Christmas Celebrations

So, I wasn't so good at doing something Christmasy every day of the month or for the last 10 days. (I made the 10 days goal after I failed at the first one.) We did end up doing almost all of the stuff I had wanted to during the "winter break" (in other words- Christmas break!) We got our Gingerbread house baked and decorated on a day Emma had some friends over for a sleepover. We also made donuts- today for part of our New Years Celebration. I really like it for New Years. I remember us always doing it around Christmas, but I don't know when. Maybe my mom used it the same as I did- "Wow, we are getting bored, what can we do?! I know, lets make donuts!" They turned out so well. I ate way too many of them and now I am sick. I also remember doing that in my youth!

It was a fantastic Christmas season. Santa was way to nice to all of us, like he is every year. We had wonderful friends over for dinner. We got to go out and have dinner and a movie with a couple of friends. Rob got to do a couple of football games with friends and we had a football game watching party. Now we are enjoying the last minutes of 2007. Do you remember growing up and thinking how terrible the world would be if we were all still here in the year 2000? Now it is almost 2008- crazy, hu? I hope you all had a fantastic 2007 and are looking forward to some good goals for 2008. I hope one of your goals is to keep up with our blog and make one of your own and let us know what it is, so we can keep up with you. We love all of you. Happy New Year's!

I Elfed the Kids- Check it out!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1877643492
This is really cute. I elfed the kids and they look so cute!

Christmas House of the year 2007

We didn't do so well with the doing something every day to help us spend more time together as a family or think about Christmas more, but we did get in a few things that were lots of fun. One new tradition that we picked up while reading random blogs was to go out and see all the lights in the neighborhood and then proclaim one of them a winner and deliver a prize to them. We had a lot of fun looking at all the houses that did light displays. This is the house I picked. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was absolutely beautiful! They had greenery everywhere and the whole yard was in a winter theme. We dubbed it the "Winter Wonderland" house. They even had a projector that made it look like snow was coming down. This is the one the kids all wanted. Again the pictures don't do it justice (I am still learning to take pictures that look decent!) It had blow up everything- including a Flying Snoopy and the Grinch. It also had the Manger scence and blow-up's in every window. The guy was out with his dog, so we stopped and asked if we could shake his hand and told him that he was the winner this year from our family, (Mom was out voted!) and gave him a big Symphony bar wrapped up with a bow. He thought that was really great and we had a ton of fun doing it. This is definitely going to become a tradition in our family!

A Few of my favorite things

Some one asked me the other day how "A Few of my Favorite Things" became a Christmas song. I had no answer for that. I was reading on the internet, though and someone was saying that it was time to take stock of the year and see the big picture and enjoy all of your favorite things. So I decided to share a few of my favorite thing with you. My favorite colors are shades of red and green. I have way too much green in my wardrobe. I really need to branch out a little.

I love Anne of Green Gables series and most of the stories by Jane Austin

I love wonderful smelling candles

I love Christmas cards. I hang them in the shape of a Christmas tree, because that is what my mom did- at least once!

I love Chocolate!!! My favorite is Cadbury, but Ritter Sports are pretty close. This almond roca that I can't eat this year because of my braces was something I made with my maternal Grandmother the first year I was away from home for Christmas. I have made it almost every year since then. Unfortunately, it only works out about 1/4 of the time. It is real finiky! sp? But so, so good. The carmels are from a recipe I was given from my mother-in-law and they are the best! Emma begged and begged until I made them this year. They are soft enough that they don't stick to my braces, but chewy enough to not be gross.

I love Christmas period! It's my favorite time of year, besides warm falls and warm springs- which I also love!

I love really high thread count sheets that have no wrinkles in them. I don't like wrinkles at my feet when I am trying to sleep!

I love my many different creche displays. I want more!

I love being married to my wonderful husband and being a mom to my beautiful children.

I'm sure I have more, but I can't think well with the baby screaming his head off!

So what are some of your favorite things?

