Profound Gratitude

It is hard for me to believe that last week was election week and the end of soccer.  Since I have had so much less to do and to pull at my time, it seems that time has moved differently.  I feel like last week should have been weeks ago instead of days ago.  Maybe that is because so much has happened since then.  Things that I have no control over and that I can only stand by and watch in dismayed silence.  I am more grateful today than last week that I was able to stand for something so important as restoring the definition of marriage in California.  It seems the more opposition there is and the more misunderstanding is shown, the more solid I become in my stance.  If that is possible.  I am profoundly grateful for the knowledge I have of the Savior and his eternal plan for us.  For the knowledge that even though this may be a short won battle in the great war of what is to come that everything will be okay.  I am also grateful for the peace of mind that this knowledge brings.  I have been overwhelmed and admittedly a little surprised by the amount of peace that I feel.  I had a friend call me today and tell me she was afraid for me and my family because we BELONG to The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints.  I told her thanks for the worry, but we are okay, and will be.  I know that no matter what opposition comes from this or anything else we will be okay. 

VERY BUSY, STILL ALIVE

I have been very busy lately and have not had much time to sit down and blog. I thought I would take the ten minutes I have before I have to go to let everyone know we are still alive. This month has been one of the craziest months ever. I will have to give you a complete run though later, but here is an over view of the things that have kept me running this month. Hailey and Riley Soccer, Yes on Prop. 8, Riley Scouts, Yes on Prop. 8, Riley Karate, Yes on Prop. 8, My Preschool, Yes on Prop. 8, Halloween costumes and parties, Yes on Prop. 8. As you can see between my kids and campaigning for YES ON PROP. 8 I haven't had a lot of time to sit down at the computer. I have not blogged on Prop. 8 before now because 1. I haven't had time, 2. I don't think that more than a hand full of people read this blog. I left the heavy blogging to those whose blogs are more read and hit the streets. I am pleading with anyone who does read this before tomorrow to please vote YES on Prop. 8. If you still have questions or concerns about this proposition please go to PreservingMarriage.org

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

This dress is AMAZING!! Check it out. I can't even imagine taking the time to make something as amazing as that. I don't know if I would ever be able to finish it. It would be really fun to see my girls in it though. Hats off to the very creative woman who made it!! Check it out below!!

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

Top Fifteen Reasons we moved.

15. The sound of Silence.

Our new place is so quiet.

14. An Ocean view!!

Okay it is very far off and very tiny, but it is still there.

13. A working oven.

My oven takes about an hour or more to heat up. It will be nice to have one that can do that in about 15 min.

12.No more laundry outside!!

Hailey didn't even know you could have laundry inside. Oh sad.

11. No more Ants!!

Since the house was tented for termites we have been taken over by ants. They are everywhere. Most of the time I can't even figure out why they are where they are.

10. Definable Space.

Having a Kitchen, Living Room, Dining Room, instead of a livingroomofficedinningroomkitchen.

9. Carpet!!!

We have found you need this for boys to wrestle safely.

8. Better School.

The school the kids are in now is okay, but the one they will be in is the best in the district.

7. No more smoke.

Our neighbors smoke outside to save their kids from second hand smoke, I guess. Unfortunately it is right outside our living room window. The smoke drifts into our house and we get the second hand smoke. Yea for us! (Hear that last statement dripping in sarcasm.) YUCK!!

6. No more BIG SHIRLEY-

Great for exercise really bad for parking, or backing your car out. This picture doesn't quite catch the actual steepness of this hill. One more percentage and they would have had to pave it in cement because asphalt would slide off. YIKES!

5. No more baked Braman all-a-mode.

10:00 am, 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm
Before making dinner. After making dinner.

This will be the first time, since moving to CA 81/2 years ago, that I will have central air!

4. A window for the girls.

This has worried me since we moved in. I have had nightmares about there being a fire and not being able to get my girls out. A window will also help so they don't roast.

3. No more neighbors puking outside our bedroom window at 4:30 am.

This happened on Labor Day. The new neighbors moved in on Thursday and on Monday (Labor Day) had a roaring party that lasted until 4:30 am. It only ended when one of them puked outside our bedroom window. This also happened to be the night before the First Day of School. Although, it was kind of a blessing in disguise. If they hadn't made such fools of themselves we wouldn't have looked for a new place to live.

2. Safety.

In the 19 months that we have lived here I have put my own house on lock down twice for our safety. The police were canvasing the neighborhood on foot, in cars, and from the air. Never a good sign.

1. A better bed to bloom in.

There is a quote, "Bloom where you are planted." Usually I totally agree that you should make the best of where you are. However, I have found that sometimes when the weeds are shutting out the sun, you feel like you are shrinking instead of growing, and there is no way that your beautiful petals will ever be seen, it is time to find a new bed.

Free HandBag!!

You all know how I like a deal, well here is an awesome one. There is a new online store, Handbag Planet. They launch in about 14 day. They are going to have a 24 hour give away of a bag a hour to celebrate their upcoming launch. It sounds like fun. I checked it out on Snopes and didn't find anything. No strings attached and free. Let me hear the WHOO HOO!!

They look pretty nice! I will be excited to see all of their different designs. Check them out!

http://www.handbagplanet.com

Wish Me luck!!

I am trying to potty train Carley this week. On Friday she came to me and said "potty." I thought ya right, but why not. So I took her in the bathroom, took off her diaper, and put her on the potty. Much to my surprise and excitement she went!!! I threw a party. We did the potty dance, sang the potty song, had everyone clap and cheer for her, called Daddy at work, an of course gave her a potty treat. She has gone four time since then. This morning we put the panties on and are really excited to be on the verge of no one in diapers.

NO MORE DIAPERS, NO MORE PINS, AND MOMMY IS ALL FULL OF GRINS!!

SNAKE!!!

Okay just a little one. Even though it was little it still creeped me out. Since they cut down our trees and left the logs all about, Riley has been finding all sorts of things. Mostly beetles and bugs, but the other day he found a little gopher snake. It was probably only about six inches long. Just a little thing. He called us all out to see it. Sydney was in the tub and Carley was still eating. Being the great brother he is Riley really wanted to show all his sisters. I think he was secretly hoping they would be scared of it. I ran into the house, grabbed a Tupperware, (probably the same one we had the centipede in earlier this year), and had Ryan put the snake in it so we could show the girls. I was worried that Riley would try to scare his sisters so I kept control of the container. We brought it to Carley, she wasn't too impressed. While we were showing her I shifted the container in my hands and ended up with one right under the snake. No big deal there was plastic between. Well the snake must not have liked the warmth from my hand because it uncoiled and stared trying to get out of the container. I freaked out, screamed, like one of my little girls, and threw the thing onto the table. Why the table you may ask. Good question. Well while I was screaming and freaking out I thought that if I let the snake go in my house it could be very bad. I was hoping that the table would give someone, not me, enough time to grab it before it got away. Fortunately the snake stayed in the container, probably because I almost knocked him out when I threw him across the room. After that Riley took over the showing off of the snake.