Christmas just got an extra dose of Christ

I'm sure you probably figured that Christmas this year for our growing family is going to be much different than ever before.  We've never had oodles of money so our tree has never been gorged with presents, but we've always managed to buy a few less expensive items on the kids Christmas lists just in time to surprise then Christmas morning.  But, this year, the number on the bank account summary just dwindles with no income in sight.  It's left me grasping for other options for Christmas this year.  Buying anything from the store would put us in a bind and prices no matter how "new" and "low" they are, really add up.  We typically spend about $50 a kid and about $80 on ourselves, including stocking stuffers.  But, as sad as it is to say, we don't have $310 to spend on gifts and that's just with us, that 's not all the extended family here, too.

So, all this to say, I'm initiating an old fashioned Christmas.  A "Christ"mas if you will.  Nothing can be store bought.  Just giving at it's most natural and simplest form.  It all has to be hand made from items around the house and in the garage.  I think my fabric stash and yarn stash are going to get hit pretty hard this year, but what's a years supply of craft items worth if you can't dig into them every once in a while!

Here's what my to-do list looks like this year.
1 dolly made from mis-mate socks
1 blue linus blanket from the yarn stash (almost done btw)
2 ruffled fabric scarves
3 fleece beanies
2 large works of art (made by yours truly)

I'm sure that when I tell the kids all this today, my list will grow exponentially with all the projects I'll be ask to "help" with, too.  But, I'm excited.  It's a challenge that I think might just wake up my creative juices.  They've been hibernating while i whined about Christmas being here already.

Sisterhood

Ya know, when life throws you for a loop, my most common reaction is to hold it in and go it alone.  I don't want to impose on others or listen to the potential whispers in the halls at church or have that common southern phrase be used in reference to me.  You know it..."Bless her heart, she's to poor to remove that toilet paper from her shoe, she might need it later."

So, I was at our ward Relief Society meeting on Thursday and all my emotions, fears and prayers just bubbled to the top and in an epic emotional spewfest I told anyone who would listen how I was struggling.  I couldn't help it.  Call it hormones or call it the spirit moving me to share, but it happened.  And do you know what happened?  They put their arms around me and blessed me so abundantly.  A dear friend of mine took me home with her that night and gave me six bags full of groceries, plus an extra turkey she had bought on sale.  I ran out of Vitamin B to keep my nausea at bay and another sister brought me two bottles, which by the way is enough to last my whole pregnancy and then some!  But, apart from the physical needs they rallied around and shared with me their stories of times when they had gone through similar things and then testified that there is a way out, God never leaves us comfortless and will always provide a way for things to happen.  He never allows his children to be tried more than they can bear.

And now as I sit here reliving those feelings of friendship and sisterhood, I can't help but remember the scriptures from the book of James in the bible when he speaks of pure religion and what it really means to be a disciple of Christ.  I think that any time I read those verses, the memory of that relief society meeting and the faces of those sisters who put their arms around me will be forever ingrained in my memory.

Ties that bind

I made three loaves of bread today.  It's become my ritual.  2-3 times a week I make another batch to get us through a few more days.  But, our flour reserve is running low and i'm unsure how much more I can make.  But, today I have three loaves.

It's something I'm actually enjoying.  As I pour the flour in the bowl, I'm always transported to my childhood.  Growing up, we didn't have much, but I remember my mom always making bread and I remember getting a warm slice and buttering it and putting some jam on it.  It was always a treat.  As I kneed the dough, I think of all the women who have come before me in my family who had to make bread for their kids when there weren't stores.  Whenever Grandpa Bud sees me pull out those loaves of bread he says, "Looks like you've been busy.  I don't know how you get it all done, everything you do.  Ya know, my mom always made bread when I was growing up.  We used to hang around the kitchen and wait for the bread to come out of the oven.  The lucky ones got the end of the loaf.  It was a bigger piece of bread you know.  My mamma was a small woman but she was hard as nails..."(every time, never fails)  It usually grates on my nerves hearing the same stories over and over, but today I just smiled.  I could see her in her kitchen with her wood burning stove, her apron safety pined to her shirt and flour in her mussed hair.  Her time worn hands doing what they've always known to do to keep her family well fed.

