1940 Census.

Can you feel the buzz? Can you sense the excitement?

We are just days away!!

The 1940 Census will be released for indexing on April 2.

Yahoooooo!

Go to Family Search. com and sign up to index!

It's addicting. I promise.

Making Friends And Careers.

Sam has been busy making friends with the kids. Iris is still skittish. We are hoping it wears off and she comes to trust the kiddos.Felix, on the other hand, has taken to Sam like butter on toast. He relaxes as soon as he's in his arms and will sit for quite a while. Mama Cass keeps her eye on them, but doesn't bellow as much when Sam has him.

Today I got to spend some time with the local 6th graders for career day at school. I had no idea what I was going into. They had given each of the kids a career, income, family situation (married, kids), a debit card and check book. There were stations set up all around the gym for auto loans, student loans, insurance, taxes, credit card debt, child care, piggly wiggly, clothing store, rent/mortgage loans and fun stuff.

I was at the auto loan table with another mom. We had several different cars, mini vans and trucks, as well as a UTA pass. The most fantastical and popular vehicle was the Charger. But at a staggering $781 a month plus insurance plus rising gasoline prices for just 15 mpg/city, we sold a lot to begin with and then ended up giving checks back so they could purchase the 2004 Oldsmobile Alero for $112 a month and better gas mileage.

Many of these kids got it. A couple of them wanted the Charger, but when they saw the price, were very upset that they couldn't afford it while their friends with more money could. One boy just started to look at the cheaper sedans when I told him that if he got the cheapest car, he could easily make a monthly payment AND put money away each month to save for a newer, better car. The understanding was immediate. He got it. And purchased the cheaper, older car. Later he came back and said that it was so unfair. He was a firefighter and risked his life and didn't make near as much money as his friend who was purchasing his second vehicle and still had thousands to work with for the month. Hmm. Ya think?!

Reality.

It hit them all.

One girl was married and had 4 children and after getting an apartment and paying for groceries and utilities, only had about $100 to purchase a car with. Ouch. She needed a mini van because she couldn't get her 4 kids into a sedan. But the cheapest mini van was $204 a month. So I advised her to talk to her rent adviser and see if she could lower her rent and then see about lowering her student loan payments. She came back after about 30 minutes with a relieved smile saying she worked it so she could buy the mini van. And she still had about $50 a month left over.

I just loved watching it all go down. I think if we, as adults with a career, family, mortgage/rent and other bills, were to sit down with a check book register and really take a look at what we have to work with, we might stagger ourselves. Are we being smart with our finances? Are we teaching our children how to be smart with finances by example? Are we setting aside our childish wants and passions so we can afford the basic neccesities of life? And are we ready for the time that we retire? Will we be able to retire? Hmm.

Reality.

Hits us all hard.

My JOY.

Time for some JOY. Because there is much.

First one of my favorites in the food aisle. Havarti Cheese. Can't get enough. Perfect to just eat right out of the bag. Perfect on grilled cheese. Perfect in a sandwich wrap. Wonderful, flavorful, mild and delicious. Havarti. How I love you.Of course, there are the new baby goats, Felix and Iris. Felix is the white and Iris is the black. They are so fun to watch. But what I find great JOY in is watching Mama Cass-the skiddish goat-protect, love, care for and mama her kids. Her Mama-ness amazes me. And in that I find great JOY.

And then there are these...
Isaac. Passing the Sacrament, collecting Fast Offerings, will be going to the Priesthood session of conference this weekend, loving the goats, making sure Vegeta and Biscuit are loved and played with, robots galore, writes like a pro and all around great guy.Samuel. Goat loving, gentle baby goat holder, trampoline jumper, creative builder of Legos and Bionicles, A great friend to some great boys, getting his Bear badge this week at Pack Meeting, lost a tooth but enjoyed sticking it out like this for a while, fun cuddler and all around super sweetie pie.Ruthann. Drawer of fine art, super helper for mom, baby goat watcher and wrangler, a great future in babysitting, activity day going and loving, super smiling friend, the best picture taker and wonderful daughter and sister.What more could a cheese eating, goat owning, mother of terrific kiddos want?? O My Heart.

