Furnell Family

The lone missed sock on laundry day...

2011-09-19T17:22:00.002-05:00

Here I thought that ALL the laundry was clean. (At least for a few hours:) And then I find a dirty sock. Of course that means I won't be able to match all the clean socks either. Oh well, it's not like you are ever really DONE with laundry!

off to 7th grade

2011-08-15T07:16:00.001-05:00

I guess I should tell people...

2011-08-04T16:39:00.002-05:00

No, we are not having a baby. We are moving again. I figured that since I am swimming in boxes and the truck is coming in 6 days, things are pretty much set to go. It has been no secret to anyone that has talked to Jason in the last year that the job here was not a great fit for him. Well, he had a 1 year guarantee for being here and when that ended in the middle of July they told him that they did not have the expected work load to keep him on. That is just fine with him. He has a good lead on a job and some temporary work ready to go back in KC. So that is where we are headed. I will be heading back to work also. I will be substitute teaching this year and getting some continuing education credits to update my teaching license. With Sydney headed to school next fall, the timing will work out nicely. We won't be going back to our house though, since KC may only be home for a few months and then we might be headed somewhere else. (More on that when it gets finalized) So hopefully we will get to visit with our friends and family later this month:)

2011-07-27T20:01:00.002-05:00

So Sydney got a hold of the phone and uploaded a photo. The irony is that I had been planning on posting a picture of an ice cream cone just like this anyway. So here is the post I was planning to go with an ice cream cone.

YUM!!

I love ice cream cones. You can have all the extras and fancy toppings you want but the classic simple cone is the best. There is something about the soft ice cream all the way down into the crunchy cone. That is a must, you have to eat them fast enough that the cone doesn't get soggy. In fact last week I went on an ice cream cone binge and had them for a snack all week. I just fill them to the top of the cone and not towering with ice cream. That way I don't feel too bad when I eat 2 or 3 because it only takes 1 scoop to fill the cone and the cones are only 15 calories each. Now don't get me wrong, I like other kinds of ice cream treats, I am after all a Kehr! There's something to be said for a classic treat is all I am saying.

4th of July

2011-07-05T08:39:00.002-05:00

Here was the schedule...
8:00 - got out of bed
8:30 - went for a 3 mile run
(training for 1/2 marathon started last week)
10:00 - go for a bike ride
tried to ride to grocery store but the bike I was riding was stuck in low gear so we gave up after 4 miles and headed back to the house.
11:30 - out to the beach - applied sunscreen - swimming and boogie boarding with the kids
(It was a little triathlon for the holiday!)
1:00 - in for lunch
2:00 - back out side to boogie board and read - reapplied sunscreen
4:30 - attempt surfing - got up on one foot and knee
7:00 - dinner
9:00 - took the kids to see some fireworks
Taught the kids a new card game and read a book for the evening. Also applied aloe vera...yup, fried like a lobster. Apparently applying sunscreen twice was not enough.
All in all it was a great holiday and the best part is that we have 4 more days just like it!

Road Trip Ready

2011-06-24T14:57:00.002-05:00

I think we are as ready for the car trip as we can be. Here is the pile for car and rainy day entertainment. On the top of the pile is the "I'm bored/Are we there yet?" box. In the box are folded papers of all the activities they can do while we are in the car. I ended up with 21 activities and 5 treat papers. Here is the list I came up with:

Giant Activity Pad (found @Samsclub)

Tic Tac Toe/Dots/Hangman (also Samsclub)

License Plate game

Alphabet Game

Family Questions (in Highlight box)

Hidden picture (also in highlight box)

I Spy

Movie

Coloring Book ($1 store)

Silent Game

Storytelling

Rock Paper Scissor

Car Scavenger hunt (found a list online)

Go Fish

Rummy Jr

Old Maid

War

Spelling Bee

Math Facts

We also have a stack of movies and books on CD. Thanks to my friend I have all 7 Harry Potter books on CD and I added all 7 movies so we will definitely be ready for the final HP movie in a few weeks! We also have most of the Avatar The Last Airbender Cartoon series. The kids love them!

Hopefully this will keep us busy and having fun with cousins and friends for the next 3 weeks. I also have packed up some fun games like Monopoly, Scene it, and Cribbage for evenings and rainy days. Not to mention the treat bag looks yummy!

So I have tried to be fully prepared without going overboard. I restocked the car first aid kit and added some additional meds, flashlights, and towels. Basically I tried to think of anything that could go wrong and think of a simple way to be ready. We will see if it all works out.

And yes grandma the boys got haircuts for the family picture:)

Gettin Ready!

2011-06-20T07:31:00.002-05:00

Well summer is finally here! School ended last Thursday and Friday I was in charge of the missionary zone lunch so I was busy and gone most of the day. So today is the first day that feels like summer vacation because we have nothing on the calender! We can go to the Rec and swim, walk to the park, or anything else. Of course we still need to clean the house from the weekend, drop the car off at the shop and make sure we have everything ready for the upcoming trip.

I love to get multiply things done at the same time so I think I will drop the car off at the shop 3 miles away and then run home. That will take care of my run for the day and get the car in so we don't run out time this week. Driving a van with 226,000 miles on a long trip would make me nervous if we didn't always take it into the shop for an inspection before we leave. (Needless to say we pray for the van too!)

We also finally ordered a camera. I was not going on vacation without a camera. Our camera broke (Naturally Sydney was last seen with it) back in October and we have only had cell phones for pictures since Thanksgiving. Hopefully it will get here in time for Jason to bring it with him. It took a while to decide on the camera and then find the best deal. I think we did a good job.

Well I am off to make more lists for the trip...

Stopped in my tracks!

2011-06-12T16:01:00.002-05:00

The other day I was running down the road. (I really don't like running. I have been working out diligently now since January and am only just now getting to the point where the first mile doesn't feel like torture.) Anyway, back to my point, while I was just running along I stopped dead in my tracks. A smell hit me and I had to stop and take it in. It smelled exactly like grandparent's backyard! I can't describe what the smell is, I just know it. It brought back a flood of memories. Jason's grandma passed away this past Thursday and it made me think about my grandparents.
I never met my mother's father who passed away before I was born and I had only met my mother's mother once when I was 2 before she passed away. So I knew my father's parents best. From the time I was 8 they lived only a few miles away and we saw them all the time. I miss them and I wish I had been able to know my other grandparents. My memories are nothing grand, but they are comforting and happy. We never went on trips, lived on a farm, or even went camping. I wonder if the memories are more poignant because they are remembered from the untainted and innocent view of a child since there is nothing other than ordinary life in my memories. Whatever the reason, here are some of my happy memories of my grandparents...
The "Milk Man" - It wasn't a real old-fashioned milk man but more like a Schwann's guy. I just remember that when we were visiting she would get popsicle's and ice cream bars from him.
TV Trays - They had these beige fiberglass TV tray with fruit pictures. They are hard to describe but we all remember them. The best part was when we stayed overnight we always had breakfast in the family room with Lucky Charms and PERFECT toast. I don't know what it was about grandma's toast but it was perfect! Of course we also got the watch Saturday morning cartoon! (This was before cable when that was the only time to watch cartoons)
The Oak Tree - I am not sure how many hours we spent up in the branches playing house or who knows what from our imagination. I remember pretending to do ballet on the branches that ran parallel. Of course I rarely got to be in the top "nest" because I was not the oldest. It is sad that the old tree is gone now. It was a happy day when we were finally big enough to get into the tree ourselves and play.
The Backyard - Pretty much the whole backyard was awesome. We would set up Croquet, hide in the bushes in the SE corner, talk to the neighbor on the west side, pull out the plastic covered patio furniture pads, and just run around. Of course one of my favorite memories was of grandpa walking around the patio and smiling at us. Which leads to my next memory...
Grandpa's Cigars - I am not a fan of smoking but I will always love the smell cigar smoke because it reminds me of grandpa smoking his cigars in the backyard.
Family Dinners - When I think of family dinners of my childhood I think of grandma's. Now that I am older and have been responsible for a few brisket dinners myself, I am even more grateful for all the work and effort that went into those family dinners. I know I wasn't appreciative of it then so I guess my way of saying thanks will be to do for my family what was done for me and hope that they will have these memories for their future.
Angel Food Cake - Nothing was better than grandma's angel food cake with fluffy white frosting for your birthday. I have never had anything that compares. They were simply the best!
Games - Mastermind, Cribbage, and others. I can't think of any other specific games but I remember the closet in the hallway that had lots of games.
Red Room and Blue Room - Many hours were spent playing house in these rooms. Nothing was better than to play in the red room and climb up into the cut out above the built in dresser or sit at the dressing table in the blue room and pretend you were a princess.
Reel to Reel Classical Music - Grandpa had probably hundreds of reel to reel music. All carefully cataloged in the basment. I think my brother still has them.
p.s. We did ride bikes and trikes in the basement when the weather was bad. We didn't mind the dust but the open stairs were scary when we were little.

So these are a few of my favorite memories from grandma and grandpa's house on Pawnee Ln. Such good times and wonderful memories.

Making cards

2011-06-11T08:31:00.002-05:00

I really like making cards and scrapbooking. It is one of the only creative outlets I am good at since I am a left-brained dominant person. I just made a huge batch of cards for my mom so any family reading this will recognize their next birthday card. My favorite part of crafting is doing it with friends or late at night while watching a chick flick. (By chick flick I mean any one of my versions of Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, or other select period dramas) Unfortunately I haven't found a friend to craft with here nor do I have the great space I have had for the past 9 years. I really miss that. It gets old sitting cross legged on my bed with a cutting board for a table while my legs go numb...just sayin'. Oh well, I still love mixing papers, creating balance, and adding a little embellishment. The odd thing is that I like doing math problems just as much!

