surprised i'm online

While the kids are away the parents will play!

2008-06-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

A short history of our buying vehicles- we bought our Saturn new on RD's b-day about 9 years ago, then we traded that in for our Venture van four years ago just two days after RD's b-day! So we thought we would continue the tradition only do it on TEM's b-day! Happy birthday TEM! We got ourselves a new van. We went to the Toyota dealership on Thursday. We acually went "just to window shop". The only van that fit our criteria was a new trade in that they were still doing normal maintenance on, so we were not able to drive it. So we came home last night and did some research on the internet. We found the blue book value of the 2005 Honda Odessy with 39,000 miles at the dealership to be $23,900, just what the dealer said they were asking for. All the comments from other Honda owners were very positive. Then we looked up our 2003 Chevy Venture for the trade in value. It was listed to be between $4200-$5600. We found the comments to be most interesting. Many people that have or had a Venture from 2001-2003 were very dissatisfied. Their main reasons were the repairs they had to make including the head gasket, manifold, electrical and transmission problems! All of these things we are currently having trouble with or see it in the future. So we came to the conclusion that we should buy a new van and soon while we could still get a decent trade in. We went back to the dealership today with a specific price ($15,000, Ha HA) and monthly car payment we wanted. We totally did not think we would get it. It took us a little over 5 hours to get $5000 knocked of the price and for them to give us $4477 for our trade in! This took the price to $14400! We did opt to buy an extended warrenty because this van is loaded with electrical toys, and we had to put our sales tax into the loan so that brought the loan up to $17,000. We said "no" to their offers at least 5 times and we were actually in our old van leaving the parking lot to go home when the dealer ran out to us and said they would give us what we wanted! But all in all we think we got a pretty good deal.

The milage was a little more than I like to buy on a vehicle,but it has electric everything, a sun roof, DVD player, 6 disc CD player, navigation system that talks to us, a back up camera, dual sliding side doors, climate control AC, and leather seats with warmers. It has air bags all over the place, stow-in-go seats (fold up to be level with the floor), and an optional 8th seat. I would never had bought this vehicle if I did not get the price we got. We are actually paying about $2000 less for this van than we did for our Venture! I can only pray that this van lives up to the Honda reputation! I'm really not excited about having a car payment again but I know I won't be paying for major repairs for at least 60,000 miles!

Trying out the new toy!

2008-05-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Hey we finally got a new digital camera! We had a great opportunity today to use it. JD being part of the cub scouts we were able to participate in the Memorial Day Good Turn day at Jefferson Barracks Memorial Cemetery. The scouts in the area spent a few hours putting a flag on every grave to honor the veterans to observe Memorial day. We didn't actually stay for the whole ceremony but we made sure to put flags on grandpa McC's and uncle BAD's father's graves. The kids seem to enjoy it although they didn't quite get the purpose. JD put the flag on grandpa's, ID put the flowers we had brought, and AD put the flag on BAD's dad (with the help of her foot!). After I had explained that the people were buried in the graves under our feet, I was telling the kids a bit about grandpa McC serving in the navy during WWII on a carrier fighting the Japanese. Then I explained how he had many tractors and dump trucks all the time to run his excavating business. ID was very interested in the tractors. He asked if he had a tractor for moving hay and I said he mostly had tractors that moved the earth around. He was slightly disappointed in this. He was sitting on the ground right next to the grave for this conversation. He then bent down as if talking to grandpa and said "You really should have a tractor for doing hay!"

I do feel a little morbid taking pictures at a cemetery, but it is good proof that we actually did it!

