Good-bye 2008

I know I've been MIA for a while. Honestly, I was getting ready for Christmas and then I was recovering from Christmas. And then I realized this afternoon that I hadn't finished blogging about the events of the month. Not only is the month nearly over, but the year too! Are you the type to be spurred on by deadlines? I inflict my own deadlines and the ending of the year seems pretty significant...so I'm sneaking this last post in for the year. We've begun our big New Year's Eve celebration and the kids are watching "Shrek 2" while I type. (Incidentally, they watched this exact same show last New Year's Eve. Doesn't the station have a budget for a new movie?)

Anyway...I've got a bunch of pictures to share with you. Some of you are groaning, but I hope at least 3 of you are excited!

Here are our 'decorating the Christmas tree' shots. I've only posted 3, so be grateful!

All of the kids (barely) by the tree. It's it beautiful? It's our $20 special from the Stop'n'Shop. We weren't into driving into the mountains this year. (Bah Humbug) It looked the best if you were standing by the front door - perfect for all those people delivering treats and getting a peek inside!

We had to get Chad involved for the star. (I did the lights while he was at work.) Daniel is still helping and Rebekah is...well...Rebekah is being herself.

Joseph was very excited to get his little fingers around so many shiny objects. He's also learned what the camera does and politely stops for his picture to be taken. Too bad we didn't wash his face after dinner. I learned this year to appreciate plastic ornaments. Joseph couldn't resist a small, blue glass ornament and bit right into it. Chad gave him a little sip of water which caused him to throw up some sparkly blue bits. I threw the glass ornaments in the trash when we cleaned up the Christmas stuff this week.

Rebekah REALLY wanted to vacuum one day. Here is her first experience as a homemaker. The vacuum is bigger than she is!

If you will recall my pathetic invitation to the TaVaci Christmas concert, you'll know the event has already passed. I'm glad no one actually came because a huge snowstorm blew in that evening. The roads were horrible and the van disappeared under 8" of snow in two hours.

But I did have my camera so you can see a tiny bit of what you missed. Here are both Leah and Daniel. How convenient that they were standing close enough to be in the same shot! (I have no idea who that other girl is.)

Here's Leah in some sunglasses for one of her songs. Funny!

Daniel had a speaking part this year. This was his joke. :)

Traditionally, Santa comes at the end of the concert every Christmas. Here are each of the kids sitting on his lap.

Joseph wasn't too sure he liked the man, but he didn't cry. He DID accept a candy cane. He's still too young to have the talk about taking candy from strangers.

While I was standing there getting pictures of the kids, Chad came up to me and asked me if I recognized the santa. I knew it was someone that knew our family because he always seemed to know when to look at me when one of my kids climbed on his knee. I thought he would be someone from our last ward, since the TaVaci director is in that ward. Turns out, it's Chad's 1st counselor in THIS ward. In small towns, you just never know how you're going to find yourself connected to other people!

We decorated gingerbread people one evening. How exciting that was! The kids REALLY liked shaking the sugar on.

Why is this boy licking the KNIFE?

I finally got the Christmas pajamas finished. Aren't they cute? Joseph's devilish smile is because every time we sat him down to get a picture, he started coming after me. He thought it was a great game. It's so hard to get 5 kids to pose for a picture!

He's trying to get away here, too. Nathan is holding him down for a half a second. Joseph was having the most fun of everyone.

After I got done yelling at the kids during the pictures and completely losing my patience, we decorated a gingerbread house. My poor kids, they're only going to have memories of their crazy mother yelling at them during times that were supposed to be fun. (I'm aware of the problem and working on it.)

'Twas the night before Christmas and the grinchy mother barely got the stockings out of the storage bin. They were never hung anywhere...just kept in a heap on the top of the bin. But you can see that we did HAVE stockings. I even put Joseph's name on his stocking...mere hours before this photo. (It was his 2nd Christmas after all. I should get the name on there so he doesn't see the pictures in 6 years and feel bad.) That's Nathan...right above his own stocking.

While I did get lots of video on Christmas morning, got zero pictures. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Chad took this picture of the kids. He'd refinished an old chalkboard that's been hanging on the wall of the garage. It's now mounted on the wall of the toy room downstairs.

And Chad's gift had to come the day after Christmas as there was a huge storm we were waiting to see the end of. One of our friends was making a workbench for me (for Chad) and they'd left it for us in their garage when they left town for Christmas. They wouldn't let me pay for anything except the materials. It is a huge, sturdy beast. It was quite the challenge to get it loaded into the back of Chad's truck. I think he likes it! ;)

And that's the end of the our celebration update! The kids' movie is almost over and our fun and games will begin. It's none too soon as Rebekah is getting cranky and obviously tired of sitting on the bed for so long.

If I didn't actually say it, we had a really good Christmas. The kids were pleased with their gifts. They were up before 2 AM and finally got their sleepy parents out of bed at 5:15. We were opening the last gifts as the sky was barely beginning to lighten. We stayed warm and content inside while it snowed and blew outside. It was really nice to not have to think of packing up and driving anywhere.

We had 3 visitors last night (Chad's sisters - Monica and Pamela, and Pamela's fiance, John) and my mom and step-dad on Saturday. I guess if you're stubborn enough, people will come to you! he he

2008 was a really good year for our family. We had some trials, but nothing that left any scars. I look forward to the new year with anticipation. I expect struggles and sadness, but I hope that I will have enough trust and faith in God to maintain perspective and endure to the end. :) I have an awesome husband, 5 fabulous kids, good health, a warm home and good friends and family. I am so blessed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Don't Say It

I am a slow learner. I have to tell you a story from my past to start, but before you get to the end of this post, you'll figure out what happened today.