I feel like my life has come full circle.  Eight years ago we moved here to help out after Norma passed away.  We felt so strongly that this is where the Lord wanted and needed us in his vineyard.  I remember trying to convince grandpa that he really didn't need to wash and reuse every piece of foil and every plastic bag, there wasn't any shortage.  But, today I found myself washing and reusing 3 plastic ziplock bags to put the bread in the freezer.  I used to think he was crazy for doing stuff like that, but now I can see the wisdom in the old adage Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do or do without.

Playing catch up...

I feel like I've been a day late and a dollar short for a while now, but especially for the last few months.  I have just spent some time reorganizing my files and uploading pictures from my camera and then organizing those.  So, I should be posting more in the coming days of what life has been like around here, some new projects I'm working on, and projects I've finished along with a few dashes of inspiration.

So, in an effort to get started with all this, I'm going to start with the beginning of this years birthday season.  My son turned 8 this year and wanted to be baptized as much as we wanted him to be, too.  Here's a picture of him all dressed in white...

And for his birthday this year we all got terribly sick!  It was awful!  But somehow, I managed to make him a cake.  It wasn't as fantastic as I'm sure he had imagined, but I think it turned out okay.  What do you think?

The transformer face was done in royal icing.  I think he turned out okay for my first attempt at royal frosting images.  I should have probably done him a full week ahead.  I gave him two days to dry and he was still pretty pliable.  If you'd like some more information on how I created this image, click here.  Marian does amazing work and I would love to create sweets as wonderful as she does!

I hope your days are as inspired as mine have been!

Cow Apperication Day

Okay, I'm dong a little back blogging. July 9 is always Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. That happened to be Friday. Every July 9, if you visit a Chick-Fil-A dressed as a cow, then you get a free meal, whatever you want, free. I love it! So, we dressed as cows. Can you believe it? Yes, I'm starting to really enjoy the whole embarrass your kids aspect of parenthood... And I love that our new business affords us the luxury of doing this in a Friday afternoon with our kids.


















After this we went to the movies, sans cows, and saw Despicable Me in 3D. Which was really cute! All in all, life is a blast and I'm looking forward to more embarrassing photos like this in the future!

Dance Baby Dance!!!

Anyone who knows Shiloh, or has spent any time with her, knows that she has a soul that is born from music. We recently were at a church activity where she ran out to the center of the room and just kept dancing to the music and didn't care that she was competing for floor space among many an adult. For weeks since then, we have heard multiple times that she was the life of the party. We have a wii. And for our wii, we have the game Just Dance. Which has become insanely fun in recent months as Shi has become more and more active. It's amazing to see a 15 month old have rhythm and timing with all her moves. And I mean moves. The others never had moves beyond a hip wiggle. But Shi really gets into it and every inch of her body moves to the music. Don't believe me? Just watch this... I was only able to get a few seconds before my camera was full and died, but it's enough....

oh. wow.

  Well, i was wrong.  Jenna actually had a yeast infection that got infected.  At least that's how it was explained to me at the doctor's office today.  So hopefully in ten days it will all be cleared up.  And by the way, I found this cool site for creating your own menu.  I'm sure that there are others online elsewhere, but I found this one and thought it was so fun and neat.  It helps that i have watched Food Nanny many times before and i love her.  She's super cute.  Any way, i'm using this to organize myself a little bit better.

The Joys....

  The joy of living in the woods is that the kids have 40 acres to traipse all over.  The downside of living in the woods is that the kids have 40 acres to traipse all over.  Jenna has some bizarre rash all over in a very private area.  I'm convinced that it's poison ivy, but I'm taking her to the doctor to make sure.  Poor things been scratching like a demon for 2 days even with calamine lotion so thick she's turned pink.  Ahh, Ce la vive!

