School Pictures 2013

My last few posts have been a little boring.  Personal opinions, rants, no pictures.  Today I am making up for that:)  We ended up going to Indian Battle Park.  It is not were I wanted to go, but Dave highly suggested I not go were I had planned on Saturday.  I have had this spot picked for 2 and a half years and still have not made it.  Maybe next year.  Since it was a different spot I had no preconceived idea about what I wanted.  We just snapped away and had fun.  I let the kids pick where they wanted to stop and how they wanted to stand to take a picture.  It ended up being a really fun day.

And of course and update of the house building.  Trusses are going up. 

 

We have been pretty useless.  The kids have helped a bit, but I have just mostly gone and watched.  

Dave has been lifting those heavy things by himself.  Cora has a few more volleyball tournaments then hopefully we will help a little before basketball starts.  With gymnastics, Cora and Leah in volleyball, YW, Activity Day Girls, Cubs, Primary stuff and a broken foot we have not made it out much. Myrna has helped tons by feeding my husband practically every day, and Jared has been doing all the farm work single handedly so Dave can work on the house. Thank you very much to the both of them.  I know they are busy also.  Also thanks to Mike and Dad for coming up to help with the basement a couple of times.  Couldn't have done it with out you also.

What I Learned This Weekend

Cora had her first volleyball tournament this weekend.  It was in Taber so we had a bit of a drive.  There were a few girls that needed to get a ride and we happily agreed to take them.  Listening to them as we drove I learned a few things.  I learned it takes 6 hours to get a tattoo, how many Advil you need to take before you get your nose, top of ear, belly button, and tongue pierced.  What the best scary movies out are. (Scary Movie 5 was the general consensus if anyone cares:) Where the best spot to make out with your boyfriend is.  How fun it is to stay late at a boys house and eat with him and clean his room. Where the cutest purple bikinis are. The best coffee.  How it is great to get a belly button ring/tattoo because it looks so awesome with a bikini and/or a crop top T.  And then they speculated on when guys where going to grow up and treat girls properly.  (I had a few ideas about that one after all the previous info going around in our car, but kept my opinions to myself)  Needless to say Cora and I chatted between ourselves for most of the ride.  I knew that my children where going to have more to deal with then I did growing up.  This stuff was around but not many were flaunting it.  And not at this age. The number of 13 and 14 year old girls this weekend with dyed hair, false eyelashes, and tiny little short were amazing to me. How can they really wonder why guys don't treat them with respect.  Being around the people that my children have chosen for friends I did not realize what was fully going on at the schools and what my kids have to deal with on a daily bases.  Like I said, I thought I knew.  They would come home and tell me stories or I would see things on the playground, but this has really opened my eyes.  I am so sorry that they have to see and hear and deal with things. Every. Single. Day.  I am extra thankful now for the wise choice of friends that they have made.  I think it is terrible for my girls and I just want to keep them safe and protected, but for Blake I think it is worse.  For him avoiding pornography is not just going to be shutting off the computer or walking out of the movie.  It is going to be a daily battle with girls just walking around him dressed the way they do, and talking to him in such blatant open ways.  It scares me to death.  No wonder these spirits have been saved for these days. I hope I can really build the foundation that he needs.  That they all need.  It has made me reinforce our effort for daily scripture study, family prayer, FHE, and open talks in our home.  I need to remember to point out and talk about every time they feel the spirit, so they recognize it more and more. I really have to work constantly every day, even when I don't feel like making the effort that day.  It may be the day they need it most.  I have to make sure that our family bond is really tight, that they know there is always family there for them.  I know some people think I am overly strict with my kids, but how could I not be! Right now they love being together, we have a lot of fun, even with my rules and regulations.  Maybe more so because of it.  Kids crave boundaries. And don't seek outside things when they get what they want at home.  This is true with hugs, love, uplifting conversations, feeling the spirit, guidance and rules. (These girls' parents did not care where they got dropped off and they didn't go home for awhile.  Didn't like being there.  One even said that there was nothing to go home to.  Her mom wouldn't be there and she had no curfew or any chores to do when she got there, so what did it matter what she did?)  I hope I can keep that closeness always with my family. I have to constantly watch and never let that guard down.  It is exhausting. I have no way of knowing everything that they deal with and have to rely on the spirit to guide me through this path of motherhood.  It really truly scares me.  I hope we make it.

