Damsel in Distress

I am one who tries to be self sufficient as much as possible, but there are times when I find myself in trouble that only can be saved by someone else. Today I started my errands by dropping off some papers to a primary teacher. As soon as I pulled up next to her house I knew that I was in trouble. The front right tire did not feel as if it was in a good position. I had tried to move over far enough on the road so I would not be in the way but instead I had moved over too far and now my car was certainly going to be stuck in the ditch, in the snow. After taking the papers, I thought that I needed to try and get out but nothing I tried worked. What in the world was I to do? Martin had only been asleep for 3 hours and with the washing machine running he was not going to hear his phone. I tried it anyway...no answer. I ran across the street to a members house to see if her husband was home... he was at work. I am trying to think of what to do when a truck pulls up in front of my car. An older gentleman gets out and offers to try and tow the jeep out. While we are hooking up another older gentleman stops to offer his help. I am feeling really stupid at this time and don't even know how to offer my help. We try a couple of times to pull my car out but instead it slides further down into ditch and the snow is now so deep it is at the bottom of my car. (I have a jeep mind you) As I was meeting Katie to do some shopping, she finally arrives. I give her my house key and ask that she go wake up my husband. The older gentlemen went in search of wood to put under my tires as to give some...whatever, I don't know. Everyone comes back. The wood is placed, Martin takes the driver seat, and out the car comes. So what did I learn from all of this besides not to get stuck in a ditch that is filled with snow? I learned that all I could do was verbally thank those men for their help although they deserved so much more. They were strangers who stopped to help another stranger in need. Since I don't even know their names they are still strangers. Since all I could was say thank you I have decided that it is now my turn. The next time I see someone in need and I can do something to help, I need to slow down and just do as the Savior would and help. And in return all I will get will be a thanks but then hopefully the cycle will continue.

Update

Martin went back to the hospital today just for blood work. He won't know any results until Tuesday when he meets with his doctor. For now he is just taking it easy.

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas. After a couple of snow storms, the ground is covered with snow and there is a chill in the air. The girls ask million times a day how many days until Christmas. To me it is so hard to give an exact number. Do you include that day, especially if it is first thing in the morning. Do you include Christmas day to the count? I never know which is exactly right, maybe that is why they continue to ask all day long, my answer might be changing.

My most favorite thing about Christmas time is the music. I love to hear it and sing it. I absolutely love to go to church the Sunday before Christmas and sing all the Christmas carols. My biggest disappointment is when I have a cold on Sunday and can not sing. I tried so hard today but a lot of the notes just came out breaking all over the place, how embarrassing. One upside was that someone sang my favorite song, O Holy Night. I think it is almost the most beautiful Christmas song ever written. The song filled me with a peace that I was searching and yearning for ever since I sat down for Sacrament today. It was at that moment that I remembered why I was in church for such a special day. I remembered that Christ came to this earth to teach us the gospel not only by his words but by his example. I remembered that we do not celebrate this time of year for the presents or decorations but because we celebrate Him. I know my Savior lives, that he loves me and that he is and always will be a part of my life. Merry Christmas everyone!

Lucy, I'm Home!

Well guess who came home today! It is so good to have Martin back home. He is not 100% better but he is on the mend. With things looking up they decided to release him as long as he goes back on Sunday and Tuesday for some more blood tests. His final diagnosis was called rhabdomyolsis. As far as I understand it means he worked out so hard that the muscles deteriorated flooding his kidneys with enzymes making it so the kidney's could not function properly. Thank you again to all who help me or even wanted to help me but were too far away. All the prayers worked and he is now home for Christmas!

The Hospital

I just wanted to quickly thank all who have helped our family out the past couple of days. We have recieved a ton of support from family, friends, coworkers and ward members. Martin is still in the hospital but at least today he seemed to be looking happier. They now have a name for what ever is wrong with him but I can't remember...I will have to ask later. We are all hoping for an early Christmas present...it would be so nice if he were home before Christmas. I will let everyone know when he is out of the hospital. Anyway, thank you all again.

Tis the Season to be Jolly?

