Flashback Friday

But first I will address my "Obviously!" post. My sister Laurie just told me what to do to fix my sidebars. Thank you! My life is now complete.

As I said before, Isaac found a quarter in a door jam. So he got the pliers and pulled it out. Sam and Ruthie huddled around him to admire his handy work. Then Isaac said it was dated "1981".

Do you know what this started??

Isaac says, "Wow, that was sooooo long ago. I wasn't even born yet."

Sam says, "That's like a thousand years ago!"

Ruthie says, "It's so ancient!"

Yeah. I'd like to show you "1000 years ago". This is Daniel 1000 years ago. Isn't he cute?! He was 11 years old. So I guess that makes him 1011 years old.

And this is me "1000 years ago". I am now 1010 years old. And feeling every year of it.

1000 years ago I was in 5th grade. I had my most favorite teacher in 5th grade. Mrs. Pickett.
It was also my first experience with a kid puking in class. We had all of our chairs up on our desks when a kid hurled! Loudly. Splashingly. Grossly.

That was my first experience with a gagging reflex. A reflex made stronger with pregnancies.

It was also where I learned about black lung disease. Mrs. Pickett's dad had been a lifelong smoker. She described what her dad's lungs looked like because of the heavy smoking. I was sufficiently turned off from ever smoking.

I loved the dress you see in the picture. I wore it a lot. I loved it. Do you understand?

I wonder if I would have thought Daniel was cute if we had been in the same class in 5th grade.

I definitely think he's cute now.

Obviously!

I went to my sister's blog to look at her last post. She had such a cute new background. Cute! So what do I do? I click on the thingy at the top to look at all the cute backgrounds. Duh! I've done this before and they are all cute. But. I am a "let me live in my own little bubble with my blog background no matter how old fashioned or lame I get, I mean no matter how old fashioned or lame my blog gets" kind of gal. So I usually move on. I don't change anything. It would make me not so old fashioned and/or lame. I mean my blog.

As you can see....I didn't move on this time. I clicked. I clicked again. And again. And here we are. A new blog look. Did you hear me scream at around 9 pm? No? Well, maybe it was more of a whimper.

So now it's midnight. Daniel is up trying to cool some work problems. He's got like 67 people on his phone while they are trying to fix it. So I'm still awake. Because I really can't sleep when he's out here talking loudly to that many people on his cell phone.

So I tried working on the colors for my new blog lay out. I just can't go back. Not because I don't want to and am awakening to a new sense of being with a new blog layout, but because I have no earthly idea how to get back to my old fashioned, lame look. Sigh.

Now! How the heck do I get my stuff on the sides to be in a different order? I didn't put them there. They are misplaced. I'm discouraged. Daniel is yelling at people on his cell phone now. They lost a person so now there are only 39 people he's talking to.

Obviously I'm in a bind. I don't know how to get my blog all pretty and in order like I like it. I'm also tired because it's after midnight and my brain really does shut down at 4:30 pm MST . Really. All I want is for my side bar to be different. Do I have to re-do the whole thing?

OH! I did get a babysitter last minute about 4 hours ago for Friday night. Hey! Tonight! We're going to go to dinner and then to see Harry Potter. I'm pretty happy. I'm starting to think we'll both be cranky! Really cranky. Daniel isn't having any fun talking to these guys!

Good night!

I Have Kids...

And having kids means things get stuck where they shouldn't be stuck.

Isaac got the pliers out yesterday and pulled a quarter out of a door jam. I'll blog about that find tomorrow....

So I grabbed those pliers and went out to the dashboard of my mini wimpy van. We've had plastic fork pieces stuck in the dashboard for a while now.
We've been talking about removing the fork pieces for quite some time now, too.
What's a girl to do?

So there you go. I have kids. Which means I have things stuck in places they shouldn't be stuck.

Now I just have unsightly dents in my dashboard. And Isaac is .25 cents richer.

WARNING: Shameless Plug!

Ramma Lamma Ding Dong!

This is a good day!

How Could A Grown Man Be So Mechanically Uninclined?

