Mom, I smell smoke! Day 4

I was holding E trying to get him to go
to sleep when we heard the fire alarm
from down stairs. C went and checked
it out.

"Mom, I smell smoke"
S grabbed the baby who started crying, and told
everyone to get out of the house. Lill's started crying
and I went to the stairs and sure enough the smell
was really strong, but I didn't see any smoke.

We all went outside, some without shoes,
and no one had a jacket. I didn't even notice
it until after I called 911 and then my husband.

I was suppose to bring my husband's bookkeeper
a bunch of stuff and it was all in the house.

For just a second while I was talking to my husband
I realized we could lose everything. I said
"Babe, everything is in the house, I didn't grab
anything!"
"It's okay," He said. "It's okay, dont worry."
This is exactly what I needed to hear.

I got off the phone and the Fire Dept. was here
and he asked if everyone was out of the house.

"Yes, Yes, everyone is out."

Then, my neighbor Tammy brought out jackets
and blankets for my kids to wrap up in. And I
tried to console Lills.

D left with my friend Rachelle to a club and
ended up coming home about 10 min later
because he was worried and wanted to be with us.

Of course he was , I should have never sent him away.

When he came back he started crying.

Well, the fire men went in and came out and
couldn't find anything. He said it smelled like
paper burning, but it could just be lint caught in
a vent. If it happened again please call us.
Then he tried to console Lills. He asked them
if they were playing with paper by the furnace.
they said no and then we talked to the kids about
our family's meeting place. Right here by the mail box.

All was good, except the basement still smells of smoke.
They opened all the windows and turned on the fans.

I took some pictures of the fire truck and Lills and D
sitting inside it.

That was cool.

Then they left. And that's when I started thinking
about what just happened.

I thought about all of us being together and safe.
I was very impressed about how my two oldest girls
took control and got the little ones out of the house
while I was calling 911.

Then I thought of Tammy and how gracious it was
of her to bring out jackets and blankets for my children.
She offered her house too but everyone wanted to
see what was going to happen if anything.

I realized that we have great neighbors and that
they are great examples or missionaries if you will.
They care about us and we care about them and that's
what it's all about.

Then I thought of the things we needed in just those
few minutes we were all outside. Like shoes.

We all came into the house and updated our
Family Fire Escape Plan and what we needed for
72 hour kits. In backpacks near our beds that can
be grabbed quickly.

Then I went through the house to see if I could find
anything. I did. My room in the basement, was a mess
my underwear completely visible!

And my kids obviously didn't clean their room either.
Those little stinkers.

I took the clothes out of the dryer and they just
reeked of smoke. This is where it started.
My husband will clean the vents out this weekend.

I have parent teacher conferences tonight.
I love hearing great stuff about my son.
It makes me so thankful for being
able to be a mother to six beautiful children.

Mrs. Grouch. Day 3

Last night T told me how polite
Nausu (the boy from Saudi Arabia)
was on the phone. Then he said,
"He's probably like that because his mom is.
Lets make them cookies tomorrow!"
Good Idea!

Then I took 2 Excedrin and went to bed.

And couldn't sleep. I ended up in bed with
Lill's and caught a few hours I think.

Well, I woke up tired and groggy and by
the end of the afternoon I was Mrs. Grouch!

Pick up your mess, dont climb up there,
get off the couch like that! Turn that down!
Get your work done...please!

B E Q U I E T!!!!!!

This is what I sounded like.

Today, I just had to realize what was
happening. And I did when I was driving
alone in a quiet car!
I just refocused myself and I felt
much better!

We all got the house clean and dinner made,
ate and cleaned up and we made the best
cinnamon rolls ever for Nausu and his
family.

Satan sure has sneaky ways of getting us to fail!
I feel so blessed that I recognized it in time!

We made some cinnamon rolls for us too so,
I'm going to go enjoy one!

You can too. :)

Cinnamon Rolls
1/2 cup butter
2 cups flour
3 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
3/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut butter into flour, sugar, baking powder,
and salt in medium bowl, using a pastry blender
or criss-crossing two knives, until mixture looks
like coarse crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves
the side of the bowl. (dough will be soft and sticky)

Roll out onto a floured surface into a rectangle.
about 1/4 inch thick.
Spread softened butter (not in the recipe above)
on the dough. Then spread brown sugar over the butter,
just enough to cover the surface. Sprinkle ground cinnamon
over the brown sugar. Roll, long ways. Cut into 1 1/2 inch
rolls. Place on a pan sprayed with pam and cook 20 min.