Do I have the spirit of Christmas? I sure do...unfortunately it is more along the lines of Scrooge than Tiny Tim. I am a naturally stressed out person, huge fault but I am owning up to it. When I received by new calling Martin was concerned how it would affect that level of stress but so far I have been able to keep it in check. The month of December has promptly destroyed my balance. Getting ready for the new year is a big thing but add it on top of Christmas and I am almost at my wits end. I feel very sad by this because Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. There are so many things I want to do with my family for Christmas but they are quickly being replaced by the I "have to's". Does this cheat my family of things that could be but don't necessarily need to be done? It is now the second week of December and neither do we have a tree nor one piece of Christmas decor decks our hall. I feel pushed down and overloaded and I am afraid those I will fail in the end will be my family and they deserve so much more. Okay, talk about depressing, I am done whining... now I can get back to trying to get as much done as possible.

Giving Thanks

Well Thanksgiving has now come and gone. I was so happy to have Mom and Dad here for Thanksgiving this year. It always makes it seem more like the holidays when they are here to celebrate with. I truly enjoyed not having to cook all of the food and what not. I usually get stressed which drives Martin up the wall. I enjoyed sleeping in and having the kids around for a little while. I loved it that Martin's work schedule fell just so, where he had all of Thanksgiving off. It has been a great break but like all good things, it had to come to an end. Now it is over, Mom and Dad are back in Texas, the girls are back in school and I am that much further behind in my Christmas shopping. There are just so many things I have to do and do not want to even begin to think about them. Well better get to it!

Colorado Day 3,4, and 5

Sunday we sat around all day and just read, played on the computer and tried to ignore the children as best we could. Monday, after all were up and ready, we headed to Shawn's office. He gave us all free eye exams, just to make sure we were all okay. It is so much fun to see Shawn as Dr. Cottrell because you can really tell he just enjoys what he does. After a long time at the office we finally took the kids to the zoo. We had to promise them something so they would attempt to be good in the office. The Denver zoo was great. The weather was warm and since it was 2 hours before closing, there were hardly any people there.

The penguins were feed while we were there. They had anchovies for dinner which is apparently not their favorite. It was really cute because all the penguins have bands on their arms. All are different colors except those who are a couple. There was a male and female with blue bands and they had 2 children that also had two bands. I just love the affirmation that penguins really do mate for life.

The first animal we went and saw were the Lions. They are at the very front of the zoo. As we were standing there this lion walked right up to us, stopped and just stood there. Although there was glass between us it was still unnerving. You do not realize how big those cats are until they are standing right next to you. After the zoo closed we went out to PF Changs. The food was fabulous and we had fun. Poor Austin was beside himself the entire time. It just made me laugh to hear him crying "No, mama, no!" over and over again. Poor guy had been run ragged that day with no nap.

We left to go home on Tuesday. We had to remind the girls that Grandma Jana and Grandpa Robert were coming on Friday to get them out the door. They just did not want to leave their new friends. On the way to and from Denver we passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel. It is a tunnel through the mountain that passes through the Continental Divide. The tunnel is over 1 and half miles long. It wasn't the only tunnel we passed through but because of its length it was by far the funnest. There were a lot of mountains which made my ears pop constantly. When we reached Vail Pass a sign showed the height was over 10,600 feet. No wonder it was 4 degrees outside.

Although we didn't do a whole lot on our trip, we had great fun. I love just being with my family and not having to worry about all of life's responsibilities, at least for a little while.

Colorado Day 1 and 2

For the first time in over 3 years the Martin Webb family took a vacation. (extremely long over due) We left Friday after school and drove to Henderson, Colorado. Shawn and Stephanie moved to Colorado shortly after Shawn graduated from Optometry School. We hadn't seen them since their youngest was born about 2 years ago so it was great to visit and catch up with them. We didn't get to their house until about 11:30 that night and then proceeded to stay up until about 1:00am talking. I think I might need a sleeping vacation from my vacation:)

Saturday night we went out to eat at Casa Bonita's. In the travel guide it sounded very family fun filled. If any of you have been to the Mayan restaurant up in Sandy it is pretty similar. Their was cliff diving, juggling, a Mariachi band(which we were seated right next to), arcades, and so much more. The food was okay but I suppose you really pay for the entertainment. Apparently Casa Bonita is the largest restaurant in the United States and the second largest in the world. It was a bit loud and extremely crowded but I think the kids had fun.

After eating we all went to the arcades so the kids could play games. It was crazy crowded and hard to find games that the little kids could do. One of the favorites was this squish the spider game. The picture is somewhat blurry because Ashlynn had to move to squish the spider!