The "This is where you are at dress"

I have this dress- it was the one my mom made me out of fabric that was leftover from my bridesmaids' dresses. I call it my going away dress. It is what I put on to leave the reception. Every year I take it out around are anniversary and put it on for that Sunday. Some years I have been pregnant and not able to wear it, but so far there has only been 2 years I wasn't able to wear it when I wasn't pregnant. It is my "this is where you are at dress." This year it was not comfortable at all. I told my husband that it was cutting me in two. Sam looked at me and said, "why didn't you just take it off, then?" Ah, men. They just don't understand. I have to wear that dress for at least the three hours of church. It is the rule! This year we had tithing settlement right after church, though. I was very happy to take it off as soon as we got home! I was not happy with the way our bishop handled a certain situation, so I went straight back to church to talk with him instead of letting it fester all week, but I did not wear the dress! Next year, I hope to report that it was not cutting me in two!

This is the dress I bought on-line. I looked and looked for a decent Christmas dress. I didn't like any of the dresses out there. Mostly they don't have dresses, they just have skirts. I finally broke down and bought a skirt/shirt compo. Of course I had no idea how formal it was. It didn't go all the way to the floor on the model. I am 5'8 and it drags all over the floor on me. The shirt, I thought was a nice velvet. NO way- it is a stretch black with sparkely copper thread all over it. At first I thought it was hideous. But now I like it. It is just a little formal for church. I will probably only get to wear it on Christmas and then never get to wear it again until I have a formal. Luckily, in the army there are usually plenty of formals. Just not here in D.C. Which seems really odd to me! I decided that I would look at it this way- for $60 I got a formal and a Christmas dress. Now if I can just find a dress I like!

Tag your it!

Ok, a couple of people have tagged me and so I thought I had better write one, finally. You are suppose to write 5 things about yourself- I think. So here goes:

1. I hate to shop. Always have! I love getting new things, but going and looking at things and fighting the crowds and not finding what I want over and over and lines, etc. etc.- not my idea of fun! My mom used to take me shopping for fun until I finally told her that it gave me a headache. Now with the kids it is even worse, but I don't enjoy it even without the kids.

2. I love men in uniforms. I guess that is obvious from my choice of a husband. It started with football uniforms and by the way, I still like guys in football uniforms. Then it turned to military uniforms. Almost any guy looks good in a military uniform!

3. I am a typical Mormon mom in that I feel guilty at all times. If I am cleaning the house, I feel guilty that I am not playing with my kids. If I am playing with my kids, the whole time I am feeling guilty about not doing my ironing. If I am writing a blog, I am feeling really guilty that I haven't run yet today! Got to go do that soon!

4. I eat way too much junk food. All that running and my really good metabolism (thanks Grandma and Dad!) are the only things keeping me from gaining some serious weight.

5. I loved growing up like a military brat. My dad wasn't actually military, but it takes too much time to explain, so I always call myself a military brat. I loved the moving and getting to meet new people and see new things. I loved living in Germany and getting to travel. I really get itchy to move after 3 years, still. I want to move, right now, but there's no chance of that- stupid housing market. Maybe it is good for me to learn to stay put for a while, though!

Ok, that was 5 things about me. Now you are suppose to do the same thing ;)

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

This is a fun Christmas song to enjoy and get you ready for Christmas!

Emma's Sermon

No one remembered who had the scripture and prayer and talk for this week at Primary, so they asked the older girls if they would do it. Emma volunteered to give the talk. She did this completely on the fly and on her own. This is sort of how it went: This month we are celebrating Christmas. Jesus was born on Christmas day and so we celebrate it. The angels cames to tell the shepherds about Jesus' birth and they came to see him. A lot of people get good this month, because Santa claus is coming with presents and that is good, because if you are bad all year long then that would be bad. So it is good to get good this month. I think she noticed me laughing at this point and quickly ended and sat down. I am such a bad mom!

The second counselor and I decided that it was actually a very deep sermon, brought down to the level of the children. It was all really an allegory of Jesus and how he was born and brought us the great gift of eternal life. If we are bad our whole lives that would be bad, but if we use his gift of repentance, even at the "last month" of our lives than that would be good and we will receive the gifts he came to bring us.

Her friend mentioned that she forgot to tell about the wise men and told her how she would have done much better. I told her that the wise men didn't come for about 2 years, so she didn't forget it at all and that girl could talk to the hand!

