I think

I think I've finally found my buisiness opportunity.

Lately I've been thinking about ways to make some extra money. Not that we need it, just that I want to feel somewhat useful and that I'm contributing something.

I've explored buying another buisiness making salsa. I've thought about launching my own web site selling crocheted items.

Then it hit me last night. I had a vague memory of reading in a Deseret Book catalog about how Mormon Handicraft was looking for crafters. Problem is that I don't remember how long ago that was.

I sent them an e-mail inquiry.

I found an article from about a year ago that stated that that they were always looking for crafters and they charged them $25 per year and paid them 70% of what their crafts brought it. That seems sort of a rip off, but I wouldn't have the cost of maintaining a web site, and I wouldn't be the only person contributing to my inventory... I'm seriously thinking about it.

More later.

Today is bath day

OK, so I hate coming up with a new title everyday.

So I was reading back through some of my blogs and I realized that there has been a ton of stuff that I haven't completely told you about.

So the first thing that comes to mind is that we have stayed with Dish Network, just upgraded to local channels. I think we may go down to the lowest package they have soon also. I just can't stomach paying that much each month.

We renegotiated the golf clubs and they turned into a laptop. Hubby finished up his class and it became apparent that he really could use a laptop. So he got it last week and has already been doing lots of programming and stuff for his current class on it. I think it has turned out to be a good decision.

We gave up on potty trainng. C never even had an accident in her potty chair so after 2 1/2 days of sitting on the potty for about 10 hours total, we decided to take a break. Maybe she's not ready yet. So I need to find situations for her to sit on the potty. Maybe right before baths while I'm bathing A. And I'll talk to her about it a lot. Yesterday I mentioned going potty on the potty chair and she changed the subject and said she was ready for bed. This doesn't happen all that often, so maybe she does remember how boring that was. :) I just hope we haven't done anything damaging. She got to watch and listen to the Wiggles the whole time she was sitting there! :)

Last night A woke up about every 1 1/2 hours. She has a cold and I assume was having problems sleeping. Hubby was very supportive and after the first few times of me getting up, offered to get up and even slept in our easy chair with her (allows her to sleep upright and her nose to stay somewhat clear). I don't want to do this because with C I spent so many nights sleeping in that stupid chair that I would be more than happy to never do that again.


So one thing I have not blogged about at all. We had a neighborhood meeting last Wednesday. Found out that some lady wants to open a halfway house in the home that is right accross from our subdivision main entrance. Within 500 feet of my home. She says that she can't have any violent offenders or sex offenders. Notice the "can't" She wanted to and the county said no way. This lady says that she wants to become part of the solution in our city by bringing offenders from our city back ito our city. The problem with that is those people's bad friends that influenced them before are here and will most likely influence them again. I say this thinking about hubby's brother R. He keeps having problems because of the negative influence of his friends. In the past he has wanted to change, but he still has the same friends.

Right now the county has brought an injuncion against her, so now we have a little time to put up a major fuss and let these people know we don't want this halfway house in our neighborhood.

The main thing that freaks me out is that if this house gets in, and the lady initially wanted violent criminals and sex offenders, she will keep pushing and possibly eventually get them in there. I don't want that. There are 3 bus stops for kids nearly in front of that house. Scary.

Anyway, I've written e-mails to everyone that I can possibly think of, but recently found out that the only way to contact the people who will really make a decision about this I can only contact by phone. This bugs me because when I get on the phone with some people I tend to sound stupid. Who likes to sound stupid?

There is a lady in our neighborhood who has been calling the news stations and has so far gotten two stations to cover the story. Problem is that I have no idea how to get ahold of this lady. Her number is unlisted. But I think if we were to work together we would get more done. You know, act as a group.

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that the lady that wants the halfway house is only renting this home. She is not the owner. But she wants to charge $30 per day per offender. There would be 10-12 offenders in the home for a maximum of 90 days. And she wants to get a local church to donate the food for these offenders. So say that she has 12 offenders for 90 days. In that time she will make $32,400. Thats $10,800 per month. Pretty lucrative. Lets say that she pays out $3,000 for expenses. Thats still $7,800 and in a year she would make $93,600. Dang. In 2 years she could way more than buy that home. (home is probably worth around $150k because it does sit on 3/4 an acre) I believe she wants to make a difference like I believe that I need a hole in my head.

Anyway, someone mentioned that we should investigate her loan and she if she is allowed to 1) rent the property and 2) use it as a buisiness.

I need to call around about the loan today, and try and contact that lady in our neighborhood. I promise to do this today.

Tuesday morning

So here I am writing without my contacts. Its weird. But truly the only thing that is different is that I have more spelling errors.

So I just visited my sister L's log. She already has had 21 visiters. Is it wrong to be slightly jealous? I shouldn't be. It's not like I want lots of visitors to read my innermost thoughts... but on some level I'm a little jealous :) Oh well.

So yesterday we got lots of stuff done. It was hubby's day off. He tilled the garden by hand and we planted Onions and garlic. We also had lots of seeds from years past, so I decided it couldn't hurt to plant those. I mean, if we get some to come up, then we've saved money. And if nothing comes up, then we didn't waste any money. I also planted some Violas and petunias in some planters in the front. I love violas. We planted some last spring and they are still alive. Well, until recently. Recently they started dying. It occured to me yesterday that maybe I needed to start watering them again. I didn't water them all winter and they lived! Anyway, this is the reason I love violas.

So Seagull book is opening a store locally. This is the first store of theirs that is closer than 4 hours away. So I'm excited. I visited a Deseret Book that is about 1/4 mile from where they are opening and they have a mormon handicraft. So I wrote to Seagull book with a great idea about how they could carry similar stuff but cheaper (since Deseret book has it way overpriced) they responded with an email about how I had to have at least 10 (or was it 15) different products to even be considered by them. If I didn't have that, they suggested approaching a distributer. Of course my response was "Um, no". so I'm back to thinking about buying a domain name from godaddy.com and selling my crocheted baby blankets through that. But that would cost around $60/year to get the name and to have it hosted. I'm still thinking about it. I would really like to do this from the space that our IP gives us, but we don't know how to use it. Hubby said something about having a web page editor or something. I guess I need to look into that more.

Why

Why does potty training have to be so hard? I've spent the last day and a half of my life sitting with my 2 year old in the bathroom. Her on the potty, me on the edge of the tub. So far the only thing that has happened is that I've been discouraged and brought to tears. She has been very sweet and cooperative. Except for the using the potty part. So far nothing in that dang potty chair, and She's spent a good 10 hours on the thing. Been pushing lots of fluids, and lots of salty foods so that she'll want more. Tonight, She sat on it from around 6 until after 11 (when she finally was to the point where she was tired and wanted to go to bed. Before that she was willing to sit on the chair and watch the wiggles in order to stay up) I was ready to go to bed around 9, and am currently wasting time until I'm sure she is asleep.

The baby woke up around 11, and I'm sure she'll be up again around 3. For the last few nights she's been back to only waking up once. That is nice, and I hope that it continues. Typically they don't backslide, right? She started out only waking up once a night, and occasionally slept through the entire night. When she started waking up 2x a night I was doing ok, but as it continues, I get worn down and hubby really doesn't understand it. He doesn't know why I'm more tired and have less patience. Get this, the other day she woke up right after I got her down again. It was the weekend so I woke him up and asked him to pat her on the back and she would likely fall asleep again. Well it took about 10 minutes, and he did have to get her up and pat her on the back to get her back to sleep. Well this one instance and the next day hubby was cranky and tired. Yeah there bucko, it can make you tired when you don't get to sleep 8 hours straight. I really would love for him to just say Thanks (sincerly, not just in passing) or even how much he appreciates me doing that. Lately I've been very tempted to just say "you know what? Lets trade places" I would totally love to go back to work just for a week and let him realize how hard it is to take care of 2 kids, try and keep the house clean, make every meal, with a nice meal for dinner. And find time for making out with him :) and time for things I want to and like to do. I am lucky in that I usually can get the kids down for naps at the same time for 2-3 hours. So I have that time. The dilemma is what to do with that time. I would like to spend that time on me. But when I do that, the house never gets cleaned well. With the kids up, I can do about 30-40 min of cleaning in the morning before A gets tired of watching and wants attention and to be held or fed or something. She is getting somewhat better, but to look at my house, you couldn't tell. I hate living in this pig stye. I want to keep it clean but who has the time with a husband and two year old to cook and clean for, and a baby to take care of. I feel like I'm burning the candle at two ends. Now hubby does do things around the house. He does the trash, and general maintenance things. He likes to vacuum. But the things that really need doing are a deep clean of the kitchen, bathrooms, kids rooms.... etc. I think what I need is a really deep spring cleaning....at least once a month. I definately need a total house reorganization. The clutter is driving me mad. I guess I feel so overwhelmed with everything that I have kind of given up in a way and am just in survival mode. I hate this. I just want one day where I don't have the kids and I can clean the house. Then another day where I don't have the kids and can just organize, but that would take about a week worth of those days. And since I'm breast feeding the baby I'm really limited to what can be done in reality.

I need help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

super quick post

So how can you tell if a noise late at night is a gun shot? Having only heard them on TV shows, i have no idea. but I think I might have heard some about 10 minutes ago.

Anyway, update on the Flu. turns out it was food poisoning that I got at a baby shower along with 5 other women. Feeling great now.

