Perhaps sharing isn't always a good thing

Ever since we moved here I've been trying to get Mr. Fantastic to understand the importance of fasting on Fast Sunday. And so I would join him in a fast of his choice.
Every Fast Sunday he gets up at the podium to "bury" his testimony and every fast Sunday he announces to the ward the purpose for our fast.
He might have done that before we moved and I conveniently pushed the humiliation to the back of my mind. However, this has got to change.
In January our stake president was sitting on the stand and Mr. Fantastic got up and said, "We're fasting today so that we'll stop fighting." Great.
Since then our fast has been an open book.
And this last month is no exception. Mr. Fantastic got up there with Thor (who wanted to "bury" his testimony, too) and Mr. Fantastic fed him the lines.
"I'd like to bury my testimony. I know this church is true. I love my family. I'm glad we can fast today. We're fasting that my dad will get a job. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
I started laughing, I thought it was so funny. Maybe it was the stress expressing itself, I don't know. But I started busting up.
Thor sat down and Mr. Fantastic took over the mic. Not only did he just repeat word for word what Thor said, but he expanded. And that had me bent over in my seat laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. I'm sure onlookers thought I was sobbing because I was shaking so much. But such was not the case. In fact, I started laughing even harder because I was thinking that my eyelashes were going to come off because of the tears.
As soon as he was done and I had composed myself enough, I left the chapel. Grandma K leaned over to my friend and asked her to go help me. She assured her grandma that I was just fine.
And I was.
I am just SOOO glad that we won't be in town for next month's betrayal. :)

Fossil Fest 2011

Our town here is the fossil capital of ... WY? The US? Not quite sure. But it's a pretty big deal and they have a 3-day hoopla for the town.

Mr. Fantastic didn't reach the top on his first ascent. But that didn't stop him from trying until he got it! That boy is a monkey and scaled the wall better than some older than him!

Optimus Prime didn't do quite as well as his brother but he had a great time trying!

On Thursday is Family Fun Night at one of the parks. They have all kinds of booths - carnival games, face painting, a rock wall, a volleyball tournament for the adults, a beauty pagent for the girls, a super hero pagent for the boys and CHEAP food! (Love that!)  Grand Duchess didn't want to wait in line for the face painting, so a cupcake from the cupcake walk did the trick adequately enough.

On Friday we went to The Triangle and watched some dancers and family friendly performers in the evening. I didn't take any pictures because I was flying solo for the rest of the weekend and sometimes I just don't remember to grab the camera. A good friend of ours is in a band (with our stake president) and they performed that night, also. Mr. Fantastic's allergies started bugging him (and Thor was throwing handfuls of grass on complete strangers) so our stay was cut short.

On Saturday we enjoyed a parade down the main drag where the kids were all kinds of excited to get their monthly stash of candy. A good friend of mine sat with us and helped me keep the kids out of the center of the street. I think she is so pretty. :)
After the parade, we went home to get some lunch and then headed to the fairgrounds where the kids would be participating in their first rodeo. Some of the events for the kids were mutton bustin', goat ribbon pull, bareback bronc riding, goat tied down, mini bull riding, stick horse barrel races and then a bunch of horse events that we didn't stick around for.
I have video of each of the kids and am going to attempt to upload them here.

this one is Thor Mutton bustin'!

Here's Princess Monkey Eyes showing those sheep who's boss!

Here's Mr. Fantastic running to get one of three ribbons off of a calf. He's the one dressed in black.

Here is Optimus Prime on his way to becoming a professional bull rider. Not. He got stepped on within an inch of his groin.  But that boy cowboyed up and kept those tears at bay.

Later that afternoon we went back to The Triangle for the water fight. There are two bulldozers (frontloaders, whatever) that park at each end of the street. There's a cable between the two of them and a keg attached at the middle. Two teams of 4 line up on each end of the keg & grab the fire hoses. They have to spray the keg to the opposing team's side in order to win. All the onlookers get wet in the process from the spray off the keg & missed hits with the fire hose. I made the kids walk home because they were all so wet.  The little kids enjoyed drinking water straight from the hydrant. :)

After the water fight we went home and headed to the church for my Saturday night volleyball games. I always have a good time with that. Usually Popeye is home and handles the kids. But since he was at drill, they were allowed to join me and run amuck in the overflow room & stage.

