I'm okay with it

I was sitting on the couch next to Ben looking at something on his laptop with him. Beks came up to me trying to climb on me so I picked her up. She kept squirming around reaching for Ben, she grabs him and climbs up him, still squirming, moves his laptop with her body, and finally settles down curled up against him. Then she smiled, happy as a clam. She just wanted her daddy. Yep, I'm okay with it.

Early vacation

Freezing rain, snow, sleet, hail last night = no school today

Hallelujah!

Today is going to be a stay-in-your-pajamas kind of day.

Waiting, waiting...

Waiting 2 hours for your oil change...Grrr

Your Dr is running 45 minutes late...Sigh

Being forced to sit still and wait TWICE the week before Christmas...AAAHHHH

66 Christmas cards stuffed, sealed, labeled, stamped, and mailed...Priceless

Some things money can't buy.

For everything else...there is God figuring out for you when you are going to find time to get your cards out!

Unexpected blessings

You know when you have those moments when a great many things seem to go wrong all at once? Or life just seems to be more stressful than usual? For military wives, they usually happen as soon as the husband deploys. We've had a few things break or just not work properly all at the same time in addition to a schedule that was exhausting last week. I was finding myself getting frustrated by it all and reacting very badly. After (finally) getting a decent night's sleep I was able to focus on the bigger picture and be properly ashamed of my crankiness. I reminded myself that all is in God's hands, that I need to trust in Him always, and that, despite the minor setbacks (and they were minor), we are very blessed.

In short order, our not-very-old printer and our very new computer decided that they would no longer work together, our very new camera was mis-behaving, then said camera and computer would not cooperate with each other, and my plam pilot died - again. Mind, that Palm is the other half of my brain, and this is the 3rd one I've gone through (Best Buy has an awesome warranty program).

On the other hand...

We have a home and heat.

We are all healthy.

We are surrounded by loving Christian friends and neighbors.

We live in a country where we are free to celebrate our saviour's birth.

I will not stress.

I will have faith.

Even when all of my electronics are staging a rebellion at the same time.

So last night we went into Best Buy, I handed them the Palm, Geek Squad did their thing and they decided that it needed to be sent out for repair. If it was not repairable, I would get another new one. I said thanks, but no thanks, could I possibly get store credit and look for something else? I mean this is the THIRD one I've gone through. I love the Palm operating system but they seem to just die after 15 months.

You know what?

They said, "sure, what were you thinking of getting?"

I had no idea.

I wasn't planning on a new organizer.

I'll just have a look around.

"Okay ma'am let us know if we can help you find something"

WOW!!!

I immediately thought of the Palm phone. They are made for Sprint, they have great reviews, I wanted one last year when we upgraded phones but my Palm was still new and I could not justify it. So I went and looked.

$519.00

Okay, maybe not.

I got some help and I looked at the PDA's and all the store had was Palm products or Apple products. We were not interested in changing phone carriers so Apple was out of the question. I told the guy what I was thinking, who our carrier was, and he asked if we were eligible for an upgrade.

He checked.

We were.

I could have the $519 phone for ... FREE.

Huh? Free? Seriously?

So he pointed out the fine print that I missed because I was shocked by the original price. If we extend our contract we get the phone for free. That's not a big deal, we didn't have any intentions of cancelling phone service any time soon. And, oh by the way, your husband's line is eligible for an upgrade as well.

So I talked Ben into getting a new Palm phone as well. It didn't talk much talking. He has been needing an organizer, he uses his phone as a calendar, and it was free.

So, after all of that phenomenal customer service, and Ben insisting he wasn't actually in the market for a new phone, we are the proud owners of two new Palm phones. Mine is berry, his is black, and they are cool.

$1100 worth of phones for free.

I still have a $200 gift card to Best Buy.

And, oh by the way, the printer started working again this morning.

Definately, not sweating the small stuff.

So proud

These candy corn were in a bag, tied closed with a pretty ribbon. She is so proud of herself.

Look at them mommy

I wonder if I can eat these?

Vala's

Ben's squadron did a trip to Vala's again this year. They provided the hot dogs and smores and the families brought sides. It was a little hot and dusty but the kids had fun.

Bekah and her first marshmellow

She likes it

Makin' smores

The giant bounce. I think this is the kid's favorite thing (notice the big kid in the shot).

