crayons, crayons, crayons

so, i'm the ward librarian at church. at the beginning of the year, someone purchased and replaced all the crayons in the boxes. then they placed the old ones in a bag, and dumped them on a shelf to be forgotten.

i decided to bring them home and recycle them. 

here's what the garbage can looked like after we were done peeling all the papers off.

we ended up with 7 or 8 trays worth of "new" crayons. i put similar colors together. so, all the purple colors are mixed, all the blue colors are mixed and so forth. the blacks and grays are mixed. and in each "new" crayon, there is a small white section.

this pan got a little bent out of shape, and ended up spilling everywhere, including all over the inside of my oven.

my poor floor after the spilling accident.

of the 7 or 8 trays, we had 2 christmas shaped batches. the rest are simple circles.

the kids thought it was so cool to be able to make "new" crayons that they wanted to help. it got to the point that they finished them up. although, i continued to run the oven.

sickos

last sunday, i finally broke down and took shannon into the doctor (as it was sunday, the only thing open was community care, but that's ok.). she'd been running a pretty high fever for about 5 days (like 102-103).
the previous night, elizabeth started feeling sick, and running a fever as well.

i was thinking strep, cause they didn't have any other complaints, other than a semi-sore throat.

the tests came back negative, but they had all the clinical signs, so we treated them as though it was strep. 24 hours later, shannon was great, 12 hours after that, elizabeth was great.

last night, ashley came down with a high fever (103). everything but the er was closed, and i didn't want to go there, so i called in first thing this morning. physical exam didn't show anything (surprise, surprise), but as we'd had strep already, we are going to treat it like it is strep.

i'm ready for everyone to be healthy!!!

2015 summer reading lists

taylor books

rikki tikki tavi

trumpet of the swan

hardy boys

call it courage

tale of despereaux

hobbit

my father's dragon

bridge to terabithia

elizabeth books

pippi longstocking

heidi

mary poppins

matilda

anne of green gables

little princess

wizard of oz

harriet the spy

shannon books

if you give a mouse a cookie

corduroy

princess and the pea

rainbow fish

blueberries for sal

ashley books

harold and the purple crayon

seven silly eaters

corduroy

caps for sale

chicka, chicka, boom, boom

hand, hand, fingers, thumb

blueberries for sal

michael books

curious george

mike mulligan and his steam shovel

caps for sale

harold and the purple crayon

harry the dirty dog

chicka, chicka, boom, boom

hand, hand, fingers, thumb

i had to make sure either we had them, or the library had them available. shannon is missing a few, but that's because i was unable to find a copy.

summer plans

our summer is in full swing now. although we are still trying to work out some kinks.

although, school is over for the year, we don't want to slide, so we will continue doing some math, and reading.
our math is mainly going to be through tenmarks.com. they offer a free summer program to help children avoid the summer slide. because elizabeth struggles with math, she will have a little more to do.
our reading is mainly going to be doing the summer reading program through the library. however, the kids all have about 8 assigned books that i requiring them to read. (i'll put those in another post) i've told the other kids that if they read to the younger kids, they can both count those minutes for the library program.
taylor and elizabeth still have their reading for info (this requires to pay attention to what they have read so they can answer some questions), and shannon is working on the next book of explode the code.
ashley and michael will be working on their letters and numbers.

the school district does free lunches in the park every week day until the end of july. we have going to those, and will continue to do so.

i'm trying to find a way to put the kids in swimming lessons, but haven't had much luck so far. (any funds that come in have to go to bills...)

we have a family reunion scheduled for july, but don't know if we'll be able to go yet.

plans

i woke up with a list of things that needed to be done; and knowing that there was no way to get it all done today. even if i had a good day and felt well.

the entire house needs to be cleaned. front room, living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms. the lawn needed mowed, the weeds chopped. the front flower bed prepared for some veggies, and planted. laundry done and put away, including sheets. making dinner, and getting a few groceries.

that doesn't even include the things i would LIKE to do. like the baking, and sewing, and crafts. it's so frustrating to never know how i'm going to feel each day so i can plan things.

processing

yesterday was a rough day. i woke up feeling odd, and was never really able to figure out why. i'm inclined to say that it was mostly emotional (with the clinical depression, anything that affects my hormones, sends the depression spiraling. whether up or down, i can never guess). i tried to get some things done, but it was difficult.
then, last night, we went and visited some friends. we had apple pie a la mode, and played games and talked. it was really nice. they had been through a difficult miscarriage in the past and completely understood how hard it was for me. she let me talk, and didn't make me feel like i was being ungrateful because i already have 5 healthy kids.

last night, the insomnia hit again. even though we didn't get home until after 12 last night, it was nearly 3 before i fell asleep. michael woke up about 1:30 with charlie horses, and i laid with him for a bit, he joined me in my bed around 6 this morning though.

shannon didn't feel well yesterday. she lounged around and pretty much "vanished" (this is the child that is always running and doing SOMETHING). in the afternoon she complained that her head hurt, i told her she could go finish the movie they were watching or go to bed. she went to bed...! when she woke up, shaun discovered that she had a fever! 102.5... i was surprised; especially since she said the only thing wrong was that her head hurt. gave her some tylenol, and she rebounded after it kicked in.

this morning, she was warm again, but so was taylor... i still haven't figured out what they had, but they both seem to be doing better now.

i'm hoping that things will just continue to get better and that i won't have any really bad days. but only time will tell.

tonight, my heart hurts.

went to the doctor today for a sprout check. we couldn't find a heartbeat (12 weeks is a difficult time to find one). so, we slipped into the sonogram room real quick to catch it. there was no heartbeat. in fact, sprout hadn't grown a single day since the first appointment we had.

i'm also confused. i got a blessing about 6 weeks ago, and was told that i would have the energy i needed for the pregnancy and delivery. and that this baby would be strong and healthy.
i'm unsure how that fits now.

since my body likes to hoard things, we are heading in first thing in the morning for a d&c.