It's a Good Day after all!

Today Randall and I went around shopping for the best deals on business attire.  And boy did we luck out!  For $11.50 Randall found 2, not 1 but 2, suits.  For about $60 I found 1 suit, 6 shirts, 2 blazers, a pair of slacks and a skirt.  So, I didn't luck out as much as Randall, but I did pretty good!

Before we went shopping I cut every ones hair.  I started out with all intention of just trimming Jenna's hair.  She and I go back and forth about it.  She wants a boy cut and I want her to look girly.  The last 2 years I've won because I've pulled the "I'm the momma and I say so" card.  But recently, Randall got me thinking about the way I was when I was younger.  I remember having long hair when I was about 7 maybe 8.  I begged my mom forever about cutting my own hair.  And then, she caved in and let me cut it to my shoulders.  And to be honest, it's been that length or shorter ever since.  Barring the once or twice it got down to mid chest level with I was in the throughs of pregnancy.  I thought about when I was in high school and I cut it so short.  I was really only about an inch and a half long.  I have proof, too!  All my senior pictures were taken when I had that do!  So, today, when she asked my if I'd give her a boy cut, I through caution to the wind and cut it all off.  And now, she's completely my daughter.  And the best part is that she's now wearing girly clothes!  Maybe I should have done it a long time ago!

Life and all that stuff...

I can't describe it. Lately I've seen how truly blessed I am and I can't describe how cool it is. As you know Randall and I decided to put all our eggs in one basket and start our own business. I have to tell you that I felt great when we first started, but now, I'm over the moon! The top leaders of our company say,"ACN is a self-improvement course with a compensation plan." And I for one have to second that! I have grown so much as a person since we started this business. We have made it our daily goal to follow the wise words of Darin Hardy, editor of Success Magazine, and be constantly focused on positive things. We've also turned our van into a rolling university. Every time we are in there, we are listening to presentations from some of the greatest minds of success. Because I'm always listening to positive things, I find myself thinking and saying positive things.

Through a series of unforeseen events and circumstances beyond our control, Randall is now home full-time. While at first it was a bit scary with him being unemployed and all, now I can't remember what it was like to not have him around. Now, we get to work full-time on our fortune and making our dreams into reality. I just can not believe how truly fortunate we are! God has blessed our family in huge, huge ways.

As a side note, I've got a tons of great ideas and fun things to share with you over the coming months also. Tomorrow night at Young Women's we'll be working on our secret sister gifts for Girl's Camp. Don't worry, I'll do a through post with pics and links on Thursday. I'm also putting together a baby shower for a friend of mine. She's having a boy in August. His name is Liam. And thanks to my handy sewing machine, he's going to be super studdly in some awesomely cute things I making for him. Again, all will be revealed in due time. Plus, I've recently been on an organizing rampage. I've gone through all my yarn and donated 3 large storage bags full of yarn. And I'm creating a wonderful space for me to actually feel inspired to create beautiful things; to include shelves, hooks, and a spiffed up sewing table. And last but certainly not least, a new blog design. I have much in the works grasshopper...we shall have much to learn...

Summer time...

Every Tuesday, the most wonderful lady does an awesome job doing the story time at the library in Freeport. After that we get together with our Homeschool group and go to the park with the kids for lunch and play. The kids have loved every minute of it. But, today was the last day of story time for the summer. My kids are definitely going to miss it. But, we have other things going on this summer. And we're still going to be getting together with our homeschooling buddies. Thanks Missy for a great time!

On the home front, I finally got a camera. It still can't touch the awesomeness of the previous one, but it takes pictures and they're decent and it's easy to use. I spent the day using it, getting to know all the features and how to get the thing to take pictures continuously. (which it doesn't actually do, by the way...) Any way here are some pictures from our day at the library and the park.

