When I was waiting for my mission call (about a hundred years ago...or just 14), people would often ask me where I wanted or hoped to go. I wouldn't say anything specific because I didn't want to influence the outcome. I'm not superstitious, I just know we get tested and maybe Heavenly Father really does have a funny bone.

Case in point: The guy I dated my senior year of high school was waiting for his mission call. He wasn't as quick to learn the lesson and often said he didn't care where he went as long as he didn't have to sleep on the floor or eat raw fish. Can anyone guess where he spent the next 2 years? Yes, Japan. Another case: One of the sisters in my mission prayed for a hard mission. I guess she was really looking for an opportunity to grow. I don't think she ever really learned the language, but her heart was definitely in it.

So I stayed quiet. Until last week.

I was talking to a woman in the ward that I'm developing a better friendship with (always like it when that happens) and we got talking about different things at church. I'm still rather "new", or feel like it, since we've only just passed our 1st year mark. We got to the ward choir which pretty much died sometime around the end of summer. The choir director apparently had health problems or something, so the practices and performances were spotty. I mentioned to my friend that it was strange they hadn't replaced the choir director, especially once it was mentioned the family was moving and since did. She replied that she thought they'd been trying but couldn't find anyone willing. (She had done it when they first moved to the ward, but she had very young kids and was pregnant. After a while, she was released...but that's all way before our time.)

Anyway, I mentioned that I hoped they wouldn't ask me because I would have to accept the calling but REALLY didn't want that! That conversation took place on Monday. Tuesday night the phone rang and would I be willing to meet with the bishop before church on Sunday? (Have you guessed what happened yet?)

When the bishop said they'd like me to lead the ward choir, I immediately said, "I knew it!" I had forgotten the lesson learned 14+ years ago. History was repeating itself. Dang it! I told the bishop that every time I start to really enjoy a calling, I get yanked out of it. So I thought I'd jump right into the choir thing with hopes of being released quickly. He thought that was a good idea and jokingly promised that if I got 50 people out to choir, they'd release me in 6 months. I wish I'd held him to that off-handed remark. I think I could "persuade" some high numbers for a little while. Do they have to sing, too?

So now, I have to go learn how to lead music. Look folks, just because I'm willing to sing in a small group during the ward Christmas party, doesn't mean I'm song leader material. I have had callings that seemed challenging before (Enrichment Leader comes to mind) but this one is going to humble me right down to my single pair of church shoes. I wonder what the average life-span of this calling is. 'Till death do you part? I'm too young to die (and too young for this calling)!

Living Wreath

We have a Christmas wreath on the front door. It's a fake one, with fake flowers and pretty fake leaves. BUT, the cat is real.

We have a cat. She wants to come in...really wants to come in. First, she scratches at the door. Then she jumps at the handle. Finally, she jumps to the wreath and climbs to the top. She peers in at us and meows like a baby. Eventually, she moves around up there too much and falls to the ground. Sometimes, she takes the wreath with her.

Here she is at the top of the wreath tonight.

Here she is peeking in. I've pointed out her eye, which looks like two because of the beveled glass.

Yes, it's cold out there. It's been dropping below zero. This is a very fluffy kitty and there are hay bales and sheep shelters and all sorts of places to curl up in. She just wants to come in and sleep under the Christmas tree. She'd have better luck with that if she lived with another family. We like the animals outside better, though we do prefer they stay off the Christmas decorations.

Taking care of Joseph

I asked Leah and Rebekah to take care of Joseph for me this morning so I could clean the bathtub without his little hands reaching in to help me.

Apparently, they got tired of doing that because when I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw him sitting in the hallway with a little bottle of milk and a donut next to him. Their bedroom door was shut; they were behind it. That was so caring of them to think of his needs like that. Too bad the food wasn't real.

I can see that they aren't quite ready to start long-term babysitting.

Bad, bad, bad

The boys have fashioned their own Christmas joke. It would be funny if it wasn't so bad. I'm not sure that it hasn't been partly invented at school and brought home, but I'll share it with you and you can enjoy it (or not) anyway.

It's not a real joke like with a punch line (so you can't forget it!), just a re-write of history:

Instead of bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh, the Wise Men really brought Goldilocks, Frankenstein and Mercy the Pig. (Go ahead and click if you aren't familiar with that one.)

Don't you wish you had thought of that one?

10 years

Chad and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary tonight...First Date Anniversary. Yes, 10 years ago tonight, we formally met face - to - face and had dinner at Applebee's on Redwood Rd. in Taylorsville, UT.

We don't live in UT, but there has always been an Applebee's in each place we've lived and we've returned on the 15th every year. (We've gone a day before or after when it's been on Sunday or if we've gone numb in the brain and forgotten.)

We didn't forget tonight. We ate out and made everyone around us wish that we'd eaten in. Each year we seem to have more and more excitement at the table...as well as more kids. We think fondly back to that magical time when we were dating and oblivious to the torture we had in store for ourselves. Last year, Joseph was one month and two days old, so he slept in his car seat, loving tucked under the table. This year he is one year, one month and two days old, so he was in a high chair and letting all of us know he was hungry. Everyone else had something else to contribute to the meal, as well, and I'm sure many Applebee's patrons were relieved to see us go. I know I was.

