Groceries

I just got back from grocery shopping; I cannot believe how expensive everything is. I spent $171 on everyday crap!!!! Now I'm trying to figure out where I can cut back. I'm kicking myself for encouraging the girls to be "good eaters" They expect protein, veggie and starch for lunch and dinner, along with a couple of healthy snacks throughout the day. I'm sure they would gladly eat junk but I just can't bring myself to stuff them with candy and chips. They're great treats, but not all the time! I wonder if eating out everyday would be cheaper. We would also die a lot younger, that is cost effective as well! Really though, I think we are just going to have to eat more seasonally, meaning not so much fruit and veggies in the winter and cutting back on dairy products. Milk and cheese cost as much as meat these days. I have heard that the price of food has gone up 6% this last year. I believe it.

Holy Snow!!

I thought we had a lot the last time, but this is ridiculous!! I measured in our backyard around noon, 12 inches!!!! I kept Ashlynn home from school, I figured if the snow kept coming like it was we would have trouble in the late afternoon. I've been watching cars in the subdivision getting stuck and having to be dug out; it's insane. We started a new bible study with our home team last week and I think it will be good. We also are happy that Zach and Andrea were able to make it along with their friends Cherie and Walker, we're hoping and praying that they will be able to come again.

Ashlynn recently preformed in a Shakespeare play entitled "The Tempest" she was so cute as a Nymph. I was inspired at how well her class understood and preformed the play, they really worked hard. Ashlynn's favorite part was when Juno was talking to Miranda and Ferdinand and she said,"honor, riches, marriage, blessings, and hourly joys." It was during the celebration for their marriage.

Well it looks like the snow has let up so I better get every one ready to head outside. We are going to make a "snowfriend"

Golden Birthday

Well I am officially in my mid-twenty's. I've sure had a lot of ups and downs these last few days. The builder REJECTED our offer on the house, it really sucked, I've been venting to anyone with ears about it lately; that's all I'll say about that. I had a good birthday I worked at Birch Elementary in the resource room, it was a slow day because of the snow. The kids in there were so sweet, today the lesson was manners, it was fun to watch them being so kind and considerate to us and each other. I think we could all take a lesson in manners once in a while. Jaime got me flowers and snuck them into my car while I was working. ( he's so sweet!) After I picked up Gabrielle, Matilda called and said that Jaime had arranged for her to watch both girls overnight so we could go to dinner. Her and Bud picked them up around 4 so that gave me 3 full hours to myself before Jaime got off work!! I went shopping : ) Then we went to dinner and browsed a while at best buy, they are so friendly there, it just makes me happy. Tomorrow we will head up to McCall bright and early for the winter carnival. Lots of snow and funnel cakes!!

Waiting

Well we got brave and finally put an offer on the house we have been looking at. I am so nervous I can hardly stand it. We need him to accept an offer that is less than he's asking for. We're expecting a counter offer, hopefully it's within our range. We also found out that my job doesn't count towards our income unless I've been working for 6 months, bummer, to bad all my babysitting doesn't count either. The good thing about qualifying on just Jaime's income is that my paycheck will be frosting. We are going to try and rent out our current home, so I'm trying to decide if I should start packing now or wait. We are planning on putting new carpet in all of the bedrooms regardless of what happens, so I can rationalize packing a little bit. Maybe that's what I will go and do right now.

Day of rest

I am having an awesome day! We went to church last night, that means we could sleep in this morning, at least until 7:30! When we woke my favorite thing was all over.... SNOW. I love a day with no plans, I put a cartoon on for the girls and took a long hot shower. You would think that as a stay at home mom I could do that whenever I want, not quite. Anyway it's only 10:00 and we still have the whole day ahead of us. I'm thinking we'll watch a movie, (love netflix) and make some cookies. Kudos to the cookie makers at church, they sure gave me a craving for more!!!

Update on my subbing, I taught 3rd grade on Friday, it was a lot of fun, a few people have asked me what it is like, going into a classroom and not knowing what is going on. I really think it is incredible. Everyday is an adventure, almost like getting a surprise, meeting new people and doing things I've never done before. So far the kids have been great, very helpful and sweet; I haven't done any middle school or high school yet, I don't know if I will anytime soon. I don't think I should be an English teacher!!