Last night as Daniel and I were heading to bed, he turned M*A*S*H on. As Hot Lips and Hawk Eye were walking up a hill, obviously put out that their jeep no longer worked, Hot Lips exclaims, "How could a grown man be so mechanically uninclined?!" I laughed. I laughed a lot.

You see, my man is very mechanically inclined. He has even taken to changing the oil in our cars because he is so inclined. He also fixes just about everything. There has only been one time we've had to call a repair man. Last summer when our A/C stopped working. It was way too hot to wait for him to figure it out.
He also has a great smile and is super entertaining. So I basically got myself a very well rounded guy.

And I love him.

By the way, Hawk Eye's answer was simple. "I take a lot of cabs."

So Cute...

Pictures.

I wanted to share a few pictures from tonight.

Me and my cute girl!

My boys! Aren't they handsome?!
Me and my honey pie.
And here is the almost final winner. Well, this one goes on the profile. Daniel needs to weigh in on what goes on the wall. Notice we aren't melted yet.

I may just put some more cute ones on this week.

I'm tired and need to go to bed.

A Day In The Life.

Monday...Our profile went up. This is our quick attempt at a family picture to put on the profile. We were all in jammies when I realized we needed something fast. I was wearing a brown shirt, Daniel was wearing blue. That was the theme. If you could see the bottoms of us, you would see sweats and other fun stuff.

Tuesday...Wait! This isn't Tuesday. The pictures didn't load right...not my fault.

Saturday...Lagoon bounce back. You see a lot of fun things at lagoon. Things you intentionally put a block on your computer and TV to keep your kids from seeing and hearing.

Our kids had to go to "jail" for no reason other than they are cute and were having way too much fun.

Tuesday...Isaac built this thing out of Bionicle pieces. It started out as a spider. Then became a spider with a weapon. Then became a scorpion. Whatever it is, look out! It'll get ya!
Wednesday...Nuts. Just what my life is lately. I won't bore you with details. But it's necessary to say I need therapy! And a large diet pepper!

Thursday...Isaac wore his favorite green shirt for 5 day and nights. Without removing it from his body. So you see how often he bathes. I had to talk him into removing it at the end of the week so it would be clean for Lagoon. And because he was starting to ferment.

Friday...In Primary we are giving the kids a CBR sticker when they are Caught Being Reverent. Ruthie has been diligent in sticking hers to her wall every Sunday. And yes, I did just notice them there!

Sunday...If you forgot about Saturday, look above a few pictures. We had our friend Lori take our pictures so we would have a nice one for the profile (please refer to the first pic on this post...can you blame us?!) This is one of the last ones of the evening....we are melting. See my hair on your left? Yep...melting. She got some great family pics and a lot of really great pics of the kids. Thanks Lori...now we can have a nice picture on our profile and on our wall at home!

How was your week?

Confessions Of A Stay At Home Mom.

I am home all day. I have windows all along the side of my house that faces a main road. I have good hearing. I am a worry wart.

And that adds up to me being an ambulance chaser.


Okay. A firetruck chaser.

When I hear sirens I watch out one of the back windows to see if the sirens turn into my neighborhood.

Usually they don't.

We live near a firestation.

Tonight my kids were outside and they know how their mom is. Ruthie came running in and said a firetruck just turned into our city.

You mean our neighborhood?

Yes, our neighborhood.

So I went out the front door to see where it was headed.

It was coming down my street.

Yikes!

I think of our neighbor girl. But saw them leave on a camping trip earlier today.

The firetruck went down, around, and over to the next neighborhood. And then stopped where I could see the truck.

So what does a mom with a mini wimpy van do??

I followed!

A lady had been bucked off her horse and then kicked. She didn't know what day it was. As I was talking to some girls about what had happened the ambulance and paramedic drove in and nearly squished the mini wimpy van. I slunk away to make some phone calls.

Why is it that everyone who should be contacted about this kinda stuff is out of town when I am the one who finds out? Sheesh. I called my friend who is a friend of the lady and her hubby ran over to help.

Daniel just got back from the hospital where he and the Elders Quorum President gave her a blessing. She's okay. Some broken ribs. She remembered what day it is.

Daniel just left to go get us...well...let's just say he's thinking Arby's.

