Trying to Make Lemonade

We feel like we've been dealt an extra load of lemons this year and so we are doing our best to try and turn them into lemonade.

Where do I even start?

Last October we purchased our dream home and moved into it. It was only a 2 mile move, but still the same amount of work as if moving 2,000 miles. A week after we bought the home, it seemed that the economy changed overnight. Up until that point we had been pretty immune to it in our area.

Anyway, our old home that we put on the market wouldn't sell. People wouldn't even come to look at it. The price began to drop on our old home. Several other things happened and all of the sudden it seemed like the perfect financial storm. After lots of prayer, our answer was to move back to the more affordable home and try to sell the new home.

So, after living in the home for about 6 months, we packed up and moved back. The day after we moved all of the heavy furniture, Gerry had surgery on his knee. That left me finishing up the move, etc. I was totally overwhelmed. Thank heavens for great friends and family that helped me through it!

So, we put our dream house on the market and have not been successful in selling it yet. We're even giving away a trip to Hawaii to whoever will buy it, but still no success. In the meantime we are turning it into a vacation home rental. http://www.teddybearlodge.com/ I am busy trying to get it furnished etc. Hopefully, this gamble will pay off.

I know we are very blessed and can't complain as many people have been hurt far more than us with the economy turn. At least we still have a job. We are just doing the best we can and praying that everything will work out the best way possibly.

As far as the adoption, I have not heard anything new in months. We hope we hear something soon!

Our Frugal Spring Break

This post is only two months late, but I figured better late than never. My kids keep begging me to write about our Spring Break. We were supposed to go to Hawaii, but our economic situation dictated that we had better stay close by and go cheap. So, we went to White Sands with plenty of sand, just no ocean.

However, we had a blast. We love to go camping in the motor home, or "rocket turd" as my kids call it. White Sands is a little known National Park close to Green River, UT. Our friends took us there a few years ago and it has quickly become one of our favorite places. It is hard to find as you exit off of I-70 on a ranch exit dirt road for about an hour. Once you arrive it looks somewhat like Moab. There are hills of sand dunes everywhere. Driving there takes us about 4 hours from our home. On the drive there the wind was blowing so hard that we about got blown off the road. By the first morning the wind had stopped and the temperature was in the low 60's for the entire four days we were there. We put on our jackets and climbed every sand dune we could find, including some that were hundreds of feet tall. The boys love the freedom and I do too!

One of our favorite games was "follow the leader" with the four wheelers. Every day we would take a morning trail drive. The scenery was spectacular- red rocks, wind blown rock formations, beautiful canyons and more. Usually I or Gerry would switch off leading the trail ride. The kids would be in the middle and the opposite parent at the rear. Then we would come back to camp for lunch. The afternoon and evening were spent riding the sand dunes.

I must say that I have become somewhat of a dutch oven chef. Normally I don't enjoy cooking, but I sure do when we are camping! Perhaps it's a change from the normal every day cooking, I don't know, but I enjoy it. The boys beg to have frito chili pie every time we go camping. Dutch oven carmel apple crisp has become my specialty.

I Love This Mother's Day Poem

One of my best friends- Annie is an amazing woman. She has 4 children and one of them is a special need's daughter. I admire her positive outlook and she has inspired me greatly. Annie's oldest daughter wrote a special Mother's Day poem that is in a contest. I'd like to share it here:

The Desired Career
by: Katie Riley

Oh, what I desire most,
to have that wonderful job,
The proudest job there could ever be,
I hear it has the best of pay,
and lots of benefits.

I don't see why everyone thinks,
it is so horrible,
sure they clean and clean,
and clean some more,
but that's not all they do,
what about all the smiling they do?
Sure there's ups and downs,
but don't all jobs have that?

I dream and dream,
of what it would be like,
to have that job when I am old,
how wonderful it might be,
as well as it is not,
but I don't linger on the negatives,
just on the positives.

All the proud moments,
from reading a fairy tale,
to watching one come true,
from watching inductions,
to watching graduations.

Oh, what I desire most,
to have that wonderful job,
The proudest job there could ever be,
I know it has the best of pay,
and tons of benefits,
but what job in the world,
would I have in mind?

Not one that pays a billion dollars,
the one that pays a billion smiles,
not one that keeps me away from home,
the one that keeps me at home.

I want to have that wonderful job,
where I get to be called "Mommy".

Isn't it great? If you love this poem, you can vote for it by clicking here: and vote for #29.

With Mother's Day coming up, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite videos called "The Ultimate Mom to Do List Song" by Hillary Weeks

Pandemic Prep

Over the last few years, we have been building up our food storage supplies. I feel pretty confident that we could take care of ourselves for quite a while if for many reasons we may not be able to purchase food.

One thing that is often overlooked is building up supplies in case of a pandemic flu outbreak. Today there is a new threat of the "swine virus. " I'm not trying to spread panic, but I have been following pandemic news for a few years now and it may not be this flu that causes a huge pandemic, but most experts agree that there will be a widespread pandemic at sometime in the future.
It reminded me to order more N95 masks. The N95 masks are certified to block flu viruses. If there is ever a worldwide pandemic, I want to be prepared to protect myself and my family for a few months at a time. I have slowly been buying supplies of masks about every other month as they are not very cheap. I found that Emergency Essentials has the adult size masks on sale. I have looked for child size masks for some time and the best I can find so far are from Med on the Net. I haven't received these child masks to see their quality yet, but I want disposable masks and not resuable ones, as to not spread the disease.
A website that I recommend for learning how to deal with a pandemic is call The Totally Ready Blog.

Happy Birthday Jeremiah

Today is Jeremiah's birthday. I can't believe he is now 10. He is one sweet boy and I'm so thankful to have him as a son.
Last night we went out to dinner and to see "Mosters vs. Aliens." This is the rundown of his day. We attended church in the morning. For lunch I fixed him his favorite meal - ribs and corn on the cob. Then hanging out all afternoon. This evening we went over to Grandma's house for cake and icecream. This included a party with the local aunts, uncles and cousins. One funny note, we gave his his own super size can of Pringles chips. He giggled so much. Jeremiah is a salt addict and was just as happy to receive a can of chips as any other present.
It may not have been the most eventful day as we were trying to celebrate, but still honor the Sabbath Day. However, tomorrow is a day off of school, so they just may have to breakout the four-wheelers for a ride around the yard!

Look What "The April Fool" Left Us

Ever since I can remember "The April Fool" has been putting breakfast on our tree on April 1st. This morning his left us chocolate milk and pop tarts. Other years he has left us yogurts and spoons. It's a fun morning!

I'm a Proud Mother

The last few days have been amazing. My kids have really done great and now it's time to brag on them a little. First off, Ian was an awesome "Billy Goat Gruff" in his fairy tale plays at school!

Next we had the the Pinewood Derby. Jeremiah raced a green camo hummer. Locally, he won 1st place in our cub scout troop.Then today, he went to the District level and won 1st place for his age group and 3rd overall against all the age groups. Next month he is going to the Council Race.

Christian was awarded the "Creative Mind" award during his school award's assembly for excellence in Science. He must get it from his dad, because I never enjoyed Science.

We found Parker practicing to be a store window display.

I love my boys and am proud of the great young men they are becoming!