It's that time of year again...

It's the time of year where we spread our filing cabinet across the kitchen table, and I regret my poor bookkeeping skills. 

Tax time.

Todd was amused as he watched me go through my entire year of bank statements and my checkbook register to figure out my business expenses, write them on an envelope that was kicking around, and add everything up on my 9"x11" calculator (finally, a calculator I can't lose).  To figure my mileage, I just count up how many times I spent money at a quilt shop (using my bank statement), and multiply it by the miles it takes to get there and back.

I love to quilt...I HATE the record keeping/filing/business end of it.  If the IRS ever shows up at my door to do an audit, they're going to have to go through my scratch papers (and envelopes) in order to find what they need.  

I do have quickbooks....but I'm not very good at using it.  It just keeps telling me every time I sell a piece of batting that I don't have any on hand. But, I do, so I don't care and I sell it anyway.  For six years now it's been telling me I don't have enough batting, and for six years, I have dutifully replaced my batting without ever entering it into quickbooks. I just...don't...care.

Would anyone out there like to be my business accountant in exchange for machine quilting?  All you would have to do is drive to the middle of nowhere in January, and go through my stuff (that I meant to file).  It takes me about an hour a year, so it would probably take someone who has skills about 15 minutes to get the job done.  If you can fix my quickbooks and teach me to use it I'll quilt you a queen size quilt. I'm not kidding.

So while I spent my day wandering around and stressing about my one hour of yearly work, Todd helped a neighbor move, plumbed the downstairs bathroom sink, and filed our federal and state taxes (I helped with this one...by reporting my business findings to him)

And now I can relax for another year.

Laundry woes

* You may want to read my last two addendums on this post to fully understand my laundry woes.

Somewhere amid all the poopy and puky laundry I've been doing for the last week and a half, a large white load went through that included...a purple crayon.

I immediately got online and found this recipe for just such an occasion, cleverly entitled "This is the one":

"This is the one"

2 maximum load scoops of liquid Tide (I used Tide w/bleach powder)
1 cup Borax
1 cup liquid Shout stain remover
1 cup white vinegar
2 scoops Oxi-Clean

Fill washing machine with HOT water and let the "recipe" dissolve. Add your crayon infested clothes and let soak for 2 hours. Finish washing the load. Wash again with Tide and vinegar (I just used vinegar because my laundry reeked of detergent...and vinegar will neutralize the soap). Finish with an EXTRA rinse cycle (or two).

I was skeptical, but after spending all day on this one load, almost all of the crayon came out...even after sitting for several days. (This load had to "take a number" behind all the puked-on bedding)

So, you can imagine my horror, when I went to get my white load out of the dryer yesterday, and there was a 1/4" piece of purple crayon sitting on top of the lint trap, and all our socks and underwear were once again COVERED in purple spots. It never occurred to me that a piece of crayon could still be lurking within the load.

A murm'ring word escaped my tongue.

I put the white load back in the washer, and proceeded to go through the same LONG process to remove the crayon. While this load was soaking, I took my last puke-load that I had just washed (a pillow, Todd's coat, and a mattress pad) and put them in the dryer.

Later, when I went to get the mattress pad to make Dillon's bed, I was again horrified, as the pillow, and Todd's coat, were now purple. (cue the murm'ring word...)

Too bad you weren't here to see the next part of the show...me, inside the dryer...looking for the offending crayon. And then I found it...a melted mess in a 1/4" space under the lint trap.

Todd had a great idea, to take a blow dryer and melt the crayon, and then use an old toothbrush, some paper towels, and De-Solve it to clean the melted mess. Too bad he was on his way to work...

My dryer is now clean, my original white load has been through it's fourth wash and the second rinse cycle, and I'm about to do the whole thing again with the pillow and Todd's coat. I'm down to one more load of poopy stuff (a blanket, a pillowcase, and a slumber bag...poor Dillon tried to clean this mess himself before finally waking me up at 1:30 AM on Wed. night) and then I can start on the mound of clothes that has been piling up while I've been busy with bedding and crayon spots.

If this happens again, I'm moving to Australia...wearing purple spotted underwear.

A trip to the circus

We took the kids to the circus tonight. Todd was so excited to take them,

but commented afterward that "it's not quite the same as when I was a kid..."

The boys all loved the THREE motorcycle riders in this ball at the same time.

These poodles were a lot of fun, and got a lot of laughs out of the kids.

They danced, rode scooters, and jumped through hoops.
I liked the elephants best.

Brayden's favorite animal is a tiger, so he was thrilled to see these guys!

They jumped through fire, and pretended to be disobedient (all part of the act).

Afterwards we took the kids to Denny's, where we discovered that

kids eat free on Tuesday nights...PERFECT!

I'm taking back the award.

