A Homemaking Journey

Last night I had some shopping to do and I thought it would be good for the kids to get out too. I took Isaac, Simeon and Hannah with me. Hannah is always up for a good shopping trip, and usually, Isaac is too. Simeon is in "training" for how to act while shopping.

The main reason we were going out is because Ammon shoved the DVD player off the table and broke it. DVD players are living a long life if they last a year and a half in our home. I usually buy the cheapest DVD player I can find because I know it won't last long. Guess what I found last night? A PINK DVD player!!! It's so pretty! And it will go with the general pink decor I have. I put it in the cart.

Isaac (Asperger's)glares at me and starts sulking. Many attempts were made to remove the DVD player from the cart. The final comment Isaac said to me was that I was ruining his life by buying a pink DVD Player. Granted, there was a blue one, but being on a huge rant lately that none of my stuff is sacred, I held my ground on the pink DVD player.

Then Simeon (Autistic), who has never given much input on what things he likes in our house, threw a fit about the pink DVD player. He tried to tell me I would save 25.00 if I bought a blue one. When that tactic didn't work, he started shopping for his own stuff, like mini tvs, radios and some napkins. To show how displeased he was with me, he would only take 3 inch steps, take a break by sitting in an empty spot on a shelf, then race ahead to catch up when I turned a corner. At one point I saw him pushing himself on the floor like a turtle. Intermittently he would growl.

Then we had just the opposite behavior, and this is always kinda funny to watch. Most people that are shopping don't expect to be greeted like their best friend just spotted them in the store. When Simeon walks into a store he starts to wave and say hi, and ask questions. The first little boys he saw he waved and asked "Hey Dude, what's happening?" The boys just stop and stare. The next person was a lady with a little girl in the cart. "Hi! What's your name?" Later we passed a little boy in a cart eating a sandwich. "Hey Dude, whatcha eating? Can I have a bite?" Other times we've been in stores and he asks every person we pass if they like hotdogs. If he sees two women walking together he yells "Hi Ladies!!" He has no problem searching other peoples' carts for goods and reporting. He starts conversations with almost everyone we see, and most everyone is good natured about it.

When we got home Simeon and Isaac were still upset about the pink DVD player. Makes me wonder if they will watch movies on it, and if not, YAY! I found a way to cut back on TV watching!

The kitchen is the most important area of your home. It is responsible for nourishing your entire family and keeping everyone happy and healthy. In feng shui, the kitchen is a symbol of wealth and abundance also.

The optimal place for your kitchen is the center of your home. If the kitchen is located near the front or back door, the positive energy can escape.

Food gives us all of our energy and enables us to remain healthy. To keep this food energy positive and healing, the food has to be cooked in an organized kitchen that maintains a good balance of Chi. By having a well balanced and energized kitchen, the cook becomes more energized and the entire family benefits.

The best tips for the kitchen are pretty basic and should go hand in hand with the rest of your home very easily. Lighting is an important part of feng shui and in the kitchen, there should be an abundance of natural light if available and if not, full spectrum lighting is recommended. The air should flow nicely and the kitchen should give off a very welcoming energy.

A great way to add positive energy to your kitchen is by using plants and flowers. When placed on your kitchen table, they are not only beautiful to look at but increase the positive energy level greatly. You should use plants and flowers that are yellowish in color because in feng shui, yellow is a great digestive aid.

Like the rest of the house, clutter should be kept as minimal as possible. Since this is the very heart of the home, keep it as happy and warm as possible.

This weekend we became the proud owners of a 15 passenger van. It's a 2001 Dodge Ram. And it's big. For two years we have squeezed eight people into our 7 passenger Kia van, listening to the fighting and crying on what seemed endless trips to church or Walmart, or even just to drive around and look at Christmas lights.

Now we have 7 EXTRA seats.



Hello back there!

Now, "problem children" can have a seat to him or her selves. We removed two of the benches so we can double this as a moving van this week as we move once again. This comes to twice in one month. Our 16th move in 11 years.

As a teenager, I marveled at the huge vans and trucks that large families had. The LDS people had a nickname for them: MAV's: Mormon Assault Vehicles. I have at last been accepted into their culture. LOL! Actually, Curtis isn't too thrilled with it. He says its too big, and it IS big. I think he views it as a necessity, whereas, I see it as a luxury car. If only it was red...

The kids named the van Ramsy. Let's just hope we never have to use it for those means.

I read this article this morning on the Pioneer Woman's Blog and thought I would share it here. I got a pretty good laugh out of it.

Just to clarify for a moment, I had put our kids in public school in September after a few moments like described in the article, but now that we have moved, and I have had time to breath, regroup, rethink and reorganize myself...plus move twice in one month, we are back to homeschooling and doing quite well.

