I've Solved My Problem....

We're joining a Nudist Colony in hopes of mitigating this perpetual "little" laundry problem.

I've spent the last two days making that pile, and would you believe in those two days we've already created an additional two full loads now waiting... That's a FULL size couch under there.

Tomorrow will be lots of fun {:-/

They Could Teach You A Lot...

Gabriel's Primary Program was on Sunday. I'm very happy to announce this year went much smoother. I even got to stay in the audience and watch this time. There was drama involved last year....

Anyway, he sat up on the stand quietly, notice I stop short of saying calmly or reverently, he was lots of quiet motion. He had a scrape on the side of his nose he kept messing with so it looked like he was picking his nose the whole hour...nice. After he was done messing with his nose he started licking his hand...nice, again. At the end of the meeting he showed me his red, sore, chappy hand. I told him it was because he kept licking it, he said, "Oh I didn't know that." (Alexandrea wins the award for the funniest kid thing I saw this year. *Hilarious*) Gabriel delivered his memorized line like a champ,

"Noah's family was protected from the flood because they had faith and obeyed Heavenly Father."

After he had memorized it we started working on enunciation. He did great!! He's sure come a long way from where we started a few years ago. I think I'll always have a bit of anxiety when he has to "perform" in front of a group because he's so unpredictable. We're never sure if it'll be a great day like Sunday or one of "those" days.

On a totally different note his line struck me as profound. To say that I'm *sick* of the stage we're in right now is an understatement. I will be SO GLAD to get rid of 2009, good-bye and good riddance! We'll see how my attitude is at the end of next year, but don't get your hopes up too high. :+} Back to my point, Noah's family, just like so many others today, were faced with such a huge trial. My problems pale in comparison, mine are kinda like that yappy Chihuahua that never shuts up or goes away. You just want to say, "Enough already, be gone with you!!" I've felt like a beaten old hag as Stephen and I have tried to navigate through this lovely time. Stephen, the dirty dog, still looks young and rarely shows any signs of stress. That makes me feel that much more haggish. Gabriel's line got me to thinking....maybe I need to evaluate how my faith and obedience are doing. Am I really being as faithful and obedient as I need to?

Our situation now is connected to career choices we made during the summer of 2007. Did we make the right choices?? YES. Is that when things started unraveling?? Yes. Have we done everything right?? Not always. Are we trying to make wise choices?? Yes. How are our testimonies doing?? GOOD. Will we get through this with any kind of sanity left?? I hope so. Why exactly am I so frustrated?? More than the obvious of how to get all the bills paid is that I can't give money or support to groups, people, and places I want. That drives me crazy! Gabriel's teacher was given 200 dollars for her classroom for the whole year. There was a time I could've done some good in alleviating that little problem, not now. I'm frustrated that I can't be as generous in the gifts I give as I want. I can no longer financially support organizations that are fighting for causes that I hold near to me heart. I want to teach my kids to think about others. In my perfect world they'd each get a trip to the store to pick out special Christmas gifts for their siblings/cousins/other family members in mind. I think I've figured out a way to still pull this off. I hope I can because it's such a crucial lesson to learn in life.

IF we're faithful and obedient it will work out and, "this too shall pass." As I started seeing income dry up it was weird to feel "led" in purchasing decisions. We second guessed ourselves when we put a lot of money toward pull ups when they were on coupon at Costco, but those lasted us through almost 5 months. During those months we were able to focus on other financial demands. Every time I go to the store I can feel myself being guided in prioritizing my list. I know it sounds dumb, but it's the truth. The night my poor Stephen walked in looking like he'd been beaten (one of the few times I've seen him stressed) and said, "I don't know what to do. I just don't know...." We again were led to unconventional solutions to the shortage of income. One of the solutions was to start gathering everything we didn't need and craigslisting like crazy. That is what paid for Christmas last year and several other bills. I think getting broke is better than moving. You can get rid of all your junk, but don't have to worry about packing or house hunting. :) Each time the money was gone and the bills weren't we'd be led again. He's been led to where he could pick up work; I've been led in how to approach getting more work. Somehow, we've kinda been making it, still own a house, still like each other, and still have our faith. That's what it really boils down to, faithful obedience. Oh, how I hope I can hurry up and learn my lesson and move on to another trial, if for nothing else, just some variety. I'm so grateful I was able to have my attitude adjusted from my Gabriel. Someday I'll tell him how much he taught me just by working hard on his line for primary. When I start feeling overwhelmed and like I can't breathe and the stress starts to mount, my new mantra has become....faith and obedience, faith and obedience, faith and obedience.

When we get through this we'll be stronger and definitely wiser! I hope we can use it in our child rearing so these wild ones will be wiser than us. All will be well...faith and obedience, faith and obedience, faith and obedience...

Bountiful Baskets Holiday Schedule

Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday the distribution schedule has been modified.