Those poor kids were so tired that they barely had enough energy to get jammies on before heading to bed. Needless to say, no one had baths Saturday night and I sincerely apologize for any stink that may have been smelled during church services.

I got a new calling on Sunday. Popeye and I team teach the 14-15 year olds in Sunday School. So I was set apart for that after church and had a minor melt down in the Bishop's office when it was all over. He gave me an additional blessing after everyone cleared out. It was much needed and I'm so ever thankful for the power of the priesthood and my Heavenly Father's love for me.

I think that's about it. It was a pretty fun weekend!

Independence Day

Last night we were invited to hang out with some friends to watch our towns "Spectacular" fireworks display and light some of our own.  So we got together and lit off a few sparklers and tanks and such. The kids thought it was great and I was ever so thankful that my new friend was gracious enough to share with my kids.  She was constantly lighting sparklers and yelling at the kids to stop chasing each other with them.
A great time was had by all of us!
Here's a photo collage of the events.

Don't Grand Duchess and Princess Monkey Eyes look wonderful in their new digs? I think so.

Over the past few days I have been thinking a lot about our country and how it was founded. I came across someone telling the story behind the writing of our national anthem. Apparently Frances Scott key was a lawyer in MD and was asked to go and be the liason between the colonies and Brittain in facilitating the exchange of POW's. After coming to an agreement of exchanging POW's on a 1 to 1 ratio, Key went down below deck to tell his comrades that they were free men. He then went above deck and the Admiral told him that while they would honor the agreement, it wouldn't matter come the morning. See, lining the horizon were hundreds of dots (the Brittish Naval Fleet) and they were ordered to destroy Ft. McHenry if the flag was not lowered to show their willingness to succumb to the Mother Nation (Brittain). However, once the flag was lowered, all firing would cease and the men, women & children who lived at and around the fort would be spared.

Key went downstairs and told the men of the plan.  2 hours later, at dusk, the fleet arrived and began their merciless attack. Key continued to report to the men of the goings on from his point of view and all they cared about is where that flag stood. Hours went by and still the flag waved. The Brittish were baffled at how that flag still stood after so many hits. They ordered the complete armada to aim at that rampart that held the flag and fire until it fell.

The bombs flew unrelentingly and continued to light up the night sky. All Frances Scott Key could hear, aside from the explosions, were the men below praying to God that the flag would remain where they last saw it. 3 more hours went by and as the sun began to rise on the horizon, there - tattered and barely recognizable, the flag waved atop an askew pole.

Frances Scott Key went ashore to the Fort to see for himself the damage. During the night the pole had fallen. And the men fighting knew what it would mean for that to happen. So they went and lifted the flag back to its position. And when those men died, more men would come and hold it up. And the cycle continued. Frances Scott Key saw the pile of men's bodies supporting the flagpole.

And hence, "The Star Spangled Banner" was born.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Those are the sacrifices we celebrate today. Those lives and the lives of every single soldier since then to preserve our rights and our freedoms and our conveniences and our comforts. We celebrate them and honor them and thank them for the independence of our country.

May God continue to bless this great nation!

I hope you all had a safe and wonderful 4th of July.

