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.