I found my Money-Maker!

So, for the last week, there's been a lot of stress in my head. No one else here is really feeling it (or so it seems to me) so it must just be in my head. Because of our business last year, we have a wee amount of debt which hangs over me like a grand piano dangling from a piece of dental floss. To top it off, I went to fight a $700 bill last week at the hospital, and it turns out we really do owe that money on Sam's stay in the 'special' nursery. Dang you, 'special nursery'!

So, I've been trying to find a way to bring in a little extra money. Here's a list of my attempts:

• I talked to the Vice Principal at the kids' school. They have an aide position open, but it would mean my big boys would have to change to the later schedule and my little guys would have to go to a sitter. I can't stand the thought of someone watching my little guys and not loving them as much as I do Besides, I'd be bringing home about $3 an hour after paying a cheap sitter.


• I called some number in the paper for a home assembly job. Here I am thinking 'we could do this as a family and learn the value of working'. Woohoo! Welcome back to earth, Kel! Upon further research I found that these companies are all scams! Beside, my boys would probably eat the supplies or turn them into weapons!


• I noticed Challenger school is hiring. It's a private school so I bet it pays more than public school. They had a preschool teacher opening. Josh could be in the class I'm teaching and, therefore, with me. But, oh yeah, what about Sam? Back to leaving my sweetie. I heard you have to wear uniforms there, anyways. Blechh!


• The American Heritage school which is a private LDS school is hiring a part time kindergarten teacher, but I doubt they'd let me bring my kids to work everyday!

So, I pretty much resigned myself to babysitting. I really didn't want to, but I keep remembering that one scripture,

"Wo unto ye who have debt, for when the Second Coming arrives, no matter how much food storage ye shall have, ye shall be cast out of the heavens and into the boiling depths of you-know -where"

I forget the exact reference, but I swear it says that. Or something close to it! So, anyways, I'm resigned to daycare when the thought occurs to me this afternoon that I used to teach preschool. I know it's late and Pride was telling me how stupid I would look to parents as I tried to get students as this point. But, as a friend pointed out - What have I got to lose?

So, here's the plan. I sent an email around my ward Relief Society - and I've already had a response for more info. I called the other preschool teacher in the neighborhood, and I've signed up one of her 'rejects'. I listed preschool openings on Craigslist and KSL. I'm gonna pull out the Preschool Rubbermaid tub in the morning and send the boys out with hands full of fliers. And, I'll cover the popular community board at the local Albies.

So, What can you do? Oh, I'm so glad you asked! If you know anyone around here that needs an incredible, slightly crazy preschool teacher give them my number. And say your prayers that I can pull this off in a week!! OK? OK Thanks - you're the best. Now go find me some kiddies!

Why? Why? Why?

Tonight was Back to School night and we have a problem. A BIG problem! Jake's teacher looks like a supermodel. She's 24 and a hottie! I really don't need this. Where are the old ladies with glasses and buns in their hair that smack kids with rulers? (It's OK for me to use this stereotype because I used to be a teacher). If it tells you anything, Jared even noticed that she's 'super organized' (whatever!) and wants to fax her "Get to Know Me" letter to a certain brother. And you know how often Jared notices things! We definitely have a problem! Who hired this hussie to teach my nine year old in the first place?!?

I love Imagery

Today was the Sunday that we were spoken to by a returned missionary and the High Councilman. The topic was Repentance. The missionary made an analogy of a carwash. Maybe I loved it because it was one I hadn't heard before. Or maybe, I love it because the drive-thru carwash at Hart's in American Fork is a favorite place for my boys.

So, it's pretty self-explanatory, but we get muddy by doing things we shouldn't. We go through the carwash and VOILA! we're clean again! But, really, we wouldn't come out as clean if it weren't for those guys that do the pre-scrub before we go through. Liken that to the steps we make before repentance. That leads to something else that I think I knew already, but was a good reminder. If you don't repent with the right attitude, humility and steps, you're just "quitting doing" something. It's good to quit, but better to repent. OK. Sunday Sermon is over. Now, go wash your cars! :)

Jake's 9th Birthday

Jake turned nine today. He was real particular about 'what time' he would actually be nine. Luckily, since he was the first, I'm pretty sure it was around 2:00 in the afternoon. If not, that is now the new official time of his birth.