Picking out pumpkins

I don't know who she belongs to!

Bountiful Harvest

Okay, I give up.

No, no, I am letting go.

Our new computer does not load pictures the same way as our old one.

They are out of order.

Letting go, letting go, letting go...

Kimmel Orchard

I love this pic

The best part about apple picking

Bekah wants some too

This was the path less traveled

And this was why. We had to hike for our apples. We had the place to ourselves.

Fun day. We will not try the Apple Jack festival again, but we will come back to one of these orchards. The apples were yummy, the apple products were worth the long lines, and picking the apples was just fun.

Merry Christmas

Yes, I know I'm a bit early. But since I am typing on our Christmas present, it is appropriate. Our old computer was about 7 years old, which in supermodel and electronic years is like, old. When we bought it, it was top of the line and it had a whole 20gb hard drive! Anyway, it was taking every ounce of memory just to run the operating systems and it was running them sloooowly. Being cheap, um I mean frugal, I would have happily kept it a few more years relying heavily on our external hard drive. In the end, Benjamin wore me down, and we are now the proud owners of a new desktop with, drumroll please, a 648gb hard drive! WOW! This computer doesn't even flinch when it opens my picture file with 11,662 pictures in it. Everything is so bright and shiny and moves quickly. I am still getting used to the new OS and trying to find where the buttons are, but it is not too bad. Thanks Mom for donating to our new toy, I kept the boxes so we can unwrap them at Christmas and act surprised. And now that Ben has re-loaded our programs and files, I will catch everyone up on some pictures.

Election day

Many thoughts have been running through my head over the last couple of weeks. I had no doubts about the candidate I was voting for but I find myself afraid for this nation. I am fearful of the direction this country could be headed for. I know I am not alone in this. In 1 Timothy we are called to pray for our government leaders, so I ask you to join me in prayer today. Pray for this nation, pray for our future president, pray, pray, pray.

I would like to leave these links for the undecided out there. As I said, there has never been any doubts for me who I would vote for, but these affirmed my choice.

I received this via email and thought, my husband goes to war for this? This photo is not doctored in any way, it is real (you can check it out on snopes here), and I do not care what 'modern' custom dictates, you place your hand over your heart and face the flag as well as "just show respect with your demeanor". I am sorry, but how you address the flag, "in this day and age", is NOT irrelevant! Our sons, husbands, fathers, daughters, wives, mothers, siblings are dying for our country! No, this is not irrelevant.

There are no words for this. Only tears.
Silent Screams

Thank you to this blogger for saying what many of us would like to.
Voted

In prayer,
Kris

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe was shared with me while we were in AK and it has become one of my favorites. I tend to keep this recipe for the fall. I don't know, pumpkin in summer just doesn't work for me. For those of you salivating at the name, yes they are as good as they sound. For those currently going through withdrawls because I am not making anymore right now, here you go. Oh, and don't say I didn't warn any of you, once you know what's in them you'll start counting how many you ate. There is a reason I make them mini.

Lanna's chocolate chip pumpkin muffins

Blend dry in a small bowl and set aside:

• 2C flour
• 3C sugar
• 3T pumpkin pie spice or 5 1/4t cinnamon + 1 3/4t ginger + 3/4t ground cloves
• 3t baking soda
• 3/4t salt

Blend wet in large bowl ( I use a whisk):

• 6 eggs
• 3 cups solid pumpkin (not pie filling, about 1/2 less than the large can. I just dump the can without scraping the sides)
• 3 sticks butter, melted

Fold dry into wet until just blended.

Fold in 3 cups chocolate chips.

Spoon into muffin cups (these will not rise a lot, fill to almost full)

Bake at 350

regular muffins 20-25 min or until they spring back to touch

mini muffins 18 min

Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing.

Cool completely on wire rack

Notes:

Use muffin cups, not non stick sprays. The chocolate chips pull out if not in cups. Exception to the rule - if you use the Pampered Chef mini muffin pan you can bake them without cups. Let them cool a bit then use a large spoon to loosen the edges then scoop them out carefully. I always make these mini for 2 reasons. 1, they are super rich and 2, they are super moist. The large muffins stay moist and crumble easily, leaving a huge mess when the kids get a hold of them. This recipe makes approximately 120 mini muffins (5 PC min muffin pans) and I have no idea how many regular, I don't make them. Last note, I never put these in anything with a lid, they stay too moist, even the mini's. And frankly, they never stick around long enough to go bad, so leave them out uncovered once they are cool. Enjoy!