We WILL be doing it again this weekend. You can order again or try it out today. Go to bountifulbaskets.org to contribute. The contribution deadline is tonight. The entire modified holiday schedule will also be posted there. Starting in January we'll be back to the regular bi-weekly delivery schedule again. If you have any questions you can leave a comment or call me if you know me well enough to have my number. :+) Happy Produce!

Deadline for Christmas Trees

If you want to take advantage of the great prices for a Noble Fir Christmas tree, all the paperwork must be in by November 15, that's this weekend.
The trees will be delivered December 5th.

The post below has a link at the bottom to click on and get an order form. You can fill it out and give it to me to deliver or drop it off at any of the Flowing Wells schools. The closest one to us is on Camino de la Tierra just south of Ina.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

GREAT GONGA DEAL!

A couple years ago, after some serious begging, I was able to talk Stephen into getting a Noble Fir tree for Christmas. This kind of tree is expensive which is why it's so short. I'm NOT any kind of decorator and will never claim to be, but I liked how this one turned out. I LOVE Noble Firs; their branches are stiff so lights and ornaments don't make them droop (even on the kid decorated branches with 12 ornaments on the same branch), as they dry out the needles stay right where they ought to be...on the branches, they smell divine, and are BEAUTIFUL!

I just learned that Gabriel's school district is selling Organic Noble Fir trees to raise money for the district family resource center. The prices are FANTASIC! They range from, Up to 6' for $33.00 to 9' and over for $40.00. We've never been able to get a tree for as little as 40 bucks that was as tall or taller than us. Last year we ended up with a HUGE, non-Noble, tree (that was still about 100 bucks after negotiating down) because we didn't have the mula for one till very late in the season. By then all the Nobles, or any small trees, anywhere near our price range were long gone. The drooping branches made me crazy.

If you want in on this great deal there is a link at the bottom you can click on for the order form. Stephen put it on so I know it'll work. :-D The money you spend is TAX DEDUCTIBLE (just include a note with the form requesting a receipt) and will be a great help to a small district that has a big need to help those that live in it. I chose this district for Gabriel because I've seen the inner and outer workings of it; they are so family oriented and foster such a strong sense of community and looking out for each other. I know whatever is collected from the sale of these trees will be used wisely and to benefit those that are truly in need. Not to mention...what an awesome price!

Next week is the deadline for ordering, so you'll have to get them in fast.

Click here to download the order form (works best in Internet Explorer).

Sick or Treat

I had lots of big, fun plans for this Halloween. We were able to still do some of them, but had to start cutting back the closer we got to Halloween because the big boys decided to get sick. Long week short...(When I can get the pictures together I'll add those)

Gabriel ran a fever for over a week, kept complaining that he broke a bone in his ear, missed several days of school including his first school Halloween party, and a few other fun activities. He was very concerned about missing his school party and other fun stuff. Being the empathetic mom that I am, every time he'd say he broke the bone in his ear I'd dismiss it. Lately anytime he "can't" do something it's because he has a broken bone; "I can't clean my room I broke my leg bone", "I can't eat I broke my hand bone" you get the idea. Not to mention, do you know how hard it would be to actually break those tiny bones in your ear?? DUH, I'm an idiot! He has a history of ear problems and doesn't have the language to explain it to me. Sunday, after baths, I was cleaning his ears and surprise there was bloody discharge. Soooo, he missed school for a very non-contagious ear infection. I hope no permanent damage was done. He's well now and back to school. He wanted to be a giraffe again this year. Last year's costume still fit perfectly, so getting him ready was easy.

Garrett started running a fever a few days after Gabriel did. He missed his pre-school Halloween party and several activities too. Fortunately, we were able to do some fun things before he got sick so he doesn't realize what all he missed. He ended up seeing the Pediatrician for a fever that kept hitting 103. It's just a virus, not the flu, that needs to run its course. He just missed another day of pre-school. He'll be back on Wednesday because the fever is gone now and he's wild again. He wanted to be a T-Rex. We really tried to find a costume for him. We ordered 2 online that were too small, checked all the stores on our side of town, and finally gave up and broke the news to him that he'd have to be a monkey again...same as last year. He took it pretty well.

Lincoln is illness free. However, still not a fan of food; although, he's slowly coming to terms with the inevitability of the whole eating thing. He still sees no reason to sleep through the night, but I'm getting good at sleeping through him waking up. He normal crawls now, but it's looks very mechanical. You can see him thinking...right...left...right...left. He was our hand-me-down "lil punkin" till my mom found a cute alien/monster/critter costume for a gonga $1.99.

They were ALL so cute! It's pretty much always a zoo around here so I thought their costumes were pretty fitting. ;+D I'm glad there was still so much fun to be had with Ava (they LOVED their caramel apples!) and trick or treating with Jens. If you ask them how there Halloween was, they answer "FUN!" That's the important part.

Stephen and I came down with some kind of stuffy nose kind of thing. We don't feel sick, just stuffed up. We bought a bunch of expectorant and Sudafed and life goes on.

Sooo, our Halloween weekend can all be summed with Sick or Treat. Stay tuned for our annual trip to the Urgent Care EVERY Christmas Eve.