tips for winter driving

*First, if it is icy, take it sloooooooowwwww, black ice can be your enemy and really is hard to see.
*second, don't be afraid to put the car in lower gears to slow down, this helps tremendously, especially coming up to a stop
*third, try not to panic if you start sliding
*fourth, keep an emergency kit in your car and extra blanket
*fifth, if you get stuck in a couple feet of snow, rock the car back and forth between reverse and drive or have someone try to help push it out.
*Last tip, Never go out if you don't have to :)

I have had to keep all these things in mind lately now that we have gotten hit with our first ice/snow storm recently. Hope some of these tips help, drive safe!!!

Childhood memories....

My kids make childhood memories everyday. I believe they are having a happy fun childhood and will look back on these days with lots of great memories.

Things like, ball chase with dad - kids at the top of the stairs, dad at the bottom, dad and kids throwing balls at each other to try and hit each other.

Or made-up bedtime stories, mostly told by dad. Who usually tells pretty funny stories and gets them more riled up than sleepy.

Mom being there to drive them to school, pack their lunches and help with homework. Or nag about doing their homework.

Playing with each other, webkinz, squinkies, zoobles, legos, and hi (a made up game by Megan when she was little, or most commonly called "house" by other kids) playing ball in the backyard, Daniel throwing balls to us ALL the time, sledding in the yard, having hot chocolate on cold mornings, walking to the park in the evenings

Spending hours at the kitchen table making crafts, coloring and eating dinners together every night.

Sharing bedrooms and having sleepovers with everyone on the bunkbeds.

Teaching each other how to write letters, play a song on the piano or how to read.

Giving each other hugs and saying prayers together every night.

These are just some of the fun memories the kids have made together already and here's to MANY, MANY, MORE wonderful Memories!

Duties of the Basic Housewife...

this is my version of my duties as a wife and mother:

• keep a clean house (not tidy, just clean, there is a difference) and clean for the most part, this includes, clean dishes, bathrooms, floors vacuumed and mopped (at least once a week), dusting (at least once a month)
• basic upkeep of washing laundry and folding clothes (or clothes that are clean that sit in a laundry basket for days)
• making sure kids are fed (I didn't include hubby because he is capable of making his own meals, but I love him enough to make him dinner every night ;)(I really do love him lots!)
• keeping kids well dressed (this doesn't mean they always have to match)
• keeping the family on a schedule, ie. waking up, bathed, getting to school, homework, teeth brushing, bed on time, etc, etc.
• helping with a routine of spiritual needs, reading scriptures, prayers, being active in church activities and attending church
• doing most of the shopping (ugghhh)
• loving, nurturing, listening, caring, fun and sometimes a little goofy

These are just some of the things I do on a daily a basis, but this post is no claim in saying I do all of these things all the time. I lack in many of them (mostly the laundry and organization of my home), but the last one I really try to accel at and I hope and pray that most days I do.....

Almost Done

With our Christmas shopping!!
xmas '09

Brent took half the day off today, and Thanks! to a wonderful friend who watched Sarah, we went and bought just about all the presents (at least for our kids). We might get them all an outfit and we have 1 thing to order. A few more items for other family members and we will be done. This is always such a relief to get finished. Enjoying the Christmas season is easier when you don't have shopping to do.

Are you done yet?????

Cooking up a storm

Yeah, not really cooking up a storm, but I did have cooking club at my house today. What is cooking club? A bunch of us totally awesome moms who get together and make/demonstrate how to make one of our favorite meals. So today I made easy "Homemade" chicken noodle soup

Frozen egg noodles (I use Reames, they are YUUUMMMYYY)
chicken, you can use leftover chicken, chicken in a can, you can actually cook the chicken right in the soup too while it is cooking, whatever you decide. This morning I put chicken in a roaster and cooked it in the oven while the kids got ready for school and took them to school.
carrots
celery
onion
chicken broth or soup base or boullion (whatever you have on hand, I used soup base today)
salt and pepper

Add it all together in a pot and cook until noodles are done and carrots are tender, around 30 minutes.
I made this whole thing and we feasted on some of it all in the hour and a half everyone was here.
This is one of mine and the kids' favorite. So there you go, there is a quick easy dinner for you to try out soon!!!