On the slippery, wintery ride home, I was wondering why we don't get a babysitter and enjoy the meal by ourselves. We rarely get a babysitter. It's too much work and then we watch the clock the whole time wondering how much it's going to cost us by the time we get back. Besides, there's some kind of crazy humor to see how much our situation changes as each year passes. The kids are capable of acting out and embarrassing us, but it's part of the charm of being a family and the memories. At least I hope it is. Before we got the kids to bed tonight, every single one of them had shed tears at some point in the evening. Ah, memories.

Scissors and Pens

I think these were Houdini's secret tools. They have a magical way of disappearing.

I know there are at least 3 pair of "big girl" scissors in this house. I'm the only "big girl" and I can't find any of them. Now I'm a "frustrated girl." At least the kitchen scissors know how to stay put. Maybe they're too scary looking for regular use and so they easily get left in the drawer.

The only pens that don't disappear are the ones that don't work. We slowly went through a whole package of pens. All have disappeared. And if I want to lower my standards for a pencil? I can only find the ones without leads. Of course.

I have a theory that my problem is greatly influenced by the amount of children in the house. (Well, I'd have to discount Joseph...he's the one that always has the pens and scissors - unfortunate for his health.) Check back in 11 years, when the amount of children in the home should start decreasing, and I'll let you know if my supposition was correct.

Until then, I'm asking Santa for large quantities of these commodities.

Weak and Starving

Leah is borderline malnourished. She is always hungry. The only one hungrier is Rebekah. Today I was busy getting several things done and 5 kids ready to go to church while Leah bemoaned her empty stomach. I was a little late getting lunch ready. I think it was already the unthinkable hour of half past 11. (I know, such cruelty.)

Leah came in to me from the living room where she had been languishing and told me that when she goes a long time without eating, sometimes it's hard to walk and she has to hold on to the walls. *sigh* I guess I'll have to look for the hand prints tomorrow.

Living in the country, Tip #1

If you must mop the floor while the farmer is outside tending to the animals in the snow, make sure you don't put the mop and bucket away before he comes back inside. It's a sure bet you'll need it again. (If said farmer doesn't live in your house, you'll probably be fine whatever you decide.)

I'm sure there are other tips that should have come before this one, but it's the one most forward in my thoughts right now.

Today's Priority - COMPLETED!

I'm posting my project for the morning so that you will all hold me accountable. This project REALLY needs to be done!

This is our laundry room. It's quite a mess and is cluttered with everything from clean laundry in the basket to ketchup and cow poop smears on the floor. I cringe when ever Joseph goes in here. And now that winter has finally decided to make it's fashionably-late entrance, I'm going to want the room to be easy for the kids to put on and take off their snow clothes.

There is stuff in this room from JULY when Chad cleaned out the garage to make room for the new van I was driving home. Yes, it's embarrassing to admit, but we've been stepping over it since then. (It's in the very extreme lower right corner of the picture..by the tan boot.)

Do you like the 4 tubs of laundry detergent stacked by the washer? Only one has soap in it. How about the two boxes of dryer sheets on the dryer? One is empty and the other one only has about and inch (or less) of sheets left. Do you like that can of lighter fluid on the counter right by the dryer? That must be some sort of a fire hazard. And let's not miss the recycled soap bucket turned garbage pail that is over flowing with dryer lint (by the TWO litter boxes). I see I still have the big blue pitcher that I used to fill the washer with last month when the water was coming in at such a slow trickle as to run for 30 minutes and still not fill the tub. (Turns out the line was just plugged.) There are a couple of baseball gloves, shoes, boots, coats and it looks like an empty plastic container decorating the room. Please admire the clean laundry in the blue basket. (That's my unmentionables...so don't mention them.) And hidden from view is a load of clean dish rags and sheets in the dryer. Those two bins of clothes are recently brought in to be sorted through and there's one more that's out of the picture, which keeps us from fully opening the door to the garage. And can you find Waldo? hehe

So there is my project for the morning. If I can get Joseph down for a good morning nap, I plan to have this room cleaned up and organized by lunch. It's a small room, but a HUGE job. (Obviously, since I haven't attempted to do anything in it since at least July!)



UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE


I got the job done! And what a job it was. I removed one of the cat litter boxes. I didn't want to get rid of both of them in case one of the cats snuck in and needed to go potty sometime. I've got the storage bins out. That makes a lot more room to move around! (Unfortunately, I only moved them to the hallway, so now we can't move through there.) You may notice that the blue pitcher is still there. I wasn't sure if Chad was using it for something as there is a rabbit watering bottle in it. And the 3 empty tubs of laundry detergent are still there. They kind of raise the soap up to a usable level. I'm wondering if Chad wants them to use in the garage or if someone else wants them.

The rugs are still in the washer and dryer in this picture.

Speaking of the rugs, I tried to just shake out the one closest to the door. I stopped when I noticed this. See my foot marks? Gross. That's over 5 months of tracked in dirt coming out that rug. I took it outside and got tons more. Then I threw it in the washer.

Here's the pile of debris I got from the entire room. It's a good thing I didn't wait any longer! The top of the dryer was bad enough that I ended up sweeping and mopping it as well. Never done that before!

As I was mopping, Leah told me that her little friend that was here last Friday asked if I ever mopped. It's embarrassing that a 5 year old noticed.

Christmas letter correction

This is like bonus material at the end of a DVD.