Life feels like its going at 100 miles an hour right now and I don't have time for all the things I want to do. And when I try and make time, my relationships suffer. C was really needing a lot of attention today. But that was my fault. I was spending way to much time on an internet Bulletin board. I like the board, but don't need to follow it quite as closely as I have been the last few days.

Hubby finally talked me into a laptop since its become apparent that school will be much much smoother for him if he were to have a portable computer strictly for schoolwork. I hope he gets great use out of it for what we've paid out for it. Thank goodness for tax returns.

Don't know if anyone is reading this blog, but my site counter keeps going up now and again. Probably just the occasional visitor who was looking for something else. Works for me because this blog is purely for me to get my thoughts/feelings out.

Lately I've been feeling like I could do a lot more with my day if I was more organized. I've resolved to make a schedule, and attack one room in the house and clear it of clutter every day. I was able to do that 2 days this week and the rooms I attacked still look great. If I were to do this every day I would have a great looking house 80% of the time. Still working on writing out a schedule. But I've been taking C to story time and am finding more and more reasons to turn off the TV and do other things.

Well I'd better get to bed since it's nearly midnight.

sicker than a dog

So I've been sicker than a dog today. I woke up at 3 to feed A and after about 5 minutes it was apparent that I would have to use the bathroom before I finished with her. So I put her down and used the bathroom (very loose).

I fed her some more and I thought she was on the verge of being asleep. But I knew I had to throw up. So I ran and put A in her bed and rushed to the toilet to puke my guts up. My husband woke up because he heard me running from A's room to the bathroom and was concerned. He found me in the bathroom. I told him what had happened and asked him to check on A. She wasn't asleep so I sent him back to bed after he made me promise to wake him up if I had any trouble with getting A back to sleep.

It took me awhile to get her back to bed. Anyway after that my sleep was interupted for many trips to the bathroom for liquid movements (if you catch my drift).

When I woke up I still felt awful and called hubby to beg him to come home from work early. He came home around 11, changed the kids out of their pajamas, sent me downstairs for a shower and sleep.

I'm feeling much better now. I feel bad about getting hubby home from work early because I feel pretty good now and he would be at work for another 1 1/2 hours. But he had time off he could take and keeps telling me not to worry about it. So I'm going to stop.

I think I got this flu at the dentist. But that's another story that I won't dwell on now.

Here's hoping none of you get this flu

Tuesday night

So I realized tonight that it had been a few days since my last post. I've had to many things on my plate these days.

I've been working on geneology, keeping up with Cougarboard.com, taking care of kids, taking care of hubby, dads birthday, Sister is in town.

I guess I'm just making excuses. Oh well

We went over to my parents house on Sunday to celebrate my Dad's birthday, that is actually tomorrow. I got to talk to Ae and also my brother J and Dad. Mom got to play with all the kids. But I have to say that it was extremely crazy. My sister W, Sister J, brother J, Brother C all there with their kids. So a total of around 17 kids, and about 10 adults. That house was packed. Good thing we were able to send all the kids down to the basement to play.

It was great to see my sister L who was in town from Idaho Falls. It was great to talk to her. Before she came we were talking on the phone about once a day. Basically because we were both lonely for someone to talk to. Hopefully we'll get back to that now that she is in Idaho Falls again. Its weird that we weren't able to have such great conversations in person :) It must have something to do with the fact that on the phone we are just wasting time, and in person we have things to do.

She loaned me "Wives and Daughters" . I would recommend it. It was an excellent movie.

L is doing great right now. She is a court reporter and has hopes of going into captioning. She is scheduled to take a test in July. Once she has passed the test, she will receive a license to caption and she can get a job in it. She has a company in mind. If she were to get hired on, she would be able to work for a few hours every day from home. She wants to be a writer and would be able to use the rest of the time writing. So she would be able to support herself while she writes. I sure hopes it works out because she has worked hard and deserves it.

Enough for today. Gotta go.

Ae

If I was using names I would have put my sisters name in there, but since I'm trying not to use personal info, I use the abreviation Ae.

Ae one of my youngest sisters. She and Ar are twins, and the youngest of the family.

Ae has made some horrible decisions in the past few years... her latest has me shaking my head and saying things like "Well it's her life. But I sure wish I could give her a good talking to"

Ae first off is a somewhat easily lead person and I would call her naive. She has this thing where she'll get a job and then quit it a few months later because it isn't working out for some reason or another. Now, if it had only happened once, maybe twice I wouldn't think anything of it. But it has happened numerous times. I guess that doesn't have anything to do with her current situation, other than it points out her immaturity.

I need to say one thing. I do realize that I am picking Ae apart and dwelling on her negative traits and judging her in this post. And I don't mean to justify. But I really just need to rant, and nobody reads this site anyway... so no harm no foul.

Almost 3 years ago Ae started working at a local tortilla manufacturing plant. This place had many people working for it who were immigrants. Not just from Mexico (I know you assumed it :) mexican food = mexican workers) but from Romania and I'm sure other countries.

Well, while Ae was working for this company she started hanging out with a mexican guy. We were all a bit worried, but Mom correctly pointed out that she was 21 (or 20? don't remember) and could make her own decisions. Ae started dating this guy, who I should mention was a non member. She started dating him and - it came out later - eventually starting sleeping with him. Other things came out also. Along with the announcement that she was pregnant. We found out that this guy was an illegal. He had fled the US when he was supposed to be in jail (if I remember correctly) and came back into the country under another name. I will tell you this name because I don't care about it at all Leandro Marban. His real name is Jose something or other. Anyway, he is using a fake name and fake social security number. And yes, we tried to report him but found that nobody really cared. Hows that for national security? Other things we found later were that he had a gun in his car from time to time and had drugs in the car at times. All this while Ae was in the car. Ummm... how can you say RUN!!!!!! Anyway, after the announcement of her pregnancy they got married. Most family members really wanted her to adopt the baby out and lose the guy, but it was not to be. So they got married when she was about 3 months along. They moved into his apartment and she quit her job (big surprise!) Well, 3 months later they opted for a divorce. Saying neither of them were happy. Did I mention that for a lot of this time his brother was living with them and he would go on the occasional trip to California to buy hub caps for his car. OK either these were drug trafficking trips or he was totally into his car. I don't know for sure. Also, he spoke broken English and Ae didn't know a lick of spanish. So, they got divorced when Ae was 6 months along. So she moved back in with Mom and Dad. She thought about getting a job but it didn't get much further than her thinking about it. The good thing that came out of this time that she had was that she decided to adopt the baby out through LDS family services. She found a family that she felt very good about. She asked me to be her coach, and Mom and I coached her into motherhood. The baby arrived healthy and happy. Ae spent 2 or 3 days in the hospital with the baby getting to know him, spend time with him, and overall saying goodbye. Many pictures were taken, and all the family visited at Ae's invitation. Oddly enough the baby's daddy only visited once. He didnt' come to meet the new parents on the day the baby was handed over. And may I say that they stole our name that hubby and I had chosen if we were ever to have a boy? I told everyone.... and even though her baby was adopted and given another name (but they used Ae's chosen name as the middle name) she still won't let me use the name! She says she would feel weird about it. Even though she and everyone else refer to the baby as the new name. This annoys me. But whatever.

Ae seemed to be getting her life on track. She was receiving counceling through LDS family services and had worked through things with her bishop. She seemed to be getting her life back in order. She got a job, moved out, things were looking good. Then I heard from Ae's twin that life wasn't all rosy. Ae was still seeing her ex. Hanging out and stuff. A few months ago I found out that they were dating again. (um, ok, they got divorced?) A few days ago I found out that it was with all the former benefits. That really made me sad for my sister. When I heard that I couldn't believe it. Mom said that she wasn't attending church or paying tithing and had told her twin Ar that she didn't believe it any more. Wow. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

So here's what I think. Leandro was the first guy she ever dated. The first kiss, the first everything if you get my drift. I think that this is all she thinks she can get guy-wise. I think that is what got her in the first place.

I think that what is getting her now is baby grief. I think that she wants another baby. She thinks it will help her get over the first one if she has a second. But it won't. It will just add to her grief in the long run. I'm just so sad for her. I keep thinking I need to call her... but I think I need to process this more. I don't want to have more emotional diarhea on another family member :)

One thing that bugs me is that she hangs out and lives in a house with a girl from her birth mother group from LDS family services. This girl seems to be a bad influence on her... Wish there was something I could do besides the recommended "just keep loving her and keep talking to her" that I get from my Mom.

It all boils down to the fact that it is her life and she has free agency to make her own choices. Sad but true.

Next time I will pick myself apart... oh wait, I did that a few entries ago :) Ahh life. I wish it was a simple as a game of say Kings Quest. Point and click, accomplish certain tasks and win. Life is way to complicated sometimes! :)

I'm sorry

Ok, I was going through a sort of hormonal thing when I wrote that last entry.

After I had A four months ago, Hubby and I opted for an IUD for birth control. It sort of messed my body and periods up for a few months and the day I wrote that last post, my first period started. I usually don't have such severe highs and lows but I think it must have to have something to do with the fact that it was the first after a few months without. I sure hope they aren't all like that. My periods usually don't affect me all that much hormonally. It would be hard for hubby and I both to get used to it! (crossing fingers!)