Halloween 2008

The Monday before Halloween we carved our pumpkin for Family Home Evening. If you can't tell it is two spooky trees with an owl sitting on one of the branches and the moon above. Both of the girls also had pumpkins but once we started Martin only wanted to carve one. I had the girls paint theirs with washable paint. Alex painted a vampire and Ashlynn painted hers with rainbow colors. After we were done we put them outside on the bench. They were fine until yesterday when it rained. Alex and Ashlynn's pumpkin do not look as if anything was ever on there. Oh, well.

Halloween day was so crazy. Alex went to school at 8:00. Ashlynn went to school at 9:15. I went back to Alex's school at 11:00 to do her Halloween party (I am crazy and signed up to be her room parent this year... what was I thinking?) Straight from Alex's party I went to pick up Ashlynn from school. Then at 1:00 Ashlynn and I went back to Alex's school to see the Halloween Parade. Her class was the very last class and didn't return to the classroom until after the bell had rung releasing Alex's track from school. We walked home in the impending rain. Then the girls had to wait until 6:00 to do any more Halloween stuff. (It was a very long 4 hours) After dinner we went over to the church for our trunk or treat. We were there about 45 minutes and handing candy out by the handfuls in order to get rid of it before we left to go to Katie's. Then the girls and Andrew got to go door to door for the real trick or treating fun. We only went up and down Katie's street but by the end the girls were complaining that their bags were too heavy and hurting their hands. Needless to say we have more candy than we should ever eat in one year. If the amount of candy indicates directly the amount of happiness, the girls are definitely giddy. All in all the girls had fun for Halloween.

Blond Crayons?

I will post Halloween a little bit later but I just wanted to tell a quick story. I am in charge of sharing time for the month of November. So, yesterday during sharing time we made hand puppets out of lunch sacks in the junior primary. I was helping the Sunbeams. The primary secretary's daughter is in that class with Ashlynn, so I was helping the two of them. Hallie said she needed blond hair.
Me: Here is a yellow crayon.
Hallie: No, I need blond.
Me: Umm...they don't make blond crayons so we just use yellow instead.
She finally used the yellow crayon but it just sounded so funny coming from a four year old. Ashlynn probably wouldn't even know what blond was, let alone insist that she have a blond crayon.

The Hunger Games

I saw this book on Stephenie Meyer's website and thought I really like her books so maybe I should look into this one. I got on the Internet and found that I could read the first chapter on Amazon.com. After reading it I could not get that book fast enough. I could not put it down. Each chapter has a pull at the end so you have to read the next. I read this in less than a day even though it is over 300 pages. I am not going to try and explain the book to you because I don't think I could do it justice. I would suggest you look on Amazon but you might want to put yourself on your local libraries waiting list first because you will definitely want it as soon as possible. The only thing I did not like about this book is that it is the first book and it came out this year, which means it will be a while until the next one comes out and we can see how it turns out.

My Weekend

This weekend I set aside to prepare for the primary program. Friday I got my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed. I had to buy a white long sleeved t-shirt to complete my ensamble for Sunday. Once all that was done I got tickets for the girls and myself to go see High School Musical 3. (Martin opted out.) We went to see the movie straight after picking Alex up from school. The movie was okay but I truly wonder if Zac Efron knows the amount of screaming that takes place in the theater due to his removal of his shirt in one scene. It wasn't even that wonderful due to the fact you only see his naked back. Saturday we had the primary program practice. It was a little crazy with kids talking and skirming around. We only had 3 teachers show up to help keep the kids quiet and prompt them when it was their turn. We also have a really small primary so we are begging the kids to sing as loudly as they can.

The kids did the best they could in practice but I was also worried because they had a wedding reception going on during part of our practice. Technically it shouldn't be a problem since we are in two separate rooms but the people involved in the reception were obviously worried. They continued to come in and look to see who was singing in the chapel. I went to speak with someone so I stopped in the kitchen and tried to talk to the ladies in there but once I had done that someone came and talked to me. I promised that I would do my best to keep the children out of any part of the church except for the chapel and the closest bathroom. I don't know it just made me laugh. We all know that things happen on your wedding day and you just have to roll with the punches. My bouquet broke while taking pictures at the temple. Katie had the fire department come at least twice to hers. (Which is my personal favorite story). Helmut had his temple recommend washed in his pants pocket right before his wedding. Not to mention all of the eyebrow waxing and other tiny things that could happen that make your wedding day yours. With out all the little problems it would just be another perfect wedding.... How boring!

