Are we cutout to be a Nielsen Family?

Through the coupon blogs I watch I heard that the Nielsen Corporation was taking applications.  I 'tried out' and we were accepted.  This means we'll be tracking everything we buy.  Am I freaked out about the government watching our every move... aren't they already?  My theory is this: if Christians go to the movies in mass to support the type of films we hope to inspire other film executives to finance shouldn't that be the same for the household products we buy?  I think the things I don't buy will be as important as the things I do.

So, I'll see how it goes.  I will be earning cool gifts along the way.
 I scanned my first Walgreens purchase tonight.  It was steal by the way. 
3 of the brand new Crest ProHealth toothpaste... the $3-$4 kind = $4

3 boxes of sandwich bags = $3

2 bags of Stacy's Pita Chips = $4

1 Dawn dish soap = $0.49

Total without coupons = 21.54

Total AFTER coupons = $11.51, Love it!

Justus Officially Declared He Will Walk with the the Lord!

We had a great JBQ Moment:
Justus went to the alter many times as a child and has accepted Jesus into his heart multiple times with both Steve and I during bed time prayers, etc.  However, tonight was a bit different.  He's older now.  Tonight he asked when he was going to be baptized.  It was a great way to ask him about his committment to Christ.  We spent time talking about how he planned to live his life, which road/path he desires for himself, his family, and his own children.  We prayed together for protection, a clear mind and that the right choices in life would become apparent when things seem confusing.  He felt good about his new/better defined committment to Jesus, it was a great conversation and I'm so glad I got to experience it with him.

I believe we recommitt ourselves to Jesus every morning and look forward to further conversations with both Justus and Jordan throughout their life.  Conversations like this make your heart swell.

2010 Resolutions

All of my friends have such great ideas and plans for 2010.  I ponder resolutions but I typically do not make them.  No resolutions, no failure to admit to later on.

This year I'd like to save lots of money at the grocery store.  This is actually deeper than it may appear.  I think by focusing on something I can quantify will help to accomplish other (more important) goals within our home.  Things I have a difficult time staying on top of... like menu planning, cooking, cleaning, laundry... the basics.  When the basics are under control I'm a better mom, nicer, happier, I can breath, which means my kids and husband get to live with a better me.  You'll see a running total of dollars spent and saved on my blog... I may or may not keep it there... it's just an idea.

I'd also like to get back into my excersize routine.  I'm going to work into it gradually between now and Jordan's birthday.  Once a week would satisfy my goal between now and March.  Then I'll ask myself to increase to 2-3 times per week.  This is the schedule I was on prior to the car accident and ankle injury... 2009 was a difficult year and my jeans won't forgive me any longer!

Those are my official goals for 2010.  I hope to create some peace for myself that will then allow me to extend a helping hand to those around me more often.

Mommy Moment - 2004

Today is New Year's Eve.  Here's a memory that jumps up as one of the good ones... good that I don't have to live through it again!
Right from the beginning I knew that baby #2 was not going to have an easy life. At two weeks old I had decided to get out of the house and take our 3 yr old to the park… mommy needed out of the house. It was a beautiful day, my first try at taking two kids out in public. It was OK but I felt so pulled apart… 3 year old wanted all the attention because that’s what he was used to. I had to keep helping him down the slide which meant I was abandoning my two week old infant who was lying on a blanket… I would have never left my first child unattended at two weeks old. Now, I was maybe two feet from him (probably less) but I felt like someone could grab him and run away and being in my post-pregnancy state I felt tubby and knew I wouldn’t be able to tackle whichever NFL player was lurking behind the play structure. It was awful. Then the 3 year old needed to go potty… rush, rush, rush. This was exciting because he had just decided to not wear diapers anymore because only babies wear diapers… thank goodness we had a baby or he might still be in diapers and using a pacifier!


Anyways, I put the baby in the car seat thing, gathered all of our stuff in a hurry (for the first outing I was prepared for rain, sleet and snow and two weeks without access to a grocery store… it took me a minute). We trotted over to the bathrooms. Baby decides he needs held while we’re in the gross bathroom… I don’t want to put anything on the floor but I do. Oh man, I would never have done that with one child. Did you know it’s physically impossible to pull up your pants and button them without the use of two hands? It is. One time I actually put our first child between my legs and held him their while I buttoned my pants just so I wouldn’t have to put him on the floor. Now I see they have cute little seats in the bathrooms so mommies can buckle their baby into a safe little space… I totally missed my get-rich idea on that one! Anyways, I digress… are you still reading this? Stay with me here… I’m getting to my point…