Letting go

I started this blog partly to keep the grandma's updated but also as a journal of our crazy life. And that is where my OCD kicks in. I like things in order, chronological order is my favorite, ask my husband, our music collection is organized by decade, then alphabetically. For those who have seen my magnet collection, you get it. So it is killing me that I have gotten so far behind due to our crazy schedule. I have anxiety just thinking about blogging about this week when I skipped last month.

I need to just get over it.

The world will not end if I blog 'out of order'.

So here it is. Me letting go.

Mom thoughts

Bekah loves to be near people. Although she is learning to play independently, she still crawls around after everyone so she can keep you in her sight. She especially loves to come into the kitchen and 'cook' with me. Her cooking involves chewing on my spatulas and throwing a bowl, chasing after it, and throwing it again. It is fun to watch. For the last two days, Bekah has been crawling around the house babbling, "ba ba ba ba ba", loudly. We talk back to her and it gets louder. I like this. I can't always see where she has crawled to, but I can hear her. She has also been trying to stand. She goes from crawling to 'standing' on all fours.
This morning she pulled herself up to standing against the couch. Nothing will ever be the same.

Jacob loves to ride his bike. We weren't out of the truck for two minutes after church yesterday before he had removed his 'church' shirt, keeping his undershirt on, and the legs of his zip-off bottom pants and was on his bike and gone. He is all boy that one. Every day he is trying new things just to prove he can. First it was riding with no hands, ("Look mom, no hands", literally). Yesterday he pulls up and informs us that he can ride his bike without the seat, he really can, wanna see? Yes, he removed the seat from the bike and rode standing up. Ben just shook his head and made sure Jake brought the seat home. I commented that that wasn't the best idea he's ever had and lets keep the seat on. Oh, Jacob.

My Elle. This girl is so bright - and very driven and self motivated. She comes home and announces that she has ALL this homework and these new projects and sets to work right away. She even gets annoyed when she has to stop to run errands, go to scouts or practices, or eat dinner. The funny thing is, right about the time I am thinking that this is a ridiculous amount of work for one night, I remember that this is Elle I am dealing with and ask when all these projects are actually due. Oh yeah, next week, at the end of the week, next time they have art in 8 days! I am trying to remember to be thankful that she does not procrastinate like me (sorry Mom), but sometimes she drives me crazy with it. Usually when she is arguing to stay up late to finish the work. None of my children do well if they do not go to bed on time. And me not being a morning person either, this does not make for a good morning.

These three are hilarious and precious and the lights of my life.

Even when there are baby toys all over my house.

Even when little boys are constantly barrelling in and out of my house.

Even when art projects and homework cover my entire dining room table for days on end.

My heart is full.

Day 2, Part 3

Okay, part 3, are you ready for it? Ready, set, go!

After the cave, baby and I headed for the hotel to rest (haha). Ben took the kids horseback riding. After that we met with G&G and headed to the edge of town to the little 'mall'. There is an alpine slide that sounded like fun so Ben took the kids on that (it was expensive then totally lame, not recomended). After that, Grandpa decided that they really needed to take the helicopter tour of Mt. Rushmore so off they went. Then we got dinner at the cash only pizza place (? Isn't this the 21st century?) and ice cream at Dairy Queen. Whew! Deep breath.

I took 158 pictures this day. Here are the fav's.

My beautiful girl
My crazy boy
Enough said
Self-portrait
After all the, "please daddy, please, can we ride horses", we get this face. And a lot of, "we're scared, we changed our minds", after they were on the horses.

Settled in


They survived (Someone else got thrown off on the trail, that didn't really ease their fears)

And for those who care, my damaged foot. Some of these are the original bruises, some were left by my walking brace over these two days.

The ski lift up - with no restraints

Coming down


Getting briefed about the flight

Off goes my family on a helicopter, yikes!
The view on takeoff

Mt Rushmore Keystone, SD

Ben has declared he wants to fly these next

This really was a looong day