My name is Jennie and I'm a stay at home mom with a lot of windows that face a main road and I have good hearing and I am a worry wart.

That's my confession.

Do You Hear That?

That sound?

It's the sound of crickets.

Crickets chirping.

And lots of silence.

No, my house is not silent. It never is. Unless the kids are asleep. But that's not what this is about. Our profile went up on Monday. We are getting some more pictures up and will update the funny looking family picture we put on. But that won't be for another week.

The silence is the sound that every adoptive parent hears when the paperwork is done and the waiting begins. The crickets just remind me of my bedroom in California. But that's another post.

You work so hard and are so busy getting all the paperwork filled out. You get all your pictures in order. You get all the other paperwork in order. You have all the meetings and visits. Your homestudy is written. Your approval is gotten. Your life is turned inside out for a caseworker to make sure you are qualified to be a parent. Then...

Silence.

It's hard to explain. You see, our part is done. The waiting begins. There is nothing left to do. Oh, we can update pictures when we have cool new ones to put on our profile. We can change some things in our letter that might make that difference for our birthmom to find us. But we are done with our part.

Someone compared this process to a popularity contest once. A few years ago I might have agreed. But when you go through this process and you put your heart and soul and your tears and sweat, and even your blood into it, you realize it's not about popularity. It's about a child that will be born who needs a mom and a dad and, in our case, 2 brothers and a sister, and a birthmom who sees your family picture and reads your letter and she knows you. And she knows that the baby she carries is not hers to raise. That baby belongs to that family. To our family. As I look at all the other profiles out there and see some beautiful families and couples who don't have children yet, I think about popularity. I think that there is no way I can compare to some of those other women. My family can't compare to those other families.

But then I stop. I breathe. I remember that our birthmom isn't looking for any of them. She will be looking for Me. For Daniel. For Isaac and Samuel and Ruthann. And when she sees us, it will be the craziness of our family that connects her. The fun things we do in the summer. The loud yelling we do at demolition derbys. The hard work of our dad. The sweet silliness of our kids. The commitment of our mom. That will be what she needs to know that we have been connected before we even began this process. We were connected by the same eternal connection that brought Daniel and me together and into each other's arms. That brought each of our boys into our arms through life threatening pregnancies. That brought our daughter to our arms from the other side of the world. That will have her place her precious baby in our arms. And strengthen that eternal connection for the rest of our lives. And eternity.

The silence has been a little deafening this week. But I'm listening to the crickets sing with a lot more delight. We are not waiting. We continue to live. To love. To make lots of noise. And when our birthmom is ready, she will find us. And we will show her the room in our hearts that has been prepared for her. And our family will grow. Again.

Monday Musings.

I just love it when I put on an old pair of pants that were so tight before and they now fit perfectly. Or even better..they fit loosely!! Well, I think I would love it. I really do.

I love having a clean house. With all the laundry clean and folded and the laundry baskets empty. With all the dishes clean and stacked nicely. With the floors so clean you could eat off them. With walls so spotless you could have sworn it was less than 2 years since you've painted them. Oh yeah.

I love having a quiet summer afternoon all to myself. With my clean, quiet house surrounding me, my old jeans fitting loosely around my belly and a cold caffeinated beverage in my hand. Mmm.

I love a clean car. I sure do. With no dirt, no hand prints, no squished bugs, no mud, no wrappers, no dust. And being able to listen to the kind of music I want to listen to.

REALITY:

Dirty dishes in my sink. Dirty laundry stacking up. Clean laundry that could use a good folding. Sponge Bob playing loudly on the TV. Spots on my floor. Sticky stuff on my floors. And my walls. A little person asking questions about how to cook mashed potatoes in the microwave. A sunburn on my neck. A huge ugly beet sitting on my kitchen counter. Suds on my arms from washing the filthy car. Still have a filthy car. Toys always underfoot. Unmade beds throughout the house. Happy, giggling kiddos. Smiles made bigger with our weekly summer adventures. A hose and lots of water toys always ready for action. Sore bums from riding bikes. Lots of summer memories.