I was just rereading the letter I printed nearly 30 times and sent out to 26 different people when I finally realized why it bothered me to say that it's Leah's first year of TaVaci. DUH! It's her SECOND. Sorry... I know that some of you are wondering why I even bother to mention it, but others of you will know that it's not her first year and I just wanted that group of people to know that I finally caught that. I'm just not about to actually contact you all individually to point it out.

Also, this is SUPER SHORT notice, but the kids' TaVaci Christmas concert is this Saturday at 4pm. If you wanted to come :) It's free. Just so you know you're invited. Sorry.

Check your mailboxes!

I finished up my Christmas cards last night. We sent out a total of 26. That's a lot less than in years before, but it became embarrassing to send out cards every year to people that apparently didn't want to keep in touch. So, I'm down to 26. If you're reading this, and have ever gotten a card from us in the past, you're likely still going to get one. :)

I was going through my address book and noticed that I need to broaden my scope of friends. Can you believe that there isn't anyone for the 'S' and 'T' pages? No 'O' either. LOTS of 'C'...huh, go figure. No 'G', 'H' or 'I'. No 'Q' (probably not a big surprise there) and no 'U', 'V', 'X' or 'Y'. And since I'm just trying to remember my address book, there may be more. I'm too lazy to get up and really be thorough.

Now that cards are done, I can get to work on other projects that need to be done by Christmas. I can think of at least 4 different projects...all of which will take some time. I'd better get busy!

If you want to be added to my Christmas list, send me an email! (collettfam at msn dot com)

Speak English, PLEASE!

I took Rebekah and Joseph to the doctor for their b-day check ups yesterday. Here are the stats: Rebekah - Height = 25th percentile, Weight = 50th percentile (not so bad...and she does LOVE food); Joseph - Height= 25th percentile, Weight = just missed the 3rd percentile. Well, at least he'll be easy to carry for a little longer. Sheesh! What is with these tiny guys?

Joseph isn't speaking yet, which didn't concern the doctor since it follows the family pattern. Rebekah nearly talked his head off, though.

I did show the doctor a funny thing about Joseph's foot and leg. He's had little brown markings around one ankle, the side and part of the top of the foot and they had slowly been making their way up the back of his leg in a crooked, but thin tan line. They didn't seem to bother him and you couldn't feel them with your finger. I just makes him look like he needs a bath. (That, and the other real dirt marks all over him.)

So the doctor first remarked that his wife has that, but it's a birth mark and doesn't grow. He brought the other doctor in to have a look and they decided that it was just a genetic "thing." I think they would have said defect, but they didn't want to worry me. They said it was harmless, but would likely never really go away. Then my doctor tried to explain it to me. When he was done, I admitted that I didn't really understand what he'd just said, but I was just glad to know that it wasn't dangerous. So he started over, trying to help me "get it."

Essentially (I think), it's a little part of the cells that make skin pigments (melanocytes) that didn't quite get the signal to stop and created some darker skin. They are apparently following a nerve up the leg, but his little 'cheek' there is where the nerve and the line stops. The darker spots may fade between 2-5 years (or was it 3-5?), but that's not certain. There is always the option of zapping them with a laser if we ever get desperate...many years from now.

I was looking around online today and found that moles are just a clustering of melanocytes. I guess that makes it seem a little more normal. Too bad Joseph is such a white boy...that's going to be a pretty conspicuous line going up his leg!

Poisoned

We went out to an early dinner on Saturday night, after running some errands. I ordered fish and chips, while everyone else around me ordered a breakfast dish or hot dogs. I don't like fish, but this stuff isn't really fish...at least, it doesn't taste like it. So when my fat and calorie-laden breaded fish fillets were gone, I dipped my fat and calorie-laden fries in the left-over tarter sauce.

About an hour after falling asleep that night I awoke to feel pretty yucky. A person should only feel this yucky on a storm-tossed ship or with the promise of a baby at the end of the ordeal. Neither one of those situations pertained to me. All night long I woke up, wishing to be freed from my turmoil. (And cursing that tartar sauce!) Around 3 AM, Rebekah summoned me to her room. She complained to me that she wanted to sleep in a higher bed. !! I can't help her with that right now! I rested my head on her short, little toddler bed until she got tired enough to fall over and go back to sleep.

Around 5 AM I prayed for relief. About 6 AM I had a quick coughing attack, brought on by a 2-day old tickle in my throat. Miracle! That got the stomach churning and up came the offensive matter. And up, and up and up. It was gross, bitter and didn't only come out of my mouth. (Aren't you glad you've read this far?) Unfortunately for me, it was my turn to teach the Primary lesson at church and then we had Tithing Settlement and the First Presidency Christmas Devotional in the evening. So I sucked it up and met the day with half-open eyes.

I felt much better Monday, just tired. Yesterday I was completely recovered, except for that little tickle I talked about...it has gone a little deeper. And so I am thinking bad things about that tartar sauce when Chad admits that he isn't feeling well. (The fact that he was bent over the couch to talk to me was a little incriminating.) He spent the day feeling like he would throw up...but never did. He's feeling a little better today. Which is lucky, because it seems like it's Daniel's turn.

Daniel threw up all night (and I don't get any points for anything because Chad helped him every time). He's home from school today. He seems much better, but the poor kid didn't get much rest! So I guess I didn't have food poisoning as I suspected, but we've definitely been poisoned by something! Nasty, nasty germs!

And I really should apologize to everyone with whom I came into contact on Sunday. I really did think I was only poisoned...not deadly!

A+ Spellar

Leah to me:

Mommy, I know how to spell "CTR ring"...C-R-T.