What do I hear??

Right now I hear,

Sarah crying because she wants to watch a princess video and dance to a song. She is dressed in a dress-up dress as a princess.

Daniel, surprisingly, is quiet playing with a nun-chuck.

Megan and Joseph are wrestling and screaming, yelling, fighting. I wonder how long it will take for someone to get hurt and cry???????

Now the video is playing...

Brent is quiet in the living room, looking for some peace and quiet, trying to watch Survivor on the DVR.

Oh, now Daniel is standing on the side of the couch yelling "MOOOOMMMMMM, MOoooMMMM!!"

The dishwasher needs loaded and should be running too, although you can barely hear it. Grapes from dinner need to be put away, homework needs to be done, house needs picked up a little, and kids need to be put to bed in about 30-45 minutes.

My back and my stomach is really, really achy right now. Stress from all this thinking about how much I need to be doing and all the chaos of sound around me??

I think I will go and join Brent......

Call me Mrs. Fix-it

Home ownership is a big responsibility, not only do you have to make sure you send in your mortgage payments every month and the daily upkeep of cleaning and tidying, there is also a lot of maintenance.
I grew up with parents always fixing this or building that. They even built a cinder-block castle in our backyard for us kids to play in, 2 stories. It was pretty cool. So I learned a bit from them. At least with home maintenance, as far as cars go, I know a little. I can change a flat tire and figure out how to get a van with a dead battery parked in the middle of the garage out, unlock the wheel and get it in a position to jump start it.

Back to the house repairs.....having a leaky kitchen faucet, that could get expensive on the water bill needs to be taken care of soon. Or the Christmas outdoor lights that suddenly stopped working in the electrical outlet they are plugged into, or the toilet that keeps running after you flush.

Then there is the clogged drains and the inadequate heat to one area of the house. The loose screws holding up the cabinet doors or the handle insert on a closet door that keeps popping off(craft glue kept this one on). There is also the door(s) that don't shut right because the screws are screwed into holes that have now become to big and the door seems like it will come off when opening, or doesn't shut right. The kitchen disposal that has stopped working.

Some are easy enough to fix, others need a professional. Like the washer that stops draining water but is full of wet clothes, or the gas oven that, when opened, spits a fire ball out at you. Or the furnace that needs cleaned and checked. The dryer that smells and isn't drying. The microwave that runs when the door is opened (bought a new one! yikes!).

All of these things are things that have happened while we have lived here and all of them from the leaky kitchen faucet to the kitchen disposal have been fixed by yours truly, MOI!

Leaky kitchen faucet....that made a bit of a mess because I didn't get the hot water completely shut off while taking apart the handle to fix it. Flooded the counter.

Christmas lights needed reset on the GT electrical plug that was connected to where the Christmas lights were plugged in at.

Running toilet, needed a new seal around the base of the inside, easy fix and couple bucks later. Clogged drains, a little mix of baking soda and vinegar plus a small plunger..... unclogged.

Doors that don't shut right, require a little dowel rod glued into the holes,

new screws and a good screwdriver.

Kitchen disposal, first it was resetting the button on the bottom. (who knew sometimes you have to reset a disposal) But after it went out again, bought a new one, basically unscrewed the old one, screwed the new one back on, plugged hoses back

into it and there you go, new disposal!!

If it is a big appliance I will let the professionals handle that, but for all

these other items, bring it on house, I can take ya!!!

(if you made it through this post, Thanks, probably not one of my most exciting, but I am proud of myself for doing all this, and if you have a leaky faucet....give me a call ;)