I love finding a great deal!

During a meeting today my friend Shanna told me about a great deal her sister found at Walmart earlier. She came across HUGE discounts in the girls' clothing area. Things were marked down to $1, $3 and $5. I had to go there after the meeting so I decided to check it out while I was there. Natalie, being the only girl, doesn't get hand-me-downs so I love finding a great deal. We found her a pair of Hannah Montana t-shirts for $3 (down from $10), a pair of HM denim capris and a matching gold belt for $5 (down from $16.92) and 2 beaded v-neck t-shirts (1 black and 1 white) for $3 each (down from $6).
On the chance they had made similar markdowns in the boys' department we went there. Drew is finally tall enough that we can get the XS and size 4/5 from that area. We found a long sleeve light-up skull t-shirt for Drew for $2 (down from $9), and a pair of denim shorts for him for $3 (down from $10.93). I think he's going to wear the shirt every day for a week if he can get away with it.
In total I spent $19 and saved $39.85- almost 68%. Yea!

Blogger issues?

For some reason when I switched to private some of you weren't able to leave comments any more. I think I have it fixed. Can someone that was having problems please try posting again to see if the problem is fixed? Thanks.

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My busy day/week

I am on our ward's activity committee, and this is a busy time for us. We are in the process of planning and preparing for our Christmas party. In recent years we have had a family that sang and had large puppets and ward breakfasts with visits from Santa. This year we really felt like we should have a more spiritual theme. We looked and looked and finally found an idea that we really liked called "A Night in Bethlehem."
I got the script from another website, and have used it as a basis for our program. We decided to use more musical numbers from groups and individuals. We also changed some of the songs to fit what we felt would better suit the program. We had to change the location from a local farm to the church building because so many people in our ward have asthma that the dust from the farm was going to prevent many people from attending.
This week the committee will be meeting almost every day. We met today to figure out exactly what needed to be done and to plan when we could do it. Tomorrow we're going to start making the signs for the "city" of Bethlehem, and for the bags to hold the "money" for each family. Thursday we're going to sew the bags, and hopefully assemble them. Then on Friday... well I can't even remember.
On Wednesday the other committee members are meeting. I cannot meet that day because I'm serving in my other calling at the cannery. I'm not canning anything for myself, but because I am the canning specialist I have to be there. I don't know what I'm going to do as this is the first time I will have gone since being put in this calling and with the new FDA regulations in place. I have no idea what to expect. Everyone has to can their own items, and no one can leave until it's all done. I guess I'll bring a book?? Am I allowed to do that? I have no idea. I guess I'll find out on Wednesday.
Well I need to take a break. I haven't eaten dinner yet because I spent the last 2 1/2 hours cleaning up the mess Natalie, Drew and their friends made today. I should have taken pictures, but it was so messy I couldn't make myself leave until I was done. I could barely get into Natalie's room because it was SO messy.

Every single item of clothing was taken out of her closet, and at least 2/3 of those no longer on the hangers! Underwear and her dress up clothes were scattered throughout the room as well. As we got that all picked up I saw that all of her regular shoes and Disney Princess dress up shoes (about 8 pairs) were scattered throughout her bedroom and closet. I don't know how she was even able to find her dance clothes in all that mess! Once all the clothes were picked up we were able to get the blankets and pillows put back on her bed, and then start picking up the toys. We made several trips to the game room to put the toys away. We also got toys from Drew's room to take back there. While we were there I found that there were about 30 children's books on the ground. Oh my!
After we got the toys put back and the bedrooms decluttered I had to put the books back. I decided that I needed to do some reorganizing because the 2 bottom shelves were in complete disarray. It's finally done, and I hope this new system will make it less prone to mess.
I sure hope so because this is how I feel right now.

...And hungry... Time for dinner!