So I've gotten into family history and had a major breakthrough last sunday. Hubby had taken a family history class back in '99 and had all sorts of info on Gedcom. I took that and decided to pursue a branch of the family that we didn't have much info on. I had a breakthrough when I searched roots.com. They had much of the info I was looking for. My mother in law was able to fill in some of the gaps, and she gave me the phone number of her aunt. Hopefully I'll be able to get the rest of the info from her. I'm really excited, and I've been e-mailing back and forth with the guy who had provided the info on roots.com. He's asked many questions that I am still learning about. So he is providing me with lots of questions to ask.

My sister Ar had a scare earlier this week. She is about 3 months along with her first baby. I found out Saturday morning that she had spent most of Friday night in the hospital with bleeding. They were afraid she would lose the baby. My mom called me and asked me to check on her because Mom has a night job and sleeps all day and she wanted someone to check up on Ar. Well When I called Ar, I sort of had emotional Diarhea all over her. I was trying to be comforting but then in the middle of the conversation I looked at my kids and realized how devastated I would be if something were to happen to them and how sad I was that this could possibly be something my younger sis would have to go through. I started crying and expressed to Ar that I wish that I could take this pain from her and handle it for her.

I don't think she needed to hear that. I probably should have just shut myself up but didn't. Ar handled me well though. :) She didn't lose the baby. So we are all praying for her and wishing her the best.

Hubby has been very busy at work and school lately but he still took the time to send me and the kids e-cards on Valentines day (his day off, so he had to do it the week before) He also got me a spa day coupon, and cleaned the house from top to bottom. I think it had something to do with my emotional breakdown of sorts the week before, because we usually don't do a whole lot of stuff for each other on valentines. I felt bad because I didn't do anything for him. I was being stupid and didn't think it would matter, but its been bugging me ever since. I've been trying to come up with something to do to make it up to him.

C and A get cuter every day. C is learning new words, and phrases and things every day! She loves to count to 10. Sunday she came home from nursery and started counting to 10 with her hands over her eyes. I think they were trying to teach her to play hide and seek or something. Anyway I taught her to say "Ready or not here I come" after counting to 10. It translated to "come". It was so cute! She did it over and over.

A has the cutest smile and loves to kick in the bathtub. She loves it when C plays with her. The only problem is that C has started to hit and bite A. The hitting I can deal with. But the biting really bothers me. How can C bite someone so small and unable to defend herself.
I'm using the naughty chair techniques. I hope they work!!!

Am I the only one who occasionally feels like their kids are sucking the life out of them?

Last night A woke up at 4 and then again at 6:45. The first time it took me an hour to get her back to sleep. By that time I was so awake that it took me a while to fall asleep again. I feel like a zombie.

Earlier last night I went to a recipe swap that another woman in my ward put together. It was fun, but at times I felt like I couldn't put 2 words together and make sense. I was having a good time, but wasn't contributing very well. I think that this is partly because of the kids, and partly because of the staying home all day. Who do I talk to that could be considered an adult? my husband. Speaking of him, I was gone a whole 1 1/2 hours. When I got home he was very upset, and the kids were upset. Because I've taken on so much of the kid burden, have I handicapped my husband to the point where he can't even watch the kids for 1 1/2 hours? He said that A had a major rash so he had to put some major desiten on her and she wouldn't let him put her down. And for some reason C threw up her dinner. I just think she was a) upset or b) ate to much. or maybe it was a combination of the 2. I am just upset that I can't even get an 1 1/2 break without coming home to a husband that doesn't ever want to watch the kids alone again. Thinking about that last sentence makes me want to give up. No Mother should have to look into a future that looks like she'll never get even a little break for the next few years (when her kids are in school). Anyway... A few minutes I told hubby that I thought I was done having kids. He said Well this last kid has been pretty tame compared to the first one. He doesn't understand that that is what I'm thinking of. If I'm at the end of my leash with a tame one, isn't it better to stop that to risk getting another crazy one?

I'm just so tired. A is yelling again.

Yesterday C was eating and made a huge mess - playing with her food and getting it all over her, the floor, the table, and worst of all in her hair. I gave them both baths yesterday morning. A was yelling this whole time, and I didn't handle it well. I yelled at C for making a mess. I spanked her (I hate it when I lose it like that). I wasn't out of control, but I hated that I allowed myself to do that. All the while knowing that the reason I was reacting so strongly was that A was crying and crying. Maybe a better thing to do would have been picking up A and getting her settled down. Then calmly cleaning up C. I should have really gone into a different room for a second and taken a few deep breaths. I resolve to do this next time.

Sometimes I just feel like my work will never end. Hubby just doesn't understand what it really is like to be a stay at home mom. I'm starting to feel sort of negative about that. A's diaper he changed yesterday? He didn't get it over her entire bum, so this morning at 4 she was soaked through. C had 2 nights in a row where hubby changed her diaper and the next morning the were unhooked on one side. Halfway off. I'm just really glad that there were no accidents there. C could have gotten it off somehow, but she had on pajamas and would have had to undo the diaper through them.

I guess I need more sleep and an attitude adjustment. I'm just tired of things. The dishes need doing again, the bathrooms need to be cleaned, the laundry needs to be done, the diaper pail is full again. C needs a new diaper, and to be changed out of her "jammas". The house needs to be picked up, I haven't even gotten a shower yet, or contacts in. So I stink and everything is blurry. Hubby just doesn't understand how it is to do the same things over and over and really accomplish nothing. He also has class for 4 hours tonight so I'm it, no breaks tonight. Hubby does give me lots of breaks, he holds the kids, since the bedtime change, he's helped put C to bed, He is a big help, but... I think I'm just tired. I love him, and he's a great Dad. Maybe its just that I'm not a good Mom, or not stay at home Mom material. I would so love to put the kids in daycare just so I can have a day alone to clean the house without C to pull things out after me. I could take a nap. I could watch something besides the Wiggles. Sometimes I just want to say I quit. I quit, you take the kids, I need some me time. Let me do something alone. I do have to say that I have a couple of hours during nap time. but its hard to cram everything into those hours. Also is it selfish to want to spend those hours on me? So no housecleaning tipically gets done during this time.

one more thing...

I was thinking today that it's kind of hard to know who I am talking about in this blog due to all the initials. So I thought I'd create a key of sorts.

Parents will always be referred to as my mom or Dad and hubby's will always be hubby's Mom or dad

My kids, well hopefully you'll know when I'm talking about them, but I'll refer to them as C and A. C is the oldest. They are both so cute!

My family (3 boys, 7 girls)I won't put me in there :)
K, S, W, C, J, J, L, Ae, Ar - you may notice that there are 2 J's. They are twins (2 sets remember) One is a girl and one is a boy. So you'll just have to pay attention to the "My brother" or "My sister" part.

Hubby's family. (5 boys, 1 girl)
J, P, D, B, R, W

Hubby's family... well there is adventure in and of itself. I feel like writing some more so let me tell you about them.

His brother J. Very nice fellow. He is living up in Washington state with his wife. they have no children, and are I believe in their early 40's now. He met his wife while he was serving overseas in the military. It was one of those "Great to see you again family... oh and by the way this is my wife. I forgot to tell you I got married?" His wife is Baptist. Nothing against them but the fact that because hubby and I got married in the temple, she didn't even bother to come with her hubby to Idaho for the reception and other festivities... I've never actually met her. Hubby and I will have been married for 4 years in a few months.

P.... well I can't say much about P other than the fact that he is gay. Not happy gay, but just gay. He served a mission. I've met him once for about an hour. He is living in Washington state also, but in a different city than J. Hubby found out he was gay when he was visiting P one time and P was showing him a picture album and they turned a page and voila there was P dressed as a woman. Since then he always seems to be visiting home with a "roomate". We don't know for sure which family members know. Its up for debate whether Hubby's dad knows and also whether he would drop dead from shock if he ever found out. P was working for K-mart as a big muckity muck, but lost his job with all of the bankruptcy stuff going on. He went back to school and as far as I know was borrowing money from hubby's parents for car payments, insurance, and rent.

That brings up hubby's parents. All of their children are over the age of 22, but hubby's mom can't seem to cut them off. D recently moved from Utah to Arizona and had to borrow moving money from hubby's parents even though he was moving from a $175K home and they live in a $3k (if they're lucky) trailer. Hey, the trailer is at least 25 years old. 7 kids... just think about it.

Speaking of D, he's next in line if you go from oldest to youngest as I am doing. He served his mission in Argentina and while down there met his future wife. He came home for a couple of months and then went back down for the wedding. None of hubby's family was able to go. In fact our marriage was the first that his parents had been to of their childrens weddings. So for a time they lived with the rest of the family in the trailer. All the while his wife learned english and they got pregnant with their first child. They eventually moved out, and ended up in Utah and now Arizona. D's wife is very nice. He also has 2 boys and a girl. all very nice kids. The only thing wrong with D is the fact that for a while he was doing mortgage brokering. Basically you negotiate a mortgage or refinance and then sell the loan to a bank or mortgage company. He handled our refinance and it was the worst possible thing that could have happened. First of all the thing took 6 months from start to finish. Thats SIX months.A refinance usually takes 30 days! Second thing is that in the beginning I told my sister about him, and he also handled their refinance. I think theirs took 4 or 5 months. After it was all over he said that as a thank you for referring my sister he would send us a gift card to any restaraunt we wanted. Well, we told him which restaurant. He never sent it. We were planning on sharing it with my sister as a booby prize. One of those "Well at least we got free food" gifts. We also ended up with a IHA or FHA loan (the better of the 2). We originally had a conventional loan, and he had told us he could do that again, but changed over in the middle, and the reason he changed over went away and he never changed it back. That was probably somehting we could have done something about if we had been paying closer attention, but we thought he had our back. And it would have probably made it take even more time. In the end the only reason we signed the papers was because we felt trapped due to all the fees (inspections, etc.) Anyway we have since learned our lesson about dealings with family, and also that I wouldn't trust this guy as far as I could throw him, even though he seems like a nice guy.


