Yay, one more day outside!

Yay, today was so much warmer as compared to the past weekend. As you can see from the pictures, the kids enjoyed time outside. Amber insisted it was warm enough for shorts, so she pulled her pant leg up. Hmmm . . . still needed a jacket though. Even Timothy got in on the fun. He is being introduced to the bike. Somehow I don't think he will be riding it anytime soon. Amber has to give it up first!

Of course, Emma spent the time in the dirt pile in the front yard. This is their favorite spot to play. I don't know what the fascination is. Times like today, I am convinced that my girls are definitely not girly girls. They can hold their own with the boys!

I just thought I would share these next pictures because I thought they were kindof fun. Timothy was having fun climbing into this laundry basket. He wouldn't stay out no matter how many times I moved him. Boy was he determined to play in the basket. So here he is in the basket, getting ready to climb out. I thought he was going to tip the basket over. But . . .


Basket didn't tip over. Here he is all smug about climbing out by himself. He climbed in and out of this basket for quite some time. Kept him busy though. I actually got something done knowing he was otherwise occupied!

This morning we all trooped to the Taylorsville Library for the Haunted Forest puppet show. It was cute, for a kids puppet show. And I really liked the emphasis on being safe Halloween night. Amber and Emma really liked the puppet show. There were spiders, snakes, etc. They were disappointed it was so short, especially since we were late.
Funny story on being late. I forgot about the puppet show. So ten minutes before it started I was trying to get the girls and myself ready to go, which included getting more than one person dressed in something other than p.j.'s! Yikes. Good thing Taylorsville Library is only about a block away from our house! I think today was a good lesson for us on why we shouldn't be late to things. We got to the library and there was no parking. I had to drop the kids off and then park at the rec center next door. The girls got into the room with the puppet show and didn't have a place to sit. Eventually Emma found a place to sit where she could see, but Amber had to stand up for the entire half hour! Hmmm . . . will we be on time next time? Maybe, hopefully?!?!

What happened to the cat?

We were sitting down to lunch today and Amber was telling me about school. So, two of her classmates had seen a stray cat (I guess it was at school!). Amber proceeded to tell me a story of how the cat got there. Here's the story!

"The people let the cat outside. It climbed the fence and ran away."

Exciting story, eh? Okay, so let's try another one. I guess Amber didn't like that first explanation. So she came up with another story.

" The owners took it to the school and were having a picnic. [Keep in mind that it has been very cold!] While they were eating, the cat wanted to play. So the cat ran away. The owners couldn't find it and just went home."

Hmmm . . . . I don't know. Possible? Yes. Believable? No. But Amber had fun telling about what happened to the cat and how it ended up at school!

Talking about the cat was keeping Amber's mind off her inconsolable sadness. You see, she had just finished telling me how her best friend, Imanol, was not at school today. I think about half of her classmates were MIA today. You would think it was going to be a long weekend, or something. Wink, wink. Amber does have no school on Thursday and Friday. Gotta love UEA! Playtime, yayyyy!
In light of the long weekend, I decided to let Amber and Emma watch movies for quiet time today. Their eyes lit up when I told them. It was like it was Christmas already. They haven't had movies all week. We've been too busy with other tasks. I am hoping that by giving them something they really want they will be good the rest of the day! Wish me luck.

Cold, cold, and more cold

I don't know if I'm crazy, or if I am just too determined. It has been way cold in the mornings, yet we still walk to school. I have been determined to walk Amber to school every day and so far, minus a few days here and there, I have been able to do that! Amber loves walking and gets mad when we drive. So, although it has been incredibly cold, we bundle everybody up for our daily jaunt to the school! Amber really amazes me. I thought she would wimp out a long time ago and want me to drive her to school. But such is not the case. Even Emma loves the walk. Both girls do get tired on the walk home from school, but hey . . . they are both still little. It is so amazing how much endurance they have developed. On the first day of school I wasn't sure we would even get this far into the school year before Amber wimped out! But now, if I want to drive she complains the loudest about having to drive.
Maybe now that everybody else has decided to not walk, Amber won't be so keen on it. She asks every morning if she gets to walk with Natalie. But . . . sigh . . . Natalie hasn't been walking this week. Sob! Okay, so Amber is over it. She is so inquisitive that she spends the walk asking questions about everything around her, and telling me stories. My what an imagination. Do I have an Anne Shirley on my hands here? I guess that remains to be seen.
On another note, yes, I broke down and turned on my heater a couple of days ago. The clincher was waking up to snow on the ground and my house a measly 53 degrees! Brrrrr . . . . it was cold! Even John was freezing and it takes a whole lot to make him cold enough to complain about it. So I compromised, the heater on at night and off during the day!
We have more pictures that I will post one of these days. But, ta ta for now.

