Here is a link, above, to a blog I love,
one that has helped me
 to hopefully
be preparing to be prepared.

I have to teach RS on Sunday,
and I prayerfully decided that the lesson will be

Covenants and Resolutions...

As I am preparing I am seeking to find things
that are inspiring to our preparation,
spiritually and temporarily.


The thought on the Safely Gathered In blog this morning inspired me so much,
I wanted to share with you all.

Also, a tip from our preparations:

72 hour kits for my kids to have at school
is something that I have been told
by so many they would not have thought of.

They are a simple gallon zip lock,
included in them as follows:

snacks; beef jerky, granola, candy,
a water bottle,
a letter from Mom and Dad,
letters from siblings are also fun!
pictures of family,
a small Book of Mormon,
emergency information.

The bag fits well in their desk,or in their locker!, and I know that they have something to remind them that they are loved.

They have never needed them, but I know that I am teaching them about being prepared each year when I send them, and when they bring them home on the last day and rip into the snacks that they have been wanting all year.

The letters are a wonderful addition to the end of school year routine.
The kids know they are loved, thought of and that they need to always be prepared.

I had one couple at church mention that they now have these type of kit at work, with a letter to them from the other.

So, there is another idea....give them
as a New Year gift to the honey working so hard for the family.

....I am off to make one for my sweetheart...with notes from the kids.

And with the glore of Christmas goodies in the house, it shouldn't be hard to prepare.

Love to you all.
Hope you have a wonderful

Happy New Year!

--mummee
'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain'

ABC TAG!

due to the chocolate meltdown i was having

which brought the emergency giveaway...

CONGRATS

CHOCOLATE WINNERS

now...

i bring back the interupted TAG!

in the meantime:

you can do the tag,

tell me you already did the tag,

or ignore the tag if you are a tag hater.....ready, set, go:

this one is thanks to trying to stay calm...LOVE IT...

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: My Husband!
C-Cake or Pie: Pumpkin Pie every time!
D-Day of Choice: Sunday
E-Essential Item: CHOCOLATE, of course.
F-Favorite Color: Hunter Green and Sunflower Yellow!
G-Greatest Accomplishment: My Children
H-Hometown: American Fork
I-Indulgences: DATE NIGHT!
J-January or July: January
K-Kids: 3 boys, 1 daughter
L-Life is incomplete without: Family Time, and Snuggling
M-Marriage: Yes, please!
N-Number of Siblings: 11
O-Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P-Phobias or fears: being this disorganized forever!
Q-Quotes: "Always think of things on an Eternal perspective!"
I kept this quote from trying to stay calm, LOVE IT!

and to repent I will blog
a whole blog of quotes later that I love too.

(hence, above, the fear of being disorganized...ETERNALLY)
R-Reason to Smile: faith and forgiveness
S-Season: Fall
T-Tag Friends: EVERYONE READING THIS!
U-Unknown facts about me: I eat fries alone in my car, use air freshener to cover up the smell because I have raised my kids to think fast food is disgusting. Whenever I get caught they say, "EWWWW, whats that smell." "Fast food" I say," gross, huh."
V-Very favorite store(s): Book stores (second hand especially - I love the inscriptions in old books), consignment shops, and antique.
W-Worst habit: Stressing, yelling at my kids. SWEARING, thinking my kids wont understand what i said.

we interrupt this TAG to bring you this:

[thinking of unknown facts, worst habits and things I probably shouldn't share.]

S-9 came home asking what camel toe is.

I won't go into the WAY TO LONG explanation that Mr. B gave him, or the fact that he has been asking for a month, and B has been putting it off; or the advice B was given at work on how to tell his son.

Also, you DON'T want to see the pictures he drew [quick explaination, they were all of animals feet, up to the camels foot/toe, and then a few of...well go ahead, imagine]!

...best yet, you don't want to visualize Mr. B pulling his pants up really high to give him an effective, S-9 will never be the same, example of it.

B, at near the end of this fabulous lesson in words we wish our kids never had to understand, explained that camel toe is like a sign.

LIKE A SIGN?

Follow me:

He goes on to say, like the loser sign; is the L.

Which brings us to things our kids should never learn from us:


J-7: Oh, I know dad, you mean like when mom holds her three fingers up and says, "Read between the lines." You know how if you take away these two fingers it means......

Dad interrupting him: (how he can respond without busting up is beyond me), Yes, J, exactly. And again, NOT one of the things that you should do just because OTHER PEOPLE (including your MOTHER) do it.

Now back to our TAG!

X-X-ray or Ultra Sound: X-rays and Ultrasounds, too many!
Y-Your favorite food: Mexican, and Vietnamese
Z-Zodiac: Leo

I now TAG:

EVERYONE who will do it.

Let me know when you do so that I can come read about you....

or tell me too if you have already done it.

oh, and for fun...TAKE THE AWARD...