We started the day at the Church Welfare Farm. We got to help weed some around the fences. Afterwards, our ward had pizza and cookies. While we were eating, they announced that we had 67 people from our ward there this morning and they were all gonna sing "Happy Birthday" to Jake. He loved it!

He had a Bakugan party, of course! The boys started with a wild game of Tag around our house which was quickly ended by Mom, a.k.a The Party Pooper (every party needs one!) That game wasn't on the agenda nor was it pre-approved by anyone with any authority! So, I led them into the kitchen where we all designed our own Bakugan cards. I was surprised at how intense this turned out to be. I mean, you have to select the right claws and powers to eliminate everyone else and that takes strategy! The other activity was planned by Jared - no kidding! He went last Tuesday and made full size copies of some of Jake's Bakugan cards. He took the boys out in the yard and did some kind of throwing objects/gathering cards game with them. ( This was the most exciting part of the party for me because I think I've put together 19 bday parties at this point and he not only helped, but was proactive in the planning part. Definitely a mistake on his part because I have now seen his potential for other events!)

Anyhow, we had a Bakugan cake and before anyone is brave enough to compare mine to the $350 one from a previous post, we decided to forgo the fondant and just use frosting. Otherwise it would have been identical! Jake loved it anyways and that's all that really matters!

He got a lot of Bakugans, Bionicles, and other boy stuff. Mom and Dad gave him cat food, a cat bed, and a pooper scooper, as he called it. I know~ I said never, ever, ever, ever, never any pets, but, well, you know? Uncle Craig's cat had kittens. Jake fell in love with said kittens weeks ago. I said never , ever, ever, never until I see you can be responsible to take care of something besides yourself. There. I'm safe! Well, he's tried really hard. He's wanted a pet since he was 5. Maybe, I thought, the kitten would help teach him that same responsibilty that I'm looking for. Well, let's hope for little Puma's sake! Besides I need someting to do ~ I was getting bored with the kids back in school...

Cameron, Jakey and Kaelen showing off little Puma, the never, ever, ever, never kitten

Jake and CJ working on their Bakugan cards

Funny face Jake and his Drago, the Bakugan cake.

Back to School

Jake and Cam with the Fox Hollow Fox this morning. Jake's going into 4th grade and Cam is starting 2nd.



Ya know, most of us joke about our own anticipation as the beginning of school nears. Of course I won't miss the silly arguments entertained my big boys towards the end of summer as they got bored, but I will miss them. We walked them to school this morning and they were sooooo giddy. I think they're looking forward to a little more structure.
This poem was given to me by Jake's kindergarten teacher 5 years ago. I cried then, and I cried when I read it this morning. I'm not going to go into all of my own doubts about how the teachers could possibly love them as much as I do, etc - I don't want to take a chance of talking myself into home schooling! But, I just left two of my most important people in the hands of strangers who don't know their fears, talents, quirks,etc. Maybe I should go get the boys early; they.ve been there an hour. That's enough school for the first day, right?

Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand-new book bag. Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack's first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother. Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His mother thought it looked big, too. She swallowed. Maybe she should have held Jack out a year... Jack's mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder and smiled down at him. She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing. Jack didn't say a word. He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. He balanced there for a moment and then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother. She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside. "Sometimes," she thought, "it's harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk." She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing. "I'd better not. What if he saw me?" She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that, after all this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications. "It's not so much that I'm worried about him," she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's just that he's growing up and I'm going to miss him." Jack's mother turned to leave. "Jack's going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life," she told herself. "Today's the day he starts practicing for them... And today's the day I start practicing something too: cheering him on and waving good-bye."
draft

Look! I did it!

My sister told me where to find cute backgrounds, and I did it! I even put a blinkie on the sidebar and thirty minutes ago I didn't even know what a blinkie was! Anyhow, look how smart I am - I can make the computer do what I want it to do. I push the button and it follows my command! I can copy and paste HTML ( which is computer geekspeak for code, I think. I'll have to ask Jared!) Maybe I'll set up another poll to see what everyone thinks since I;'m so good at that, too!