Jaime and I watched a really great movie last night, if you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend I'm Reed Fish, it brings you back to high school especially if you lived in a small town. Kinda Napoleon but not as dumb funny, more ironic I think. Anyway that's my two cents

I've been there and back again.

Well, today was my first official day of "school." I taught a first grade class, it was really exciting. I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle it, or even if I would know what to do when I got there. The teacher was really good and she gave me pretty thorough instructions. Getting them to all sit and focus was harder than I thought it would be. I heard that they were a pretty wild group even with their teacher. Gabrielle did great at her new "home away from home", we found a care provider who lives really close and she has had experience with a nebulizer because her son used one when he was little. Ashlynn is ready for me to come and teach at her school, she wanted all the dirt, who was naughty, who the chatterboxes were all of it. I think that I did OK for my first time. I definitely have an even bigger appreciation for all that our teachers do; They are truly amazing to go in there every day and be such a huge part of our children's lives and who they will become. I can't imagine all the hours they put into lesson plans and ways to help our kids understand it all. All I did was glorified babysitting for one day and I still felt a huge sense of responsibility, that if I didn't correctly convey the message then they might miss out on something that would impact their whole lives. ( for me it was the day when they taught saw from seen.... still can't get that one right!) I really loved it, I'm so happy that I did it and I really can't wait for another chance to get out there again. I can't say that I would want to be a teacher. I think that everyday I would be a mess because of an inflated sense of responsibility for my impact on the rest of their lives.

My "Mean Teacher" look

Creating

I love to make things, anything... I'm not very artistic but I am creative, I think cooking is my favorite. You might not think of it as a creative thing but it really is; the possibilities are endless. Like drawing a picture you need the right combinations to make it just right, but sometimes a mistake can give it just the boost it needs. I always think of food as an experience, not just eating for nourishment but also, pleasure, relaxation and company. Seeing my family and friends gathered around, laughing, talking, spilling, gives me such a feeling of warmth and gratitude. Something I've noticed about cooking is that no two meals are ever the same, there are subtle differences every time usually that is a good thing but every once in a while you'll get a real memorable meal, like on Christmas; man I don't know what happened but my cooking was waaayy off. The mashed potatoes were sticky, and lumpy my Spanish rice had no flavor and some of the tamales weren't cooked all the way. I'm glad that it isn't always the food that makes a meal good.

more please

Finally enough snow!

I could not believe how much snow we got yesterday. Sunday there was a little snow and we were able to make a tiny snowgirl; she had a baby carrot nose and broccoli ponytails, Gabrielle ate the nose. Thankfully we were able to make two snowmen yesterday before we all got too cold. Ashlynn's school bus was 45 minuets late dropping her off and my car almost got hit 4 times while waiting for her; other than that I'm loving the pure white happiness that is falling from the sky. I really hope that it doesn't all disappear today. No school means that my house is going to be a soggy cold mess but as long as they're having fun it doesn't really bother me much.

I may have a daycare lined up, her name is Miss Winter. I checked out her daycare/preschool yesterday and really liked it. The cost is still a little more than I would like; but she is going to be very flexible with me and that will really make a difference. The girls are all playing well together right now, but I better plan out some activities and crafts or I'm really going to regret it later.

Complicated

I got the job!!! There's just one problem, I still haven't found a daycare that I like. Well that's not entirely true; there is one that I really do like it is just wayyyyy out of our price league. I would be working only to pay for childcare. Not exactly what I was thinking. I only want to work 2 days and sometimes 3; but most providers want a 3 day minimum, and to know what days she would come. I just don't know what to do, I don't want to leave her just anywhere; I mean Gabrielle can be very "active" so I need to find someone who knows how to handle that kind of personality. I'm trying to be positive, but it's not easy. I've done that kind of babysitting for more people than I can count, and now I know why, no one else does it!
I am torn between being excited about having a job, guilty about not wanting to stay home anymore, and stressed about not finding childcare. My stomach hurts just writing about it. I think God is going to have to have a big hand in this if it all works out.