I used the photo ShaZAM technique I found here to make them look better than straight from the camera. What do you think?

Lost, lost, lost....

Okay. If I were a digital camera where would I be?

I lost it! I can't find it any where and with the holidays and a wedding almost here, I really need it. Say a prayer or send good thought my way, I'm sure it will turn up somewhere! Maybe when I clean out the car...

Daddy, guess what we did today...

The zoo was fun, but the kids were done looking at everything in about 20 minutes. (It was tiny, maybe 20 exhibits.) Some of the highlights were the Lemurs, White Bengal Tigers, and the Kodiak bear. But I think the cutest was the baby zebra. All in all, I think it was a bit over priced for what it was.

In less than a week our time on vacation will be done and we'll be home again with you! Tomorrow, we'll be going on the The Great Pumpkin Patch Express. It's a train ride trough the mountains and at the end we get to meet Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy! We'll post another video again tomorrow all about the train ride!

The Truth about Cats and Dogs...

is that they are mortal enemies. Yesterday we mourned the loss of a great cat. Fluffy was the best cat we ever had and he's now gone on to the great littler box in the sky. Ashton cried, as I'm sure you knew if you've read the previous post about Fluffy. Jenna said, "it's okay Ashton, we'll just get you a new cat." The culprit was our dog Ranger. He got a bit too ruff when he was playing with the cat and he died. So, now Ashton of course wants to get rid of Ranger for killing his cat. Oi...

On the brighter side, today Shiloh is 1 month old! I can't believe it. She's getting so big. I know she'll only keep growing, but there is a part of me that can't help but say, "she'll never be this small again." A part of me is mourning the passage of time already. It's easy to do when I look at Ashton and remember when he was that small and now he's six. I feel like I'm trapped in a time warp. It's like I went to bed 21 and a brand spanking new mom and woke up 27 with half grown babies. But, having older kids is providing me with lots of great picture taking opportunities. I got the cutest ones of Jenna holding Shiloh the other night.

But if not....

I subscribe to the Mercy River newsletter and a few days ago the devotional that was in it was about Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednigo. In the scriptures these young men say to Nebuchadnezzar, that they knew that God would save them from the fiery furnace, but if not, they would not worship the idols for they knew what was right and true. It is interesting to note the but if not. So often we go through life asking for things to work out a certain way. We sometimes forget that God has a greater plan. That he is omnipresent in all things. He knows what we need and when we need it.

Yesterday, Randall lost his job. We had made a plan for our family that didn't have this woven into it. It was our plan that Randall would be able to finish his schooling while still working at his current job so that we'd still have some money to live on. So, we were thrown for a loop. Now we have to regroup and figure out what to do. I'm sure that it is now time for me to prove that I will be faithful during this "but if not" moment.

Today is the begins the LDS semi-annual general conference. I love to hear the inspired words of our leaders. The holy ghost always has something for me to hear everytime. We've listen to the first session already and there were many things for both Randall and I to ponder on as we continue our journey together. But, one constant thread that I know I needed to hear was that the Lord blesses us with/through our trials, especially if we find and take opportunity to bless the lives of those around us who maybe much less fortunate than us. This is something that I learned from my parents and I have always tried to observe in my life. And now that I think about it, it's one of the very reasons Randall fell in love with me. At least that's what he says...But, I feel like maybe the Lord was reminding me of this for something else that might be in store for us. Maybe in the next coming months, we will have the opportunity to bless the life of someone here with what little we have to give and share.

I still feel VERY blessed. Heavenly Father has given me three wonderful sets of parents and multiple grand-parents who support us and love us and are examples to us. He has given us three beautiful children who we are in awe of and learn from everyday. Life is good. He blessed us to be in a financially secure situation when we had this loss occure. So, now we will sit back and see what more He will bless us with and in what ways we can be His hands here on earth.

I Am Blessed!

