13T19:42:00.003-05:00

We didn't have enough time to get our day started so we went to Burger King for for pancakes this morning before piano lessons. Chance was not wanting to learn piano but after class he said he had a good time. So, tomorrow will be easier to get him to go.

I thought today would be a great day to go to the zoo since it's cloudy and threatening rain. It was still packed. Daniel came too so the kids finally got to go on the sky tram (or whatever it's called) Here's my view of Daniel, Isaiah and Savannah. Daniel is terrified of heights so I'm amazed that we got him on it. I don't know how high it is but he hesitates going on ladders so this was a big deal! See how high up it is?

Savannah and Evelyn's ape impression:

My girls crack me up.

Mackie, Trevor's girlfriend, has had the hardest time with her parents. She comes home 5 minutes past curfew and they lock her out and call the police calling her a runaway! Two days ago they let her sleep at home but when she got up to go to work they had disabled her car and left her a note saying she can take a cab to work. They've been over here yelling at me off and on for weeks. The last time her drunk father came over looking for her, Daniel was home. Not good for psycho dad. Daniel put him in his place and told him he's not to come on our property. We haven't heard from him since but this morning Mackie got home after work and all of her belongings were on the front porch. My husband who never gets involved in these things told Mackie she is welcome to stay with us and suggested to her to get an attorney and get emancipated. She's 18 so legally they cant kick her out and take her car away. (she has a bill of sale that says she purchased the car on her own with cash) I like that he's going to help her. I get tired of always being the surrogate parent.

I'm trying really hard to have a low key summer and it just isn't happening!

Oh, Ren is leaving for New Mexico in the morning. Her turn for a road trip! Her inlaws live there and I don't believe she's been back for 5 years or so? I googled road conditions and it looks good for the next couple of days.

Nothing much else to talk about so I'm done for the day

Busy Saturday

2011-06-11T20:34:00.002-05:00

I thought this was going to be a slow weekend but we crammed a lot into one day. Ryan went on his home visit at 6:30 this morning. Savannah and Isaiah started ballet at arts for all in Elkhorn. We went from ballet to the pool where all four kids had their swimming tests to see what class to put them in. From there, Evelyn had a birthday party over by the Mormon Bridge (30 minutes away).

The party was from 1-6 which I thought was way too long for a birthday party but they had a cookout, a pinata, and a pool. Evelyn had a blast and was just beat by the time we got home. She went to bed at 8 and fell asleep in less than 5 minutes.

I'm going to get my pajamas on and watch The Spiderwick Chronicles

I don't have a picture of Isaiah ready for ballet because I haven't bought him an outfit yet. What do boys wear to ballet anyway?

2011-06-10T17:11:00.002-05:00

Spent an hour and $20 today for the pediatrician to tell me Savannah is completely healthy. She has been complaining of a sore throat all week. Grrrrr

Isaiah put the ferret in the air vent...Nice....That killed some time....

I got contacts again today. They bug me. I remember now why I quit wearing them

I lost my debit card 2 days ago and today I tore apart and cleaned out every drawer and odd spot in the house looking for it. I found Daniel's missing Yaris key from about 4 years ago, the scissors we use for cutting whole chickens, the warrantee card for my vacuum, and eventually found my debit card. I'm counting that as a successful day.

Chance made his own lunch. This is ham and sprinkles.

Oh, and I learned today that when the corporate office of McDonalds has an employee function, they do NOT serve McDonalds food! They hire a company called Blue Sky Picnics to cater :) Learn something every day huh?

Its a hot one today

2011-06-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

Evelyn's labeling of shapes on a menu

Daniel signed the kids up for swim classes twice a week during the summer. He took them this morning so I have a few hours to myself. :)

Next week Chance and Evelyn start piano lessons and Savannah and Isaiah are starting ballet. Both classes are at the same location and only an hour each and the bowling alley is real close so we can bowl after classes.

I just got a call that a friend of mine had a death in the family so I'm going to go talk to her and finish this later

My roses are blooming :)

2011-06-06T11:11:00.004-05:00

Not much going on today. It's already 11 and we're not even all dressed yet. I know that Chance is anxious to spend his birthday money so we may make it to the store to get him another car. He's on this car kick lately. Ren and Clay stopped by Saturday and gave him two cars for his birthday so he's a happy camper. I do want to get outside and help him learn to ride his bike. We didn't buy training wheels this time. He's 7 now and old enough to ride without them, I think.

I got released from the cannery specialist calling yesterday. Yay!! (I sucked as cannery specialist). I really like being primary teacher. My class is awesome. Oh, I get to speak in church in 2 Sundays. I'm really looking forward to it because my topic is a good one. I'm speaking on why bad things happen to good people.