I will leave you with this thought. You better not pout, you better not cry, you better not frown, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town! He sees you when you are sleeping, he knows when your awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sakes!

Hanukkah

We are so excited, because our next door neighbors are Jewish. Yesterday we were invited to the 6th day of Hanukkah. They let the boys wear yamikahs and all our kids light the Menorah. We also learned to play dredal. We ate potato latkas and donuts and M&M's. Do they know how to eat or what? Ok, I must admit I was a little sick afterwards. We also scored an invitation to Passover. We rock! Now we just need an Indian neighbor who teaches us about Henna on your hands and fun stuff like that!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Happy St. Nicholas Day, all! St. Nicholas is a European thing. We still celebrate it in our family, because it was tradition in my family since we grew up in Germany. He comes on the night of the 5th of December and puts little treats and toys in your shoes that you have left out for him. Ours nicely coincided with our first snow day. I was not quite ready for this. We have only had about 2 weeks of jacket weather (50-60's), then all the sudden the last 2 days have gotten really cold and then it snowed last night. All the schools around us, both north and south are opening 2 hours late, but not ours- no they decided to close for the entire day. Bunch of wimps! The roads are completely dry, now and there is only a skiff of snow on the grass. It looks like spring in Idaho.

I drove in the snow to Alexandria to my card club and had a nice night out. I was a little worried about the snow coming down so hard, though, so I left early. By then it had actually gotten better and I drove home without any problems. But since I had worked the night before and hadn't gotten any rest (I had to make 10 cards for goddness sake!) I was tired and St. Nicholas still had to come, so it was a good thing I left early. My cards turned out pretty well considering. Rob even fainted when he saw how beautiful they were. He said he had been practicing for it all day. I don't seems to have time to get everything done this year, so I am not making my cards for Christmas this year. I have about 4 of the homemade ones that I can give out, so the first couple of people to respond can have one for Christmas. You better hurry, though, because I am sending out Christmas cards in a couple of days at the latest!

A NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY- but boy am I blessed

I was in a "Everybody hates me, Nobody likes me, I'm going to go eat worms" mood yesterday. (as my mom used to say.) It was too bad, because Saturday went so well and we had so much fun, but it just ended bad and that's what started all of this. We went to our last ward's Super Saturday. They really know how to do things. From actually doing a craft fair to having great speakers, to putting on breakfast, lunch (on China and crystal) and having a chocolate fountain. And everyone was so nice and friendly. We really had fun. Then we came home and prepared for and hosted a mother-daughter hair-do learning/Christmas party, which was oh so fun. Here are some pictures of the night.

Rob was so good with me, Sunday. He let me cry, made sure it wasn't his fault, told me he would beat them all up for me, gave me a foot rub and told me how wonderful I was. The thing is, he was just as "dissed" as I was (to use an 80's term). Some days I would love to be more like a man. Of course that man had to deal with a very emotional woman. Maybe not so great after all. I spent the day with my husband and played legos with my little boys and realized that we teach the kids all the time that friends don't matter that much- they come and go- but family is the most important thing and we should treat them the best. So was I living that teaching? Just before bed Joseph looked right in my eyes and said, " I love you Mom, so much!" There is nothing better than that! I am truely blessed!

The Christmas Letter

It's that time of year: The annual writing of the Christmas letter. I love Christmas letters- all kinds. I heard once that there were three types of Christmas letters: the boring, the very braggy, and the occasional fun one. I love to get any kind at all. What I hate worse than anything, is a card with a signature. Well, that tells me that you still have me in your contacts list, that your still alive and that I'm worth 1 forever stamp to you. (I write this because I have no idea how much I really pay for postage anymore- is it 42 cents?) I'm sorry, that's not enough for me- Ok, 42 cents is enough for me, I'm talking about the signed Christmas cards, you jokers. I like the ones with a picture a little bit more, but that just brings up more questions really. So, my favorite are the kind of cards that come with letters. I try my best to make mine fun every year. I am not a fountain of excellently creative ideas, however; so this year I went on the web and looked up ideas. There isn't really a bounty of ideas out there for writing fun Christmas letters. I came up with an idea, as always, despite my stressing out about not coming up with anything every year. I think my most creative letter was the one where I imbedded a carol into the letter. It was "O Come all ye Faithful". Besides the words like "ye" that we don't use anymore being in the letter, I also highlighted and increased the font on those portions, but I believe some people still didn't get it. I would love to come up with something like that, again. It was like a little mystery inside a letter. I am not the clue master, though. Now's your turn. For all you techniguely challenged type, click on the orange thing at the bottom of this entry that says comments and you can write and tell me what are some of the funnest letters you have ever given or received.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Pilgrim had to have a vice on his head for the night