Bakugan Birthday

So, Jake has decided he wants a Bakugan Birthday. This is the only cake idea I could find online (besides the silly lay-on edible pictures stuff). Is this woman out of her mind?!? She made a bunch of matching cupcakes, too. See? The teal-ish thing in the background. I could order it from her but she lives in Australia and the 'sculpted' cakes start at $120. How many American dollars does it take to equal 120 Australian dollars? I do have the soccer ball pan for the body...and maybe parts of a 9in round for the head and feet. Hmmm..any ideas on those wings? Or am I crazy???

FIsh Lake June 30 - Aug 2

These are from the hike to Calf Creek Falls. Jared and I went on this hike while we were on our honeymoon. It's a really beautiful waterfall and there's a lot of Native American artwork and Granaries to loook at on the way. Lorna and Grandma met us a little ways in and brought Sam back to the picnic area because of the heat. A while later, Joshie and I turned back, too. It was so hot and the hike is all sand. Joshie said he thought this is where Jesus lived because Jesus had sand on his floors. With the heat induced nausea I was feeling, I had a differing opinion as to who might have lived there!

Jared, Sam, Cameron, Josh, and Jake at the trailhead to the hike.

Grandpa and Cameron at the falls. The kids and some of the adults played in the falls a while before hiking back.

Calf Creek Falls

Fish Lake July 30-Aug 2

Jared's whole family went to Fish Lake to celebrate his parent's 50th wedding anniversary. Eileen & Myron rented two cabins for us all to stay in. Lorna took care of all of the food. ( She figured out the secret recipe to Cafe Rio's pork for salads and burritos, YUM!) We went fishing on Thursday morning and rented boats for the afternoon. That night we had a birthday party for Eileen. Friday, we all went to Boulder, UT and hiked (tried to hike) to Calf Creek Falls.

This is a raft that Brian (Kent& Michelle's) found. He fixed it up and took all the cousins for rides. This is Laurel & Janessa (Rod & Earlet's), Cam (red) and Josh, and Brian on the end.

Cameron is a pretty good fisherman. Jared has taught him how to cast his line and he does really well with it. He's also pretty patient, when it comes to fish - most kids lose interest after a while, but not Cam.

Jared drove one of the boats for most of the afternon. He was redder than most crawfish by the end of the day! Joshie was a great second mate. He ate plenough granola bars to keep himself and dad going !

Sam really enjoyed Grandma's birthday party. Natalie (Lorna & Mark's) was so sweet to play with Sam a lot while we were there. He was so amused by everyone and I think everyone kind of liked him!

What is that all over you?!?

"Sabetti!"

Sam

Here's a few more of Sam. He's getting really good at moving himself around. He gets on all fours, but no official 'crawl' yet. He's trying to get in position to sit up, but, as his aunt so sweetly pointed out, he has a lot to hold up there. He's also trying some new foods. The last pic is peas. Not a favorite! He likes homemade applesauce and cannery potato pearls the best so far.

Louisiana Pictures

I finally got some pictures loaded on the computer so I'm doing a little backtracking. These and the next four are from our trip to Louisiana back in May/June.

P.S. Now that they're on here, I realize I added them 'small' instead of 'medium'. I can't figure out how t o change it without starting over, which I'm not doing since this has become one of those one-handed-hold-the-baby-at-the-same-time jobs. I think you can click the picture and it will blow it up if you want to see it better. Sorry!

This is the whole group of spoiled grandkids at the Alligator Farm. Miles and James (double stroller), Joshie (red), Cam (blue), Jake (Green), Katie (red-head), Gracie (ballerina pose), and Sam (single stroller)

The kids had a great time playing in the pool Grandma and Grandpa bought. One night while the little kids were occupied, the big boys were able to run and jump. We had a good time catching some cool 'in air' shots.

Cam & Sam at the new A.C. Steere park. As a scrapbooker mom, I can't tell you how excited I am that the boys wore green shirts to go on the purple slides!

This is my Grandma Brossette holding Sam ... and his cheeks! It's hard to believe she's 83 years old now. She couldn't wait to get her hands on all the babies!

