GOALS

This post is long over due. I was waiting to post it when I was all caught up with my calendar of events posts, but I am still one month behind. Since that has happened and it has almost been four months since the new year. I will post it now. I don't like New Year's resolutions mainly because they always go by the wayside a month or 2 later. You can't help but think about resolutions during the month of January, because that is what everyone on TV and radio are talking about on the news, talk shows, etc. This year the main New Year's topics in January have been fitness (exercising, eating right, and losing weight) and finances (getting out of debt and what to do with your money, how to spend it, save it, and invest). In January I can't help but reflect on the previous year and plan for the upcoming year on things I want to accomplish. I don't know what the difference is between resolutions and goals but when I think of resolutions I think of it as only temporary and then forgotten. So I like to use the word goals because to me it is a more positive word.

So here is my list of things I want to make habits this year and the years to come. I have been thinking about what I want on my list throughout January and wrote my list in February so since it has been almost 2 months I will give a little update on how I am doing. And I will put my whole list down even the ones I still need work at.



I will start with the spiritual goals.

1. Read the Doctrine and Covenants. Since I am in Primary and can't go to gospel doctrine, I thought I would read what they are reading. I also have never read it cover to cover. I am currently on Section 54. My goal is to read from it everyday. I haven't found the perfect time to read so some days go unread. Lately, I have been reading before going to bed, but some days I forget.

2. Read the Ensign cover to cover. When Payton was in Pre K almost 5 years ago, I read the Ensign cover to cover. I had 20 minutes to kill in the carpool line so I thought why not read the Ensign. I had to be one of the first people in the carpool line so I could be home in time for Brenton and Connor's buses. I loved reading the stories and articles. But sadly when school got out the Ensign basically only got opened to read the visiting teaching message. I no longer had that time dedicated to reading it. So fast forward a few years and I have read February and have just finished the last page I had left in the March Ensign. I keep the Ensign in my purse so it is with me wherever I go and when I have some time to kill like on Wednesday the kids had dentist appointments I whipped that baby out and read while waiting. I mostly read it while waiting in the carpool line to pick up Talmage from Pre K. I try and leave the house early so I can have more time to read (usually 5-10 minutes). I need to start thinking now what I am going to do once school gets out since I don't think I will have lots of time to read on the road.

3. Attend the temple once a month. Since the temple is about 20 minutes from our house there is no excuse for Jon and I to attend the temple. This past year I didn't do to good at temple attendance. The main excuse was I didn't want to pay a babysitter (we pay our sitters $10 an hour since we have 6 kids). It would cost us $25-$30 just to go to the temple. I know I should have just paid a babysitter because I could use the blessings. Now that Brenton turned 12 in January (and we pay him $2 an hour) there are no excuses. Our ward has a temple day the first Friday of every month and that is our goal to attend it that day. That way if for some reason we can't go on that day we have lots of days left in the month to make it up. I am happy to say Jon and I have been to the temple in Feb. and March. Although March almost didn't happen. We were at the temple and I got my recommend scanned first and I headed to the changing rooms without waiting for Jon. I got changed and was waiting in the chapel for Jon. I usually beat him by a few minutes (one of the only times I can beat him at something). Well some other members from our ward were there and told me Jon was in the front of the temple they thought we had finished our session and he was waiting for me. I went to see what was up and last month when we went to the temple he got a new plastic cover for his recommend. Well this plastic cover had a made in China sticker on it and that sticker was covering the bar code to scan so the temple worker was taking the plastic cover off to scan the code and the sticker was partially stuck to his recommend and it pulled off some of the bar code and the code numbers at the bottom of the bar code so the worker could scan it or manually type in the numbers. So he was waiting for someone to look up his number. When we arrived to the temple, we had just missed the 6:30 pm session. Come to find out the temple worker that went back to get Jon's number got called to help someone else and then we he came back to the office forgot about Jon's recommend. I went back to the chapel and told him if he wasn't there for the 7:30 pm session (yes we missed the 7:00 pm session) we would just leave. He arrive 10 minutes before the 7:30 session. He was waiting for his recommend for 45 minutes. The 7:30 session had 2 people taking out their own endowments. We also had 4 Hispanic ladies with head phones to translate into Spanish. One of the ladies was sitting next to me and at times I could hear the Spanish louder than the English. That was mainly when she had to take off the head phones to put on the extra clothing and she was adjusting the volume. During the session, the lady who was taking out her own endowments had to go to the bathroom. So we had to wait till she came back. I kind of felt sorry for her how embarrassing. I am glad we went and stayed even with all the little hiccups. I just found out last Sunday that our temple (Atlanta) is going to be closed July 1st for 15-18 months. The closest next closest one I believe is 2 1/2 hours away in Birmingham, Alabama and it is a small temple. I hate that just when I am getting back on track and have cheap babysitting.