My Meeting with John McCain

At the urging of Justin I am posting this. This was November of 1993 when I went to Washington, D.C. with some people from my high school for a yearbook competition. We went to Arlington National Cemetery, many of the memorials in the D.C. area, and on a tour of the White House. One of the people we met was John McCain. He was very friendly and spoke with us for several minutes, and mailed all of us an autographed photograph.

Thanksgiving Decorations

These are my Thanksgiving decorations this year.

Oh how soon I forget!

Holy cow! My mouth is so sore! I went to the orthodontist today to get my retainers, and I forgot how sore they make your mouth! (Think E.T. when he says, "Ouch.")

I'm sure that they won't bother me for long but in the meantime I plan to have plenty of cold drinks, Popsicles and other frozen treats.

But you have to check out my totally cool new nighttime retainer! Pretty neat!

Can you tell I like the Denver Broncos?

Twilight is coming!

I am so excited for November 21st when the new Twilight movie is released. I'm going to the midnight showing with a bunch of girlfriends that night. We already have our tickets! Is anyone else going? BTW, do you like my new Bella Swan-inspired background?

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Here's the Chili Recipe from Halloween

I can't claim this recipe as my own. I made some very slight alterations which I have noted on the recipe. I made it again last night for dinner and everyone had at least one serving. We're having it again tomorrow, and the kids are excited about that.

Weight Watchers Chili

1 ½ lbs. Ground beef or turkey (I use turkey because it saves on fat and calories.)
Diced onions
Chopped celery or green pepper (I used 1/2 green pepper each time.)
2 cans stewed diced tomatoes (I used the ones that said chili ready on it.)
1 can Rotel Tomatoes (I just used an extra can of tomatoes.)
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can whole corn
1 pkg. Taco seasoning
1 pkg. Ranch dressing (dry mix)
1 ½ cups water
Chili powder to taste

*Cook meat and onions together in a frying pan. I then put this in my crock pot and add all the other ingredients. I let it cook on low all day and serve. You can add a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese and/or green onions to make it even better!

Braces are off!

Here's a before picture Kent took on Monday morning just before I got my braces off. (I am not a morning person, hence the sleepy eyes.) Here's the picture I took with my cell phone.

Here I am after getting some sleep. Why did I do my hair like this? Oh yeah... growing out the bangs. I'm sure some of you can relate to that!

Here are the before and after pictures they gave me. Even if my teeth didn't look better I look better. 25-30 pounds makes a HUGE difference! I just wish they'd let you fix your hair after lying down! My hair looked okay when we started, but was totally flat when we were done.

Election 2008 Thoughts

Disclaimer- I was a Poli Sci Major in college so if you aren't interested in politics you can skip this post!

Before reading this post click on this link about Joe Biden's comments on Oct. 19, 2008 in Seattle, Washington. Then click here to see Barack Obama's stand on the issues.

I am sick over the results of the presidential election! I am amazed that so many people were wooed by this man. I agree that he is a dynamic speaker. However, I totally disagree with his stand on so many issues. I don't want to pay even more towards a broken welfare system, and give even more concessions away. If I didn't feel overtaxed already I certainly will soon. I feel like he and Biden (who is so liberal) will completely change the look and feel of our country for the worse. Bad, bad, bad feelings when I think about the future of our country. I won't add any more of my thoughts, but I truly fear for the future of our country.

On a better note Prop. 102 passed! What a relief. I know that it was only because of all of the prayers, hard work of volunteers at the phone banks, the signs everywhere and bumper stickers that this passed. Thank Heaven!

We also get to keep Joe Arpaio as sheriff! I don't necessarily agree with all of his tactics, but he has done so much to uphold the laws- even the unpopular ones. He took away porn, cable t.v. and other excessive comforts from the inmates (see Tent City). He enforces the immigrations laws, and although I don't agree with his tactics, he does get very good results. I don't have a problem with someone living in the United States as long as they do it legally!

I hope that however you voted that you exercised your right to vote. I think it's so important to participate in the democratic process- even when things don't always go the way I want. It was only 89 years ago that women were not allowed to vote in this country. There are still some countries that don't allow women to vote. Because we are given this right here we should exercise it when presented with the opportunity!