(i'm not even sure how to voice what i'm feeling..

productive

even though i woke up late this morning, after a restless night, i was able to get some things done. in fact, i got some things done that i haven't for weeks.

i made banana bread!
i cooked some chicken for meal prep!
i washed pans!
i made dinner! (ok, this was a remake. we were invited to dinner at some friends last night, after i'd already put the roast in the crockpot) but, i made REAL mashed potatoes today!
i got a couple of loads of laundry done!
i worked on some school stuff!

i'm really hoping that this is the beginning of me starting to feel better.

good daddy

poor shaun spent half the night up with sick kids.

ashley threw up just before we sent her to bed, and kept going until about 2.
taylor started at 4, and finished out the night.

ashley once again threw up this morning. even though i was right there, the smell of the stomach acid made me want to barf.

looks like we'll have a lazy day instead of getting the house cleaned...

reading

about 3 weeks ago, shaun decided that something needed to change, or things were going to get drastic. he started us reading the scriptures as a family. (no, we hadn't been very good at this.)

we've made it through chapter 15 of 1 nephi.

but the biggest change i've seen is in my children's reading abilities. taylor, who was doing well to begin with, just got better. elizabeth, who struggled a little bit, has gotten much more fluent. shannon, who was barely reading (like a total of 6 words), now reads more than 50, on her own!

i had been meaning to start shannon on reading the book of mormon, but with being sick with sprout, i haven't gotten around to it yet.

water

i'm starting to feel better. not always when i need it, but hey, at this point, i'll take what i can get.

yesterday, i was downstairs trying to get some of the laundry taken care of. i walked into the family room to do something, and stepped in a puddle. as i backed away, i stepped in another one. i gave michael a dirty look, positive that i was stepping in pee, and went to get a dirty towel out of the pile in the laundry room to clean it up. it wasn't a puddle of pee.

i have nearly a 5 foot square section of my newly carpeted family room that is soaked! with the constant rain we've been having this last week, my foundation is leaking,     somewhere.

we informed the landlord, who was shocked that we had water. "are you sure you didn't leave the window open? is there a crack in the window? check the rain gutter and make sure that it's not pooling at the house. i just don't understand why you have water downstairs!"

um, this window has NEVER been opened. the walls aren't even damp. the water's not coming through the window.

when we were trying to get walls fixed and painted so the landlord would get the new carpet in, we discovered that the mold from last year's flood wasn't alone. there had already been mold and apparently the source of the problem was not corrected.

in the food storage room, there's a spot on an outside wall that isn't smooth (i don't know what else to call it). there are gaps in the cement. not that you can see the ground on the other side, but enough that if we water over there, we end up with water coming through that wall. i'm almost positive that's what's happening on the wall in the family room.

when we finally heard back from the landlord about the mold, he wanted to paint over everything, and ignore that it was there. he didn't want to make sure that the studs in the wall or the insulation were still good. his solution was to fix the immediate problem (the moldy carpet from the flood), and everything else would be fine.

now, he's paying the price. brand-new carpet that's soaked and stinks, and no idea what's causing it.

we are so fed up with everything that we are seriously considering moving.

good day

i had a great day today! i was mentally all here, and able to reason and think and have semi-serious conversations.

if only every day could be this good....

housing

for the last month, our housing has kind of been up in the air. our lease was up, and idaho housing was having a difficult time getting a hold of the landlord.

10 days before everything was supposed to be in to idaho housing, he informed us that he was going to be raising rent $125 a month. (WHAT?!) needless to say, we were a little concerned. and then we discovered some things that made us first frustrated, and then upset.

by law, in idaho, a landlord must give WRITTEN notice 90 days in advance of any rent increase. appropriate causes to raise rent are tax increases, or hoa fee increases. (he was raising rent to cover the costs of the linoleum and carpet he replaced. not to mention that when he originally set rent, he didn't set it high enough to cover his mortgage...)
idaho housing wants a 60 day written notice of intent to raise rent. (and in my mind, $125 monthly, is excessive.)

he gave us a 10 day, verbal notice. and didn't run any of it through idaho housing first. as they are the the ones that currently pay the rent, that's the important part.

then, the landlord went away for a week to some medical conferences. and then refused to answer or call idaho housing back.
he had a deadline of 12 noon today to get everything in, and then we were scheduled to sign and receive a new voucher for another residence. we would have the rest of the moth to find and get another house approved. (neither of us were looking forward to moving...)

shaun camped out in the landlords doctor office this morning to try and make sure that things got taken care of.
at one, we headed down to our meeting to learn our current housing fate detailed to us. the landlord decided to use one of idaho housing's lease agreements, thereby bystepping all the other problems we were having (WHY didn't he do this in the first place?!).

assuming, (and i know that's a lot to ask) that he got them signed and faxed back, we are safe at the moment for housing. it's a month by month lease, so we or he could decide at any time to terminate, but that's far better than worrying for 3 months whether he'll get all his stuff back in.

teeth

this pregnancy is going to ruin my teeth. if not the sugar, then definitely the citric acid.

even with the phenergran, i am still sick. i have discovered that one of the few things that stops me from feeling sick is lemon jollyranchers.
i've tried the other flavors, they sort of work...sort of. i tried root beer barrels, no luck.

i may not have any teeth by the time the baby comes....

unschooling

i'm considering altering school in the coming fall, again.

we are leaving IDEA (they are now willing to work with me, and are not flexible).
we are starting a program called a2 (acheivement accelerated).  i'm excited for this. it means no outside teacher trying to tell me how or what to teach, or even that they are behind (which i already know. but when the teacher (mom) is sick, and there is so substitute to call, what do you do.).

however, i'm discovering that my kids are more encouraged to learn when they can do it the way they want to. shannon loves to play games, elizabeth loves to cook and sew, and taylor loves legos and reading.
we went to the library on monday, and elizabeth had her mind set on finding books about hawaii. she looked them up on the computer and tracked them down in the shelves all by herself. she's currently devouring them.

i'm going to do a little more research, but i have the feeling that we'll be transitioning more into unschooling than i had anticipated.

meds

there's something to be said for getting medication for illnesses.

my first ob appointment for sprout was last tuesday. i have been so nauseated that i made sure to get something for it.
turns out, i also had strep b. i wasn't aware that it could cause problems this early. however, i spent all of last wednesday and thursday on the couch. i was able to tell taylor and elizabeth to help me out with laundry (everyone was complaining they didn't have anything to wear). but that was about the extent of my abilities.

i feel better today than i have in almost 3 weeks.

hurray for penicillin!!

announcement, announcement, announcement

i was wanting to do something super fun with the kids for this. but i can't seem to care enough to do it.

so....

our williams sprout is due dec 3, 2015

i've been super sick and tired.

monkey food

michael, age 3, "i want monkey food."

mom, " no one else likes the monkey food..."

michael, "i do! but i won't turn into a monkey. i won't.

(monkey food is a type of organic cereal. the box has a picture of a monkey on the front.)

i am so exhausted!

i realize that i'm not that old, but some days i feel like it.
i realize that this happens all over the world every day.
not only that, but i realize that there are many who wish they could complain but can't.

but, i can't hardly function cause i'm so tired.

driving

taylor, age 11, "mom, when can you start driving in idaho?"