Later....

We did end up leaving the house. We stopped by the credit union and the teller had "left over"clown wigs for the kids. (I didn't ask why the teller had wigs...)

It was 97 degrees today and we bought water balloons. I didn't get any pictures of the balloon fights but I did get a few of Trevor babysitting :) hmmm.... at least he's smiling.

Chance has two molars coming in so he's been kind of hurting today. Poor kid

Chance turns 7

2011-06-04T11:38:00.001-05:00

Chance's 7th birthday is today! We picked up the cake and are having his party at Pizza Machine.

Trevor and Chance on the rollercoaster

Mackie and Savannah on the rollercoaster

I love this action shot

Trevor is so animated

Chance picking out his new bike

On the first day of my summer vacation, I got up...I got dressed

2011-06-02T08:45:00.001-05:00

I finished up training for the new job yesterday and signed our new contracts. The state of Nebraska is changing the way we all reporting. They are having all providers do their daily and monthly work online in a semi-central data base instead of keep books of paper logs at our houses.

ILC (the company we just started with) has been using the system for a year so we're dialed in. There isn't any way to fall behind because everything is date stamped as you enter it. That's a big stress-reliever. No monthly paperwork. No more scrambling when the boss is coming over to finish.

Mentor called yesterday and said they sold the company to Vodec. Hows that for getting out at the perfect time? I haven't had a single positive dealing with Vodec since Ryan went there 5 years ago. I'd be looking for another provider today if we hadn't made the switch last month. Sometimes everything just works out perfectly.

Chance wants to do Pizza Machine for his birthday on Saturday. He's big into cars this year so it's going to be an easy one. Do the family party on Saturday and buy him cars :)

It's almost 9 am and Savannah is still sleeping. Lucky girl! She'd sleep until noon if I let her. I think we're going to either go to the zoo or the park today since it's beautiful outside.

Judith sent me a fb message yesterday and said she's almost done editing the wedding photos. I can't wait to get them!!

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T09:53:00.000-05:00

Summer is coming and I thought I needed some watermelon socks :) Actually, I'm making these for Brittany. The toe is green but my picture makes them look blue. The foot is red not pink. They're kind of fun huh?

We couldn't have asked for a better day for Memorial Day. It's just beautiful outside. Yesterday was nice too so the kids played in the sprinkler after church. Lets hope for some decent weather now and no more rain

This is Evelyn. Doesn't she look small in this picture? The kids have one more day of school and they're out for the summer. Tomorrow will be just a fun day. I don't have any summer plans for them. I'd like to get them all piano lessons but other than that, we're just going to go day by day and play it by ear. Last year I had the whole summer packed with things to do and ended up crashing my van at the beginning of the summer.

Chance's 7th birthday is next Saturday. He got a card from Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Bob last week and an envelope from Brittany. The envelope from Britt had two debit cards in it. He was pretty excited but I had to tell him that those are not good cards, they're just to play with haha! He thought he was going to do some serious shopping!

Too Much Rain

2011-05-28T09:56:00.003-05:00

Isaiah and Ryan sitting on the grill playing with leggos

It's raining again and I was going to take the kids to the zoo. Hmmm...I'm contemplating taking them anyway. Most of the good stuff is indoors and no one likes the zoo in the rain so there wont be many people there.

Today is allowance day. I polled everyone on my facebook page who would respond and came up with $6 a week per kid. They do 4 chores a day 6 days a week so that seems fair to me. Out of that six bucks, 60 cents goes to tithing, $2.70 goes into their savings account (which they can't touch until they're grown up) and they get to keep $2.70 a week. Everyone thought it was a good idea except Chance who knows that a car at Walgreens costs $6. He'll have to be pretty thrifty to save that much.

Heidi's mom (the other Sister Applegarth) told me that she had all of her kids save 50% of their income from the time they were little until college. She didn't buy any of her kids vehicles, college, first apartment, wedding, mission funds, etc. They earned all of that themselves.Isn't that an awesome idea? I wish I had done that for Britty and Trevor.

Savannah woke up this morning and said she was going to make a sandwich for breakfast. I started to tell her no but I guess it's better than cereal huh?

Speaking of eating better. I've lost 7 pounds since I started weight watchers. That's 7 pounds in 7 weeks. Slowwwww going. I thought for sure I would have gained while on vacation. I ate as good as I could but when you eat out 3 meals a day it's hard to stay under 29 weight watcher points. I attribute my loss on vacation to the Zija powder I'm taking every day.