4. Year supply
With the whole economy going down and more natural disasters happening all over the world our ward has been really focusing on this. We had talks in Sacrament meeting on being spiritually, physically, and mentally self reliant. We had the whole month of March dedicated to this. We have had combined RS and Priesthood meetings about being prepared. Our visiting teaching message this month was to check with our families and talk with them about emergency preparedness. We also did a mock natural disaster and a member of the bishopric did a calling post to all the members to have them call the people they visit or home teach and then report to their visiting or home teacher supervisors. They also sent out an email to everyone saying the same thing. The bishopric planted 6 mock disasters at peoples house (which the ward didn't know about unless you were one who got called). Then at 8 pm the bishopric, RS, EQ and high priest group leader did a conference call to see how we did and where we needed improvement. Since Jon is the new EQ president he was in on the call and happily reported that we found everyone with damage even 2 more people who made up some damage. Jon didn't like the fact that some people weren't taking this serious and they would say they would have called their families and sent their report sooner if it was real. Anyway back to my goal on this I have divided the year supply goal into categories since year supply is a broad topic.

a. Three month supply of food. If you go to the church website http://www.providentliving.org/content/list/0,11664,7445-1,00.html , It says we should have a 3 month supply of food we eat everyday. I also added to this 3 months worth of bathroom supplies, cleaning supplies (including in this is the dish soap, laundry soap etc.) and whatever else we use on a daily basis. So this is what I did I wrote down 10 breakfast ideas, 9 lunch ideas, 15 dinner ideas and snack ideas. Then wrote down all the ingredients for these meals and multiplied the breakfasts by 9 (10 meals X 9 times we would eat that = 90 days (3 months) worth of breakfast), the lunches by 10, and the dinners by 6 (get the idea). So far I have purchased all the food for the breakfast and lunches and some of the bathroom supplies for three months. I need to finish up making my dinner and snack list. Also my 3 month supply of food I am not just using non perishable items. I am using my freezer for meat, cheese, butter, etc. The church web site says just make it for you eat everyday so going by that I am figuring we will have electricity maybe we will dip into this because of the economy and loss of jobs food prices way expensive. Where did we get the $$$$ to buy all this food (luckily I had some food already in storage so I went through that first and then made a list of things we didn't already have stored for instance I didn't have to buy any cereal or oats because I already had lots of boxes of cereal that I bought on sale and the oats I got from the cannery last year). Back to the $$. When we found out how much we were getting back in taxes (Jon takes 0 exemptions so they take the most taxes out every week as they can so we get the most back at tax time and then we have 6 kids so we get quite a bit back) and then divided it up. We put some in our emergency savings fund, some for food storage, and some for our playground Jon is building (more on that later). Sorry Disney you didn't make the cut. Maybe next year when our year supply is bigger.



b. Year supply of basic food. After we have our 3 month supply of food, I will be working more on this. Jon and I already did one trip to the cannery on Valentines day since our ward was going. This food is a year supply of basic survival food that will keep you alive. This is where your wheat, oats, rice, noodles, beans, etc. come into play. Here is the LDS church food food storage calculator http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7498-1-4070-1,00.html I am going to start with the basic survival food and then add to it. I liked this sites food storage calculator http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.htmlbecause it has fruit and veggies unlike other ones I have googled. Lately I have been on the lookout for some good food storage friendly recipes (ones that use only shelf food). I have found a few that we like and a few we don't like. I want to try them out first before buying large quantities of the ingredients and find out we hate it. My plan is to post the ones we like but who know when that will happen. This way if we like to food I will make sure we have ingredients to make it. Besides going to the cannery last month, Jon and I went to Sam's club and Walmart and bought a year supply of things that wouldn't expire so we could put it in our garage and forget about it. Things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner, razors you get the idea. We also bought vitamins, and medicine things that would expire and would need to be rotated but not for at least a year.



c. Power outage supplies. These are things like candles, flashlights, matches, batteries, and ways to cook food in case of no power (charcoal, propane etc). For this I am going to keep my eyes opened buy things as they are on sale or clearance. I just bought some candles at Walgreen's yesterday. They were on clearance 75% off. Yeah they were no Yankee Candles but hey I did smell them and only picked the ones that didn't give me a headache with first whiff and they will do just fine when the power is out.

d. I also plan on putting together a big first aid kit. I already have the container and a few things but need to make a list of everything I want in it and buy it as things are on sale.

