Quote for the Day

quote

"THE BRAVE MAY NOT LIVE FOREVER, BUT THE CAUTIOUS DO NOT LIVE AT ALL. FROM NOW ON, I WILL TRAVEL THE ROAD BETWEEN WHO I THINK I AM AND WHO I CAN BE. THE KEY IS TO ALLOW MYSELF TO MAKE THE JOURNEY. "

I don't know who said that but it sure is a good thing to ponder. I tend to ere on the side of caution, in most everything. I'm trying to find that good balance. But, obviously it's difficult for me. Not that I have any big risks that I want to take in mind. But I need to find that road in between.

The Wednesday Letters

my FIRST book review...

The Wednesday Letters

First of all, I would have to say I would give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. It was a fantastic book that I would highly recommend! It is written by Jason Wright who also wrote Christmas Jars.

The book is set in North Carolina at a Bed & Breakfast where Jack and his wife Laurel live. They were able to frugally get into the business and have created many memories living there, moving in just before their 3 children finished high school.

Their 3 children each go their different ways and there is an underlying story line with the wayward son, Malcom. He flees to Brazil to escape the law and to escape his longtime love, Rain. And he goes through a big identity and relationship struggle. Malcom is both an Antagonist and a Protagonist in the story which creates an interesting twist.

But the main storyline in the book is a great one. It is about how after Jack's expected yet sudden death happens shortly after the unexpected death of his wife Laurel's. They die within a short time of each other and after their death their children discover these letters that their Father wrote to their Mother, every Wednesday, throughout their marriage. It details the hardships and the happiness that they experience. And, it reveals some BIG secrets the kids did not previously know about.

It is heartwarming and inspiring. It made me realize what a treasure a handwritten letter or note is. In this world of computers, we send a good many more emails than handwritten letters. Why wouldn't we? It's much easier and quicker. But this book has almost inspired me to write some notes/letters to my husband.

I love how in the back of the book is one final letter. It is a very nice added touch! I read that the author was so in love with the location of the setting of this book, that he and his family moved there.

I'm kind of a tough critic and so the reason this book did not get 5 out of 5 stars for me is that it takes awhile to get the real storyline going. Aside from that, this book did not disappoint!!

As an aside, one of my "New Year's Resolutions" this year was to develop some hobbies. One of the things I enjoy doing is reading a good book. But sometimes, it's hard for me to read a book I can't just get into.

At any rate, what I'm trying to say is I've done a bit more reading this year than I have in the past years and I'm so glad of that because it really is a joy to spend some time with a good book!

**If you have any great books you would like to recommend, I'd love that. But, I have to say I know many of you liked Twilight and I have to admit it wasn't such a great book to me. I found it to be a bit juvenile and it didn't keep my attention very well. I found it to be a bit predictable too. And I'm not intrigued by vampires, at all - maybe that was part of it?

Perfect Day

Yesterday was our first perfect day!

This potty training, even though I've done it successfully 4 times before, is not an easy job! But yesterday we had our first PERFECT day with no accidents!! It was so great to take the same pair of pants and underwear off Tyler at night that I put on him in the morning!!




It truly is a one step forward, one step back dance. The day before that, I think we only made it to the potty one time! I'm hoping though that today turns out like yesterday!!

Shopping/Returns

SHOPPING/RETURNS

With the Holidays, it means lots of shopping. And for me to enjoy shopping I have to be in the right mood for it. I feel like I'm on shopping overload lately, way too much for my own good! Plus to enjoy shopping I have to enjoy what I'm shopping for. I have to say men and boys are not enjoyable to shop for. They do not like clothes or shoes or perfume or dolls or anything girly (thank goodness on that one!). So really it is no wonder I save the guys for the end of my list.

Another particularly difficult person/people to shop for are my inlaws/parents. I never know for sure what to get for them and they have such different interests than me. I have, in years past, told Laren that is his job but he highly dislikes the chore also! I guess if money were not a factor I would have no problem outfitting everyone in my life with everything they want.