Amber's bed: The place to be, I guess

I honestly don't know what it is about Amber's bed. Maybe it is just that it isn't Emma's. But Emma loves to sleep with Amber. Usually Amber gets mad and tells her to get out of her bed. But, this time, I didn't hear any complaints.
This morning, Amber was telling me about Emma coming into her bed last night. Amber said, "I told her that if she wanted to stay in my bed she had to be quiet and stay still." I guess that is why we found them curled up next to each other. I think maybe both of them were cold and needed the extra warmth. It has been getting colder and the past couple of days, well . . . . So, I have been holding off on turning the heater on. We just wrap up in blankets and warm p.j.'s. I think I am freezing the girls at night. I still don't want to turn on the heater. I don't want to admit that winter is on the horizon. If I don't turn on the heater then I can still convince myself that the long dreary days of winter are long off, right? Okay, humor me and just agree with me for once. I guess I'll not really know if you do disagree! :)

Cleaning bug!

I don't know what it is about the past week, but I have had the insatiable desire to clean, clean, and clean some more! Maybe it is because I have had so much to do this past week that I have resorted to cleaning as my reprieve, or my escape from what I really need to do.
This week I had to prepare for the Young Women in Excellence Program. We were putting together a slideshow with pictures taken throughout the year, from March to September. I guess I never realized how much of a task that would be. Thankfully it was mostly put together by the time I got it, I just had to add a few more pictures, add music, and get it copied onto CD's for the girls. Fun, fun, fun. I can't believe it was so crazy.

Guess who?

Okay, so I thought this would be kindof fun. I found pictures of my three kids when they were first born. I just wanted to compare them for the fun of it. I guess I wasn't busy enough! HA! Can you tell who is who? Maybe I'll tell you, maybe I won't. It will be fun. Leave a comment if you wish and make a guess!

Challenges and Blessings

Some days I really feel like a truck rolled over me, but wanting to make sure I was dead, backed up and just stayed there till I was so squashed I was unrecognizable. Okay, so maybe that is a little extreme, but over the past couple of weeks, I have really had to assess my life and the direction I am going, along with the direction my family is headed. You see, I believe wholeheartedly that God is orchestrating my life, but I also believe he has a sense of humor. But, sometimes I don't think He is very funny!
Most people know by now that John lost his job a few weeks ago. It has been a crazy few weeks. Not to mention stressful. Yikes! I think we were getting too comfortable with life. God finally said, HA, fooled you! To state the obvious, financial challenges are sure to arise. But, we are very grateful for the savings we have been able to build up, and the food storage. I am seeing the wisdom of the people who have encouraged these actions.
But, we sure do not miss out on blessings. John now has the opportunity to finish college, something that I have been bugging him about but never had the means to do. You may wonder how, when we have very little income, we can afford college now! As a result of John's military service he has access to lots of cool stuff through the VA. One of those benefits is Vocational Rehabilitation. They will be paying for his school! Yay! So you don't get the wrong idea, this is in no way connected to the GI Bill. Two different programs with different requirements. This is a major blessing to our family. John will have more doors open to him now! So, thank goodness he lost his job!
I think both of us have run the gamut of feelings the past couple of weeks, but as we work to find a solution, we are finding our goals realigning. For so long we have been headed different directions in our life goals, but we are beginning to come full circle, so to speak. We have redefined what is important to each of us, and what is best for our family. It has been an amazing couple of weeks and I pray our goals stay in alignment and that we can continue in the direction that we have found.
So, going back to the idea that God is orchestrating my life. He knew what would need to happen to open the way for my family to progress and come together as a more connected whole. Most often it takes other people to accomplish His purposes. In this case, God is sending our family in a new direction, but one that will allow us to be His instruments in accomplishing His purposes!