Flip-Flops on Sunday

A couple of years ago, a member of our stake presidency, Pres Poytress, gave a talk in the adult stake conference.  I don't remember much just that he expressed the opinion that flip-flops were not appropriate for church.  At the time that is all I could get on.  My leg was broken and to bend it into a shoe was painful.  I went months with flip-flops.  Right through the winter.  Since then I have been very careful not to wear them to church unless we are travelling.  So last Sunday, once again on crutches, I had to wear a flip-flop to church.  I did not trust myself with crutches and high heels.  On the way to church I commented that Pres Poytress, who is now the stake president, would be there because of my choice of shoes.  The kids all thought I was crazy because he had just been there 2 weeks ago.  I bet them all 5 cents that he would be.  When we arrived Dave took my stuff down to the library to get copies and I hobbled along behind.  Cora came down laughing.  Sure enough Pres Poytress was in our building.  He did not stay long and he did not see me, but he was there.  So I wore flip-flops to church and gambles with my kids on the way.  I am a fabulous example to my children.  But I made 15 cents:)

Canada Post

For the last year and a half I have worked at Canada Post.  I had the most amazing people to work with and enjoyed every minute of it.  I really enjoyed putting the mail into peoples boxes and inputting the parcels. I enjoyed getting to know the people in my community.  Canada Post is a fabulous company. Sometimes it was perfect and I only worked 2 hours in the middle of the school day.  My kids did not even know that I was away.  I felt like I helped my husband with the finances a bit and was contributing.  I had debated going back to work or doing something for a couple of years.  I had been accepted to Massage Therapy School and was excited about it but it didn't feel right.  I was very sad to let that one go.  When this opportunity came up it seemed ideal.  It was a 2 minute walk from my house and great hours and fabulous pay.  I really had fun.  I enjoyed talking to the people I worked with and getting to know them and to hear stories of their families.
I remember hearing a story in conference years ago.  A father and son where walking down a road, when they came to a fork.  They prayed about which path they should take.  The answer was the left.  After walking for a few moments they came to a great cliff and the path ended.  Back they went to the fork and took the right side.  It was bumpy and windy and difficult to travel.  When the son asked his father why they got the answer to go left the dad answered and said they needed to know how the other path ended so that when this one got hard they would know for sure they were on the right path.  This is how I feel my job at Canada Post was.  I had wondered for years what I should do.  I gave it a try and realized that while the money was fantastic the risk of my family was not.  I was not supposed to work outside the home.  My life might get difficult especially with building a house and doing cows, but I now know that I am on the path that I am supposed to be.  I am supposed to be home with my kids.  I am supposed to run them back and forth and help with homework and all the things I had started to miss.  I am supposed to be there at the end of the school day to hear them talk and see how their day went.  I am not saying this is the right decision for everyone but it is what I am supposed to do.  I will still hope that one day I will find someway to earn money from home.  Good luck to me on that one.:) I loved being at Canada Post but love my family more.  And I need to be constant and vigilant in this ever increasing cruel, hard world.  I want to be an eternal family and want to help them all get there.  We may not have much and we may struggle but I know at home is where I need to be.  Maybe years from now that answer will change, and if I am lucky Canada Post might take me back,  but for now I am once again a stay-at-home mom and excited about it. Thank you Canada Post for taking a chance on me, I had a wonderful experience.

