Makeup Queen!

The pictures didn't turn out very well, but you can imagine the results! Dark brown eye shadow was Jessica's favorite thing in my compact and for some reason, she thought that it should outline her eybrows... so, no that isn't bruising on her nose and eyes ... its makeup! She knew she shouldn't be doing it because she came into my office afterward and covered her face ... I sent her back in my room and made her tell me what she had done. Then we washed it off and cleaned up the counters. Little joys ... they make me laugh or was that cry? : )

MORE Spaghetti!!

She did it!! This afternoon, I was telling Karianna (my assistant/babysitter) about Taylor eating spaghetti last night. She told Karianna that she didn't chew it, just swallowed it. Karianna asked her if she liked it and she still said YES!!!

So, I tried again tonight. Two bites was the goal this time and the goal was for her to actually bite into it. Its all about the Jolly Ranchers... she wanted them, and I told her she could have them if she ate 2 pieces and actually bit one! She did it!! It was a fight at first, but finally I just walked away and she did it. She was so proud of herself. She finally got past that fear and just did it!! Once the first piece was down, the second one was a BREEZE!! I am so proud of her for trying it and who knows, MAYBE I'll get her to eat 5 pieces next time (almost the equivalent of one bite!)! I'd sure love to see her get past these eating issues, especially since I can't find her "choca" (Chocolate Atkins Shakes) ANYWHERE. My friend checked one Albertsons and I checked another and they didn't have them - out of them. I checked WalMart which is where I've always bought them and they don't even have a place on the shelf anymore! I hope that the changes they made to it a few months didn't destroy their sales. If they stopped making it I don't know what we'll do for her! Here's hoping she'll eat more noodles and maybe someday a whole meal without crackers or yogurt! : )

Great Advice ... Little Joys

As you all know (or if you haven't read my blog recently, you will know as you read the previous posts), this has been a tough week. I've been a mess. Just when I think I'm holding up well, I fall apart. But a great friend of mine reminded me of some advice I gave him last week about some big challenges in his life. He had told me "I guess I need to learn how to deal with things and still be happy." I told him, "Remember to keep finding the little joys in life, it helps make the big things easier to handle. And remember, one of the best joys in life is friendship." When I gave the advice, I really thought it would help him, but I didn't realize that I'd need to remember it this week. Thankfully, when things got rough this week, he reminded me of what I had said. Find the little joys and use them to make it through. Thanks to a great friend who not only took my advice but reminded me of my advice to help me make it through!

Little joys in my life right now (some are actual big joys):

• GREAT friends ... neighbors, ex-co-workers, clients, college friends, HS friends and even childhood friends.
• Fun memories from my past.
• Chocolate chip cookies from my mom.
• A friend who offers her yummy chocolate cake.
• Job openings ... : ) the more he applies, the more likely something will come, right?
• Friends who share info about job openings.
• Friends who call and email just to be there for me.
• Birthday party invitations.
• Little twin boys who want to sit on my lap and cuddle.
• Going to the gym and hurting like heck after.
• A jetted tub to sit in after the gym when I hurt like heck - that's where I'm headed now!
• Protein shakes.
• Good weather.
• No need for air conditioning.
• Friends blogs that make me laugh, smile and even cry that happy kind of cry!
• Facebook and the chance to get back in touch with old friends and strengthen friendships
• Cute free easy-to-use borders for my blog!
• Comments on my blog from my great friends.
• 16 tiny baby guppies in my aquarium
• My business doing well.
• A great assistant (office, home and babysitter)
• Carpool for school, preschool and dance!
• 2 hours on Tuesdays and 2 hours on Thursdays of quiet time
• My lasik surgery so I can see without contacts or glasses!
• DVR - so I can watch my shows when I want
• Coupons.
• Child-like excitement over little things (Jessica making a rainbow "fish" picture for her friend, Alyssa singing in choir, Taylor doing cartwheels, Steve and his remote-control planes)
• Taylor eating SPAGHETTI!!! (ok, so it was only a noodle about 3 inches long, but its a FIRST and she actually smiled after and said she liked it - of course, she quickly refused more, but I think she actually realized that she could eat other things!!!)
• My craft room and all my supplies so I can still scrapbook and craft without spending money!
• Books to read.
• Food storage.
• No major health issues for me, my girls, Steve or my immediate family.
• .... I'm sure I could come up with lots more! But I think you get my point and I actually feel better.

And of course the biggest joys: An amazing husband, 3 beautiful daughters, my family and a Father in Heaven who loves me!

Thanks MR for reminding me of the advice I so openly gave and had quickly forgotten to apply. Nothing like eating your own words, but hey, I'm feeling better. Must be something to that saying "Count your blessings".

Staying in the area

Just so everyone knows, we do plan to stay here. With the market as it is, selling our house isn't much of an option. We can get by for awhile, so as of right now, we are only looking at things in this area! If nothing pans out here and things start getting really bad, we'll consider other options, but hopefully things won't come to that.

When life gets tough ...

... the tough get going. We've all heard it, but sometimes we don't think about having to be tough and get going. : ) Its our turn. The market downturn in the last couple of weeks has caused some problems for I3, the company Steve works for. They lost their investor. He called the managing partners on Saturday and told them the money is gone, close the doors. Evidently, he had too much in one investment and that company folded last week so he lost it all. When Steve got to work yesterday, his bosses pulled him in and told him. They then had to go into their Monday morning meeting and tell the rest of the employees. There is no money for payroll or anything. He's out of work and technically, as of 2 1/2 weeks ago he was out of work ... we just didn't know it.

