Store Adventures...

I think I mentioned in an earlier blog how much I hated going to the grocery store. It's my least favorite place! Well, not to be super negative here, but I do have to vent a little about my trip yesterday and again today! Abby was home yesterday with a yucky cough so I had Rachel, Joe and Abby as I went grocery shopping. It was at Walmart and it wasn't a lengthy list. I'm thinking it will be a quick in and out thing. I told the kids that if they were helpful and didn't whine for things that they could choose a snack at the store. This usually works...but yesterday....it didn't! We were just in the store and I was picking out toothbrushes, needing to replace all of our after all the sickness in our house and Joe started throwing a tantrum about having a spiderman toothbrush and toothpaste and Rachel wanted princess toothpaste and so they started yelling at each other. I, of course told them to shush and we hurried to the next aisle where Rachel saw princess shampoo! I'm big on getting the cheapest thing! I would rather go for the dollar shampoo rather than spending a few dollars on princess shampoo...occasionally I get them fun stuff, but I just can't do it all the time, especially in the last half of the month when my budget is low! So, I remind the kids of they're snack and that's all I can get them today, if they will stop whining about all the stuff they want. Joe and Ray start crying! I tell Joe he's not getting his snack if he doesn't stop and he yells "no!". Well, I ignore them now and hurry as fast as I can through the store! Abby, of course is being wonderful! So, I get her a snack on the way out. The other kids start throwing a fit (dumb for me to do, I should have hid it or something, I don't know!). They are screaming and crying as I fly out of the store to discover the wind is blowing really hard AND it's snowing! The kids start screaming louder because of the cold and everyone in the parking lot is looking at us....I'm mortified! Well, I throw the groceries in the back of the van and I speed away and while I'm doing so, I'm lecturing my youngest children! I told them they couldn't have a treat/snack if they were to be whining and crying in the store...the tantrum goes on! I'm sure your all stressed right now finding something more peaceful to read, I WOULD! Well, today I have to run into the store for some dirt...yes dirt, new plant needs dirt...so we run in to get dirt and I threaten Ray and Joe (Abby now in school, feeling better) to be good in the store, no treats no matter what and if they throw fits they go to time-out as soon as I get home. So they were good. As we are checking out they ask for a treat, I tell them they can have lunch at home. All is well. We get home and Dan is home working and notices Rachel drop a pack of gum! We ask her where she got the gum and after some prodding, find out she STOLE IT FROM THE STORE! I swear, sometimes being a mom is so exhausting! I talk to her about stealing and tell her we are going right back to the store where she will pay for the gum and tell them she stole it and say sorry. She, of course, is afraid she will go to jail! I tell her that if she doesn't stop stealing as she gets older, she will, but not today. Today I tell her she is going to go back and make it right. So we go back to the blasted store and she tells them she's sorry and we pay for it. Well, that basically sums up my life the last two days. There is always something! Well, if your still with me, thanks for lending your reading abilities so I could vent....Anyone want to share your crazy store adventures? I'd love to hear them!

Best of's

I just read the book "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer...Holy Cow! All I can say is that it's been a long time I read a book that size in 1 day! Isn't that pathetic! Like I don't have anything better to do with my time. It was so fascinating. I love fiction, but rarely find it to be free of smut. This, however was captivating! Rarely, I find other books outside of LDS Fiction and my scriptures interesting but lately that's been changing. I must say one of the best books I've ever read was "Not My Will, But Thine" by Neal Maxwell. All of his works and talks given fascinate me. He is hard for some to follow but his words give me something to "chew" on. I read his stuff slowly so I don't miss a thing and just dwell on what he writes or the things he's spoken of for some time before going on to the next. I also love Sheri Dew and her candid way of speaking. Her latest book "God Wants a Powerful People" is an amazing book. We don't realize how much "power" we've been given and by tapping it to it righteously, what we can accomplish, for good. When it comes to self-help books I stumble, very few interest me because many of them are so much opinion and I rarely find the whole book worthwhile, only a few chapters or points made. I would have to say that my favorite self-help book is "5 Love Languages". This was an interesting read for me, trying to understand those close to me and how to communicate love to them in the way that they would best absorb it. Now, as for non-fiction. The last book I read was the autobiography of Doris Day. I've loved Doris Day since I was a child. I used to go over to my fav cousins house for sleep-overs and when she was fast asleep at 9:00 p.m., by aunt Tina would come in and find movies for me to watch and they were always Doris Day. She'd stay up with me awhile and watch them. Ever since, she has been by favorite actress. After reading her book, however, I have a much less beautiful view of her. She was human, go figure, where in most of her movies she is so pure, so fun, so sure of herself. She had a rough life! It was an intersting book to read. Well, I could go on and on...what I really need to do is join a bookclub:)

So, in thinking about the year 2007. I would have to say there are many "best of's". My favorite movie was "Amazing Grace". This movie, to me is a classic. It is so filled with so many good messages. It was heart wrenching! I'm a sucker for silly, teenage music and my favorite song this year was "No One" by Alicia Keys. I love listening to music that makes me want to get up and dance (not many people will witness this though, only done in the confines of my kitchen when only my kids or no one at all is watching, am I really admitting this?!LOL). My favorite food this year was Sushi. Dan andI have been indulging ourselves in this yummy tradition for awhile now, but this year, we really have missed all the cheap, yummy sushi bars so easily found in Portland.