B is next. As the only girl, she had an interesting childhood. She was reportedly spoiled and highly favored by hubby's mom. She has had money problems of her own, and had to move in with hubby's parents for a couple of years. She has since moved back out on her own. We hope this will be a big help to her love life. She is I think 31. She is very nice, but a little heavy set. She offers the occasional free babysitting! We certainly appreciate that! Back to the childhood. There is a story told where there was a fight over the remote or something and B threw the remote at 2 of her brothers, breaking a window. The brothers got in trouble, and B really didn't get punished. The one thing that really bugs me is that B is a girly girl. Fingernails done, doesn't like to get dirty. Also, she won't camp, and I don't think she ever has. Nothing like that. If the family were to go camping, she and her mom would stay in the closest hotel. She does like sports (go Atlanta insert team name here!) its a weird combination to me. Everyone is different, I just don't understand the combination, myself being a camping girl who is not all that interested in sports :)


(please excuse spelling and grammar errors - its late and I'm tired!)

Next is hubby, and after him R

R is an iteresting case study. He is what you would call the black sheep in this family full of them. He was a promising baseball player during his junior year. Unfortunately he became involved with drugs and alcohol and his life has since gone to pot. literally. That is until a few years back. That was when he started dating a nice girl who was the black sheep of her own family. The only difference was that she was trying to change. She had made a mistake about 2 years earlier and had a baby out of wedlock. She had since started going back to church and changing a few things in her life. She and R started dating and R announced to his family that he intended to start going back to church. He started attending and a few months later it was found that she was pregnant, and they decided to get married. They did and a few months later had a boy. About a year after that they had a fight. She came home drunk and started a fight and the neighbors called the police and since he had quite the record (don't ask, a lot of drugs and a lot of driving on a suspended license, possession, etc) they hauled him off. The judge said they couldn't live together for something like a year, and anger management classes had to be taken. R moved back in with his parents. He and his wife made up and began dating again. months and months (10?) later they announced that she was again pregnant. about 2 months after that she found out that he had gotten another girl pregnant and she had lost the baby. She had to call R's wife because of some STD that she had and R's wife should be tested for. (I don't know the whole story). They made up again after a month or 2. a little after that they discovered that they were actually having twin girls and now she is due in 8 weeks or so. R is working 2 jobs because his wife was told by the doctor that she had to stop working. The way I tell the story, the timeline is a bit messed up. To give you an idea of the actual timeline, here are the ages of their children... 1st 4 yrs old, and 2nd, 2 years old.

The last sibling is W. He was attending BYU Idaho but is currently in Arizona trying to get a job for the summer while living with D and his family. W is going to the summer fall school year. I didn't know there were any other options other than fall and spring at college, but I guess there is :) He is chasing girls, or rather they are chasing him. He is a great guy, served a mission, very promising future.

Hubby's parents are very nice. His dad is going through a rough spot right now. He bad circulation in his legs, and that has caused him to be less and less active to the point where now he uses a motorized wheel chair. The less and less active part caused him to gain weight and I would say he is now approaching 400 pounds. He is in constant pain and is to the point where he is wondering why he is still around. He has been retired for a few years now, and of course that is when everything really started to go down hill for his health. At one point he was using his invalidity (his being an invalid?) for the good and was doing extraction work for the church. He recently stopped though because he said he was frustrated that they could not supply him with enough work to keep him busy. We are all trying to encourage him to continue doing this because it gave him a purpose. Well, either this or working on hubby's wife's family's geneology.

Hubby's mom is from the south. Even though she has been living in Idaho for about 25 years, she still speaks with southern accent. I thought that was weird, but what do I know. Hubby's dad complains about the amount of money she is constantly spending. He complains that she is always ordering stuff and spending money. I want to know what he does all day. Why can't he spend his time getting a handle on their finances? But again, what do I know? I'm sure many people look at my life and say, why doesn't she do that ? it seems obvious. What I want to know is why, when hubby's mom is still working, Hubby's dad is receiving retirement and social security (he's a veteran) and they are making about the same as hubby and I, one income, why they are in debt up to their eyeballs? To them $500 saved is a nest egg and something to be bragged about. They live in a trailer, so pay space rent and they owe something like 3k on the trailer so pay something on that.... they don't have to pay utilities if I remember right... They must have some crazy credit card debt. Oh wait they also have a car payment, and kids that keep asking for "loans". I forgot to mention that the last time I asked, hubby's mom was still paying car insurance for B and W. Hello! B is over 30! W is at least 22! I was paying my own car insurance when I got my first car. I won't deny that while I was driving mom and Dad's cars I didn't remember or have the money to pay them every month. I bought my first car when I was 18. I cleaned out my savings account and borrowed a couple hundrend from Dad and bought my first Jeep! a jeep commando. But that is a story for another day. That was also the time I started working for a great company and made $$ and saved lots. But that was before marriage drained the bank accounts.... ah the memories.

Well, I'm tired and am ready to stop typing. I think I should do this same summary sort of thing for my family also. And then I'll tell you all about my faults because boy do I have a lot!! maybe when I recover from all this typing :)

Great day!

So today we converted to cable internet. faster. Not as lightning quick as hubby convinced me it would be, but still fast.

I just heard that Amazing race 7 will be starting only 3 weeks after the current season ends. AWESOME!! great reality show that is worth watching.

why is it that I can't write and watch TV at the same time? Its like my thoughts are scattered and I can't put them together.

I've been keeping an eye on a new message board lately. My hubby introduced me to www.cougarboard.com They discuss BYU sports, but among all of that there are many interesting links and all sorts of fun stuff. Here is my favorite one from today. http://db.playego.com.br/orafiles/01122005120941567g.swf I think the reason I like it so much is that although it is really funny, I could totally see me doing this. Of course I wouldn't record it though :) The song has a good beat and I don't know if its just me but it makes me want to dance along with this guy. I guess it just shows what a dork I am.

Another reality show I like to watch is Project Runway on Bravo. Yeah, it does have to much swearing, but... well I have no justification. I just don't watch it with hubby or the kids. I have been keeping an eye on the discussion board over at www.televisionwithoutpity.com and they totally hate Wendy (thats her name, right?), one of the contestants who is older and a mom. My problem is that I totally am rooting for her, and identify with her on some level. I too am socially awkward. I never know what to do or how to react. Basically I'm to self conscious. This is getting better as I get older. but anyway, I digress. Since everyone over there hates Wendy, I haven't had the courage to say anything or stick up for her. My only comeback would be something like "Yeah? Well.... uh, she uh.. yeah!" She actually designs dresses well, and the next challenge is an oscar dress, so I think she'll make it through to fashion week. I can't wait to see a whole line from all of the designers. Especially one where I assume there will be few time or money constraints? I don't know about the $$, but at least I hope there will be no time constraints. I wonder what they will do about the model that couldn't make it to the last runway competition - the one that Austin filled in for. Its hard because all the models at this point are pretty, walk well, or have some feature that makes it so I can tell them apart from the others. At the beginning they were all just pretty faces :)

Lets see... I'm really bummed because the last episode of Gilmore Girls, season 4 was on ABC family yesterday. Now I don't have anything really to look forward to every day. We are still thinking about Directv, but really don't have a strong reason to switch over... I fear that by the time we switch over (if ever) Season 5 of the gilmore girls will be over, and the show will be cancelled (Pamie over at TWOP is always talking about how its not as good as it once was, and will probably be cancelled soon).

Another good show to watch is Monk. The new season just started. He has a new sidekick - I guess because Sharona asked for to much money. For me its like they tried to be the same, but different. It comes off like they were trying to hard to me. They got another blond woman, but this time with a daughter (hello Benji). But the show is still good. And I'm actually starting to like the new woman. We'll see what happens as the season progresses.

Maclouds daughters is also good. Mostly like it because its set in Australia. Can't hate an interesting show set in Australia.

Why don't I have anything to look forward to if I watch all these shows you ask? Well, these are all on when hubby is home. GG showed in the middle of the afternoon during naptime. It was like the whole house was quiet and I could concentrate on watching GG without having to turn it way up to hear it or chase kids around and miss parts. This was important because the Gilmores all talk really fast, but say really funny things all the time. So you had to listen carefully to catch it all sometimes.

I'll recover, but in the meantime, I'm bummed :)

today I spent a lot of time online chatting with hubby at work and hanging out at cougarboard. I don't know what I'll do next week.

I finally got the address for my cousin today. I crocheted her a baby blanket for her newly adopted daughter like a month ago and never got around to the sending part. :) I always forget the important stuff.

I'm halfway through a blanket for my sis in law who is having twins in 8 weeks or so. I'm starting to worry that I won't have 2 blankets for her in time. I'm also thinking of making and selling baby blankets online. I could possibly make money at it. I'm always trying to keep an ear to the ground for ways to make extra money to save and invest.

The other day a guy called me out of the blue with an opportunity. One of those sell to your friends and family deals. Some sort of supplement. I hate those buisinesses. When its family or close friends I feel obligated to buy. Even when they are just having a party I feel obligated to buy. Its cheaper to stay home when someone is having one of those parties. And also, if you don't know what you're missing (or what they are selling) you don't know what you're missing.

