Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes the clouds in life can add to the beauty.

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes a hug makes everything seem a little better.

Wordless Wednesday: Random Holiday Sampler

We decorated Christmas Cookies as part of our advent countdown. Mario and Luigi made an appearance along with Chicken Santa and the Turtle of Christmas.

#5 is modelling the dinosaur hat I made for my nephew for Christmas.

Baby B wants everyone to remember to sing this Christmas. It is one of her favorite things to do.

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all have a safe and happy celebration!

Who really stuffs the stockings?

Our kids were being very rambunctious this evening and less than well behaved. D lamented that we didn't have a coal burning furnace. Of course, none of the kids got his hint that they were misbehaving to the point of earning a lot of coal this Christmas. I explained what he meant and the conversation continued this way after we asked T if he knew what Santa put in the stockings of kids who weren't good.
T: Santa doesn't put that stuff in our stockings anyway. He's DEAD. Mom and Dad do it! (Not all of our kids knew about Santa yet but I bet they are suspicious now!)
K: No...Where would Mom get all that stuff to put in our stockings?
T: MONEY (said in a duh tone of voice).
K: No, Mom doesn't do it...(followed by a long thoughtful pause)...It must be Grandpa Lloyd!

I laughed out loud. I guess he knows that Grandpa Lloyd has more money than we do! I wonder what he would think if he found out that I stuff Grandpa Lloyd's stocking too!

Wordless Wednesday

Taken by D

Holiday Tip or Dare: Christmas 2009

You know, I had plans to do some Holiday Tip or Dare posts like I did last year but life with six kids, including one who is a demanding 18 month old, has gotten in the way of blogging. That's okay though. Maybe by next year I will have a slew of new Holiday ideas for you. This year, I just have one that I would like to share. It came to mind because of a talk I heard in church yesterday. Basically the speaker said that we shouldn't get so wrapped up in just giving to our family and friends at Christmas Time, but we should think about people outside of our normal circle. The wise men who gave those first gifts, were strangers to the Christ Child, after all.

This really got me thinking. It got me thinking about how I can be more Christ-like at this time of the year (and really, all year long). Did Christ only teach his friends? Did he only heal people in his earthly family? The answer to that of course, is no. He was willing to teach anyone who wanted to listen, and he healed many who were strangers to him. He even healed an enemy when Peter cut off the ear of a servant of a high priest who was among those who came to take Jesus into custody before the Crucifiction (see Luke 22:49-51).

Christ was the ultimate example of how we should all strive to live our lives. I think it is only fitting, that at this time of year when we celebrate his birth, our hearts should turn not only towards our own family and friends, but also towards all mankind.

My tip or dare this year is really a dare. I dare you to do something kind for a stranger. It can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. Don't do it for praise, or for any other reason than helping someone else out of Christlike love. I know that if done with the right attitude, you will feel true joy in your hearts this Christmas Season. Go ahead, I dare you!

Wordless Wednesday

K (aka #4) won a coloring contest at school. The prize was a ride to school on a fire truck. This is the second time he has won this contest.

The Fire Chief said he could bring ONE brother along. K was very nice and told C (aka #5) that he could come.

Recuperating...

I have two callings at church. One is the 11 year old scout leader (the SCOUTS are 11, not me!) and the other is a member of the activities committee.

We have been planning our ward Christmas Party for a while, and somehow I found myself in charge of all the food and the logistics of making sure the food was prepared and served. We ended up having ham, garlic mashed potatoes with cheese on top, Costco Rolls, lemon water, baby carrots and celery sticks with ranch dip, and cheese balls and crackers. Our activities budget covered the costs of these items, and ward members brought Salads and desserts in additions to the meal I planned.

Boy was it crowded! There were over 200 people. Luckily we did not run out of food, and even had some leftovers. I feel pretty good that we were able to provide a decent meal for that many people for around $300. Even though none of them read my blog, a big THANK YOU! to all the people that helped me out in the kitchen and with serving, and to the rest of the committee for doing the decorations and the program.

Hallelujah! It's over! Now I can enjoy the season!