Halloween Pictures

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a busy day for our family!
First I drove Natalie, Trevor and Justin to school. Then I came home to eat breakfast and get ready for the next party. While I was eating I booted up the computer. Good thing I did. There was an e-mail from her teacher saying that she did want me to come to class and bring a craft for the class to do. Yikes! I had to figure out what I was going to do (I had an idea in mind, but I needed to decide if it was age-appropriate for her class), then cut everything out and get the supplies together. I finally decided on a 3" black spider with a 5" pumpkin that would act as a great background. Thank goodness for my Cricut! I was able to cut out 20 spiders and 20 pumpkins in just a few minutes. Then I also had to get dinner in the crock pot. My sister Katie, her daughter Melia and my mom were going to come to our house to eat and then trick-or-treat with us that night. I was making chili, which I hate, but I found this recipe that I LOVE! So that's what we were going to eat. I love crock pots too. I was almost ready by 9, which is when Drew's preschool's Halloween party was starting so things looked good.
Drew did not get up until 9:05, but since everyone has been getting sick I let him sleep in. (It also allowed me to get those things ready.) He ate breakfast and then had to figure out which costume to wear. He decided to be Buzz Lightyear. He didn't want to wear anything under this costume, and he wouldn't change his undies, so you could totally see them through the costume. At that point I just didn't care! By the time we left we were almost 45 minutes late, and it was almost time for me to go to Natalie's class. He missed the class Halloween pictures and a few of the activities, but he was still excited to be there, and didn't care that I was had to go to Natalie's class. I was able to stay for a few minutes before I left.
When I got to Natalie's class I had the kids color the pumpkin stems green, then glue the spider to the pumpkin. Then they could either draw a face on the spider or have one of the parents put glue and glitter to make a face. It went really smoothly, and they all seemed to like what they made. We finished a few minutes before class ended so I got the car and picked Natalie up.
Kent was home when we got there. This made me so happy! Drew was going to a birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza from 12-2, and I was supposed to help in Trevor's class for his Halloween party at 2. Kent was going to try to get off work at 1 so he could meet me at PPP at 1:30 so I could leave in time to get back to the school to help out in his class. His being home worked out better for me because he could take the kids to the party and stay there, and I wouldn't have to rush to get everything done. With this working out with Kent, all I had to do was wrap the gift and have Drew change out of his costume into his clothes. And since PPP has free WiFi Kent took Natalie to let her play and he was able to work.
Shortly after they left I went back to the school to help out with Trevor's class Halloween party. It was insane! The kids had already partaken of massive amounts of sugar judging by how hyper they were. I don't know what I really did to help... other than crowd control. I led the kids to throw their trash away too, but I don't know... it didn't seem like much!
When we were done I drove Justin and Trevor back and cleaned. Kent's dad, my mom, sister Katie, and her daughter Melia were coming over and we had a ton to clean. Around 5 they all arrived, and we ate the chili I made and the cornbread my mom made. It was pretty good! We don't even like chili, but it was a HUGE batch, and it was gone within the following 24 hours.
My back was hurting so bad from all my running around so I volunteered to stay home with my mom and pass out candy. It felt so nice outside that we decided to move chairs and some decorations out to the driveway to pass out the candy. We had a lot of fun seeing all the fun costumes and visiting with everyone who came by. Kent took our kids trick or treating, and Katie and Melia went with them. They got a bunch of candy, and had a lot of fun. As the trick or treaters started fading in numbers some of my neighbors came over and we talked in the front while our kids played together. Katie's boyfriend John also came over. Before I went inside I took down all of the Halloween decorations inside and outside and put up all of my Thanksgiving decorations. I suppose I should take pictures and post them, but that will have to be at another time!