Please don't invite me to your product parties!!!!! :)

Strange

For some strange reason I've been avoiding this blog. I just didn't want to write an entry. I don't know... strange

So this week has been busy. Hubby finally talked me into cable internet. He works hard, and deserves a few perks. I justify it by saying that he needs it for school :) We also negotiated new golf clubs for him. It was much better than a new laptop which he wouldn't really use anyway. I've talked him into letting me have the same amount of money to spend on a treat for me, but I just can't think of anything I want that I don't already have.

I've been thinking about selling crocheted baby blankets on the internet. With cable internet, we get a web site. It would be fun. I could make a little extra money to save. Its weird to be thinking about saving money, when in my last paragraph I was talking about spending it. I have to say one thing. If you don't give yourself treats every now and then, life becomes a drudgery. I mean yeah, there is family and cute kid grins, but new golf clubs help when you're overwhelmed with work and school. We'll be paying for them with our tax return. The majority of our tax return we've already decided how to invest. I'm really excited that we have all these investing options.

A rolled over a few days ago. I was downstairs doing dishes or something and hubby was upstairs with her. He yelled down when she did it the first time, and then she did it again. I missed both times, but I am hopeful I will see her next performance!

C is learning all sorts of new words, and every day she is making more and more sense. She can count to 10, and it is so cute when she does. I made a little quicktime video of her doing it. It was so cute! She loves to watch it and keeps saying "'gain!"

Hubby is in the middle of his last week of his current class. He had his last class meeting tonight, and on Thursday he has the last 3 hour class. Then he has a week off, and next Thursday he starts another class. I'm doing my best to encourage him, but he really doesn't need much encouragement. He mostly encourages me when I get down about things. dishes, sleep, kids. He was saying the other night that he felt bad that I was doing the dishes all the time (we both don't like doing them). I guess I need to help him (and me) realize that the dishes are my responsibility and when he helps its a perk. At least for the time he is in school. Afterwards, I hope he can help more. But seriously he already does so much to help me. I need to get going. If I planned my days better, I could easily get things done around here.

I realy want to start walking on our treadmill. I was thinking that I could walk the first hour of the kids naps. I usually walk for about 20 min, so I could get them both off to sleep, and then go walk.

I'm really sad this week. My top guilty pleasure, "Gilmore Girls" will be ending this week. Season 4 is ending on Thursday. Season 5 is currently on the WB so I doubt that ABC family would alreayd show it. So sadly, I don't know what I will be doing for an hour every day. I guess I could use that time to work out or clean the house. but seriously, what would I have to look forward to every day? Bummer!! Looking forward to that can get me through little sleep, crying babies, or even a 2 year old who won't take a nap! :)

So this week I've been a little worried about my brother C. He has had some troubles. He is a small buisiness owner. His website is www.barlowfineart.com
throw some buisiness his way! He makes the most beautiful pictures. Or I should say he frames the most beautiful pictures. He takes beautiful prints and puts them in wonderful framing and matts. They are wonderful. A trip to his "factory" usually means that I leave wanting to buy at least a couple of pictures. Right now there are 2 in particular that I want. My problem is that I don't have any more places to put them :) I worked for him this summer while I was pregnant with A. C's daughter would watch C while I worked for 3 hours a day. It was very interesting to see a picture go from just some dimensions on a piece of paper to a picture. Wonderful frames with a combination of matts and a picture. The whole thing knocks your socks off.

C goes to shows where a bunch of vendors get together and buyers come through and see what's available and place orders. C just did a show in Houston and then one in Chicago. While in Chicago someone broke the window of his suburban (hello, over 100k miles on it. Why would you want it?) stole a bunch of paperwork, his cd player, and his new digital camera. Now this happened to hubby and I about 2 months back, and our digital camera was taken. I don't know why he didn't think about the possibility. Also, the people tried to get C's car started and really messed up the steering column. If they had been able to start the car, they would have stolen everything, including a trailer with about 100 pictures in it. Major loss. Another thing I don't know why he didn't think about was that about a year ago his wife's purse was stolen out of their car. Don't leave valuable things in the car! They've had a lot of hard times at the hands of criminals in the past 2 years.

I bet he was just tired from the long day at the show. I just feel really bad about it though. This is his families only source of income and just a few days before things looked like they were going well and C even said something positive about how the buisiness was looking legitimate. His total loss was probably $500 for repairs to the vehicle, $300 for the camera, and then misc for some bedding and stuff that was stolen. Did I mention that he has 5 kids? Well, I guess since it didn't kill him, it should make him stronger. It just makes me mad when criminals steal things from people who work hard for what they have. I really want this buisiness to work for C. Also, my parents have some $$ sunk into the buisiness, and I don't want them to lose any money for retirement or the mission that they hope to go on in about 2 years. My aunt and uncle are serving in the Phillipines right now and the other day I realized that my mom and dad could be leaving soon. I don't know why I didn't realize it before :)

Another Friday

So hubby talked me into cable internet today. He is convinced he needs it for school. Well, he doesn't exactly need it right now, but will need it next year when he starts taking classes where he will need to create web sites and writing programs.
So I guess its ok. If we get strapped for cash, we can always cancel the service until we actually have to have it.

We're still talking about changing dish network for directv. I'm still waffleing about if we really want to switch over just to save $1. And for 10 more channells. Including the WB... Gilmore girls... :) maybe . I'm holding out for a free dvr :)

Well I took C to story time at the library yesterday. It was a lot of fun. They had singing, stories, and playtime. C had a great time and I think I'll have to make it a weekly thing. We went to the DI for books afterwards. I haven't read a new book in a long time, so thought it was about time for some reading material. :) Afterwards we went to Wendy's for lunch since I had forgotten to eat breakfast. Those new side Salads are a great idea! The hamburgers are still fattening, but at least you're not adding the fat grams of the fries to that also!

Today was a great day also. I got to bed early, so wasn't thrown to far off schedule when A woke up twice last night. I was able to get up with my alarm clock. I gave C and A baths as soon as A got up. A is kicking a lot in the bathtub now. I don't know if she is actually kicking for the water fun, or because she just likes to kick. I guess it doesn't matter :) Its just fun to see her kicking so much. I love that she is so healthy and normal. Some people think she is delicate or something because she was 5 pounds 3 ounces when she was born. But she is normal and gaining weight at a normal rate, and developing normally. She rolled over a couple times earlier this week. She's almost 4 months old now! I can't believe it. She's getting so big!

So with the girls taking naps earlier, I want to start working out on our treadmill during their naps. My only worry is that C won't take a nap at all without me to keep putting her back in bed. I guess I'll just have to work out when I can during that time. I need to though. I have come to the conclusion this week that my life is to seditary. I need to get up and get moving!!!


My goal : work out 3-5 times a week. I will be happy if I can only work out 3 times, and if I work out 5 times, I will be extremely happy!!

Wednesday

This week is going fast!

Yesterday I decided that I was going to try and change A and C's schedule. Currently C takes a nap at 2 and goes to bed at 9:30. This was a little late, so I've decided to change it to waking up at 8, taking a nap at 1 and going to bed right at 9. I'm thinking about changing bedtime to 8:30, but we'll see how it all shakes out.

Hubby and I have an ongoing discussion about Dish Network vrs. DirecTV, and also the option of having neither. We currently have Dish Network and have had it for 2 1/2 years. We recently got a letter in the mail stating that our monthly charge would be going up by $3. Over a year that would be $36. Hubby's sister works for DirecTV and they have a great friends and family program that would allow us to sign up without having to sign a contract. They also have 10 more channels for the same price that we are paying now. Also, though they are also having to up their monthly price, it will only be going up by $2. One negative is that they don't have an america's top 60 like Dish network. So we would be trapped at the higher price. One reason I was leaning towards DirecTV was that they were offering a free DVR for friends and family, but I just learned that the offer ended at the end of last year.

We've discussed getting rid of the sattelite alltogether, but I don't know. There are a few shows that I really look forward to. Gilmore Girls (my #1 guilty pleasure), Project runway (way to much swearing), McClouds daughters, and recently reruns of the west wing (I never watched it when it was on network tv). Also, when I get up with A during the night, I need something interesting to keep me awake so I don't fall asleep while feeding her. The recliner I feed her in is comfortable to feed her in, but not to sleep. I have a bad back, and would rather sleep in a bed :)

But if we got rid of the satellite, we could easily afford cell phones or super quick internet access. Hubby has been begging for a faster connection for a few years now, but there is no reason for it. He has access at work and only gets online at home for an hour or two on the weekends. I'm the one who uses it mostly at home, and I don't mind. He has a super quick connection at work though, and I think that's why he notices it.

So today I'm going to tell you all about my sister W. She's the 3rd child. She was my favorite sister growing up. She and I look very much alike also. When we moved to Idaho from oregon, she met and married her husband within a year. W has a very calm and relaxed personality. She is fun to talk to and you never feel like you are being judged. (unlike S). She and her family have lived in several cities in Idaho and Oregon. Her husband went to school and majored in music. He got a degree that would allow him to teach music in the schools, but wasn't able to find a job here. He ended up going to an obscure town about 1 1/2 hours away. W taught piano. He ended up quitting the job (don't remember why) and they moved back here. He ended up working for a couple of different jobs until he settled into his current job. He just finished up another degree (don't actually know what in) through the University of Utah online (I think). I'm glad that this will allow them to be more financially stable.