"15."

taylor, "i only have 4 years left."

NOOOOO!

plans

i have all these plans in my head, and i keep slipping.

dinner was going to be crockpot parmesan chicken. i was so excited, it sounded so good!! i wasn't able to roll out of bed until almost noon (i hate this fatigue!). and then i forgot about it. so, while elizabeth and i were hanging out in the library during church (because that's my calling), we decided on oh boy casserole (which also sounded delicious!).

i was going to start cleaning out the front flower beds (i've been trying to for 3 years), and by the time i'm ready, i feel like crap (i suppose i shouldn't feel too terrible that my health stops a lot of things, right?).

shaun's been trying to 2 weeks, since we got the new carpet downstairs, to get things put back together, and i've not been able to help a whole lot. headaches, school, wanting to puke...

no fire

roasted hot dogs sounded so good for dinner tonight.

the grill is out of gas.

last spring, i attempted to make planter boxes out of pallets. it didn't work out so well. mainly because i ran out of screws and nails...

there were a few small pieces, so i decided to make a small fire out of them.

I COULDN'T GET THEM TO BURN!!
i have never had a hard time getting a fire going. like, ever.



so, we boiled the dogs and brats instead (the brats weren't all that good either...).

it was a sad disappointing dinner.

ickies

i hate feeling sick. i hate even more not being able to explain how i feel sick. yesterday was one of those days. even now, i'm having a hard time describing it. everything just felt off. i even went to bed early, like before the kids did.

i woke up this morning feeling better, and then i had to get out of bed. i'm trying to burp up my meds, and let me tell you, they are nasty!! my gut is trying to do contortions, and my head is still a little fuzzy.

elizabeth discovered hexaflexagons the other day. this morning, between her and taylor they finally figured out how to make them work. now all the kids are running around with their new hexaflexagons.

we have 6 weeks of school left officially, and are no where near to being done for the year. good thing i'm not too worried about it.

a solution, perhaps

i went almost 3 weeks without a single migraine!!

it was bliss!

as i haven't been able to get a doctor to listen to me about the possibility that i'm going through menopause, i thought i'd try an experiment. i purchased a supplement designed for that stage of a woman's life, and started taking it (this was on 3/23). i had my first migraine this last saturday. TAKE THAT YOU NAYSAYERS!!
AND that things that i've been able to accomplish when i haven't been fighting a migraine...!

easter and tooth fairy

our easter bunny almost didn't come this morning like he was supposed to. i went to bed last night, and then remembered that i needed to put everything out. i almost didn't get back up to do it. when i told shaun though, he came in and helped me get it all taken care of.
according to elizabeth and shannon though, i am the one who got everything. i'm not sure if that means they don't believe in the easter bunny, or if i just wasn't "sneaky" enough. **i'm pretty sure they went through everything that i got, so it's most likely that.**

this year, someone gave me 2 rubber band looms, and a really cool dragon. i already had 3 bracelets for the girls, so i just needed a couple more things. bubble wands, and candies rounded out the "baskets." in all our moves, and with the kids pulling things out to play with them, i can't find the easter baskets. we just put everything in piles on the table. the kids are happy.

last night, we learned that the drive-in was doing a breakfast with the easter bunny, and an egg hunt. we decided to go. taylor's alarm went off at 7 this morning... (both shaun and i slept through the first session of conference after we got back) we purchased plates for the kids, and then finished them off when they said they were done. only about 50 kids came, but that was much better than the 300 at the park down the road from the house...the main thing is they had fun...

our tooth fairy is consistently forgetful. **it's not easy having to be all the make-believe characters as well as mom.**
elizabeth lost a tooth about 2 weeks ago. every other day she would complain to me that the tooth fairy forgot to come again. last night i told her that i would call and remind the tooth fairy. she was surprised that i knew the tooth fairies phone number, i told her it was 1-800-teeth.  i finally remembered last night, before i remembered about the easter bunny...

easter prep

preparations for easter are in full swing for us.

dinner will be ham, twice baked potatoes, rolls, and rainbow jello (taylor begged for the jello!).

today i'm baking eggs so that we can color them tomorrow. i just finished getting all the jello to make the rainbow jello. i bought dinner rolls just in case i don't get around to getting them made.

i'm almost done getting basket fillers. a few more things from the dollar store, and i'll be good to go!

williamszoo 4 sale

i'm starting a new blog that has things for sale on it. it's going to be a slow start, cause my life is crazy! but i'm hoping to get rid of a few things, and make a little money in the process!!

"normal"

i feel fairly accomplished today!  and considering the week i've had, it's a pleasant surprise!

tuesday, i was so exhausted. i went to bed at 10, and 6 hours later, i was still wide awake in bed.
wednesday, i took a sleeping pill, and slept for 12 hours. i could have slept longer...

today, after 6 hours of sleep (i couldn't fall asleep until after 2...), we made it momschool, but we were late (thankfully, it's not just us!!)

after we got home, i got laundry going, i started.................


now, for the life of me, i can't remember what i managed to get done.
i suppose feeling accomplished is better than being able to check things off a to-do list

carpet

we've been waiting about a year for the landlord to get carpet replaced in the basement. we have a large family room in the basement that is unusable. *honestly, there's also a bedroom that we shouldn't be using either.*

last july, we had a huge rainstorm come through that caused some flooding all over the city. (i forgot to make an entry about that) it was a grand time! kids playing in rivers in the streets, college kids floating and boating in the rivers in the streets. and then everyone was told that the drain systems overflowed, and there had been sewage in the roads (apparently, the drainage and sewage are not separated...).

anyway, this storm put a small waterfall into our basement family room. i was positive that i'd gotten it all cleaned up. i was wrong. we pulled up the edges of the carpet, and the paneling away from the wall, and discovered mold. we informed the landlord, and he told us that as long as it was dry, there was no problem. (what?! mold causes huge health issues!) he agreed to replace the moldy carpet, and let us repaint the room. we refused to put the moldy paneling back on the walls, and attempted to match the texturing instead (it kind of worked).

in the last week, we have discovered that the front bedroom in the basement has damp and smelly carpet.

we have gotten all the painting done, and the new baseboard installed. we are just waiting on the carpet. shaun was told that carpet was ordered. that was almost 2 weeks ago, and we haven't heard anything else. shaun called the carpet place to see if we could get an estimate on when we could expect to get it installed. they have no record of carpet being ordered (are you kidding me!?) we have just about reached the extent of our patience. so much that we have started looking at available housing. right now, there isn't a whole lot. another problem is funds...

gratitude

today i am grateful for...