We had a nice Thanksgiving. Orginally we were suppose to have 3 families over to our home. One's step-mother died of cancer the Friday before and so they went out of town to attend the funeral and then stay with their family for Thanksgiving. The other family remembered that they had agreed to go somewhere else and decided they really needed to go with their first invitation. That left us with our newly married couple friends. It ended up being a quiet Thanksgiving.

Maxwell "helping" make rolls

Rolls ready to go for tomorrow

Rob finally did get a Turkey bowl going. Last year the Elder's quorum president tried, but him, Rob, and Scott were the only ones that showed up. Rob was very unimpressed with the ward after that and even more impressed with Scott. This year, with a lot of contraversy, they finally got it going. I was so glad to see that lots of people showed up and they played for close to 2 hours. I had worked the night before and after two hours of football, Rob and Scott were tired, also. So by the time we were done with the dinner, we just sat and watched a movie and then Scott and Jodi left and we went to bed. We aren't quite as energetic as they need, so they went over to a friend's home and stayed up until 1 am.


I tried something different with the pies this year, like I always do. I use frozen sweet cherries instead of tart cherries. It turned out really good. I also used a mixture of Pink Lady's and Granny Smith apples in the apple pie and Rob keeps asking me to make another apple pie. It did turn out really well. I use a pie shell recipe I got in Homemaking when I was first married and living in Shelley, Idaho. There were some really good things that came out of Homemaking- especially for a younger mothers. I think they should at least make an interest group that teaches stuff like that to new wives/mother's. I know a bunch who can't cook worth anything and their cleaning/organizing skills are really lacking. I could still use a class on stretching your budget. I know a lady who spends $200 a month on food for her entire family of 6. I never got that price out of her, because she refuses to talk about money, therefore; making it impossible for other's to learn from her thriftiness.




I made this book, that folds out and displays a tree. We put a leaf on the tree for every person with what they were thankful for every day from November 1st through Thanksgiving. I love that I can now fold it up and keep it forever and it got the kids thinking about what they were thankful for the whole month instead of just one day. I also had Sam and Robert make this boat out of clay and then we used it as a nut boat. They did such a good job on it and it gave them a couple hours of father/son time. I am trying to think of things like that to do for the Christmas season. I bought a gingerbread mold on e-bay and I am going to do gingerbread with my kids this year. I also want to do donuts like we did in my family. I just want things we can do together. Any suggestions of things you do would help me.


It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. I made this display after I saw a Halloween display on a blog. I love the apothecary jars. I got them at Michael's with the 40% off coupons.

The Marathon- She said

I have always been too much of a follower. One of the things I tend to follow in, is my big brother's shoes, so when he ran a marathon at the ripe old age of 18, I thought, I need to do that one day, too. Fast forward too many years and two marathon's run by my husband. Now my desire is a little stronger. Still not a burning flame, but certainly a flicker. Then I don't seem to loose those last 8 pounds from the last baby and I think to myself, "training for a marathon will definitely help me shed those unwanted pounds." I will fast forward to the end real quick and let you know that I haven't lost a single pound- I eat too well.