They have 3 boys and a girl. Very nice kids. I'd go into names, but since I'm just using first initials, all the letters would get hard to keep straight!! The oldest is 13, and starting into the teenage years! All these older nieces and nephews are making me feel old. It's hard to believe that my oldest brother has a 14 year old and in just 4 years she will be going to college, and who knows, she may marry early. Whoa!

OK, C just started this really cute thing I have to mention. She now comes up to me with her arms open and says "hug hug hug!". She asks me for hugs!! I have always had to ask her for hugs! I love this !! She also hugs A a lot without me suggesting or asking her to. It is really sweet.


I feel really bad about last night with C. I put her to bed at 9 on her new schedule. I wasn't worried about her falling asleep though because I couldn't get her to take a nap earlier. So I put her in bed and we went through our routine. Lately she's learned how to open doors, so I put a gate across her door so that if she opens it, she can't come out. (I learned that lesson quickly :) ) So last night after a while (don't remember how long) I heard her crying and she ended up standing in her open doorway with tears just rolling down her cheeks. Now I thought she was just throwing a fit because she didn't want to go to bed. Lately she's learned how to put off going to bed (drink of water!), and I've been watching SuperNanny. So I took her back to her bed and got down and her level and said in a low strong voice "This behavior is unacceptable" She stopped crying and I talked to her about how she knows how to fall asleep and how it wasn't a big deal. I tucked her in again and gave her another drink of water. As I was leaving though, I noticed that her night light was not in the outlet. I realized then why she was freaking out. I put it back in and said goodnight and shut the door and didn't hear another peep. I felt bad though. I disciplined her (though not in a way that was really awful, like putting her on the naughly stool or something) when she didn't need it. C is a really really sweet child and I still feel bad. Next time I'm going to be really sure before I discipline her.

Before we got her the night light, C went through a phase where we would tuck her into bed and then go into the other room. I would hear her get up and after a few minutes I would go and check on her. I would find her behind the door with her stuffed animals and usually a blanket or pillow or both. I thought she might be afraid of the dark, and be sitting by the door because of the light. After we got her the night light that problem stopped totally. She still likes to get up and play with her toys in her room from time to time. I don't mind that though. It doesn't last a long time (hard to play in the dark :) ) and she does go to bed in a reasonable amount of time.

Well, A has started to whine in her swing, so I've got to stop.

Another day

I hate having to come up with a title every time.

So I just got back from scouts. Let me whine for a sec. The other leader didn't show up and I had to deal with 6 boys alone. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal but it was like they all had ants in their pants!! OK Done.

I love monday's. hubby has Monday's off and we get to go out to lunch and basically spend the day together. Lots of fun!

I downloaded PAF from the church website last night (www.lds.org). It was great. We had a lot of fun putting info we already had into the program through a gedcom file. Then we added ourselves and other family that hadn't been around when hubby created the original file 5 years ago. We are taking the family history course during sunday school on sunday's. Its very interesting. I hadn't thought about it before, but Hubby's mom is a convert and her father died last year. Her line has not had any work done on it (whereas I have an aunt that is constants working on and updating mine). It would be great for his mom to do the work for her parents and even for her to be sealed to her parents (her siblings aren't members, so they would have to wait for either death, or conversion and a valid temple recommend).

Well I have a couple of cute pictures of C and A but I still have to figure out how to post them... maybe in a few days

TGIF

Thank goodness it's friday. Thats all I can say :) Its been a full week!

I got about 4 hours of sleep last night because A didn't sleep well for some unknown reason. She has developed a cough along with her runny nose and congestion. I think that was what kept waking her up. Anyway, not only was she up, but she was up for more than her normal 1/2 hour. Needless to say I'm a bit tired. but I think I'm functioning pretty well.

Hubby and I had a big fight this morning. I don't want to write about it though, because I'm still a little angry and don't want to say (especially on paper) anything I may regret later.

My younger sister L and I have been talking on the phone a lot lately. She lives about 3 hours away from where I do. She is single and will be 26 in April. She was a little worried about the fact that she is still single. I don't know what to tell her. She is such a great person with a wonderful personality. She is also very cute.

L attended Court Reporting school right after high school and graduated top in her class. They still talk about her because she had such awesome typing speeds. She worked as a court reporter for a year or two, and when she turned 21 she went on a mission to San Diego. After that she went back to court reporting and started taking more classes at the local university. She wants to be a writer. She has such a fun personality and it shines when she writes stories. I don't know what type of books she wants to write (she is still trying to figure out which will work best for her) but my vote is anything in the LDS genre so that I can buy her books at Deseret Book and say "My sister wrote this"

Here is an example of what she can do.

For Christmas, I had everyone send me recipe's and I organized them into a cook book. My Dad suggested that everyone also send food memories to be included around the recipes. This sounded fun, but like it could be a little dry. So I decided to turn these memories into fairy stories (once upon a time...) Well I wasn't doing very well with them, so I asked L to help. In the end she changed or wrote most of the stories.

Here's what we would get " I do remember this one
time when I made spaghetti and this guy I
liked was over. His name was Scott. I was about 12
or 13 at the time. Anyways..it was the worst
spaghetti ever. It was way too salty and peppery. I
thought our romance was over for sure."

This story was from my sister S

Here is what the story turned into ( I might have helped, I don't remember)
"Once upon a time there was a romantic prince named Scott... And a lovely young maiden called S. In the frolicking French countryside the two met to eat Italian cuisine, because S didn’t know how to make French cuisine. S had high hopes of winning the prince which her magnificent cooking skills. But alas, the spaghetti she made was too salty, and for some reason the handsome prince kept sneezing every time he tried to take a bite. So the two decided not to get married after all and Scott went home for dinner. The end."

Of course there are more and even better examples of her talent (which I wish I had), but A just woke up and Its hard to type and hold her at the same time.

what a day!

Well, A's fever broke around midnight last night. Then the conjestion started. At one point I was desperate to find a bulb syringe (sp?) because she had so much she was choking on it. I finally found one after searching the house for a long time. I tried to sleep in our recliner with her cuddled to my chest. Although I have done this with C many many times (that's how we got through many nights) for some reason I couldn't get to sleep. I finally got A to a point where I felt comfortable letting her sleep in her crib (after many suctionings ) and got into bed around 2 am. She woke up around 4, and I was so out of it that It took me a while to figure out that it wasn't a dream of some sort. I got her back to bed. She woke up again around 7:30 and this time C woke up also. It was really cute. I sat down to feed A and C, who has recently discovered how to open her bedroom door, knocked on her bedroom door and came out. I told her that it wasn't time to get up yet and that she needed to go back to bed. To my delight, she did. She normally gets up around 8:45 - 9:00 (we put her to bed later in the evening. It's a schedule that works for me) She came out once more and I told her again. Then I sort of dozed with A in the recliner. I heard C come out 1 or 2 times more, but was half asleep and really didn't move. I remember her going back into her room and shutting the door. She is such a cute kid! I love her so much.

Well, this morning, after all the dozing I felt like I got enough sleep. We got up, changed the kids diapers and went out to do the shopping. Only thing is that I had a prescription refilled and I forgot to pick it up. I'm such a dork. So I'll go again - probably tomorrow. I need to pick up some more vitamin C anyway. My Mom swears that if I take it, it will help A get over her cold faster. I had been taking it earlier in the winter, but about a month ago I ran out and hadn't purchased any more. A hasn't had a cold for a while, so maybe Mom is right.

Well, My sisters W and J invited me to a Mary Kay party on Thursday. I'll probably go just because it will be mostly family and I love to see everyone. There are 7 girls and 3 boys in my family and all but 2 siblings live here. They said that most everyone (or their wives) said they will be there. I'll probably take A and leave C at home. I hate these parties, because I always feel like I have to buy something. but I think I can hold off. There have been a ton of people having parties in my ward lately. They all invite me. I just politely ignore them. I'm sort of lucky in that way because I don't know anyone well enough to have to go to them. I think hubby is glad I don't go because then we don't have to worry about me finding additional ways to spend money.

So yesterday for FHE hubby and I decided to tackly the years supply issue. We decided that it was about time that we follow the prophets council. We've been doing some dry pack canning with the ward every month. I think we have about a 3 months supply with that, but I felt that we needed to attack the sundries. Like Toilet paper and laundry soap. So we made a list of all the non food items we need. Clothes weren't included. Just stuff for the house. Diapers, toilet paper, shampoo, stuff like that. We made a list and estimated how much we would need for a year (might as well get the whole year done, rather than just starting with the 3 month) We figured that we could spend an additional $10 a week on our grocery bill. so we worked it out and we think that we can have a year supply of all those items by June. At that point we will refigure everything and begin to go over what supplies we will need in the food department for a year supply. We will continue to stock up monthly when the ward has use of the dry packer. I feel really good about this plan. I'm excited because we had decided a while ago that we could spare the $10 and we should buy supplies every week, but we never had a game plan and that quickly died. I really want this to work!

Well I better get to bed in case A decides to have another hard night.

Monday!

It's after 11, but I didn't want to go to bed without writing.