2011-06-05T17:46:00.003-05:00

Playing cars like Jason did.

This car mat has been in the Furnell family for who knows how long! It was actually made by Aunt Dorothy for Darrin Furnell and was passed down to Jason and now to another generation. Just the other day Jason was complaining that the boys didn't entertain themselves as much as he did as a kid. I guess he got his wish, well at lease one of the boys.

Dapper Dude turns 7!

2011-06-03T08:41:00.005-05:00

Today was Fancy Nancy/Dapper Dude day for Kindergarten. Just what Luke needed to make his birthday feel even more special. He has been waiting and ready for this day for a long time. So dressed up in his shirt, tie and favorite cut off army shorts, we slicked back the hair and off he went. (No luck on finding his sunglasses that diappeared into thin air. I am sure we will find them tomorrow.) He also got to bring the share bag to school today and we tied a small roll of sticker onto a pencil and eraser for him to give to his classmates at school.
We tried to play dumb this morning and pretend that we didn't remember what day it was when he asked "Do you know what day it is today? You know 7, the big 7 that looks like this!"
So I made his favorite breakfast of french toast with the "fat" bread and dropped him with all his loot at the school. Jason will be surprising his at lunch to take him out and then Aunt Meghann and Uncle Dan are coming over tonight for a small family party. All in all I think he will have a great birthday. As long as we get him to the store to spend some of that birthday money he has already gotten!
Now I just need to fit in some exercise, run to the library with Sydney, get all the sheets washed and back on beds, and finish cleaning the house for company tonight...all in a days work for a mom! It's just a good thing Meghann is making the cake:)

Here is the best french toast batter recipe that I got from allrecipes.com
Fluffy French Toast
Texas Toast
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbl sugar

Reunion-Vacation!!

2011-05-31T11:47:00.002-05:00

We always say that we are going on vacation when we head out to Florida but really it is just the way Furnell's do family reunions. We don't camp or own a farm so I guess that leaves the beach! And really isn't a family reunion what you call it when all the kids, spouses, and grand kids pile into one house for a week, while sharing cooking, cleaning and activity responsibilities? So in 26 days I leave for my "vacation".

It will include:
3000 miles of driving with over half of it just me and the kids.
2 1/2 days with my brother and family.
2 1/2 days with my long time friend and family.
9 days with the Furnell clan on the beach!
6 days with my sister and family.
2 movies - Cars 2 with the cousins and Harry Potter with my sister. (Yes the movie opening has been part of the planning;)

Now I just have to lose those horrible 5 pounds that keep coming back, decide all the different things we will need for 3 weeks on the road, pick a few new games for some friendly family competition, get all 6 of us haircuts for the family picture (add in a color for me:), make sure we have the right clothes for the picture, finally give myself that pedicure I have been planning on doing since the beginning of May, and make sure everything is taken care of for us to be gone for an extended time.

So whether you want to call it vacation or family reunion it is going to be great!

Field Trip with Blake

2011-05-30T20:02:00.002-05:00

Friday I farmed the younger kids to friends and babysitters to take Blake on his school field trip. We went to Greenfield Village which is a historic village focused around 1880's, the time of Henry Ford. (This is Detroit after all!) There were exhibits on Henry Ford and how he changed the automobile industry, Thomas Edison one of the people that inspired Ford, and other building that show what life was like on farms and in schools during that time. It is really pretty cool when you think about how much the personal mobility that was made available with the invention of the automobile has changed the way we live. It was cool to see the ways life has changed and the ways it really hasn't changed all that much in the last 130 yrs. One thing that I am pretty sure that hasn't changed is how fast kids grow up. I am still in denial that I am entering the age of teenagers later this year! So here is a picture of Blake on an old bridge striking a goofy pose, because goof and sarcasm is what he does best.

Post Memorial Day Picnic Dishes

2011-05-30T19:53:00.002-05:00

I was asked to be in charge of food for our Church Memorial Day picnic, so I picked up food last Friday night when I was doing my shopping. On Sunday I started asking around to get an estimate on the number of people that planned on attending and there were double what they thought might attend in the beginning! No big deal since I being a typical mom, I was already worried there wasn't going to be enough food and had bought extra. I just needed to make a quick trip to the store this morning and pick up a few more hamburgers, hot dogs and buns. (We were providing the burgers and dogs with pot luck for the sides and dessert.)

Last night I made plain jello, garbage bars and deviled eggs. Then because we were expecting 90 degree weather I grabbed a bunch of bowls from the church kitchen. That way we could put some ice in the bottom of the bowls and then put potato, egg or other side dishes in them so they would stay cool in the heat. I think it worked out pretty good. The only down side was the pile of dishes that I brought home. Between the bowls, cooking pans I used to make my own sides, the plates for serving my sides, coolers, and a few hand wash dishes that I must confess had been sitting on the side of the sink for a few day, there was a huge pile of hand wash dishes to be done. So I should rest easy tonight knowing that they are done and not waiting for me to do in the morning.

Michigan has also had a VERY WET spring. So the park had many pools of standing water in and around the pavilion and playground. At least the baseball diamond was dry enough to play on! On the down side though most of the kids were covered in wet muddy clothes and shoes by the end of the day. 4 loads of laundry later the kids should be set to go back to school tomorrow as long as their shoes dry in time.

So over 12 hours after I started to day I am ready to relax. And next time I feel guilty about reading a book for an afternoon I will try and remember that it is okay to relax sometimes because not everyday needs to be this exhausting!

2011-05-20T13:00:00.002-05:00

Here is the breadstick recipe that people ask me for...enjoy! Sorry there are no pictures, it would help if I had a camera.

Breadsticks
By Janelle Tebbs

¾ cup warm water
½ tbl yeast
1 tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cup flour
2-3 tbl melted butter
Garlic, salt, and Parmesan cheese

Start yeast, water and half the sugar. Add to flour, salt and the rest of the sugar. Mix until a soft dough. Pour half of the melted butter onto the bottom of pan and place rolled out dough on top. Pour the rest of the butter and spread on top. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and parmesan cheese. Cut into breadsticks. I usually use a pizza cutter. Let rise for 45 minutes and then bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

unwanted house guest

2011-04-28T15:33:00.001-05:00

spring break fort

2011-04-24T22:03:00.003-05:00

This year for spring break we stayed home. We would have loved to go back to KC for a visit but with a long driving trip planned this summer we decided to stay put. Of course, the weather didn't work out for the soccer camp we planned to put the boys in for the week so we were left to our own selves for entertainment. The kids are really into making forts on the weekends. This usually just ends up with a bunch of blankets that I feel like washing because I have a laundry compulsion. Anyway, after watching their attempts to make separate forts and seeing my couches turned upside down, I decided it was time to teach them how to make a real fort.

So using their bookshelf that is anchored to the wall we lined up all 3 twin size mattresses and turned the bed frames on their sides. All it took then was a few hockey sticks lashed together in the middle to hold the blankets up. We used some chairs from the table for an entrance and even put the small TV and DVD player from my old stamping office on one of the chairs for their movie watching pleasure! (It's the same TV I bought to take with me to college with a built in VHS player:) All in all they had a fun time in their fort and the best part was that it never collapsed on them in the night. It did have to be rebuilt every evening before bed though.

First day of Spring Break

2011-04-18T10:41:00.001-05:00

The toothless wonder gets a haircut!

2011-04-05T16:04:00.002-05:00

playing at the park

2011-03-17T14:56:00.001-05:00

The tempurature broke 60 for this first time since november! So naturally we headed off to the park. Especially since the sun made an appearance too. The boys brought along some friends and played some form of dodgeball until someone got mad and quit. Naturally taking turns burying each other in the sand is the only thing left to do.

The Toothless Wonder!

2011-02-19T15:33:00.001-06:00

It's official that Luke has no front teeth. Just a few months earlier and it would have been perfect for Christmas.

The Stamping Area

2011-02-09T12:45:00.002-06:00

Here is the makeshift stamping area. Of course it is temporary since it is in the dining area but at least with the side table I can leave the projects off to the side when I am not working. But it will have to do for now. I definitely miss my basement craft room, much more convenient. For Christmas suff I just took over the whole table and it was cluttered. Bringing up the side table will be a huge addition.

Snow Day Project

2011-02-02T13:04:00.002-06:00

We are having the 2nd snow day of the school year today. The blizzard only yielded us 6-8 inches so I doubt they will miss anymore school this week. We have also learned that plowing is optional in our city unless it is 12 inches in 1 storm. So Jason's car is grounded probably for the rest of the week. Anyway, we finally got around to making a cat scratching post for Twilight. She had better like it! Well it's off to make lunch, play dominos, and make some treat I can't eat. (Only 4 weeks left!)

A project goes bad...

2011-01-29T20:48:00.002-06:00

I had this great plan for my Sunday School class this year! So I thought. My first mistake is fairly obvious and Jason was so kind as to point it out to me immediately after I returned from my hour long visit at the printer. 2010! Yes I printed 6 books of 46 pages with the wrong year.

I think the plan was sound. I wanted to have something for the girls to be able to write down ideas and other thoughts that we talk about in the scriptures. Also, to be able to refer back the different scriptures and challenges issued in class. And in Activity Days we started our SPS. Instead of our GPS we wanted to look at our Spiritual Positioning System. Which stands for Scripture, Prayer, and Serve. These are the daily things that the girls have been challenged to do on their own. So I thought it would be super convenient to have it all in one place the same size as their scriptures. Too bad the execution of the plan was a disaster.