Gotta share the moments though.

Gumdrops for Dinner

I've been noticing things my kids say lately and we've had several funny incidents that I thought I would share with you.

I babysat for a friend of mine last week and she arrived with the baby at 5:30 a.m. When Joshua (3) got up and stumbled into the living room, he saw the baby. His eyes got big and he pointed at the baby. "What is that?!" then a minute later "Where's Ammon?!" Later in the afternoon he hugged the baby and told me he liked his new brother.

Simeon lost a tooth. I had wondered how this situation was going to play out, as in the past, Simeon does not like unfamiliar things happening to his body, like wearing a new shirt or shoes. We were all on my bed, chatting about various things. Simeon was reading a book, so I wasn't paying attention that he had something wrong with his teeth. All of a sudden he exclaimed he lost a tooth, and it was gone! He had pulled it out himself, but threw it across the room, and then discovered he was bleeding (not much though). This proves to me I worry too much about how he will adjust to things when he does just fine. Afterwards he walked around smiling to show off his space.

When we left Ogallala I told Jesse to say goodbye to the theater as we passed it. He sighed, but didn't say anything. When I questioned him, he said "Mom. There will be other theaters in Utah". I guess I was the only one being sentimental then.

Hannah repeats the store motto to me in place of the store name. "So mom, when are we going to go to Kmart, Get Smart?"

Learning to drive with a GPS directing you is a little difficult to get used to. While it tells you to turn right here, and drive .5 miles then turn left, it does NOT tell you that you are approaching a light or stop sign. Thank goodness I figured this out on a back road with no traffic.

Watching toddlers dance to any song is funny.

We started back to homeschooling, so we are starting out most days with a discussion. On Thursday I pinned up a world map and we were going to start talking about the trade routes during the renaissance. The discussion went something like this:

"During the renaissance, they started out mostly in the sea here, before they moved out into the Atlantic..."
"Hey mom? Did they go to China?"
"Probably, but not till a little later. Anyway, in Portugal..."
"Hey mom? Do we have any enemies?"
"Not exactly, but we are worried about these two countries right now" pointing to Iran and Korea
"Does anyone have nuclear bombs?"
"We are talking about trade routes, not bombs. So, Christopher Columbus..."
"What happens if a nuclear bomb went off?"
"Bad things, depends on where it goes off at."
"What about in the middle of Mongolia."
"I don't know. Ok, going back to..."
"Hey mom. Who was Leif Erickson?"
"He was a viking, before this time."
"Hey mom? What were they wearing?"
"Who?"
"The pirates."
"What pirates?"
"Can I hold the baby?"
"AAAUGGGHHHHHH" at a decibel to make a dog deaf by Ammon.
"Hey mom, I'm hungry."
"Do we know anything about the Amish?"
"How do any of these questions have to do with Renaissance Trade Routes?!"

Surprisingly with all these interruptions, we still ended up with a good lesson and discussion and they have returned to the map to trace the routes several times. I love their questions, but I sometimes forget this is how they are engaging with me and learning. Are/were nuclear bombs something that affected the Renaissance? How would they know if they didn't ask?

The last one I have tonight is from Simeon, who at random times just pops his head around the corner and says "Hey mom? I like your ears."

When we got ready to leave Loveland, Co. for Ogallala, Ne. a friend approached me and told me that her husband had taken a job in a little town in New Mexico. They lived there for one year before making the decision to move back to "civilization". But, she said, it was good for them. It was a break they needed from everything they got wrapped up in living in a city. Living in the country taught them a few things. She didn't share what those things were but I think I have my own ideas.

We moved at the beginning of the month to Provo, UT. We had lived here 10 years ago, almost to the month. Amazing how history repeats itself. Amazingly, for two wanderlusty types like Curtis and me, we made Ogallala, NE our home for four years and one week. We moved out there for work, the cost of living was lower than that in Colorado, and I think I had romanticized living in Nebraska, having lived there for half of my childhood.

What took some getting used to was that Walmart was 50 miles away, one way. The stores in town closed at 9:00 p.m., and sometimes earlier on weekends. Food was more expensive because there wasn't a population demand to bring it down. Entertainment consisted of these choices: hunting, fishing, boating on the lake, bar activities, watching movies at the two screen movie theater, church activities, or driving at least one hour for other things like a small children's museum, history museums, or bigger movie theaters. There were lots of small parks for the kids, which saved my sanity on more than one occasion. Shopping was limited to Alco and Pamida, two discount stores, and Safeway and Sunmart, the two grocery stores. Aimlessly driving around town took about 20 minutes and you had seen it all by that point. Having limited funds and weather, our family activities consisted of swimming in the summer, driving around the lake (having neither boats or fishing poles), playing at the park, watching movies from Netflix, going to the library, reading and homeschooling.

