HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are home from our trip to visit Laren in Utah. We spent pretty much the entire past week there! Despite us all cramming into a tiny studio apartment in Orem, the kids were so much more settled than they have been for the past 2.5 months. It goes to show that it does not matter what kind/size of house we live in as long as we're together as family. It was hard to keep them quiet so as not to disturb the neighboring apartments though.

The night before we left, we got some bad news about Laren's project: that it may come to a standstill due to less sales tax revenue for roads (and just about everything else) in Utah. I will admit I spent a few hours silently weeping over that. Usually being a civil engineer is a pretty stable line of employment, but this bad economy can even affect stable jobs, apparently. It was hard for me to have the energy to get my house in perfect condition and get everything packed and loaded for the trip we had previously planned. But my 12 year old daughter came to the rescue and helped immensely with anything and everything and away we went!!

While we were away we looked at a ton of houses to buy or rent. Most definitely we will be renting until we have job certainty, one way or another, and until this house sells. We also got together with Laren's sister's family in Payson a couple of times. And what would be a trip for us to Utah without a game of bowling at the Wilkinson Center? Afterall, our favorite University houses it! And equally satisfying was some good, cool sweet treats courtesy of the Creamery!!

We rolled in tonight, right before Costco was closing. I had Laren stop in hopes that I could find some Pumpkin Pies, but no such luck! They were completely cleaned out. So I sucked it up and came home and baked my own instead of falling straight into bed. But the smell wafting through my house right now while they bake, is quite a reward for my efforts already!

I hope you all have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Something Fun!

Something Fun!

When I went on my Girls' Weekend a couple of months ago, we not only stayed up late gabbing, went shopping, ate a bunch of junk food, and played games, but we also went to Park City and checked out the Olympic Venues.

We rode the Zip Line down the mountain, after the ski lift took us up. It was exhilerating! I would do it again in a heartbeat! Lots of fun!!

Me in front of the Ski Jump pool.

When we were there, they had some time trials going on for Professional Ski Jumping. This is at their facility in Park City. They actually practice going down these slopes during the warm months since there is no snow in the warm months.

It was actually quite fun to watch. They do all sorts of twists and acrobatics before they fall cleanly and perfectly into the water. They have bleachers that you can sit on and see the whole thing. We were on our way to the Zip line so we didn't stay for more than a few minutes, but I could have stayed and watched for a long time. It was fascinating! Much better to be there in person, rather than just watching on tv.

Blessings

Blessings

In counting my blessings, today I added the following two.

First, this little guy was saved from drowning in a pond while I was visit teaching. He went out into her backyard with a friend, and unbeknownced to me there was a pond there. I was worried from the beginning about his safety, especially once he was outside and out of earshot. This guy is H-E double toothpicks on wheels.

So, after I couldn't hear them for about 10 minutes I interrupt my visit teachee mid-sentence and tell her I must check on the boys. She is muttering something about not looking at her messy house, my only focus was on my son. As I approach the sliding glass door I see the other boy, but not my Tyler. Then I see him. He is drenched, head to water-filled shoes. In a panic, I run to him and immediately see the pond where he got soaked.

I still do not know exactly how it happened, but he said he was reaching for a rock. I suspect he just fell head first into the water. He had a gash on his head and a big red mark on his right shoulder and 2 big red marks on his back. Poor guy, he was freezing despite our warm 78 degree day today here in Denver, in mid November no less!!

I count it as a great blessing that he didn't drowned by getting knocked unconscious by a rock on his way into the water. His friend didn't seem concerned at all about Tyler falling into the water. I don't think he had any intentions of letting us know. But, what can you expect from a 3 year old? After the incident, I took Tyler's clothes off and wrapped him in a borrowed, much-oversized robe. We came home and I put him in the bath. I think I remember her saying her teenager had a dead fish in that pond, ewwww!
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And the second blessing of the day came tonight. We are Black Friday shoppers, much to Laren's aversion to it. I had read late last week that one of the best deals this year on Black Friday would be a Kenmore Front Loading washer/dryer pair for $599.

