As the World Turns

Tonight I prepared a shopping list, we were out of "normal" food, since the grocery budget two weeks ago went for Thanksgiving. Then the call came. A very distressed sister had arrived from WY only to find that the building that was once her home, in which she had hoped to occupy once again was unliveable! She came over right away, dumped her children off at my home and headed to Home Depot to spend lots of money. All water pipes have to be replaced, the floor has to be replace, everything has to be repainted etc etc...
So after listening and babysitting, pulling out young children who found out that they couldn't really fit between the stairs, feeding them and noting that little boys pee their pants when they can't find the bathroom.... Carrie finally returned and they headed to a local hotel and I finally headed out to get some groceries. I just hope that the rest of her week goes a little more smoothly. Please pray!

Imagery

Trying some new techniques with Lydia's spine. It can't hurt and I really don't care at this point if everyone thinks I am slightly off. So Lydia has a picture of a spine on her wall, it is very colorful. And statement that says, " I have a healthy and straight spine". Every day we are repeating it when she is in bed and I told her we are focusing on the green part that's where on her its messed up. The more research I do on spine stuff the more I am amazed that ortho docs only focus on surgery. Several spine centers publish articles on how most scoloisis and kyphosis are caused by infections. Did you know there is a tuberculosis of the spine? So we are also using essential oils but it is causing the toxins to come out and she feels like garbage. I know that her spine problems are because of the surgery gone wrong. I have a lot of faith that God made our bodies to know exactly how to heal themselves. He is the great doctor! He didn't send us down here just to fend for ourselves without a design. So we first work on her spine, then we are going to work on simply changing that DNA. Why not? I have manifested lots of other things.

The Aim

If one observes the carpet around where the trash can resides in my bedroom, one can surmise exactly how much sleep I have accumulated during the night. I seem to have perfect aim for those diapers that have been changed, as long as I am mostly still on the edge of sleep. Unfortunately if I am fully awake I fail in reaching my target almost every time. I think it is the power of intention as I drift in and out of consciousness. Where as when I am awake other forces take over. The 4 diapers that Michael found on the floor indicate no rest for the weary. Of course now that I think about it..... since I am awake anyway I should just get my butt fully out of the bed and pick them up.

Buy nothing day

This Friday is not only Black Friday but also Buy Nothing Day. Just depends on what side of consumerism you are on. Not that I am totally agreeable with the activists that "produce" Buy Nothing Day but I do think that our materialism as Americans has gotten way out of hand. Check out their Buy Nothing Christmas site for some interesting perspectives. I do think that we can find better ways to show the people we love and care for without spending more and more. As they say...Draw it, Sing it, Make it, Cook it etc....

It's over

The day has gone, the night has come and now it's time for bed. That is my current mantra as I am dragging this weary body to my room.
Plenty of food, plenty of family, plenty to be grateful for! Had a great time this afternoon and even had my sister Ginny dropped by via webcam and telephone, that was a treat.
It was kind of like a wedding, throwing it all together for a few hours, lots of love , then the mess to clean up and it's like it didn't happen. EXCEPT... leftovers!!!
In our house we call them laughovers... cause it has always been fun figuring out what to do with them.
So I am very grateful tonight for an incredible husband, wonderful children, my spirituality, all the extended family, my home, the abundance of food we have, the talents I posess, the friends that continually bless my life by their diversity and wisdom, and at the moment very grateful for this nice comfy bed that I am going to slip in between the covers in one moment.
I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful also!

As the turkey cooks...

I am taking a miniscule break from cooking to post. The count so far is 4 pies (making 2 more tomorrow), 60 homemade rolls, 2 major sized cheese balls, 1 turkey currently cooking, 1 in the fridge all ready to be popped in the oven tomorrow morning, 6 boxes of stuffing, stuff for fruit salad, yams, green beans, corn, & cranberry sauce. Have to find the potatoes, they are under my bed somewhere. I also plan on making these really yummy pumpkin bars if I can squeeze it in. Michael and Chaiya finished building 3 benches and we have three tables fully set and ready for our guests. Even with placecards made from maple leaves with our guest names calligraphied on them. So tomorrow afternoon around 2:00pm 22 people will be feasting in my dining room and thanking the Lord for the incredible abundance we experience here in this country. You know in any other country we might need a special assembly permit with this many people :)

true love

There is this man whom I am incredibly in love with! Who I love standing in my kitchen and kissing with! Who I love laughing and growling with! Who says to me after looking deep in my eyes " I never liked lookin' at someone as much as I like looking at you"
Yes! We've got it!

