Excitement!

Okay, I'm excited...probably more excited than I should be about some silly cookies. BUT, my kids are going to LOVE these...yes you read that right...LOVE...LoVe...lOvE! Not just because they are cookies but because they are cookies that they can "play" with (before they are baked of course)! These spectacular cookies are called Play dough cookies. I haven't been able to do much baking this Holiday Season and so I'm even more excited for this project...most of the work or "play" can be done by the kids and the rest by my Bosch which will help my wrist out!
I originally found this recipe at Make It and Love It and then followed the links to here at The Secret is in the Sauce.

Play Dough Cookies

3/4 cup butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
assorted food coloring (gel or paste works best)

1. In a bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth

2. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different food coloring. Wrap in plastic and chill for 2 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape colors into 3 /4 inch balls. For each cookie place one pink, one orange, one green and one blue ball together and roll to make one giant ball. Roll into a 12 inch long snake, and then starting at one end coil roll to make a cookie. Place cookies 2 to 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheet to allow for spreading.

4. Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and store in an airtight container...enjoy!

Traditions

I've been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions in the past few weeks. In the 9 Christmas's we've celebrated together things seem to change every year. We spent our first Christmas with me working until late and then we went to Stuart's parents house pretty much to listen to the Christmas story by candle light. Every year after we haven't really had a set way of doing things. Stuart LOVES eating tamales for Christmas Eve dinner, reading the Christmas story by candle light and waiting until Christmas morning to open ANY presents.

I am all about having a big Christmas Eve dinner, going to look at Christmas lights then opening presents and after all the excitement reading the Christmas story (growing up it wasn't by candle light).

We have sort of tried to incorporate our traditions together. We've always, no matter where we've been read the Christmas story by candle light. I really do love this tradition. Somehow it makes it just that much better. As for presents, we've done it both ways. Food, well...we've had tamales on Christmas Eve. Last year my parents even brought up tamales for Stuart while the rest of us ate turkey. And, we've tried to go look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve as well.

This year again things are changing. I am having surgery on the 22nd on my wrist. They are doing both a carpal tunnel release and removing a "mass"...they aren't sure what it is. So, I'm probably not going to be up for a whole lot. After my surgery we have to go down to my parents as Phillip & Maija have dentist appointments in Ft. Collins...no one around here takes kids under 5. So, on the 22nd Stuart and my mom are going to take the kids to look at Christmas lights (not many people in Rawlins decorate...so sad!).

Stuart is cooking Christmas Eve dinner and we are having some friends over. After that we'll be opening presents and then of course our favorite part....reading the Christmas story by candle light! Then off to bed to await Santa's arrival. On Christmas morning we are getting everyone up early to open Santa presents and then at about 7:30 ish we are going to drive to Idaho Falls in order to make it for Christmas dinner.

I like the traditions that we have, but what I love even more about Christmas is spending time with our family and friends!

What are your traditions? Do you keep the same ones every year?

Santa &Concerts

Last Friday night we had our Ward Christmas party. I fully intended to have my kids all dressed up for pictures with Santa. Unfortunately (for dressing up) I was cooking a ham that had to be at the church at 5, which meant I was pulling it out of my oven at 4:30. Samuel had a birthday party at 4 and we hadn't had the opportunity to shop for a present so we left the house about 3:30 to get a present. I also had to go to the post office and run a couple other errands. My plan was to drop Samuel off a little before 4, pick up KatieJo from Boys and Girls club, run my errands really quickly get the ham and take it to the Church before 5 and then go home to change everyone but Samuel then head back to get Samuel and then on to the Church.

My plan would have worked, except we stood in line for over 20 minutes at Alco to pay. Which put us dropping Samuel off at 4:10 which meant I had to hurry and get KatieJo and run home to get the Ham. Oh, did I mention the birthday party was only ONE hour long...seriously, what's the point in having a party (and it was at McDonalds and all they fed him was a cupcake...maybe it's just me but if I throw a party at McDonalds at the very least they should have served ice cream)? So after getting the ham I ran to the post office and then went to get Samuel. I didn't get the ham to the Church until about 5:15 and had to run home for the diaper bag because somehow I managed to leave the house both times I was home before without it. At that point I didn't have enough time to get all 4 of them out of the van, into the house and changed. So, away we went in the clothing we had on. No cuteness for us...but we have pictures regardless. =
This is Ms. Maija and her "ornery" face. She freaked out when we put her on Santa's lap so I thought I'd post something besides her screaming.It was terribly chaotic trying to get pictures. People wouldn't stand back so I could get a better picture, and I didn't feel good so this is the best I have. Phillip had been on his lap right before this, but Santa didn't quite understand that we wanted a picture with all 4. We had a good time, I just wish Santa had asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Instead KatieJo was worried he wouldn't know what they wanted because he didn't ask and I didn't bring the letters they wrote (her plan after he didn't ask what she wanted was to hand him her letter..OOPS!). I assured her that I would mail the letters and that Santa would know what she wanted.
Tonight we went to KatieJo's Christmas Concert. She was SOOOOO excited to be up on stage, but also excited to not have to sing those songs anymore. This is a picture of her and her friend Isaac. We happen to be good friends with his parents and joked as we were taking the picture that we'd use it at their wedding someday. Isaac was baptized this last Saturday and KatieJo is TERRIBLY jealous that he got to be baptized before her. I think she's starting to count down, although she still has almost 4 months left. This was the only good picture I got. I was using my Video Camera to record the singing AND my regular camera just for pictures when they were on stage. However, my Video Camera does a much better job at zooming than my regular camera but it was already in use...so no pictures on stage.

Freezer....paper!

This may sound silly, and I'd divulge what I'm making but Samuel reads this on a regular basis. So all I'm going to say is that appliqueing and freezer paper is AWESOME! I've never appliqued before Saturday, and it went really well...I was a tad bit excited...except for the fact that I didn't have an heat and bond which means I pinned the fabric to what I was appliqueing it to and just sewed away. Then Stuart informed me that I could have used the freezer paper he just bought me for another project to keep the fabric sticking to my project. As it turns out he read the box...guess he was a little bored :0)

I also used the freezer paper to make a stencil for another project...I LOVE it! I think I might be using freezer paper for a lot more projects soon.