I tell you this year supply goal is enough to keep me busy. My brain is starting to hurt by all the things I can think of with this year supply goal, but the greatest comfort is knowing I have food stored away for an emergency. It has been a big relief. Jon and my motto lately has been plan for the worst and hope for the best. Also, that scripture in D&C keeps coming to mind if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. This has been so true the more I buying things and store them away the better I feel (even if I buy one can of corn that week, hey it's progress).
Alright enough already I could blab all day long on this topic.

Now on to the other goals
1. Aerobic exercise 5 times a week and keep the strength training the same 3 times a week. Right now I jog on Tuesday and Thursdays and lift weights Mon., Wed., and Fri. I would also like to jog a little those days as well (not the whole 3 miles I do on Tues and Thurs but more like half that to start out with). Well I haven't changed my exercise routine yet, but hopefully things will change more.
2. I also need to work on having more patience. I do great while the kids are at school and it is just Hayden and me but some days as the day goes on my patience gets less and less until it seems like I am snapping at anyone who looks at me. I have to remind myself constantly to take a deep breath and just listen to what the kids have to say and not just snap at them even though I know someone did something to them and they should go to bed early or go in time out or they are telling me they are hungry right after I did the dishes that we ate dinner on 10 minutes ago.

So there you have it my goals and one long post.

Happy Birthday Hayden

Last month was Hayden's 3rd birthday (February 19). I think this is the age when they really start to know what is going on. Hayden picked the restaurant Chuck E Cheese to eat at. I know he didn't pick it for the quality of the food. I brought report cards (15 tokens for each report card multiplied by 4 not too bad!!) and coupons to get the most tokens and food for our $$. The kids had a great time as usual. Then when we got home we let Hayden open his presents. He got some books, cars, Indiana Jones guys, and Lego guys. He didn't know what to play with first. We will be having the cake and ice cream part on Saturday when the extended family comes over that way I don't have to make 2 (actually Jon wanted to make it bonus!!).

Hayden at Chuck E Cheese Bob the Builder

Hayden Chuck E Cheese

Hayden with his presents (yes I know all of the paper is Christmas wrap)

My mom took Hayden to Build a Bear Workshop during the day on his birthday. He picked out a frog to stuff. He had never been before and had a great time picking out an outfit, brushing it, and giving it a name, which is Hopper. He sleeps with it every night along with about 5 other stuffed animals.

Hayden picking out his animal to stuff

Getting his frog stuffed

Hayden brushing his frog

Hayden's frog, Hopper all dressed and ready to go

Hayden ready to take Hopper home

On Saturday, we invited our extended family over for some cake and ice cream and to open relative gifts. Jon did a great job on the cake. He made a long train track cake and then placed Hayden's wooden trains on the candy track. It was very fun.

We usually go to Grandma Snazzy (singing, story time, and coloring) on Thursdays which was Hayden's birthday but when we showed up she wasn't there because she was sick. So my sister Morgan had to take him the following Thursday since Jon and I were out of town for 4 days (more of that to come later). So here are some pictures of Hayden, the star of the day, with Grandma Snazzy

Hayden getting sprikled with birthday glitter and some confetti

Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day
My Valentines day started out by Jon and I getting up and out the door by 7:30 am to go to the LDS cannery. Our ward had a canning session that started at 9 am but Jon and I wanted to get there an hour early because we had a lot of canning we wanted to do and wanted to get a head start before everyone else arrived because I think we were canning way more than anyone else. There was a great turn out from our ward. This is what we ended up canning.
50 lbs dry milk
100 lbs white rice
100 lbs sugar
100 lbs red wheat
50 lbs white wheat
60 lbs Macaroni
75 lbs Quick oats
25 lbs Potato Flakes
100 lbs White Flour
These can I wont be opening up anytime soon. They are for our long term storage, and most of these items can be stored for 30+ years.
We also bought
25 lb bag of white rice
75 lbs of red wheat
25 lbs of hot cocoa mix
25 lbs of white flour
I will be putting these in 4, 5 , 0r 6 gallon buckets with a gamma lid so I can use them right now.