You can make frosting to put over the hot rolls
made with powdered sugar, milk and butter.
I like it plain.
Serve with a tall glass of icy cold milk.
enjoy!

Amazing! day 2

I was amazed today!
At about 4:30 ish, we were blessed with
opportunity!

One of my scouts came over for Scouts.
Except we weren't having Scouts because of
Pack Meeting on Friday. He came with his sister.
Sometimes that happens because their mom works
late.

I took the opportunity and invited them in.
They helped me deliver invites to the Pack
Meeting and C made a new friend.
Then, we had dinner and we made
cookies.

And ate cookie dough.

And watched American Idol.

A sad alternative to the Olympics.
But we don't get channel 5 remember?

Sigh!

Their mom came to pick up the kids and
stayed a minute longer while the cookies
were in the oven.
We chatted and I found out a bunch about them.
She cuts hair at Super Cuts and she was blessed with a
promotion to manager of a store. She is a great mom
and trying hard to raise her family alone.

And....

Two of my neighbors ( about 13 yrs old)
who played at my house almost everyday
when they were little, came over today to
teach D a little about Pokemon.

A little background:

Chase lives Pokemon and has since he was
5. He grew up and stopped coming over because...
well, I'm not sure, but he teases my kids about
being Mormon and not being able to cuss.

Well, my loving husband never forgot him,
like we wanted to sometimes, and kept inviting
him and Cody to Young Mens. Well, I guess they
are softening, because they always say Hi to me
like they did back in the day and now they both
go to Young Mens every week.

And then they both show up and chat in my living room
with D about Pokemon.

WOW.

Tonight the Young Men invited a ton of
inactive and non member friends to play
Wii. T went to pick up a boy that lives in our
neighborhood that is a refugee from Saudi Arabia.

I was able to meet his mom Fautma this afternoon.
What a gracious woman.

We are so blessed to have opportunities like these.

Missionary week Day 1

Today actually started like all days.

Except, unusually quiet on the way to school
with the carpool this morning. We didn't listen to
the radio.

I heard everyone's breathing patterns.

It was way too quiet and uncomfortable.
My sister suggested a John Bytheway
CD.

Perfect.

This afternoon the kids were trying to find music
that was uplifting, in a rock-n-roll sort of way,
that I would approve.
They did a pretty good job.
They made a play list so we can have some
good tunes to listen to during the day.

Tonight we invited some families to join us
at the church to run and play.


We do this a lot during the winter.

We had basketball,



and an awesome game of Settlers of Catan.


Good friends...

and a very tired baby. :)

Good Night everyone!

Missionary Week

It's Missionary Week...

I got really excited about it and the kids....
well, not so much.

So today we will be having a family home
evening to introduce the activities for the week.

It's not just about NOT doing things
as it is about GOING and DOING good things
continually. Like Christ did.

This morning in the shower (the place I
receive inspiring thoughts) I thought of
so many things we can do.

Serve, be better friends, etc...

It'll be good.

Tax Day and paint

The only good thing about doing our
taxes is that my husband and I usually
get to spend the whole day together. Our
tax guy lives is Ogden. We drop the kids off
at my trusted sisters house the night before,
then head up to Ogden early the next morning.

It's nice.

Last night we ate at Thai Delight(my all time fav)
with my father-in-law Aaron. It was great.

Then we came home, and I painted.
I'm really enjoying water color. A lot!
Here are my sketches I finally painted.

This little guy is my favorite!

This afternoon we'll probably come home and
watch Pride and Prejudice, read a little, cuddle a little,
then go get the kids. :) Oh, and I'm going to
paint that darned table too. :)

Slacker!

I'm a total s l a c k e r.
And I dont like that about myself at all.
I have this table I want to paint for my living room,
a chair I want to reupholster (it's just a cushion really.)
and I want to make this Magnet Board for my kitchen.

I have pretty much everything I need.....

So what's the problem here?

Sometimes I'm just sitting there and I think...

Now is probably a good time to get started.

But, there is too much I'd rather do.
Like:
Just sit and take a breather.
Watch Pride and Prejudice for the umteenth time.
Watch the Olympics.
Sulk, because we can't get channel five...

See what I mean?
I've got slacker written across my entire forehead.

It's just gross!

It really is.











I'm starting on the table tomorrow!