Christmas is in a few short weeks and then I'll share the projects that I did for Christmas. I had to limit my sewing this year as I have a cyst in my wrist that is causing me considerable pain. I've had it for about 3 years, however the pain has been unbearable in the last few months. I'll find out Tuesday what the plan is for my wrist. I'm hoping they just take the thing out since it is growing out of my joint, but we'll see.

Happy Birthday!

Before I start my post, I want to wish my FAVORITE (because he shares my birthday) Uncle Mark a Happy Happy Birthday!!!

I'm ONE! Can you believe it? My mom can't. She's a little sad about it really. Today mom says the bottle fairy is coming to take all my bottles. I'm getting a whole bunch of big girl sippy cups for my birthday....a couple of them even have princesses on them (that's because daddy says I'm a princess). Mom doesn't have my "stats" yet because my 1 year check-up isn't until next Wednesday. I sure hope I don't get too many shots!
I still only have 2 teeth...my bottom front. And I'm starting to wear 6-9 month clothes (mom's REALLY excited about that!).

Here are some of my favorites.....

Food: CHEESE!!! I will literally drop any other food I have for cheese. Oh, I like ANYTHING with cheese on it too.

Toy: My pacifier, sadly though mom and dad think I only need it at nap time and bed time. Although I do find pacifiers scattered in my room on occasion.

Parent: Now this may seem a little silly on my part, but I LOVE my Daddy! Whenever he comes home I get to him as fast as I can! I do however prefer my mom when I don't feel good or am tired.

Sleep: I am an awesome sleeper and prefer to just be put in my crib with my blanket and pacifier. But if someone is putting me to sleep, I want mom.

Oh, by the way...I am a HAPPY girl! I love to giggle and play and I think my big brothers and sister are the greatest people ever!

So here are my pictures from the last year...don't worry I only put one for each month.

Maija the day she was born.
December 2009 (1 month old)January 2009 (2 months old)
February 2009 (3 months)
In case you are wondering that is a fuzzy hat on her head.

March 2009 (4 months old)

April 2009 (5 months)May 2009 (6 months old)
June 2009 (7 months old)
July 2009 ( 8 months old)August (9 months)
September (10 months)
October (11 months)

And here I am, my 1 year-old pictures!! Aren't I just adorable!?!?

Thankful....

So far this week we have been Thankful for (by date)......

1st: Our Cousins! We called Stephen and Annie.

2nd: Music...we listened to MoTab....BEAUTIFUL!!!

3rd: Our MOM! They did nice things for me. KatieJo drew me a picture of a horse and Samuel opened my car door for me.

4th: Computers...we sang "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" and sent it to our Grandparents.

5th: Our Teeth! We brushed and flossed for good measure.

Inspiration

Chocolate on the Cranium's Wordful Wednesday this week is a tad bit more challenging for me. I have thought for over a week about who are the 10 people who I feel have influenced me the most. Of course the first people that popped into my head were my parents and other family members. Those are kind of a given, however Cocoa said not to use them. So the question is, besides those people who really did influence me?

There is a Science teacher that comes to mind. I took almost every class taught in High School. Mr. Borinski. I've talked about him in a previous Wordful Wednesday post (click HERE), however I LOVED his classes! He made me want to be better and he made me want to learn.

My best friend growing up was another big influence on my life. Melanie has always been there for me when I needed her, and she answered all the questions I ever had about the church and even stood strong when I chose to ridicule what she believed. She even flew from Utah to Colorado so she could be at my baptism. I only have one biological sister, but I consider Melanie a sister and I'm glad that she's been part of my life!

This one is a little bit silly, but when we had tv reception I LOVED to watch his show. Emeril is an inspiration to me because of his love for cooking. I spend a lot more time planning meals for our family than I care to admit. I try very hard to make the meals fun and exciting for my kids. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. However, Emeril made cooking a lot more fun for me!

My Great Aunt Ila...technically we aren't related, however that has NEVER stopped her from treating us like family. I love her more than I could ever show or tell her, and I have always felt unconditional love from her. How wonderful it is to have that! (I have blogged about her before as well. If you'd like to read more about her click HERE.)

Gerald Lund. Before I ever joined the Church I had read the entire Work and the Glory series. A little strange I know, but even though the characters are not real I learned a lot from these books.

Thomas S. Monson. From the day I joined the Church I have LOVED to hear him speak! He is an inspiring man, and I love the story that he retold A Christmas Dress for Ellen. He is a Wonderful Man!

Josh Groban...have you heard that boy (I say boy because he is younger than me) sing? HOLY COW! His music is wonderful and peaceful! (I'd put my husband in this spot because he has a beautiful voice, but since that's not allowed today I'll have to settle for Josh.)

Michael McLean...he writes just for me, I'm sure of it. His songs are always what I need to hear.

Elders (well they aren't Elders anymore) Wade Poulson and John Long. They are the missionaries who showed up at my door after I called them. They taught me the discussions, and we're just plain nice guys.

Sister Beck, I LOVED her talk that she gave at the General Relief Society Broadcast.

Publish Post

This is how we do it!

We're shaking things up this year in our house. In previous years we've made a Thankful Turkey see here for last year's Turkey. We will do a Thankful Turkey again this year, partially because I love doing it and partially because it is a great FHE right before Thanksgiving.This year though we're doing a "Thanksgiving Thankful Countdown". I ran across someone talking about it on their blog, and although I can't remember what blog, whoever it was got it from SugarDoodle. It's kind of like a Journal Jar with 26 slips of paper that you start on Nov. 1 and end on Thanksgiving. Each one has something they are (or should be) thankful for and an activity to go with it. For example...I am Thankful for my Family, I am Thankful for Pies (this one involves making a pie for someone....we exchanged it for brownies since it is a more kid friendly dessert...to make anyway), I am Thankful for Teachers, I am Thankful for our Car (this is my favorite because it says to go clean the car!), I am Thankful for the Scriptures, I am Thankful for my hands....etc.