Louisiana Pictures, continued

Jake about to eat a crawfish; Aunt Libby had to show him how to do it, I'm not touching those nasty things!

We went to the Boardwalk which is an outdoor shopping mall. The kids loved cooling off in the fountains. Jake, Cam, Katiepants, & Joshie

We added five great grand children to the family in 6 months. My sister, Libby, refers to it as the Brossette Penfecta. That's Sammers laying in the front (january), Beau, my cousin's baby in the brown (november), Emma, my other cousins baby in the back corner (january), and Libby's boys, Miles and James in the front (august).

Each of the kids got to hold a baby alligator at the Alligator Farm. I love this picture because Cameron is so pleased with himself and Jake is looking a little second-thoughtish. The baby gator went peepee on Josh so we didn't get a good picture. Grace and Kate (libby's girls) also held it and I think she even put the carniverous animal near her precious babies!

Big kids at the Bday party (for Abby)

Sorry these didn't turn out well. This one was blacked out so I took some photographic liberties trying to lighten it up - you're obviously impressed with Diane's Russian dance moves!

And the feeling is not lost on Diane as she is equally impressed with your Peacock hair. I can't say as much for Jake (who thinks his aunt is a FREAK!)

job similarities

Jared has been under a lot of pressure lately at work. It seems the founder, the boss, and the supervisor are all coming to him with different things that need to be done right now. They each tell him to forget the other guys and work on what they're asking for, and, oh yeah, have it don yesterday!
This is an email I just received from him, and my reponse. I thought I was pretty funny after I hit the 'Send" button and I knew you would all be dying to read it!

Jared's job:
Boss 1: Stop what you are doing and work on this and it has to be done today. If somebody tells you different, you come talk to me.
Boss 2: Stop what you are doing and work on this and it has to be done today. If somebody tells you different, you come talk to me.
Boss 3: Stop what you are doing and work on this and it has to be done today. If somebody tells you different, you come talk to me.
Boss1,2,and 3: why isn't this done yet????
repeat
I just had lunch at 2:30

Kelly's job:
boss 1 : where's my swimsuit? Find it for me!boss
2: I have MY suit, ha ha ha. But, mom, where are my flip flops?boss 1 : mom, find my suit and tell him to quit bothering me
boss 3: MAKE ME CHOCOLATE MILK!!!
boss 4: waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh (feed me immediately)
boss 2: where'd you put my scout shirt, mom? Can you find it?
boss 1: where's my swimsuit? Why aren't you looking for it? You just don't like me as much as bosses 1, 2, & 4
boss 3: Mom, I said Chocolate miiiilllk!
boss 4 : wwaaaaaahhhhhhhh! (hold me so I can wiggle on you and wipe snot on you)
boss 2: mom, where's my scout book?
boss 1 : i can't find my suit and you're doing scout stuff instead of helping me! (SLAMS door)
boss 3: I spilled my chocolate milk. Mom clean up my milk!
boss 4: waaaaaahhhhhhh ( I don't like where you've put me - I need to be on your lap; NOW)

and that was all before 9AM this morning!

Sam and I sharing kisses on the porch. It was all good until his brothers showed up to take the pictures; he can't help but laugh at them whenever they're around!

Joshie needed some 'pirate pants'! Since all of our jeans now have holes in the knees, we cut them off with a jagged edge and VOILA! we're pirates!

Sam (5 1/2 months) and his favoriet toy - the wipes. He really loves anything that crinkles when he touches it.

Jake's karate tournament pictures...Finally!

Jake is so serious with his nunchuks! He's really good with them, too. He won a second place ribbon for his nunchuk form.

This is in the middle of his form presentation. I think this one is Haiko Kashuto. He won a third place ribbon for this.

Sometimes Joshie gets a little bored waiting for karate to get over!

Cam gets bored, too. Good thing digital cameras cam along that can hold bazillions of pictures along with two little boys' attention!

Cam's Birthday Pictures ...Finally!

Tyler, Kyler, Cam, Isaac, and Ethan at Jump On It

Cam and Sam in a bouncer - can you see the germs crawling all over my baby?

Joshie and Gracie jumping

Cam with his Batman birthday cake tower thingy