Mistake 1:

2010

Mistake 2:

I thought that I wanted the SPS page in one direction on the back page but then when it was done it would have been better going in the other direction. In other words, it looks upside down when you look at the book!

Mistake 3:

The cost was $45 for 6 books. I couldn't believe it cost that much!! Had I realized how much it was going to be and planned ahead better, I could have printed at the church and saved half the cost.

Mistake 4:

This was due in part with mistake 1. My repair of mistake 1 included adding a color strip with the right year onto each page. The girls then used the same color to decorate the front. I thought this was a decent fix. Now that I have added the color strip to each page of course the spiral binding is quite tight. Oh well...

Basically, I lost my MoJo. What should have been a simple project was not up to my usual standards.

I guess I left the MoJo in MO:)

Dreaming of Sugar...

2011-01-26T07:14:00.002-06:00

LITERALLY!
I am participating in a diet challenge with my sister-in-law. It lasts for 8 weeks and you earn points based on different activities. You get 3 points for eating 3 veggies and 2 fruits a day. 2 points for drinking water. 5 points for a weekly challenge that has included eating leafy green, beans or stretching. Up to 5 points for exercising up to 60 minutes. 5 points if you log all your food and stay in your calorie goal. And last but not least 5 points for no sweets! For anyone who knows me well, I LOVE TREATS! I love to make them to. In fact since the challenge began 3 weeks ago I have had to make cookies at least 5 times. We can only log the exercise and sweets points for 6 days so you get one day off exercising and one day to have sweets. It has been a real challenge to make cookie dough and not have any at all!! So since I can't eat sweets, I have begun dreaming about eating sweets.
This morning in my attempt to sleep as long as possible, I was having a dream about making cookie dough. And even in my dream I looked at it and said, "No, it's not my sugar day". This was not my first dream where I have denied myself sugar and it probably won't be the last in the last 5 weeks of the challenge. But today the dream is going to be real. With monster cookies and leftover ice cream treats from Jason's birthday I can deny myself no longer. So here on Wednesday, the first day of the diet week, I will give myself sugar. In fact I will probably only eat my fruits, veggies, and beans with my ice cream and cookies. Then it will be back to just dreaming of sweets:)

FYI

2011-01-22T23:49:00.002-06:00

I got a smart phone for Christmas!!!
Unfortunately it is not that smart.
When I linked my phone to upload directly to my blog I thought it was going to be a great way to actually get some blogs posted. I might get that figured out soon, but in the mean time I have realized that the phone does not distinguish between me and my 4 year old.
Translation, when Sydney gets ahold of the phone and takes a picture, it sometimes get uploaded right away.
So if unusual pictures that look like they were taken by a 4 year old show up on the blog...they were:)

sydney's cake

2010-12-10T17:03:00.001-06:00

Sydney turns 4!

2010-12-09T11:23:00.004-06:00

Here she is wearing her adorable sweater Mormor made for her and her cute boots from Grandma! It's a good thing she is not spoiled.

All she wanted for her birthday was to go to Chuck E Cheese. So the family went for an hour of super fun! She also had a little playdate with her 3 friends. The girls got to make their own pizza and then they played in the snow inside. Which means that they threw white packing peanuts over the bannister on the other kids and then picked them up to do it again. I shouldn't have bought any presents just a bigger bag of peanuts.

Somedays...

2010-12-06T20:58:00.002-06:00

Somedays...

Somedays it just means a little bit more to see your baby sleeping peacfully. She made sure that "Worm" and the princesses were all tucked in before drifting off to sleep.

All unpacked...

2010-10-11T12:03:00.002-05:00

We are getting settled here in. I have been working on some small projects but will hopefully be blogging more soon. Here is the brief summary of our recent sojourn.
August 12th - Loaded up the truck after much packing, late nights, and lots of GREAT friends to help!!!
August 13th - Cleaned up the house for the tenants and wrapped up loose ends.
August 14th -8am - hit the road - 11:30pm - arrived safely.
August 15th - Went to church and then crashed for the rest of the day.
August 16th - Started looking for somewhere to live...
August 27th - Found something that would work.
September 1st - Enrolled kids in school.
September 3rd - Signed lease and went to wait for the moving truck to be delivered. Downstairs neighbor complained within an hour...What have we gotten ourselves into!
September 4th - Unloaded the truck and slept in my own bed for the first time in weeks! I was never so happy to make the bed in all my life.
September 5th - Really like our new Ward!
September 7th - Boys start school after the longest summer of their lives. (They had been out of school since before Memorial Day)
The rest of the month was spent unpacking. Trying to make everything fit into less space than we had before and several trips to IKEA for storage things. Overall everything is going well. We really like the Ward especially Blake and Caleb. They have already made some good friends and they like their teachers. Blake was bummed that he is still in Elementary school since he was going to start Middle School back in MO. Caleb has adjusted quite well but says his bedroom is scary because it has a patio door. Of course we are 3 floors up so it's not like anyone is going to break in. Luke thinks school is too long so I can't imagine what he would have been like going to all day Kindergarten. He is also the oldest kid in class since I started him a year later and the deadline for K here is December 1. (There are several 4 yr old kids in his class!) Sydney is doing just fine and doesn't seem to miss the boys at school.
I'll get some pictures up of the first day of school, our place, and our trip to Cleveland for an Indians game.
We miss all our friends and family that we left behind and can't wait til grandma and grandpa come for Blake's 12th birthday.

Update - 2

2010-08-06T14:34:00.002-05:00

Things are looking up. I guess I hit the peak of frustration Monday and now everything is working out. We have a renter for the house and the moving truck is scheduled in 7 days. I guess now I have to actually pack the house up. Thankfully we have a temporary place to stay while we find somewhere to live. (THANK YOU JAMIESON FAMILY!!!! The house will be spotless when you come back:))
So...
We will have 3 weeks to find a place and enroll in school.
We have our house taken care of here.
Jason made it through his first deadline at the new job.
and...
The family will be back together in 8 days!!
We have definitely been watched over and BLESSED.

Update

2010-08-02T22:24:00.003-05:00

Here is an update to our move...

No offers to buy or rent our house here.

No house ready to rent in MI.

No idea how Jason is going to like the new job.

No idea what school the boys will start in Sept.

Kids miss dad.

14 yr anniversary is tomorrow and we are 800 miles apart.

Need another book so I don't have to think about everything that is out of my control.

Need lots more Faith...

The Star Spangled Banner

2010-07-04T20:31:00.003-05:00

I have recently done some family history. It is extremely exciting to find out that you have direct ancestors that helped found this great nation. They fought in the American Revolution, Civil War, both World Wars. I love this Country! I am saddened when I see the direction we are headed as a nation.

Today at church as we stood to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" I was struck by the last verse.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I think we all know the first verse, but why do we stop singing? The end has the point. How did an untrained and unskilled army defeat the greatest army of the time?

Just a thought for today.

Michigan here we come...

2010-06-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

Jason signed the offer and turned in his resignation letter. Guess that makes it official. Now I just have to get the house on the market asap.
It's a good thing I am great at suppressing emotions!

33 years

2010-04-29T12:54:00.005-05:00

33 years ago...

I looked like this. Give or take a few days. Since none of my babies were this chubby, it's hard to tell if any of them look like me. I even remember using that dress on my Cabbage Patch Kids!

Then, 30 year ago I looked like this...

Then I think something got stuck in my hair and it all had to go. So I looked like this...

When I was sorting pictures with my mom I tried to put this picture in my brothers pile. My mom laughed and said it was me.

Enjoy!

If I had a dollar every time...

2010-04-11T21:40:00.002-05:00

Every week I tell Jason that "If I can get through this week, next week won't be so busy." Jason always responds with "I wish I had a dollar for every time you say that." Well he would be a rich man!
So blogging takes a back seat to Cub Scouts, PTA, 4 kids, Soccer, Piano, Cello, and various random activities. If only I could clean the house and do all the laundry and it would stay done!!!
Maybe I should post my To Do List for a week and that would count as a journal?
Here is a quick update and random facts about us.
Jason - Still working on Wizards Soccer Stadium and EQ Pres...slipping in volleyball when he can.
Blake - His strings teacher at school said, "Blake is a very talented musician." He is playing the cello and piano (Hates practicing of course!) He also competed in a District math competition as a top 3 finisher from his elementary but didn't place at districts. Almost finished with 2nd Class Scout. Is constantly complaining about pain in his legs and I expect him to grow visibly at this point.
Caleb - Quietly goes about and takes care of stuff. He is a natural athlete so now that we have finished our winter hiatus he will be up and going.
Luke - Ready for kindergarten!! He is excited to be learning his letters and hopefully will finally get them all down.
Sydney - All I can say is that she has no fear and is constantly getting in trouble if not giving hugs and kisses to keep things balanced.
I did manage to read my first Charles Dickens book in March! Now if I could find time to read all the other books I want to read...
And did I mention that I went to parent orientation for Middle School...where does the time go!!!

Jane Austen Fans!

2010-01-28T13:15:00.003-06:00

For all my Jane Austen fan friends...

PBS Masterpiece theater is playing a new version of Emma and I really like it. I have only seen the first part of 3 but so far it looks good. The screenplay was done by the same person that did North and South. One of Elizabeth Gaskell's better known works and movie.
The 1st part can be seen online and the 2nd part will be this Sunday with the 3rd part on February 7th.
I hadn't even heard about it when I stumbled upon it last Sunday at midnight when I was about to turn the TV off and heard the names Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. I did what any good Austen fan would do...I stayed up until 2 watching it because...well you know.