I was really impressed by these because some are geared toward KatieJo and Samuel's age and some are geared toward Phillip although the others will have fun with them too...like the I am Thankful for my hands it says to do an Art project involving finger painting or drawing.

Last night KatieJo drew "I am Thankful for my Cousins" with the instructions to call one of your cousins. We killed 2 birds with one stone and called James & Aimees son Stephen (Samuel's choice) and daughter Anne (KatieJo's choice). We wish we would have had time to call more cousins, but we started a little late last night.

It's fun to see the kids get so excited about being Thankful!

Halloween 2009

Since I am not the biggest fan of Halloween it was decided that we wouldn't do a whole bunch of trick or treating and instead would let the kids get their fill at the trunk or treat. Now, typically when we do bi-ward activities only the younger couples with kids show up and even then there aren't a whole lot of people. Tonight however the gym was PACKED, which of course made the kids more hyper than normal (when sugar is involved).

I thought that we wouldn't get a ton of candy at the trunk or treat portion of the activity...I was wrong. The kids made out GOOD!

Phillip woke up this morning THRILLED that it was Halloween and couldn't WAIT for the trunk or treat. And the only reason KatieJo and Samuel did any chores today was because they were told if they didn't do them we wouldn't go. WOW they move with that kind of incentive!

Now for the pictures:This is one of 2 pictures we have of Maija in her costume. She had a cute tail and everything, but wouldn't let us put it back on. So, she wore her "Little Devil" shirt. It was cute, but not as cute as the costume!

KatieJo (the unicorn) and Samuel (Peter Pan). KatieJo's costume was too small. It was too small when we got it at a garage sale....but she HAD to HAVE it! Phillip (the Crab)...He LOVES this hat! Originally he had a completely red outfit...unfortunately we couldn't find the red pants tonight so we put his "Little Devil" shirt on under his "surf" shirt and made him a "Cool Crab". He didn't care, he was just so darn excited for the candy!My four cRaZy kids! I love Samuel's pose in this picture. He looks so...gallant!

Their HAUL!
As we were looking at all of the candy and the older kids were picking out their piece of candy for the night (yes you read that correct...they only got 1 piece. For my defense however I'll state the fact that they did have cookies and dessert at the Halloween party tonight) Maija decided she needed a sucker. She is VERY good at letting us know what she wants, and she wanted that sucker! You may not be able to competely see it in this picture, but tonight is the first time I put her hair in a little ponytail. Not all of her hair fits, but she has long hair on the sides of her head so I pulled it back and then stuck a korker bow in it. I'm a little bit excited about that....it's one of the reasons I LOVE having girls!

After the kids were in bed I was looking for a piece of candy and Phillip walked out of his room and says: "What are you doing Mommy? Eating my candy?" I had to laugh. He wasn't upset as I would have thought...it was just so matter of fact. Truthfully it wasn't just his candy as after they look at their candy we combine all of it.

Here's to another Halloween...now we'll move on to CHRISTMAS!!!! Of course we couldn't bypass Thanksgiving...but YAY Christmas!

Really?

Stuart and I are in the process of renewing our Temple Reccomends and so were supposed to have a meeting with our Bishop and the Stake President tonight. However, because of the weather the Stake President couldn't make it to town. We decided to go ahead with the meeting with the Bishop so that when the Stake President reschedules we already have part of the process complete.

I'm quite a bit upset after my interview with the Bishop. At first everything went fine. He asked the normal questions...no surprises. That is until after he was done and he looked at Maija and asked how she was fitting in. I thought it was a little strange and said that everyone loves her. He proceeded to go on and say "It must be hard." I wasn't sure what he was talking about and asked him to clarify. He then told me it must be hard to adopt and to love the kids and asked if I felt I treated them any different than Phillip. SERIOUSLY?!?!?

He asked several other questions along that line and then let me leave and went to get Stuart. I was BLOWN away. I've been having a hard time lately and one of the things I've been struggling with is feeling like I'm a bad mom. Not for anything specific necessarily, and not to just one or two of my kids but to all of them.

It took us a long time to get to be parents. We were married 3 years when we got KatieJo & Samuel and I was so grateful to finally get to be a mom. It took almost 3 more years to have Phillip and just when we were thinking about trying for another baby I started having problems again and then we found out about Maija who has been a HUGE blessing to us.

There is a reason we got our kids the way we did. Heavenly Father has such a bigger plan that we could ever have! I wanted to be a mom, and I am a mom....does it matter how they came to be part of our family?

I should have told the Bishop that of course I treat them different, each of my children is so vastly different from the next that I cannot possibly parent them all in the same way. I wouldn't be an effective parent if I disciplined Phillip by giving him extra chores or by taking his books away like I do KatieJo and Samuel. But then again it doesn't work to discipline KatieJo or Samuel to take away their favorite car or train like it does for Phillip.

I guess I don't understand why someone would ask a question like that. He doesn't know why we adopted, and truthfully he doesn't really know us that well.

It has amazed me over the past 5 years how people, including some family members feel about adoption. My family, who we assumed would not be as welcoming of adopting kids have been nothing but supportive. On the other hand the people we expected to be the most understanding and supportive have been the exact opposite.

My children are blessed and we are blessed to get to raise them. Adoption is such a wonderful option. They are so many kids in this world who need someone to love them, and there are so many moms and dads that just need kids to love them. And I'm tired of the cynics in the world who think that just because I didn't give birth to all of my children that I can't possibly love them as much as a child that comes from my body.

I love my children and I am grateful EVERYDAY for the opportunity I have to be their mom!

