Hard at work

Yesterday we planted 30 bulbs. It was a bit chilly but the sky was clear and the sun was shining. Kids had fun but they only lasted for so long. Caleb decided he would rather rake leaves. Then Ethan and Mayah thought it would be more fun to go jump in the leaves that Caleb raked. Zach worked hard and Rachel LOVED putting the bulbs in the ground. I couldn't believe how many rocks were in the ground. That was some hard ground and I am hoping the flowers will still come up in the spring. I threw in a random picture of Rachel. Today is Wacky Hair Day at school and this is all I could come up with.







Yesterday we planted 30 bulbs. It was a bit chilly but the sky was clear and the sun was shining. Kids had fun but they only lasted for so long. Caleb decided he would rather rake leaves. Then Ethan and Mayah thought it would be more fun to go jump in the leaves that Caleb raked. Zach worked hard and Rachel LOVED putting the bulbs in the ground. I couldn't believe how many rocks were in the ground. That was some hard ground and I am hoping the flowers will still come up in the spring. I threw in a random picture of Rachel. Today is Wacky Hair Day at school and this is all I could come up with.

Playing with the Pony

Not exactly the kind of pony you were thinking huh? Much more fun. I am very excited to say that I got my Pony Rototiller working (with the help of DAD). Pretty amazing all the things we did to get this thing going. But it works and I got the front of the house tilled so now we can plant our bulbs. There is a before and after picture of the rototilling job. There is Ethan picking out the rocks. There was a bunch of rocks in there. The last picture is behind our house. There were about 8 deer back there one day and I tried to get a picture but I am not sure if you can see them. You have to look really hard. They almost blend it to the weeds.

wonderful husband

I am very blessed to have such a caring and concerned husband. He always worries about us when he is gone. He ALWAYS has positive things to say about me even when I am down on myself. Even though he is working over 12 hrs. a day he took the time and felt prompted to send me the perfect talk. It is exactly what I needed. You are the best, Don. I really really LOVED that talk. If anyone is interested I will post the talk. And it comes from my favorite, Pres. Hinckley.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=7b7505481ae6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Not sure if that will work. You may have to copy and paste it.

Long distance father mechanic

Let me know if you need better pictures or closer up.




OK Dad. Here are the pictures of the rototiller. Anything spark your memory? Have you ever tried getting your machine fixed via the phone? Ever tried having a long distance mechanic? So far I don't recommend it......unless of course it is your dad. The dad here is very intelligent. It just may be the operater in this instance. Ok I will let it sit for a bit more and then call you back. I can see you right now sitting there deep in thought.

early risers

I was up at 5:30 a.m. I set my alarm for 6:30 but ever since we have been in our new home it has never gone off. I have been awake before the alarm. So I got up and checked email and checked some blogs. Then I hear little foot steps coming down the stairs. I knew it had to be one of the girls. They are my early risers. Neither of them need as much sleep as their brothers. They have been like this from day one. Rachel stopped taking naps at around 2 1/2. Mayah won't be 2 1/2 until end of December and she hasn't taken a nap for quite some time.

Rachel was up at 6 and not long after Mayah comes a runnin. So we decided to make breakfast together. We had some pumpkin left over from the pumpkin bread we made so we decided to make pumpkin pancakes. The girls LOVE to help in the kitchen. We had only one problem though. We didn't have enough syrup. So I had to improvise. We had a bit of pumpkin left so I mixed that with some water and brown sugar then added the rest of the syrup to that and heated it up. Not too bad if ya ask me. After we were done making the pancakes, Rachel ran up and woke up the boys. She told them we were having pumpkin pancakes and ofcourse Zach has his nose turned up when he came down. "I don't like these". That's funny since we have never even had these before. I didn't even want to tell them the syrup was pumpkin syrup. But Caleb looked at the syrup and asked if there was pumpkin in it. But Caleb is so good he ate it and seemed to like it. It was funny watching Zach eat. He had a horrible look on his face but he ate the whole thing. I don't think he will admit that they were good. The girls ate them up and liked them. I was very pleased that the kids ate them without "too much of a fuss". Here are the results.