From Trash to Treasure

2008-05-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

ID brought home his "creation"( a sculpture made out of trash) he made at school the other day. He was incredibly proud of it and was so excited to have it. I'll try to decribe it; a used Fiji water bottle laying on it's side, glued to a paper plate with straws taped to the side, next to that on the plate was a used paper towel roll with a #3 b-day candle taped to it, all of this taped to the top of a white balloon, which was then taped to another paper plate (it really would be much easier if I had a digital camera so you could see for yourself!). The only discription that is truly relevent is the balloon. Apparantly on the way home from school, ID found a 4 point hook in his daddy's truck, I have no idea what this hook is used for, but to ID it looked just like a fishing hook. So as soon as he got home, he drew up a fish and some bubbles, then taped them to the balloon underneath his hook (RD had attached the hook to some pipe cleaner attached to the paper towel roll). Very inventive to look like the fish was in a tank and about to be caught. Well of course what happens to balloons-they pop! The day after he had brought it home, the tank had popped. ID was extremely unhappy, tears and all! But mom came to the rescue! I gave him a new balloon- a blue one with a skull and cross bones on it! He was exstatic to say the least. Now it is not only a fish in a tank about to be caught, but it is pirates who are catching the fish! Truly a treasure!
The entire reason I have shared this overly lengthy story is to share with my family an understanding I gained and shared with ID after we had repaired his ruined creation. I explained to him this simple reality that sometimes bad or sad things happen to us (or our things) only so something better can take it's place.
He really seemed to get it and felt much better about his new creation. So much so that the next day when our stup-I mean silly cat popped the blue balloon, ID didn't get so upset. We simply replaced the balloon again and hung it up out of the cat's reach!
My family members came to my mind after this ordeal with ID. Between mom and dad lossing their job, BAD about to be out of a job, RY possibly lossing his job, and EM and elka's completely stressful move and now having to deal with renters, yuk and with many obsticles yet to get through, it seems our family is going through quite a transitional period! I have to say I'm feeling slightly nervous for RD right now! But I have to hope and believe this is all leading up to something much better for everyone! (Any body thought of us all moving to the farm and creating our own family compound? Ha Ha, just kidding elka!) I hope I can hold onto this attitude when my family trial comes about. Everyone is in my thoughts and prayers.

Another rude awakening!

2008-04-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday, the day of rest?
I had another highly rude awakening just yesterday, luckily RD got to experience this one too! We were nestled all snug in our bed, taking a much needed Sunday afternoon nap when all of the sudden yells of ID rang through the house. RD heard the blaring of the smoke detector first and then registered the words "FIRE, FIRE" as ID ran into our room(I wish I could simulate how loud he was yelling). RD was out of bed first making a dash for the door only to run into a badly misplaced hamper, in turn crashing to the floor in quite a heap. I jumped out of bed just as he hit the floor with a huge thud (the floor shaking much like our recent quakes)! I ran out of my room, quite dazed, completely expecting to see smoke. ID and AD had made it out the front door by this time, who knows where JD was. RD was with me as we ran down the stairs. The smoke detector still blaring with no hint of smoke anywhere. We frantically ran all over the basement to look for what was setting off the alarm, but found absolutely nothing! RD finally disconnected the alarm and the kids had come back inside (I still cannot remember where JD had been through all of this).
Luckily this was a false alarm and everyone is fine. RD has the worst from it; a fairly skinned up knee and quite a few sore muscles and joints. I just wish I could have seen the scene from an outsider's view. It had to be quite hilarious to see us running about not quite awake, looking for something that wasn't there!

This is a test, this is only a test-or maybe not!

2008-04-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most have heard of the earthquake that shook the Midwest this morning! It was about 4:30am, I had actually gone to bed at 10:00 last night so I could get a good night sleep! But that was not to be so. I woke up to the bed shaking, the windows rattling, and it looked like the entire house was shaking! I was instantly alert and I interpreted it to be a tornado. I'm sure there was a loud noise also. I jumped out of bed and ran to the boys room to wake them up. I shook JD first in the top bunk and then proceeded to pull ID out from the bottom, which he then fell to the floor. I frantically told him to go downstairs. Then I shook JD some more. Then I thought of AD in my bed. By this time I noticed nothing else was happening, so my heart rate dropped slightly. I think ID had actually gone to the kitchen. I hurried to my room and scooped up AD. Then I met up with ID in the kitchen (JD still sound asleep). ID was asking why we had to go downstairs and I was a bit confused. I realized nothing else was happening so I let ID go back to bed and laid AD back in my bed. But don't think I was able to go to sleep so fast! I began wondering if I had dreamed it all up. I turned on my kitchen radio to the TV stations. No one was saying anything about it, so I almost gave up. Then a breaking news came on and announced a 5.4 quake about 127 miles east of us in Illinois or Indiana (it has been knocked down to a 5.2). Then I turned the TV on and the news was just coming on about it. People had been calling the stations non-stop to find out what was going on. At least I wasn't the only confused one, but I do wonder if anyone else mistook it for a tornado!
This was definitely a small glimpse of one of my biggest fears; that something catastrophic would happen in the middle of the night while Frank is at work with me alone with the kids. Luckily everyone and everything is fine. Nothing even fell off the walls! Frank rode it out at work. He thinks it was neat. This only reminded me of the importance of having our food storage and especially our 72 hour kits. I hate being reminded this way! But I am committing myself to do better with it and at least get our kits done!