Peter Pan

Because Samuel's birthday was in August before school started we decided to have a birthday party after school started. Somehow I didn't get my act together sooner, so Samuel and I decided on a Halloween/birthday party. We combined a party with Samuel's friend Mattias since his birthday was right after Samuel's. It worked out really well as I did the cooking/baking and Mattias's mom Shonda did the games.

The boys had a blast! We had "Worms on a bun" a.k.a. hot dogs cut into strips to look like worms (see below) with "blood" and "diarrhea" a.k.a ketchup and mustard (disclaimer...the boys came up with the "diarrhea" as we didn't have a gross name for it) chips and apple juice mixed with sprite. Then they played a game outside where they made a "spider web" by throwing a ball of yarn around a circle. They also played "Trick or Treat" where they had to do a trick..like spelling a word or do some kind of physical task to get a piece of candy. Instead of decorating a cake we decided to let the boys decorate their own "monsters". They each got a cupcake and we let them have free artistic discretion with their frosting and "eyes" a.k.a. chocolate chips. I'm glad they all went home not too long after having the frosting! You'll see why below.

Mattias the Mummy and Phillip the Crab"Worms"YUM!
Samuel aka Peter Pan!
Look at that Frosting piled high! They all ate the frosting and then were too "sweeted" out for the cupcakes.

A rose by any other name

My name. It's not the most usual name. In fact I've only ever heard it 2 other times. The first being the ex-Vice President Dick Cheney and a girl that graduated from high school with my sister who is 2 years my junior. I have to admit when I heard them call the other girl onto the stage I thought they were referring to me. A little silly, but my name isn't exactly common.

Chaney

It's pronounced Ch-a-knee. I get a lot of Chancey, Shaney and Jamie's. It was a lot easier to tell people how to pronounce my name when Vice President Cheney was in office because people heard his name a lot. Now, I'm back to fending on my own.

My mom claims that because she carried me for 9 months she left the naming up to my dad....who claims he got it out of a baby book. And, they added Marie as a middle name because I was a girl (I guess I was supposed to be a boy...I didn't get that message!). I'm not so sure it really came from a baby book, I've yet to see it in one as I have named my children. My dad used to talk about Lon Chaney (the Dracula actor). He used to joke that I was named after him. I don't have any doubt that that's really where it came from. You see, my parents were planning on my being a boy (my younger sister was supposed to be a boy as well), and as far as I can tell from the various tellings of the story I was named long before I was born.

I never liked my name growing up. No one could ever pronounce it and it was so unusual! I wanted a name like Elizabeth or Jessica (from the Sweet Valley High Series). I wanted a "normal" name. However, I've grown into my name. I love that it's unique. I love that not everyone is Chaney. I never liked however that my mother claimed that it should be pronounced as Sha-nay. And still occasionally refers to me as such. I wouldn't have minded it so much except once someone heard that all I heard from that point on was "Shanaynay". I hated that!

It doesn't particularly matter to me that I may have been named after a Dracula actor (or a man for that matter). I love my name and it's me.

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Chocolate on my Cranium.

Wordfull Wednesday

Chocolate on My Cranium's Wordful Wednesday asked for 6 words to describe my life.
Since I am normally described by my children or more technically the role I play in their lives "Mom", today I describe my life differently:


CrAzY in Love with My Husband!

Frugal Living

Maija is tiny, and when I say tiny I mean she is almost 11 months old and is still pretty solidly in her 3-6 month clothing. Not that I'm complaining (besides most 3-6 month clothes are not meant for a crawling little girl), however I haven't been able to find a coat small enough to fit her. Most of the coats for her size are snowsuits, and although that's okay they are a pain in the rear end to get a baby in and out of who is as wiggle as she is when we aren't going to be outside very long. I have an 18 month coat I bought this summer thinking it would work for all winter (of course I assumed she'd be bigger by now), but it's HUGE! So, I finally found this coat at the Children's Place. Now, I like their clothing etc. but I don't like their prices. However, the coat which was normally $30 was on sale for $20. I also found these two dresses, normally $12.50 each on sale for $4.89 (and yes, I know the dress is the same style...I got the dresses in different sizes so it won't matter).

Yesterday however I got a coupon in the mail for 15% off my purchase and free shipping. I was excited, because I got her coat for $17.55 and each dress for $4.16. And, I saved $5 bucks on shipping. Seems a little silly, but I rarely buy things brand new and when I do I like to save as much of our money as I can.

I think since her birthday is coming up I'll add the dresses to her presents...they won't fit for a while, but I've hesitated buying her too many clothes in the next size because I don't want to have a bunch of the wrong season clothing when she gets up to the next size clothing.

Okay, enough of my gushing.

The winds of change

I love change...don't you love change? Okay, I jest. I don't particularly care for change, but once again my life has been thrown for a loop. Not only have we been fighting illness since before school started, I am now Home Schooling Samuel. Well technically we are using the K12 Wyoming Virtual Academy, but I am his "learning coach" aka teacher... although, he does have a licensed teacher who oversees everything but I do the teaching.

After a year long fight and IQ and other assessments that said Samuel should be in 2nd grade (although quite a few of his results placed above the 2nd grade level) the school district decided not to do what Samuel needed. Samuel got to the point where we were fighting to get him to go to school and was VERY depressed. I didn't know a 6 year-old could get like that! So, we pulled him out. It's been almost 2 weeks and he is doing FANTASTIC! He is learning so much more than the schools here in Rawlins offer. He gets to take Art, History and Science. They do a little bit of History and Science here in the schools. But absolutely no Art. He has already learned a little bit about Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Nomads, Mummies, The Fertile Crescent, The Nile River Valley, Amun Ra, Osiris, Isis etc. He thinks the Nomads and Mummies (because their insides are taken out before they are made into Mummies...quite a good reason to like them. Don't you think?) are the coolest ever.

It's been a pretty big change for me as I'm not used to spending a big chunk of my day working on school work with him and planning for what we need for the next day. However, I think it's been positive for Samuel & Phillip. Phillip is learning quite a bit along with Samuel and was "measuring" things during Science the other day with Samuel, and at the very least it has helped Phillip sit at the table and do some "school work".

