Good old public educational system!

The funniest thing is.....when we showed it to our boys, our 3 year old even knew it was wrong!

Smooth as Velvet

OK, I know I am a bit biased, but Zack continually amazes me with his vocal talents. This past Sunday, he and a few other men sang a song originally performed by the BYU Men's Chorus. It sent chills up and down my spine. Part of this was due to the words of the song. The words are found in 2 Nephi chapter 4 (roughly, verses 16-33). It is Nephi's testimony put to the song, "Be Still My Soul". Please take a minute or two to listen and follow along - I've printed the words at the bottom. It is definitely a day brightener.

The chills were also due to how unbelievably fantastic they sounded. The harmony was so fun and the basses sounded so rich! Oh, and my sweet Zack sounded so good! HE IS AWESOME!!! He has been looking forward to singing this song for quite some time and was really excited about it. I can't wait for his next singing opportunity!

I Love the Lord

I love the Lord, in Him my soul delights.
Upon His word, I ponder day and night.
He's heard my cry, brought visions to my sleep,
And kept me safe o'er deserts and the deep.
He's filled my heart with His consuming love,
And borne me high on wings of His great dove.

Yet oft I groan, "O wretched man am I"
My flesh is weak and I'm encompassed by
A world of sin, which holds me in it's thrall,
If I give in and to temptations fall.
Then strength grows slack, I waste in sorrow's vale;
My peace destroyed, my enemies prevail.

Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin.
Rejoice, my heart! And let me praise again,
The Lord my God, who is my rock and stay
To keep me strict upon His straight, plain way.
Oh let me shake at the first sight of sin
And thus escape my foes without and in.

A new record - 2 posts in 1 day!!

She is all girl! I couldn't believe that she did this today. I thought that Emily was a little young (11 months), but look at her go! Are we in trouble or what?

The writing's on the wall

Oil & Food

I am so frustrated with our government right now - who isn't?

Drill here, drill now. It's not a permanent solution, but in the mean time it is our oil & coal, we need to use it not China or India. Everyone blames Big Oil for high gas prices. However, if you have ever had any business classes, you would know that an 8% profit is nothing.

I can't stand the argument that because gas prices are too high we should all just buy hybrids. While this might be the optimum choice, I am not about to go spend $40,000 plus, to save money on gas. First of all, I hate feeling like I am being forced to be "green" (gag) and second, I can buy a ton of gas with that 40 grand and have plenty left over.

With all of the flooding of the corn crop in the mid-west and the shortage of wheat, the price of food is going to sky-rocket and it's just going to keep getting worse. Some may say that if everyone calms down and they don't go out and hoard stuff, there won't be a problem - not true. Being calm does not magically make more food grow.


I know that some may roll their eyes at me or think that I am a crazy fanatic, but while they laugh or groan...I will be prepared.

I have come up with short-term food storage and long-term storage. The short-term being much more tasty, the long-term more for survival. If you want help with either, let me know. I have a list of 37 super yummy different dinners that come from food storage. When I say yummy, I mean stuff like Chicken Alfredo and the tastiest Oven Fried Chicken I have ever had.

In our city, our streets have been broken up into "blocks". Each block has a captain & a co-captain. About every 6 months we are supposed to have a block party. This way we all get to know and befriend one another. At the parties we also go over our emergency plans such as where the first aid station, the morgue, the day-care will all be. Everyone of them that came had said that they just feel that something is different this year and that they decided to plant extra in their gardens - The Ants. We compared what each has planted, which makes it easier to see who we can trade with (if it really came down to that). This may seem harsh, but it also allows us to know who is doing absolutely nothing - The Grasshoppers.

Another good idea is to stock up on one or two items that you can barter with. Be sure to think of something that is a near necessity that some people might not even think of storing.


I feel so much more at peace knowing that I am preparing instead of sticking my head in the sand. Other than my family and blogging, food storage & personal preparedness is my passion. I get such a rush from it. Like I said, if you need help or some easy tips, just let me know!