Commence freak out mode

Popeye quit his job a few months ago. No, there wasn't a back-up plan in place, just in hopes. And now that the back-up plan has failed us, we had our hopes in another (local) agency.
Today we learned that this "shoe-in" has failed us, too.
This month (July) is the last month that I have sufficient funds to get us by. I'm not quite sure what to do next (as I type this). I'm hoping that as I type, it will cause a brainstorm effect for me and I will be able to prepare a plan of action.
I've taken on a cleaning job. I start next week and it will be twice a week for two weeks and then probably once a week after that. I'm not thrilled about it. But it's money. So I'll do it.
I'm thinking Popeye might be looking at switching careers all together and that's keeping him up at night. And that's keeping me up at night.
so. Brainstorm.
Cleaning jobs are $50+ a pop. I suppose I should advertise. If I get 4 clients a week that's $200 a week = $800 a month. Bring that in with Mr. Fantastic's SSI money, We'll almost have enough for our monthly bills. But then if I don't get any clients (not sure what the demand is here) I'll be looking at a whole lot less.
Exxon is hiring - a friend is looking into that today for us. There was a job open last month that closed yesterday for a local dam maintenace worker (an actual dam, not a typo).  Unfortunately we heard about it last night and couldn't apply for the position. Why don't people tell us these things ahead of time. We're not sure where to look and so we hear through the grapvine of places hiring after the application deadline has passed. It's a little frustrating.
Anyhow. I'm rambling. My thoughts are jumbled and sporatic. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and I may be starting to lose it. (It's called panicking, I hear.)
Suggestions for a plan of action are welcome. Seeing as when I panic, I don't think (or see) clearly.  Here come the tears.
So Popeye applied for dental insurance through Tricare (military healthcare) and hopefully will be getting dental work done so the flag on him can be lifted. There's a deployment for MA's (The navy's police unit) coming up in October that is located at Guantanamo Bay for 10 months. While I'll hate to have him gone, at least he'd be going somewhere safe. And the pay will rock. But that's in October and we're needing income now.
So. That's that. Those are my thoughts for right now. For some of you this is a bomb that has been dropped in your lap. For a few others you've known about this for awhile now.  So if I seem distant and depressed, now you know why.
Sorry if this was sporatic and incoherent.

I've been having a problem leaving comments on everyone's blogs. I am SOOOO sorry. It's not my fault, really. It's Blogger. I try to type a comment, it takes me to a login screen (even though I'm already logged in), I re-log in. It takes me back to the comment page to type in my cryptic word, it takes me back to the log in screen and it continues in that pattern. And it is so dang frustrating.
So, Laughadaisy, Tiffany, Jenni, Alison, Seattle Romneys, Sherri, and so many more - I came, I commented - but Blogger didn't allow it.
I love all of you - know that I visit often!!!

I have stuff to share - camping trips and the like. But right now I'm almost late for my exercise session with a new friend. I need to go get some water and my shoes on!!!

Today I took the three older kids to the outdoor swimming pool. After an hour in the sun, I left them drying off and headed home - they would follow as soon as they were warm.
About 20 minutes later Mr. Fantastic walked into my room and  pronounced, "My ear is gone. I can't find it." The next 90 minutes were spent retracing steps, asking everyone, searching the bottom of the pool, searching drawers, retracing steps again, and praying. Lots and lots of praying.  Oh yeah, and there were tears. I was starting to panic.
When I thought all hope was lost and I had a small plan of action to call another mother whose son was at the pool & to check Mr. Fantastic's towel (the only logical place that I hadn't looked at that point). On my way back home from the pool, Popeye popped out from the backyard with the ear in hand. He had found it by the towel.
And I started crying tears of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for answering our prayers.
It works fine, Mr. Fantastic can hear again and our faith is strengthened even more in the power of prayer.
I love tender mercies.

About 12 1/2 years ago I met this guy. He was quiet and always sat in the same overstuffed chair at the institute building. Not a lot of people talked with him and I NEVER saw him get up to talk to anyone else.

What was his deal? Whatever it was, it needed to change. This guy became my mission, he HAD to have friends. I introduced myself and tried to get him to open up a little.  It didn't seem to work too well. So, upon learning that he worked different hours, we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. Come to find out, he has lots to say - through the computer.

This mission was going to be the death of me, I thought. I invited him to a BNL concert. He took me shooting (any excuse to get his arms around me was fine by me). We went swimming, on harley rides and out to eat.  One night we went to my parents' house just before Christmas. Afterward he took me to the red rocks nearby and we climbed up and watched the city lights through the valley opening. He pulled a teddy bear out of his coat pocket and around the neck was a ring.  The man was asking me to marry him.  My mission turned into my greatest love.  While he may not open up to many people around him, he opens up to me. While he may not call my mother by her first name (or ANY name for that matter), he has many names for me that are the sweetest of endearments.  While he may not seem like he is intelligent or insightful because of his introvert nature, he is quite the opposite. He has helped me to grow and observe in ways I didn't think imagineable.

He is my balance, helping me to stay grounded when I'm too lofty and helping my wings to spread when I feel I want to crawl into a hole.

12 years ago today I married the man of my dreams who became my best friend, confidante, lover and anchor.  Happy anniversary, Babe. Eternity is a long time and I'm so excited I get to share it with you!!!

November 2008

October 2009

 October 2010

April 2011