2008 I can't wait!!!!

Lame title I know but it really describes the way I'm feeling about this year. I have so many plans and so little time. I feel like 2008 is going to be a year of change for us. I've been waiting for school to start so that I can apply to be a substitute teacher; I think that it will be a great stepping stone for going into the workforce. The hours are awesome and I really do like working with kids, yeah they can be nosey and messy but they are also curious and creative, things that no one should have to live without. Ashlynn is really excited about the prospect of me working at her school. I can't imagine a better job for me at the moment; work when and how much I want, school hours and all the holiday's off. The people I babysit for might not like it so much though. I was looking at daycare for Gabrielle and man is it expensive!! for partime care (which is what I would need) it costs about 25-30 a day! I only charge 10 for half day and 15 for full. I could make in one day substituting what I make babysitting for a full week; it blows my mind.
I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our family.

Tubing

We have had so much fun this week, on Saturday we packed up the girls and headed to McCall we thought it might be fun to go tubing at the activity barn. It took us a little over 2 hours to get there because Gabbo had to go potty quite often but the ride was more peaceful than usual because for Christmas our friends Blanca and Joe sent them a portable DVD player. They watched the Gummie bears, I don't know if anyone else remembers them but they were one of my favorites when I was little. Ashlynn, Sai and Gabrielle were hooked from the first episode.
We all had a blast at one point I was going down the hill with Ashlynn and we started to spin and go up on the sides, she starts screaming, "I can't breath!! I can't breath!!" then when we get to the bottom of the hill she says, " That was so fun! Can I go by myself now?" We saw some friends from church, the Kerby's, Ashlynn liked playing a little with Zach and Ashley, I think it made the time waiting in line go by faster. Gabrielle loved going down the hill in her "boat" she could barely see over the edge but everytime we got to the bottom she would say "again!?! one more time!" We decided not to stay overnight just because getting the cabin ready is kindof a hassle, so around 6:30 we started home there was hardly any snow at all until we got to Horseshoe bend and even then it was only a sprinkle, then on our way down the big hill it really started coming down, and in big flakes, sorta blizzardish. I was totally hypnotized by it Jaime said he could hardly tell if we were moving or what; but he handled the road really well. The whole thing lasted about a half hour; but my stomach couldn't have taken much more.
We stayed home on Sunday, I was exhausted and Jaime was getting sick. He hardly has any voice today hopefully it will come back for work tomorrow. Back to work we all go.

One more day

Jaime and I have been talking about moving for a long time, well maybe it has been more me talking and him rolling his eyes, but anywho I think we might finally be on the same page. A few weeks ago Jaime was browsing through the home listings and he found a house that he liked, well when he showed it to me I loved it. The house is close to our price range we are trying to figure out ways to make it possible, maybe renting out our home or me getting a part time job. We went to go look at it yesterday; I was hoping that the pics we seen were made it look better than it really is; that way I wouldn't want it any more. Well they weren't, the house was everything I wanted. The girls loved it, when we drove by it Gabrielle said,"hey that's my house." I am now determined to make it mine!

WoW I'm in!!

I've finally done it; I'm officially a blogger! now the next great task is to type crap about myself for everyone to read. It shouldn't be too difficult considering how much I like to talk about myself. Here goes...
I am having an awesome week, Jaime is home for vacation and that makes everything is easier, he helps so much with the girls and cleaning that it makes it hard for me to let him go back to work. We are all loving the little bit of snow that we have gotten so far and Ashlynn and Gabrielle are both praying for more. I love the wintertime, all of the best holidays are in the winter(including my b-day!!) There is nothing more fun than bundling up in all the gear and going outside to build a snowfort or chairs or whatever. Also no matter how long you play outside there is never any mess to clean up; and the best part of all, coming inside with red cheeks and noses and sitting at the table and drinking hot tea or chocolate. Man, it makes me want to go outside right now, if it weren't so dark.