head talk

nathan, age 13, to taylor, age 12, "can i ask you a question? Do you ever hear yourself talking in your head?"
taylor, "yes"
nathan, "oh good, so i'm not crazy!"

talking cat

michael, age 4,"mom, remember, i'm a talking cat"
He then proceeded to tell me that his clothes are cat clothes…

transfers

today, i went onto the school website in idaho to see what i could find that might help me get the kids into school easier when we get back.

everything i needed to do, was right there. shannon and ashley were so simple to get registered. i filled out the online forms, sent in pictures of the documents, and that was it.

taylor and elizabeth are going to have to be done when we get there. as they have previously attended in the school district, it's really just a matter of updating the information, and getting schedules printed.

if only everything could be this easy!

singing and substituting

um, so i used to be in choir in high school. not many people know that. 

i can't remember when i stopped singing. at some point, i even stopped listening to music.

2 weeks ago, i "impulsively" volunteered to sing in church. (i was guided, but it kinda looked like it was impulsive.)

today, i sang.

in sacrament meeting.

in front of at least 100 people.

AND i loved it!!!

i sang "i am a child of god." it was actually a lot of fun. i had forgotten how much i loved doing it. and it was fun to look out there into the congregation, and watch people's reactions. watch them mouth/sing along with me. 

i have decided that i'm going to start doing it more. 

oktoberfest

holy moly, it was hot!!

lee's summit, puts on a harvest carnival, called oktoberfest. craft booths, carnival rides, music, food.

we had fun looking at the crafts, thinking that we could easily make them for pennies compared to the cost they were charging.

the bigger kids ran off to do their thing, and mom, dad, and i kept the little ones with us.

the little ones rode a few rides,

(that's my phone number on michaels arm in the event that he got lost.)

 got sno cones, and then we found the face painter.

and wouldn't you know it, i got sunscreen on everyone but myself!!

functional

michael, age 4, " my hand is functional!"

he then proceeded to "transform" it into a gun.

free fabric

my good friend in missouri called me up one night. (he works at jc penney) he told me that the home department had just brought 4 big boxes of "fabric" back to the be "thrown away."

he was able to smuggle 1 box out for me. 

turns out, they are discontinued curtains. ...you know how stores have sample curtains hanging up so that you can see what they really look like...

sadly, most of them are specialty fabrics. 

but, i was able to take a couple and make a skirt! and it's dang cute! when i can get a picture of it, i'll post it.

whoops!

i totally forgot that we needed to get ashley's kindergarten booster shots!

the county health office in independence gives shots for $10...

got an appointment for first thing wednesday morning.

surprise!

what a pleasant surprise.

mom and dad were "helping" a ward member get to the airport today. it was a coverup. my sister came for a short visit!

friday, mom, steph, and i, went and got pedicures. oh, the warm water, and foot massage!
then, stephanie took the kids to a local shop, called potter's haven. they have ceramic items that you can paint, or glaze.

the small dog on the left is one elizabeth painted for shaun.

the penguin is elizabeths.

the brown cat is michaels.

the pale cat is ashleys.

the hedgehog is stephanies.

shannon did the football...

i did the bear. it's a blue patchwork.

taylor did the blue racecar in front.

notable quotable

"scars should never be seen as ugly. they should be seen as battles won and overcome."

author unknown

in never rains...

but it pours.

yesterday, michael and i went to the library. we went to go home, but the van wouldn't start...

dad had to come home from work early to help me tow it home.

in googling it, dad discovered that there is a known weak solder point in the motherboard behind the dashboard. he tore the dash apart, re-soldered it, and everything works again!

when i say everything works again, i mean that my dashboard lights stay on.

on top of that, the dryer broke, again! someone in the ward has an extra, and they are going to give it to mom and dad. thank goodness, cause 2 days on the line to dry clothes is excessive.

oh my word! it just won't stop!
the van overheated on sunday!
we replaced a radiator hose on monday, and everything is great, so far.

gratitude

today i'm grateful for revelation and inspiration

gratitude

today i'm grateful for me.