Anyway enjoy and if you miss it I am sure to own it by my birthday for you to borrow:)
www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/

Pictures

2010-01-16T09:43:00.005-06:00

For Christmas this year we gave pictures. It was time for grandparents to get some updated pictures. Also, We snuck out and took pictures for Jason's office. Our friend Tiffany took these great pictures of the kids and everyone loved them. So here they are...

Luke

Sydney

Caleb

Blake

HOMEWORK HELP!!!!

2009-12-14T20:57:00.002-06:00

Blake was working on a revision for a 5th grade research paper about Belgium and Hungary. After a brief discussion about the word ginormous, we came across this sentence and thought we should share a laugh with all our friends and family...

"Although Belgium and Hungary are similar in many different ways the differences are similar in many different ways the differences are unexpected."

I think we might be up a little late working on this sentence :)

Family Picture

2009-11-04T21:35:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my awesome sister for going out with us to take some fun family pictures. Here is one of my favorites.

I dream of...

2009-10-09T09:33:00.002-05:00

I loved watching the show "I dream of Jeannie". It was the best and I can't even think of a good reason that it was except for the dream part. Didn't we all wish that we could cross our arms, blink and whatever we wanted would appear?! Even with only 32 years of experience I have already learned that that would be disastrous (although that was probably the fun part in seeing how disastrous it always was for Jeannie). Even when we wish for good things there is a plan in place that is better than anything we could come up with on own. I have found that the Lord likes to remind my stubborn and independent person of this on a frequent basis.

Today I would love to blink my house clean. In fact at this very moment I should be elbow deep in laundry folding, vacuuming, and comet...but here I sit! My house has taken a beating from some neglect over the past 3 weeks. The neglect comes from a hard lesson in trusting to a plan. And the realization that, if we allow, our Savior can make any moment a teaching, testifying, and faith building moment. I am grateful that the Lord is patient in teaching, and that Jade will make a full recovery.

For those of you that don't know, my friend Brenda dropped her 14 month old little girl at my house to run up to an appointment. I put her soup in the microwave and ran upstairs to pick up for a few minutes leaving my 8 year old to watch her with crackers and milk. My son wanting to be helpful took her soup from the microwave and put it on her tray, where she promptly put her hand in and screamed. I was there in seconds to get her out and run her hand under water, but the damage to her sensitive baby skin was done. Almost 10 days later she was released from the hospital. Brenda had a calm peace from the start that everything would be okay. For me, after 6 days of praying for a miracle, crying, agonizing over what if's and why's, finally fasting and asking for a blessing, I knew that everything was going to be fine, I just needed a little more faith. It was a hard lesson in how fragile life really is, but a great knowledge that there is a plan that is better than anything we could come up with or wish for. And most importantly that we don't have to walk alone.

p.s. After 4 kids, I would settle for Jeannie's body:)

Dreaming...

2009-08-05T22:13:00.003-05:00

Just dreaming about having enough time to do everything I need and some of the things I want to do. My friend just sent me a new link to her blog and I realized I hadn't even looked at my blog for weeks...
For those of you that know me well, you would know that calling me at midnight would be preferred to 7am. I am just not a morning person. I am frequently vacuuming the house at 11pm. Plus if the house is clean at midnight it is the longest stretch of time where everything is clean because everyone is asleep:) Anyway, I decided that I needed more FAITH. So after reading some great talks on faith I realized that I need to be more OBEDIENT. So it is finally time for me to become an early riser. Plus it is enticing to think that I can have exercised, read my scriptures, gotten ready for the day, made breakfast and have the kids up and moving all before 8 am if I would exert myself!! So the alarm has been set for Mon thru Friday, for now.
So...I am off to bed. Morning comes quickly:)

Luke is 5!!!

2009-06-16T08:32:00.010-05:00

Our little boy is growing up!!
Here are some pictures and words to describe him.

L - lovable - How could he not be! He is very friendly with everyone and very loyal (ask his primary teachers from last year:)

( 6 months)

U - unique - Thank goodness there is only one of him.

( first haircut)

K - kisses and hugs - There is no leaving the house with out them.

(He was laughing hysterically when you pulled the toys apart)

E - excited - He is very animated.

(His blanket and binkie)

R - rough - He has to be with two older brothers!

(stitches he got when his brothers "helped" him learn to walk)

O - ornery - He wants it his way or no way.

(Daddy's boy all the way)

B - bubba - nickname:)

(A disaster waiting to happen)

E - extraordinary - We've learned to expect the unexpected.

(Swimming with uncle Brandon)

R - redonkulous - This is what everything is that is silly or ridiculous.

(Just being Luke)

T - t-rex - he loves his dino's!!

When I get pictures from his birthday I will post them. He wanted a t-rex cake but I talked him into a volcano with toy dinosaurs climbing it. Much easier!!

ABC's of me...

2009-05-27T22:56:00.002-05:00

A - Age: 32
B - Bed size: King
C - Chore you hate: Anything that I have to do more than once on the same day!
D - Dog's name: dog named Bo but we want to change it
E - Essential start your day item: pretending I don't have to get up yet
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: Platinum
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: used to play piano, violin, and cello
J - Job title: Family therapist, taxi driver, house keeper, education director, event planner, organizer, nurse, Domestic Goddess
K - Kids -Blake 10, Caleb 8, Luke 5 next week, & Sydney 2
L - Living arrangements: house that needs organizing
M - Mom's name: Marit
N - Nicknames: Genie Weanie when I was a kid or Margarine
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Appendix
P - Pet Peeves: reading the end of book first
Q - Quote from a movie: And this is where the flying moron crashed into the star - Stardust
R - Right handed or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: 4 brothers and 2 sisters
T - Time you wake up: 7
U- Underwear: YES:)
V - Vegetable you dislike: Okra and asparagus
W - Ways you run late: When I think I can do one more thing before I head out the door.
X - X-rays you've had: teeth, neck, and spine
Y - Yummy food you make: way too many to list, that is why I want to lose weight:(
Z - Zoo favorite: tiger and gorillas

8 THINGS

2009-05-13T15:23:00.003-05:00

Time to tag it up a bit...this one is from Cheryl...

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1. Not being sad about leaving YW:(

2. A clean house

3. Meeting my new sister-in-law and her kids:)

4. Reading a book (really lots of books!)

5. A temple in KC

6. A few movies this summer

7. A date night

8. Less stress

8 Things I did Yesterday:

1. Took Luke to speech for the last time w/ Ms Karmen

2. Made dessert for YW

3. Talked to Kim & Kaylene

4. Took Blake to Baseball (Only caught the top of 1st), Caleb to Scouts

5. Went to last YW activity

6. Got sun burned at Field Day

7. Did some PTA Stuff

8. Cried

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Be a better mom

2. Lose weight

3. Decorate and work on my house whenever I want...with no thought of expense.

4. Keep my house picked up

5. Be more supportive of others

6. Lay on a beach and read books for the rest of my life

7. Go to Disney World!!

8. Be better at healthy criticism of self

8 Shows I Enjoy: (this one is tough for me...I don't watch much tv)

1. Weather Reports

2. Sadly if one of those shows like Inside Edition happens to be on I watch it.

3. Backyardigans

4. Burn Notice (at least last year we watched the dvd's)

5. Really I would rather read a book. Now 8 books I love would be...

1. Jane Eyre

2. Anything by Jane Austen

3. Harry Potter

4. Hunger Games

5. Women in White

6. Twilight and The Host

7. Goose Girl

8. Most of Gail Carson Levine's books (Ella Enchanted, The Two Princesses of Bamarre)

This list could go on...

8 Friends I am Tagging: (I'm trying to not tag someone who's been tagged)

1. Janelle

2. Wendy

3. Chrissy

4. Abby

5. Kelli

6. Christina

7. Diane

8. Meghann

Off to start the day....I'll be watching for your 8 things!

Books on Vacation

2009-05-10T10:01:00.007-05:00

My great plan on the little get-a-way I took with Jason was to read books by the pool and not cook or clean. I was able to do all of that and could have easily stayed a few more days! One of the interesting things about going on a business trip with Jason was seeing how all these people know him by name. Like when we walked in the smoothie shop and they said "Hi Jason and this must be your wife!" Or we walked into the hotel and he greets the lady behind the desk by name. That's when you know you have been traveling way too often. So Jason has been staying at the same hotel every other week for almost the past two years (part of the contract is that he has to stay within city limits). When we walked into the hotel one of the first things I noticed was a room off the main lobby that had books in it. I asked Jason what it was because it didn't look like a bookstore. He said "I don't know I have never been in there". I shouldn't be surprised by that, the kids didn't get their reading tendencies from him. But I at least thought he might have just stepped in out of curiosity. So the next day I went in to investigate...

It is an antiquarian that has a collection of ancient BIBLES. When I met the operator he told me that this collection of bibles all in one place can only be found here, a Hampton Inn in Goodyear Arizona.

I immediately recognized these names as some of the great reformers that laid the foundation for restoration through their amazing contributions of translation.

John Wyclif - early advocate for translation of Bible into "common tongue". His books were banned and burned and he was declared a heretic. His body was later exhumed and then burned.

Of course the invention of the printing press helped make it even possible that every person could have a copy of the bible for themselves. The bible was the major and iconic work of the Gutenberg Printing press.

Here is a first edition from the first printing of the King James Version of the Bible.

And a copy of William Tyndale's New Testament.

Through the works of men like Erasmus, Tyndale, and Luther, who dedicated their lives to making it possible that every man, women and child could read the bible for themselves, we all have the opportunity to read the bible in our own language.