I got the call at about 12:30 AM (approximately 45 minutes after I had gone to sleep):

"Mom! Dillon threw-up!"

A murm'ring word escaped my tongue.

Seriously. I have done ENOUGH laundry this week. But, after making Dillon a "snuggle bed" on my bedroom floor, I proceeded to rinse his sheets, pillow, and blanket in the bathtub before washing them for the third time in a little over a week. Then I cleaned the tub. Then I cleaned his bed (which has a wagon wheel with spokes...way too many spokes). Then I cleaned the wall. Then I couldn't sleep. I was afraid that if I went to sleep, I would immediately be awoken to clean up more bodily fluids. (I haven't even told y'all about the night I spent cleaning diarrhea off the bathroom floor every hour through the night...)

Dillon had the gall to wake up this morning and say, "Mom, I didn't really throw-up in the night." As if it were all a dream...

I hesitate to say it out loud, but I *think* that this was just a one time thing. When I returned from picking up his brothers from school yesterday, I found an open bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips sitting on a barstool next to the cupboard. Apparently, he ate a good portion of the bag himself. Too bad I have to be punished for his sin...


*addenDUMB: I just told Todd about the empty bag of chocolate chips, and he admitted that HE got them out of the cupboard yesterday...so yeah, the award is MINE.



**I should mention that everyone got the "bug" except me. Caleb was sick last Monday, Brayden on Tuesday, Dillon on Wednesday and Thursday, Todd on Thursday and Friday, Brayden AGAIN on Friday night, and then Dillon AGAIN on Monday night. I kept Brayden home from school this morning (Wed.) because of a stomach ache, but when he started playing video games, I hauled him off to school. Todd still can't eat anything...it was a very short bug (12 hours) but getting over it and actually feeling normal is taking days.

***I spoke too soon. On Wednesday night, Dillon had diarrhea. It included the usual: taking a bath in the middle of the night, and soaking a bunch of poopy bedding, pj's, underwear, etc. This was the first night since he's been potty-trained that I let him sleep in underwear, rather than a pull-up.

If you think your weekend was bad...

Poor Todd. He returned last night from a 3 day 2 night trailride with his team of troubled teenage girls, and some co-workers.

They went to the middle of nowhere. In January. Where it rained. Where they didn't sleep in tents, but in bedrolls under a tarp.

Doesn't sound so bad to you?

Now add in the fact that he ended up catching the "bug" that our boys had, and spent a good chunk of the time (no pun intended) throwing up.

Now I don't know about you, but when I imagine crawling out of a sleeping bag (that you're sewn into with a tarp and cords) several times a night, into 10 degree weather, to barf on the frozen ground while surrounded by a group of teenage girls (two of whom also got sick) and your co-workers...it just doesn't get much worse.

I guess Todd deserves the award.

I think I'll go make him some soup.

Kids do the darndest things...

A friend of mine posted this on her blog, and I had to share...

(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot. From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith

Isn't she precious?

Alivia (my neice) is wearing a little crocheted dress that my dad picked out for me when I was born! It's nearly 31 years old!

I love that my mom kept it for all these years.

What do these things have in common?

*2 twin size quilts
*2 twin size fleece blankets
*2 sets of sheets
*2 not-so-waterproof mattress pads
*3 pillows
*2 pillow cases and 1 sham
*3 stuffed animals
*the side of one wall
*3 shoes
*Planet Heroes Solar Quarters
*the surface area of a mission style bunk bed with slats...way too many slats
*a portion of bedroom carpet


This is what Caleb managed to hit with ONE vomit yesterday afternoon. I think he deserves an award. No, wait... I think I deserve an award.

I. HATE. BUNKBEDS.

Spontaneous "Daycation"

*This post is for those of you in Cache Valley who are

stuck in the inversion, and the snow. Perhaps you'll want to come visit us!

This morning, we left home to go take pictures of a campground that is about 18 miles from our house. Our sis-in-law, Melece, is a YW camp director and has reserved it for their girl's camp this year, without ever seeing it. Because of the snow (at 10,000 ft.), we only got about 10 miles in before we had to turn around (sorry Melece).

We didn't really want to go back home, so we took a little (2 hour) drive...

and ended up in Goblin Valley!

The kids had a great time running through "the goblins".

Dillon wasn't too sure about this place at first. I had read to the boys out of the pamphlet we received at the entrance to the park, and it mentioned scorpions. That was NOT okay with Dillon. We finally convinced him that it was too cold for scorpions in January, and he relaxed a little.

There are SO many cool places to visit within a couple hours of our house.
We need to do this more often.

...kind of reminds me of Dr. Suess...


Dillon took this picture of me and Todd :o)


We found these tracks and Todd told the boys they were from a
"Giant hairy scorpion" (nice), at which time Dillon decided it was time to leave.