1. no migraine today

2. having the chance to explain my feelings about our "teacher"

3. kids who really do try to be helpful and good

4. a husband who tries so hard

5. warmer weather

6. understanding and helpful friends

7. a functioning vehicle, ok, two
8. the blessings that come from paying tithing
9. priesthood blessings

halloween 2014

 shannon, was a red princess. however, she didn't take off her coat the entire time. so i don't have a full picture of her costume.

 michael, was scooby doo! he LOVES scooby doo!!

 ashley, was a purple unicorn. we borrowed this costume, but it was so stinking cute!

 taylor, was the red power ranger. 

elizabeth, was katara from the avatar series. this was actually a princess costume, but it fit perfectly for katara.

homeschooling

i am so fed up with the IDEA online school. we are going to continue through the end of the school-year. but after that, we are going solo.

my contact teacher is extremely upset that taylor and shannon are not making the amount of progress that she expects them to. education is individual. they are making progress. although, it's not entirely their fault.
when the teacher is sick, and there is no sub to call, what do you do?
the migraines have made it impossible some days to make sure that school gets done.
but, she continues to NOT take that into account. that's extremely frustrating!!

a few years ago, a good friend and i were both looking into homeschooling. while i had just started doing research for it, she had done almost all of hers. she graciously shared hers. as life kind of exploded on us at that time, it wasn't a feasible move to made at the time. however, she did give me a disk for a program that she'd purchased, but wasn't going to use.

this last christmas, i was ready to put everyone back into public school, and just be done. however, the events leading to that decision were not normal. ashley was home for the break, we had family visiting, and half of us were sick. not a normal time. shaun then found this disk that had gotten lost. i decided to look at it again, and see what had excited me about it in the first place.

it was EXACTLY what i had been looking for!!!

i have already started putting some of stuff into our school day.

i need some time to get prepared, so that's why we aren't fully starting this until the fall.

health

i wish that i could say everyone is just bouncing with health.
i suppose i could say that about everyone but me.

i'm struggling with lots of fatigue (a long on-going struggle), and debilitating migraines.

i went to the doctor

this week's (2/22/15) migraines had me nauseated, dizzy, and struggling with vertigo. i had four this week.
the following week (3/2/15)......nothing.
the week of 3/8, i had 5...! with symptoms from my ability to think being gone, to lights and sound making it worse.
this week, 3/15, so far...2. for some reason, some of them start with the back of my scalp tingling like it's falling asleep.

all of the bloodwork they did came back normal.
i'm not anemic.
as i've had gestational diabetes before, they continue to check those numbers, as the chances of me getting type 2 later in life are higher.
     those numbers keep coming back normal.
with a family history of thyroid problems, i make sure they keep checking those numbers as well.
     normal.
what they didn't expect to find, was a slightly fatty liver.
   my father, when they were trying to discover what was wrong with him 8 years ago, discovered that he had a fatty liver. basically, he had the liver of a drinker, without ever having a drop in his life.
   so, i wasn't entirely surprised when they found that.

as all the bloodwork came back normal, they decided to do an mri.
30 minutes, is just long enough for a severely exhausted person to almost completely fall asleep.

the mri came back normal.
this only means that there's nothing obvious. no tumors, no blood clots.

i've started a list of things that i think we need to look into and hopefully eliminate.
the inability to process the b vitamins, it's a real genetic disorder.
vitamin d deficiency
excess toxins
sleep apnea
hormone imbalance
lyme
lupus

the next step is seeing a specialist.

struggles

i make up all the plans to do things,
keep the blog updated more, write in my journal more, attend the temple every week, read my scriptures every day...and so forth.
things never work out the way i plan!

but, i'm going to keep trying.

homeschool is going well most days, and not good some days
my teacher i work with, is unhappy with the kids' "lack" of progress. they just aren't getting as far as she wants them to. i told her that i wasn't going to keep pushing them. they were going to school 6 days a week, and not really getting any breaks.

piano!

just after we received the inheritance money, we got a letter from the college. they were having their annual used piano sale!

we've wanted one for years. me so i could play more, and shaun because he wanted me to be able to play more.

we made an appointment to go look at them.

they had 3 in our price range. one was an antique upright player piano. and the other 2 were what are called spinets. i really wanted the antique player, but it needed some work. the player part didn't work, it needed a tuning (they all did), and i learned later that there were several keys that didn't work.

the one we got though, needs the damper pedal replaced, and tuned. other than that, it worked fine. we did discover that one of the keys doesn't always work.

today, the kids started lessons!!

roller coaster

the last 3 weeks have been nuts!

we replaced everyone's mattresses. we replace everyone's pillows, we replaced my broken mixer, we replace my outdated (but still functional) blender, we repaired my sewing machine and i got a sewing surface extender. i got fabric for michael's christmas blanket, we got everyone halloween costumes.

for almost 2 weeks, we ran constantly. we've been to idaho falls 5 or 6 times this month. it seems like we haven't been able to get anything done cause we are always doing something away from home. things seem to have finally slowed down a little bit, and we are now home most of the time.

we started working on the kitchen cabinets. it's going to be a long process, and out plans have changed a few times, but we are so excited to finish it. the boxes and sides of the doors are going to be blue, and the fronts and backs of  the doors are going to be the natural wood! it's amazing how much the natural wood matches the counter tops!

we finally had a full day to put towards school as well. now if i can only convince the kids to actually do the work, instead of "pretending!" as we're still in a learning process and figuring out how things work the best for us, i'm not entirely surprised we still have a few bad days here and there!

fretting

shannon, age 5, knocking on dad's office door, "dad, what are you doing?"

dad, "fretting."

shannon, "that's a lot of fretting."

on top of things, for now

my sewing is fixed!

i have a new mixer! we thought that was easier than dealing with repairs.

we replaced all the mattresses!

we replaced all the pillows!

everyone has enough good fitting clothes!

all the past due bills are paid up and a couple months extra!

we've paid off nearly all the small debt (<$500)!

now we just need to figure out how to take care of things normally....

what a week!

we heard 4 weeks ago, that mom's house had sold (shaun's mother). it was just a matter of getting everything finalized. paperwork signed, final bills paid, etc. last wednesday, shaun's siblings came over and delivered his portion.

how do you write about the finality of death and everything it brings?

with the inheritance, we've been working on getting basics back in order. bills paid, debts paid, clothes, beds,

colors!

my evening went something like this.

