On the Road Again

We are going out of town on a road trip...kind of. We are going to see Burke's brother's daughter get baptized (follow all of that?)
It will be fun to see everyone. Even Grandpa will be there. He was discharged yesterday. I am sure he is glad to be home, but he will be picking up and leaving again soon. What a trouper.
I booked our hotel tonight, as our plans were only just finalized this afternoon.

Best of all...Free Hotel Stay!

Woo-Hoo!

I used the rewards on my credit card to get the two nights for free. So any other expense is just for food and entertainment.
It only took four years to save up enough points! (I guess I don't use my card very often).

Prayers

Grandpa is in the hospital again.

Prayers are welcome.

One suggestion:

Pray that the doctors will be able to diagnose and treat the problem soon.

We love you Grandpa!

Funnies

Kids say the darndest things.
In Sacrament meeting today, Adrienne was getting into the treats before the sacrament was over. A big no-no. Treats are for kids who have behaved up through the end of the passing of the sacrament. (Hey, you have to be strict when you are outnumbered 4 to 1).

I scolded her, then we struck a deal. She would just hold it, but couldn't open it before mom said. When the bread tray came along, she wouldn't take one. Thinking she was just distracted, I reminded her to take a piece. She held up her treat and said: "No, I'm fine, mom." Who needs plain old bread when you have yummy fruit snacks?

We have a rule in the car that all kids must be buckled in by the time the driver gets the vehicle in gear. If they are not, they are "fined" ten cents (I got tired of reminding them over and over, I have found this works pretty well). On Saturday, Nathan was more focused on teasing Kade than on doing up his seat belt. When I did the seat belt check, he was the only one without a seat belt. When I informed him about his fine, he pouted for a few minutes then came up with a dime (I am still not sure where it came from). He told me he wanted to pay it right away because the prophet says to get out of debt as soon as possible. Maybe something does penetrate once in a while....

Plans

I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of girl married to a plan-every-detail kind of guy, but today I did it! I am patting myself on the back as I type (not an easy thing to do). I planned ahead, booked it, and now get to sit back and wait with anticipation.
I planned our summer vacation today! I am so excited. It will be nice to spend some time alone with just myself, Burke, and the kids. No meetings, no stressful work stuff... Just us and nature. Lots of nature.... We will be camping...in a tent...with four kids.
What was I thinking?!

These are a few of my favorite things

Here and there, you find things that become hobbies. Over time, I have come to really enjoy doing my girls' hair. I love to cruise around the hair blogs and see what those talented and creative ladies have come up with that I could attempt. I found this Valentine's hairdo at Girly Do's. It turned out okay, but did take quit a bit longer than I wanted.
It is supposed to look like a heart, but I didn't make the first ponytail low enough on her head. Annika was happy with it though, and got lots of compliments that day.

I have also been actively pursuing my hobby of "find the money". It has become a personal challenge for me to find ways to squeeze every last bit of money out of whatever I can. I guess it would have been a more useful hobby for me to have picked up while we were starving students, but I figure it is better late than never.
This past week I got some money in the mail. There was a rebate for soda that offered over the holidays. 2 Liter bottles of soda were on sale for $1. If you bought 10, you qualified for a $10 rebate. I couldn't pass it up, so I got 20 bottles, spent $20 dollars, and just got my two $10 rebates in the mail. That same day, I received a $4 check from a survey company for doing a survey about frozen dinners.

I also love learning new things. I have been taking classes through community education since I moved here and have dabbled in several different things including watercolors, Tai Chi, and pottery. I am currently taking a digital photography class with my sister. I have learned quite a bit, although my sister and I spend a lot of time talking. Hopefully you will be able to see some improvement in the pictures I post...eventually. I am enjoying it, despite the teacher being a little strange. You know that saying: Working hard, or hardly working? Here are some photos I took during class to test out some features on my camera.
My final favorite for this post is my "little" sister featured in the above pictures (sorry, but they were so flattering). She is one of my best friends and a great example to me for lots of different things. I am glad she and I can get out of the house and spend some time together.

Snow, Anyone?

We got slammed yesterday. It was that heavy, wet, great-for-making snowmen, awful-for-shoveling kind of snow.

I decided to brave the elements and take the girls to their dance class yesterday. When I arrived I found the parking lot had not been cleared. I decided to pull in just a little way so that I could get the girls in a little easier. Big mistake. I immediately got stuck. I felt pretty stupid, but I wasn't the only one, and wasn't stuck the worst. All the moms got together and pushed each other out until a big, strong, husband showed up with a big, strong truck and a rope.

After I got home from dance, Nathan and I (mostly I) shoveled our guts out until Burke got home to finish it up. I did the majority of it though. And counted it as my workout instead of heading to the gym yesterday.

Here is the big pile after shoveling about an hour and a half:

I am feeling it in my back this morning. Ouch!

Forever

Last Friday, we took the kids here:

It was beautiful. They loved being able to go inside and see what it looked like. Annika's favorite thing to see was the baptismal font. Everyone else liked the Celestial Room.

My favorite thing was the sealing room. I loved being able to look in the mirrors and see the altar. It is a very important and special place.