Willing to do the tag....awwww, you should get an award!
ENJOY♥

Have FUN!

pLEASE EXcuSE mUmmEE fOr FAKINg A tAG pOST

pLEaSe EXcuSe mUmMEe fOR FaKINg a TaG pOSt

...SHE IS DELERIOUSLY BEHIND

....the proof is in my Christmas cards from last year still haven't been sent.
[which i will be using for this year....the kids haven't changed that much, have they???]



back to the tag:
so....yes, some of you noticed that the tag post SAID and ADVERTISED itself today. it even surprised me [he he he]....i thought i had given myself adequate time to get to it....hmmmm....try three funerals, and finals....yeah.

sadly, NO it is not here...i haven't gotten to it....so, if you came to seem my oddities,....just read along, its all in the fine print.

the tag, from my dear wendyburd, will be posted in the near future....i am such a procrastinator. sorry. i am so intimidated by this tag....[didn't want to admit that]...scaring my OCD to act up....my dog ate it, alright y then, can anyone help me with better excuses.

these don't sound efficient enough, and with my OCD the stress of a good excuse is really putting me out...

I have given myself until the 12th of December....by then you all will have done it, and i will have no one to tag....hmmmm...

okay, give me your best excuses:

winner gets to be highlighted on the top of my blog for the rest of the week...but you all have to help me vote!

Bring it on....may the best blogger excuse win!

Homework Series, take two: WHAT! Homework???

This is dedicated to S and J, my 9 and 7, BOYS!

quick commercial:
Boys will NOT be boys.
My daughter and I both want a sister, still.

Not that that has anything to do with this post, but we do have some great dress up/future girlfriend photos of the boys in bows and frills.
OHHH if i could show them now.

and now...
Back to S-9 and J-7 and HOMEWORK, take two:

On a sad note to begin, we lost my Grandmothers, both, in the same week this month. Hard times we have been having.

Truly Laughter and Love are the best medicine.

As I mentioned in Series One,
my rant of surface cleaning did not put a dent in the chaos.
So the following morning was Saturday.

music gently playing...

"Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday..."

Here we are, working diligently on our projects,

after my rant and pleading for forgiveness.

I am going through my STACKS of papers,
looking for some semblance of order
and trying to find anything that is critical.


I come across three WEEKS of school notes, important papers, and HOMEWORK.

WHAT! HOMEWORK????

What happened to us, three weeks of untouched homework. DUE THREE WEEKS CONSECUTIVELY AGO!

I came home from my week vacation
and what do I have here,
the following three weeks HOMEWORK.

WHaT happened to me.
I guess I was still on vacation.
I have lacked in order, lacked in discipline,
lacked in RESPONSIBILITY.


But, I have honored,
cherished, grieved and
loved my Grandmothers,
and losing them is not easy.


Not that excuses are necessary; for all us moms out here and there, be nice to yourself. Ask me! I am certainly not perfectly perfect, nor am I trying to be.

What would you do? Plead guilty, or insane. I think I will plead insanity.

Parent teacher conferences are coming up.
Do I act innocent? Who me? My kid?

Couldn't be!

Smiling works, pleasantries. Oh the joy!

Coming next: Homework Series, take three: my homework FLUNG up on me (for the finale, G-13, all G.)

ARGGGGGG

Mr. B is really frustrated with me and he has let me know it today. I am so worried because I can see that he is under a lot of stress at work. I have also been really difficult to him because of my stresses. I tried earlier today to get him to talk to me but he just said he is done.

Today was that way for me too. I didn’t do well on the practice test for math, and still don’t understand some of the simpler concepts. After school the kids had piano lessons, I feel like I am running a Taxi today. I haven’t had time to shower yet and feel like I am going to break. I have had neighbor moms call me to help shuttle their kids to Scouts tonight, my kids piano is going over.

The schedule today is crazy and completely unbelievable. 3:00 – pick kids up from school, 4:00 S-8’s piano lesson (my good friend sees the condition of my face – worry, stress, tired – and offers to bring up a quick dinner, I accept) 4:30 shuffle S home from Piano and get Cece-10 to her lesson, 5:15: pick up Cece (she is not done, working on her recital piece). I have to come back this way to take the neighbor boy to scouts in 15 minutes anyways. Drop him to Scouts 5:45 – Pick up Cece. See a neighbor walking home, give her a ride. Her son and my son have scouts in 20 minutes so I pick up her boy and come home to get G-12.

My neighbor is bringing my dinner over; she sees the chaos of the house in its entirety. I don’t think I have ever had such disarray going on. I know that the positive thing in this is that our lives are so full. And I should also recognize that while I was giving service to others I was also being served in return.

Sometimes we don’t feel the effects of our helping others so quickly. I am also in a lot of pain from this growth in my abdomen and need to get it looked at. My kidneys are hurting as well. I have never had to really deal with so much weird stuff going on and all the chaos on top of it...