Now, to get to the personal "Best of's". This year watching my kids learn to swim was so awesome! I've wanted them to learn but never had the opportunity without paying hundreds of dollars for it. Moving into a neighborhood where we have a HOA pool right down the street is sooooooooo cooooool! We went swimming a ton and I have to admit I loved getting a tan, but this year, I'm going to be more health conscious about my skin, it was fun to indulge this last year, though. Brent and Cortnie going through the temple this year was also an amazing, beautiful experience! It has been so nice living near my family! I've loved getting to know my amazing Sister-in-laws. I love having sisters (even though, lately I don't know where they have been hiding:)) I've loved going to all the extended family events and seeing all the aunts and uncles and cousins I've missed! My new calling late last year was also a wonderful experience. I am so enjoying working with the Mia Maids. What great girls! I enjoy teaching them and attending the activities and getting to know there sweet spirits! It's going to keep me young! Well, I wish I could go on, but I have to get lunch for the kiddo's. For those of you reading, who haven't shared your "best of's", please share!

What it's like with 5!

As I've mentioned I have an additional child this week. Emmie, is 3. She's such a sweet little girl! I've loved having her here! It has been crazy though and it all seems to hit at once. My sweet little Rachel started in with a runny nose on Sunday and the poor thing has had this horrible cold that won't die! She's suffered with ear aches, which have finally relented, goupy eyes, that are looking better, and now it's a horrible cough. The poor girl has bags under her eye's because she's been waking up every hour at night in a coughing fit. She hasn't made it to pre-school all week :( Emmie's first night here, her ears were hurting her as well, on top of the fact that she cried for an hour before bed, missing her mommy and daddy. I prayed that her ears would get better because being sick on top of missing her mom and dad was just too much. Now, all the kids have this horrible cold, except Emmie is the only one who is doing well, for which I'm grateful! My poor husband has been working late every night on a project for work that had to be done in full by today, and now he's meeting with all the big wigs of this company, making sure this schedule is done right. Dan and his dad own a PAR or dealership selling Primavera software. They also consult in this software, which is what Dan has been doing and Dad teaches this software. They have had a lot of work, of late and so they have been having me coordinate all of Dad's training classes. So, on top of all these sick kids, Dan working late, one homesick little girl, I've had a ton of work! I've had several calls all week to follow up on that obviously need to be done without children in the background...yeah right! My kids are used to naps, but Emmie doesn't take naps, she goes 100 miles an hour all day and if I'm not on top of where she is at all times, I find water all over my bathroom, and entire tube of toothpaste smashed and smeared all over my counters, DVD's all over my floor, white flour sprinkled all over her and my kitchen...anyway, I say this not to complain because, really she's so cute and we've had so much fun together, but it's been kind of crazy! Also, I learned this all within the first couple of days, now I'm wiser and stay on top of where she is at all times:) Last night, poor Emmie cried for forever and I held her, sang to her, read stories with her and finally had to let her just cry, because there was nothing else I could do for her and it was 1 a.m. before I finally hit the hay! With sick kids, we haven't really ventured out, so I'm really starting to memorize the lines on the walls :) Yesterday, sick or not, I took the kids to the library. The kids loved looking at the birdies and the bunny rabbit. They picked out books that we read last night before bed. I had visions of taking these kids downtown to temple square, childrens museum and other fun adventures....o-well. Darren and Traci, when you read this, don't stress...it really has been great having her:), it's my sick kids that are driving me crazy!!!!
Emmie says the cutest things! As we were driving to the library yesterday she saw the mountains and said "Look at those mountains! I want to slide down the mountains and they would tickle me!" Also, the other night as I was putting her to bed, she was really sad and so I told her we were going to say a prayer and that Heavenly Father would help her not feel so sad, so we said a prayer. When we were done, this was our dialogue:

Emmie: Where is Jesus?
Jen: He's all around us and in heaven.
Emmie: But, I can't see him.
Jen: I know, we can't see Him because he's so special. But, we will see Him soon and just because we can't see Him doesn't mean He isn't there.
Emmie: I want to see Jesus.
Jen: Me too.
Emmie: I love Jesus.
Jen: Me too.

She is the sweetest little girl!

New Year's Goals...

So, thanks to Marcie's suggestion to post New Year's goals, I've been thinking of mine and decided to post a few...