As we were leaving, we saw a sign saying that there were three geocaches here. Darn! We even had our GPS with us...we just needed the coordinates. I guess we'll have to go back another time.

Alivia Grace

Alivia Grace

January 14, 2009

This blog is gettin' me in trouble...

So awhile back I posted a picture of my new bench, with storage baskets for gloves and library books.

I thought it was a pretty harmless post, until today when I got a call from our (wonderful) local librarian.

She said something like, "Felicia, I read your blog and I think it's kind of funny that you now have a place to keep library books..."

She didn't need to finish. I'm guilty as (almost) charged. We checked out three library books last JUNE, and haven't been back since to return them.

Ah...the small town life.

Faun, I promise you will see those books again...

She's almost here...

*She's here! Alivia was born at 1:53 PM and weighed 6 lb. 7 oz.

I'm getting a new neice today! My sister is in labor right now.

Caleb was so cute this morning...he prayed that Alivia would be born safe.

Now we just wait...

Here's MY version for the sewing manual 2009

(Read the following post first...)


"Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Have your MP3 player ready with some good tunes. Clear a spot on your table, and then invite a friend over. Pick a couple of projects out of your UFO pile (un-finished objects). Make sure you have a Nintendo, a PSP, a computer with Internet access, a timer, and lots of snacks for the kids. Set the timer for 30 minute intervals so your kids can rotate from one video game to the next all day long. Keep the youngest one happy with bags of dry cereal.

When you sew, make yourself as comfortable as possible. Pajama pants or sweats are good. Keep a little bag of CHALKOLATE near you to satisfy your craving at intervals. Have your hair in a ponytail because it's faster. If a visitor drops in, invite them to stay and "play". If your husband comes home to make himself a chili/cheese quesadilla for lunch, order a couple more for you and your friend. If you're hungry, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. When it's time for dinner, order a pizza and feed the kids on paper plates (since all the dishes are dirty)."

(Yes, this is a true story...it happened the week before last. Except for the MP3 player being ready...it's still full of Todd's "twang". Thanks, Todd, for the quesadilla's. Thank you Vanessa for the bag of chocolate. And thank HEAVEN, for video games)

Times have changed

This is an excerpt from a Singer Sewing manual from 1949:

"Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do...never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates. Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing.

...When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on...(If) you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should..."

A silly song for Friday

Do you have a favorite Veggie Tales silly song?

Our's is the Cheeseburger love song sung by Mr. Lunt

Happy Friday everyone!

(if you're reading this on google reader, you'll have to come to our blog to listen to the song)

You know you're a mom when...

You know you're a mom, when you accidentally cut up YOUR OWN ravioli into bite size pieces.

new calling

When I gave birth to my third son, I knew this calling was inevitable...I just didn't think it would happen so soon.

I have been called as a den leader over Brayden's scout group, den, troop, pack, or whatever it's called. I'm still not sure.

I also have yet to sew any of the patches onto Brayden's scout shirt, since I'm not exactly sure where they go.

I guess I will need to learn fast.

Dillon made a pie!

I made quiche for dinner yesterday, and while I was making the pie crust, Dillon informed me that he would like a chocolate pie. I can never resist his puppy dog eyes and freckles, so I found a small pie tin, and let him make his own pie.

He helped roll out the crust, made the design around the top with a fork, poked holes in it (a whole bunch of them), and then helped make the mousse by folding whipped cream in with the melted chocolate chips.

Today he played like the little red hen, and ate it himself.

This is how WE do it

I thought I'd post this, in case it will help anyone. These are idea's that have worked well for our family. Every year I like to make up a very general yearly plan for our FHE's. Do we follow it exactly? No way. But it gives me a direction on those busy nights when I haven't planned anything and have to "wing it". I do not let myself feel guilty for not sticking to it, but use it as a guide.

Our topics include:

Week 1 - Primary theme for that month

Week 2 - Conference talk; Friend; or Ensign article from the current magazine

Week 3 - Pertinent Subject (whatever Todd and I feel needs to be taught)

Week 4 - Kid's teach (their choice of topic or scripture story)

Week 5 - Fun Activity (since there are only 4 of these per year, these are the times we get to spend $$ on bowling, or eating out, or whatever we decide).

As a backup, if ALL these idea's fail on any given night, we will work on Brayden's Scout requirements, or Faith in God goals.

We usually sing the song that they are learning in primary that month. After being a primary teacher for a year, I've noticed that there is not usually enough time for them to learn all the songs really well, unless they are also learning them at home.

Our lessons are pretty short. I used to think that I had to go "all out" and have flannel board stories, activities, etc. but then they weren't getting done because it took too much time. If the spirit is there, the job is done. Kids CAN learn without all the fluff. (but the "fluff" does help, so I'm still always seeking out object lessons, activities, songs, etc. It's the preschool teacher in me.) If you come up with something really great this year...PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ME!

