One of those days…

I probably should have seen this coming as to how the day started.

We started our day with family prayer which probably has never happened for us (don’t judge us). Jeff leaves for work usually before any of us are awake, then we rush around to get ready and run out the door with barely enough time for Lea to get to school and hurry in before the gate is closed.

It’s been a goal recently to help myself and my kids pray morning and night. Having a little piece of faith that it would help our morning go smoother with less frustration getting ready for school.

We said family prayer, Jeff left.

Kids and I read scriptures (usually read at night).

Each said a prayer.

Off we went in a more calm manner with minimal chaos and noise to take Lea to school.

 

Day went pretty smooth, I wiped down ALL the doors in our house – the lines of dust were getting to me after 5 years.
Did laundry, made lunch, took a nap with Abbey while the boys napped too.

Did more laundry, picked up Lea, took care of a couple bills and issues with our Church Magazines not arriving this month (wrong address entered by me – maybe we made a difference for someone else who got those magazines this month….)

Jeff called at 5 pm at the height of NOISE. Abbey crying, he asks who’s crying – I sarcastically answer Me. Wah, wah, wah, wah.

Thinking I’m being so funny – why are you crying??

Cuz I lost my job (my jaw dropped)

what the, who the, HUH??

I lost my job, they let me go, one month severance……more discussion – I’ll be home soon.

Are you sure – do you want to go somewhere else first, maybe a park bench to feed the birds – I don’t know…to clear your head.

No, I’ll be home in a little bit.

 

2 texts to my parents and Jeff’s mom, calls just moments later and in tears to my mom (I’m so glad they are back from their mission)

Jeff’s mom calls a little bit later, more tears.

My sister calls – my first comment was ‘are you going to make me cry too??’

Jeff came home – loving greeted by innocent children. He departs to them glued to the TV. We had a quick chat after he left:

Dad lost his job.

Lucas: He did – how sad, he needs to find another job?? (with all the sincerity of his little heart for his best bud Dad)

Abbey: (when I explained that Dad would be staying home): YEAH!!!!!! Yippee!!!!

Lea: Just like Grandma Judy lost her job? Daddy needs to find a new one? (clearly concerned for her Dad)

Yes dear he does.

 

We’ve been through this before, we’ve survived and maybe we’re a little more self-sufficient than before.

And one more sweet phone call from Jeff’s brother to let us know he was there for us and is willing to help out in any way – FAMILY IS THE BEST!!

We made signs for Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen to come tomorrow

 

and one for Daddy.

Once upon a rainy day, back in February.

So every once in a while, we get days where it RAINS. And I don’t mean a Phoenix oooooo scary rain of 40 raindrops and we run for cover. I mean a downpour so quickly, the roads are turning to small creeks.

Well of course it didn’t start out as rain, the wind came first – think Idaho wind or Tri-City wind, takes small trees out of the ground and anything not staked down and light enough is tossed in the yard.

The kids had soccer games, Lucas had the early game and the weather was fine. Lea played 2 hours later and the wind was brutal. Dirt flying in sheets. We sat huddled under our umbrella – myself, Abbey, Lucas, Ammon in his carseat (he was covered in debris and was facing away from the wind), Beth, and her two youngest boys Mason (4) and Mitchell (now 1). Holding down the umbrella to avoid becoming Mary Poppins. We survived the game, quickly left and Jeff decided it would be fun to go to the church and play in the gym since the rain was in full force now.

Went home and collected any ball we could find for all of us – basketball, nerf, whiffle and a bouncy ball so the kids could play basketball too.

By this time my allergies were in full swing and the gym had been cleaned with some powerful cleaner which didn’t help. We had a great time anyway and I did my best to keep my sneezing to myself.

Played baseball, ran soccer drills, played with toys and there was a HORSE re-match.

Back story on the HORSE re-match: Jeff and I were newly engaged and visiting his parents in Idaho Falls. Being somewhat apathetic to wedding invitations and making decisions, Jeff and I went outside to play HORSE instead. Long story short……I WON!! No he didn’t let me beat him, I won fair and square. I almost beat him again this time, but not so much. He had H-O-R-S…..and came back to beat me. We did half court shots, behind the basket, on the knees, reverse layups – we still got skills….sort of.

another day when it rains or we get the itch to be fun parents, we’ll do it again.

I looked out the window and what did I see??

Two police officers standing by my back gate (doesn’t really flow for the song, oh well.)

I opened up the bedroom window to see if I could hear what was going on. 2 cops had picked up some kids ditching school because they didn’t want to go to detention.

Conversation when a little like this:
cop1: “Sorry? Sorry is for accidents, you did this on purpose. ‘Sorry’ isn’t going to fix this.”

You ever been to jail? Jail is a whole lot worse than detention.