On Sunday, we had much to celebrate. We had my parents come down from AL. and we celebrated the birth of Shiloh by blessing her at church. Then we celebrated Randall's birthday. Shiloh is the second one we've had that we were able to bless that close to Randall's birthday. When Ashton was born we had our entire family there to share our joy. Sadly, though we were missing part of them this time, but they'll be here soon for a visit.

This year, as every year, for Randall's birthday, he got to choose what was for supper and dessert. He of course asked for pizza and Boston creme cake. The cake was "yum-o" and I'll definitely be making it again! Randall is ecstatic!

I'm feeling truly blessed now. I have beautiful kids who are the loves of my life and make me constantly happy. And to top it off, I have the most wonderful man as a husband. One of my closest friends reminds me of it every time she tells her daughter that she needs to find a Randall for the both of them. I. AM. BLESSED.

It was a good day after all...

Well, Saturday was my birthday. (Thanks to those of you who emailed, posted, and phoned your well wishes!) I must admit, turning 27 with out anyone around was unusual. Randall had to work 12 hour shifts all weekend, so I was worried it would be a dull, almost suckish, kind of day. But, it wasn't too bad. I got up and made my cake and in the few hours we had together before he left for the day, we had a small birthday party, just the 5 of us. Jenna colored a picture that she had Randall draw:It truly made me smile. The lamp is for my three wishes...she told me I could wish for anything I wanted:) Ashton told me I was the best mommy and that he would do anything for me the whole day. Randall actually gave me my present early. He bought me a rocker/recliner for feeding the baby. It's absolutely the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in, too! But, he did get a card just to remind me how much he loves me. I tell you, I married a real-life Romeo.

After Randall left I let the kids watch a movie while Shiloh and I took a nap. It was really nice to have such loving kids. I was Queen Mommy for a whole day; what more could I ask for? In the evening, I made some Pot Lasagna for dinner. That's something that my mom always made when I was younger. Debbie brought me a very yummy White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and very sweet card. And then Becca came over after work and brought some nice tulips and a cute card and chocolates. It was nice to be remembered...But, I have to admit, what takes the cake is something else that happened this weekend:

1 six year old boy + 1 three year old girl =

Chaos. At least it seems that way lately. Since the baby and I have been home, it seems that the kids have found a new vigor in life.

Last night, we had the missionaries over for dinner. As we were socializing after, the kids were playing quietly in the living room. How quiet they were should have gotten my mommy senses tingling, but I guess I'm really just worn out these days. Any who. They were in the living room behind the giant blue recliner with....(wait for it)....a pair of scissors.

Ashton, very pleased with himself, came over to show off his new hair do. It looked like he got in a fight with a weed eater and it won. Huge chunks were whacked off into an oblivion. Upon seeing him, my gut reaction was to get out the straight razor, cuz that's how short it was. Bald came to mind, too. Jenna also had to show off her handy work. Luckily, she didn't get as crazy, but she shed six inches in random spots all over.

Now this was not the first time this happened. Ashton did this very same thing about two years ago. But, at the time he really butchered his sister's hair and it went super short. So, after a good scolding from Dad and lots of tears from Ashton- thinking that he'd be bald, we were able to creatively fix the duo and this is what we have:

I’m sooo over it!

I'm over living with a man who is losing his grip on reality! That's the only reason the man is still alive. If I have to hear about how fat I am one more time, I might not be able to hold back the surge of hormones! The man might just end up with a broken nose.

Okay, I couldn't really hit an 86 year old man, but ooooohh I hate being told that I'm fat. Mister, you have a baby and see if you don't get a tummy! What I really could use is my own house, which is one more reason why I love my hubby. He's working so hard studying for a new career, so that we can afford to work our dreams into reality. There are many times that he says he wishes that we could have started our "life" already. But, in my opinion, God has a plan for us here. We've been here helping for six years now, and in light of recent unforeseen events who knows when things will actually pan out. But, school will be done in a few short months and the Lord will place us where He needs us.

Wow. I think I'm hormonal. I'm all over the board today.