Here are the yummy pancakes.


Rachel with her apron. She is stirring the pumpkin pancakes. Mayah helped too but she is just standing next to Rachel.

Primary program

Today was our primary program and it was adorable. The theme was I am a Child of God. I always love it when the kids get up in front and sing and take part in the program. It was only our second Sunday. Caleb read a scripture and did fabulous. He has really grown up. Just a few years ago he would have NEVER gotten up there. He didn't act a bit scared. He just bravely got up there and did great. Zachary told them he didn't want to do a part. I think it is because we are new and he isn't ready for that. That is ok. It will come with time. Rachel did fantastic too. She really doesn't have any issues with fear in front of people. Ethan was so adorable. His teacher told me that she would ask Ethan a question and that he was to answer it. SO we worked on it all week. It was easy. She was going to ask, "Ethan, where did we live before we came to earth"? All he had to say was "with God". I knew he could do this but I was wondering if he would get scared and change his mind. But he went up front and acted like no one was even there. He said it very clear. But the funniest part came after he went back to his spot. All the sunbeams were lined up in the front. He looked over at us and kept waving. Then he saw that Mayah was eating something. He said, "Mayah, what are you eating?". He tried to whisper but I could totally hear him plain as could be. Some people were laughing. Then he said, "Mayah, are you eating fish?" Then he asked me if he could come down and sit by me. Now this was all going on during the program. I didn't even care. I thought it was funny. His teacher let him come down. I was so glad. I was wondering how many questions he would ask me during the next 30 minutes of the program.

I love primary songs. The song that is playing on my blog is my favorite primary song now. When the kids sang that I cried. I loved watching my kids sing. I love it that they look at me and smile. They beam and look so proud and you can see their little testimonies growing. I love the primary program. What a great example to be able to go to church each week and talk about spiritual things that help them throughout the week. And then to be able to reinforce it at home is such a blessing for us too. Every night we read the childrens sciptures with pictures. We all sit in Rachel's room in a circle and I hold the book while Zach and Caleb take turns reading each picture. It helps them to understand it a little better. I just hope and pray they will remember all the things they learn and I pray even more that they can take these things into adulthood and stay strong to these true teachings. My greatest fear is having my children fall away from the gospel.

We are truly blessed to have what we have. I couldn't be happier.

Waking up to this? A BIT OF HEAVEN

This morning we got up and ate breakfast and then Caleb noticed something and brought it to our attention. It was the most beautiful sunrise. From our front porch you could see this.




And then at the end of the driveway there were two deer standing there. OH WHAT A SIGHT. I am even more thankful for our house and the beautiful things God creates for us. It was stunning. I tried getting a picture of the deer but it turned out really dark.

We really do live in the boonies

So yesterday I went across the street to talk with our neighbors. He was doing some last minute things to move. He answered all my questions and actually said too much. When he told me about the 500 pound bear that was behind his house and the rattlesnake he found in his garage two days ago and last year the bus tipped over into the ditch (said it in front of the kids) because of the really bad ice storms was just a bit too much info for me. Then he told me about some of the neighbors. The neighbor next to me has pizza boxes and cans all throughout his house. He never talks to anyone. That's cool. I can handle that. Then a couple of houses down from that lives a gay couple. Ok I can handle that too. Then the other two houses across the street are for sale. So we are recruiting some families to come live by us. ANYONE ANYONE?


So I went on to ask about getting a garbage can. His reply? You take your trash into town. WHAT? SERIOUS? Every Sat or Sun the community travels into town and dumps their garbage. Do they realize that a family of 7 can't wait until the weekend to dump their garbage? :) Too funny. I thought he was kidding at first.

This morning I walked the kids to the bus. The bus pulled up a tad earlier than we expected. I was holding Mayah but told everyone to run. SO we all took off and started to run. The bus stayed there for a bit and I was so glad that he was waiting for us. Then all of a sudden he took off. OH MAN. We started walking back to the house when a different bus pulled up. She offered to take the kids to school saying that she stops at that elementary school too. Not sure why two buses pass by but I was so glad.


