A Tongue Twister

Ok, I know I need a new post, but I am short on time today so I thought I would share a fun tongue twister. Thanks to Darin's friend, Gary, for this treasure!

One smart feller thought he felt smart
Two smart fellers thought they felt smart
Three smart fellers thought they felt smart

Let me know how you do!

Happy Earth Day

Ok, so there's been a lot of hype lately about going green. I have been slow to get on the bandwagon, but in honor of Earth Day, I have made a couple of small changes. First, I bought some of those re-usable bags, which I have yet to use. I asked the lady at the check-out if I could buy those first so I could put my groceries in them. She huffed and puffed (but didn't blow the house down) and commented how she "hated them things", so I ended up using the plastic ones again. I also called the city and signed up for Recycling service. I was surprised that it only costs $3 a month, and the lady said that most people find that the majority of their trash goes in the recycle bin. This conversation ended up being quite disheartening. The woman who helped me asked if it was a multiple residence. I told her that it wasn't, and she said, "Hmm." Then she proceded to tell me that we have been charged for two trash cans the ENTIRE time we've lived here (that's 10 years!!!!!!!). I have never noticed it on my statement, or I would have disputed it. She kindly took off the most she could (3 months worth), but doing the math made me sick. $10 a month for 10 years...that adds up to a big chunk of change. Learn from my bad example, and check your statements! I just hope the city has used our extra money wisely.

Another thing I have done for a long time is turning the water off while I brush my teeth; although that has more to do with the Barney song than being earth friendly. "While I"m brushing my teeth and having so much fun, I never let the water run, no, I never let the water run." That song literally goes through my mind every time I'm tempted to leave it running. I also turn off lights during the day and when we're not in that room. Next on my list is getting new lightbulbs.

So, those of you who use the re-usable bags, how is the best way to use them? Do I need to go to the self-check lanes? These changes are not huge, but I hope they will make a small difference. If you have other ideas, please share!

Tethered

I had no idea how much I would miss having a cordless phone. Ours went caput a few weeks ago, and we've been using a phone with one of these:

I really didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but every time the phone rings now I groan. I used to accomplish so much while on the phone, and now I just stand in the kitchen while I talk, and look around at all the things I could be doing. I do try to do the dishes because it's the one chore I can do within the phone's reach, but I always worry that the cord will get in the water, and more than once I've pulled the phone off the counter while I was trying to reach a cupboard. This is definitely a case of "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone". On the bright side, I've lost 5 pounds because of the extra running to get the phone! Maybe I won't get rid of it after all.

Totally kidding, of course (about the weight loss). I'm getting a cordless tomorrow.

Day of Rest?

Sundays can be a little hectic around here. Darin has meetings every Sunday morning starting at 7. I realize that with church at 11, this should still give me plenty of time to get myself and four kids ready, but we somehow manage to be in a frenzied hurry just about every week. I have learned a few tricks of the trade that have made Sunday mornings run a little more smoothly. This week I made sure to have all the kids' clothes ready for them, and made sure to turn on my "happy mom" voice before getting out of bed. It worked like a charm...for three out of the four of them. Sean was apparently less than thrilled with the clothes I had ready for him. He went upstairs to try and find something different. I knew he wouldn't find anything in his room. He is growing, and we haven't been shopping for new church clothes in a while so his options are limited, and his other clothes were dirty. I told him I was very sorry he didn't like what I had chosen for him, but that time was running out, and we were going to be leaving for church in 8 minutes--no matter what he was wearing. I had only heard of parents doing this, and wondered if I had it in me to really follow through. As time was up I called cheerfully to him that it was time to leave. The other kids went out to the van, and still no Sean. At this point I threatened to take away privileges if he wasn't downstairs by the time I got to 10 (another thing I do that I said I never would). Still no Sean. I knew that he valued the privileges I was threatening to take away, so I went upstairs to see what was going on, and I saw this:

I KNEW I didn't have it in me to take him to church naked, and he was really asleep, so I took the other kids to church, had a quick laugh with Darin and Brother Mecham and headed back home to retrieve Sean. As he woke up, I made a small change to his wardrobe (I took away the sweater vest), and he got dressed. He was still not wanting to go, and gave me every excuse he could think of: his arm hurt, his eye hurt, the kids in his class always sit by him and bug him, etc...and then we went anyway. I'm sorry to say my "happy mom" voice disappeared for a few brief seconds, and I walked into church with a child trying to recover from crying, and feeling like I had failed once again. He put the big church bag in between us so he didn't have to touch me, and gave me several looks that showed me he was less than pleased. I was forgiven after a little while when I played a game of hangman with him, and I hoped that I could someday make it so that we could be on time and happy. Keri had a similar Sunday, and came up with a great FHE object lesson that I stole. We made sundaes--a good sundae and a bad sundae. We put less than desirable toppings (mustard, ketchup, horseradish, a pickle, pepper, etc.) on the bad sundae, and talked about all the things that make a bad Sunday...including mom raising her voice, not cooperating, not having things ready, etc. Then we made a good sundae, and talked about what we could all do make our Sundays good. This sundae included strawberries, bananas, caramel, butterscotch, whipped cream, nuts, and brownies. I'm hoping it works (for them and me).

It's snowing

and it's April.