I walked away from the room amazed at the collection that I had just seen. Priceless was a good work to describe what I had seen. But I realized that as amazing as the books are, they mean nothing if we don't read and heed the words available. The copy that I have and read is of more worth because it allows me the opportunity of knowing what I should be doing and how I should be living. I guess the best way for us to show our appreciation for their efforts is to take advantage and read!!

Irony

2009-05-04T08:59:00.004-05:00

So we arrive early in Arizona. I, as usual, am putting my makeup on in the car as we drive to Goodyear. This takes skill to put makeup on in a moving vehicle while driving on Missouri roads as they are notoriously bumpy and uneven. So I notice that the roads in Arizona are really smooth. I guess that without the constant change in temperature it saves the roads from destruction. So the Phoenix roads were super smooth making even mascara easy to apply.

Later that day...

I found that there were bad roads in Arizona.

That evening we were headed to dinner and all of the sudden the road gets bumpy. So, I immediately turn to Jason and say, "Now this is more like Missouri roads."

The Irony is the sign I saw just after my comment:

So there I was laughing at the irony and driving back the next day to take pictures for my blog.

Caleb wants what?

2009-04-25T18:29:00.008-05:00

Sometimes when you are a middle child you feel the need to find ways to stand out. Caleb, on a weekend visit to his Aunt's house, visited the KU campus. He decided to become a KU fan. It didn't help that a few months later they won the NCAA basketball championship. Now, you might wonder how this would be classed as a stand out behavior if you didn't know that:
1) He was born in Manhattan, KS.
2) Both parents are K-State Alum!
3) The reason he was at his Aunts house in the first place was because Jason and I were at K-State for a football game.

What is a mom to do when, as a K-State alum, her son wants a KU birthday cake?
You make it:) So here is my attempt at the Jayhawk!

I couldn't resist putting my K-State shirt for the pictures though!

I didn't do it!

2009-04-25T18:27:00.003-05:00

I wonder who got into the left over frosting?

Notice the shirt she is wearing! I think she should wear it everyday:)

Caleb is 8!!

2009-04-25T17:02:00.007-05:00

Where does the time go?

My baby boy turned 8 and got baptized. He is no longer my "silent destruction" (Sydney has taken that mantle upon herself). His chubby cheeks and little boy talk are gone. He is still sweet and quiet, but now his lovable personality has grown into a little boy whom we love so much.

There is something about a suit! Here are Caleb and Jason with their power ties.

And here is the family during all the craziness. If you look closely you can see all the distinct personalities in our family.

I wish I was better at stopping to smell the roses. It was all rush, rush, rush up to the church. Suddenly you blink and it is over. I think time speeds up as your kids get older...

What did I do today?

2009-04-23T20:28:00.005-05:00

So what do mom's do all day? With spring finally here my daily completion list is shrinking at a rapid rate. Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen and made dinner for extra people and spent the whole day there. But I do have a clean fridge inside and out:)

Today I couldn't ignore the need to pull out summer clothes for Sydney. That of course leads to the all day task of sorting through clothes to find too small, too stained, and too immodest clothes and get rid of them. I am very grateful though, that all the clothes in this picture were given to me. (I love friends that are done having kids:)

Before:

After:

I also had to get in the attic to fix the fan which is through Sydney's closet. That helped motivate me to put is all back neat and orderly, since I had to pull half her closet out to start the day!

Finished closet - you can't even see that the boxes are packed to the ceiling in there!

"Time to get ready for Church"

2009-04-23T20:14:00.005-05:00

Whenever you hear, "Blake don't move, I'll go get the camera" coming from the other room, you immediately begin to wonder what is going on.

They were supposed to be getting ready for church. At least they were dressed:)

And this is what happens when you have 3 older brothers. Did Sydney ask to play with a doll? No she wants a nerf gun strapped on her and a scope. I hope I can remedy this later in life. But then again princess is not a word to describe me so I'm not sure who will teach her!

We couldn't even keep the cute purple bow in her hair.

Compromise = Failure

2009-04-16T12:10:00.002-05:00

Why do we think that we can compromise our standards and not fail?
Here is the recipe for my failure. I happened to have some homemade caramel sitting in the fridge so I decided to make caramel brownies for the YW who had their camp forms ready to turn in on Tuesday. There were too many left over! I even put them in the freezer to get them off the counter, but then I learned that they are even good frozen:(
Oh well, here is a recipe for failure...
Carmel Brownies

1 package German chocolate cake mix
4 Tablespoons Butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Melt butter and mix all ingredients together (I usually do it by hand) just until cake mix is moistened. Take a little over half mix and spread in bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Bake 350 for 8 minutes.

Carmel
25 caramels
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Melt caramels and milk in microwave stirring about every minute until melted.

Take 8 minute cooked cake mix and pour melted caramels on top. Also sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips. Take the rest of the uncooked mixture and crumble on top.
Bake 350 for 16 minutes more. Wait to cut until completely cooled.

Sorry I don't have a picture, my camera is in Arizona as usual.

Why...

2009-04-16T11:21:00.003-05:00

Some days I just have to wonder why...
Why do we think we can actually have the house perfectly clean and the laundry all done when we still live in the house and are wearing clothes. (I am pretty sure that they even have laundry in nudist colonies:)
Why do we resist so hard to do the things that do us the most good.
Why don't we listen to those little promptings that would save us so much anxiety and relieve others at the same time.
Why do we think chocolate will make us feel better!

I came across this quote by President Ezra Taft Benson again. I think I have found it many times in my studies so it must be important for me.
"We live in an age when, as the Lord foretold men's hearts are failing them, not only physically but in spirit. Many are giving up heart for the battle of life...As the showdown between good and evil approaches with its accompanying trials and tribulations, Satan is increasingly striving to overcome the Saints with despair, discouragement, despondency, and depression.
"Yet, of all people, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. For while we know that 'peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion,' we are also assured that 'the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst.' (D&C 1:35-36)"

So how do we try to be perfect, and not despair over the impossibility of achieving it even for one day?
How do we not become discouraged over the immensity of the tasks to be done?
How do we stop ourselves from the despondency we feel when we feel overwhelmed and inadequate?
How do we stop feelings of depression when we look at the world around us?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this,

"My dear brothers and sisters, aren’t the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and our membership in His Church great reasons to rejoice?

Wherever you live on this earth and whatever your life’s situation may be, I testify to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ has the divine power to lift you to great heights from what appears at times to be an unbearable burden or weakness. The Lord knows your circumstances and your challenges. He said to Paul and to all of us, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And like Paul we can answer: “My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9)."

(President Uchtdorf is usually speaking directly to me:)

Oh that we could be more like Paul! If we could just be better at allowing the Savior to lift us up instead of trying to do it all ourselves. If only we could "glory in" our weaknesses, and allow the "power of Christ" upon us.

I am probably not going to publish this post until it is buried under others. You can ask my husband and he would agree that this is way too personal a subject for me to be capable of sharing with others.

So I am going to switch the laundry, take a shower, say another prayer, and put on my happy face. I just can't wait for a temple to be closer because if there was I would be on my way right now! I quess today is a survival day. I just wish I had more thriving days.

Compromise :)

2009-04-12T18:53:00.002-05:00

I actually went 4 days without SUGAR!!!
That may be a record. Jason and I decided on a compromise. We each get to pick one free day a week and then we both get that day free. That way we go 5 days without sugar for me and soda for Jason, and then two days that we allow sugar and soda in moderation.
This should at least save me from sitting around when I have a chance to read and snacking on skittles or jelly beans. My great downfall in life, snacking while I read:(
Speaking of reading...
What to read next
Fablehaven 4
The Thirteenth Tale
Brisingr
River Secrets
The Hunger Games
I have them sitting on my shelf, I just cant decide which one to start with. Any suggestions?

Something Funny!

2009-04-06T17:44:00.003-05:00

Just a little something to get a laugh.

So we went down to Lee's Summit to watch conference at Jason's parents house this past weekend. Something about spending 6 hours at the church to watch Conference with Sydney just didn't compare to relaxing at the Furnell's and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa:)
So while we are driving around Jason turns to me and says something along the lines of "I bet you can't go without sugar for a month". For those of you that know me well, I know you are already laughing. In fact my sisters text in response was, "LOL".
Jason first said that he would give up Mountain Dew also. No no no that was not nearly good enough. He would have to give up soda completely!!
Unfortunately, I am also very competitive by nature and can't bear to lose a challenge.
And a challenge it will be. Here is how the month of April shapes up for me on the dessert front:
-youth fundraiser this Friday that includes a dessert auction (which I will be making lots of treats for)
-Easter
-Caleb's birthday and Baptism (which he has requested about 4 different desserts)
-My birthday
-trip to Arizona

Maybe I can just make it through the day...

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-03-28T14:56:00.004-05:00

Here is my favorite cinnamon roll recipe. Its my favorite because it is so easy and always works out:)

4 1/2 cups of flour

1 package yellow cake mix

2 packages of quick-rise yeast

2 cups warm water

In mixing bowl, combine 4 ½ cups flour, dry cake mix, yeast and warm water until smooth. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 14-in. x 10-in. rectangle.

Cinnamon sugar mix (per half dough)

3 Tablespoons of Butter melted

½ cup brown sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix together. Spread over dough. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut into 12 slices (I usually cut them into 15 that are not quite so big); place cut side down in greased pan.

*Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

*I almost always make these the night before. You put them in the fridge overnight right after you cut them in rolls. When I do this I put them straight in the oven in the morning and then turn it on so they are in during preheating also. 350 for about 25 minutes. They may not look like they will fluff when you first put them in but they do! Because who wants to get up that early to make cinnamon rolls hot and fresh out of the oven:)

Last but not least...