Zija is made from the Moringa Oleifera plant (page down to "general nutrition") "It is commonly said that Moringa leaves contain more Vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more Vitamin C than oranges, and more potassium than bananas,” and that the protein quality of Moringa leaves rivals that of milk and eggs".

The owner of the Zija company was watching a Discovery Channel story about Moringa Oleifera and had an idea that maybe the plant could be used for weight loss because of it's health benefits. So far it's working for me. I feel great and have energy throughout the day. In addition to the powder, there is also a Zija tea that I drink twice a week. It works like a colon cleanse without the cramping and crazy running to the bathroom before something reeeeeallly bad happens!

On that note, have a great weekend!

Thursday

2011-05-26T14:06:00.005-05:00

I know I've posted this picture before (it's the only picture of him that I have) but I got the nicest letter from Jeremy. It was for Mother's Day and my birthday. He basically said thank you for being the best aunt and not giving up on him and happy birthday. I'm not translating well but it was a nice pick-me-up. Sometimes it's just nice to be appreciated for not doing anything special. Know what I mean?

It's really hard to see but I'm drawing a window in the basement bathroom. My pencil isn't very dark but if you click on the picture it shows it bigger. Anyway, I thought we needed a window in the bathroom and since I can't work the power tools I thought I'd draw it instead. I'm going to paint it white and put the ocean in the background. I'll post the finished picture unless I skrock it up

I did my visiting teaching this morning and the funniest thing happened. I had to take Isaiah with me because Daniel was at work. So, Jeanette and I are in her living room talking while her two boys and Isaiah are outside in the back yard. We go out there to check on them and William has the hose on holding it over Isaiah's head and Isaiah is just standing there with a grin on his face like...what's your problem? So, Sister Porter gives him a towel and I put his sopping body in the van and drive to Heidi's house. Heidi and I visited on the porch for a few minutes. Ugh....kids

I had the carpets in the basement cleaned today. I don't know what it is about that room but I can't for the life of me keep it clean. The kids treat it like it's the backyard. I have been tossing bags and bags of toys for the past few weeks and yesterday another bag went out. I got all of the furniture moved to the corners and painted the walls properly. I say properly because the first time I did it, I was so rushed I just slapped it up there to cover crayon marks.

It looks so much better. I think it gets so run-down there because the kids are basically unsupervised when they are in the basement. It's a catch 22....I hate going down there because it's a disaster and it's underground with no windows so I feel claustrophobic but if I make it nice, I'll have to be down there to make sure no one messes it up

This morning I had it perfect because the carpet people were coming early and by the time we were ready to go (take kids to school) I go down there and the cushions are off the couches, the remotes to the games are on the floor, and about a bucket of toys are scattered all over. I think my tolerances are too low on the kids picking up after themselves.

I stole this off my sister's blog. It's so me. I like to think of him walking and knitting at the same time

2011-05-24T18:27:00.000-05:00

Isaiah had preschool graduation last week

Chance cross-dressing

and Chance's teacher, Mrs. Kavanagh showing the kids the tarantula's skin. The classroom tarantula crawled out of her skin. I almost did too when she started passing this thing around...Ewwww. . I was at the school for Chance's birthday celebration today. Lucky me

Chance passing out his cookies.

Back Home with a very long post!

2011-05-19T19:33:00.004-05:00

It's so nice to be back home and have a quick internet connection again! The hotels are so slow that blogging took me forever! I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight but I wanted to post a few more vacation pictures. They're all on facebook but I learned that not everyone who reads my blog has facebook. *Gasp!* (Click on the pictures to see them big)

Here's Savannah and Kelle. she's one of Brittany's best friends and the girl who did all of the girls's hair for the wedding. Yes, Savannah was very uncomfortable. Not with Kelle but because she had to have her hair curled. She looked adorable but it was a long process for her

Trevor and Grandma Jo (Scotts grandma) and Trevor and Jeff (Scott's dad) They really made Trevor feel like family

Brittany and Scott.(obviously!) Isn't that cake beautiful?

My girls with their cousin Katelynn (Suzanne's daughter)

Britty with Judith Broyles, the fabulous Australian photographer who also did our family pictures and the kids's school pictures. She's the one I brag about to everyone who needs pictures taken. Judith was a true professional who took control and didn't put up with any whining and dodging the camera. She told Brittany that she was going to capture the best memories of her day and that's exactly what she did. Believe me, there was plenty of whining from everyone who had to stand still photograph after photograph. Even Brittany told her she was tired of pictures. I'm thankful that Judith didn't give in and call it quits because Britt is going to have a fantastic wedding album

Yesterday, after Mt. Rushmore, we drove through Sioux Falls and was treated to dinner with Daniel's parents.