Well, tomorrow is the program. You know I don't even really care if we have to prompt every single child that it is their turn to speak as long as the kids have fun and sing like the choir of angels I know they are I will be happy. Wish us luck!

Fall Break

So today I was determined to do something with the girls. Yesterday, I am pretty sure they watched TV from breakfast to dinner. This morning after we got dressed we went over to play with Andrew. The girls always have fun with him. We went to the park and ate lunch with Katie and Andrew. It was just a nice morning, not having to worry about what time it was and who I needed to pick up where. After we came back, we tried to figure out what movie we were going to see. Martin and I had promised them yesterday that if they were good we would go. We ended up going to the American Fork Cinema aka the Sticky Shoe Theater deemed by Kendall. It is just a tiny theater with 2 screens that is $1.50. I have always wanted to go just to see what it was like. We saw Wall-E, which was pretty slow moving but the girls seemed to enjoy it. Alex said the movie was about love. Once the movie was over we went to find something to eat. Our neighbor gave us some gift cards to Bajio's the other day because she said that if they eat out they don't eat mexican food. (I would say hers is probably better than anything you could buy anyway.) So Martin and I had Bajio's and the girls had Wienerschnitzel. Bajio's was okay but Martin and I still prefer Cafe Rio.

Tagged

I was tagged by my sister-in-law, Jenny, so I better do it now or it might not get done for a while.

10 years ago I was...
1. Sophmore at BYU
2. Living in the Glenwood
3. I hated my roommates
4. Loving my Chem 101 class
5. Trying to find out who I was

5 Things on my to do list today...
1. Clean Chadwicks house
2. Call Bette about Primary Program
3. Call Shyley about 8 year interview
4. Find something fun to do with the kids for Fall break
5. Rest to get over my cold

Snacks I enjoy...
1. Dark Chocolate M&M's
2. Any type of ice cream
3. Oreo's
4. Popcorn
5. Chips

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire
1. Buy a bigger house
2. Let Martin do whatever he wanted to with his car
3. Travel all over the world
4. Give alot of the money to the charities that are always calling and coming to the door
5. Not spend one more second worrying about money

5 places I have lived (Like Jenny I have lived in Texas and Utah so I am changing it)
5 Places I have vacationed
1. Maui
2. Ireland
3. Nauvoo
4. California
5. Oregon

Well, there it is. Katie, tag your it.

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Stephanie Cottrell is one of my best friends and today is her birthday. We met 8 years ago when her husband Shawn became our home teacher. It was then we realized they lived in the apartment directly below us. After we finished up the contract at Cambridge Court we got them to move in right next to us in some really awful apartments on 5th. Stephanie and Shawn have been true friends ever since, even when they decided to move out of state. Stephanie is smart, fun and a great listener. I don't have very many close friends but I am truly blessed to count her as one of them. Thank you for being my friend Steph, I hope you have a fabulous birthday!

In the Line of Duty

Last night I was assigned to help with traffic for the football game. Out of nowhere a fawn came out of the trees and was struck by a car. The fawn had a broken leg and numerous other injuries. The fawn would not survive. There were several hundred people on the sidewalks walking to the game that had seen what had happened. Many were asking if the deer would be OK and if I had a blanket to cover the deer. Others saw that the deer was suffering and asked that I put the animal down. I explained that I could not shoot a deer in front of hundreds of people. One man pulled out a knife and said I will do it! I dragged the deer to a less populated area in some trees and shot the deer. Mandy says that Bambi is in Heaven now.

No longer 21

So, how do you know when you are no longer 21? Well, my friends your body begins to feel it. I would have to say that most of the time I feel as if I am still young and loving life. These past few days I have been feeling a little bit differently. On Wednesday, Katie and I went over to Jenny's to help her cut out all of the paper for her Super Saturday enrichment cards. The next morning I woke up and the under side of my upper arm was so sore. What did I do? I was in charge of using the cutter, so it was the pushing down over and over again that did me in. Yesterday, I helped out at the Forbes Fall Fair. I was in charge of the Bottle Knock Down game for 1 hour. I sat on the floor for easy access to re-stand up the bottles after every person. I was leaning on my left thigh and rocking back and forth on it in order to reach the bottles. This morning I woke up and my entire left thigh hurts like the dickens. I just keep thinking how when I was 21 nothing like that would have phased my body. I suppose life goes on and we have to go with it.