Frosting (enough for both batches)

4 Tablespoons butter softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Frost.

ENJOY!!

For Fun

2009-03-28T14:46:00.006-05:00

For our Relief Society Birthday dinner I volunteered to make a cake. So I looked around on the internet to find a cute idea and this is what I came up with.

What you don't see is that there is one white cake and one chocolate cake. And that they are three one inch cakes layered together. The chocolate one even had mini-chocolate chips in the layers. Oh and it is obviously not sand but crushed graham crackers:)

I don't need another hobby but this was fun. I wonder what would happen I knew what I was doing instead of making it up as I go!

My Sister's Book

2009-03-25T12:21:00.001-05:00

The Adventures of Marcy and Sara: Book One: The Magic Mole by Martha Kehr

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I must admit that I was a little nervous reading this book. My little sister wrote it and I really hoped it was good but since it is her first book I didn't know what to expect. It was very creative and interesting. I won't give anything away but I totally thought I would find out about the letter in this book. I guess I will have to wait for the next.

Anyway the book is about two girls that come across a magic way to travel and the adventures they have. They travel to a fantasy land and their adventures get a lot more exciting. I really liked the creativity of Arcadia! Overall it kept my interest and I can't wait to read the next two. It was a great setup for bigger and more exciting adventures.

There were a few typo's and misplaced words but it is a self published book.

View all my reviews.

It was one of those Mondays...

2009-03-18T08:53:00.007-05:00

It was one of THOSE days. It started with a great plan to get some spring cleaning done and run a quick errand. It ended with me physically and mentally exhausted collapsing in bed. It went like this: My van needed a little tune up done and the mechanic I use is way done south near Lee's Summit. My in-laws just happened to be leaving for a weekend trip to Florida, so it worked out perfect for me to borrow their car while mine was in the shop. On Monday, early afternoon, I was to pick my father-in-law up at the airport and he would bring me down to the shop to get my car. A perfect plan and it was going perfectly. I was on schedule to be back home for my tutoring appointment at 3:00p.
Having just picked up my van I got about 7 miles away from the shop when the OIL light came on. I thought, "This is bad!!" I took the next exit and headed towards the gas station to check the oil. I thought maybe the mechanic forgot to put oil back in the car. I hit a red light just before the gas station and the car died! Completely shut down! At this point I should tell you that my friend wasn't feeling good that day so I exchanged my Blake and Caleb for her 7 month old baby. I figured the boys can just play Xbox at her house and she can sleep and I'll take the baby with me on the drive. So here I am dead on the side of the road with a screaming 7 month old (she didn't like the bottle I gave her), my 2 year old and 4 year old. Luckily my father-in-law was nearby, grabbed some jumper cables and was there in 10 minutes. A young man did stop but I didn't want him trying to push my van through the intersection. I called the mechanic and he was flabbergasted to say the least. Our whole family has been taking our cars to him and we have never had any problems. He suggested that maybe the battery had just completely died. We have had some battery problems with the van so that seemed likely. With a policeman on the scene now I put the car in neutral and let it roll through the intersection and into a parking lot. We switched the car seats once again and headed off so I could drop Jerry off at his office and then run to buy a new battery to install. That would be when...

Jerry got pulled over for speeding. I think when he pulled out his license and the cop saw his prosecutor badge he decided to just give him a warning:)
Soon I was off to Walmart where I realized that Sydney's shoes had not made the switch to the car, so she had none. I carried in the baby and Sydney into Walmart with Luke on tow. We got some bottled water, formula and treats for Syd and Luke. Back in the Tire section we found NO BATTERY for my car. I did what anyone would do in my situation...
I got back in the car and ate chocolate:) (don't tell my in-laws). Jason at this point had offered many times to come but it was just a battery. All I needed was a wrench to fix it. With all the kids happy I ran to Sams Club where they did have the battery I needed. Now I just needed a wrench. I ran back to my in-laws house to grab a wrench. I got back to the van and changed the battery with no trouble BUT...it still didn't start! At this point I called the tow truck. I didn't even cry when they pulled it onto the truck. Luckily that morning I had been listening to Elder Wirthlin's talk entitled "Come What May and Love it". I tried to laugh at the absurdity of the situation and laughed while I talked to various people on the phone. I also looked at the bright side...
1. The weather was beautiful, no rain snow or anything cold. In fact I got a little red on my arms.
2. Cheryl is still out of town so I could keep one of my in-laws cars. (Of course that means I will be picking Cheryl up at the airport on Thursday with a severe sense of de-ja-vu)
3. My insurance will pick up half the cost of the tow.
4. Blake and Caleb had not been left home alone for my quick 2 1/2 hour errand that turned into 8 hours.
5. We were safe:)

I will admit that I was a little grumpy on Tuesday and still tired. I was not looking forward to taking 4 kids to the DMV on Tuesday, but luckily the line was very short!!
I should mention when I called the shop in the morning he told me that the car started right up for him. I asked him to figure out what happened.

I trust that this happened for a reason and I will probably never know why..oh well at least the initial repair had been less than I budgeted for so I am still going to break even.

Look Down

2009-03-08T21:58:00.002-05:00

I just posted an edited post I had been working on earlier and it showed up further down the page. So if you want to look at a list of classic books...look down!!

JOY!!

2009-03-07T00:01:00.003-06:00

There are definitely some ups and downs in parenting and motherhood! Luckily we have those moment of joy that make it all worth it. Today had one of those glimpses in it.
It was a beautiful afternoon and I needed to get some cleaning done that I hadn't gotten to yet. I decided to go sit outside with Sydney and Luke so they could ride tricycles and scooters and not worry if the bedrooms got vacuumed. (Probably the first step to joy...ignoring housework:) When Sydney saw the bus go by she started screaming and jumping "Blake and Caleb". Of course you can't copy the cute way a she, as a 2 year old, says their names. As soon as the boys rounded the corner she was running to them with the happiest expression on her little face with her arms stretched out for a hug. She got to Caleb first and gave him a hug and then on to Blake. The best part was seeing the boys smile and pick her up hug her. Luke was right behind her. So there I was looking at all 4 of my kids walking together with smiles on their faces happy to be all together. I just wish I had my camera:)
A moment of JOY!

Reality Check

2009-03-04T08:42:00.002-06:00

So I was watching the news for a little bit last night. They had a clip about this peeping tom who was videotaping a high school girls dance group routine. He apparently had multiple camera's including one under his arm to get under their skirts. Well some of the dad's noticed this and followed him outside where they confronted him. They just called the police and held him until the police got there. Nothing dramatic the boy was arrested on voyeurism charges as he should have been. Yeah for the dad's for paying attention and not using violence as retaliation. So, not going into the horrors that will probably be that boys future if he doesn't get help, the real reality check was when they interviewed some of the dads of these high school girls. THEY DIDN"T LOOK OLD!! I mean they looked about my age, and they had high school girls. What does that say about me? I am getting old!! So for all my friends with high school kids and my young women moms, YOU LOOK GREAT:)

PS. I did NOT sit on the counter of my bathroom for 20 minutes right next to the mirror picking gray hairs the other day. NOT ME!
(I think I will be dropping by Shari's tomorrow:)

100 Things to do in Life

2009-03-02T10:35:00.004-06:00

I got this from another friend.

100 Things To Do In This Life...

How many have you done?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Full orchestra counts right?!)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland (Disney World should count)

8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (can’t imagine ever doing this!)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (high school counts right?)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (I’ve seen one in person at least!)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (only on the Wii)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a

44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (kind of, the sound of the surf coming in in the darkness was terrifying. We walked on the other side of the dune.)
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in movie
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (only as a baby)
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

100. Talked your way out if a ticket.

I only have 46. So at my current pace I only have to live to be about 69 years 3 months:) Although I think I will be okay if I never brake a bone!

25 Random Things

2009-03-02T10:33:00.004-06:00

25 Random things, facts, habits, or goals about me:

I have been slowly working on this list:)

1. I love to play Disney’s Toontown online. It’s really funny but I think that it’s mostly parents on there anyway. BTW I have 2 toons that are very powerful!!

2. I am planning on running a half marathon this year. I might make a goal for a full one if I can do the Disney Marathon in 2011.

3. I would love to be going to Disney World this year. If you are seeing a pattern you can blame my husband and in-laws because I only knew Disney had movies until I married into this family.

4. I am severely challenged in many areas, mainly any kind of decorating.

5. I love To Do lists. I don’t feel like I accomplish anything unless I have lots to do.

6. I could spend hours doing math problems. I seriously think its fun. Ask my sister, I was helping her study for the GRE and after 11 hours I was still like, “let’s just do a few more problems!”

7. I love to read. But only books that don’t have a lot of crap in them. I don’t like to read about social issues or deviant behaviors or critically acclaimed… I just want happy endings with a good conflict. I can watch the news if I want to be depressed.

8. I went to State in Track and Field for both 4 by 1 sprint relay and shot put.

9. I have 4 brothers and 2 sister and am the middle child.

10. I can’t handle static noise. Example, if the stove fan is on my tension level steadily increases.

11. I played the cello, which has the most beautiful sound of all stringed instruments! One day I will relearn.

12. I love to bake and none of it is good for you. (I think that is the real reason I have 15 pounds to lose.)

13. I’m happy to spend an hour everyday reading scriptures. I really think that people haven’t changed, just the details.

14. I love Wild Berry Skittles. I can’t find the big bags anymore in this area so my friends are on alert to inform me if they ever see them.

