Saturday, August 29, 2015

summer's end

we had planned on going to the zoo today. entrance was a can of food.
unfortunately, we didn't have the means to get there.

shortly before 2, a friend from the ward showed up and gave us free passes to the pool. 18 of them! i called a few friends to see who would like to use the extras, and after some quick cleaning, away we went to play!

we were there for about 3 hours and the kids had so much fun!

the 3 older ones were able to go down the slides, we all took a couple of turns around the lazy river. i took bread and pb&j so we had something to eat.

as soon as we got home, i started kids in baths. chlorine does funky things to skin and hair.

(turns out we only had 2 clean towels, so i ended up taking some of the old baby blankets we've used as "towels" before. and in order to bathe kids, we had to do shifts while we waited for towels to dry...i'd started a load before we left.)

Thursday, August 27, 2015

OUCH!

i have tendinitis in my wrists. usually, it doesn't bother me. unless i over agitate it.

i over did it the other day.

my scrap box from the tshirt yarn was overflowing. as there was still a lot of useful scraps in there, i decided to cut them into small pieces for "stuffing." it was a lot of little movements for a long time.

i did okay the first 2 days afterwards, but something i did today made it worse.

the BIG problem is that it's my dominant hand this time. which means that writing is out (lesson plans), crocheting (rugs), cutting anything (food, tshirts, etc), even typing is difficult.

i have it wrapped with an ace bandage and popsicle sticks for stability. i'm hoping a couple of days and i'll be able to use it without as much pain.

Monday, August 24, 2015

i can't keep silent

i know that no one except family really reads my blog, and that's ok, cause they are the reason that i blog anyway. but, i need to get this out of my system.

all the drama with the duggars from 19 and counting, is getting old. one of the kids molested his sisters and a few other girls when they were younger. the duggars are upset that everyone is making such a big deal out of it. the girls have "moved on, and forgiven him." the dad is upset that the authorities released the records. their show was cancelled, and now they have to figure out how to live in the real world again.

the world holds a pretty dim view of child molesters, even if they were also children (as i don't know how old he was when it occurred). the type of "life" they have when imprisoned is not kind. and it doesn't matter if you are truly guilty or not, even the most violent murderer will still make your life "hell."

it's true that people make mistakes. but, when your mistakes affect the innocent, you are far from being free. even the Savior, in the scriptures said that any found harming a child would wish to be thrown into the sea with a rock tied around their necks, rather than have to face their eternal judgement at the last day. i also believe, that they can change. with work and conscious effort, they can move away from their sins, and no longer have that urge.

here's what really bothers me.
1. the girls have "moved on and forgiven him." that's awesome! i'm glad you've been able to put it behind you and forgive him. but, do you truly trust him with your children? would you state him as their guardian in your will in the event that something happened to you? considering whatever happened, are you really all that surprised that when it came to light, your "world" imploded?
2. that dad is upset. you can't tell me that you weren't livid when you discovered what he had been doing. you can't tell me that your heart didn't break for those little girls, two of whom were your own. you can't tell me that one of your first reactions wasn't the desire to throttle him. you can't tell me that you never had to wonder that he might do it again. (as a mother whose been there, you can't tell me that at least one of those didn't happen.)
he's mad at the authorities for releasing the records...welcome to the real world. where you have to pay your dues. just because you are a "celebrity" doesn't mean that you get out of the consequences.
he's mad that it disturbed his christian philosophy. you know what, it doesn't change what you believe, or what you try to put across to the world. all it shows is that you and your family are human. you struggle with "real-world" issues, and everything that comes with them. show the world that you are better than what is being portrayed right now. yes, he was young. yes, he was stupid. he paid his dues, great! but, that doesn't excuse his actions, or the fact that you tried to hide it. man up, take responsibility for what happened, don't sweep it under the rug and pretend it never occurred.
3. their show was cancelled. um, why? the kid made a mistake, he paid his dues. the family was trying to show the world what living life a christian was like. keep the show on, part of being christian is forgiving those that have wronged you, and moving on. i personally think that it would have "blown over" faster, had they been allowed to express and show how they have moved on. now all we get are little snippets from rag magazines (which are always accurate and completely to be believed), or what the media decides to invent.

welcome to the real world, duggars.
where people really do care about this kind of thing.
where people alienate those that are perpetrators, and, unfortunately, those that are victimized.
where this behavior is not tolerated, and those that try to hide it are also guilty.

i'm sorry that the past came back to bite you in the butt.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

school

i've been trying to do lesson plans. some days it works, some days it doesn't.

i'm doing a pretty loose plan. we're going to try it until christmas, and then reevaluate what's working and what's not. 

right now, the only subject i'm unsure on is math. i have an idea, unfortunately, it's going to cost quite a bit. i MIGHT be able to make it work, but most likely not. only time will tell. (i need to see if my public library has any of what i'm looking for.)

week in review...briefly

i've been busy, and unable to stay on task... not the best of combinations.

i've been periodically helping out a friend who had an emergency appendectomy on monday. pain management has been rough on her. her hubby has been working and unable to take her in, so i've been playing chauffeur.

i'll go to do something, get halfway there, and totally lose track of what i'm trying to do. my house is semi-clean, but only because the kids are halfway doing their jobs.

i've been trying to work on lesson plans, but can't focus well.

today, i was thinking of everything that needs to be done, but not able to do any of it. the list was so long, that i couldn't sit down to do it.

lesson plans
rugs and other items for Revivd
laundry
cleaning
purging (which i always get in trouble for. "we can't replace it")
fhe kits
cooking (it was cool today, so i really should have made goodies)

Thursday, August 20, 2015

planning

lesson plans for school are coming along.  i was able to get a pdf form of a planner for free (it was on sale)! i printed off just the lesson planning pages. one set for each of my kids. i spent four hours last saturday, and barely made a dent. it didn't help that i was still waiting on some books.

today, i realized that the library will be a HUGE resource i can utilize, so i better make sure i don't have any fines.

shaun and i are both working on a class for momschool. as they are both kind of specific, there is only so much preplanning we can do.
i am teaching a service class. i want the kids to be excited about the projects, so they are going to pick them.
shaun is teaching an art class. as he doesn't know where the kids are skill-wise, specific plans will come after the first day.

the plan for today was to do more lesson plans, grab a few more supplies, and try to not go crazy doing it!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

trip pictures

 the craziness of the back seat. that's shannon's foot, and ashley's head. taylor is hiding somewhere...

 my first pipe cleaner anger. made by elizabeth. it disappeared somewhere...

 she's so crafty! these are bouncy aliens

 TIRED little boy. he climbed up in aunt molly's lap, and just crashed.

new friend, and playing in the sand! they are burying their feet. (we weren't able to get them to look at us at the same time...)

 sand angel!

aunt molly started teaching elizabeth how to sew! she made this cute little pillow for aunt candice's baby doll.



grandma wanted stepping stones for her garden! the red is concrete dye powder. my favorite is micahels. he struggled getting both hands in there....


 memory shirts for grandma and grandpa. everyone picked their own color, and i took the new sharpies and put their names on them. michael decided to add some lines to shannon's hand on granpa's shirt, and i started labelling them wrong....

 this is how my feet travel. burried by everything....

 they knew where they wanted to go! (their plates said texas...)

wait, this trip wasn't supposed to take us to virginia... oh, that's in wyoming!

my replacement angel!

boys

on the way home from the lunch at the park one day, it started raining. not a lot, but michael wasn't thrilled. taylor put the blanket over the both of them, and it was funny watching them trying to walk!