Guarding Her Young.

You can't see them, but the kids are under Mama Cass. It's mighty windy outside. Raining, too. As soon as the wind whipped up loud, she herded the kids up against the house and positioned herself in front and then on top of them.

The Mama instincts kicked in right after birth. And I am loving it.

BABIES!!!

We have new babies at our house. Baby number one was born around 5:30 this afternoon.

It's a boy!About 20 minutes later baby number 2 came out really fast.

It's a girl!

We will show more fun pictures at a later time. Things are just so cute at our house right now!

Hey! Here's a cute picture...

Pregnancy. Hurts.

I'm wondering if you can see the similarities?

Me at 36 weeks, just before Isaac was born. My face says it all.Mama Cass, I don't know how far along, but very close to delivering. If you could only see her face... it says it all.

Baby goat(s) will be here soon.

Dr. Ruth Is In The House.

Well, in bed actually. Ruthie and all the other second graders went to the local hospital on a field trip called My Friend The Hospital. Or something to that affect. Each of the kids got a surgeon cap and mask. Ruthie wore the hat to bed. Daniel suggested we call her Dr Ruth. I asked if he knows who Dr Ruth is? Yes, but she is Ruth and is a doctor right now. It's cute. So this is Dr Ruth. Asleep.

P.S. The bangs are extra long because she is in the process of growing them out!

The Best And Worst Birthday. Ever.

Last Thursday began as a wonderful day. We sang to Isaac and kept bugging him with Primary birthday songs. Then he went to school with a treat to share with his class. After school I asked how it went and did the kids like the treat. He said they didn't celebrate his birthday. He was so bummed. So I quickly emailed his teacher just to make sure he got to pass the treat out on Friday. She was so sweet and apologetic. She was being observed and was a little frazzled and forgot the fun stuff. So we went on with our afternoon, planning dinner and waiting for dad to get home so he could open gifts.

Then that dreaded phone call came. It was our brother in law Brian. Mom and dad were in a car accident and all he knew was that they were on their way by ambulance to the hospital and had to be extricated from the vehicle. When I got off the phone I told the kids and we knelt down for a quick prayer. My kids were so scared. We didn't know anything and were just praying for the best. I reminded them that all their cousins and aunts and uncles were now praying for them and that they would be okay.

We went on with our evening as best we could. Isaac was found in his bed at one point, under the covers and very upset. I asked what was the most upsetting. He said he was worried about Grandma. Oh baby! I was worried too. But we needed to wait to know more.

Then we had cake. You will find that chocolate cake is a serious business here. I baked and frosted a total of 3 cakes this weekend. Oh chocolate cake. Lovely chocolate cake! And yes, only three candles. I was not prepared.Isaac opened his gifts. We've made turning 12 a spiritual gift opportunity. Isaac got a new scripture case, scripture markers, tabs on his scriptures to make scripture chase a faster business, 4 new ties, pristine undershirts, his very own mini Hymn book, and a Moroni and the Title of Liberty tie tack. He was not impressed. Grandpa had sent his gift over earlier in the day. That gift trumped mom's idea of a good time. He also got, from the fun dad, a storage box for his NXT robot and a sound sensor. Or something. I know so little of such things.

Friday bloomed brighter. Even though Grandma had some bone fractures in her neck, back and ribs, she would be fine. She would need to be in the hospital and then stay in a care center. But she would be fine. Grandpa had some torn ligaments in his shoulder, but was able to go home and would heal up fine.