I was sitting in Sunday School yesterday as the teacher invited anyone who has shared a Book of Mormon with a non-member or anyone who has experienced they're own witness that the Book of Mormon was true. This really got me thinking about when I first read the Book of Mormon. There was much talk of how to find "truth". The only way to find truth is by prayer and the Holy Ghost testifying the truth to you. I grew up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and really never struggled with it's truth. I was active in attending church. I had struggles, don't get me wrong, but I just knew the church was true. However, reading the Book of Mormon wasn't something I think I'd done by myself, cover to cover ever before. I'd read it with my family growing up and studied it in Seminary and at church but had never really made it my goal until after I was married. Hailey was one year old and Dan had just finished school and we were moving up to Portland Oregon to stay with his parents until Dan found a job. This was the first time I'd moved from Utah and I was so sad! I had a very hard time adjusting. I decided to start reading the Book of Mormon and to do it in 3 months, which would mean reading 3 or so chapters a day. Hailey would sleep in the afternoon and that would give me time to study. I loved reading each day, it gave me such peace! I looked forward to it! As I'd read I would pray to know it's truthfulness and I would continue to just feel warm and peaceful and I learned a great deal! As I finished and knelt on my knee's, even before I began to pray, I felt an overpowering warmth and comfort come over me and as I prayed the tears came freely, I knew it was true! So, as I sat in church yesterday, I knew that this year I would read this book again. I've read it since Hailey was little, this will be my 4th time reading it. It's difficult to keep up reading with 4 children and my working but I know I will find peace in reading it and that's one of my goals this year.

My second goal is to not raise my voice at my children, and to be more patient with them! This sounds terrible to say, but my kids don't respond unless I threaten! Am I the only one who experiences this? Please say no! I'm watching my niece Emmie this week and her parents are so good with her! As I'm taking care of her and having to help sort out sharing problems and her throwing water all over my bathroom, I can't really raise my voice with her, she's someone else's child! I began to think, well, what if I treated my children as if they were someone else's children, in the sense of disciplining and then the thought occurred to me that they are someone else's children, they are the Lord's and he's entrusted them to me to care for and be patient with and to love unconditionally. So, my next goal is to change my parenting style a little. I am a strict mom, and I've been told this a lot! Well, I think it's good that kids have boundaries and that they know some things are just not acceptable, like hitting, or being rude to others...I just don't tolerate these things at all...so I'm not changing my strictness, I'm changing my voice tone and I'm going to start whispering and my kids are just going to have to lean in a little to hear what I have to say....ha! ha!

Lastly, I'd really like to lose 20 lbs! I've lost a lot of weight over the last couple of years and eating well and exercise are something I just do, and my last little chunk (don't mind the pun) of weight won't come off...so hopefully this year it will...we'll see!

I hope I didn't bore you with my seriousness! I hope your thinking of your new goals as well! The New Year really is a great way to start Fresh!

Primary!

Well, yesterday morning the primary had a breakfast for the children to meet they're new teachers. They wore they're pajama's and ate breakfast, painted rocks and made a journal. We've been worried about our little Sunbeam, hoping he would go to his new class without problems. We really built it up and he was excited to go, all the kids were! They all went great without a hitch, even Joe! He loved it. Our neighbor is his new teacher and her son and Joe are great little friends. So Sunday is here and it's time to take the kids to they're new class. Rachel has her blankie in tow, Joe has his little cousin Emmie staying here while her parents are on a cruise this week, and we're thinking Joe will be just fine and so will Rachel, but...we were deceived! Rachel was super sad and Joe went fine until Dan had to go in and help Rachel and then, of course, Joe wanted to be with Dan too, so poor Dan had both wailing children and I had no idea what was going on! Emmie, the visitor, of course, was just fine. Being a sunbeam for her was great, go figure, what is it with my kids? They are just so attached to me, it drives me insane, sometimes! Anyway, here a couple pics of the breakfast yesterday. I'm sure there are more adventures in store next week!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

January 4, 1954

I always look forward to my Dad's birthday because it's another celebration after Christmas and I love celebrating! We went over to visit Dad last night and watched "Transformers". Brent came by and it was fun to see him too. The kids had Root Beer Floats, something I remember having a lot growing up. YUM! Happy Birthday Dad!

Reigning in the New Year with Flu Blues

This will, without a doubt be the most memorable New Years! We had my grandparents over along with my mom's sister Teresa and her family and we had a ball! We played games, ate food, but much to my chagrin, I began feeling quite queasy around 9 p.m. so I took it easy and finally decided to call it a night around 11 p.m. and it was a good thing I did because I don't think I've been that sick with the flu in years! It was horrible, chills, achy, stomach yuck, the whole thing! I felt bad abandoning my family. The kids did quite well, much to my surprise. Joe fell asleep around 11 p.m., Rachel was out soon after and Hailey and Abby made it into the New Year. They had fun. I love it that Hailey and Abby are getting old enough to play game with the "big kids". Abby was a whiz at boggle and Hailey's getting really good at her new favorite game "Blokus". Even though I had the flu, this was a super fun New Years celebration.