Even though to me this sounds like a lot of food storage in all actuality it only puts a small dent on what my family of 8 needs for a year supply. But with this trip we almost doubled our long term supply of food so that is good progress.
It is a good thing we have a large vehicle because that thing was full. We canned and bought the right amount of bags. It worked out perfect, and I didn't even plan it that way. I just hoped it would all fit. This canning trip is one of the reasons I filed our taxes early. We got our federal taxes deposited into our checking account the day before our canning trip. Talk about good timing.

After spending all that money on our canning session, Jon and I decided we would do a family Valentine's dinner at home. And I volunteered Jon to do the cooking. We had some steaks in the freezer so Jon grilled them and made baked potatoes, green salad, french bread, and we had some non alcoholic sparkling cider. I was going to make a chocolate cake but was too sugared out from the previous pre valentine goodies (my sister brought over personalized sugar cookies and Jon made some sugar cookies for his home teaching families and I attended 2 of the kids valentine school parties) that I gave us a break and made it the next day on Sunday.

I'm a Steak N Shake VIP

Today (February 13), Steak N Shake was celebrating their 75th anniversary. All the Steak N Shakes in the metro Atlanta area were having awesome deals. If you were one of the first 75 people starting at 8:00 am they gave you a VIP guest card good for $8.50 worth of food and beverages to be used once a month for a year. They also had their single steak burgers for 10 cents from 8am-11 am (limit 2 burgers per person) then after that they were 75 cents. I think they have the 75 cent burgers going on for a month. We have a Steak N Shake less than 5 minutes from our house. My dad got in line early because as all of you know can't pass up anything free. My Mom and Morgan got there after dropping Taylor off to seminary. Christa and her daughter Eliza arrived shortly after they did. The only problem I had was I couldn't get there until shortly after 8 am because I had to take Talmage to school so I basically wrote it off in my mind because I thought surely they would already have their 75 people. I called my dad just before dropping Talmage off and he said they still had some cards left. So Hayden and I headed over their. Jon couldn't come because of all days he was meeting someone for breakfast. I guess in order to get your VIP card you had to dine in. So my family were saving us some seats so we didn't have to wait for a table. Hayden and I both got VIP cards and ate steak burgers, fries, and milkshakes for breakfast. It was all yummy. At our location, they had a popular radio station there. The gave Hayden and Eliza a free t shirt and The Oliver and Company DVD. They also had a plinko (Ya you know that game from Price is Right) game going on that us adults played. If you get your plinko chip in the same slot 3 times out of 5 you win a t shirt, hat, or bag. I think my dad was the only one that got the big prize. Us losers got either chap stick, key chain, or something else I don't remember. I got a key chain. I was in free heaven. Jon, Hayden, and I will be enjoying a free meal every month for a year while the other kiddos are in school.

Hayden and Eliza in their free t shirts

THE BIG ONE

Today is Brenton's big birthday. No he is not a teenager. I think it is bigger than being a teenager. He turned 12 on January 21 st. We have a tradition that the birthday person gets to pick where they want to eat for their birthday. Brenton wanted to eat a Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. I love this place it is a great place for families to go. We haven't been to this restaurant for a long time since the one closest to us went out of business about 2 years ago. The restaurant's theme is a Canadian hunting lodge. So that being said major dead animals on the walls. Deer heads, fish, buffalo, moose, antlers etc you get the picture. The kids love it. The buffalo and moose talk and some of the other animals swing from a lantern, peek out of a barrel, or just move their head. For your birthday, some of the staff come out and sing to you with a huge moose head puppet and there last line of the song is kiss the moose and you are to kiss it. The kids love it.

Brenton kissing the moose

Before we went to dinner we let Brenton open up his presents. we should have waited till after dinner since he wanted to stay home and go eat later and try out his new video games. We finally got him to agree to go without too much fight.

Brenton with his presents

Since they gave Brenton a brownie with hot fudge and ice cream and we ordered a big warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream (you can't go to this restaurant without getting one) we did his cake and ice cream a few days later when we had the family over for his birthday.