Having Samuel home means we don't get to run out and do whatever we want, but with a little planning we can still do quite a bit. It's been so great to have our son back again! It's a little scarry to have your son so depressed. And I'm grateful for options that allow us to get him what he needs.

A lot of people have asked how KatieJo feels about all of this. Well, we offered her the option of staying home to do school as well. But, she was very adamant about wanting to stay at Mountain View. She is a social butterfly by nature and needs the social interactions. Samuel on the other hand enjoys being at home. It perplexes me about how different my children are! However, I am SO very glad they are who they are!!!

My WONDERFUL MAN!

I watched the General RS Broadcast tonight and I'm in a fairly good mood (despite the fact that my ear infection and cough do not seem to be leaving.) So I thought I'd post what I'm grateful for tonight.

I'm grateful for a lot of things tonight, Stuart being at the very top of my list. Not that I'm not always grateful for him. However, sometimes I do take him for granted. KatieJo came down with the flu last Sunday (just in case you may have missed my post complaining about that). We took her to the doctors on Monday and sent her to her room to sleep A LOT. On Tuesday I was feeling GREAT! Stuart came home for lunch and I even made porkchops for lunch which I have to say is unheard of since Phillip, Maija and I usually join him at school for lunch. After he went back to work and I had the two little ones down for a nap I sat down and realized I wasn't feeling so hot. My ear hurt a little (which I blew off) and my throat was scratchy and I was coughing a little bit, not to mention having a headache.

By Wednesday I didn't get off the couch and Samuel was home complaining of a headache and a low grade fever and coughing. We decided because KatieJo had the flu we'd better head into the doctor. Both Samuel and I had ear infections and she didn't even bother to check us for the flu, she just prescribed antibiotics and Tamiflu. She also gave me prescriptions for Tamiflu for everyone else (Phillip & Stuart). They don't make it for kids as little as Maija.

Thursday I couldn't stand up on my own so Stuart took off work to help everyone out. Friday was a tad bit better, but I still couldn't stand up without help. So he took Friday off too.

Today he had a football game (which they WON! YAY COLTS! Stuart's team is the only Rawlins Football team to win 2 games...GO STU!) so he was gone until 12:30. At which point he came home to fix our sewage line. It has been backing up if we flush the toilet or do laundry or shower. Raw sewage isn't much fun in the basement! It took him 5 hours...partially because the first snake was too short and partially because there are a lot of 90 degree angles in our plumbing which doesn't lend itself to the snake. Thankfully the basement is plumbed for a bathroom and so he used the plumbing for the toilet down there and it worked!!!

Once he got it fixed he showered (THANK GOODNESS!) and ran to get his school computer because ours was having issues...so that I could watch the RS broadcast. Because we aren't sure I don't have the flu we couldn't risk me going to the chapel to watch it. He got home right at 6 and took me to the bedroom and told the kids to leave me alone, then made dinner and got everyone ready for bed.

WHAT A MAN! Have I mentioned that I'm GRATEFUL for him and that I love him so much?!?!?!?

Just Me

Wordful Wednesday over at Chocolate on my Cranium is about who I am.....WHOOEEE, what a topic. She sure does know how to pick them!
When I was younger I defined myself by the music I played. I have always loved playing the piano, but I hated playing in public. So, my music at home when my parents were in bed at night was me. I don't usually make mistakes when I play just for myself. However, put me in front of people...even in Relief Society where it is my calling to play the piano I make MONUMENTAL mistakes. But, I love playing the piano and over the years I have learned to laugh at myself (yes even in Relief Society) out loud when I make a mistake. I'm sure it drives people nuts, but if I can't laugh at the silly mistakes who's going to?

There was a time I also defined myself by the classes I took or the fact that I was "ahead" of the game when I graduated from high school as a sophomore in college. The plan was to graduate with a bachelors degree by the time I was 20...HA! That sure didn't happen. There were much grander plans for me and truthfully I'm not upset by those plans. Occasionally I wish I had a degree, however I have 4 small children and working outside the home right now it's an option.This picture is from the day my husband graduated with his bachelor's degree.

Most often these days I define myself by the 5 other people in this picture:I am a Best Friend, Wife and Mother. I love who I am right now (for the most part). I love my kids and I love my husband. I don't always have a perfectly clean house, but I don't define myself by that (THANK GOODNESS!). I also LOVE love LOVE to read!!! And I'm grateful that rubbed off on my kids!I have always loved doing crafts, however I have discovered in the past few years that I am pretty good at them. I have taught myself to sew (because I didn't want to learn when my mom wanted to teach me), and I LOVE it! I also love crocheting and painting and doing a myriad of other crafts. OH, and don't forget scrapbooking! I also made my first wedding cake recently. I think it turned out great! I grew up with my mom decorating cakes as a side job. She recently gave up cake decorating except for a few instances and so I inherited all of her supplies. This picture is of my 4 kids and the dresses I made for the girls (and the bows to- they are a little "Whovilleish", but neither was awake when I made them to see how big they would be) and I made the bowties for the boys. Normally I would have made the bowties match the girl's dresses, however the boys just aren't into pink!I guess that's who I am in a nutshell....a craft loving, reading, wife and mom. Guess I'd better go get busy on those things!

It happened

It's official. The illness I dread the most throughout the whole year has hit our home.
KatieJo, Phillip, Maija and I went down to my parents house on Friday night in order to be at Broomfield Days (Broomfield is the town I grew up in and Broomfield Days is their annual festival) on Saturday. Stuart and Samuel stayed in Rawlins on Friday so that they could go to Rock Springs on Saturday for Stuart's football game and then they came down to Broomfield afterwards so we could celebrate Stuart's 30th birthday.