Don't you hate those tricky ones?

Unexpected Search Result

I have been getting A LOT of hits on my blog because of people searching for "*kunk *ait." I'll alter the spelling here in hopes that they won't be accidentally referred to this post.

These hits have been coming for several months now. Apparently, there are many people dealing with this stinky little critter. I also get a lot of hits for people searching for someone making c*kes, named Colette. A few other searches have been remotely popular, but none so much as the first.

Maybe I should make up some kind of snake oil remedy and sell it. It seems people are desperate.

LET IT SNOW..PLEASE!

It's December 3rd. It's Eastern Idaho, elevation 4600 feet. The only white stuff I can see on the ground is garbage (thanks to the Eastern Idaho wind). Where is the snow? I am not Australian or a South Pacific native. This is not Africa. The tazmanian devil lives far from here...oh wait, I just sent him and his twin to school this morning.

What I'm trying to say is that I need snow for Christmas! Where is the snow we're supposed to get before Thanksgiving? How can I possible decorate the tree and deliver treat plates without snow? It rained yesterday. How depressing.

Santa will have no place to park his sleigh.

Gambling - a lengthy discourse

Daniel and I had a little discussion about gambling the other day.

The story actually starts a couple of months ago when he opened a grab bag from the dollar store and found himself owner of a pack of playing cards. We don't have playing cards. We have so many other great games and don't even know how to play the games designed for gambling, that we've just decided to not enter into that area. I'm not implying that people who have/use playing cards are making bad choices. We have made a choice not to have them.

SO, when Daniel pulls these cards out of his bag, I think, "Oh, great." Then I forgot all about them until the other day when he brings them to me and asks how to play them. We had a discussion about the kinds of games those cards are designed for and a discussion about what gambling was and why it was so dangerous. I pointed out to him that Mommy and Daddy (He still calls us that. I keep wondering when he'll decide to make the switch.) don't have any playing cards because we have so many other great games and then there isn't a temptation to use them for gambling.

After we talked about how gambling can ruin families and lives and that it's addictive...blah, blah, blah, I asked him what he thought the best thing to do with the cards would be. He suggested putting them away, then he realized that I meant something a little more drastic. I told him it was his decision. He could pray about it and decide what he would do. I wouldn't be mad at him if he chose to keep them, but he knew I didn't approve of the cards themselves.

Apparently, he was really attached to those cards because then next thing I notice is that he's trying not to cry. I told him we could compromise = just get rid of the kings, queens and jacks. That way the cards couldn't be used for the gambling games, but would still be good for playing war or go fish or building card houses, etc. He decided to do that and felt much better. He's trying to make good choices, but sometimes those choices are so difficult!

So while this experience was still rather fresh in my memory, I ran across this AP article about a casino last night. Here's the link to the story, but the gist of the problem is that a casino in Pennsylvania sent out some vouchers to its most elite 1,000 patrons giving each of them up to $500 in slot credits and two free visits to the buffet ($14 each) - expires Jan 4th. Unfortunately, a mistake happened somewhere in the mailing of the promotion and it was sent to 55,000 people instead of just the originally intended 1,000.

Now the casino is frantically trying to save itself as it recognizes that it would cost more than $29 million dollars to honor the vouchers and meals. They are trying to "save face" and are offering $100 in slot credits and the two free meals if they redeem them by Christmas. They're hoping that the customers will be reasonable and not demand the original offer, but they're not sure how to handle it if they do.

I've been in a few casinos. We lived in Las Vegas for nearly 4 years. They often have little signs up about gambling addictions and a number to call for counseling. They also design the casino so that you have to pass through it to reach just about anything else in the building...including the exits. They booze you up, delivered by mostly naked women and make sure you have no idea what time it is by eliminating clocks and windows or see-through doors. They WANT you to stay and keep putting money into the machines.

They don't ask if you're betting your children's dinner budget or the mortgage payments for the next 5 months. They don't REALLY care if it's your last dime and have already declared bankruptcy twice before. And if you soil your pants while sitting at the slot machine, they think that's gross, but they clean it up and hope someone else grabs the seat soon. (It happens!)

So do I care too much that a casino now finds itself in the same situation that many of its patrons have been in? Nope. I think it's pretty low to ask for mercy when you likely haven't been much for practicing it yourself.

New Header and Blog Colors

I know, I know...Christmas colors are traditionally red and green. While I am a very traditional person, I didn't want to leave the nativity scene out of the header and couldn't convince myself to do a red and green nativity. So I decided to do the links in red and green. I hope this satisfies both worlds. I'm still not set on the yellow for Christmastime, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's the color of starlight. We'll see if I buy it.

Bossy Turkeys

How was every one's Thanksgiving? We had a very busy trip south to visit with my family. My mom recently moved an hour closer to us, so the trip was pleasantly shorter, but that meant that we had more traveling to do to visit with other members of my family.

The kids bore the trauma and abuse of the road fairly well. However, we were nearly done in around the last 45 minutes of our trip home. I thought Joseph might head up a mutiny when we
got into the van for church today, but he was thankfully calm.

We had a big feast on Thursday. We had a nice prayer by my brother-in-law (thanks, Roy) before eating. I felt a little disappointed that nothing more than the prayer was said in regard to thanks and blessings. I have been more apt to notice my blessings recently and had been looking forward to hearing some others express sentiments, too. Oh well.