I decided I would take a walk before kids got off the bus in the afternoon. I didn't have my watch with me so I had no idea what time it was but I was just going to walk the loop and go back to the bus stop and wait. As I was down in a culdesac I saw the bus on the main road but I was quite far from the stop so I hauled it big time to get there. I was talking out loud and said, "I am tired". Ethan agreed and said, "ME TOO". Then I said, "man this is hard". And what did he say to that? No it isn't mom. So when I came around the corner there was NO BUS and NO KIDS. I thought maybe they had already walked to the house. SO I went all the way back to the house and still no kids. I checked the time and it was still 15 minuts until the bus was supposed to arrive. The kids told me later that it was in fact their bus but they don't stop until they come back around. I better have lost about 10 pounds for that fast pace.







Yesterday kids collected some items. If you can guess what it is you can have the collection.



Guess I can be officially called a true hillbilly. You know your a red neck when..............

Funny

Today was our first REAL visit to our new ward. While we were driving to the chapel I told the kids they had to be especially good today because Daddy wasn't there and I needed them to try really hard to be reverent. During the sacrament Mayah was being a little noisy. She wanted to sit in her own chair so that meant getting Ethan out of his chair and holding him on my lap (we were in a row with five seats). Ethan wanted to sit on my lap anyway so it worked out perfect. If you know anything about Mayah you know that when she talks it isn't very quiet. She doesn't have an inside voice. She was sitting next to Rachel and Rachel leaned over to Mayah and this is what I heard..........

Rachel: Mayah, do you want to feel the Spirit?

Mayah: YES

Rachel: Then you need to fold your arms.

BRRRRRRRRRRR

We are in our new house and we LOVE it. It is slowly getting put together. I am totally in love with the area here. Our front windows look out to many fall colors and it is so gorgeous. I woke this morning to 31 degrees outside. With hard wood floors and no socks on my feet it was pretty cold. I am trying to figure out our heating system here. It isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I thought I turned the heat on but I don't hear anything and it is still really cold. Do you think I should be trying to figure that out rather than blogging? NAH.

The first night here without Don I ended up with 4 of the kids in my bed. Well almost. When the 4th one came in it was time to take that one back to bed. Caleb was the only one that didn't make it in to our bed. I ended up going into Rachel and Mayahs room to sleep with them so that I could actually turn over without falling off the bed.

The kids loved their first two days of school so far. Everyone is so nice and I am very impressed so far. The music teacher was able to get Caleb into guitar even though they have been in school for 6/7 weeks. He went on Friday and after school he told me that the teacher said that he was a very fast learner. Caleb told me that he is only three pages behind everyone else now. Caleb is so excited because the music teacher is a guy. He loves guy teachers.

So all in all we are very excited about our new place. It is so much roomier (is that a word) and open here. I think today we will try taking a walk (if it warms up) and taking some pictures of the colors here. It is stunning.

Fingers Crossed

OK we are supposed to close today at 2. My fingers are crossed and prayers said. This has been one huge learning experience for us. Not sure yet what I have learned though :) but there is always something to learn in this walk through life. I hope it is real this time. I don't know if I should be excited or if I should go with CAUTION. Cross your fingers for us.

Where to sleep

OK so we were supposed to be moved out of our town house and into our new place tonight right? WRONG. Oh my. I would tell you ALL the details but I doubt you have the time to read the whole story. I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell it anyway. It is becoming a joke though. Now we may not be able to close until Tues. I have already pulled the kids out of school. Can't start new school until we have proof that we live in our place. So can't go to new school. Our house is packed up so no place to sleep there. No food in the house. Had to cancel rental truck. Now we are invading my sisters house with seven extra people. I think I am plain tired tonight. But guess what? Don had I had a date night tonight and that actually was one really good thing about tonight. SO there is positive in all this. We went to a very nice Italian place that had the greatest food on earth. We even went to Ikea and had a BLAST thinking of all the cool things to put in the new place. So were not gone for good yet. :)

Mr. President

Last night Don and I were putting the kids to bed. Everyone was laying down and it was very quiet. Then Zach lifted his head. The conversation went like this:

Zach: Dad, why don't you try to be President?