once again

On Friday, my ex husband chose once again to be disrespectful. I would think after being divorced for 9 years that it wouldn't still drive me crazy but it does. My children went for their visit, a first since the July visit to their grandparents. Mark has a new girlfriend, YES he is at least seeing another girl. She is putting pressure on Mark to have the kids more. Chaiya and Maliea were completely silent for the whole ride home after I picked them up. Quayde did nothing but played video games for 2 days, so of course he was fine.
After about an hour both of the girls said they wished not to ever visit him again.
SO>> Tonight Mark calls wanting to know if the kids can come stay for New Years and 2 days after. I got brave and told him that I would need to discuss it with the kids but for now they did not want to spend time with him. He has no clue about reality. If it is not a beer or a karoke machine, he just doesn't get it.
On to Thanksgiving prep! Michael and Chaiya are building benches so we have enough seating for everyone and they are working hard. Costco is busy baking my pies. The oven in our home is making the rolls; put a spell on it and they are coming out well. Picked up a couple of turkeys for .45 a lb at Bashas and they are gently defrosting in the refrigerator. Since nothing else fits in there now , the children are going to be quite hungry by Thanksgiving dinner.
Got my first solicitor call about my website. They wanted to "sell" me 25 key words for only $49.95 a month. So I could be on the first or second page of a google or yahoo search. That is an incredibly large amount of money for absolutely nothing. I already have listing through WedPlan and several others that if you are looking for a wedding planner in Prescott Arizona ...by golly you can find me on that first page. I was naive to have not realized how many bloodsucking solicitors are out there wanting my money.
Evening tasks are calling....shots for Maliea, suctioning for Lydia.. and nightly family read of the latest Harry Potter book. The 4th movie was incredible but we wanted more of it of course.

QOTD

"We are going to start calling you Bio-hazard!" Michael to Lydia after the 4 dirty diaper in a row this evening

Observation at 7:00 am

It is never a good sign to hear the microwave "ding" when the only person up is the five year old

Ramblings

If you want to play some incredibly beautiful computer game that actually almost nourish you try Orisinal. I don't mind the kids playing these and they have nice music and incredible soothing graphics. I'm am attempting to type with one hand while nursing a half asleep little one. He is growing way to quickly. There is nothing quite like snuggling with a wee one on a cold Autumn evening. I need to plan out school for the next couple of weeks not sure Edgar Allen Poe is who I want to have the girls study right before our holidays. Hanukkah is right at Christmas this year so I want to find the balance between the two somehow. Michael has never been here to participate with us , so I want it to be meaningful for him also.
Tomorrow is a Chandler trip to Maliea's orthodontic dr. She says she might get Christmas colors for bands. Will it be red and green or blue and white? They don't have metallic colors yet.
I am inviting everyone here for Thanksgiving. It is incentive to get the dining room cleaned up how I would like it to be. Finally perfected the family roll recipe with the egg replacer, might ask Mom to make the holiday jello, cause I have never made it perfect. Chaiya and I are still coming up with ideas for centerpieces. Quayde wants to do place cards. It should be fun.

Major YES!!

Lydia is at this moment actually making sounds through the recorder! She is blowing and making sounds without her trach tube being blocked!!! Miracles happen everyday with her. She is amazing!

Counterculture

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." H.D. Thoreau
The girls and I just had a very enjoyable time discussing Thoreau and counterculture. For two girls who have lived their lives with a mom who has them sit in the wild and listen, who grinds our wheat several times a week to make bread etc.., who homeschools, homebirths, no t.v. and so on... the concept of counterculture and what Thoreau's "experiment" was, just ringing true to how they have lived their lives thus far.
I think a main thread of truth I want to leave with them is a question. The question of are they being REAL? and are they being TRUE? to what life is about.
My observation is that I see too many people so caught up in existence, in quiet desperation that they are in prison, that they forget to live and breath each moment.
So fast food, frozen dinners, mindless tv shows, etc... are acceptable because one doesn't have to feel. One doesn't have to be mindful about living.

Just an average day

It is the middle of the day and I am taking a break from schooling the kids. We are on yet to American Lit class as the older girls and I forge our way through WALDEN. Quayde made progress today on his reading skills with which he still is struggling so hard with. Lydia has been playing with the felts and I am so glad she is not into making her own worlds yet because her sense of placement is quite unique. Oh to be a colorful cow in Lydia's world. Maliea has been working hard on learning to read music through her recorder playing and she is doing a great job. Chaiya is taking a speed test on typing, her awpm is 18. After we finish literature we are on to the conquest of China in the 1600's by internal invaders. I am still trying to figure out how to squeeze in Science but it might wait for tomorrow. Tonight is scouts for Michael and Quayde and YW for the older girls. And once again I am running on about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. Life is good!

Animal unleashed

Publishing a web site is seriously opening yourself up to the world.
So this afternoon I finalized mine enough to say ok is good enough for now and hit the publish button.
Here it is world - http://www.wedo-wedo.com
The animal has been unleashed to roam the yard. Let's see what is dug up, what needs to be buried and maybe if the doghouse needs some more work.
So friends and family...let me know what you think.

Quayde is perfect

I love children! I love almost all the kids I ever meet. I love being in primary and teaching etc...so it might come as a surprise that tonight I wanted to strangle this "little" boy named Wyatt, at scouts. He was so mean and disrespectful that I just wanted to spit. He really hurt another boy by pulling the chair out from under him twice. But instead of killing this child. I put my arm around him and gave him a nice long "tracie" chat.
Quayde is moving up into this group of boys, which I am having misgivings about. Now Quayde has had his moments in the past. But now everyone in our new ward thinks he is pretty perfect. Quayde was the only boy who helped tonight. Didn't run around like a banshee and was respectful to everyone. He was so great, they sent him home with all the extra candy and extra refreshments! ackkkkkkkkkk!