Forbes Fall Fair

Tonight was the fall fair at Alex's elementary school. We got there a little after six. After getting our prepaid for tickets, we headed for the cafeteria to eat. 5 Buck pizza and soda was not the best dinner... oh, well at least I didn't have to cook. After we were done the first thing the girls wanted to do was get their hair spray painted. Ashlynn asked for pink and Alex got blue. They wanted to be called Strawberry and Blueberry after that. Next we tried to play some games but there was way to many people and the hallways are small. (It is usually outside but due to bad weather they had it in the halls and in the cafetorium.) For the last hour I had to work at one of the games so Martin and the girls parted ways with me to spend as many tickets as they could. The girls had fun and I suppose that is all that matters.

Time together... time apart

Last night Martin and I had tickets to go see My Fair Lady at the Pioneer Theater. Jenny watched the kids and had them sleep over. Martin and I drove up to Salt Lake and had to find something to eat. We ended up going to The Training Table for dinner. He found it quite amusing due to the fact we were dressed up. But it is one of his favorites and we don't get to go there very often anymore since it is so far away. We drove back to the theater and searched campus until we found it. It wasn't really too hard to find since we just had to follow all of the old people who were also dressed up. The theater was smaller than I had imagined it would be but I suppose that just made the actors seem that much closer. We had the front row of the balcony which was really good due to the length of Martin's legs. He would have been truly cramped if he had to sit in an actual row. I think next time I will try to get tickets that are on the end of a row in order to give us some more elbow room as well. I felt way to close to the lady next to me and can not imagine how claustrophobic Martin must have felt. The play was good and still funny with a few extra bits the actors added to their characters. It was still hard not to compare the woman who played Eliza Doolittle with Audrey Hepburn, but she still did an upstanding job. The play got out pretty late and due to all of the construction and the many detours we did not get home until about 12:30. I went straight to bed happy I would be able to sleep in without Ashlynn waking me up at 6:30am. I met Jenny at Roberts this morning to help her with somethings and to pick up the girls. When I asked Ashlynn if she had missed me her answer was a resounding "NO". Oh, well.

Listening

Today I had to clean the Chadwick's house and Martin watched Ashlynn while I was gone. When I returned he had just set her down for lunch. She was eating and exclaiming how good her Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was. When she finished I told her to go tell her dad thank you. Martin was in playing on the computer which makes him hard of hearing. Ashlynn says "thank you dad... thank you" ...no response. Then in a low, deep voice Ashlynn's says "Your welcome". She walks back into the kitchen and tells me "He said your welcome." I about died laughing but I certainly know how she feels. Sometimes I complete a conversation for him just to have it finished.

Primary Activity Day

Today we had our first primary activity day since I was put in as president. I feel as if the activity went fine except for the small amount of children. We had 11 kids come, 2 being still in nursery and 5 have moms in the presidency. I don't know if there was anything we could have done differently to get more kids there but unfortunately it makes me feel kinda stupid. I am doing the best that I can but I still seem to be found wanting. Oh well, at least it is in the past and now we just have to start getting down to serious business for our Sacrament meeting program for next month. Wish me luck.

Birthday Pleasures

So yesterday Martin took his money he received from the parents plus a Best Buy gift card from our friends and he bought a PlayStation 3. Now I knew that this was something he would want but I just could not justify purchasing it with all of our money when I knew he would not know what to do with the money he would get from the parents. Brad and Meagan got one a while ago and I think he has been really jealous of it mostly because it is a blue ray player. So we purchased the player, one game and one movie. I tried so hard not to buy him a movie for this birthday because every birthday, Christmas, anniversary... you name it, I buy him a movie. They are just so easy and cost efficient. I guess it was inevitable. We tried it out last night with the newly purchased Meet the Robinson's. The blue ray looks really good and the sound is amazing. The girls were dying because they wanted to buy Guitar Hero but had to be satisfied with getting it for Christmas. Oh well at least I have my Christmas shopping done.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is Martin's 31st birthday!!! Unfortunately he had to work this morning and tonight, so we won't be able to celebrate until Friday. Martin is not only my husband he is my best friend. I am so thankful that he was born and that he was raised the way he was because he is a wonderful person. He is also a great father and the kids just love to play with dad. We love him so much and hope he has a wonderful birthday! (If you are wondering about the picture: Martin hates to have his picture taken and posted for people to see almost as much as my Mom, so since it is his birthday I posted this picture of what represents Martin to me:)

Apples, apples and more apples!