boil 25.5 quarts of water, measure out 4 cups of salt, measure out 1.25 cups of fabric dye. place in large bucket.
stuff socks into dyeing water. wait 30 minutes, stirring twice.
rinse with cold water, wring out by hand.
haul down to the laundry room, dump in pile.
wait 2 hours on load in washer to finish so i can rinse them out properly.
80 minutes for rinse.

beautiful socks!

purple for ashley
pink for shannon
yellow for elizabeth
blue for taylor

now it will be immensely easier to sort and fold socks. not only that, but it will be a cinch to figure out which child left their socks under the table or behind the chairs!

fall

with the coming of fall, comes canning season! i actually really like to can. i love knowing that i've put up produce for my family to eat at a later date. i love the way it makes the house smell. i love the bonding moments it produces.

i have a tendency to not let the kids help me in the kitchen. the kitchen is my domain, and i really don't like the extra work that comes with letting my kids "help." however, i've discovered (i should have already known this...) that when you are canning, "many hands make light work." having one of the older kids help me, makes things go twice as fast (imagine that)!

this year, i wasn't able to get the peaches canned before they went bad. i got them on a monday, and ended up working tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. by friday, they were beyond saving, so i made jam, dried them, and fruit leather.

then, we had an early freeze (like a month an a half early), and all my plums fell off and weren't usable. and all the red apples fell off and were bruised and mushy. wouldn't you know, though, that my apple tree is a granny smith, and they need the freeze to fully ripen! how i love me a tart granny smith! however, they make tart applesauce too.
i was able to find enough red apples (by searching all the dropped ones from ours, and a friends), to make 2 batches. then i broke down and bought some from broulims. they had them on sale for $1 a lb.

however, i don't have a victoria strainer, and didn't really want to spend hours slaving over my stove. so, i found a crockpot recipe online! it turns out fabulous! i was able to get 11.5 quarts out of 5 batches.
and, i even let the kids help me! i had them go get the granny's for me, and what they could find of the reds around the corner. i let elizabeth and taylor dice while i peeled and cored (this recipe was great for my granny's cause they didn't get sprayed this spring, and they are super wormy).

i'm working on letting them help. they want to desperately to, but it's hard for this mama to give up her control in her domain.

not expected

i made it to the temple yesterday morning, and i'm so glad that i did.

i went looking for more guidance on some revelation i was given a few weeks ago, and found something completely different!
i did get an answer for that revelation, but it was, "you already got your answer, now get to work." .....um, yes, sir.

we've been struggling with school. the kids keep saying that everything is boring. i keep having to fight them on getting things done. they don't enjoy it as much as they should be, and we are all frustrated. i DO like the new school. it's less repetition for them, and more work for me ( i know that sounds backwards). because i have to go through and make lesson plans, i know what they are learning. i know what i want them to be aware of, but not take to heart.

i ran into an old friend in the dressing room at the temple. she introduced me to a lovely lady that homeschooled her kids. we talked for an hour (in fact, ashley was late to school because of it.). but, she reinforced some things that i had been thinking about and struggling with anyways. she also gave me some great resources, and places to go.

as a result of our conversation, i am overhauling our schooling!

when it rains.....

it pours...

i have been using the same set of contacts for about 6 months (possibly more). i've been doing that because we don't have the $150 to get another 3 months worth. i have one that has had some deposits on them that won't clean off for about 2 weeks. last night, i tore the other one...
i have a pair of glasses that are about 3 years old. they went through a toddler that liked to twist and break things. as such, they are not in the best of shape.

the internet/phone was going to be shut off, so i took the "rent" money and paid the phone bill instead.

anything but easy

i was kinda hoping for some easy answers.
i went to the doctor on friday to talk about some concerns. migraines, extreme exhaustion... i had a few possible answers, but needed blood tests to confirm them. all the blood work came back perfectly normal............

so, now i'm back to square one again.
both my thyroid tests came back well within the normal range.
my cortisol test came back normal.
that means, no thyroid problems, and no adrenal fatigue.

so, now we talk about the possibility of chronic fatigue .
and i try to remember about the burning cold sensation in my lower back.

insanity

the definition of insanity...doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get a different result.

same old argument, same old result.

result...both of us are upset.

art

we went to the craft store on saturday to get the kids' art supplies. $80 later and we had all but 1 thing! i had forgotten how expensive good art supplies can be!

after getting home, a friend stopped by and told us that he had everything that we had just bought, and he'd just give it to us.....

so, i took just about everything back, and we will go "shopping" through his stuff.

hurray for getting money back!

shaun

shaun's counseling last week revealed some things to the therapist that he hadn't been fully aware of. partly because shaun always feels like he's vomiting his problems when he talks about them.

shaun told him that he's to the point that he no longer cares. that he doesn't know why he keeps going or trying cause it seems like nothing ever changes. this was not anything new to me, but it was to the therapist. he got really concerned. he wants us to see a doctor about possible meds. shaun doesn't believe in them, and sees no reason why he should take them. he agreed to go, but only to get us off his back. 

in talking with them both, i revealed my history to the therapist. it doesn't bother me, and will hopefully help him understand where i'm coming from when we talk about shaun. most of it shaun knew, a few things he didn't. but, the therapist was amazed at how i can be so positive after everything that's happened. when the other option is despair, no thanks. i'll take the positive any day!

so, i made an appointment for shaun, and he says he'll go, but he doesn't plan on asking for anything or taking it if it's given to him. ...so, what's the purpose in going?

i'm kind of hoping that things will change, but i'm going to keep my hopes up.

school

i was trying to think of something cool and witty to say, but it all sounds dumb.

life is life. we take what comes at us, and do what we can with it.

i finally got the last few things for taylor and shannon for school. i have about 4 weeks worth of lesson plans completed for each of them. i'm going to do 1 unit from 1 subject per night, and get the rest finished.

elizabeth has been working on this book i found for her. it's started to show us the problem areas. i have a few things that we are doing to work on them, and so far they seem to be working. it could also be because they are new ways, and when the excitement wears off, they won't work anymore....but, until then, we'll keep going.

shannon loves to learn, but her attention span is pretty short. still trying to figure out how to get her through everything without losing her all the time.

ashley just started head start today. she was so excited and couldn't wait!

michael has started getting really whiny and crying all the time. i'm not sure if it's cause he feels left out, or if it's something else.

school day

our first full school day was long and hectic. 3 different grades, 5 different kids begging for attention. i got seriously frazzled! thankfully, a few weeks, and things will settle down (at least, i hope so).

i've gotten a good head start on taylor's lesson plans. i've even put them into weekly lists for him to work from. i'm still waiting on a few books, but otherwise, i just need to finish plans.