Burke and I were able to go see a couple from our ward sealed together with their children last weekend. What an incredible experience it was. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. This couple have gone through a great many trials since deciding to go through the temple last year. We were so happy to be able to support them in the culmination of their efforts. It was an honor to be there.

I am so grateful for the blessings of a temple marriage in my own family. Life would be so difficult to endure, knowing that once you passed away, you never get to see your loved ones again. I am glad to know that it is at least a possibility.

I am also glad that I "picked a good one" to marry in the temple. I have a good man who works hard to be a good husband and father, and is always trying to do his best in everything else. He is a great example to me and to our children.

Hair is a Ball

This is a 'do I did this week. It happened to be on the day Annika's class was going on their first field trip. She was sure she would miss the bus and the trip if I did a "fancy" style, so she was a little miffed that she did not get a quickie 'do this morning. Hence the happy smile and the coat on, ready to go.

By the way...She made it on time. It really doesn't take that long.

Checking the Mail

Some days it is fun to get the mail. Yesterday was one of those days. I got some great free stuff!
Along with some free hair care samples I received, I got this: It was an offer from Fed Ex a couple of weeks ago where I gave my name, address, and email and they sent me this gift card for $10 worth of free photo prints at their kiosk. Pretty fun!

I also got a $5 rebate I sent in to Kitchen Aid for a hand blender I got while I was in Ohio on a super good deal. I am not much of a cook, but I love kitchen gadgets. I found this toy:

and with the rebate, I was sold. It has actually been quite handy and I have used it a lot. In fact, I made soup with it just today.

Responsibility is Hard

Nathan and Kade both asked Santa for a Nintendo DS for Christmas. Santa informed them they would not be getting one because their mom and dad wanted them to save the money to get one. It was hard to tell them they wouldn't get the only thing they asked for, but it is important to me that they learn how to delay gratification, work hard for what they want, and see how every little bit saved adds up.

A DS costs $129. Nathan and Kade must save up half. Their jobs pay anywhere from 0.25 to $1.00, so it obviously will take quite a while. They were given some money from Santa and Grandma, so that helped a lot.

Finally, last weekend, Nathan was short $3 from the necessary $65. We bartered, bargained, and parlayed, and came up with a great compromise. He gets the rest of the money for shoveling the rest of the driveway.

We went to get the DS. Brought it home. Nathan shoveled. And shoveled. And shoveled. It was cold and dark outside and still he shoveled.

Finally...it was done. Finally, the DS was officially his. He sat down to play it, but didn't have any games.

Saving up some more.

I tried to get him to trade in his old Game Boy, but he wanted to save it for Kade to play while Kade was saving for his DS (he's about $20 short now). Very sweet.

Except on Friday night Nathan got out his Game Boy for a little reunion...The LCD screen was broken.

Nathan was heartbroken. Kade began to cry and apologized profusely. There was this game he was playing...it was really hard...it was really frustrating...and he banged his head against the screen. Broken. Broken. Crying all around.

Kade owned up. I was so proud, but so sad. He would have to make it better. To replace it would cost around $35, and take a huge chunk out of his own saved money.

The compromise was that Kade would buy Nathan a game for his DS instead. We took his money to the store, Nathan picked out his game, and Kade bought it (with some help from mom). He has learned a hard lesson. It is was very hard for me to let him learn it, but I really admire his willingness to take responsibility. I am not sure I could have done the same.
So proud. So hard.

Nurse Mommy

I finished my continuing education in the best of all spirits. 30 hours of CE crammed into a much smaller window of time. But I am now officially re-licensed to practice the fine art of cleaning up body fluids (including the "not so much fluid" fluids), poking people with sharp things, making sure they move when they should, and lie still when they should. I can officially give medication, change wound dressings, educate, and suction various orifices.
I think the most important thing I can officially do, even as a stay at home mommy who will likely not see much nursing action in the next couple of years is to "mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort".
What an interesting dichotomy my profession is.

Inquiring Minds Should Know

How did your congressman/woman vote on the porkulus bill? What do they think about writing off interest from car loans on your tax bill? How do they vote on immigration?
Inquiring minds want to know. I want to know. It is critical that we do know, and let them know we know.
You know?
You should.
Find out here
You can register through your zip code to follow all your representatives in congress. Do it, today, now.

He's A Mean, Green, Fighting Machine

We are proud to announce that Sempai Kade has now advanced to the rank of green belt in Karate.

Congratulations Kade!

Weekend Warriors

The Men

The Machines

That's right, it's Pinewood Derby time again.

Nathan's car was fast, but not fast enough for first place this year.

There is a special race just for the dads in our ward. The dad cars don't have to adhere to any of the rules, so anything goes. Burke actually put in a little motor from one of Nathan's RC toys that got demolished. He hooked it up to his rear wheels and burned up the track. I could almost hear the grunting from across the room.

Next year there may be three cars for daddy to work on, as Kade may be able to participate.

**************
Kade was the ultimate warrior this weekend.

He took his belt test to progress from purple to green.

In case you are wondering, the ranks go like this: white, yellow, orange, blue, purple, green, brown, red, black.

He tried really hard and did very well. There were lots of things for a 7 year old to remember. Some of those forms can get complicated.
He will find out if he is going to be a green belt on Monday...