In the bathroom back at the park 3 year old is done, but needs help with the toilet paper and his pants. So I have to put fussy baby down into the car seat which is now totally contaminated because it’s been sitting on the floor for 5 minutes. All I want to do it get out of there. I’ve wiped 3 year old, we’ve washed hands and I just want out. So I grab my poor baby who’s in the contaminated car seat and all the other equipment and we head out. Three steps out of the bathroom and I feel the car seat handle shift. What the? The car seat just ejected my two week old baby out onto the grass! Are you kidding me? Now I have a screaming baby who has every right to be upset, dirty hands, well - dirty everything. Plus my 3 year old is running towards the slide and the NFL tackler dude that I’m going to have to take down with my bare hands if he looks cross eyed at my kids although I haven’t actually confirmed his existence but don’t be fooled, I can sense him. I decided it was time to go home.

All I wanted to do was go outside.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse into some of my fondest mommy memories, Happy New Year!

Knitting and Sewing Projects for Christmas

I have been making clogs forever... or so it feels.  I've never made somethig more than once until now.  The clog pattern I found at the local yarn shop is wonderful.  You can check it out on Ravelry.com if you're interested.  I started with the child's size and then did two more in the adult version.  Jordan, Justus and Steve were the recipients.  These were completed 48 hours before Christmas.  I felt so ahead!  Uncle Brian has already placed his order for 2010.

I also sewed on all of the badges for Justus' Royal Rangers vest.  He wore it all Christmas morning.  He's been earning badges since September but hasn't had a vest to display them.  I also sewed an authentic Police Officers shield to the front of a new shirt for Jordan.  I was given the badge by an officer from Boston.  We sat next to each other on a plane from Seattle to Boston and talked all about our kids, dirt biking, camping... our families would get along so well!  At the end he gave me an extra shield he had with him.  I knew Jordan would love it.  He wore the shirt for 2 days!

Trip to the North Pole

All year long I've been promising to take the boys to the North Pole, the real North Pole.  So, when the

weather turned cold I decided I should put the date on the calendar.  Our calendars were so hectic with swim meets, holidays, work trips, etc. I realized we only had 1 weekend available so I snatched it.  We left town the Saturday after Thanksgiving and drove to Coeur d'Alene, ID.  Ssshhh, don't tell the boys the address.  Steve was called in to sub on Monday morning so wasn't able to join us.  We video taped everything from the moment we parked the car to the time we saw Santa and shared it with him as soon as we returned home.  It was a bummer to not have him with us.

We knew we had arrived at the hotel when we turned the corner.  We went from driving n pitch black to a million white Christms lights in the blink of an eye, it was amazingly beautiful, you could see lights forever.  When we checked into the hotel we were informed we'd received a complimentary upgrade.  The room had two beds, a sitting window, a flat screen tv, a sunken living room, two bathroom sinks and a deck overlooking the boat docks below... honestly, I can't imagine what they normally charge for that room!  I think she took pity on a frazzled mom with two boys, it was such a nice blessing!

We headed over to the ticketing area to pick-up our pre-purchased boat ride tickets... that's how you get to the North Pole, on a magical boat.  What, you didn't know that?  We boarded the double decker boat (imagine something like a houseboat but a bit larger).  The Ferry took us to the North Pole (the other side of Lake Coeur'd Alene) past several moving Christmas images all light up, to the hotel resort owners home.  It was all lite up with Christmas lights and they had a dock with a 'house' at the end of it.  The Ferry pulled close to the house and all of a sudden the lights came on and you could see directly into Santa's living room, dog and all!  Santa told us little stories and then read from the Nice list he'd recently received.  Thank goodness both of the boys names were read.  Jordan spent the entire month of December telling everyone he was not on the Naughty List... a very good thing to be proud of!

We later enjoyed a nice dinner at one of the hotels restaurants overlooking the Christmas lights on the water. We even shared a big snickers sundae for dessert.

The next morning we left and enjoyed some shopping time at Cabela's. We also saw the movie 'A Christmas Carol' in Spokane in 3-D and then visited with Santa at the Spokane mall.  It was a wonderful weekend!

(Note about the movie: not recommended for younger children without lots of hand holding and closing of the eys.  Both of the boys had been well prepared for it and enjoyed it.)

Angel Alert Christmas Production at Church

Angel Alert was the name of the Christmas Musical this year at church.  Justus had auditioned for a role with less lines in it but due to family scheduling conflicts one of the original cast members had to step down.  Justus was given the part of Harpo - an angel with a friend named Halo Hattie.  The two friends kept getting in trouble for surfing on shooting stars.  Our friend Chad (check out his blog) was played the role of Michael the Arch Angel and did an outstanding job.  He's made to act!  The play was wonderful, it had funny lines throughout and kept the audience entertained.