I'll take the clean house, spotless car, and no laundry stacks when my kids move out. Somehow life is just too perfect right now. Except that my pants are way too tight. The cold caffeinated beverage seems to be helping.

A Day In The Life.

Monday...I got up to Isaac making everyone breakfast. Gotta love that! Tuesday...We got a visit from Leanne and Mila. Mila started giggling and couldn't stop. We were glad we got to be a part of it! Wednesday...This is what happens to BBQ chicken when you leave it in the oven because it's not quite cooked through and the guy fixing the A/C in Daniel's car calls to say it's time to come get the car and when you get out on the road there is a 3 mile long line of cars through road construction because there has been an accident and you end up stuck at a dead stop for 20 minutes. At least Daniel rode home in a very cool car!

Thursday...Sam wanted to know what his taste buds looked like up close. Here they are. We also went into LDSFS for our final interviews. Our profile should be up tomorrow!

Friday...Lagoon day! I went to take pictures of the kids. I didn't think Sam was watching...when I had my eye on him before the camera clicked he wasn't watching. Then when the picture flashed I looked up to see if they had seen me taking a picture. They weren't watching me. Then I saw the picture. Sam is lightening fast!
Saturday...I got to go see my brother's baby. She is 2 1/2 months old and is still at Primary Children's Hospital. She is doing okay, but we are all praying for much better. She still hasn't been able to meet her big brother. She sure is cute!
Sunday...This is the book we've been reading every night. We found it at the Grand Canyon and Isaac said that his teacher read this to their class. We are enjoying following Brighty's adventures!

Have a wonderful week!

Cute Quips.

This will be a new thingy on my blog. Now I know I don't do the whole side bar list of labels. Sorry. Actually I really am sorry. But if I go back and do it now, it would take forever. Forever! So I won't. Maybe one day, though. If I get really bored. Or Mono.

Sometimes my kids say the cutest/weirdest/oddballest/transcendingest/funnest things. And since I heard 2 really funny ones today I thought I'd just do a quick post. And call it Cute Quips. How do you like them apples?!


In the car on the way home from somewhere today:
Ruthie: "When you die, you'll be the King of your kids."
Sam: "Oh! Then I will say, "Kids, go buy me a couch!""

At the dinner table:
The kids were talking about how big the universe is...Does it end? What's on the other side? Is it whiteness or blackness? Etc.
Sam: "Well if the mountains end, the universe must end!"

Whatever! They make me laugh. Even if they don't make you laugh. They help keep things light here. My kids are dang cute!!

Flashback Friday...On Tuesday!

So Daniel and I have been borrowing my dad's DVDs of the old Mission:Impossible series. No, not Tom Cruise. We're talking back in the late 60's. Peter Graves. Martin Landau. We are staying up late to watch the episodes, too. But we are enjoying them.

So last night we are watching an episode from season 3 and there is a guy, the bad guy, who played Mr. Mushnik. You know, the shop owner from Little Shop Of Horrors. And that, my dear friends, brings around this whole lotta memory makin stuff. 7th grade. Math. Clicking. Mr. Mulshenock.

You see, in 7th grade I had a math teacher named Mr. Mulshenock. He never got out of his chair behind the desk. He was old. He scared me. Speaking of 7th grade, here I am in it...

Oh yes, feathered hair. Think Farrah Faucett. 1983. I was so hip.

Anyhoo, Mr. Mulshenock was a math teacher. Did I say that already? He was. There is no denying it. So all the memories of 7th grade math come rushing in. He had a box on his desk labeled "Mak-Up". He told us if we miss an assignment, we needed to finish it and put it in the Mak-Up box. He also said, "See? I know how to spell make up." And as a young, impressionable, naive sort of creature I thought "Mak-Up" was how you actually spell "Make Up". For a very long time.

On a parent teacher night type thing...the students always went and we didn't have appointments, just walked in to talk to whatever teacher you wanted. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I was always there. So my mom and dad are talking to him about me and my math skills. Excuse me. Lack of math skills. My dad said, "Math finally clicked for me in 7th grade. So maybe it will click for Jennie." Mr. Mulshenock said, "That's what I hope will happen. She just needs it to click. I'm sure it will." And that is really the conversation they had. Word for word.