After the dinner, the kids went out to play and the remaining grown-ups played a couple of games of Imaginiff... Apparently, I was voted to be a sheep dog. My sister was thought to be akin to a Turkish Bath. Chad and I seem to be viewed in a certain light by my family as both of us often got unanimous votes from everyone at the table.

The next day was very busy for our little family. We stopped at the This Is The Place Heritage Park and took a train tour of the park. It was cold and misty = why did I bother with the curling iron? From there we drove 45 minutes to my sister's house for lunch (VERY yummy...thanks, Amber!) and a game of Settlers of Catan. We left there about 5 pm and drove an hour to my dad's for a 90 minute visit and dessert. We had another good drive back to my mom's and rushed the kids through a shower before putting them all to bed.

My dad and the kids

This isn't the best picture I got of this, but I had to laugh at Nathan's eyes. There's always something with this crowd!

The next morning was my niece's baptism, so we left the house at 9:01 (11 minutes late) and drove almost an hour to get to the church. After the baptism was a lunch at my sister's (thanks, Andrea!) and from there we drove to Hogle Zoo. (Tonight, while we were writing in journals, Daniel asked how to spell "Hoo-gi-lie." Everyone got a good laugh!) We walked around and did our best to stay warm for 2 hours. We returned to my mom's to clean up a bit, finish packing, lighten her leftover load and got on the road just after 6. We arrived home at 8:45, much to the relief of Joseph, Rebekah and Leah (and everyone within the sound of their crying).

Sunday truly is a day of rest, for which I am Grateful. It's nice to be home.

As with any family, ours has it's quirks. Sometimes I struggle with the things that happen more than others. As we were driving home, I was thinking about little things that affect me and trying to figure it all out. I decided I am part of a bossy family. The people in my family are all the smartest ones in the room. (Some are louder about it than others.) So no one in my family really ever asks for advice from anyone else. I mean, if you are already the smartest, who is left to get any good advice from? Right?

We're all so focused on being the toughest and smartest, that we fail to really talk to each other and get to know everyone.

You think you have it bad? Let me tell you about my experience...
You don't have that problem figured out? Let me tell you what you should do...
That's not any thing. Once I....

You know how it is. It goes on like this until everyone has gone home or gone to bed and then you really ARE the smartest (and only) one in the room. I would like to just sit down and have someone Ask me something and then listen...no advice, no competition. A little sympathy would even be better, but not required. I would like someone to feel like they could confess an insecurity or dilemma because it helps them talk to someone they trust. Period. I have many friendships like this, but none in my family. Well, maybe with my dad.

Anyway, this is my family's quirk. (OK, we have more than that, but who only has one?) So there were a lot of bossy Turkeys at Thanksgiving. I was one of them. I am a product of my environment. But I hope that there is a better future for us.

And having said that, here are some family group pictures of the turkeys in my family. We're only missing one cousin. (I hope they remember I need a picture of that missing poult before this Saturday!)

Mom and Michael

Us

Andrea and her family

Amber and her family

Aaron and his family

We like to Say It, Say It

While I was in the shower this morning, Leah, and then later, Rebekah came in to use the toilet. *I so miss having a master bathroom.* As they are sitting there, taking care of "business", they BOTH said "We like to move it, move it."

(I realize that this could be a really good line for a laxative commercial, but that didn't even cross my mind until I sat here typing this.)

I found it interesting that they would be such slaves to this tiny bit of a movie that we don't even own. The kids must have all been saying it in some other room. Maybe I can make a movie that tells them to clean their room, brush their teeth and only lay hands on each other in kind ways. It may be the only way I can reach them. I need a catchy song to go with it.

Using my Noodle

I went to a noodle making class this morning and made my first noodles tonight. Here are the noodles that we didn't cook, waiting to be thrown into a bag and frozen. (They are sitting in flour so they don't stick to each other.)



I ground the durum wheat and went from there. One more step towards Molly Mormon. I've still gotta master knitting.

Christmas already?

Christmas seems to have come early this year. In fact, most of the past year seems to have sped by.

Last week we took the kids Christmas shopping for each other. It wasn't that I wanted to get it done, but rather was the prize of a bribe. I needed the boys to clean their room and bathroom, but was getting zero participation. So, I devised a plan on the spot. It was 10 AM and my deal was: Get the work done by 11 = we'll go Christmas shopping. Get the work done by 11:30 (lunchtime)= no promise for shopping, but no one is in trouble. For every 15 minutes past 11:30 it took to be finished, the boys would be grounded after school one day. Nathan was "on board" from the start, but Daniel challenged me. So I told Nathan that if he worked hard, he would be rewarded and Daniel would receive the punishments. Leah voluntarily joined in the effort and they were done in time for shopping. :)

We went a different route for presents this year. Last year we let the kids each pick something for each brother or sister. This year we told them they would work together to buy a group gift = each person only gets one present, but we won't be throwing it away in January. We got some nice gifts for them this time. I'm just glad it's not junk!

So I was wrapping those up earlier this week and felt sure that I'd never wrapped Christmas presents so early!

And then last night was the Festival of Trees performance for TaVaci. Daniel and Leah participated again. I was so surprised that it was time for this so soon, but remembered that it was even earlier last year. I am so confused lately! I need to get Thanksgiving behind me and then everything will seem more "real".

Here are the pictures from last night. I had to lighten the stage pictures since my camera flash couldn't quite reach far enough to do anything more than turn their eyes red!

Leah is center, front.

Daniel is obvious. ;)

Joseph is ready to go home!

Questions

From: Rebekah
To: Me

Mommy, what's holding up the dishwasher?