So I researched it and I found a "pre-black Friday Sale" at Sears on a great front loading Samsung washer/dryer pair on sale on Saturday for $899.00 at Sears. It was a much better model than the Kenmore set. And, as luck would have it, our current washer/dryer is 13 years old and have been threatening going out for the past few months.

The only problem was the sale was on Sunday only, a day we don't shop. So, we found a kind sales clerk who made it work for us and we didn't find out until tonight that we got what we wanted - only better! They sold out of the Samsung model that was on sale so they are going to upgrade us to the Samsung model with ionization or the #1 ranked LG model.

Thankful Heart

Today I have a Thankful Heart -

Specifically for my great big, little family. They are just special little munchkins. When I went to blow out my candles on my birthday cake over the weekend, Kyle (8) said, "Mom, I bet you are going to wish for a Forever Family." Rilyn said, "I bet you are going to wish our house will sell." Though I reminded them both I couldn't share my wishes or they wouldn't come true; I will share with you that these sweet little kids know me perfectly well!

And my Prince Charming Husband did so many kind deeds for me over the weekend, like chauffeuring our kids around for me, coloring my hair, making my birthday cake from scratch (substituting applesauce for the oil), doing yard work, cleaning the carpet where Tyler melted a fudge bar, changing the brakes and rotating the tires on the van, and obliging me by standing in line early in the morning with 16 degree temps to get free flu shots.

Update

And the very day I posted that last post my little child #4 started coming down with a temperature. It was very mild at first. Then the weekend came and it was much higher. Then she got pink eye on top of that! So maybe she wasn't making all of that up in the nurses office last week?

My Sister, who is also trying to sell her house to move out of state, sold her house over the weekend! I'm so happy for her. A little depressed for myself. But I am glad to know that there are houses selling out there in this terrible economy!

It's Monday and after my kids being, well kids - for the sake of terms that I probably shouldn't call them, I woke up this morning after a bad nights sleep to a messy house. That is usually my welcome to a new week, even though I always hope for more! And the cherry on top was my unwelcome monthly visitor arriving to herald in this new week too. She chose to present herself on a day I chose to wear my whitest of whites. Lovely.

So, I'm turning this week around! My house is almost put back together. I need to mop still. And I have a major trip to the Goodwill planned to get rid of all the excess stuff I am getting rid of after going through my basement clutter over the weekend. Speaking of the weekend, I did manage to read a good parenting book while I referreed the kids yesterday. It is called Screamfree Parenting. I'm hoping it sinks in by osmosis! My kids are hoping too.

"Hi, this is Mrs. School Nurse calling and I just wanted to let you know that I've had your #4 child in the nurses office every other day for the last 2 weeks."

"Okay."

"This time she said she was sick, that her side hurt and when I asked her to show me, she pointed to her thigh."

"Her thigh?"

"Yeah, her thigh."

Then I was given a laundry list of reasons why she has come to the nurses office in the past few weeks - a rash on her throat (never any evidence of that), a non-existent fever, overall not feeling well, a headache, etc...

Mrs. School Nurse said that none of Child #4's visits have been consistent with a certain time of day, etc... So she is not avoiding math everyday, or something like that.

I then asked her why Child #4's teacher kept letting her go to the office if they all seemed to be "phantom symptoms." She had no explanation. It is a seasoned, mature late 50 something teacher.

I then tell her this is my #4 child out of 5 and that I had another daughter do this about the same age and that really, sometimes this goes with the age and a child wanting more attention. I told her "Thank You" and that I will talk to child #4 about this when she gets home after school.

What I didn't say, but was tempted to, was that her Father is working out of town and she is likely acting out because of the un-normal home circumstances for us. But for the time being, we are here, he is there and none of us like it but that is the way it must be!

We are doing good. Really. Except for these little things that crop up more often than I would like.