New To Us

Yahoooo! We got a "new to us" washer last night.  Now, I can finally get caught back up on laundry.  We got a great deal on it and it's a front loading!

Shooting

We took the kids south of town on Monday to shoot their new guns.  They loved it!  Wayne and I had fun too.  Wayne got me a .22 pistol for Christmas too.  Now everyone has their own to shoot.

Christmas 2011

Here are some pictures from Christmas this year.  Since Christmas fell on a Sunday, I told the kids they had to be completely ready for church before we opened presents.  It's amazing how fast they got ready!

Wayne making pancakes! Yummmmy!

Every year we have the kids buy a gift for each other.  You can tell Jake did good!

Ellie couldn't go wrong getting Jake a nerf gun!

Our big gifts this year were guns.  Ellie got a pink BB gun.

And Jake got a 22.

The Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is more than just a rule of thumb of where to place subjects when composing a picture, but it goes further than that.  When I was taking a photography class in Colorado, we talked about this.  Part of this discussion was that everything happens in 3s.  And in our family, things happen in 3s, usually bad things.

1st-- December 16th, Candy Day

It was my great grandmother's tradition to make candy every year at Christmas time (caramels, dipped chocolates, peanut brittle, etc).  A few years ago, our extended family got together in honor of Grandma Vera to make her recipes and to pass them down to the current generations.  I really enjoyed this and have made it a tradition of my own.  The day that I had set aside this year to do this, I woke up with a swollen foot and could barely walk.  Thinking it was just a cramp, I tried to rub it out.  But it only got worse!  I took a nice warm shower thinking the hot water would help it.  Nope, I could barely stand on the tile.  So after my attempts to help my foot, more specifically my toe, I couldn't take the pain.  I called the doctor for an appointment.  Turns out I broke my toe.  I don't know how or when but it was broken.  And there's nothing that can be done for a broken toe.  I limped around for a week and am now able to walk somewhat normal.  It still hurts and the doctor said it would take about 4-6 weeks to heal. :(

2nd-- December 24th, Quilts

I was way behind on finishing the kid's rag quilts for Christmas.  I had just finished snipping them and still needed to wash them.  I threw them in the wash.  I had gone up stairs a short time later and I smelled something weird.  I asked Wayne to come help me find it.  Well we did.  It was the washer.  After Wayne completely disassembled it, he came to the conclusion that it was indeed broken.  :(

3rd-- December 25th, Drive Home

We had gone to Christmas dinner with family and on the way Wayne noticed that we were losing tire pressure. No, he's not that good to feel that or does he check that constantly!  The "dummy light" flashed on the dash saying that something was wrong.  Our tire was slowly losing pressure.  We pulled over a truck stop and aired it back up, hoping that we could make it the rest of the way home.  It was cold & dark and we didn't have a flashlight.  So making it home without having to empty the trunk and put the spare on was the best option.  The tire held on the way home!  The next day, nothing was open.  We weren't able to get it fixed until Tuesday. :(

I could probably list more stuff before these and I'm sure more is coming.  Sometimes I feel like we are in 3 sets of 3, not just 3.  Or even 3 years of stuff.  But I know all to well that happiness doesn't come without trial or effort.  If we didn't have rough times, we wouldn't recognize the good times.  I hope that this coming year will bring us some good.  We are making several big changes (like selling our house and moving) and that is sure to bring both good and bad our way.  What a bokeh life!!!

For Sale

Okay, the not-so-secret secret is out.  We officially listed our house today.  Not too big of a deal to us.  Just entering a different time in our life.  It's a little depressing to admit, but we are headed for the teenage years, where our kids are wanting bigger, more expensive things like cell phones and cars!  That's right, Jake can take drivers ed next summer.  Man we're getting old. :(  I don't feel old but in order to accommodate these changes in our lives, we figure some changes financially are coming too.  And we want to be prepared for them.  So here's the first step...selling our house.

Some other upcoming changes in our lives will probably include me stopping foster care and getting a traditional job.  I have realized that my love for children and helping people cannot be forced onto my family.  They have been very supportive with the children we have taken in, but I can tell they don't love it like I do.  So I have been looking for a part time job where I can still be around/help people and children.  I have a couple of options out there and I'm waiting to hear back.  We still need to follow through with our foster care obligations and will help the X Factor as long as we need to, but he will probably be our last placement if I can secure a job in the meantime.

I have always welcomed change in our lives, but this time I'm struggling.  Working outside the home, in an actual workplace, with all new people, scares me.  It's not that I won't enjoy it, it's just not what I'm used to.  I have always found comfort in being at home with my children (and Julie's!).  I keep praying that the right job will come along that will give balance to what I want, what Wayne wants, and what we both need.

What was I thinking....It's almost midnight!

What was I thinking when I decided to start pumpkin bread at 8:30pm.  Let me rewind a bit and maybe we can figure this out together.