The three kids and I had a wonderful time at Broomfield Days with my friend Melanie and her 3 kids and her family. We got to watch the parade and then the kids got to use the money they "earned" by doing their chores to play on some of the rides. KatieJo chose to do "Mount Rushmore" which is where she had to climb to the top of this huge jumpy thing and then slide down the big slide that went almost straight down. Phillip chose the jumping castle, which was good because the guy kept letting him run on and do it again for free.

Saturday evening when Stuart and Samuel got into town we had ice cream cake from DQ (Stuart has been wanting one for a LOOONNNNGGG time!). And then my mom watched the kids so that we could go out to dinner. We went to Heaven Dragon which is our favorite Chinese restaurant.

Then Sunday rolled around and my mom and I went down to Denver to get my Great-Aunt Ila's clothes as she had 2 strokes a couple weeks ago and has been moved to a nursing home. When we got back to my parent's house I found KatieJo not acting quite right. They had all been down in the park behind my parents house watching the dog diving competition (which was COOL!). As it turns out she had a low grade fever. I'm not sure what prompted me to bring the thermometer on this quick trip, but I did. So, we kept her home from school today and her nose started running like a faucet (literally. I've never seen a nose run like that!) and she's been coughing etc. What prompted us to take her to the urgent care was that her fever went from low grade to 101-102 in a couple hours. Of course she has the flu. It couldn't be strep throat or an ear infection (like Phillip had last week), NOPE. Had. to. be. the. FLU!
We won't know for another week as to whether or not it's the Swine variety, but we got her into the doctors in time for the Tamiflu to work. You have to start it within the first 48 hours of symptoms. Yay me for being paranoid! (I think.)

So, KatieJo can't go back to school until at least Monday and I've e-mailed her teacher and the Principal. Funny enough earlier today the Principal told me if she were her daughter she'd take her in. (Why I was on the phone with her is for another post).

Well, here's to hoping all will be well in the Mobley household soon!

Friday's Fix-up

My sister-in-law Aimee does a weekly Friday's Fix-up. There are a multitude of things in my home that I'd like to fix up and so when she extended an invitation last week to join her I thought I would jump at the chance....until we found out on Monday that the archway we have been waiting to have done and a window in our boys' room that has needed replaced would be done this week. So, we had to clear out the dining room, the living room and most of the kitchen not only because we didn't want to have to clean too much but because our house was built in 1954 we aren't sure that there isn't lead based paint in the house. Since we have small children we didn't want to mess with that! And it's a whole lot easier to clean when there is almost nothing to clean....OH, and we're ripping up carpet to expose the wood floors in the living room this weekend so it had to be empty.

So, rather than doing a Friday's Fix-up (although putting everything back in place may be a fix-up in and of itself.) I found myself trying to fit everything into 3 bedrooms. On top of that I've been down with a severe sinus infection and on Tuesday night my 2 year-old came down with a fever. So, rather than play outside as was planned while our contractor did the demolition....My 2 younger kids and I have been locked in my bedroom. Which, I might add is fine for a sick 2 year-old, but not for a healthy 10 month old!
This is a picture of the "before" from the living room side of the wall. The archway is going to go between the living room and the old garage/dining room. The black thing in the back left corner is our desk and filling cabinet. They are in what was the "other side of the wall". I can't believe how BIG it feels!
This is a picture from 2 days-ago. This coming Monday they will finish mudding it and prime it. We are even getting rounded corners which I'm thrilled about!
This is what 2 of the rooms look like right now. I don't have a picture of the boy's room because most of the furniture that was in there has been moved out so that they could do the window today.

I had thought about cleaning my purse or diaper bag out, but I'm a little over-whelmed with my lack of order that I'm not even sure where they are. I haven't really left the house all week, so I haven't really needed them!
Hopefully normalcy will come back next week and I'll join in then!

Transformations

Transformations....the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the word was Bumblebee from the Transformers. I'm laughing right now, because technically that isn't quite off. Chocolate on my Cranium's Wordfull Wednesday is about "Transformations, more specifically, a transformation that has happened to you."

So I guess the question is...have I transformed since I made my goal in January? My goal for the year is "Choose Wisely". I can't say that I choose wisely at all times (I am human after all), but I sure have tried.

For instance, my oldest son for some odd reason likes to rearrange things. Usually it's in his bedroom and if it doesn't work he moves it back. However, last week he chose to start rearranging my kitchen cabinets. Now, I'm a little OCD and I like my stuff EXACTLY where I've put it. I do have them do chores which involve them putting dishes away, and of course things don't always get back to where they belong. For the most part however everything is where it belongs. He also hid dishes throughout the house because he didn't want to put them away. I was MAD, I was frustrated and boy did I want to yell at him. In the past I probably would have. I am a yeller by nature, which upsets me and I have to work REALLY hard to not yell.

Instead of yelling at him I calmly told him he had kitchen duty this week as well and took away any tv privledges he may have had (we don't get tv reception so really that was limited to movies and since it's nice outside they get a movie few and far between). I think I shocked myself because later that night when I was talking to my husband I told him I was proud of myself.

I don't want my kids to have it be their "nature" to yell when they get upset. It brings contention into our home and it just doesn't feel good. I love my kids and I want them to know that...even when I'm upset.

So, back to Transformations. I kind of feel like I'm being a Transformer right now. The urge to yell is there, but I am trying to transform myself into a softer spoken "Mad Woman".
I guess you could say I have succeded in my goal, although I have a long way to go. I'm not necessarily completely happy with my progress, but it is progress nonetheless, so I think I'll put a stamp of approval on my progress. Maybe even a Smiley Face!

I've also uncovered something I thought I wasn't in the last 6 months. I have never been the type of person to instantly like people. At first glance or conversation I usually have an instant dislike for a person. Call it what you will, but it's been more of a self preservation tactic. I've been hurt in the past by people I considered trustworthy that I didn't know very long and so I usually withdraw into my shell. When my husband was in school I worked so much and was going to school at the same time so I didn't have a whole lot of time for friends and I only have a couple of good ones from Iowa. Then we moved to Washington state and we lived on 70 acres and so I was fairly isolated and didn't have to have many friends because I didn't want to. Then we moved again last year to be closer to family. I am once again back "in town" and close enough to have friends. I have started making friends, and have actually made an effort which is somewhat surprising. It may have to do with the fact that my husband admonished me that I needed to like it here because this is our last planned moved.