Friday, Katie and I went over to Jenny's house to help her make freezer apple pie filling. Since moving to apple grove she feels the need to use the apples from the apple trees that were left in front and behind her house. We have found that the freezer apple pie filling is the easiest and least messy out of all the other recipes we have tried. We tried making homemade applesauce...disaster. Applesauce is so cheap please buy it at the store. This year I thought maybe we should give apple butter a try. (Side note: I did not know what apple butter even was until I began searching recipes online.) I found a recipe crock pot apple butter and told Jenny and Katie I would make it on Saturday. Getting the apples in the crock pot and letting them sit was the easy part. Every time I stirred it I continued to wonder what it was suppose to look like. Finally around 7:30 at night I thought I needed to smush the apples some how. I tried to do it with a hand crank food mill that we have, it worked okay but not to my liking and my hand hurt really bad after a few minutes. Around 11:00, I finally got the apple butter in the jars and in the freezer. So this process took approximately 14 hours... so not worth it. I tried the apple butter this morning on my toast and it is okay but to tell the truth I don't really know if I even like apple butter. Apparently I am crazy and I hope by next fall I grow out of it.

Mundane

I knew that as soon as I caught up with everything from August I would no longer have anything to blog about. My one worry when I began blogging was how much it would show my boring life or lack there of. The past couple of days I have been running errands and making sure the kids get to and from school. Ashlynn really enjoys going to school, so much so that on the days she doesn't go she gets really mad at me because I won't take her to school. (Insane child) Since nothing is happening in my life here is the latest book I have read.

This book is what I have deemed fiction fluff. Every once in a while I like to read something that doesn't challenge the brain. I am not trying to be rude but a lot of Mormon literature falls in the category of fiction fluff. I enjoy reading Mormon literature because I can relate to it through the religion if nothing else. I understand why the characters make the decisions they do and why they view things in a certain way. This book was actually quite different from any other Mormon literature I have read because it takes place in Mexico during the Pancho Villa time period. If you ever need any fluff it wasn't too bad.

Fairest

Fairest is a Young Adult novel written by the author of Ella Enchanted. I found it a cute story with a good moral. I have decided that one of the main differences between Adult and Young Adult books is how they are paced. The last adult book I read seemed designed to make you think, were this book was pure entertainment. Fast paced and enjoyable, the book seemed to sweep you along the story. No wonder I enjoy young adult books more than the ones that make me think to hard.

The Company of Good Women: Almost Sisters

This book is about three women who are very different from each other, meet and bond during Education week at Brigham Young University. It then follows them through their individual lives as well as the time that they are reunited each year. I found the book extremely slow going. As I was reading I continued to wonder when the exciting conflict was going to happen. I would have stopped reading but I always hear that voice in my head from Mom saying I need to at least read 100 pages in order to give the book a fair chance. I find after 100 pages that I have put too much time and effort into reading that I can't stop. The very end of the book has no real ending, so now I have to read the sequel. (Martin says not to but how will I know what happens if I don't?) I will let you know if the second is any better.

Great Sales!

I know that I have already blogged today but I couldn't resist. Katie and I met at Kohl's this morning. I was looking for birthday presents for Martin and she was looking for some new running shoes. This is what I found. The first set of shoes has a background story to it. At the beginning of the summer I took Ashlynn shoe shopping. She found these Nike Mary Janes and fell in love. I just could not spend $35.00 for my three year old. She was sad but got over it. Today they were on sale for $7.00. I decided that I could pay $7 and she could probably wear them for awhile and hopefully next year. The other two pair of shoes were each 90% off the original price. The Carter's sandals for Ashlynn were originally $24.99, on sale $2.49. The Adidas for Alex were originally $49.99, on sale $4.99. You just can't beat a good sale!

A Banner is Unfurled: Glory From on High

I decided that if nothing in my life was happening I could always blog about the books that I have read. I promise that I will only blog about a book if I have finished it recently. We all know that it would take me forever to catch up on all of the past books. I finished Glory From on High just last night. It is a Latter-day Saint Pioneer story very similar to The Work and the Glory. The difference is that I believe the characters are based on the authors' ancestors. The books are considerably shorter than The Work and the Glory making them much faster paced. I feel that the characters are well developed, each having unique and enduring qualities. I do not find it as well written as other books I have read but interesting none the less. A personal note about the book is that in the first volume there was reference to Edmund Durfee, who happens to be my ancestor.

Alex is now 6!