Weekend in Idaho

This past weekend Blake and I spent in Idaho.  Brynn was getting baptized.  My parents had invited us to go with them, along with Nicole and Levi.  I had felt really nervous about the trip.  I kept thinking it was because Blake was going to get car sick on the way or something else.  It was never a don't go feeling just anxious I guess.  But I really wanted to see my sister and be there for Brynn's baptism.  Since her and Blake are only 4 days apart I thought it would be fun to have him there.  And we were going to help Kita with all the food prep and clean-up.  We left out house at 4:45am.  The kids travelled really well and it ended up being a wonderful trip down.  When we arrived, Kita had made the most delicious meal.  Mom had said that she always had something wonderful prepared for when we got there and it was not built up at all.  Kita totally lived up to her reputation.  The next morning we got up to play basketball.  I was very excited.  Nobody will play with me here.  About 30 mins into the game I went side ways and heard a crack.  I slid on my butt to the side and told them to keep playing.  About 10 mins later I could feel myself start to go into shock.  I did not want a fuss or to stop the game so I concentrated really hard on calming down, breathing deeply, and trying to look normal.  When they were done, Kita and Nicole came to get me.  I could not walk and they carried me out.  We were worried that mom was going to either be tick or super worried so Kita did a little maintenance call before we arrived.  I put it in a bucket of ice, which was hard and tried to stay off it a bit.  We did have some shopping to do and I was supposed to be helping.  I hopped around and tried to do what I could while sitting down.

This is how I shopped.  I felt pretty stupid.  That night Steve and Kita took us out to a pizza place.  They ordered so much.  Appetizers and pizza.  It was really good.  We had enough left overs for dinner the following night.  Saturday morning was the baptism.  Brynn got dressed in her beautiful white dress, Kita did her hair all up and headed off.  It was the most wonderful baptism I have been to.  Every ones is special, but there was something extra special about this little girl that did not even need to be baptized and having her brother do it.  Brock was nervous and got a little emotional and it was great.  He calmed her down in the water and when it was time for the dunk, he got right down on his knees to help her in.  When Brynn came up she was a little surprised at what had happened and just clung to Brock.  It was a very neat experience.  Back to the Jones' for a come and go lunch.  We met friends of the family and made sure the food was replenished.  Cleaned up, went out to a few more stores, and found a quite little river that they kids played in.  Took the boys to Cold Stone then home to pack the car and get ready to go.

We left early again the next morning and made good time.  Again Blake did not get sick.  They got a little crazy at the end, tired of being in the car, but did pretty good.  It is a long drive.

This is what the rest of my family was up to this weekend.  The basement is coming along.

It rained one day and they got pretty muddy.  Dave tried to make the walk way so to limit the mud coming in.  I guess they spent the weekend out in Champion.

This last picture is the garage.  The spaces are the entrance door and garage doors.

I went to the DR. yesterday.  He did an x-ray and said it was not broken, but very badly damaged so I needed to stay off it for two weeks, with a compression boot and crutches.  About 5 hours later he called back and said that after blowing it up they actually did find a little break.  Guess that was the crack.  I am to wear the boot for 2 weeks then he will x-ray it again.  Nicole had both the boot and the crutches and has loaned them to me. (Plus took the pictures and emailed them to me:) Thank you!!  Now I know why I was nervous to go.  But would not change a thing.  It was worth it to get to play ball. Although I hate being back on crutches.  I have had enough of that.

I love when Blake decides to hang out with Brynn.  It doesn't usually last long and they are usually watching a movie, but I always think it is cute.

Back to School (and a bit more)

Another school year here we come:)

Grade 9

Grade 3

Grade 6

 They said last night that they have goals of honor roll, staying more on task, being organized, and excelling.  We are going to rock this year. 

Cora worked on this 3D puzzle for a couple of weeks.  Maybe less.  It is 761 pieces.  The CN Tower.

I got a caner last year for Christmas and have been so excited to try it out.  A few weeks ago I got the chance.  I made spaghetti sauce, salsa, lemonade concentrate, and peaches.  Mostly froze peaches.

I have already decided that tomatoes are not worth the time and hassle.  But can't wait to try apple pie filling and apple sauce when I get some apples soon.