I decided to make it a goal for the year, when we did our yearly goals, which we do each year with our kids. I started looking for someone to train with. I am notorious for not sticking to something without someone pushing me. When I started running in Colorado, it was only my running partner and friend, Tammy, who got me off the couch most days. No one seemed to be interested, however; and so I quickly wrote in on our goal sheet that hangs on the fridge, that running a marathon would be a 5 year goal. One day we had the elder's quorum presidency over with their wives and I mentioned that I wanted to do this and had found a marathon that was run on a Saturday, but that I couldn't find anyone to run with. Jodi chimed right in and said she would be interested. I wasn't sure how interested she was until she sent me an e-mail saying that she had started looking at marathon type sights on the web. We started running together on Saturday's. Rob decided to make it a Saturday event and we had all kinds of people come out and join us. Most of them never came back. I don't know why- those Saturday's were amazing, both physically and socially. We had so much fun the first 10 miles of every run. We kicked a paper at mile 3 1/2 (each of us got a turn, but usually it was Jodi), we talked and laughed and made up rhymes, and we designated who got each of the honks from the cars. I think Scott and Dwyne got the most. After 10 miles it usually got a lot quieter and we just focused on running. Then we would stretch and drink and eat a little under the trees at the school. Then we would head to our house for a big pancake breakfast. At one time we had 17 people here for breakfast. It was so much fun. I would have never done this without the team. I knew a few people who were trying to do it on their own and finally when they got to the really big runs- 18 and 20, they gave up. Who can run that long with no one to joke with, no one to kick a paper with, no one to eat pancakes with afterwards. Eventually, the whole group signed up for the marathon. Rob was the last one and didn't sign up until September or October.

Rob told us that it helped if you have a "thing" that people recognize and can shout out to cheer you along the way, so we went and bought a team outfit (red- not Rob's first choice) and did iron-on's of card faces. One lady along the way, yelled out "go K's and Q's" I wonder if she ever got it!? The kids all had red shirts. Dwyne's wife and Jodi's husband did too. We put the suit on them that went with ours and then put their age. Dwyne's youngest is one, so he was the ace of spades. Jodi wore pajama pants because it was so cold. She wore them all the way until the last couple of miles. She got more yells than anyone. "Go pajama pants girl" they would yell. We decided we all needed to wear pajama pants next time!

We left for the marathon on Friday morning. We met up with the others and then went over to the marathon site. We walked to the start and then walked to the finish, just to see them both. It was nice, because when we were coming down the last stretch and I didn't think I could go anymore, I remembered the names of the streets and knew how close I was. Rob didn't want to see the whole course, because he said it would be too depressing. Afterwards, we headed for dinner, but on the way Dwyne and Sara's car blew up. We went to a home depot parking lot and tried to cool the car down. A very nice man came over and offered all kinds of help. He then began to interview everyone. He happened to be a radio jockie who was contributing to the coverage of the marathon the next day. What an amazing coincidence.

I have always been extremely nervous at any race, but the marathon was different. I was determined to enjoy ever minute of it. I had found a site that I read about one person's marathon experience and it had inspired me, when I was so nervous about being able to finish. It is here, if you want to read it. The day of the marathon, Rob had everything set out for us by the door. We woke up before our alarm went off and just sat and talked. Finally, the alarm went off with the song, (you want to) Make a Memory. We got dressed and met our friends outside the room. Scott, Jodi's husband, helped get our kids ready and to the 7 mile mark to cheer us on.

Rob had warned us about the start and so it wasn't frustrating to walk slowly to the starting line. It took us almost 5 minutes to get up to the start, after the gun was fired. That's why they give you those little chip things to wear on your shoe- to measure your real time which is different from the clock time. We stayed in a large group for quite a while- longer than I thought we would. We had trained to run 5 minutes and then walk 1 minute, but we had determined not to start this for the first few miles, because of the crowds. In the end we didn't start it until mile 4. It's funny that so many people seem against this idea of walking at all- like it's cheating or something. All I know is that we ran a really good time for first time marathoners and at one point someone said, "look their walking again." Jodi said, "it's all part of a system." Then another person said, "hey, that must be a pretty good system, if they get to walk and they are in front of us." His friend then said, "no, no, no, no" but, I didn't hear his explaination of why it was a bad thing. All I know is that we beat them!