Today has been interesting. M started a fever last night. Her first. Fevers always make me nervous. Mostly because I never know when just a fever gets to the make a trip to the doctor point. I've taken C to the doctor after she ran a fever for over 3 days and I got squat. They made me feel stupid about it. Even when it turned out C had hand foot and mouth disease (not to be confused with hoof and mouth :) they made me feel stupid. I know they are busy and all, but I paid good money to see a doctor and the least they could do is make me feel like I'm getting my $$'s worth. I'm seriously thinking about changing pediatricians. My problem is that C was in a rotovirus vaccine study. I don't want to change doctors until a) I can research and choose my next doctor carefully, and b) I find out whether she got the vaccine or the placebo. If she got the vaccine, I will probably end up staying with this doctor because he is familiar with it. It has a few possible side effects that are rarely seen, but he would be most likely to see it because of he familiarity with it.

Anyway, speaking of doctors, I need to see mine about this wierd lump on my foot. Also I want to go and see the chiropractor again because it seems like my back isn't getting better. It's basically staying the same. Not horrible, but not that comfortable either. I thought church would be awful yesterday, but strangely enough my back seemed to be fine in those hard chairs, and even seemed to do better in them. Go figure.

Well, I was thinking about my brother K who I wrote about a few days ago and something occured to me that I've thought about before. When I was in junior high, during the summertime, we drove to Utah for a cousin's wedding. My brother K and his wife were attending BYU at the time. At the reception, K and his wife took my sister L and Ae home with them as a treat. They would spend the night and travel home with K and K to Idaho the next day. I remember being really jealous that I couldn't go.

Well the next day when we got home, K and K weren't there yet. No big deal. K wasn't well known for his punctuality. We knew they wouldn't be to late though because All of us kids were supposed to go to a local water park that afternoon. Well we finally got to the point where we couldn't wait any longer and we were all loaded into the car, and my sister S was going to drive. I don't remember if S was still inside when we got the call, or if Mom came running out to the car, but either way we received a phone call telling us that K and K had been in an accident and Mom and Dad should come. The hospital was in a town about 45 min away. Mom and Dad got directions to the hospital and were shortly on their way.

The truck had rolled because my sister in law had fallen asleep. L and Ae had been thrown out of the truck. It was one of those small trucks with small seats behind the front seat and I don't think there were seat belts, or if there were, they couldn't find them or something. L had a lot of trauma to her face, and Ae had injuries that could have easily killed her. I remember one of them telling me later about a passing motorist who had stopped to help. They sang primary songs with them. Also I remember one of them telling me about how in the ambulance the attendant or whatever you call the ambulance guy (first responder? don't know why I can't think of the name) kept waking them up. K and K both had minor injuries and minor concussions. They had their seatbelts on and I think one or both of them might have had bruises from their seatbelts (the car ended up upside down)

When dad got their he was with L and the doctor was looking at her gums. Her teeth had gone through her lower lip ( I think , its been awhile so pardon the memory lapses) and 2-3 teeth were missing. My dad said that they thought the teeth were gone until he noticed a few white things shoved far up into her gums. Turned out to be the teeth. I don't know what was going on with Alysa at this time. But I know her injuries were serious. They both made it, but are still receiving and dealing with insurance settlements to this day.

My whole point in bringing this up is this. I think that K (sister in law) might have been feeling guilty about this whole thing, and that could be why she and my brother have always lived anywhere but here. It's something that occured to me a few years ago. I remember Mom having to deal with the insurance companies about a settlement (my uncle, mom's twin, is an insurance guy and helped her make sure Ae and L got what was fair) and her commenting about it in a conversation with K (sister in law) This was many years past the accident ( if I remember they couldn't settle until Ae and L were a certain age), and I don't think mom really thought about it. But for some reason it struck me that K (sister in law) must feel really guilty. I know I would.

Sunday

We're watching "The best two years." I don't know why we have to continually have the TV on around here, but for some reason we do. I think we just need to think of other ways to spend time together as a family.

With church in the afternoon the kids don't get an afternoon nap. C fell asleep a little after 7. I sure hope she doesn't get up early early tomorrow morning.

A woke up at 4 and 6 and then 8 this morning. I told my hubby I was on strike when he brought her to me ( he was already awake and getting ready for meetings). It worked for about 10 minutes. :)

Church was good today. But I have to complain about one more thing :) The scouting group has to many meetings!!! Their is our monthly Round table, the meeting to plan pack meeting, pack meeting, various trainings (about 1-2 times a year), and all for the weekly meetings of the cub scouts! I guess its not much, but its still a lot when you have kids to take along. Maybe I just need to adjust my attitude.

Speaking of scouts, we need to have another planning meeting. Scouts is tomorrow and nothing is planned.

Well my desire to play roller coaster tycoon 2 is greater than my desire to Blog.

tired

tonight I'm tired. The baby keeps whining and the toddler has been constantly naughty for most of the day. I'm just tired.

So I'm typeing and holding the baby. And I think C has a stinky diaper. What fun.

I think I need an attitude adjustment.

It has been a nice day. Hubby didn't have to do anything today so we were able to have a nice day at home. We did go shopping and one store and it was quite fun. We came home and I played roller coaster tycoon 2 and then made dinner and did the dishes.

I love it when my husband cooks. He does a good job and it always tastes good. But it bugs me when I have to do his dishes. OK, maybe thats not the issue. Maybe the issue is that I like a clean kitchen but I haven't been able to figure out how to keep it clean. It's discouraging because I felt like I almost had a system figured out and then I hurt my back and it seems harder to find the motivation to get up and get moving. The whole house is suffering to be honest. The laundry needs to be done, the bathrooms and the kitchen needs to be finished. I only loaded the dishwasher.

Friday

So it's Friday. Yay! Its a great day of the week. I love it because it means Hubby and I will be able to spend time together tomorrow and the next day and the next day!!

We drove about 45 minutes to celebrate hubby's Mom's birthday with her. They loved seeing the girls and playing with A who was especially smiley tonight.

On the way home C started saying "poopy" and actually started crying by the time we got to a gas station. I fully expected to find an extremely poopy diaper when we got there, but nothing. She was still upset and walking funny. so I think she is a little constipated. It's all those banana's :) Anyway, I walked her around the gas station until she stopped walking funny and seemed happy again. We got home without any more crying and she is still walking around trying to get things moving. I'm going to put her to bed in 10 minutes though even if she doesn't get it out. Maybe the relaxation of sleep will help.

Besides that today has been relatively uneventful. Hubby did bring lunch home and spent some time with all of us. I would love it if he did that every other week or so. It was nice to see him and the kids loved it.

Well, no time to talk about family tonight. Hubby is tired and I want to get the kids to bed :)

The Wiggles - again

So here we are watching the Wiggles movie again this morning. We actually only watched the last half this morning, but after her bath C requested it again.

So I don't have anything really interesting to say about my life right now, other than I stayed up until 12:30 playing Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 last night. Then the girls got up a little early this morning. I'm doing fine though. Not sleepy at all. Yet. :)

Well back to telling about my family. The next person in line (I'm going from oldest to youngest) is my sister S. S and I have always had what you might call an abrasive relationship.

When we moved from Oregon to Idaho she was on a mission in Arizona. She came home and we had to share a room. It wasn't for very long though. S got engaged the same weekend she came home. No. there wasnt anyone waiting for her. She and another missionary from her mission got engaged. He had returned home around 6 months earlier. The way I heard it described went something like this - their eyes met across the room and they knew they were meant to be married. Ironically about 10 years (?) and 3 children later they felt that they were meant to be divorced. Anyway, while they were still married they lived in Idaho, Provo, California and then Idaho again, and then Washington. Provo for BYU, California for Chiropractic school, Idaho to try and set up a practice, Washington to try the same thing.
While they were living in Provo they had their first child and during that summer S had my sister L down to live with her for a month and help with the baby while she finished up school. After L came home, it was my turn. I was excited, but it wasn't all that great. They fought a lot and I was stuck home with the baby a lot, and since I didn't know very many people my age, I didn't do anything with anyone else. It was supposed to be for a month, but I think it stretched a little bit longer. I think it might have been a little hard on their marriage to. A little apartment, and a child and another person. How could you have any privacy? I seem to remember them taking a lot of sunday afternoon naps...

Anyway, after they got divorced, S moved back home with all the kids (oh joy) . There was only Mom, Dad and Me, L , Ae and Ar living at home still. I forgot to mention that right after they finished Chiropractic school they moved in with us. the whole family. This experience left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth and even Dad vowed that he would never do it again. But this time I don't think S had a choice and Mom and Dad felt like they had to help her.

It was another bad experience but eventually she did move out.

When the whole family moved in after Chiropractic school, Mom and Dad had just put an addition onto the house (when we moved in, the house had a 1/2 basement, and they hired someone to dig out the other half) This added 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a huge storage room to our 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house. Right after it was dug out and Dad had just started working on it, S and her family asked to move in. S's husband helped Dad finish the addition somewhat. Anyway, the work was done so quickly and S's husband did a lot of it. And it wasn't done up to Dad's standard. It was never completely finished either. To this day there are unfinished parts. I've always felt a little bitter about this. Before Mom and Dad can move anywhere, they'll have to completely finish it. Also repair or redo the stuff that wasn't done well.

Well, once they were divorced and S had moved out with her kids, life got back to normal somewhat. but S had moved into an apartment that was a 5 minute walk away. So we still saw a whole bunch of them. Also, there was a whole lot of babysitting that occured with my younger sisters (probably 14 or so at the time).