This morning I was out shopping for Christmas lights. I hate having to spend dollar after dollar on thing after thing this time of year. And anyone who truly knows me would attest that I dislike spending anytime of year. But this is our first Christmas in this house and we have more than enough mini white lights, but not enough of the colors. I'm copying Jenny and Angie's idea and going with the red and white lights for our house, above the icicle lights. And with decorating for the holidays, I have found if I do not get what I need right away it's gone!

That is what happened with the strings of red and white lights I wanted. I went to both Walmart and Target and they were all sold out! So this morning, I had a few other things I needed to get (including more stickers for my potty training little guy) so I tried another Walmart and between that and Hobby Lobby I was able to get what I was looking for.

Our lights on our house the way we have them now, without any red.

ETA: We can't put lights on the top part of our roof because we have a ceramic tile roof and those babies break without much effort. So we are left to lighting only the bottom half of our house. Laren's kind of glad it worked out that way! ;)

And because I was out and it was on the way home I had to stop at Costco, a real quick stop so I could be on time to pick Rilyn up from Kindergarten. It was slow getting out of there but I made it in time to get Rilyn by the skin of my teeth. I will be so glad when we get a break from half day Kindergarten and preschool. I just get Rilyn there and I'm back already to pick her up!!

And along with the shopping comes something worse: returns. I hate returns. I hate having to dig through all my receipts to find just the right one. I hate that I have to drive 20 minutes to return an item that cost $3.99. But who wants to just throw the money away on something you can't use, like the wrong size of glue sticks for your glue gun? You can't even gift those! LOL ;)

So now I have my lights, 2 strings of red and 2 strings of white but now I have the extra strings of red I got just in case and the wrong size glue sticks, some ribbon that I found something I like better at a different store and a few other miscellaneous items to return to about 4 different stores.

Tuesday

Tuesday

This morning has been busy. It started with my early walk this morning. The temperature was 22 degrees (F) but surprisingly I felt hot about midway through the walk, probably because I dressed so warmly using double layers. I rushed home pulling into the driveway as Laren was pulling out to go to work.

I got the kids up and out the door to school. This is one of my biggest fete's of the day, really. Some kids awake and get going easier than others. And of course I want my kids to make their beds and pick their rooms up, every morning. It doesn't always happen and it doesn't always/usually happen according to my specifications but it usually gets done. I also make them unload their section of the dishwasher, get dressed and eat breakfast, do their hair and make their lunch if it still needs to be made.

So yes, I get that it is kind of a lot to do for them in the mornings. But there is time, if time is used appropriately to get it all done. I usually have to spend most of my time reminding Kyle, my 7 year old son, to stay on task. He really likes to play around wasting his time away! On mornings like this morning, it was going the rounds with my tween whose hormones are kicking in and she is not very respectful at times.

After getting everyone to school, even a little bit early so Alyssa could set up for the school store, Tyler and I came home to get a bite of breakfast. I had a Visiting Teaching Appointment first thing. But first, I had to take Rilyn the Homemade Bread I made yesterday for her belated Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast this morning and Kayla her forgotten lunch.

The gal that I visit taught today has her husband away in Iraq. He just left about a month ago. She is dealing with that and getting ready for the holidays. It was nice to catch up on all that is going on with her. I can't help, however, to feel a little sad for her that it must not be easy to have her husband gone at this time of year especially.

Tyler playing with a train while I was VTing this morning. He LOVES trains!

During the visit, Tyler told me he had to use the potty. Victory!-- Since we are in the throes of potty training. But when I got him to the bathroom I discovered he already went. I put him on the potty anyway and he did go some more in the toliet. After the visit, we were running late and so I had to change his wet pants and underwear in the van.

Rilyn's Kindergarten had their Thanksgiving Feast today and I wanted to be there for her. The kids had a good time and I did too.

Rilyn (on the right) at her Thanksgiving Feast.

It felt weird to be doing Thanksgiving today. I guess after Thursday, with all the shopping and decorating, I've been in Christmas mode now for almost a week!