Like I said, I was determined to enjoy the whole experience. I gave high fives to the little kids, I yelled back to the crowd, I pointed out cool looking stuff to the group. It was all fun and games until I hit around mile 14. At that point, my shouts back to the crowd were a very weak, "woohoo" (without an explanation point.) Just before mile 16 we hit a bridge, that must have been the really bad part- all those hills were nothing compared to the bridge. I think it was because it was so cold and the wind really blew hard while you were on it. I became very tired and just wanted off that bridge. As soon as we came off there was a perfect cheerleader. She yelled stuff like, "you're done with the bridge, now it's easy, just 10 more miles." and "It's not hot, it's not raining, it's a perfect day to run a marathon!" The people there cheering you on and the people who came out and set up stations for you and all the volunteers were amazing. At one point there was a family who set up their own water station. The kids had put out water on a little table and were now huddled under a blanket on their lawn. The parents kept going, filling up more water and handing them out. If that's not amazing enough, they had to clean up all the water cups afterwards that were littered all over their front lawn.

At mile 19, our family was there to cheer us on again. It was so nice to see them. I was so exhausted by this time. Right afterwards, we had to go up a long hill. Rob got a cramp in his thighs and had to stop. Jodi and I ran to mile 20 and then took a bathroom break so that the guys could catch up with us again. They caught up before we had gotten in the bathroom. Most of the marathoners, didn't wait for the toliets, they just pulled off to the side and went- even the girls. This was a little bit gross! Rob stayed with us until around mile 23. I don't know where Dwyne was at this point. He caught up with us around mile 24, but then said "see you at the finish" at mile 25. Jodi had a really bad pain in her foot and she said she just had to finish right away, so we sprinted off. I have never been that exhausted before in my life. Around mile 22, there was a little girl giving out chewie lifesavers. I had gotten a pack and I knew I needed to eat something to get my energy back up, but I didn't even have the energy to get it out and unwrap it, so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I would have never finished in such a good time without Jodi pushing me. The last 4 miles people kept saying, "your almost done." I got so tired of hearing that. I wanted to yell back at them, "liar!" 4 miles seems like an eternity when you have already run 22.

The last leg was straight down a steep hill. I was so glad to see that finish line, but it seemed it never got any closer. I just kept going faster and faster and it didn't get any closer. When I finally crossed the finish line, my first thought of was how much I had wanted to finish holding the hand of my wonderful husband, but also at the same time, "I'm done!" At least I finished with Jodi, though. I went through, got my blanket, got my medal and then stopped and waited for my husband. Dwyne came next. I asked him if he had seen Rob and he said he was right behind him. Finally he came. I was so glad to see him and see us all finish within 4 hours and 26 minutes. Dwyne had a really bad cold with chills and everything. Rob had a stomach bug that he brought back from the Ukraine. The doctor adviced him not to run the marathon and gave him some antibiotics. He lost 6 pounds the week before the marathon. I was just so amazed by both of those guys. I don't think I would have ever run, let alone finished in such a good time.

What a wonderful experience. I guess sometimes it's not so bad to be a follower!

The Traveling PJ's

Here is a very cute story about Pajama girl- Jodi, who ran with us. It is really a story of the PJ's. Rob knows exactly what Jodi's brother is going through, since after he went off to basic training and AIT, he says he never got all his stuff returned.

Our Marathon

Here it is, finally. Ok, it took me two whole days to get it back on- a little lesson in don't delete something, before you have the new one uploaded.

A little note about the music. The Whitney Houston song is obvious, but the first one by Bon Jovi you might not understand. One of the people we trained with said that when he was training for a different marathon, the guy he ran with would bring a big boom box and play music as they ran. So, one day we decided to bring our little clock radio and put it on the bike with our support team- Scott. He wasn't very appreciative of our music choices and as soon as the song (you want to) Make a Memory played, it somehow stopped working. We heard the song several times early in the morning as we drove to the school parking lot where we started all our training runs. Then, the day of the marathon our alarm went off with that song, (you want to ) Make a Memory, playing. We were, of course, already awake, so we didn't exactly get woken up to the song, but it did become from then on out The Marathon Song! And making a memory is exactly what we did. The days and months of training and the final run of the marathon were an amazing experience both physically and socially. We will always remember it with fondness and are ready to do another one! Yes, amazingly enough, running a marathon is a lot like having a baby- you forget all about the pain and only remember the amazing feeling. Rob couldn't convince me that I would, at first, because that was pretty good pain and exhaustion, but it has happened. Marine Corp Marathon here we come!