Here’s what I’m going to do for you. I’m going to take you back to school – just this one time, next time I’ll take you to jail. I’m going to take you back to school and you’re going to go to detention. And you’ll probably get more detention, but you’re going to listen and go. Then you’ll go home and probably get in trouble with your parents and probably grounded for the weekend. But you’re going to listen and do it. And I don’t want to find you skipping school again.

I didn’t see another cop car, but I think it was on the other side of the wall to the left. I’m glad my kids were inside watching TV and ignoring the outside world for a brief moment.

Coming up next……

BABY JESUS!! (betcha didn’t see that coming…)

Brought to you by this Munchkin – maybe we need to watch a little less TV.

Happy Halloween

Get your game face on.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I used to think my older sister was crazy – one year for Christmas she received a cherry pitter from her husband and was SO EXCITED!!! You would have thought she’d just won the lottery.
A cherry pitter, really?? That’s what you get when you’re married……how romantic.

This is what I got this year – A LABEL MAKER!!!! And the electric pencil sharpener comes in 2-3 days.

I think I get it now. Flowers die, candy just adds weight, jewelry (to me) is a waste of money, but now I can label EVERYTHING in the house and sharpen all those pencils we got for Halloween.

Oh and I finally made my LOVE frames.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Well maybe I am….

A week of firsts:

Made the laundry soap

Made my own bread: FROM SCRATCH!

Cookies…….well cookie dough, but it’s ready to make some fun valentine cookies – from SCRATCH.

And even made waffles from scratch for lunch today, no Bisquick here, thank you very much.

Now if I can only stay on top of the laundry; showered and dressed before 4 pm….and make a few more homemade treats just for my family.

Then maybe, just MAYBE….I can avoid hearing comments like: “Mom, who’s coming over?” (clearly I only make treats for when guests come over)

and my favorite: “Why do you only curl your hair on Sunday??”……..

Some day I’ll get it all together – baby steps.

Betty Crocker, I am not.

Considering my latest attempt to make microwave popcorn has left my house smelling like burnt popcorn for 4 days, I need something else to make.

I don’t like the smells of laundry detergent: not ocean spray, mountain breeze, or clean (does that have a smell you can add?!)

I don’t like lilac or whatever pretty flower is included to mask the smell of dirty clothes

And why if I want a product that’s dye free and scent free do I have to give my right arm and my first born to buy it?!

Not only do I not like it, but I’m allergic to them. Just walking down the laundry aisle gives me a large headache and it’s gone when I leave the aisle.

Similar feeling happens when I accidentally go down the pet food aisle – although that might be because I don’t like animals and it’s outrageous the price to feed those little monsters.

I searched high and low for that fels-naptha bar in the front – found it at FRY’s on 51st & Baseline (in the laundry aisle), top shelf, very corner/end of the aisle closest to the milk section.
Author of the blog I found the recipe – she has 2 other recipes you could use, one is a dry batch and one is a small liquid batch.

Liquid Laundry Soap-Family Sized Batch

Water

1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap

5 gallon bucket (got one of the orange ones from Home Depot)

1 cup washing soda (Again, Arm and Hammer)

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

4 1/2 gallons water

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket 1/2 way with hot water and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. Fill bucket with more HOT water (I add enough water so it reaches the rings near the top of the bucket) As it cools, it will thicken.
If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use. Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy). Cost per load .04
Edited to add:
TIPS:
When mixing the melted soap into the hot water my friend told me it's best to add some boiling water to the bucket, it helps break down the lumps better. And she is right, it worked great!!
I ladle my soap into a used Orange juice container as shown above and just give it a good shake before using.

It was much easier than I thought - mine looks a little more like lemonade, a little less like orange juice - but it works and my clothes are fragrant free!

Until we meet again

Elsie Reynolds - a loving tribute to a wonderful woman.

Bye, bye Dad

Sending Jeff off at the airport to Portland for Grandma Reynolds funeral. Since we had just visited with her, we decided it would be best to just send Jeff. (good thing, we ended up with a NASTY flu bug – me included – for 3 days) Poor Jeff took it with him to Portland….yuck.

 

The boy loves his daddy. Who wouldn’t love that face?!

 

Despite all her protesting – she loves her daddy too. And she works really hard to make her ‘Love you’ sign.

 

Fun day

My aunt and uncle were staying in North Phoenix and decided to come visit with us for the day. They have been to visit us a few times and each time, their trusty GPS gets them lost – she does not know her way around Laveen. But they make it to our home and we love having them. Lucas remembers last time, he played baseball with Ken in the backyard.

Abbey called them Grandma and Grandpa (Ken is my dad’s older brother and they look a lot alike, Geri reminds me of my mom). We are so grateful to have them visit us and enjoy spending time with them in our home.

Lunch at Texas Roadhouse