Living within our means: update

Way back in February I posted this. It was the story of how I managed to get our family into debt. Once I realized how bad things had gotten with our debt and decided to do something about it, I made plan after plan to get out of debt. We stopped charging on our credit cards about seven years ago. Still, it took me a long time to really buckle down and pay extra on our cards. Oh, I did a token amount of extra here and there, but not to where it felt like a big sacrifice. Finally, back in February I took a look at things and decided to make the changes we needed to make. We were never buying a lot of expensive things, but I had been nickel and diming us to death (or to debt). Our tax return was used to pay off our van and to pay down one of our credit cards. The final card had about $9,000 on it still, but I had plans to pay it off. Over the summer two of our boys needed dental work to the tune of $2,000 between the two. We didn't have the money to pay it outright, so we had to get a special credit plan for medical and dental expenses. It was our only option, but it did offer us no interest for the first year if we paid it off before the deadline.
All of my good intentions of paying the debt down on my schedule were thwarted by things like needing sneakers for my kids, and brakes for our van. Still, we were making progress, putting a lot more towards our payments than I used to. My ultimate goal was to be out of credit card debt by the end of this year.
In November I had a small epiphany. D's job lets him accrue vacation time. He doesn't use his vacation time very often, so he had quite a bit saved up. We decided to cash in 100 hours of his vacation time and we used it to pay off our last credit card last month. My goal was reached! However, the year wasn't over yet, and I realized that if we were willing to sacrifice just a little bit more, we could also pay off the dental bill and be debt free aside from our house. I paid the final balance on the dental plan today, and we are now debt free!
We have truly been blessed for our efforts and all of our needs have been met. When I needed a new oven, someone was getting rid of one that fit not only my needs, but my wants as well. I truly feel that by living within our means, and continuing to pay a full tithe, we have been blessed. We aren't rich by the world's standards, and our money will be going to fixing up our house and trying to add on so that we have more room, but I FEEL rich. Rich in blessings, and love.
I promised an update back in February, and this is it. For anyone that is struggling with trying to get out of debt. It CAN be done! It took us more than seven years and a lot of heartache over it, but we are finally FREE!

Wordless Wednesday

At first I was disappointed that our tree wasn't perfectly shaped (it came from my parents' yard). But the longer I look at it, the more I like it. It's imperfect, and homey, and reminds me of old fashioned Christmases. I think Charlie Brown would be proud!

I feel like I am falling behind!

I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. I even missed a Wordless Wednesday, which is almost unheard of for me!

So, I am posting a short one today, to let anyone who might be wondering, that I am still alive! D and the boys all had vacation time ALL week last week! When we found out the boys would all be out of school, I asked D to take the first three days of the week off (he already gets Thursday and Friday). We didn't do anything fancy. In fact, we got a dumpster delivered to our yard, and we filled it with junk from our garage (TWICE!). We rented a couple of movies, did some Christmas shopping, and just hung out together.

Thursday we went up to Vancouver and had a lovely Thanksgiving with D's Dad, one of his sisters and her family. The kids loved spending time with their cousins.

Friday D and I went to the Portland Temple (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) while my Mom watched the boys and Baby B hung out with my sister Pink Avenger. Then that afternoon my Mom, sisters and I got together for our annual Christmas Card making party. It was a lovely day! Friday night it was out to dinner with D's Dad and Sister and fam, and then we headed home!

I'm sad that today meant back to work for D and back to school for the boys. If I had my way, we would be together all the time!

This week is a busy one with meetings, scouts, and me being in charge of the food for our Church Christmas Dinner (planning for 200 people) so I am feeling a bit stressed out! Hopefully I will survive and live to be stressed out about the rest of the Holiday season!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

Making Apple Turkeys is a tradition from when D was a kid. We do it every November.

The kids love using various candy, marshmallows and cereal to decorate their turkeys.

D and I enjoy decorating our turkeys too! (and I got to decorate Baby B's...Bonus!)

One of our boys has an aversion to apples, and so he does a potato turkey every year. It's all good!
If you haven't tried making apple turkeys before, you should. It's a great way to keep kids occupied on Thanksgiving day while they wait for the real turkey to cook.

Wordless Wednesday: Veteran's Day Edition

My Grandfather keeps this picture on the wall in his living room as a reminder of his time in the War. He served in WWII and in Korea.

My Grandpa.

This is a picture of D's Grandfather's unit drilling during WWII.

A Soldier from D's Grandpa's unit poses with a captured German flag.

Manning the gun.

D's Grandpa (on the left) and his close friend Vic pose with a little girl.

D's Grandpa and Vic. Vic did not survive the war. D's Grandpa would never talk about the war. It scarred him for life. I managed to get ahold of some of his pictures and scanned them a few years before he passed away.
War is a terrible thing. I am so grateful for those who are willing to defend our country and who have shouldered the burden of war in their life.