P.S. For all you non running type, the nipple was bleeding after being rubbed by the shirt for 12 miles in the rain. That's why it is smart to tape those puppies up! There is also one more part you can't read, but I am not doing this uploading thing again, so it said, " a complete team, all in under 4 hours and 30 minutes, even the sick and hurt ones. That's amazing!"

technical difficulties

Sorry, guys, I changed the video to make it more readable and now I am having problems loading back up. Try back soon and hopefully I will have it figured out be then.

Soccer Mom's

Soccer season is done with- Yeah! We made it through another one without death or exhaustion setting in. Sam getting his award from Coach Dad

Both Emma's and Sam's/Rob's teams did well. Emma and Sam both missed their last games, because they came with us to the marathon. More to come on that.

The other day someone was saying something a little derogatory about just being a mom and running kids all over. I then had to go into a tirade, as this is one of my pet peeves. When did it become a bad thing to be a soccer mom? When did it become a bad thing to take a keen interest in your child's life and their future. When did it become a bad thing to support your child in what they loved and were good at, sometimes to the sacrifice of a few of things you enjoy? Then I ended by telling her that I was a soccer mom and was darn proud of it! In fact if I could, I would own a minivan. That was a suprise to a few people in the room. Let's face it though, I live near D.C. so the only reason I would need an SUV is to pollute the earth. I have 4 kids, who fight when they are next to each other and 2 carseats. I need some storage space, especially since we like to travel. I would love something that got good gas mileage, but that is out of the question with the other prerequisites. So I am down to just a few options- the best ,of which I know, is the minivan. What are your thoughts on soccer mom's? What are your pet peeves?

Marathon and books

I just finished the book "Amazing Grace". It is a biography of William Wilburforce. I had heard of him before, but didn't know what he was known for. I just associated him with a little man trying to move a mountain. He was one of the main people involved in stopping the slave trade. It was an amazing book- A little dry at times, like all biographies are, but I was so glad that I am involved in a book club that forces me to read this kind of stuff. I would never do it on my own. It is so humbling to see how many great men's shoulders we stand upon. I recommend the book- I haven't seen the movie, but it might be a good alternative to you less motivated lot- like me.
The Marathon is tomorrow and for any of you that are interested you can check out our progress along the route at this website. It has splits in real time (I believe.) Unfortunately, half or more of our team is not feeling well. Rob has been having a lot of stomach problems since he got back from the Ukraine. He went in and they gave him a Sulfa antibiotic. Now he is really dizzy and nauseated. I took his blood pressure yesterday, because I was afraid he may be getting septic, but it was normal. One of the other guys got sick about two days ago and says if he still feels this bad tonight, he won't be running. Wish us all luck. We have been training hard and really wanted to run as a team.

Feeling at Peace- sort of!

Friday we went to the cannery to buy a bunch of wheat and some other stuff. I have to tell you why. A few month ago my mother-in-law told me of a friend of a friend who said that in their conference they had one of the apostles who had opened the floor to question and answer period say to a question about why the bretheren didn't talk on food storage in the last conference "that the time of warning was over." This was a little scary, but I always wonder about those friend of a friend comments, so I kind of blew it off. About a week ago I had a very vivid dream in which a lady was showing me this time-line for the second coming (it was actually quite long.) I asked how she could know any of this, since no one knew when the Lord would be coming again. She said she had just made the timeline from the prophecies that had already been given. She said that the important thing that she wanted to tell me was that we had only 5 years of relatively good weather left, before we had 5 years of severe drought. I woke up very nervous and thinking that I had to get more water storage, but also more food, since a drought would affect food, also. I told the running group the next day. I was really freaked out! Still I didn't do much. Then Wednesday I got an e-mail message from Natalie C. from my last ward- I am still on their ward list to receive e-mails. She was sending out a message that because of drought conditions the price of wheat was going up a few cents and that it was expected to double in the next little while. Well that was enough for me. I don't have to be told 4 times! We headed up to Maryland on Friday and had a great time with the two little boys canning lots of food. Aren't they such helpers?
I did find out that we only got enough for an adult and maybe one child- but that's better than nothing! Now with a laundry room full of good food, I feel at peace- sort of!