Girls' Pedis

Natalie had to go to the ER yet again so she and I got to go for pedicures again. She said that we weren't allowed to match so I got a zebra pattern, and she got a flower on her big toes and glitter on all the rest. She was quite pleased with the results. She has a follow-up appointment tomorrow with another specialist to see if we can finally get to the bottom of her problems.

One year anniversary!

Today is the one year anniversary of my back surgery. I can honestly say that it's been much better since I had it operated on! I still have some problems, but the nerve pain is not present most of the time so I'm so glad that I had the surgery. And I'm so grateful I found such a great surgeon who took the time to get the necessary tests done to ensure that I got the proper care and the best result that he could give me.
As you can see by the time I posted this it's pretty late. In fact it's almost 1:00 a.m. Justin has been working on his paper all day. He was almost done at about 9:30 when he started freaking out. I told him it was time for a little break, and when he was done I'd go in with him to see what was going on. Turns out he deleted the entire paper. He has spent hours working on it all week. I had saved an earlier version of it, but it was so different than the current one that he literally had to start from scratch. I feel so bad for him! And I feel bad for me right now because I am pooped! I was out until 2:30 a.m. last night, up at 7 today, and I have an optometrist appointment first thing tomorrow morning. I am not getting enough sleep! I hope he finishes soon! My bed is calling to me!
Both Natalie and Drew had Halloween parties to go to today. Drew wouldn't keep his costume on. I got him dressed in a Superman cape, but I apparently don't know how to do his hair like Superman's so he took his costume off and wouldn't wear it. He was wearing a Spider-Man shirt, though, so I guess that's good enough.

Here's Drew with the Superman cape before he decided he couldn't wear it.

As for Natalie we got out her Hannah Montana wig, microphone headset and feather boa. She had black leggings that have sparkles in the material. The t-shirt was a purplish color with fun designs and had sequins all over it. She looked pretty cute. She didn't want me to go to the party, though. She told me she was "a big girl and I don't need you to come with me anymore!" Little stinker! I went anyway, and she was glad I was there. It was pretty warm outside today so first she took of the boa; then the headset; then the wig. I guess having me there wasn't so bad after all!

Natalie as Hannah. She was so excited to wear makeup and her new sparkling clothes!

Natalie doing crafts. She would do them all day every day if I let her.

Ally and Natalie. This is at the end of the party, and I think I was lucky to catch them with any part of their costumes left. It was pretty hot outside!

Funny for the day- Redistribute the Wealth

From my brother...
My History of Economic Thought teacher sent me this and I found it to be funny yet true…

From a former student:
This is from my co worker's mom who did this last night. A gutsy woman - just my type!!
In a local restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed the money more.
I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application
-- Amanda Daninger

Election Thoughts

Kent and I submitted our early voting ballots. I always take the time to read up on all of the propositions and candidates before I vote because I want to make an informed decision. Kent trusts me enough to go along with my votes. (I tell him that he can do his own research to come up with something different if he is so inclined, but so far he has voted with me. I guess it's times like this that my Poli Sci studies from ASU come in handy...) I even voted across party lines in a few places this time. I felt a little guilty about that! But I really felt that some of the people from the other party would be better in those positions.
Listening to all of the ads on TV and radio I thought that many of the propositions sounded great. But before I voted I had to do my homework because I didn't want to vote for something that I was misled about by the ads. It's times like this that I really love the Internet. I was able to find several websites that explained what the propositions would really do. Some of them had really good points on both sides, but then they also had some really terrible consequences that they DON'T put in the ads on TV and radio. I was shocked that they got enough valid signatures to get these propositions onto the ballot!
This election is so important! Please don't waste your vote! Do your homework so you can make an informed decision. If you're still unsure how to vote then PRAY!

Family Week update

I apologize for some of the pictures being blurry. Someone switched the settings on the camera, and I didn't realize until I pulled the pictures that many of them were blurry. I cleaned them up as much as I could on Photoshop, but even that has its limits!