I got all excited at the prospect of moving out to Provo. My eyes glazed over thinking about all the things we would be able to do. Driving into the Utah valley was overwhelming. The traffic! The people! The stores! It's hard not to get in a wreck trying to see it all! Because it's so big, and my memory is not what it used to be, I don't leave the house without a GPS. Of course, it doesn't help that there are 13 different ways to get home from any one direction and the GPS thinks its great fun to direct me home a different way each and every time I leave. We went to the library the first week we were here. It was huge and automated. On Friday night there was hardly any parking spaces left. Were people on dates there? We went to a dinosaur museum, which was great fun, and big, when Isaac and Jesse were little guys, but to take 6 children in now? Well, let's just say Curtis and I were ready for a nap, but the kids were still too hopped up on adrenalin to rest. Walmart was bigger than I ever remember their stores being. I kept calling Curtis to report my findings. Milk: $1.66! Potatoes: 10lbs for $1.00! The houses are huge, almost double what my little house in Ogallala was.

So, I found it odd the other morning when I stepped out and it smelled like cow manure, and another night when it smelled like skunk. Familiar Nebraska smells. We have a mouse living in the stove. It reminded me of a couple of houses in Nebraska which taught me a little mouse was nothing to scream at. (I've actually not seen it, but everyone else has and comments on how cute it is. I WILL scream if the cats chase it across my bed.) Having only one car, Curtis takes it to work during the day, so I am forced to make do or go without till he comes home, kinda like making do or going without by waiting for that once a month trip to Walmart in Nebraska. Our house has 2300 square feet now. Its enormous to me, but there are still huge amounts of space not used. Makes me wonder just where and how I had my stuff stashed in the smaller houses in Nebraska. I feel a little disorganized. Partly due to just moving, but also, this house has cathedral ceilings and wood floors, so every little sound echoes and triples in volume. With 6 kids screaming, crying, fighting, playing, or just simply breathing, and a dog yipping at a cat as if to alarm you that instead of a lazy, slowly moving cat was walking by, its a dangerous cobra ready to strike you in the neck, you can't think, or talk, or remember what you were doing.

As much as I thought it wouldn't happen, I do find myself a little homesick for Nebraska and things that made it home for four years. My little house that I knew where everything was. My husband working 1 mile away from home. The 5 car traffic jams. The lunches in the park with church friends. The ability to run to the store and back home in 15 minutes...now it takes 15 minutes to just get to the store. Something that has really surprised me that I thought would be a problem, but isn't, is that when I do go into a store, I don't have this compulsive urge to buy things that I haven't seen in over four years, or ever. Living in a small town has definitely made me less of a consumer. I wonder when it might not be like this, but still, and maybe I have always been like this, I marvel at the little things around me. The size of the snowflakes. The buds on the trees (this is not even a thought for the tress in Ogallala, I'm sure). The view of the mountains that really seem so close you could touch them. That I can go to church, and it is and always will be, the same feeling I have had in every church we've attended in other cities, even our small branch in Sutherland, Nebraska.

While life will always have its ups and downs and lessons to be learned, forgotten and reminded of, I know that I will look back on my time in Nebraska as a time of learning. I learned A LOT! In fact, I really can't remember a time in my life that I learned so much in a four year period. Maybe because there were not the distractions of a big city, or an echo-y house, or so many things to choose from (I went to buy Swiffer mop pads last night and found an off brand. You mean, I didn't have to buy the Swiffer brand only?!) that it was an environment that allowed for all that learning. It was a struggle, but it was good. I learned patience. I learned thriftiness. I learned sacrifice. I learned acceptance.

I guess I should close this now. I've been writing for entirely too long, draining my brain of all these thoughts now that the house is quiet and all I hear is the hum of my computer. I still have one more thought to share with you, but that will have to be another night, so look forward to it soon. Hailing to you from Utah now, with love!

The master or main bedroom is the most important bedroom of the entire house. Everything from the harmony of the house to the finances of the house can be influenced by the master bedroom.

There are four major factors you should consider about it. What shape is the bedroom? Where is the bed? What area of the house is it in? What is used for decoration? These all play a pivotal role in the flow of energy in the house.

The shape of the bedroom is very important in feng shui. A rectangular or square room is the best. If your bedroom is oddly shaped, you can use a room divider to help it maintain a more rectangular shape.

The bed shouldn't face a door or protruding edge of any kind. These are both symbols of negative energy and can be impossible to correct without moving the bed.