Well currently S has just finished up her degree and has just started a new degree. She had been working at the local DI. I think her job had something to do with occupational therapy. She worked on her degree online through the University of Utah. For the last year or two her kids lived with her ex in Washington. This allowed her to focus totally on her school work. I think it was the right choice because it seemed to allow her to find herself somewhat. Her ex re-married within a year of their divorce and were shortly thereafter pregnant with their first and so far only child. The kids seemed to thrive with them. It seemed like whereas before they were a little uncontrollable and hard to be around (S always said "Mom and Dad disciplined us to much as kids, I'm not going to do that to my kids!") they now seemed to be structured (we aren't allowed to watch more than x hours of TV per day).

So just a week or two ago she started her new job and her youngest child has come to live with her permanently. The other two were doing well in school so it was decided that the best thing for them was to finish out the school year.

Our relationship is still somewhat corrosive. She called me up in early December this year and asked me if I would like to attend a shepherds dinner on Christmas eve at her house. I agreed because we didn't have plans and it sounded nice. My hubby was lukewarm about it because he doesn't care for S to much. somewhat my fault. Anyway somwhere down the line this turned into our house. I was fine with that because then we wouldn't have to drive somewhere and try and keep C from getting into stuff. So along the way, the chicken we were assigned to make turned into the Turkey that Hubby got from work and we decided that if we were going to have turkey that we should have gravy and jello. But I didn't mention this to S until a couple days before. Well she didn't tell me that this was a tradition that she did every year and that it had to be done a certain way. So she didn't take it to well when I told her and said we can change it a little bit right? She was upset with me. She called me later and said stuff like "I can see you want this dinner to be a certain way so lets make it that way" Anyway so she changed the dinner from a shepherds dinner with a little twist (my description) to a turkey dinner. I was upset that she wanted to change it. Anyway, eventually we were able to talk through it to a point where I could handle her being in my house on Christmas eve. One thing that still bugs me (though we talked through it) was the fact that she invited my brother without even asking me. Originally it would be us, S, and sister W's family (W had to work). I found out the day before that she had invited my brother C and his family. Now I would have no problem with this except that A) she didn't check with me first b) C has 5 children. My house is small. I have had large gatherings at my house before and found that there was just not enough room. I didn't want to recind the invitation and risk hurting C's wife's feelings. I like them and they have good kids (most of the time :) )
When we talked through the fact that I had a problem with her inviting other people to my house without asking if I was ok with it, she said ok I can remember that. It will be M's rule. Don't invite people to her house without asking.

OK. Am I the only person who would have a problem with this? I mean yeah, it was her dinner that she was organizing, but it was my house. I just think that most people would want that curtesy and it shouldn't be just my rule.

Anyway, enough about S.

Here we are again

It's Wednesday again. Sometimes all my days start to merge together because they are all the same. Except for the weekends they all follow the same pattern

Well, today I'm listening to music playing on another Blogger's site. Her name is Faye and she is over at Byu hawaii. Cool Blog. Great music!!

Well, I forgot to blog yesterday. I'm glad I didn't promise to write everyday, but I'm still a little dissapointed that I forgot. I don't want this to be one of those things that I say I'm going to do everyday and then I forget and eventually abandon.

Well Hubby had a class meeting yesterday. He's attending the local University of Phoenix. I think it's great because it doesn't take up much of his time. Also if he doesn't like the teacher or whatever, its not a big deal because the class only lasts 5 weeks!

You know whats weird. If hubby doesn't come home for dinner (class or something) I don't feel like making anything. Hello! It's not like I don't have to eat?! And C eats real food. I don't know why I don't make the effort if he's not there. Maybe because he is appreciative? I don't know...

So C is watching her daily dose of The Wiggles right now. She watches about 2-3 hours of Wiggles everyday and an hour of Sesame street. Thats to much TV and I am trying to figure out other things to do. It's hard though during the winter. There is not much else to do. Today we went and I had her pick up her toys while I picked up in the kitchen.... I'll come up with more tomorrow. I can think of plenty for me to do... just not enough to keep her busy . Lets see, coloring, playing, ?? I'm still new at this parenting thing. And I don't want a couch potato!!! Hubby and I are overweight, and it's not something I want for my girls.

Well, I've completed another crocheted baby blanket. This one is for my cousin. She and her husband have really been through the ringer this last 6 months or so. I don't know all the details for sure, but basically they can't have kids because she had to have part of her uterus removed because of some cancer. They've tried to become pregnant but no luck. so they did all the paperwork for adoption. They were able to get a baby through a place in Utah (they are in Ohio). After like 6 weeks or so the birth mother decided she wanted the baby back. As you can imagine, this was devastating for my cousin. both emotionally and financially. After that long, the baby was theirs emotionally. Financially they had paid thousands of dollars that would not be refunded. My cousin was just crushed. They reported this agency to the state and followed some other avenues to try and at least make sure another couple wouldn't have to go through this devastation. They can't do anything about the birth mother, that was her decision, but financially the agency really took advantage of them. A few weeks ago they were able to adopt another baby. This time it was a case where the birth parents had already signed away their rights and seems safe. I sure hope that this works out for them. If something happened with this baby I would be extremely worried about them. once would devestate me, twice would blow me away. Personally, my baby is only 3 months and I couldn't imagine life without her. Even if I hadn't given birth to her, there is a bonding that goes on that is just amazing. She started really smiling about a month ago and its like a big thank you from her for all the stuff we do for her. She is the cutest baby!!!

The next blanket I'm going to crochet is going to be for my Grandma. She is in her 80's and is living with my Aunt and Uncle in the next town. Grandma and my Aunt have been making hats for the humanitarian Aid for the church. they use those looms that you can buy in craft stores. Anyway, Grandma has been giving me all of her scraps of yarn that were to small to use in a hat. I found an afghan pattern that is specifically to use up scrap yarn (called a yo-yo-afghan) . So I'm going to make it and give it to Grandma. I've decided that if she doesn't want it (has to many, etc) I'm going to have her donate it to the humanitarian aid. We'll see what she decides.

Monday again

So today was a day of house cleaning, and scouts. I woke up, took a shower and went grocery shopping with the baby. Hubby kept our toddler at home while he cleaned the carpets downstairs. Our toddler is great when it comes to getting carpets dirty.

So I was putting the groceries into my car when this elderly woman walked by and mentioned that she was lost. I said something along the lines of "yeah, I'm lucky cause my husband usually keeps track of that" As I was climbing into my car, she walked by again, this time going the other way. She said something about if I had seen a car from a particular county as she walked by. I didn't really say anything because she didnt' seem to expect a response. But I was worried about her because she looked pretty old and she reminded me of my grandma. Grandma is always cold and so I worried about this lady. Also, she was walking slow, and I noticed a tremor in her hand. I pulled out and started driving away. I changed my mind a few rows over and turned down a row that I didn't think she had gone down yet. I noticed a vehicle with her county right away. So I drove over to where she was, a few rows away and rolled down my window and told her. She asked if she could ride over with me. I thought about this possibility when I was driving over to her and came to the conclusion that she seemed very old and frail and I didn't think she could possibly be someone that was trying to find a victim. So I let her in and we drove over to the car. It wasn't it. I guess this county is close to ours and there were at least 20 cars from there. so we spent about 15 min driving through the Wal-mart parking lot. During the conversation I found out that she normally used a walker, she had 5 kids. 2 girls and 3 boys or something like that, and that her 2 daughters had passed away last year. Also that she got married young and had her first kid at I think, 16. Oh, and her husband had passed away and his friend had given her a ride there. Anyway, I remember her name was Shirley and she was very nice. That was my adventure for the day!

So on the way home I stopped by KFC for lunch. When I got home we ate lunch and I put the kids down for naps. Then after an hour or so, Gilmore girls! I also got to crochet during it. Yay! Two guilty pleasures at once!

So that was my day. for FHE tonight we're watching TV and having caramel popcorn. Nothing says family night like TV :( Oh well

So a little more of my family history....
My oldest brother lives in Utah. I've never really had the opportunity to get to know him well. He went on his mission about the time I was 5 or 6. When he came home he started going to Ricks College (now BYU Idaho). I remember that one of the Girls he was dating down there was named "Marnell" Strange name. I guess that's why it stuck in my memory.
Well somewhere along the way he met and married his wife. She was the daughter of a woman Dad worked with. They got married and moved down to Provo to attend BYU and had their first child down there.

Wow I can't concentrate. The baby keeps whining and hubby and I can't figure out what is wrong other than her normal evening crankiness. She usually takes an evening nap, and that helps, but today her schedule is off because she loves to sleep in the grocery cart.

Well back to my oldest brother K - AFter Provo, he lived in Guam and started working for the church as a building inspector. He graduated from BYU in buisiness and russian (I think?) . But after Guam there was Oregon, then Texas and finally Utah, where he is right now. Along the way he and his wife ended up with 5 cute girls. All with names starting with K. Thats right. One of those families. His wife's name starts with a K, and I think at one point they had a kitten that they named Kiara.

I wish I had been able to get to really really know him. He seems like a great guy. Whenever he is up here for family gatherings, I don't really get to talk to him - too much going on. Also, his wife is hard to get to know. I think that is because the only times I really get to see her is when she is visiting us. So she is stressed with trying to deal with kids on "vacation". I think and have heard from Mom that when she is relaxed at home, she is really a nice, easy to deal with person.
She must be, because she and my brother have turned out some neat kids. I was just reading their Christmas letter and their oldest (the oldest grandkid) is 14 (I feel so old!!!) and is taking and giving piano lessons. The other kids are doing great things also. I was pretty impressed. I can't believe that the 14 year old could potentially be at college in 4 years and after that married!

Well enough for now. Hubby just went to bed and I've got to take care of getting the kids to bed.