I got a call earlier today to remind me of activity days for Ellie tomorrow after school.  The girls are going caroling to some families in the ward.  While on the phone, I was asked to make something for the girls to give one of the families.  I said yes.  I'm always happy to help.

Since this was an "Ellie thing" I wanted her help in making it.  On the phone, she mention it would be an elderly couple.  I decided bread would be the better choice over goodies and pumpkin bread has been sounding good for a while now.  I knew I had to make it today with her since there would not be time after school tomorrow.  So I had Ellie do her homework and take a bath first that way I could get X Factor down for bed before we started.  I wanted to make it special for her without extra little hands interrupting us.

By the time we got started it was 8:30.  I didn't think this through all the way.  I forgot to consider that the bread would have to bake for at least an hour and then cool so I could put it away before I went to bed.  Poor Ellie didn't get to see the end result before I sent her to bed.  But she was thrilled when I told the kids they could eat pumpkin bread for breakfast.

Of course I had to try one while they were hot!  It's been years since I made good (when I say good I mean full of gluten!) pumpkin bread.  My mini loaves only took 30 minutes to cook, but the larger loaves took well over an hour.  There is a bigger one still in the oven when I took this pic.  It took almost an hour and a half.  

So now I'm just sitting here blogging, waiting for them to cool, so I can go to bed.  Even though I wasn't thinking when I started these, I'm glad I took the time to include Ellie.  She has been having a hard time with X Factor and she really needed some one on one time with me.  I love my little Jelly Bean.  She is so sweet.

Close Call

The other night, I was working on one of the many sewing projects I currently have going and my machine quit working. I thought I broke a needle since that was the error that first popped on the screen but when I pulled it out the needle was fine. The machine still wouldn't work.  Then, I thought maybe I had thread stuck.  So I pulled the little plastic piece off the end and checked it out.  Not a thing.  I then checked the bobbin area for the same thing.  Couldn't see anything.  Dollar signs starting popping in my head of how much this was going to cost to fix.  Fancy machines are expensive to fix.

I asked Wayne to come take a look and help oil the proper areas.  Knowing me, I would put oil on the wrong part!  We pulled off some of the exterior covering to see if we could see anything.  Wayne oiled some parts but it still wasn't working.  All I could think of what how much it was going to cost me for a new machine.  I left the room for a little while and left Wayne alone with the machine.  About an hour later he came down stairs and told me he thought he got it working!  I went back up to check it out and this is what I saw.

I have to admit, I was pretty scared.  Yes, Wayne is an amazing auto mechanic, but a sewing machine repair man?  I had my doubts.  But I shouldn't have.  He did get it working.  He did get it back together properly.  Everything works on it.  The dollar signs disappeared.  I got back to sewing that night.

I almost have the kids' Christmas quilts done.  The sewing is done and all I have left is to cut and wash them (they're rag quilts).  Several more projects to go before Christmas.  I hope I can get them all done in time.

The Blur

As some of you may know, we got a new placement this last week.  It's a little boy that just turned 2.  Going from K-dub who was just starting to pull himself up on the furniture to a walking, talking boy is a bit of change for us. X Factor, as we will call him for the blog, is very energetic to say the least!  He's not the only one that needs a nap in the middle of the day.

Even though X Factor is on the go most of the day, he is super sweet.  His little please and thank you's will melt your heart.  He is adjusting well to our house and rules.  We definitely have our work cut out for us, but he is well worth the effort.  We also get the blessing of grandparents.  They are wonderful people and a great source for respite.

This is usually how I see him...a blur running across the room!

Ellie's Christmas List...spelling and all!

cell phone
compoter
tv im my room
candy
toys
bubble gum
monster high
foot ball
my own gun
a lock door that is mine
soing micin (sewing machine)
purple wall paint
a big roll (a roll of paper for her art easel)
zooball
a sencey lighter (scentsy warmer)
20 doller bill
silly sring
more lego's
a pet turtle
more skeces (more squeakies)
a loneg bord (long board)
whell shoes (wheelie shoes)
a baby dog
a musneoto gun (marshmellow gun)
a bunny
ice skats

I thought some of them needed some translation!

One Amazing Family...

For those of you that know the Taylor family, you know how amazing they are.  Jan is someone I think very highly of.  She is a woman I truly respect and love.  She is one of the best examples of a wonderful mother that I can think of.  Two years ago, the Taylor family lost their little boy Luke.

In remembrance of Luke, I was asked by a friend to make a quilt in his behalf.  I immediately said yes before I even knew the details.  I was told since Luke lived to 23 months old, that we (when I say we, I mean the amazing group of friends I am fortunate enough to have) would make 23 boy quilts to donate to the Linus project (linusidaho.org) in behalf of the Taylor family.  These quilts will be donated to local hospitals.  All this would be done in secret and presented to the Taylor family on Luke's birthday, December 1st.

I am very pleased with the way my quilt turned out and was well worth the time and effort I put into it.  I feel so blessed to be a part of something so special.