My Life Movie Sountrack

2008-04-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

I got this from my awesome sister-in law KRM! I don't know if mine came out as good as hers!
So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the "next" button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool!

Opening credits: Take On Me by a-ha (80's song, if you heard it you'd know it)
Waking Up: Young Love by The Judds
First Day At School: It's all wrong, but it's all right-Dolly Parton
Falling In Love: That's my Job-Conway Twitty
Fight Song: I'll Be- Edwin McCain
Breaking Up: I will always Love You- Dolly Parton
Prom: Maybe we should sleep it tonight- Tim McGraw
Life’s OK: Danger Zone- Kenny Loggins
Mental Breakdown: True Colors- Phil Collins
Driving: Turn Me On- Micheal Bluble
Flashback: What it Takes- Aerosmith
Getting Back Together: Cuts Like A Knife- Brian Adams
Wedding:Lay Your Hands on Me- Bon Jovi (RD would like this one)
Birth of Child: Endless Love- Lionel Richie/ Diana Ross
Final Battle: Bad Medicine- Bon Jovi
Death Scene: Once Upon A Lifetime- Alabama
Funeral Song:Every Breath You Take- Police
End Credits: Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison

I Tag: Anyone that has a few minutes !

Getting the most positive report on your child!

2008-04-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a sure way to get a positive report on your child from their school. Sure you kid does fine they say what a good student he is, if he has trouble in a subject it is usually not such a pleasant report. I have experienced both of these situations. But they cannot compare to my last parent/teacher conference for ID. He has struggled all year in reading due to his learning disability, and is basically on the kindergarten level, though he is in first grade. After observing the class that ID has been in for reading,I approached his teachers and the principal about concerns I have with the reading program offered to him. It is a program way over his head and does not address his LD or teach him in a manner he can learn. It also does not allow time for the teachers to address his problems any other way. One week after meeting with them we had our conference. I have never heard such good things about any of my children or how much they have learned in a year! They were so excited to tell us about how he can read! He is apparently doing many things in reading, like comprehending, that many of his classmates can't do so well. I truly cannot put into words all their gooey sentiments and compliments. They were so excited that it has taken him all year to be able to finally put a three letter word together! (Ninety percent of the words he can read, I have personally taught him!) With all this in mind the thing that will help him best is to repeat 1st grade next year! So if you want the best possible report on your child all you have to do is complain, or point out the problems with the school and their curriculum! I promise you it will work like a charm! (I just wish that had actually been my purpose for addressing these issues with them.)
I must apologize for writing such a blah post! This has been the only thing on my mind lately so I had to get it off my chest! This is also a big reason that I have not posted anything for a while. I have decided not to stress about it or think too much about it any more. I am counting down the days till school is over!

2008-03-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

To the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends and family. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you'll send. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends & family, including the person whom sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a LOT of little things about your friends & family that you might not have known.

1. What time did you get up this morning? am I up yet?

2. Diamonds or pearls? honestly- neither

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Spiderwick Chronicles

4. Favorite TV show? Right now I am anti-TV-nothing interesting enough

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Honey Nut Cheerios

6. What kind of soap do you use? Lever 2000, Suave

7. What is your middle name? Suzann (possible baby name?)

8. What food do you dislike? Italian sausage(my father once made us eat it as a burger, I can't even stand the smell of it since!)

9. What is your favorite CD? any that I put together myself, otherwise Reba's #1s

10. What kind of car do you drive? Chevy Venture minivan (OK- stop druling!)

11. What characteristics do you despise about people? Selfish, unteachable, self righteous

12. Favorite item of clothing? any comfortable PJS

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Alask, Ireland, England now and 150 +/- years ago (Jane Austen's time)

14. What is your biggest regret? getting into debt

15. Where would you retire to? a large ranch

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? i don't have those

18. Furthest place you are sending this? alaska

19. Who do you least expect to send this back? Katherien-she sent it to me!

20. Person you expect to send it back first? Jackie- she doesn't have one on her blog yet

21. When is your birthday? Ground Hog's day and Farrah Faucet's b-day-you can figure the date
22. What is your favorite scent? fresh cut grass, camp fire, horse feed (horse manure isn't too bad either!)