i've also discovered that making lesson plans can be tiring. trying to read these books make my head hurt sometimes. ok, more than sometimes.

taylor was able to get nearly his entire list done today. elizabeth got hers done as well. shannons lesson plans are still in progress so we only got a little bit done. it's time to work on some more plans....

exhaustion

i get so tired every day, that it's crazy! within 2 hours of getting up for the day, i'm ready to go back to bed for another night. the doctors keep trying to tell me that it's because i have 5 kids. i'm pretty sure that there's something more, but no one really believes me.

i'm going to make an appointment with the doctor later this week. hopefully i can get someone to listen to me and get some help.

i also need to look at getting something for my migraines.

actually, i have another laundry list of things i need to talk about with the doctor.

week in review

it's been kind of a crazy week, so, this is a short mass post.

monday, was labor day. i went grocery shopping, and we had a birthday party for a friend.

tuesday, i worked. kids didn't get much school in because i worked, and we are still waiting on books.

wednesday, i also worked. we were able to get a little more school done as books have trickled in. i wrote lesson plans.

thursday, work again. more books showing up, a little more school could be done. i wrote more lesson plans, and started on weekly plans for the kids to work from.

friday, i spent most of the day making lesson plans. i did so many, that i'm having to talk myself into finishing them!

today, saturday, we are trying to clean house, and i need to finish all these lesson plans! so far, we still have a long way to go on both!

potty training

we're trying to potty train michael. it's been an up and down road.

yesterday, i took him in to go. he says,
"mom, i have to poop. ....grunt. it won't come."
mom, maybe there's nothing there."
"oh, it's there, mom."
mom, "well, let's try again next time."
"next time? ok, try again next time."

he's so funny!!

long day

this morning started out bright and early. too early for most of us.

the alarm went off at 6:30, and apparently i rolled over and turned it off...
6:57, 3 minutes before we were supposed to be out the door, i woke up and realized what time it was! i jumped out of bed, and raced to get kids up and ready. got everyone dressed, made my smoothie, and out the door we went. 20 minutes later than planned.
on the way out of town, the train crossing was malfunctioning. the rails were down, but there was no train in sight. traffic was backed up. we had to skip breakfast, and take the old highway to another entrance. we stopped in idaho falls and snagged some breakfast sandwiches. by the time we got back on the road, we were running nearly 40 minutes behind!

we got super lucky though, they have recently increased the speed limit on the freeway so, we were able to get there just in time!

elizabeth took the computer tests, and finished too soon. what should have taken her 2 hours or more, only took her about 45 minutes. she didn't get a score like we were hoping. even though these are informational tests, she failed them both. 12% and 28% so,  we attempted the paper tests again. she again refused to take them.

which means that we need to move onto plan b. the options are as follows: back to a regular school, back to k12, or a custom home school curriculum. i'm not enthused about the first 2 at all. so it looks like a custom curriculum for us.
(i've been able to find a lot of free math stuff online.)

we stayed and visited with some good friends for a few hours, and then headed back home. (if it hadn't been for that time i got to spend with friends, it would have been a waste of time and money.)

4 hours of driving makes for a long day, regardless of what else happens!

celebrate youth

last night was the big back to school party at the park. (i LOVE living just down the street! i don't have to fight for parking)

they have carnival games, and a train ride, and bouncy toys, and free dinner, and a raffle giveaway. the kids always have a blast!

 taylor, elizabeth, and shannon all geared up for the rock climb.

 ashley wanted to try also!

 shannon got about 6 feet off the ground before she came down.

 taylor climbed to withing 5 feet of the top.

 sitting on the train!
at this point taylor and elizabeth ran off on their own

 bouncy house!

 picking her nose....

 chillin in the wagon!

 face painting! a butterfly

 a spiders web

bats!

friends

there's nothing like finding out you are not the only one who struggles to make for instant friends.

my library partner showed up today. which means that i was able to go to relief society. this months lessons have been on gratitude. a sister got up and talked about her struggle with depression and anxiety. i felt an instant kinship with her.

we talked afterwards, and i gave her my phone number so she could call if she needed anything. i kept reiterating that she doesn't have to do it alone. when i got home from church, i went searching for her on facebook. when i found her, i realized that they were called as new librarians a few months ago!

i'm so excited to get to know her better!

potty training woes

i am trying to potty train michael. some days it goes really well, and some days not so much. 

case in point...yesterday, he stayed dry all day and let me know when he needed to go (it might have helped that we spent a good portion of the day away from home). today, he didnt make it to the bathroom once. 

i get really frustrated with the bad days. sometimes to the point that im ready to quit and just go back to diapers...

kitchen

this is what my kitchen floor currently looks like. right in the center, there is a hole that goes clear through to the subfloor.

the landlord decided that it was important to get that fixed. so, he's putting in new linoleum.
we finished getting everything moved out this morning. so, this is what my front room currently looks like. stove, fridge, table and all....

it's going to be 3 days before we can put the fridge and stove back in. that means eating out for a couple of days....not quite sure how i feel about that.

broken

my sister-in-law was participating in a wedding party. her dress didn't fit correctly. she needed it altered, so she called me. NO PROBLEM!

while i was sewing the alterations, i realized i really needed to clean my machine. so, i pulled things apart and cleaned out all the fuzz. in cleaning it, though, i dislodged a spring.
without the spring, my stitch length didn't exist.

shaun tore the machine apart and was able to put the spring back.

now i have my default stitch length, but it won't change. and it won't backstitch.

i had to call my sister to see if i could use her machine to finish my sister-in-laws dress. especially since i was sewing on satin, and chiffon. the stitch length needs to be longer for those.

now, i have all these half finished sewing projects, and ideas for denim quilts, and i can't do anything about them!

trees, and lack thereof

once again, i forgot to take before pictures!!

 the stumps in front. from between the windows.

 the "stumps" on the south side.

 the pile, from different views.

 the shaped burning bush.

the pile still sitting under the apple tree. it started raining while i was trimming, and we didn't finish getting the limbs picked up.

trees

i have been wanting to do this since we moved in, nearly 2 years ago.

i cut down the bush in between my front windows. clear to the ground! when it rains it would end up covering my walkway.
IT'S GONE!

i have 5 bushes on the south side of my front yard. they have thorns and those bean-like pods that curl. 2 of them were cut down to stumps when we moved in. the other 3 were still intact. in the nearly 2 years we've been here the 2 stumps have grown 7 feet or more!
THEY ARE GONE!

in addition to that, i trimmed up the burning bush. i did some trimming on the trees out back as well. all in all, it's been a productive day!