I have discovered that I really do like people and that it doesn't do me any favors to not like someone. It shocked me a little bit, but truthfully I have enjoyed getting to know new people and being a little bit more outgoing!

Dishes

We have a chore chart in our home that involves the living room and the kitchen. Both KatieJo & Samuel take turns being in charge of keeping one of them clean, and it rotates weekly. This week Samuel happens to be in charge of the Kitchen. When one is in charge of the Kitchen the chore is that they are responsible for putting clean dishes away and making sure the floor stays clean...i.e. picking up any toys that may have somehow gotten in there or sweeping etc.

Yesterday there were a lot of dishes to put away, and Samuel had just wiped out on his bike and hurt his knee. However, it was chore time so he had to go in and do his chores. I kept hearing moaning and complaining from the Kitchen and didn't really think a lot about it other than it was irritating me a little bit that he was complaining so much about doing his chore. It's not like this isn't something that happens everyday!

After a while he was still putting dishes away...yes there were a lot, but not so many that he should have taken an hour. I needed to get into the kitchen to start dinner and Stuart was about to get home and so unless the person in charge of the Kitchen is helping with dinner I usually kick them out. Yesterday was no exception. So dinner got made, put on the table and consumed. And as the kids were clearing the table I happened to have to use the bathroom.

As I walk into the bathroom I noticed a cake pan on the back of the toilet. Mind you this is the same cake pan Samuel had asked me where it belonged. As it turns out he hid dishes all over the house. I am laughing now, but at the time I was a tad bit irritated. There were baby bottles hidden behind step stools and other places, etc. It took him longer to hide the dishes than it would have if he had put them away. On top of that he started re-arranging my cupboards instead of putting dishes away, and even after I told him no he told me "trust me mom, it'll really be better this way."

I'm proud to say that I didn't yell, I didn't send him to his room, I didn't even get red in the face trying not to do these things. Instead I calmly (albeit a bit smugly) told him he had to do the dishes next week as well. He was less than thrilled (KatieJo did a happy dance though because neither of them like Kitchen duty). He also lost movie privledges-not that we really ever watch anything for the rest of the week.

My mom found it terribly funny, and got a really good laugh out of it. I on the other hand am frustrated. I don't really know any other children who would come up with something like that...and then to re-arrange the cupboards too? I'm going to go gray because of him! Thank goodness I love him!

Scare....I mean Square

Phillip and I were reviewing shapes tonight and he started being silly. When we got to the Square and this is what transpired:
M: What is this shape Phillip?
P: That's a ball
M: No it's not, what is it Phillip?
P: It's a Circle.
M: You know it's not a circle Phillip, what is it?
P: It's a letter. (by now his laughing)
M: Phillip, it's a square.
P: RARRRRRRR....I scared it mom.
M: I said Square Phillip, not scare.
P: RARRRRR....I scare you too mom!

He's been getting "scared" of things lately, like the trash can down the hall from Stuart's classroom. We have tried to make it better by helping him deal with things so he won't be scared. For instance with the trash can (that he said was a monster) we had him "scare" it so that he wouldn't be scared of it. It sort of backfired however, because now he "scares" everything!

And we're BACK!

Summer is no longer...so sad really! Today was the first day of school.

We now have a Second Grader and a First Grader. Samuel had a hard time sleeping last night due to excitement! He was still wide awake well over 2 hours after bedtime. I asked if they wanted to stay home with me today. They said "maybe tomorrow". That was a mistake however because tonight they asked if they could stay home tomorrow and do their school work on the computer. OOPS!
Both looked exceptional in their new glasses and new clothes. Gotta LOVE the first day of school! And I only cried during Family Prayer which Stuart asked me to say, I do have to add that crying only then is pretty good for me.

I figured I'd take a picture of everyone, particularly since Phillip thinks he's in High School...so that someday when he really is going to High School I can show him his "First" High School picture! Aren't they a good looking bunch? We had our meeting last week about Samuel and attending 2nd grade. Even though he scored high on his testing and showed that he knows the material for 2nd grade they felt that because he is young for a first grader they want to keep him in 1st. So, in order to do that they are providing the academics to him IN his classroom. Last year they took him out of his classroom to attend 2-3 different other classrooms and we requested that they not do that this year because it was hard on him. So, they are providing a Math Aide everyday to work with him on the level he needs to work and they will be doing some more assessments as to where they are going to put him reading wise since he is reading at a 3rd grade level right now. We aren't necessarily pleased with the results of the meeting, however if they truly provide what he needs they will have our support 100%. I guess we'll see. I will be having a weekly meeting/e-mail as to his progress so that it will be easier for me to monitor.

The end is Coming!!

The end is coming sooner than we wanted! Stuart had to start back to work last Friday, which has proved a bigger deal than I originally thought. Before he went back Phillip was pretty much potty trained....then he went back and now Phillip is almost flat out refusing to use the toilet (except at bedtime when he doesn't want to be in bed.) GRRRRRR.