Last Friday, Alex turned six. When I asked her what she wanted to do she immediately asked if we could go to Chuck E. Cheese. She than asked if her friend Abbey could come. I told her that would be fine and let Martin know so he was in the loop. Later I was discussing with Martin how many tokens we would need and what not. His response was "Brad and I need lots of tokens." I guess in his mind he wanted his friend to come too. It was a good birthday. The kids ran around and Martin helped them get as many tickets as possible so by the end they were able to get an okay prize.

Ashlynn's First Day of Preschool

Ashlynn's first day of preschool was today. I dropped her off at 9:30am. Neither she nor I looked to certain at parting. I have been trying to prepare her for this for about 2 weeks now. Every day we would talk about how she was going to go to preschool all by herself without Mommy. She went in but looked a little apprehensive. I on the other hand was trying my hardest to not cry. I do not know for certain if she is really my last baby but today it sure felt like it.

Miracles do Happen

So yesterday was laundry day for me. I started a little later than usual since it was a holiday. I was trying to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep in at least a little bit longer than 6:50 am. I got my first load out of the washer and my second in. When my first load finished in the dryer, I pulled out the clothes and saw purple dots all over the clothes. I was so upset because my favorite pair of shorts were now ruined. After getting all the clothes out and sorted through I found the culprit in the dryer... a purple crayon. Aaaahhhh! I quickly logged on the Internet and began the search. Lo and behold, I found this:

2 max amounts (line 3) of concentrated Tide
1 cup Oxiclean
1/2 cup 20 mule team Borax
1 cup Shout liquid
1 cup white vinegar

I figured it would be cheaper to try this than buy all new clothes. Martin was such a doubting Thomas while we were purchasing all the ingredients but I held out all hope. My clothes look beautiful and purple dot free.

First Day of First Grade

Alex has been going to school now for about 2 weeks. It has been an adjustment for all of us. We now awaken before Martin gets home from work in order to get Alex to school by 8:00am. We live to close to the school for her to take a bus so it is either by mom's car or by walking. So far we have chosen walking because Mom needs the exercise. Since we walk that means we have to leave about 20 minutes before school starts. The first week was okay but it is now starting to get colder in the morning and Ashlynn complains the entire time that she is cold. I suppose we will just have to wait and see how long we can continue walking.

Alex has never been the one to hold onto my skirt and cry. She is a very independent and responsible little girl. Most of the time when I drop her off at school she doesn't even say good-bye. So far she seems to be enjoying school and learning...let's just hope that it stays that way.

Swift Creek

This summer we really did not do anything. We were going to try and go to California but Martin could not take the time off when we needed it. The one thing we did do this summer was go camping. We drove the 3 hour trip to Swift Creek up in the Uinta's where Martin's dad started camping in the late 1930's. This is where Martin remembers camping with his family and fishing with his dad.

I like it because it is quiet and fresh, the air smells better and the trees look greener than in Utah Valley. The girls were so excited to finally go camping. So far their experience of camping has been what they see on the television and when we set up the tent in the living room. They did not quite understand why there was really nothing to do or why there was so many bugs. Bugs are one thing that my girls really do not like. In the morning, Martin and his dad went fishing, while the girls and I tried to set up camp. The girls were bored and tired of the bugs by the time the boys returned. After lunch we all went down to the creek so Martin could help both girls catch a fish. Each caught one fish but both were returned to the creek because they were so small. Martin's dad stopped fishing and began fashioning a whistle out of a willow branch for each of the girls. I thought that this was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. Like many things in this life I believe the knowledge of willow whistles will unfortunately die with the older generations. After all is said and done the girls really enjoyed camping and continue to ask when we can go again.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Okay so I am not going to begin at the very beginning because that would take to long. We will begin at the beginning of August. August 4th is both my brother Matt's birthday as well as Ashlynn's. This year on August 4th Ashlynn turned 4. My baby is growing up so fast.As you can see she wanted a pirate party. We had a family party at the park with swords, eye patches, pirate hats and a treasure chest birthday cake. I know she had a lot of fun and came home with a lot of booty.

Why Not...

Finally, I know. It has always taken me longer to catch onto a new trend than most people. I usually try and avoid trends out of stubborness but after a while I usually relent. It took me a good 2 years to start wearing capri's. Today I became bored so I decided why not. So, here is our family blog, don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. (right mom!) Anyway, I hope that this will help everyone kept up to date with the Webb's.