15. I did 56 hours of college between January and December of one year. I only had 1 B and 1 C. (refer to #5)

16. I love cashews and potatoes!

17. I believe strongly in choice with consequences.

18. I got married at age 19 and still graduated from college just weeks after turning 21.

19. My checkbook has to balance to the penny.

20. I am trying to teach myself how to play the piano.

21. I want be better at keeping my house picked up.

22. I procrastinate but work better under a deadline anyway.

23. I like car trips.

24. I do not express my feelings well or like to talk about my personal life but I hope I don't sugarcoat my life either.

25. And last but not least, my sister used to let me take her car out when she didn't want to take me places. I was only 14! But other than that I was an extreme goodie goodie:)

Got Books?

2009-03-02T10:26:00.006-06:00

Just a tag from a friend on facebook.

The BBC believes most people will only have read 6 out of the 100 books here. How do your book reading habits stack up?
I just thought it was interesting. No big deal though guys.

Instructions:
Look at the list and comment how many have you read.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
2. Lord Of The Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Robert Heller
14. Complete Works Of William Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Elliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime And Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevski
28. Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles Of Narnia - C S Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austin
35. Persuasion - Jane Austin
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C S Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs Of A Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie The Pooh - A A Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years Of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer For Owen Meany - John Irving
45. The Woman In White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne Of The Green Gables - L M Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord Of The Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense And Sensibility - Jane Austin
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice And Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count Of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude The Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Francis Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Inferno - Dante
77. Swallows And Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackery
80. Possession - A S Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchel
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. Remains Of The Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web - E B White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart Of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. Confederacy Of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I am a quarter of the way. Some of the books I doubt I will ever read but I should try Dickens. I can't believe I have never read one.
I might have read Moby Dick in middle school, but since I can't remember I doubt I should count it:)

I wonder if it counts that I have read some of them multiple times?

Opening Day

2009-03-01T20:24:00.011-06:00

Here is a picture of the Goodyear Ballpark in Arizona. Home of the Cleveland Indians Spring Training. This is where Jason goes and spends an exorbitant amount of money on travel. At least I don't pay for it:) Anyway this is the end result and everyone is excited with the final product! So in honor of the opening Jason planned a little boys trip to catch the home opener, and slip in a Royals game in Surprise. It is good to have connections. He got all the tickets free and all the hotel rooms using points. We didn't have enough free flight for the whole group just our family. The only downside was that Jason's brother Brandon wasn't able to come.

So here is the whole group: Uncle Dan (Meghann's husband), Blake holding his signed ball, Uncle Dudley (Stephanie's husband), cousin Noah, Caleb holding his signed ball, Jason and Jerry (Jason's dad).

Here is Blake holding his signed ball. He got Coco Crisp, Mark Teahen, Zach Greinke, Kevin Seitzer, and Jon Buck to autograph his ball. They had a great time at the Royals game against the Texas Rangers. The Royals even won! In fact...

Here is Caleb getting a signature from Hall of Fame Rangers pitcher, Nolan Ryan.

Then they had some fun at a Western themed park. They watched a gun battle (dramatized of course). Climbed a rock wall, they loved that!

Rode a bull

And got to go behind the scenes and see all the stuff you never get to see at the game. So besides the fact that they forgot sunscreen the first day and fried, they had a great time!! And within 12 hours of their arrival home from sunny Arizona, it had snowed 5 inches:)

BRRRRRR

2009-02-20T07:39:00.005-06:00

When I got up this morning I realized that it was a little cold in the house. So I thought I would turn the heat up a little while we got ready for school. So I cranked it up and nothing happened. That is when I looked at the current temperature and saw that it was in the low 50's!!!! No panic yet!
So I tried to think of reasons that the furnace would not be working. For the last few weeks I have had a few little fix it jobs around the house that I keep transferring from one To Do list to another and I decided to just get them done and over with. One was to tighten the water line to the fridge so I could open the valve and have decent water flow on the fridge. The water line breaks off from the main line in the furnace room. Sydney was helping me:) On the furnace there is a power switch. It is a light switch just at the perfect level for little troublemakers to reach. So apparently before I kicked Sydney out of the room for swinging on the water pipes (I mean hanging and swinging while saying weeeeee!) she flipped the switch and the furnace has been off since yesterday early afternoon.
Thankfully, the thought occured to me to check the switch this morning (I'm not that smart so it must have come from a higher source:) which was off. I would post a picture of Sydney all bundled up in blankets by the fireplace after I got her shivering from her bed but my camera is in Arizona with my husband. (Where he informed me it will be 78 today). This would also explain why all 3 boys came and crawled in my bed last night. So the house is about to crack 60 and we have the firplace, and space heater going. I am truly grateful for central heating :)

Little Stinker

2009-02-13T08:12:00.003-06:00

So we have all these leftover cupcakes from YW on Tuesday night and the kids have been doing their best to take care of them. So this morning Sydney gets one and promptly leaves the kitchen with a RED one. As soon as I see her I say, "Get back in the kitchen!"

Without missing a beat she puts it behind her back and says,"Where did it go?"

Little stinker!!

Who?

2009-02-12T09:30:00.005-06:00

Just to make a point of how little I watch TV, I got this e-mail from my sister-in-law Steph with these two pictures attached and no comments on who the guy was in the pictures. (I knew my sister-in-law and niece:)

Needless to say Steph was shocked when I replied and had to ask who he was. I'm guessing I am the only person on the planet that didn't recognize him! (I did recognize his name when I saw it!)

Pinewood Derby Hints!!

2009-02-10T22:00:00.004-06:00

Here is Blake at the Regional Pinewood Derby. Fortunately we had to rush to baseball practice, so we were in and out. Unfortunately that means he lost his first two races and was knocked out early.

However, here is what we learned from the experience: shave the car (the wood) down to almost nothing and replace the weight with metal. All added metal weight should go in front of the axles. Grind off the little grooves in the nails. Lastly, it doesn't matter what color you paint the car. If it's not charcoal gray from all the graphite, then you're not doing it right.

The only safe way to fall asleep at the wheel

2009-02-02T18:09:00.004-06:00

When it was time to get Luke to go to bed this is what I found.

He had fallen asleep while racing on the wii. The wheel was still strapped to his wrist and he was being lapped while his guy just sat at the starting line:) Even the cat had determined it was safe to curl up and sleep.

Good Job Blake!!

2009-02-02T18:00:00.004-06:00

Blake's Cub Scout Pack had their pinewood derby last week. Blake placed first in the Webelos and 4th overall! This is a huge improvement over last year when he lost every race even to Caleb's car in the free race at the end. His car is the black one with the red stripe.

Blake is on to Regional Derby on Saturday. (This is where you see great cars that dads build:) Blake actually did most of the work himself. I did run around town trying to find the right weights.

We'll take a picture of just him holding his car at Regional.

10 F-words (no its not what you think)

2009-01-30T09:32:00.019-06:00

A fun tag from a friend. (Thank you Cheryl, After I typed the title I had a good laugh:)

10 things that start with a letter of the alphabet. She assigned me "F".

If you want to participate, let me know and I'll assign you a letter.

1. FAMILY - What more is there to say! (Sorry I didn't have a recent whole family pic. Love ya Jason!)

2. FRIENDS - Everyone needs a good friend, or two, or three...

3. FROZEN FOOD - An example is ice cream, my favorite being Mint Chocolate Chip (not the green stuff though:)

4. FJORD - My mom is from the Fjords of Norway. I have never been, but will go one day.

5. FAIR - Bill Gates Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it! There is also no such thing as a FREE lunch! Life takes work, get on with it!!

6. FEAR of FAILING - This may seem like a strange picture but Hermione's biggest fear is failing all of her exams. Of course failing a test is trivial but you get the idea.

7. FLAG - I love this FREE country and our constitution.

8. FLOWERS - Who doesn't love Fresh Flowers? (Jason if you read this, feel free to take this as a hint;)

9. Fractions, Functions, Factors...Math is Fun or at the least it can be comical.

10. FAITH - What more is there to say.

After intense research...

2009-01-26T20:31:00.002-06:00

After some intense research (me) I have come to a very important conclusion. Moms get no sick days. In fact if a mom is feeling the slightest bit ill, the rest of the house will go into absolute chaos mode. If the world does not start to fall apart, everyone else will become ill needing your constant attention.
I have also learned the hard way that you should never start the self clean on your oven when you are 1. still awake and 2. you have a headache already!
So after 8 loads of laundry (Luke has strep so all sheets had to go), a doctors office that waited 6 hours to return my call to tell me I would have to make an appointment which it was too late to get an appointment that day, and crying grumpy kids and a sick husband, I'm going to bed.
I think I'm calling in sick tomorrow:)

Blake's Piano Recital

2009-01-21T11:47:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures from Blake's piano recital. He wants to play any song but his assignment. But I think we have finally crossed the line on wanting to quit. At least for now:)He is finally starting to be able to read the music with out so much frustration and the songs are more recognizable. I tell him that he will never regret learning!!

We have COLOR again!!

2009-01-21T10:17:00.004-06:00

Yeah!!! I finally have color again. So in honor of this event I will finally put up some posts that I have been wanting to do.

TAG
Type only 1 word
1. Where is your cell phone? piano
2. Your significant other? Phoenix
3. Your hair? up
4. Your mother? kitchen
5. Your father? work
6. Your favorite thing? reading
7. Your dream last night? forgot
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? thin
10. The room you're in? family
11.Your fear? failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? youth
14. What you're not? skinny
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? decor
17. Where you grew up? Kansas
18. The last thing you did? breakfast
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Your life? busy
21. Your mood? tired
22. Missing someone? always
23. Your car? Sienna
24. Favorite thing to buy? books
25. Favorite Store? amazon
26. Your summer? busy
27. Your favorite color? purple
28. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
29. Last time you cried? yesterday

What Happened?