Everyone else seems to be doing fairly well with Stuart being back to work. Although because dad is back to work that means we are closing in on the kids going back. KatieJo is THRILLED to be going back and is anticipating 2nd grade with JOY. Phillip thinks he's going to High School because that's where dad is. (Luckily for him, he'll be able to go to the HS everyday for lunch with dad). Maija is blissfully unaware of anyone leaving, although I predict she'll be looking for KatieJo & Samuel next week.
But, Samuel is feeling a little displaced. During the last school year he attended 1st grade for most academics and attended kindergarten for most of the other classes. We were told at the end of the year that he would be put in 2nd grade if he passed the end of the 1st grade tests with 80% or better...which he did. Then because we were getting a new principal she decided that the tests weren't accurate enough and flat out vetoed the move.
However, we didn't agree with the decision and after doing our own research and talking to Gifted and Talented directors from other districts etc. We decided to fight the decision. So a few weeks ago we had a meeting with the Superintendent and the Special Ed Director. As it turns out the people that made the decision at the school level shouldn't have been involved in the decision, so last Thursday Samuel had testing for over 5 hours, and I had to be there for approximately an hour to answer questions and do a social history. Now we are waiting for the results so we can schedule a meeting and find out what grade Samuel will be in come Monday morning.
We are frustruated because there is an open house tomorrow night to meet the teachers and drop off their school supplies. And as we'd like Samuel to attend a different school so that none of the kids will know he was supposed to be in 1st grade we were hoping to have the answer and be able to attend tomorrow night. No such luck!
We are also keeping the option open to enroll him in what is called the k12 program. It is an accredited online program monitored by licensed teachers.
I guess what frustrates us more than anything is that everytime we go in and ask for more testing or tell them that he's smart they look at us like we're idiots. Yes, most parents feel that their child is brilliant (and really...who's isn't?). Then, because Stuart works for the district they decide to do the testing and...OH MY GOODNESS he really is smart! You're right.
I know it's hard to have kids who don't get it and to have to get the district your kids attend give them the services they need. But we feel like they are sweeping our kids under the carpet because they'll be able to perform on the tests...so why do anymore for them? Why does it have to be such a fight to get kids at the opposite end of the spectrum the services they need?
Oh, and did I mention that I LOVE principals from other schools who neither know my child or know that my husband works for the district (because I failed to mention it to see how she would treat me), that LIE to you? She told me that there is a district policy about advancing kids....which there isn't....we read the ENTIRE school district policies. And, she also told me it's normal for a 6 year-old to read Harry Potter....Really? Hmmmm, I guess those children's literature classes I took lied to me and so did the Superintendent who said it's atypical.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.....Maybe.

$55.79

We went to City Market today (our version of King Soopers) to get some misc. produce that I didn't have. And while we were walking by the meat section Stuart mentioned that he wanted bacon with breakfast tomorrow morning. Well, typically I don't buy extra bacon. I buy exactly what is on the menu for the month and that's it. Well, since he was "dying" for breakfast sandwiches with bacon he started picking some out and the meat guy looked at me and said "there is some reduced sodium bacon right over here for 49 cents a pound."
My response was something to the extent of...."You've got to be kidding me!"
Well, what do you know there was a whole bunch of bacon labled 49 cents. So I grabbed 10, and then we decided that it was such a good price and we have room in our freezer so Stuart grabbed the rest of the packages. Which means we got 20 packages. We also got a package of pork ribs half off.The bacon was normally $3 a package and if we bought it at a normal price we would have spent $60, and we got it for $9.80. (And it was a BONUS that it's reduced sodium as I'm not supposed to have a lot of salt.) The pork was normally $11.12 and we got it for $5.53.

So, we saved $55.79 today, and we only spent $17.91 which means we saved 75.6% of our bill!

WOOOHOOOOOO! Ok, so I'm a tad bit excited about saving so much money. And, to make it even better we've added about 9 months of bacon to our food supply. That may sound silly, however everything counts :0).

My beautiful daughter...I mean son.

Last week we decided on a rainy day to take the kids to McDonalds for lunch so they could play on the play place and get some energy out. On our way out the door Phillip grabbed all of the kids hats. Samuel and KatieJo ended up with baseball caps, which was appropriate. Phillip however ended up with KatieJo's Easter hat. Stuart wasn't happy, but we went with it. He's 2, it's a hat and he is very much a little boy. Did I mention the fact that he had a jacket on that had footballs all over it?

So we're standing in line ordering and Phillip was jumping up and down because he's was so excited that we actually agreed to let him have a happy meal. Some guy in line behind us says "Your daughter is sure excited to be here." Enter Stuart being MORTIFIED, and I politely tell him that my *son* is very excited to be getting a toy. He appologized and then started laughing and said we should take a picture and show it to him in 20 years. (Note, since then Phillip is NOT allowed to wear KatieJo's hat or any of her clothing out of the house per Stuart's new rule.)

Oh, and on the way to McDonalds on the same day Phillip (who ALWAYS tells us he's a boy) looks at us and says "I a girl." Stuart immediately said "No Phillip, you're a boy." And Phillip smiled and started laughing and said "I just joking!"

I thought it was terribly funny, Stuart on the other hand. Didn't.

We also had a guy yesterday (when KatieJo wasn't in view) ask us if we were going to "go for a girl". Mind you Maija was wearing a yellow onsie and she keeps taking the bows out of her hair. At first we weren't sure what was talking about and then Samuel said "We have two girls". The man did a double take and appologized for thinking Maija was a girl.

Most people look at us like we're crazy when they see that we have 4 kids, so it was particularly funny that some random guy asked if we were going to have more. Oh the ironies in the world!

Sugar Crystals

Samuel has REALLY been into rocks lately. For his birthday he got a rock tumbler which is currently churning away in our dinning room, and several other rock things. He also wanted to learn how to make Rock Candy. So, that's what we did for FHE this week.

First you have to boil 1 cup of water. Then you dissolve (1 TB at a time) 3 cups of sugar (or the amount it takes to make it saturated...or when the sugar stops dissolving and starts collecting at the bottom of the bowl). Stir....stir.....stir.....stir.....stir.....stir!

Cute short people....if you'll be kind enough to notice KatieJo & Samuel's new glasses they'll be tickled pink.
Phillip wasn't making sugar crystals, he was making "Cookies".
Then you add color....we chose green
Then tie strings to a pencil or pen and hang it into the clear glass (so you can see the crystals forming).

Then you wait! Just like we are waiting for the rocks to be polished (which may take up to 4 weeks), and waiting for school to start!

Then you have peach cobbler for dessert because we have 2 bushels of peaches....YUMMY!