Our "pertinent subject" often ends up being board games, playing lego's, or watching a movie because we tend to get so caught up in our jobs, that we don't have enough fun together. Gotta have those "wholesome recreational activities".

Something else we have done, is give our kids "callings" in the family. Dillon is the reminder (he helps us remember to read our scriptures every night). Caleb is the service coordinator (we set a family goal for 2009 to do a service project each month, so Caleb will plan them). Brayden is the Activity Coordinator (he plans a monthly family activity). We will change them whenever we feel like it. Dillon's last job was music coordinator (he led the singing at FHE). We haven't done so well at this in the past (except for Dillon), and hope to do better this year.

You can click here for a pdf copy of the Primary Outline for this year.

And last of all, this has been our most successful method for reading scriptures:

On either Sunday or Monday night, we watch one scripture "reader" story on DVD (from the distribution center). The next night we read it from the "reader". The next night we might read the SAME story from the Gospel Art Picture kit. This is new this year, but if we have a flannel board story, I'll have the kids tell it, and after we know the story or the subject REALLY well, then we finally read it in our scriptures. By then, it's so much easier for the kids to understand.

We've done *most* of the Book of Mormon this way, and this year we are going to do The Doctrine and Covenants.

Maybe it's not a good substitute for the actual scriptures every night...but my kids are enjoying it, and they are really learning the stories. Caleb and Dillon do their "personal scripture study" by watching the Book of Mormon reader on CD-ROM on their computer. Brayden reads out of the readers.

Another idea that has worked well in the past, is to post an article of faith on the fridge. We try to read through it during breakfast in the morning, and it's amazing to me how fast the kids pick up on them. We need to get back to it...

None of this happens regularly. I am probably the WORST at keeping a schedule like this, but I figure that anything that works for awhile is better than nothing. We go in cycles where we do really well, and then times where we get caught up in "life", but by using a schedule like this in the past, I feel that OVERALL we are taking baby steps in the right direction.

What I've been "up to"...

~making pillows

A few weeks ago I got this new quilt and shams from Wal-Mart. Todd thinks I'm a "fake" because I'm a machine quilter, yet I bought our bed quilt from the store. But, I fell in love with the print, and there's NO WAY I could've made it for the price I paid. Even if I quilted it for free :o).
It was a little plain so I made fake euro pillows (they're 12"x28") that sit atop the pillows we sleep on. Then I made the roly pillow (a.k.a "the tampon"). The sides of it look black in the picture, but they are really a yummy chocolate brown. The floral one is just a pillow form wrapped in fabric because I got tired of making piping. I'll finish it...eventually. Any idea's for paint color on the walls and my $8 DI headboard? So far I have one vote for tan on the walls. (The carpet is brown, and the curtains are aqua and brown.)

~making a wreath

I had this berry garland with rusty stars that I've never liked as much as I thought I would when I bought it, so I turned it into a wreath for the centerpiece on my trunk. Brayden declared, "It's looking a little January-ish in here..."

~making a "winter" arrangement

I took the snowflakes and berries off my Christmas tree, and stuck them in this tin container that I bought last summer and haven't ever known what to do with.

~bought a new lamp

We can't have overhead lighting in our livingroom because the heat is in the ceiling. (ridiculous, I know). The ambience is nice on occasion, but most of the time the dim room drives us crazy. This little baby takes a 150 watt bulb. While I was trying to be creative by re-decorating with stuff I have in my house, I came upon this black wooden plate with stars (that I had planned to re-paint) and stuck it under the lamp.

~making a quilt

Vanessa and I sewed up a storm on New Year's Eve and Day. I made my bed pillows, as well as this little non-valentine's Valentine quilt. I wanted something to look winter/valentine-ish but could be left out year round if the mood moves me...so, this quilt was born. Now the question is: Where will I put it?


~Adding a little "love" to the room

My willow tree has sprouted hearts...made from FIMO baking clay. Mom, remember when you bought me that pack of clay my sophomore year of high school? Well, it's still soft! I guess you could call this our "love fern" :o)

~making wooden sugar cookies

I printed off some free digital scrapbooking paper, and mod-podged it to these wooden hearts before spraying them with glitter...such fun.

~more decorating

I found these adorable fake cherries at the DI and stuck them in this little wooden bowl...and now I don't know where to put the bowl. They're probably a bit more summery, but I thought they were cute for Valentine's day too.

~signed for Todd's valentine's day gift

...and birthday, and father's day, and anniversary, and Christmas, and...

You'd better hurry home, Todd, or your laptop is going to have wallpaper with Jason Bateman on it...

And last of all, I've been...

~avoiding laundry.