Blurb Sale

For those of you who slurp your blogs into books...Blurb is having a 20% off and free shipping promotion through midnight tomorrow 11/24 with the code BLURBTREAT. I am publishing my blog up to this point into a book, and then heading in another direction with it when I pick it up again.

blogging feels like this right now:

...I have been documenting our wonderful summer...

I know where all my pics are...

they are all backed up on cds...

that is where they are going to stay for a little longer...

...we are enjoying this one so much right now,

that the blog needs to stay in the backseat of my brain...

...we wanted him for so long, now that he's here...

we just can't get enough...

...and these ones too...they are getting so big!...

time is starting to fly away a little too quickly for me...

please stay tuned...

my appliance repair man

This has been the season of appliances breaking down. In addition to the whole microwave thing, and a never before mentioned leaky refrigerator water tube that ruined a large spot of our laminate flooring...last year, our washing machine bit the dust. We were looking for a bargain to get us through until the time that we wanted to invest in a really cool new pair, preferably a blue or green set...and highly efficient. A really kind man ended up giving us what I like to call our "almond joy".
See, we had a white washer and dryer, but if you get a free washing machine it is certainly a joy...even if it is almond. Who cares, no one ever really sees our laundry room anyways. So apparently Miss Dryer got jealous and decided to stop producing heat as she tumbled the clothes. This is not a positive thing for a family of 6, right? Although I must admit if given the choice between giving up a washer or dryer, definitly choose the dryer.

So getting to the point...Cameron did some research online. A YouTube video taught him how to fix the dryer with a $12 part! So the super elite washer and dryer will continue to be on hold. Yay Cameron!

*edited* I forgot to mention, I told Cameron if he fixed the dryer that I would give him 20 bucks. LOL

ingenious

Now who says that every single thing from the Chuck E. Cheese prize counter is completely useless?

free child-care

One day, I had enough of the 5,000 (slightly exagerating) stuffed animal clutter that spills out of my girls' room. There is this built in "shelf" that I had previously put some decorative fencing, greenery, and horses up on. We decided to put all the stuffed animals up there one weekend.

My friend had suggested long ago that we chuck all the stuffed animals up there, since her mom has the same model of house up the street. That is what she used to do when she lived there.

Anyways...I got to that point. But in the meantime I discovered the free child-care that came with this house model.

1. Clean shelf off.

2. Give the child a boost.

3. Leave.

ha ha ha

It works great!

Maybe we can go to the movies now???

Happy Memorial Day

We went down the street to watch all the Harleys parade down

the main street en route to the national cemetery.
We saw a handful of our friends riding with them.
They went by so fast that I did not snap the camera fast enough.

I found my friend Wanda there, yay!

It was 50 minutes long, non-stop!!!

We walked with our friends Marissa and Aiden.

Then we saw Wanda's hubby Phil on the way home.

So fun!!!

Green Vegetable of the Week

We have recently started a "Green Vegetable of the Week" thing with our children. They despise most, if not all green vegetables. So on occasion, we pick up some random one and have them try it.

The artichoke went pretty well because it involves butter, and especially since you hardly eat the majority of it. We definitly had to get the cookbook out to know how to cook it properly. I did miss my microwave at this time. But good news... my friend gave us one to get us through until we get around to replacing the one installed above the oven, and we are living like royalty now!

In Honor of Herman Melville?

We live on a street that is a high traffic area for walking teenagers. Since we are in between the middle school, the high school, and a park...we get a steady influx of candy wrappers and empty drink containers around these parts, and sometimes a few characters up to no good.

One Saturday morning I found this lovely artwork on the sidewalk in front of my driveway. My gut instinct told me that this was not intended for us personally, but it was lovely none-the-less. It was even more well received when my 6 year old ask, "Does that say....?"

The pseudo-graffiti was written in mustard. Who carries a bottle of mustard around with them anyways? This was no packet job! When I cleaned it off with Comet, it turned bright white. Yay! So we tried to decide between altering it into Dick Clark or Moby Dick. Cameron wanted the first, and to put a star around it like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But since that is our baby's name, I went with the latter.

Voila! What do you think?

Proverbs 16:32

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;

and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

Sometime before Christmas, I was so mad for a moment that I slammed the microwave door really hard. It won't turn on at all, so I don't even get the clock, or the light and fan above the stovetop. Good job Sharla! I haven't replaced it yet because it has been a simple reminder to myself to bridle my feelings. :) Not to mention, the State of California has sent us an I.O.U. for our tax return.

The good news is:

a) just about everything can be cooked without a microwave (except microwave popcorn and microwave cheez whiz)

b) I got a toaster oven for Christmas

I taped this sign that Everett had from a church meeting on it.

We do plan to replace it, we are waiting for something to pop up on on Craig's List, I don't want to pay full price. It seems that every time I do that, someone says, "Oh, you should have told me...I had this one sitting in my garage, etc."

I also put the new Willow Tree figure Cameron got me nearby, as another reminder of how much I love my children, just in case. :)

It is amazing how well the visual reminders have helped keep my temper from flaring up. When we finally get another microwave, it will feel like luxury living! Appreciate your microwave today.

The funniest thing happened yesterday...

During sacrament meeting at church yesterday, Everett kept hooking the strap to his scripture case (about the 4 feet long) to family members: on Clark's belt loop, my shirt, etc. The meeting was coming to an end, and it was announced that Cameron was giving the prayer.

When he got up from our row, lo and behold the strap was attached to his beltloop now. He had no idea that this strap is dangling around his legs as he walks up there. The family behind us and the the one in front of us, and to the side of us all saw it too. They thought it was his belt hanging off or a suspender or something. I started laughing so hard that I was crying. mostly because Cameron had no clue, and that the man behind me was chuckling. Natalie and especially Everett could hardly contain themselves either. Everett had no idea Dad was going up to pray because he had not been paying attention.

I am so glad that the other end of the strap was not attached to something else! So much for reverence.