You should also avoid having any overhead beams above the bed or windows behind the headboard. Mirrors facing the bed also negatively affect the Chi of the area.

The ideal place for the master bedroom is in the Northwest of the house. This might not always be possible however and the next best choice is the Southwest. These two areas represent the Patriarch and Matriarch respectably.

Decorations are important but you don't want to overdo it. Depending on what your goals are, you can configure and energize the bedroom for romance, marriage, or relationships. You should avoid energizing the bedroom for luck in wealth.

Last week we were studying about knights and castles and one of the things which we learned about was the Code of Chivalry. If you are unfamiliar with it you can find it here. Also included there is the Rules of Courtly Love, which was nice refresher for anyone in a relationship with anyone. Last week Haiti was hit by an earthquake that causes major damage and took a lot of lives. Isaac wanted to help them.

We thought up a way to do a donation drive in our community. It started out by just posting a few flyers up in the stores and other areas. While I want it to sound noble and all that we are doing this, (and we want to do this, don't get me wrong), part of the project was helping Isaac with his social skills. Keeping eye contact, asking for help, accepting slight rejection (like the word NO), and working on fluidity in his speech.

I was so proud of our little community. Safeway donated a 25.00 gift card to him, another store is offering discounts if they bring in a donation, others let him post his flyer in their place of business. The Chamber of Commerce notified KNOP News 2 out of North Platte, so they scheduled an appointment yesterday to come out and film Isaac and our family for his project.

I rehearsed with Isaac most of the day on the questions they were going to ask him. We cleaned the house. Why is it on the day you are so worked up and nervous about something, its the day the kids are out of sorts, off medication, don't feel good or refuse to cooperate in any way? By the time the News got here, I was trying my best to not look like a stressed out freak of a mom with six kids.

She positioned us all on our couch. Then she handed Isaac a microphone. I got the giggles when I said "Kermit the Frog here, reporting for Sesame Street News." So much for not acting like a freak. Well, the laughter was good anyway, it helped with the nerves.

The anchorwoman that was filming this was very nice and very patient. Kendra Potter had a smile on her face the entire time, complimented and encouraged Isaac, and put us at ease. After our interview she filmed the kids playing a game and I noticed five of them were not even aware of her camera, or that she was stepping over 6 wiggly bodies to get a better shot. Except Simeon. Simeon had all his penguins in tow. He insisted Cody, his favorite, get filmed. At one point Simeon shouts out "Hi Mrs. Hendricks (his Kindergarten teacher)! Look! I'm so brave!" While she was filming the kids playing a game, Simeon was standing beside her with Cody, jabbering on about something. When she lowered the camera for a better picture, Simeon took that opportunity to inch Cody up to the side of the camera, then ease Cody around the edge of lens so it looked something like this:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Only, pretend the seal is a penguin. And the penguins are 5 unassuming kids playing a game.

They will air the segment tomorrow night on the 10:00 news. Isaac is going to be their Hometown Hero. Isaac seemed so at ease, not nervous, and pretty excited about it all. We have yet to get any physical donation in, but I hope after Sunday we might get some. We plan to take all of it to a collection point in Cheyenne WY.

It has been a pretty exciting week here in Ogallala. Its not too often that a news team shows up at your house. I know there are several ways to donate to the people of Haiti, but that Isaac can actually touch the goods, sort them, pack them and deliver them has a lot more meaning to him. I think *sniff*...he's on his way to becoming a knight!

I found this on the MOPS newsletter today and wanted to share it. I got a good laugh out of it.

* I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.

* I will avoid taking a bath when ever possible and conserve more water.

* I will not tell the same story at every get together.

* I will brush my hair every day.

* Eat one hot meal a day.

* Go to the bathroom at least once a day BY MYSELF!

* I will make my husband happy and pretend to be a sports fan.

* I will not congratulate any women on her pregnancy unless I am ABSOLUTELY SURE she is indeed with child.

* I will accept the fact that I will never stick to my resolution I have had for the last ten years-that I will go on a diet. To heck with it, I resolve to eat whatever I want, forever.

* Not to do anything incriminating (like, say, shave my nipple hair) in front of my three year old, who will promptly give me away-loudly-to anyone who will listen.

*Not to let the Cheerios littering the floor of my car get crushed, then spilled on, then formed into dried lumps permanently stuck to the carpeting.

* Not to forget my kindergartener's homework, folder, lunch, jacket, show and tell, class picture order, and the fact that is "wear red" school spirit day. Dang kindergarten is hard!

* Not to blame my husband for getting me pregnant for a third time, because we actually did plan it but now I have morning sickness and it is all his fault!