It's sitting on the floor.

What's holding up the floor?

uh...wood.

Ohh (very knowingly). Does wood break hard?

Yes, wood can break sometimes.

Is wood sometimes glass?


So many questions. She needs a nicer mommy who wants to sit and answer them all. And a smarter mommy who knows the answers to all of them.

Cake!

Joseph THOROUGHLY enjoyed his cake tonight. Amazingly, it all washed off and he didn't throw up (yet).

Tricks

My mom JUST called to wish Happy Birthday to Joseph and said to give everyone a hug from her. As I hung up, I told the kids that Grandma said to give everyone a hug.

I suddenly had horrified looks on my kids' faces and Daniel started backing away. Nathan raises his eyebrows, holds up his pointer finger and starts waving it in the air, saying, "I know that trick, huh, Daniel."

After I left the room, Nathan confided to Chad (thinking that Chad wouldn't tell me...so much that boy has yet to learn), that the trick is that once you've been trapped in the hug, you also get a kiss. He knows, because Grandma has done that to him before.

Such a nasty trick!

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

Joseph was officially ONE today at 7:57 AM mountain time. We punctually cheered and clapped for him. He didn't know what all the smiles and noise were for, but he did get excited and reached up to play the piano.


This is his cake that I decorated last night. We'll get pictures of him devouring it later. Stay tuned for those. They are always cute.

I think that Joseph may be allergic to chocolate. What an unfortunate affliction. It's either that or milk, so I guess chocolate would be the preferred culprit, although it's a close call. I'll have to specifically look for reactions around both offenders before I make my final diagnosis.

Count Your Blessings

I was thinking about my 5 kids today and how much I appreciate them. I thought of a few things that make having a lot of kids a blessing.

1. They always have someone to play or fight with. Once they've exhausted one person, they just move on to the next! So if I'm lucky, I only have to be the target every other time.

2. The older ones help feed the baby. Sometimes it's good stuff. Often, it's indirectly through crumbs or actual chunks of meals that have fallen to the floor.

3. I am grateful for painless days. This is in opposition to pain-filled days...legos, K'nex, books, dolls, crayons, pencils, little plastic frogs, etc., can inflict a lot of discomfort when stepped or knelt upon.

4. I don't have to get dressed up for much of anything. People are generally impressed that I've left the house at all. The fact that I'm braving Wal-Mart and having to carry the baby (because he refuses to sit in the cart) while I push a cart and calling the kids to come back, is almost a miracle. I heard someone behind me laugh today when I said, "No, no, no, no, no, NO" to Rebekah as she wrapped her innocent little fingers around the neck of a wine bottle. (Why is the alcohol parallel to the dairy? Kids need the one, but should be no where near the other.)

5. I get a lot of unique pictures and cards left on or under my pillow.

6. I get to drive an 8-passenger mini van.

7. It takes me the entire day to do the laundry on Saturday. I am very grateful for washing machines. And my boys get to look like circus clowns because of a couple large red and blue crayons that someone had in his pocket. I look forward to teaching the kids to wash their own clothes.

8. I have so many pictures of crawling, smiling, crying, naked, performing, walking and sleeping kids that I could scrapbook every day for a year and still not be done.

9. I get lots of chances to be creative in the kitchen. I can make 20 different meals and still not find one that EVERYONE likes.

10. I get to sew patches on Scout shirts and go to pack meeting once a month.

11. I can check out 30 picture books from the library and no one even thinks that they are for me! ;)

12. When I draw or color, I am suddenly the best artist ever to live and everyone wants to be as talented as Mommy.

13. I am getting intense training in negotiating and stress-management. I do worry that I should get some persons' hearing and vision checked.

14. I am getting a thorough education. I am now on my 2nd year of Third Grade and my 3rd year of First. It's definitely working...the homework has been getting easier for me.

15. I get lots of love...from baby hugs to 8-year-old love kicks. (I think they are meant to be loving...except for that one time he was actually mad and had a baseball bat.)

What are some of your blessings?

Literacy

I love to read. I have read thousands of books in my life-time. I admit to being a self-named escape artist, though. By this I mean that I usually read fiction. I'm reading for the escape. I don't read garbage. Foul language and books with inappropriate content rarely make my reading lists and for this reason, I have OFTEN returned a book to the library without finishing it.

Anyway, I really like books. Chad likes books, too. He's less of a fiction fanatic than I am. He likes to be smarter when he's done reading a book (he already has an escape...it's called an office). Chad reads a lot of history type or church doctrine books. I like those, too, but I usually put the fiction books first on my reading lists.

This is our "library" at home. You can see most of the books here. There are probably another 200 hundred books that don't fit into the picture, or are in other rooms. I started buying children's' books before I was married, so by now we have A LOT. Daniel is starting to really get into reading. Nathan has shown a healthy interest this year, too. Leah wishes she could read. I should make more time to work with her. She'd probably be easier than the boys were. For now, she's having to make do with pretend-reading the stories to Rebekah...


...or this.

This is what greeted me when I woke up from a nap this afternoon. Leah made a path of books that has stops at each door and certain cupboards. I kept trying to get into a deeper sleep, so I spent almost an hour and a half in my room. I was very surprised that she occupied herself quietly so long.

And now I am so glad that we have invested the money into good books for our children. What a payoff this is for me!

Ho Hum

I feel like I'm supposed to blog and be witty, entertaining, insightful and purposeful at the same time. I think I'm going to miss on almost all points (except for the blogging part).