Don and I: laughing

Zach: Would you lower the gas prices?

Caleb: Would you make recess longer?

This was so funny because they were so serious and Don and I were laughing so hard. We haven't been talking about this lately but there have been times when we do talk about the presidential candidates and the kids will ask questions about each of them. Then Don (very well grounded in this area) will proceed by telling them what each of the candidates believe and what they each "say" they will do. We always let them know it is a matter of prayer AFTER studying each one.

Sleepless on the East coast

Well I am hoping that blogging will help calm my fears. I have been having a bit of trouble falling asleep at night and then this morning I woke at 5 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep. I have had our move on my mind for a while now. I have been crying a bit more and just getting nervous. Now don't get me wrong...........I am very excited and happy that we will be moving. Our neighborhood is getting too much for us and we need more room for our large family. I am OK with change too. I have had to do a lot of changing in my growing up years and that does not bother me. BUT TO DO A CHANGE CHANGE is a different story. The first change is the move and a different area with a different ward and different school for the kids. That change I can deal with. It is causing a little bit of nervousness but it is all good. But having Don leave soon after is the change change that will be very hard and that is causing me some sleepless nights. I am having a hard time pushing my thoughts out and it is just making me queesy. I hate to admit that I am a big chicken. I am afraid of the unknown and I was OK with the unknown until I found out that I wouldn't be able to share that unknown with Don. Going to a new area and not knowing the typical sounds of the house and just getting to know the area and the school and the ward. I want to be strong but if you really know me...........you know I am a cry baby and I really have a hard time holding it back if it starts coming. But I want to be strong for the kids. I don't want them to see me cry. I don't want them to "know" what a chicken I am. I want them to be able to lean on me so that when they do their changing, it won't be too hard for them. But sometimes I feel that I lean on them.

Yesterday we went to the Front Royal ward to watch conference for the Sunday morning session. There was a great talk about change. I don't remember, though, if they talked about change change. :) It wasn't easy to focus and write notes because we were the ONLY family in the chapel with kids. SO I tried to focus on keeping them occupied and quiet but they actually did awesome for it being a two hour block.

I know everything will be ok. I just worry alot. It doesn't usually do any good but I am still trying to figure out how to turn it off.

From another land

First off MANDY we were listening to your songs on your blog and Caleb really liked one of the songs so he wanted me to save it to my blog. We mainly listen to country so it is ingrained in them before Don gets a hold of them and corrupts them with his type. (not really :). Oh boy the kid is growing up. He turned 10 in Aug.


Ok so I think we should all share a favorite recipe from another country. I am excited to try new recipes from all over and know that a few of you have them. This recipe is one of our favorites. It is one Don got when he spent some time in Jordan for a study abroad. It is called Shish Tawook. It is DELICIOUS.

3 Tb. oil (I use olive oil)
2 Tb. plain low fat yogurt
2 Tb. kethcup
2 Tb. mustard
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. curry (optional)
1/4 tsp. cumin (optional)

Mix all together and use as a marinade for 3 pounds chicken breasts. I usually marinade it over night. Today I am trying it in the crockpot but I didn't marinade it so I will let you know how it turns out like that. Probably not as good. It is best if you can grill it but we usually just bake it in the oven till done. Do not over cook the chicken. It is so yummy when the chicken in moist.

Dipping sauce:

1/2 C mayo
1 C. plain yogurt
3 minced garlic cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all together. It sounds gross but it is super yummy.

After chicken is done you serve this on pita bread. Don't forget the hummus. Hummus is very important in this dish. We just spread the hummus on the pita bread and then cut up the chicken and put in on top of the hummus and then spread some dipping sauce on the top. Then you can eat with a fork. Or you can do whatever you want. If you do try this let me know what you think.