Snow Day!

Snow Day!  A perfect day for . . .
Haircuts!  That's what I did this morning.  Except of course my oldest said no.  (But that is okay because there are more important things to battle besides longer hair).  I cut the other boys' hair and even Janessa's.  I cut Janessa's shorter than I meant to, which is fine.  Wet curly hair dries shorter than you think. 

Everyone is home today.  School was cancelled and the snow is falling and falling.  The past two days have been 2 hour snow delays, and Monday was Human Rights Day, so the kids have had lots of time off of school and they are loving it! 

Yesterday I had a lot going and I was not planning on having the kids home an extra two hours in the morning, and by the time the kids left, my anxiety level was hitting the ceiling.  (a hard morning with Andy).  It was one of those days I wished I could take a double dose of meds!  But today I was actually expecting a snow delay.  And when school was cancelled I was okay with it.  No where to go.  Just hang out with the kids and make it a fun day.  I actually have a book from the library (that is about a month overdue) called 365 Fun Activities for the Whole Family.  I will have to look at it again and find something everyone will enjoy when they are done playing outside for the day. 

Brennen already has snow piled up and a partial snowfort dug out, and it is only 10:30.  Before he did that he shoveled the neighbors walk and ours, all on his own accord.  Sometimes I wish I had his drive!

A Little Whining . . .

I love my children.  I do, but it is wintertime (yes, it is cold in Northern New Mexico) and they are out of school today (Human Rights Day).  And they had a 17 day holiday break.  And sometimes I just need a time-out from them.  Since moving here, I haven't found friends yet for the little ones to go play with.  I have had more success with my 3 year-old and a few play dates, but not my kindergartener or 2nd grader.  There are two boys in the neighborhood who are here a lot.  That is great for Andy, but not always for me.  They never play at their houses, just here.  I am not opposed to sending them home when I am tired of them, but Andy doesn't play at their houses.  He could I suppose, but he doesn't.  Kids like our house.  Which is a good thing.  We even have the neighborhood teenage boys here a lot.

I have invited a few kids over from the ward for playdates for Andy and Janessa, but we haven't been called back.  Not because of my kids or anything, just because we are still new and people don't think about it.  And the kids in the ward aren't in their school classes or even necessarily in their school.  (There are five classes of each grade in our school--next school year I will try to coordinate with other parents in the ward and try to get our kids in the same class). And of course if I call, I am not about to say "Can my kids come to your house and play?"  So when we do have playdates, they are always over here.  Janessa had a birthday party and I hoped to get things started there, but it didn't really happen.  I have to tell you though, that Andy did get invited over for a playdate a few days before Christmas.  I was very excited.  It was planned a few days in advance.  But then things got a little crazy and I was on the phone and distracted and forgot! until about 45 minutes later.  (Don't ask me how I could forget and Andy break).  And then it was too late because the family had other things going on.  We have tried to hook up with them a few other times but it hasn't happened yet.

We do have a 9 year-old girl next door who the kids play with occasionally, and once in a while over there.  So I shouldn't say I never get a break.  Just not often. 

To summarize, THANK YOU so much Tonya, Tori, Andrea, Ayako,Tiffany, Leah, Heather, Staci and Marie for giving me some Andy and Janessa breaks (especially Andy breaks!)  Can you believe our kids are getting baptized this year? or have been baptized the past few months?  I still remember when I had our group of boys, and Mayu, in nursery.  I miss you all so much!  (and not because of the playdates...)

ps.  I just realized that in about 6 weeks Andy will get to go to Cub Scouts once a week and be out of the house for an hour!  And those two boys that come over here--I have both of them going to our ward cub scouts now.  (they are older than Andy).  So I am doing a little missionary work, maybe.

New Blog

I have a new blog, Saving Today, Preparing for Tomorrow.  The blog address is savingtoday.net.

It is still under construction, but I will eventually have lots of tools and tips for building your family home storage and saving money at the grocery store.  I will post deals and great buys, whether local or for everyone.  I also want to add some fun items like recipes, family ideas, parenting stories and helps, household hints and things like that. 

So check it out.

Too Smart?

I was overly ambitious the other day and made cinnamon rolls.  My three-year old didn't eat his dinner (again) and I told him he couldn't have one (I'm so mean).  He responded "Daddy said 'Yes'".  Scott had just left to play raquetball.  I am pretty sure that Cameron knew that Daddy was not home.  Already trying to work the system! 

My other son, who is very bright but sometimes just not so smart, decided he wanted to lick the frosting off of the cinnamon rolls that I was icing.  But they were still in the pan and the pan was still hot.  Hmmm.  He burned his lip on the pan.  Silly kid!  It wasn't a bad burn or anything--no blister or red spot--just enough to realize that it wasn't a good idea.

Penn State--Undefeated

Today as most of the nation is touting the Alabama football team's national championship, I want to bring your attention to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Champion--the Penn State Nitany Lions who made history winning a third straight national title on Dec 12.  They have gone undefeated the past two seasons.

Penn State came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Texas in 5 games.  I was rooting for Texas, who made history in 1988 (while I was in high school) by becoming the first team outside of California or Hawaii to win a national title.  So I was reminiscing and pulling for Texas to upset Penn State, just as they upset an undefeated UCLA back in 88, and then stunned the defending champion Hawaii to win it all. 