A man after my own heart

Two years ago for Christmas, Santa brought Tommy an Easy Bake Oven. He has been incredibly patient with me. This has been only the 2nd treat he has been able to make in a year and a half! I am such a slacker!!
Here is a photo of Tommy with his culinary masterpiece - two chocolate chip cookies.


I think that a Blackened Chicken with the Hotsy Saucey will be next!

Failing mental health

Ever since becoming a mom, I have discovered that I suffer from something called "Momnesia". I've heard that tens of thousands of moms all over the world show symptoms as well. I think that sometimes, though, I might have an extreme case of it.

A few years ago, I was recalling a memory that I had from middle school to Zack. I was riding on the bus talking to some friends, one of which was named Zack (ironically). Anyway, I was showing them my new Monkees lunch box and telling them how much I loved their old TV show and music. Very rudely, I was informed by my so called friend, that the Monkees didn't write their own music and that they were fakes. I was crushed. As I finished telling my husband about this awful moment in my life, he started to crack up laughing.
Turns out, this never happened to me at all. Can you believe how embarrassed I was/am??? It was a scene from The Simpsons!!! I think what happened was that I at least had the conversation about the Monkees music and maybe my mind just plugged in the rest. (Hopefully!)

Another time something like this happened was much more recent, which just goes to show that the "momnesia" just gets worse as time goes by. Zack and I were up late watching The Sound of Music again. As we sat there, Zack asked me when this movie was made. I told him that it was made in 1969. He then said that he couldn't believe the scenery that they had in Austria and that it was amazingly beautiful. I told him that I wasn't sure if it was still as pristine now because of the destruction caused by World War Two. I then said that I hoped it was back to how beautiful it was like in the movie, before the war took place.

If you haven't figured it out - I'll give you a minute....

Have it yet?

If not, you must be suffering from "momnesia" as well, call me and I'll explain it to you slowly ;-)

Ashes to Ashes...Dust to Dust

Well, this past weekend I had the boys weeding out in the planter. Mikey got a little distracted by a dead roly-poly bug. The arrow is pointing to the headstone. It is engraved I think... "Here lies Roly M. Poly. In life a Joy - In Death a ball."


There was a beautiful service, a dedication of the grave, and a luncheon was provided by the Relief Society.

Just one of those days

Have you ever had a day where you feel so lazy it scares you?

A while back, I was in a really crummy slump. My family and I were waiting for a tow truck to come pick up Zack's truck when we decided to go to the bank next door. I needed to buy some stamps and knew that the ATM carried some. Anyway, as we were pulling up I asked Zack if he had his ATM card. He did, but asked me why I didn't have mine. I told him I did, but that it was all the way in my back pocket.

Another time, I was asking everyone what they wanted for dinner - tuna melts or tuna salad sandwiches. Zack said that it was entirely up to me. I decided to make the sandwiches because it was too much trouble to reach over and turn the oven on.

Lazy - with a capital "L".


Luckily, with five kids, laziness is never permanent.

Here we go again!

Today, during Zack's home teaching visit, the man of the family they were visiting was describing a wasp hive he had found. It was about the size of a basketball - yikes!
The funny thing was that as he was telling the story, he said that when he was trying to remove the hive he "pulled an Amber".

So far this season, I have only freaked out once. I was hosting our block party and I had a whole bunch of papers in my hand. We had gathered around a large table and we were talking about our emergency prep stuff for our street. Anyway, I was sitting there talking when I was buzzed. In the mere blink of an eye, I had kicked off one shoe, threw my papers up and behind me, and had successfully embedded tiny pebbles into my now shoeless foot. Oddly enough, I don't even think that I screamed. After all, it was only a fly.

I think that the colder weather this spring has contributed greatly to the lack of bees. Wahoo! However, I also think that I have turned over a new leaf. I am trying so hard to not wig out every time I see one. When I was planting my corn, I had to turn over really large stepping stones. Each one had a wasp trying to build its hive under it. There were a few crazy sounds coming from our yard that day, but no actual running and flailing of arms.

Is this a good thing, though? I do have a reputation to live up to!