23. Are you a morning or night person? who said I was a person?

24. What is your shoe size? 7 1/2, sometimes 8

25. Pets? Mo the cat, Ody the dog- (I have discovered that pets are best when they live in another state)

26. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? RD has lost 20 lbs, he also recently pointed out to me (so I could be prepared), that if he keeps loosing weight, and i keep gaining because of the pregnancy, that I will probably weigh more than him! Sometimes he should really keep his mouth shut!

27. What did you want to be when you were little? a teacher, vetrinarian, for a short time a comedian, a mom

28. How are you today? somewhat down, another Jeckyll/Hyde day

29. What is your favorite candy? snickers, dove truffle eggs (only available during Easter)

30. What is your favorite flower? for smell-Lilacs, I don't actually know what they look like

31. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? August 7, 2008 Breaking Dawn comes out

32. What church do you attend? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the same building I attended as a little girl

33. Favorite sandwich? PBJ; Hot ham &Cheese from Lion's Choice

34. What are you listening to right now? Jake keeping himself awake

35. What is the last thing you ate? homemade chicken and dumplins (as RD calls them, chicken and puffs)

36. Do you wish on stars? very rarely

37. What would you consider your perfect day? A sunny 70 degree, slightly breezy day (does anyone ever say cold, drab and rainy?), I've hiked a beautiful trail with my family, had absolutely no obligations, did not fix a single item of food, and laying in an open field watching the big puffy clouds go by.

38. How is the weather right now? cold, miserable

39. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my hubby

40. Do you like the person who sent this to you? of course

41. Favorite soft drink? Pepsi, A&W root beer

42. Favorite restaurant: Mcdonalds- NOT- Iam anti food right now too, so I couldn't say

43. Hair color? dark brown

44. Siblings? 3

45. Favorite time of the year? Spring and Fall, Summer comes in second

46. What was your favorite toy as a child? my barbies because my brother would play them with me-he had his own Ken!

47. Summer or winter? Summer

48. Hugs or kisses? Hugs

49. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate

50. Do you want your friends to email you back? nah

51. When was the last time you cried? For what reason: stressed-I'm quite hormonal right now so a few tears escape my eyes each day; sad- don't know;happy-laughing histerically during love making the other night (I will never say why!)

52. What is under your bed? batteries, candles, broken books i plan to fix one day, loads of toys, a flash light, my house shoes, kids clothes, probably some food item (I did clean it out not too long ago)

53. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Sabrina- I don't even remember meeting her for the first time, we played together at the age of 2

54. What did you do last night? played hooky from Scouts, watched a great movie "The Importance of Being Ernest", wrote on my blog, waited for RD to get home from school

55. Favorite room in your house? my living room (that's pretty pathetic!)

56. What are you afraid of? losing one of my kids, not having food storage when I need it

57. Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn? buttered, buttered, buttered

58. How many keys on your key ring? 7-2 house, 2 car, 3 church

59. How many years at your current job? 9, almost 11 if I get to count marriage!

60. Favorite day of the week? Friday, no homework and it's not the day before Sunday

61. How many towns have you lived in? 3 (that's truely pathetic!!)

63. How many people will you be sending this to? none-it's only on my blog

64. Do you like your job? most of the time, if I were better at it I would love it!

Parenting Tip #1

2008-03-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

First off- this is a record, this is the first time I've written 2 posts in one day! Don't get used to it!
I thought I'd share a new form of "motivation" we have discovered for our kids- take them to a movie that scares the piss out of them, then threaten to them back when they misbehave!
We took the kids to see the Spiderwick Chronicles on Monday. We knew AD would be scared, but we took her anyway. I thought the boys would love it-wrong! The first time the house brownie turned to a scary creature, JD jumped out of his seat and shouted "I HAVE TO GO POTTY!" I haven't seen JD this scared in a while. (I never did let him go to the bathroom!) ID was near tears in a few spots. AD just sat with her head buried in FD's side the entire movie. Luckily, we were the only family in the theater, so FD and I had no problem laughing at our kids terror.
Since that day I would say we have threatened them at least 5 times- "If you don't stop that now we will go see Spiderwich again!" It has immediate results! ID has asked if we are serious about taking them back, with fear in his voice.

When is a hot dog too hot?