time

it's time for any things, but there's no time for them.

it's time to go to the temple, but shaun can't take the time off from work to watch the kids so i can go.

it's the time of year to start canning. peaches and pears are ready...but there's no money to get them. money takes time to acquire.

i'm exhausted, but i have no time to rest.

brave?

hm, the cashier at the store told me that i look like merida from brave.

not sure i believe her....

baking

as the weather is cooler, it's now safe to bake!

i started with a double batch of boyfriend cookies. one of our favorites! i've even tried to make these and we eat all the dough before i can bake them! i always make a double batch of dough, with 1 part mix-ins. they seem to be better that way.
then a double batch of pretzels!

darn it! didn't get nearly as much done as i wanted to today! here was my list:
cookies
pretzels
goldfish crackers
muddy buddies
poppyseed muffins
rolls

i'm gonna start again tomorrow, though!

cooler weather

it's been raining for the last week, which also means cooler weather. i turned off the ac yesterday, and left it off today. i've opened windows, and doors. 

today, since we don't really have anything else going on, i'm baking!

lonely

shaun has been working overtime, and double overtime, and triple overtime to get a job finished. all that overtime makes for a lonely wife.

in the last 3 weeks, i think we've slept in the same bed at the same time, 3 times. he's been working nights because he has less distractions.

today, though, is the last day he has to get it finished. the client is coming over tonight to pick it up, and treat us to a celebration party.

plant explosion!

i separated my african violets today. i got 22 new plants! i was pulling out every "disposable" tupperware container i could find! 

i've put them up for sale on a local facebook group. i'd be happy to give them away, but the money helps!

car troubles

when the kids and i went huckleberry picking last week, the van tried to overheat on us. before we left, i checked the antifreeze levels and made sure they were full. even after that, i was still having troubles. on tuesday when we went down to idaho falls to do testing, it got a little to warm again. this time i got some oil and filled that up.

now i'm told that i put too much in, and that excess oil can cause as many problems as not enough. seems like all my attempts to make the van function are making things worse. (much like the time i put oil in the transmission fluid reservoir.)

shaun is going to take it into our mechanic and drain some of it off.

cleaning

wee been struggling to get kids to clean like they are supposed to.

when my family was out here in june, candice made up a chore chart for us. it has the things that kids are supposed to normally do. but this way, they have a chart they can refer to.

however, most days are still a struggle. elizabeth doesn't like to help out much. i get more cooperation from ashley, who's 4, than i do most days from elizabeth. i did her kitchen job 2 days in a row because i couldn't get her to do it. as a result, she owes me $2. 

my older kids are in charge of their own laundry. for some that might seem too early, but i need my kids to learn how to take are of themselves. laundry is a huge thing. 

for about 3 months, i've been trying to get the kids to clean out the van. taylor, for 2 weeks, was supposed to clean it out to get himself ungrounded. he'd get about 1/4 of the way done, and claim he was too tired to finish. 

i finally got fed up this week, and decided that i was going to get it taken care of myself. of course, once mom starts doing something, the kids want to help. hm, maybe there's a lesson in that for me... it's all cleaned out and vacuumed. i even put the kids to work wiping down panels and cleaning windows!

school plans

i'm having to rethink school plans for elizabeth. i still haven't figured out what to do. i was supposed to email the teacher last night and let her know what we were going to do.

most people have told me that i should put her back into regular school. i don't like the direction public education is going. (politicians who have no experience have no place making laws about my childrens' education) but, more than that, her anxiety gets the best of her so often, that i don't know that she'd be able to go to class half the time. (and no one will talk with me about getting her some medication for it!)

i can try to test her again, and hope that we have better success. but, i'd have to go down to pocatello. with no "income," and a vehicle that's giving me grief, i'm not sure that we can make it down there.

i can find another program, or develop my own.
in the state of idaho, i have total control over my kids education. as a homeschooling mom, i don't have to prove anything. i don't have to prove that/what they are learning, we don't have to participate in testing, i don't have to justify anything.

until i can figure out what to do, i'm going to email the teacher and see if we can schedule her for a retake, realizing that i won't be able to guarantee we'll make it down.

scouts

taylor had pack meeting tonight.

he finally received his bear (after 6 months). and he also got 4 pins for his webelos. naturalist, athlete, citizen, and forester.

he received his communication pin last month.

now i just need to figure out what's left for him to get his arrow of light......

feelings

i am so past frustrated tonight, that the tiniest little things are setting my temper off.

the kids had entrance placement exams today in idaho falls.
shannon, did amazing. they said she was so far ahead of where they expect kids to be when they enter kindergarten. and she didn't even notice a speech problem!
taylor's tests were all on the computer. i won't know the results from those until thursday, but, he always does well.

elizabeth............, i'm ready to shoot. she did ok on the math part, but refused to take the reading part. i tried for an hour to convince her to do it, with no luck. i even told her i'd buy her a pack of gum if she'd just read the stupid test.

i have a few options, and i don't like most of them. put her back in a brick and mortar school, try to retest her next thursday in pocatello, or do a different program (or none at all).

wishing

around valentines day this year, i got a dog. without talking to shaun about it.
unfortunately, shaun is kind of dog phobic. there are pitches that dogs (and kids, sometimes) hit when they whine or bark, that make him feel like he's going to pass out.
the dog i got was a puppy that was used to being outside, and didn't like being kenneled. needless to say, i was unable to keep her..
recently, i got to the point that i've been thinking about getting another dog.
it will never happen, but i sure think about it a lot some days.

huckleberry or not

i want to go huckleberry picking again.

but, i'm still sore.
i tore a hole in my heel.
it would be just me, and 5 CRAZY kids.
i REALLY don't want the possibility of facing irate campers on my own.

school

the kids have placement testing tomorrow in idaho falls. i'm excited but at the same time sad. im ready for more structure, and learning, but sad because it means summer is nearly over. well, that, and it means that i have another baby headed to school. i'm not sure i'm quite ready for that.

i was able to get last years test results for elizabeth to see if she qualifies for a grade retention. she didn't finish quite half of last years assignments, and i'm not ready for her to go on to fourth grade subjects being as unprepared as she is.

i just got a copy of shannons iep for speech as well. as no one saw fit to give me a copy last fall, i went into the district office and requested one. she accidentally printed 2 copies, but thats ok. that means i have a copy as well.

we got a letter in the mail last week, informing us when ashley starts headstart.

in all, that means i have only 1 child not in school this fall!