Brenton with his cake

The reason I think this birthday is bigger than being a teenager is. He has graduated from Primary. He is legal to babysit for short periods of time. He got the priesthood. What can you say when you turn 13. Nothing everything stays pretty much the same. The Sunday after his birthday he got the priesthood. The Sunday after that, Brenton and Jon passed the sacrament together. It is a tradition in our ward that when the son gets the priesthood the following week he passes with his dad. It was cool. We made sure we sat in the right aisle so he could pass to us. He did a great job. That same Sunday was fast Sunday so they gave him a route to call and collect fast offerings. He did all the calling himself and was only able to get a hold of 2 families one already paid at church so he went to only one house later that day and then went to a member of the bishopric to hand it in. So they put him right to work. He has only been a deacon for a month now and he has already given his first talk in sacrament meeting last week. His topic was Family Home Evening and he did a great job very clear and easy to understand (unlike most young men who give talks). He got lots of compliments. Now he is no longer an 11 year old scout and an official Boy Scout. I can't believe he will be going to Scout camp this summer (yikes my baby is growing up). He also did his first scout fund raiser on President's day. We have a subdivision that the boy scouts sell subscriptions to. The subscriptions are for the boy scouts to place a flag in their front yard 5 times a year (president's day, Memorial day, 4th of July, Labor day, and Veterans day). Brenton and Jon and one other youth were one group that at 6:30 am started putting up flags in the yards and then they had to go back around 6:30 pm to take them down. I'm not sure if I'm ready for all this excitement.

Disney day 7, 8, and 9

So here we are back at Epcot on day 7. My parents and Morgan and Taylor left this morning to drive back home. So we did a few repeat rides like Nemo and Test Track but basically did the rides we skipped the previous time. We did The Universe of Energy, Test Track, Nemo, Journey to Imagination (this ride in my opinion is long overdo for a complete makeover). Then we headed back over to the World Showcase and the kids wanted to look at a few of the stores and spend some of their Christmas money. Since we went to Epcot on the first day, I made the kids wait until we came back the second time to make their purchases or else they would have spent it all on their first day and not have had any money left for the things they really wanted. They loaded up on the things they wanted and we headed back to the house for a swim and naps. We love this routine. Later Jon and Brenton went back to Epcot and did Soarin (we got a fast pass earlier in the day so they wouldn't have to wait in the big line) and a few other things. None of the other kids wanted to go. They wanted to stay back and play at the playground across the street from our house.

Hayden outside the Nemo ride

This is our meeting spot while the big kids go on Test Track. Maybe one more year and we can all go on it together

Universe of Energy
Talmage

On Day 8, our final day at Disney, we went to Hollywood Studios. All the kids wanted to do Toy Story Mania again so now that we know what to expect, Jon weaseled his way up as far as he could to the ropes (this is a few minutes before the park opened). I stayed back with the kids because we were in no real hurry we were just going to the Great Movie Ride. On our way there we stopped and Payton got her picture taken with Daisy and Minnie. Kennedy didn't want her picture taken. There were no lines since the park just opened and everyone was rushing off to get fast passes. Hayden was the only one who wanted his picture taken with Donald. That little stop off was perfect timing since Jon was coming up to the Great Movie Ride just as we were. He ended up being the third person to get fast passes to Toy Story Mania. Then we went to Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, Toy Story Mania, ate some lunch did the Beauty and the Beast show. Payton didn't want to go to Beauty and the Beast show so Jon and her got some fast passes to Star Tours for Payton, Kennedy, and I to use later on our only girls night out. I can't remember if we saw the Muppet 3D this time or when we went a few days ago. Oh well. Then we headed home. I packed up most of our clothes and things before Payton, Kennedy, and I went back to Hollywood Studios. We went on Toy Story Mania twice (we got 6 fast passes earlier in the day before they were all gone), Star Tours, grabbed a Turkey leg, some popcorn, and a drink and did the Disney Animation. We only did the first part we didn't want to wait 15-20 minutes to go and learn to draw a Disney Character. We walked around and peeked into a few stores and called it a night.

Payton with Minnie and Daisy

Hayden with Donald

Handy Manny our favorite at Playhouse Disney

Mickey Mouse Club house our other favorite at Playhouse Disney

Beauty and the Beast show

In the morning, we threw on our clothes ate a little breakfast while Jon packed up the car and we were off. We ended up leaving around 8am. We got home in record time. We usually hit traffic at least once. We only stopped for gas and lunch. On those stops the kids used the bathrooms. We were home before 3 pm. Less than 7 hours. We have always made it between 7-8 hours. All the kids but Talmage have tomorrow off for school. He didn't mind though he likes school (who wouldn't love preK). Yeah hoooo I am finally done with my Disney post.