Isaac got to pass out his treats in class, too. yay! Then another phone call. "Mom, I hurt my hand. Will you please come get me?" Isaac jammed his pinkie finger while catching a ball. It was swollen and he couldn't move it. So I got him home and on ice. Happy birthday! The next day it was bruised and still swollen. This is how it looks today. Still bruised and a little swollen, but not hurting as much. We went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday and had a fun evening. Despite the hurt finger.Saturday bloomed bright with dad heading to the hospital to be with Grandma. She was bored and wanted to go home, but doing well. Isaac had invited his friends over for a birthday bash. My thought that morning was that if these boys didn't come, Isaac would have chalked this birthday up to being the very worst EVER! Luckily they all came. Here's the cake. The second cake. Notice the mom got "12" candles this time.

The cake turned into a facial for some of the boys. Sam decided to join the sticky fun. To our great relief, the boys who left with sticky hair and faces have wonderful mothers who can appreciate a good time. Even with whipped cream and chocolate cake.

An evening with 11 and 12 year old handsome and intelligent boys includes Risk. They play it at each boys' birthday and when they just hang out. Daniel's kind of crowd.

Risk was proving to challenge the clock to they moved to Apples to Apples. There were complaints about the fact that it's the Junior version, but they played anyway. They are all very weird, too.

He opened more gifts and was very grateful for wonderful friends. Notice the apron on Ruthie. She served at her cousin's wedding reception and Aunt Deanna made aprons for the girls. She wore hers so she could help me serve the boys.

So the boy had a good birthday. He did say on his actual birthday that it was the worst birthday ever. But now that Grandma is doing better and his hand is healing and it's all over, he thought it was pretty great. Another look at the cool blanket from Grandma and Grandpa.
I am waiting on pictures of Isaac on Sunday after his ordination. My mom had her camera and I didn't. But Isaac received the Aaronic priesthood and was ordained a Deacon on Sunday. And true to form for birthday boy, the Bishop forgot to have him come up on the stand to sustain him. So someone ran up to the Bishop when he sat down to remind him. Isaac was sustained after the Sacrament was passed. Abbie, Poppy and Meme came to share it. Then they came over for lunch after. We missed Grandma and Grandpa, but still had fun visiting with Abbie and Poppy.

Sunday night we went to Uncle Alex and Aunt Mindy's house for our get together. We had more cake. The third and final for March and had fun with cousins. Our Aunt Mindy announced she is expecting and we are so excited for that.

We've told Isaac that with all the things, good and bad, that happened over his birthday weekend, this would be one of the most memorable. We hope he remembers the good...family, friends, Grandma and Grandpa are fine, Abbie and Poppy and Meme shared his ordination with him, his hand is still attached, and he had lots of chocolate cake. Good stuff.

Zipadee-ay And Heighdee-ho!

It's Isaac's birthday! Happy 12th birthday kiddo!
We love you and we are so glad you belong to us!

A Bit Of Useless Information.

It's beautiful outside at my house. Well, minus the goat poop smell. But the sun is shining and it's kinda warm out there. I love the feel of a warm sun. Spring. Bring it!

A couple of weeks ago I walked in on a conversation between 2 wonderful ladies. The subject was this: What band did Bret Michaels sing with back in the day? There was talk of Poison. So in my infinite wisdom of such things I say this: Yep. Bret Michaels was with Poison. Uhuh. I know this.

Actually forget I said anything about infinite wisdom. The fact that B.M. (that's how I'll address him if I need to address him again, although I know that the B and the M can make you think of something else which I'd rather not talk about. So I won't.) and Poison are floating around in my head is just, well, random. So back to the lack of infinite wisdom about B.M. There is none. It's actually one little tidbit of totally useless information that is in my head. I only know it because I was watching that music video channel on TV. A Poison video came on. And who was singing? B.M. So I just stored that tidbit away.

And it came in handy. For just a small moment I was the coolest and smartest in the room.

Like last night. Daniel came to me and said this: I know what we can watch next (on NetFlix). What? I said. He responded with: The A Team. To which I sang the theme song. Which I can't type out. It's just music. But it came out so fast and furious that even Daniel was impressed.

So you see? Useless information can float around unneeded and unused for years. And then the right time comes and BLAM! you whip it out and impress.

And that's all I really have to say about that. What useless information do you have floating around in your head?