Tuesday ended up not working to go to a movie because Kent had to go to Tucson for work that day. When he came home he and Justin went to Blockbuster and got a couple of DVDs for us to watch. I took a couple of pictures. (The blurry pictures aren't quite as bad when they're small!)

Wednesday we had our pizza party courtesy of Little Caesar's, and Kent even brought me some flowers home.

After eating we played Yahtzee (Natalie's choice) until 8:30. Everyone was having fun for about 10 minutes. Then Drew decided that it wasn't so fun, and left to play X-Box. The rest of us played for quite a while.
Thursday Kent had to go to Flagstaff for work (I really hate these day trips...) so I took the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua by myself. I was not looking forward to it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty funny.
Tonight we had plans to go to the farm, but I had to have Kent bring me home before we got there. I've been at his mom's house for the last 2 days (she's recovering from surgery), and she has cats. I am very allergic to cats. Even though I'm on Astelin, Claritin and Singulair the cats made me sick. Plus I think I caught a stomach bug... I really want them to have a ton of fun tonight so I thought it best to come home so they don't have to leave early because of me. Kent is supposed to take a ton of pictures. He's meeting my sister Katie, her dd Melia, bf John, and his dd Sydney. It should be fun.

UPDATE:

Kent and the kids met Katie, John, Melia and Sydney at the farm. They had a bunch of fun until I got a call from Kent about 1 1/2 hours after they got there. He was checking to see how I was when I realized that one of my children was screaming/crying in agony in the background. Natalie's tummy was hurting again, to the point that Kent (!) felt that she needed to go to the ER. He brought her home, and I was feeling okay by then so I took her. They had to give her an IV with fluids and medication, take some x-rays and draw some blood. Poor girl. She was in absolute agony. they recommended that we take her to another specialist to see if he could pinpoint the cause of some of these other issues that have been plaguing her since she was 3 1/2.

Anyway, the boys had a lot of fun, and I have several pictures. Because of Natalie's trip to the ER and early departure she's only in a few of the pictures. Again, I apologize for the blurry pictures!

Oh, braces!

I almost forgot! Justin had his 3 month check up with the orthodontist yesterday, and he's finally got enough teeth to get his braces! Hee, hee! I get mine off 2 weeks from yesterday, and Justin gets his on on November 19. Because of this we're going to strategically plan our family Christmas pictures so that this year no one will have braces in the picture! My teeth will be straight, I'll be thinner than last year, and I won't have the glazed over look from last year's picture. (I was about 3 1/2 weeks post-op from my back surgery when we took our family pictures last year, so I was still on pain medication, and wearing those darn compression stockings. Yuck! IMHO I looked terrible, but I didn't even realize it.) This year will be different, I'm sure!!!

Family Week

My sister Amy reminded me in a Facebook post this morning that I haven't updated in a while. I guess it has been a while- 10 days. Whoops!
This week is our stake's family togetherness week. The idea came from our stake presidency to remind us that families are central to the Creator's plan, and so that we can make our families stronger by building on experiences that we share together.
Last night we didn't do anything spectaculat because Natalie had dance and the boys had gymnastics. By the time we ate dinner we only had enough time to finish a couple of jobs, read and get ready for bed.
Oh, we did manage to have a quick planning meeting. We had each child give 2 suggestions of things they would like to do together as a family, and then we took a vote.
Tonight we're having a pizza party and game night.
Tomorrow we're going to see a movie at the theater.
Thursday night we're going to watch a movie together at home.
Friday we're planning on making our annual excursion to the farm.
Saturday we're going to try to clean out the garage and maybe hit the zoo in the morning. Then we have the Primary Program practice (I'm subbing on the piano for the practice so I'll be there too), Trevor is going to a Halloween party, and Kent and I are going to dinner then to watch the UFC fight with another couple.
We'll see how everything goes! I'll try to post pictures of the things we did, and hopefully by the end of the week I'll have some really neat experiences to share.