Don't think that I've snuck away for a chance to do this. I have all 3 little ones in the room with me. The girls keep asking me, "What does this say?" And I'm sure Joseph is aspiring to be a printer repairman. He just has to have a broken printer first, so that is what he's trying to achieve. Heck, maybe I should let him break it and then I can get a nicer printer to print up my scrapbook pages. Maybe I can hold him off until next year's tax refund comes so that I can actually buy a new printer.

We've got a wet, gloomy day outside today. October was beautiful (despite the freak snow on occasion), but November is slipping into a sort of depression. The least it could do is snow so that things could look cleaner and brighter!

I've recently taken on a task to sew, sew, sew and crochet. I'm trying to make up some things to hopefully make a little money. With Christmas in the air (or at least in the stores), I'm aiming for the gift-buyers. So between dish cloths, pillows (some in high school colors), aprons, and whatever else I can make quickly, I don't have much time for daydreaming. I'm hoping to find a craft fair soon or else I'll come up with some other way to get them out there.

Chad's mom came out on Wednesday afternoon to watch the kids for us while we went to a Stk. temple meeting and session. We hadn't been to the temple together since before Joseph was born. It was nice to get a chance to go back. We really appreciated her willingness to come for the night and the kids had fun with her!

We are currently down to 12 chickens. Both roosters have been butchered and slow cooked on Sunday afternoons. Thank goodness. I was tired of carrying a stick out to the coop to gather eggs. The last rooster was probably tired of my stick! Let this be a lesson for you all: I eat my enemies!

*In response to comment #2: I personally did not butcher the roosters. Chad has decided that warmer weather is better for cleaning out chickens.

Not the best instructions

We've been living in our house a year and 6 days now. When we had the inspection done, Chad discussed the well and all its parts with the inspector. You see, we've never had a well or dealt with pumps and pressure tanks. There is also a filter.

Chad asked the guy when we should change the filter. The inspector said that we'd know when it was time to change it because the water pressure would go down. That is a very BAD answer! We never really noticed the water pressure diminish. Maybe we just don't have good water pressure? Maybe the filter had already reached that point?

Last week we decided that the filter MUST need to be changed by now! So Chad looked up the filter online and found that it should be changed every 3 months! Well, we ordered new filters and they came today. We headed downstairs for a hands-on lesson on changing the filter. We discovered an orange filter...rust is a better color to call it since that is what it was. We have been drinking this water, giving it to our kids and offering it to our guests? GROSS! We did have the water tested initially and all was well. I haven't noticed any change to the taste. I actually like the taste of the water...I'm kind of a water snob.

Here is a comparison shot of the filters...new, still in package and old, obviously not doing much filtering anymore. Knowing a little of the homeowner before us (a single woman), that filter had not been changed for a long time.


Incidentally, we didn't notice the water pressure get any better once the new filter was put in. Maybe that's something that builds up again after you get the water flowing. I'm waiting to see if the water tastes any better now. I'm sure glad we just filled up 3 55-gallon drums of water barrels last month. It's nice to know there is some quality water in there!

Actually, I just had the thought that we are VERY blessed to have even drinkable water and so much of it. I know there are millions of others who are not so fortunate.

On a different note...Rebekah still has issues with flushing the toilet. She'll only flush it herself if someone is watching her. Apparently, that makes her feel safer. I'm grateful that Leah and Daniel have been so willing to help out with this. It's an annoying little quirk that I hope she'll outgrow soon.

Joseph is WALKING!

I can't believe it either! Chad told me on Saturday that he had taken a few steps. I was sorry to have missed (it was my fault that I did). Anyway, I thought I'd set him down tonight and step back to see what he would do. He took a few steps towards me.


Chad and I ended up having Joseph walk back and forth between us. We made such joyous sounds that the older kids emerged from their rooms (they'd already been sent to bed) to see what the whooping and clapping was about. Joseph kept us entertained for about 10 minutes. He even improved in that short time! We are quite excited and the kids are looking forward to trying out their new walking brother in the morning.


Here's a picture of our little man in action. (Don't mind Chad's stylish boots - he was on his way out to feed the animals.)

Go, Joseph, Go!

One year on the farm

October 29th was our one-year mark for living in the new house. It doesn't seem like it's been that long! We've turned into quite the little farm in that year.

We've finally been enjoying eggs from the chickens. This is the 2nd container full of these beautiful brown babies. We have 12 hens, but average about 4-5 eggs a day so far. We got 6 eggs one day this week. We've already given one dozen away!

Leah learned that if you hit the egg on your forehead, it will crack (the egg, not your forehead). It made her cry. I think she thought she was in trouble. Often times, the chickens will peck at the eggs and crack them anyway. But let that be a lesson to all of you...no hitting your heads with eggs!

We recently got 3 more cows in the corral. I know some of you are shocked and some are just slowing shaking your heads. The cows are part ours and part Chad's business partner. That brings us up to 5 head. (Sounds so farmer-ish, right?) All 3 are steers (males that can no longer be daddies). They are much more vocal than the two we already had. I'm sure the neighbors are glad.

Here's a little picture of the "farm" one year after we moved in. It's already outdated, though. We butchered one of the roosters, so we really on have 13 chickens. We hope to be down to 12 soon, when we get rid of the second rooster. Roosters are pesky things.

The kids have enjoyed playing in the pasture all summer. Here is one last shot before the snows come in and bury all the tall grass under a couple of feet.

And isn't this a beautiful sunset? I'm really glad we live here.