2009-01-09T13:01:00.002-06:00

I have no idea why my blog lost all design. I think that I am really just blog illiterate:) Any help would be appreciated.

Jelly Legs

2009-01-08T18:57:00.003-06:00

This is the term for how your legs feel when you go back to the gym after 3 weeks (Okay, 4). It will probably be worse tomorrow :(

I don't like running but everyone says that at some point it gets easy.
Still waiting!!!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T15:06:00.001-06:00

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Day!

Tender Mercies

2008-12-18T11:42:00.003-06:00

Megan Kitchen
October 14, 1991 - December 12, 2008

This is the phrase that has continued to pass through my thoughts since I received that horrible phone call Friday night. Most of you know that I am the Young Women's president in my ward (church) here in Missouri. Friday night the Bishop called to tell me that one of our young women was killed in a car accident. I can't remember all the feelings that went through me but shock and concern for the other girls in the ward was foremost in my thoughts. Every time one of the girls cried, it just hurt me to see their hurt. Despite all of the grief and sorrow, I have truly seen the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of those around me.
Here are a few "Tender Mercies":
1. The youth were already scheduled to attend the temple in the morning. We went and truly felt peace.
2. When I got up to welcome the girls to YW's on Sunday I broke down. During the song and prayer I silently pleaded for help and the Spirit, so the girls could find comfort and peace. My prayers were answered and the girls left without tears. We even smiled! I also realized that our last lesson before Megan's passing was entitled "Preparing for Change".
3. When I went to visit Megan's mom, Lori, I saw how so many things had recently happened that brings comfort to us now.
4. Megan was a junior in high school so she had not had her senior pictures taken yet. Just weeks before her brother had come and taken absolutely beautiful pictures of her. Including the one above. This is how she would want to be remembered. With a huge smile!
5. Megan had just been to get her Patriarchal blessing and they had just received the hard copy in the mail and read it over together. The Lord's promises are sure!
6. I got sick, but was able to find the strength to get out of bed and make it to the viewing where I saw smiles on the girls faces. They realized that Megan was happy now and that she would want us to be happy.
7. I was able to know what to say, and able to say it, at the funeral. I had to read over my notes later to even remember what I had said. I know that we are all children of God and that while Megan is home now, He knows that we have sorrow and loves us too. He does send help and comfort to all who seek it.
8. As hard as it is to not have her here with us now, we have all been blessed to know her and love her.
At the funeral the Bishop read a poem that Megan had written on December 1, 2008 entitiled "Some day this will all make sense".
As I look at Lori and Tom and everyone around us, I see a trial of faith. We preach of forgiveness, Lori and Tom have shown forgiveness in the hardest of circumstances. We preach to the youth and in our families about the power of the Atonement and that the Ressurection is real. Now we see it and are filled with promise and understanding.
I know that there are more but these are the ones that stand out in my mind. I know that we will continue to see "tender mercies" in all our lives as we see how the Lord shapes our lives in His own perfect way.

About my husband TAG

2008-12-11T16:35:00.003-06:00

1.His full name: Jason Wade Furnell
2.How long have you been married: 12+ years (August 3, 1996)
3.How long did we date: For about 6 months when I was 16 and 6 months when I was 18/19.
4.Who eats sweets: I do.
5.Who said I love you first: Jason
6.Who's taller: Him
7.Who sings better: Since he won't sing out loud I would have to say me but that is not saying much!
8.Who is smarter: It depends, are you trying to build a building or solve a math problem:)
9.Who does the laundry: ME and if there is laundry in the next life I am protesting.
10.Who pays the bills: Me
11.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Jason
12.Who mows the lawn: Mostly me because he travels and I need to burn the calories
13.Who cooks dinner: Me.
14.Who drives: If we are all together, he drives.
15.Who admits when they're wrong first: Jason says me
16.Who kissed who first: Jason at his house by the pantry door. I was 16 he was 18!
17.Who asked who out first: It depends who you ask! We were dancing at a church dance and I was joking with him saying "when are you going to ask me out?" I thought he was dating my friend but I didn't know that she had literally just broke up with him. He then said "How about Thursday?" (it was summer) So you decide:)
18.Who wears the pants: I do. It is an inherited trait.
I'm supposed to tag 4 other people. Ok I am going to tag some of my family: Chrissy, Christina, Cheryl, Meghann and Steph if you look at my blog

Code Yellow

2008-12-11T12:16:00.005-06:00

I found out what a Code Yellow is on Tuesday at Target. That would be a missing child. I took Dylan (18mo old I am babysitting til Feb), Sydney, and Luke into Target to buy new binkie's. I know that I should just get rid of them, but that is another story. Dylan got buckled into the cart without a fuss and sits there totally mellow. Sydney is another story. She hates being restrained in any form. Shopping carts are just a game to see how fast she can get out. While I am struggling trying to get her buckled up Luke had disappeared. I call for him with no answer. I figured he had went in search of toys but they were on the other side of the store from where we were. To make a long story short an employee walked up behind me and I told her I lost my child. She got on her radio, called a Code Yellow, and gave the description. It only took a minute because everyone dropped what they were doing and walked their area's. Another employee walked me to where he was (toys of course!). He was surrounded by about 7 employees. Needless to say no one got out of the cart again. When I left the store I called Jason and told him that we would be living on bread and butter before I went shopping with Sydney and Luke again!

Sydney turns 2

2008-12-11T12:01:00.005-06:00

Sydney is wearing her Christmas dress. There is a gold sweater that goes with it but we took it off for the cake. I think she shed the hair bow too!

This is her cake. Nobody had better be laughing at my decorating skills. I had never used this bear mold before and apparently you should us a dense cake and not yellow. At least frosting does wonders to cover how I had to glue (with frosting) the entire face back on and there was a huge crack on his whole head. It did taste very good:)
Sydney and grandma have the same birthday. I'm sure that in a few years it will be an excuse to have a day with grandma and skip school!

Kittens need a home

2008-10-16T09:37:00.003-05:00

They are adorable kittens!! There is also a black one with a white face, underbelly, and feet. The black one is all black and just in time for Halloween!!!!

THE END OF AN ERA

2008-10-16T09:24:00.003-05:00

Luke loves his blanket!! In fact he has loved it to death. We think that it now poses a choking hazard since the ruffle is now dangling. It trails about 8 feet behind the blanket attached at only one corner. The pictures are a little over 2 years apart.

What will he do now?

2008-09-16T21:35:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Jason passed his final licensing exam!!!!!! He will shortly have a stamp to prove that he is an architect. Of course he says that it really only means that he can now be sued. I'm glad we know a few lawyers :) Now he is not sure what to do with all his free time. I'm sure I can help!

-Margene

At the zoo

2008-08-21T18:16:00.003-05:00

To celebrate the big boys going back to school, I took Luke and Sydney to the zoo. We have been having very moderate weather for August in Missouri.

Sydney! We'll have to post a cute picture. Although this ones is a good representation of her character...Impish!

Hide and Seek. Luke kept turning his head to check on Sydney. With 4 kids the perfect picture seldom comes :)

The pacing Rhino that Luke was very concerned about.

luke and the rhino

2008-08-21T18:14:00.005-05:00

The rhino was pacing back and forth by the gate to leave the viewing area. Luke didn't care about seeing any other animals after watching the very active rhino.

More Zoo

2008-08-21T18:14:00.003-05:00

Camera Shy Gorilla

The fearless girl. She climbs like a monkey and then wonders exactly what she is going to do. She jumped out of the stroller and climbed up with out help.

Notice the more conservative Luke. He is learning that he has to follow his sister to keep her safe.

Blake

2008-08-21T18:06:00.001-05:00

Blake likes the shaggy look. It's a little longer than I would like. For school, Grandma Furnell took the boys shopping and Blake picked out this shirt. It says "Homework Kills Trees - Stop the Madness". When he got home he said it didn't work because he still got homework on the first day!!

Caleb

2008-08-21T18:02:00.003-05:00

Here is Caleb. He turned 7 in April and lost his front tooth just in time to start school.

2008-08-21T17:58:00.001-05:00

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

Well it's that time again and the boys went back to school. I can't believe they are in 4th and 2nd grades. Caleb liked going to school for a total of 3 days and now he's done. Blake is holding out for a little longer. He'll probably like it until his first writing assignment :) Here are some first day pictures...

Blake and Caleb

2008-07-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

Well we survived Youth Conference! The kids loved it because it meant that they just spent 3 days playing at their Aunt Patricia's house. (apparently there are lots of things to do there and nothing at our house as I was reminded many times yesterday) I survived the 6 teenage girls staying here and Blake decided that he didn't really need to decontaminate his room since 2 of the girls are babysitters and the other one we used to give rides to church. Unfortunately the other Adult leader was deathly allergic to cats and I have 2 long haired black cats. She had to hide out in the Sydney's room. The worst part was the food that I made. Of course it all tasted great but that just means that I have to restart my diet this week :) Jason survived being the keynote speaker and even took it in stride with some unexpected changes. (It was great!!)

It looks like summer is finally starting since baseball, visitors, girls camps and Youth Conference are finished. We can actually stay at home and play or go to the pool without having some time limit to be somewhere else!

I am going to get some updates on each of the kids done this week. I figure that is a good place to start. If I get this right there should be a picture of our family. It was taken at Christmas for our Christmas card that everyone probably realizes I never got out. Oh well!

2008-06-07T22:28:00.000-05:00

I guess we will enter the blogging world.