For your information, I think about that small exchange on a regular basis. If you ever think that something you say will never be remembered or have an effect on someone...think again. I have thought a lot about math clicking, even willed math to click for me. Maybe that conversation warped any chance of having math click for me. Maybe I think about it too much.

And, Mr. Mulshenock, if you're reading this, math still hasn't clicked for me. And I DO know how to spell Make-Up. Even though I question it as I write it. Still! And I'm not afraid of you anymore! Umm. Serious!

A Day In The Life.

Monday...the Dino Park. 2 days before our pass ended. You can't tell by looking at her, but Ruthie was terrified to stand next to the wooly rhino. I thought she was going to have a melt down. But we survived!

Tuesday...The first zucchini from the garden. Mmm. It was good. Fresh garlic. Butter. Salt. Mmmm... We also got to go visit my sister Katie and her kids for the day. We love playing with cousins. Sean, her hubby, was going to try to restore my hard drive. He couldn't. It needs to be opened in a clean room. Which would cost $900. We may not be getting anything from my old hard drive. Oh well.
Wednesday...We went to see Horton Hears A Who at the $1 movie with Kim and her daughter. Because of our home visit we didn't get to stay and chat. Kim gave me these 3 lady bug chocolates for my kids...they loved them! Lady bugs represent good luck in Chinese adoption. So for all of you waiting endlessly for your daughter...these lady bugs are for you!
Thursday...In preparation for the yard sale, I made these signs and then we went to put them up around the surrounding areas. I believe I already told you many of them had been removed the following day.

Friday...Isaac decided it was high time to climb the tree in the backyard. Daniel and I got to go on a date. We went to dinner and then the temple. I love going to the temple with my sweetheart.

Saturday...Yard sale day. The only yard sale day we will have. With the $22.50 we made, we got this for dinner. We had $6 left over and paid each of the kids $2 each for helping.

Sunday...Aahhh. I'm just glad church is over. See how Isaac is all upside down and crazy up in the tree? That's how many of my Sundays are. Today was a realization of a double booking of a ward campout and baptisms for 2 of our children. The boy who is supposed to get baptized that day crumpled when we made the connection in dates. We have since worked it all out. Whew!

How was your week?

The Sell Of The Century.

And if that title just made your dander come up...thank you! Don't you love it when Utahn's (only because that's where I live and where I see it on a regular basis) call a Sale a Sell. As in..."I am going to have a yard sell." Or..."I will sale you this basket for three dollars." You don't love it? Neither do I. I just thought I'd ask.


So it is now 1 1/2 hours after our yard sell. Hee hee. Yard sale. This is what it looked like at 7 this morning... A neighbor who is moving out today stopped and asked if we'd like to sell his couch. We said sure. Then another neighbor came by on his way to help the first neighbor move stuff. This is what he picked out to buy. Then he left it right where I took a picture of it. He came by about 45 minutes ago and paid for it.

We had quite a few people come by and look. Not many buyers. We sold 5 DVDs, 1 video, 1 basket, a hat, the pot and pan above, the can opener, a receiver and a popcorn popper. These are the bags of stuff going to DI this morning.

We learned a few things today. First, my kids would like to sell their toys for $100 each. Second, mom is cranky at 7 am. Third, neighbors like to look. They sometimes buy. They might just be the most loyal of customers. Fourth, a lot of spanish speakers go yard saling. Fifth, a group of Navajo Indian women raise sheep, shear the sheep, dye the wool, weave the wool into beautiful handmade blankets, take those blankets into town and trade them for the month's groceries, the man who trades for the groceries sells the blankets for astronomical amounts of moolah and then the women go back and do it all again for the next month's groceries. whew! Sixth, 7 am is too early. 8 am is better. Seventh, a cute young newly wed with a very nice neighbor really likes my hutch and is now trying to talk her new hubby into buying it. With $$ help from the neighbor. She's a nice neighbor. Eighth, yard saling is sweaty work. Ninth, a neighborhood young man mooches. Tenth, 3 cans of diet pepper just don't seem to be enough at 11:30 am. Eleventh, some yard salers will put their big ol' posters for their own yard sale right on top of yours. Twelfth, laundry can get done really fast when you start at 7 am. Thirteenth, if you ever do a yard sale, don't call me for help! Fourteenth, you get quite an education when you have a yard sale.