2008-03-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

We are just overcoming the latest winter storms today. The boys were out of school for two days in a row again! We didn't even go out to play in the snow, though it was perfect. I think we are all tired of the cold and ready for the spring to begin! This past weekend did not help our spring fever. Saturday we sat outside in the warm beautiful weather eating our bar-b-que. ID was of course eating hot dogs. For one reason or another his h.d. got cold. I told him to warm it in the microwave for 10 seconds. He left to do this. I had no concerns because he has done this many times. A few minutes later I decided to take somethings inside. To my utter astonishment and horror, ID was still warming his h.d. Smoke was billowing out of the microwave, ID was just standing there waiting patiently. When I saw the time left on the microwave it was at 6 minutes and 40 seconds. He got the 10 right, just not in seconds! The stench was unbearable itself (the smell took me way back to the time my mother had found a mouse burned to death in the insulation between the stove and oven.)! 4 days later my house still reeks of burned dog. It's hard to explain exactly what it looked like. It was quite black, rather large, and completely dried out. Quite inedible! I'm pretty sure we will need to get a new microwave because every time we use it- it emits the horrid smell. ID will be under better supervision for his future microwave uses!
So when is a hot dog too hot?
Maybe when it's beyond recognition and creates it's own air freshener ( maybe air non freshener)!

9 millimeter

2008-02-27T15:57:00.001-08:00

We are investing in a new 9 mm.! Of coarse it won't be a 9 mm for very long. I had my first drs. appointment yesterday. Their new standard procedure is to do an ultrasound at the beginning and then one at 18 weeks. Daddy was so proud when the nurse said the baby was about 9 mm long. He of course compared it to the 9 mm handgun bullet! The heart was beating! Now I know it is official! Due date is set for Oct 15. Yeah! not a September baby! The kids were disappointed that they did not get to see the ultrasound being done, but when ID saw the pitures he exclaimed that it is disgusting anyway! Yesterday I was estimated at 6 weeks and 6 days. So I guess I am officially seven weeks today.
I have been feeling pretty good. Mostly exhausted and quite emotional. I only get sick if I have to clean a dirty nose or brush my kids teeth. So far so good. I am a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde most of the time. I hope this part doesn't last much longer (ha,ha)! The only thing I seem to enjoy right now is reading my Twilight series with RD ( my Edward). We made it through the first two books and are almost halfway through my favorite, the third.
Speaking of brushing teeth, all 3 kids had a dentists appt. today. It took 1 1/2 hours to do all three! JD and AD were in really good shape. ID on the other hand- the dental lady said she had never seen so much plaque and tartar on a kid! (He actually is the best brusher too, go figure) Happily and relieved, we were cavity free (sorry Katherine!)!

SORRY- I TRIED TO POST PICTURE AND I CAN NOT GET IT TO WORK!

Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes

2008-01-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

So I just spent a weekend in the state of potatoes (although I didn't actually see many potatoes myself)! Most of my friends have exclaimed, "What do you want to go to Idaho for?" Obviously the state of Idaho is not well known as an exciting state of the union to visit. But I will, one day, leave here (I had to stay an extra day due to airline inefficiency) and remember it as a very fun and esthetically pleasing place to visit, thanks to my mom and two sisters! It has been refreshing to be in open space with mountains in the distance. One mountain in particular that the gals and I spent an evening tubing down (maybe I should word it screaming our heads off down). That was a blast! It has been a while since i have sped down a huge hill on anything and i'm sure it has been even longer for mom. But we braved it and managed to take out only one small kid! The scariest part was actually the drive up the mountain, but JC (our weekend chauffeur) got us there in safety!
I also got to meet my newest nephew, the ever so cute Philip, Jr (ha ha, not actually his name, just a person he resembles!). He was all cute and sweet, I think it helped being the only kid with 4 women and a most patient uncle to coo over him. I think uncle RC enjoyed him the most!
I got to go to a wonderful chic flick, stuff myself at the Olive Garden, spend money at a Deseret book store, laugh myself silly playing the ImaginIff board game, and tease my younger sister all without a thought of having to think of getting a babysitter, lecture about keeping ones hands to themselves, or yell at anyone in public! I have forgotten what it's like to think about going somewhere and actually just go. It was definitely A MUCH NEEDED break for me! For this I have to pour out thanks to my wonderful hubby RD. This would not have been at all possible if it weren't for him! THANK YOU THANK YOU! I have missed him and my wonderful kids, that has been the only downer.
Although I am not taking any potatoes home with me, I will be taking many great memories and a better and closer relationship with my mom and sisters!

First one ever

2008-01-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Ok -I'm not sure what I'm doing! Just thought I would enter the 21st century!