huckleberry car snafu

when we got up to the spot to pick huckleberries, there were people camping where blythe had parked last time. we tried to park out of the way, and headed up to the bushes.

apparently, our "out of the way" wasn't good enough. we had ended up parking in front of someones trailer hitch. they were really upset. they stormed up the trail behind us, and got all possessive. (is there an unwritten protocol somewhere that says don't park in front of someone else's trailer hitch?) they demanded we move our cars, or they were going to move them for us..... um, what?!

we got the kids settled and went to go move the cars. we apologized and said we would move the cars. they continued to air their grievances. they couldn't just say it once, they said it like 5 or 6 times. i finally got a little fed up and asked them to drop it. then they were astounded that we were mad at them!

blythe and i decided that it was a good thing the guys weren't with us. it might have resorted to blows.

huckleberries

bright and early this morning, we packed up and went for a second attempt at getting some huckleberries. we went with blythe, cause she'd had luck in finding a spot.
the kids stayed excited for about 20 minutes. and then everyone was bored. shannon doesn't have enough of an attention span to pick. she sees one, and has to move on. taylor and elizabeth, who i thought were old enough that they would be a big help, weren't so much. taylor would pick for about 10 minutes, and then say he couldn't find anymore. elizabeth lasted about half that long each time. part of it was that they wanted to help blythe or her aunt, and not mom. as we weren't giving them that option, they didn't want to help at all.
while we were up there, 2 other girls came up to pick also. one of them had a little dog, and ashley pretty much stayed with them the whole time. as we were all withing talking distance of each other, i wasn't worried about her. michael kind of flitted between everyone. shannon and michael ran up and down the hillside multiple times.

the spot blythe had found was a treasure trove! we picked for about three hours before deciding to call it quits, and i brought home a quart!
we will all sleep extremely well tonight.
next year, i'm going to go up and camp, and pick all week. i'll go up monday afternoon and get camp set up. tuesday, wednesday, and thursday i'll pick all day. we'll get camp packed up friday morning, and have the weekend to get chores done at home and the berries put up.

summer reading lists

taylor
   the giver
   charlie and the chocolate factory
   a tree grows in brooklyn
   the adventures of huckleberry finn
   james and the giant peach
   number the stars
   the indian in the cupboard
   gregor the overlander
   the candy shop war
   the sisters grimm

elizabeth
   the giver
   charlie and the chocolate factory
   a tree grows in brooklyn
   ella enchanted
   the sisters grimm
   james and the giant peach
   number the stars
   the candy shop war
   the indian in the cupboard
   into the land of the unicorns

shannon, ashley, michael
   are you my mother?
   brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?
   good night moon
   the grouchy ladybug
   the little engine that could
   the very hungry caterpillar
   where the wild things are
   caps for sale
   the giving tree
   1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish
   alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

spider

last week, i sent ashley (4) into gather up all the dirty laundry in her room. i hear, "mom, there's a spider in the laundry!"

shannon (5) runs in, "where's the spider?" 

"we can't find the spider, mom!"

a few minutes later, micheal (2) comes out with a shoe. "look mom, i killed the spider."

indeed, there was a smashed spider on the bottom of the shoe.

one of the funniest conversations i've heard between my kids in ever.

f-word

elizabeth, age 9, reading a book, "mom, this book has the f-word in it"

freakin' 

satisfaction

elizabeth, age 9, reading a garbage bag....

"to avoid satisfaction..."

it actually reads, to avoid suffocation.

foray into the woods

this morning, we attempted to go huckleberry picking. i packed snacks, and lunch items, and packed the kids into the van. our trip didn't result in any berries, but it did make a mama sick. all the winding twists and turns made me sick.

either i went too far up the mountain, or not far enough up the trails i was taking

or, (and this is most likely) i don't know what i'm looking for.

on the plus side, though, we did see a wild turkey family. mom and dad, and 3 babies.

long time

clearly, i suck at this right now.

so much has happened since march, when i last published a post.

taylor finished 4th grade in homeschool. he did great! i was hoping he'd make a little more progress than he did, but considering this was our first year, i'm ok with it. taylor earned his wolf, but has yet to be awarded it. he has completed the first percy jackson series, and cant wait to read the next one! his summer book list is almost complete!
elizabeth didn't complete 3rd grade. i'm upset about it, and frustrated that she fights it so much, but i'm hoping this year will be better. elizabeth got reacquainted with an old friend, and they are too funny! she also attended a summer camp the school district put together. she had 2 bloody noses within 3 hours one day.
shannon finished her final year of head start, and is already starting to read! she attended the same summer camp elizabeth did. she taught herself how to ride a bike (i can't remember if she did it this spring, or last fall though). shannon got glasses at some point in the last year, and has managed to break 6 pairs, and lose 2.
ashley finished up her first year of head start, and can't wait to go back! ashley found a dead bird at the park one day and was playing with it.
michael is attempting to potty train! he had a thumb get infected. he had his tonsils out, and had an allergic reaction to the septra he was taking for his thumb.

we are changing schools in the fall, and i'm so excited! i think this one will be a better fit.

i broke my toe in april.. i started throwing kids who scream in the shower. i got a garden in this year, but apparently, i lack a green thumb. i broke my kitchenaid mixer in june when my parents were here. i went through the temple. i discovered the magic of massage therapy as a solution to migraines! i got some strawberries and was able to get almost 25 pints of jam. i discovered a tea that is all natural and helps with energy specifically for women. we had a flash-flood. started a new job chart with the kids, with the help of y sister. started a new grounding rule, and a new rule for if i have to do their jobs when they won't.
i managed to clean my room, and sort ALL the socks!

homemaking

as things have gotten tight, i've started doing some things differently.

we ran out of dishwasher soap. i found a recipe for homemade detergent that doesn't use borax. with the tendency of my kids to get into everything, whether it's safe or not, using anything that has borax in it is a big concern. i made up a batch, and liked it. i've since made up another batch, and will keep making it.
here's the breakdown: one batch cost me $1.94 to make and gave me 32 tablets. the melaleuca detergent i have been using costs $7.89, and only gives me 20 uses.

last night, i ran out of brown sugar. when i went to go get milk, i looked at the price, and discovered that i could make my own for half the price. i bought 2 4 pound bags of sugar, and 1 small jar of molasses. this morning, i mixed them together. i haven't used it yet, but i'll try to post about how i like it.

laundry stuff is expensive for a family of 7. i spend $42 a month at melaleuca for our laundry stuff. blythe was given some homemade detergent one year for christmas, and we are both going to start using it. she also found a recipe for homemade fabric softener.

the foray into homemade cleaners and such has begun!