It is amazing to watch these girls play.  Yes, they can hit the ball hard and put it down, but watching them dig those balls and the scrambling defense is so impressive and fun.  Of course, maybe I like the defensive part of the game because I am a setter and defensive player, not a big hitter and blocker.  Anyhow, it is fun to watch.  The men's game is a more offensive game but the women have more long rallys and keep the ball in play.  (In my opinion anyway).

My favorite team back in high school was Stanford and my favorite player was Wendy Rush (from Stanford).  In 1992 the Women's Volleyball Championship was in Albuquerque and so I was able to go to my first and only Final Four.  I had been married only month then, but I had planned to go to the tournment probably for a year or two, so I gave my hubby no choice!  Stanford won that year.  It was a lot of fun.

Toothpaste

I can understand about sparkly turquoise toothpaste in the sink and on the counter.  Don't like it but understand, I guess.  And can even sort-of get it when toothpaste occasionally ends up on the cabinet doors even the towels.  (Yes, my kids are messy--one in particular).  But in the bathtub??!! Come on kids!  The bathtub is not even next to the sink!

I should be happy that there is evidence of my kids brushing their teeth.  But how much toothpaste is getting on their toothbrushes and in their mouths?

Food Storage Plan

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, we are told to have a year's supply of food storage. Years ago, the ward I was in gave out a simple food storage plan. 

THE PLAN:
1.  Each week you purchase the suggested item(s) for that week.
2.  Buy the largest amount you can sensibly afford and will be able to use before the expiration date.
3.  Replace the items as you use them.
4.  Grocery stores don't always have the best buys.  Shop around.
5.  If you miss a week, skip to the next week.  Don't get behind.
6.  Have fun and remember this easy plan of food storage really works!

I have been doing this the last few months as well as my usual practice of stocking up on other sale items.  It has been kind of fun and makes me feel 'accomplished' when I can check off each week.  I thought I would share with all of you.  I will post the weekly items in my side bar so look for them there every week. 

Here is your first item:

January Week 1
Nuts.  They are a good source of protein.  Stores have after Christmas sales.  Dry roasted ones keep best.  Freeze bagged ones.

Happy New Year

Wow.  A New Year.  Like Janessa said yesterday "Tomorrow is January??!!"  Indeed it is.  A new decade.  I suppose I should write something profound.  But I won't. 

Dustin went to his first New Year's Eve Dance.  (Last year he could have gone but he didn't go to dances until we moved here).  He went out and bought a purple dress shirt and a new black tie.  He looked nice.  Of course the reason he did that was to match his good friend Sarah's purple dress.  Her dad picked up Dustin and I never saw Sarah's dress because she didn't come inside.  I wanted to to take pictures of them and all (because I am a mom and moms just want to do that) but it was not a date and she is not  his girlfriend (even though facebook says so).  So I didn't.  I just let him leave.  And instructed him to dance with at least two other girls and to hang out with his cousins too, not just Sarah! 

The rest of us played with party poppers (poppers, not poopers) and light sticks and ate brownies and ice cream.  Then the little ones went to bed and Scott and Brennen and I played Settlers of Catan and watched the Mentalist.  If you like board games, which I do and my kids do, Settlers is a great game!  It can be long but it is fun.  Last night's game wasn't very long.  Brennen won pretty quickly.  I think I have won only once.  But I still like it.  The other game we play often is Ticket to Ride.  And Ark of the Covenant is pretty cool too, though I have only played that one once.  Besides being fun, board games are a good way for Scott and I to connect with our older boys since so much time and energy and attention is spent on the little ones.  Often we play games with them after the little ones go to bed.
Anyway, our New Year's Eve was pretty low key but enjoyable. 

And of course the little kids don't know that you are supposed to sleep in on New Year's Day so they were up at 7:00 as usual.  But they quickly went to watch TV.  I cautioned them not to fight so Andy said that they will find something they all like to watch, like Sponge Bob (is that one word or two?).

We had a fun Christmas time too.  We had a few family parties, ate lots of good food (too much) including fondue (the kind with the hot oil and steak and shrimp), and had plenty of gifts.  We also did the Twelve Days of Christmas for a family down the block--where you leave something on their door step every day for 12 days before Christmas.  (We added one thing every night so by Christmas Eve there are 12 things). The kids had fun with that, but the family figured out it was us. 

On Christmas Eve we had the kids act out the Nativity.  Dustin was the photographer and Brennen was the donkey.  Janessa was Mary (of course) and Andy was Joseph (though under protest).  Cameron was a very cute shepard.  He was holding a stuffed lamb and asked what a lamb said.  I told him "baa" but he asked again.  I gave the same answer.  He is used to not being understood.  Exasperated he said "No!  A sheep says baa!  What does a lamb say?"  It was kind of funny.  We explained that a lamb is a baby sheep.  And last night after the playing with the glow sticks in the dark, the lights were turned back on and he asked me "How do you turn them on?"  I finally figured out he wanted to turn the glow sticks on because they weren't glowing in the light.