This is another pile of DI stuff...

And this is the last look of the couch. My kids were disappointed that we wouldn't keep it in the basement so they can lay on it while they watch videos on the old TV down there. Bye couch. We'll miss you. We made $22.50. If the moocher paid, we would have made $32.00. Daniel's too nice. If the young newly wed comes for the hutch, we have another $125. Unless she takes the armoire for $5. It really should just be thrown away. But they said she needs furniture and Daniel is trying to be helpful. He's nice like that.

If The Shoe Fits...

...wear it. But if it doesn't, don't. I tried on Daniel's shoes. They were just sitting there on the floor. Waiting for a foot. Feet. So I slipped them on. I was a little overwhelmed by them.
We are getting ready for a yard sale tomorrow morning. Last night we went and put 4 signs out in various locations to advertise. Today, around 2:45 pm, I was coming home from grocery shopping and noticed that one of our signs was gone. So I drove to the other locations. Gone. I was pretty ticked! Is there some ethics code about posting signs that we didn't follow so they were removed? Was someone peeking last night as we moved stuff into our garage and got jealous of what we plan to sell and removed the competition? I went and put 2 more signs up. Someone better see them and come. We have a couch, a hutch, a sofa table, lots of clothes and other stuff. Hmm. I'd be jealous of the competition.

I don't know if I will ever do another yard sale. Too much work. Too much pressure. Too much competition. Apparently. And we are starting at 7. A. M. Way too early. So far, those shoes are a bit overwhelming. Maybe it won't be so bad when it's all over. I'll let you know tomorrow at 10 am...

A Baby Will Be Born.

Finally an update!! Today we had our home visit for our homestudy. We told our kids that our caseworker would come and want to see all of us and ask mom and dad some questions, etc. They asked what a caseworker is. We said she is the lady who will help us get our baby. So when she came, we all sat on the couches and she asked all the questions about the house and neighborhood. My kids sat so quietly and so good. They seriously sat. Seriously! Sat! I was amazed. They loved showing off their rooms and the basement to her.

As she was leaving, one of the kids asked where our baby was. Umm. I was pretty sure I didn't say she was bringing our baby. Although I did say that if they didn't clean their rooms or if they acted like hooligans while she was here she might say, "Wow, that family shouldn't have another baby." Apparently the threat worked. I explained that we are still in the process of getting ready to have our birth mom find us. Ohhhh.

Next Thursday we will have our last pre-profile meeting at the agency. Then we should have our approval and get our profile on line. After that we'll work on our paper profile. We are getting closer to being ready. Then we will wait.

I would like to ask that if you have our last name listed on your blog to link me, that you please take it off. You can keep the link, just use my first name or the name of our blog. Thank you so much!!!

A baby will be born and we are almost ready!

Make A Meal Monday...On Tuesday!

What do you do with a bag of tortilla chips that has been smashed and mashed and squashed? Well, you use your imagination. For dinner, that is. I had brought a bag of tortilla chips to have on our trip and they just ended up being smashed pieces of chips. So here's what I did....

I got all this stuff...Cheese, beans, salsa, tomato sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin and the bag of smashed chips.

I then made this...

Cowboy Casserole!
My family loved it and ate it all up. How's that for imagination!?

Brown 1 lb ground beef. Drain. Add tomato sauce and spices and beans and salsa. Mix well. Add some cheese for kicks. Mix well again.

Put crushed chips on the bottom of a baking dish.

Put the mix on top.

Put more chips on top and then put more cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for, oh, say, 20 minutes.

I just put in what I had available. You can use your imagination and put in whatever you know your family will like.

Enjoy!

It's July 6th!

Guess who's birthday it is? See that guy right there through the tent window?

It's his birthday!

He's 39 today. Which means this is his last year in his 30's.

He sure is so darn good looking!
And the kids love him and his silliness!
And he's so darn sexy!
We love you and we're excited to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate!

Happy Birthday Daniel baby!