We knew this risk when we started there, but never imagined it would be so overnight. So now what ... Steve has started applying for jobs elsewhere. He applied for a couple last night and sent some resumes to friends and ex-co-workers hoping that one of them knows of openings. The managing partners at I3 are still trying to find some other source of funding. Steve and his co-workers all discussed their options. Of course, they are all facing reality - no paycheck yesterday so they are seriously looking for jobs elsewhere. But they also realize that you can't spend the entire day looking for a job so the extra time they have, they are still going work and try to get their product to market. They are VERY close to having a product ready. They truly believe they can get it done in 30-60 days so they are going to work like crazy until they get other jobs and see what they can manage. If they can get it done, they will have instant revenue and they will be a viable company again and it will have been worth the sacrifice (at least that's what we are trying to believe, but I'm not sure anything is worth this feeling). But, it just depends on how soon everyone gets jobs elsewhere and whether or not they can meet their goals.

Most of you know that Steve is a part-owner in another company, audioShare (DHC). That company is still moving forward, but it is not an option for employment at this point. They are still struggling to keep their heads above water and so hiring Steve is not an option for them now and not in the near future.

Keep us in your prayers. Keep him in mind if you hear of any openings in software development and/or electronic engineering. He has had a lot of managerial experience so management positions in his industry are also possible. If you hear of anything email or call me. I'll keep you all posted. Right now, we're still in the overwhelmed, purly scared out of our minds phase so we'll keep you posted!

Oh, and we aren't telling our kids right now. Honestly, I'm just not sure how or what to tell them and not sure I'm ready to tell them. So as I don't mind you talking to others, I'd rather kids not hear too much about it. Thanks!

I did it!

I finally took some time to figure out the cute borders! This one is actually from http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ but I didn't like their tag in the top corner so I moved it. SHHHH... I'm not sure I am supposed to do that. Anyway, they have lots of cute free backgrounds in all kinds of styles and some cute "accessories" (like the "Child of God" one I chose - I taught a lesson to our young woman yesterday about how divine and eternal we are as children of God, so I thought it was perfect with everything I've been thinking and talking about lately).

And now I'm so excited to change the background for all the different holidays, seasons and my moods! : ) I started today with a Halloween one - (I LOVE HALLOWEEN!) but decided I should wait until at least next week. I've been dying to put up my Halloween decorations in my house but have promised myself I will wait until this weekend. Guess my blog should be the same!

Thanks Jenny for using thecutestblogontheblock so I could find them! I'm sure there are other great sites out there, but this one was easier than the others I had looked at. Thanks Robyn for giving me some ideas of how to do it. I'm still going to create some of my own too! What great blogging friends I have!

Fun Run!

Our elementary school does a Fun Run for their PTA fundraiser. All 3 of our girls participated. We pledge money based on whether or not they meet their goal. Our goal was for Alyssa and Tay to keep going the whole 30 minutes (walking or running). They did it! What a great way for kids to get exercise, understand the importance of exercise (they talk about health and fitness all week long) and help earn money for our school.

Here are some pictures.

When they are done running, they receive a medal and a water bottle. My girls stopped early to get their medals and water bottle, but then kept running. : ) They wanted that water (even if it did end up dumped over Alyssa's head).

At the end of the Fun Run, we bought the girls a snow cone and some popcorn while they waited for all the prizes to be announced. Alyssa won a book on CD - Leven Thumps. : ) She was super excited. Jess and Tay didn't win anything, but they had fun running/walking, eating their snow cone and playing on the swingset. After we went to dinner (LATE dinner) with Hansens and part of the Webecke family. There were 12 of us - 7 kids and 5 adults. We put all the kids at one table (except the youngest) and the adults at the other. They actually did really well at the table together and my girls ate really well too! : ) Maybe that's the key to relatively good behavior at a restaurant - lots of friends!

So patriotic!

My dad is very patriotic. He's great at putting out his small flagpole for every American ocassion. I have always known my dad to be a very proud American and grateful for our freedoms. I'm grateful for that example!

For Father's Day, my mom gave my dad a flagpole. He finally got it all ordered and at his house a few weeks ago. He poured the cement 2 weeks ago so last week, we put it up. Its a 20 or 25 foot pole so he needed some help. I LOVE doing projects so I went over to help him. It took us about an hour to put the pole together and get it standing up. They live right on a corner, so the flagpole will be very visible for everyone who drives by. My girls love it too!

Jessica kept coming outside (she was inside helping my mom bottle tomato juice) to see if the flag was up yet. : ) And to drink my protein shake!

I think for my mom's birthday we are going to give her a BYU flag to put under the US flag ... for those of you who know her, you might know she is a Ohio State Buckeye fan ... but Steve can't resist the temptation of flying a BYU flag on their flagpole! : )

I also helped my dad the week before with cutting some wood. He's quite handy with building things and is working on building cabinets and a work bench for his garage. I really enjoy doing projects, working on something and see it be completed. Guess that's why I've always loved doing crafts ... but big projects like his garage cabinets are even more fun to me. I'll probably go help again in a week or two and when I do, I'll take pictures of our progress.