Rilyn's class had a substitute teacher for the day, one that I knew from Church. And I had the chance to catch up with some of "my" school friends that I know from helping out in the school. So that was kind of fun.

We got home in time for lunch. Then it was Tyler's nap time, it still is Tyler's nap time but he is in their giggling with Rilyn and not sleeping. He is to that age where he usually naps, but once or twice a week he refuses to.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a Good day! I love that we live close enough to get together with family. Kallie and her family came over for the day.

Kayla rolling out pie dough.


The day before Thanksgiving Kayla and Alyssa helped me make pies, the dough for our rolls (it has to be refrigerated overnight), and chop the cranberries. Kayla not only helped with all of that, but she also helped with the TONS of dishes and clean up!

Alyssa making the pumpkin pie filling.


One of the things about baking is that it dirties a ton of dishes and makes a big mess! But it is worth it particularly on days like Thanksgiving!

Kayla and I getting a self portrait in front of our handiwork.

AND we used the tricks suggested on Good Things Utah for our pies and notice how we got no black spots on our Pumpkin Pie and our Apple pie didn't boil over into the oven.

The morning after Thanksgiving, Laren and I found ourselves up and groggy at 3:25 am to go shopping. Thankfully our big electronic purchase (plasma TV) had been made earlier in the week. At 4:00 am we were at Kohls, at 5:00 am were were Walmart, at 6:00 am I was at Target and Laren was at Circuit City. Then I went back to Walmart and Laren went into Bed Bath and Beyond to get me some stocking holders for the mantel. (It was right next to Circuit City, otherwise I'm sure I'd have had to do this errand myself. He doesn't go in stores like that unless he is compelled to by me! :) )

Apple pie, Pumpkin Pie, Sour Cream Lemon Pie and Pumpkin Cake that Kallie made.


We were back home by 8:15 am with most of our shopping done, everything but a couple of items. Our wallets are lighter than ever now! Our kids will be excited, we hope! I can't spill what we got because my older 2 girls read my blog.

My 5 kiddo's decorating the Christmas Tree 2007.


My kids started decorating the house for Christmas bright and early Friday morning. Around 9:30 am I went back out for round 2 of shopping with Kayla and Alyssa who really wanted to hit some Black Friday sales. I took them to Home Depot, Kohls, Walmart and Kmart. (Yes, I ended up at Walmart 3 times on Friday morning - blech! I call Walmart my necessary evil!)

We finished up most of the rest of our decorating this morning.

One of my favorite

One of my favorite websites is this one. It is Good Things Utah. Of course I live in Colorado not Utah so I always watch the segments I like online. This month they are doing one each Friday where each of the 4 gals, Nicea, Angie, Reagan, and the other gal (can't remember her name) each take us on a tour of their favorite room in their home.

Also, they have some great recipes. I plan on making these Holiday Mint Cookies I saw on the show last week. It is a great show, I wish we had something like it in Colorado. Instead we get something called Colorado & Company which is basically like an hour full of commercials advertising different products and services. Boring!

Also, as long as I'm on the "Utah" kick right now, I read awhile back a great article on how the Huntsmans, Jon and Mary Kaye, the Governor and his wife, adopted from China after they had their own children. It is a touching story. It makes me think of Andrea who did something similar only adopted hers from Korea, I believe? Maybe it was Cambodia, I can't remember for sure but I remember reading her adoption story in her archives sometime ago and it was very inspiring!

And speaking of the article on the Huntsmans and Utah, I love these "profiles" Doug Robinson does for Deseret News. I've read them on a myriad of different people, Larry Miller; John Stockton; John Stockton's son, Houston; Marjorie Hinckley; Sheri Dew; Orrin Hatch; Sharlene Wells Hawkes; Michael McLean and the list goes on. I read them from time to time. They are harder to find since they've reconfigured the Deseret News website. But I like to print off these "profile" stories focusing on various individual's lives and then read them while I take a long, hot bath.