Daniel went into the restaurant while the rest of us were outside getting out of the car and gave his debit card to the waitress but Mick somehow managed to pay the bill anyway. He's even sneakier than his son. Thanks Mick for the company and the great dinner! We owe you one!

Trevor and Bryan at Mt. Rushmore. There was so much fog that we only got glimpses of the mountain and I like this picture better than the presidents anyway ;)

It was so nice having Trevor for 24 hours a day for 7 days. Poor kid just couldn't escape me and don't think I didn't use every opportunity to my advantage. From commenting on how it's unfathomable that these majestic mountains could be formed by anyone other than God to how lucky he is to have his family to the standard "please change your life" speech. I'm confident that perhaps 10% was actually heard over the metallica blaring through his headphones.

Daniel took the day off work today and did up all of the laundry from our trip. I'll be folding it for days but getting it all washed was awesome. I had training for my new job at 8 this morning and Bryan's graduation right after so I haven't really gotten to slow down yet. I'm looking forward to my comfy bed tonight.

We let the kids stay home from school today since we got in after midnight last night. I'm glad I opted them out of school because they all slept until 9. .That's a family first.

Okay, that's enough for me.... oh almost.. I finished my other pink sock today at the graduation.

2011-05-17T22:58:00.000-05:00

This little guy came up to the car in Yellowstone. I say little but he probably weighed 1000 pounds or more and this was way too close for comfort for me. There are signs all over the park warning not to get close to the animals and avoid approaching them. I was very nervous because this "little" guy could have easily tipped our van over! The reason we were so close is because we were stopped because a group of these bison were blocking the road. No one wanted to honk to move them (which could spook them)

We spent an extra day in Yellowstone looking for coyote and bears which we found! We went all the way up north and spotted a coyote walking alone across a frozen lake and a bear digging in the snow. Further along we saw a moose and 2 adult bears with a baby bear.

Yellowstone is so beautiful and we came at the perfect time of year. The roads weren't congested, we didn't have to wait in the gift shops or restaurants. Our waitress said that during the summer the park is packed with people.

We drove to Cody Wyoming yesterday and ate dinner at the Buffalo Bill restaurant. We were going to stay the night in the hotel above the restaurant but the place gave me the creeps. I told Daniel it felt haunted. I almost lost the small battle when he learned that there was no continental breakfast in the morning! haha. Thank God for the fat man's appetite! We stayed at the Comfort Inn across the street. I looked up the hotel on the internet and it was investigated by some paranormal show. I'm not superstitious but no sense staying there when there is a hotel across the street without a reputation!

We drove in the mountains all day to get to Mount Rushmore (where we are now). Our hotel is awesome. It's not a hotel at all. It's a big log cabin on a secluded mountain. It has a living room big enough for a picnic table and a sectional couch with a fireplace for Trevor to sleep on. The kids are sleeping in their own room with two bunk beds. Ryan and Bryan have a room with 2 queen beds and Daniel and I have a room to ourselves finally!

It's not the most romantic room with it's blue and green walls and fluorescent lights. I kind of feel like I should be wearing a paper gown waiting for the nurse to come in and take my blood pressure. Other than that, it's an awesome place to stay. I'd come here again.

I finished two socks on the trip. Yes, I knit while driving. (not that that is a big secret) I can't knit on the curvy roads because that requires the hands white-knuckled at 10 and 2. The long straight-away roads however is fair game.These are two different socks but I'm working on the matches now.

Tomorrow we are going to see Mt. Rushmore and then drive home. Although we had a fantastic vacation, it's always nice to come home. Even if it is boring, flat Nebraska

Yellowstone

2011-05-15T22:21:00.001-05:00

We left our hotel in Blackfoot this morning and headed to Yellowstone. It's so sad seeing all of the damage from the wildfire. Everything is growing back of course but it's still a big change from what it once was. There are sections of mountains where they have replanted trees and one section said the trees were planted in 1992. They still seem so small :(

It's been a great day watching old faithful, the paint pots and the geysers. Our hotel room has a beautiful view of a full moon. After dinner I bought a book called "Spirits of the Earth" in the gift shop. It's about the Native American Symbols, stories, and ceremonies. I'm liking it

Tomorrow we're heading to Mt. Rushmore and then on to Omaha. I don't want to come home to real life. While we're driving I look out the window and wonder how I could have ever left the beautiful Northwest to land in Nebraska where all you see is cornfields and flat land. I have a great life in Omaha but it's aesthetically retarded.