Moving Madness!!

Holy Cow! 

So Drama is the word surrounding this move.  

All the best laid plans went down the drain.  

GHA! 

But its all over now and we made it through!

(thank goodness!)

So the major problem?  

The Moving Truck broke down!

There I was in Lethbridge awaiting Shane and a moving truck 

with all my awesome family there to help load the sucker. . . . 

Shane was stuck all day in Nanton waiting for a tow truck to come 

look at the truck he was bringing.  

 

Thank goodness for cell phones.  

After stressing and waiting and all kinds of things we decided 

to wait till after the holiday was all over and get it sorted out then.

We took the kids to the Raymond parade 

and stayed with Grandma Cathy.

Ensue other side family drama that we were not exactly a part of, 

but our hiccup essentially compounded. 

Boooooo!

Eventually we hired a new truck and had some extra loading help 

from family was an amazing blessing.  

 

Then in hopped Shane and off he went to the new house.  

This leaves me with 4 children at home and an 

entire house to clean and get ready for inspection! 

Meeting him at the house much later in the day after this is all over.

I confess that the house wasn't really that bad 

(I feel like we're pretty clean people!) 

and I had some awesome friends who 

let the kids come over and play!  

My amazing sister had come earlier in the week to do

 some deep cleaning in the kitchen - like the fridge!  

Did I mention she's amazing!

Shane was welcomed with lots of help from our new ward 

and the house was almost put together when we arrived.  

The sheets were even on the beds so that after we arrived so

the kids could pretty much sleep in their own beds 

with their own blankets!

My Husband is amazing by the way!

But we arrived in Calgary unscathed and ready to put it all behind us!

Just in time for Stampede and pancake breakfast.

Provident Living aka food storage and education (help wanted)

Ok so more than a year before we left for Ontario 

I became seriously obsessed with provident living and food storage.

Remember these posts???

resolutions 

grab and go bags

Car Kit

Well along with these I was neck deep in meal planning, food storage, 

crock pots and a myriad of other projects regarding food storage. 

Including becoming involved in THRIVE a yummy line of freeze dried foods.

I had no idea how much this knowledge 

would bless our family so much later.

Soon after Shane dropped the news he was now unemployed 

I started thinking about things that I could do 

to soften our expenses and stretch our pennies.  

As a mom of course the first thing that came 

to my mind was kids and kitchen.  

Suddenly I had the opportunity to apply some of 

the knowledge that I had acquired. 

There were two things that I immediately 

thought of in regards to the kids.  

#1 I suddenly needed to make sure Ms. E was Potty trained 

(pull ups are convenient but expensive).  

#2 I also decided we could go ahead and move 

Mr. T from formula to whole milk. 

(Again formula being convenient but expensive).

Mr. T was a trooper and took the transition with ease.  

Ms. E on the other hand lingered and lingered and lingered 

(we are still lingering some days).

In the kitchen there were a number of things that were helpful.

I made a list of groceries that I was currently purchasing 

that were simply not essential. 

Of course I discussed the list with my husband, 

which turned into more than one discussion. 

Particularly Pickles - our kids love pickles, 

they would eat a jar of pickles a week!! 

HOLY PICKLED CHILDREN!!

I was certain Pickles were definitely not essential. 

Shane however was not.

Another was Kraft Dinner,

Shane would happily receive this for his birthday.  

He had NO idea that it cost almost 2 dollars for 

a box of noodles when it was not on sale.  

He enjoyed it so much we would cook 3 boxes 

at a time to feed our family.  

This quickly became a non essential. 

Shane did not pout for long.

Next I made a list of the dinners I could cook with food already in the house.  

I had moved 1000's of pounds of food across the country as our food storage. 

While Shane was working I was adding to that storage by purchasing extras of foods 

I regularly used while they were a good price.  

Cans of soup, flats of Asian noodles,  extra bottles of BBQ sauce and ketchup, 

cooking oil, cake mix and a myriad of other items that I regularly used in cooking.  

This store was building up and now the time was upon us to use it. 

There was some transition - not all of it easy.  

Freeze dried foods that I had purchased came with a bit of a learning curve, 

the kids had become used to having a discussion about what supper should be

(I love cooking - just hate deciding).  

Suddenly THIS is what is for supper, if you do not want to eat it 

you may have bread and peanut butter. 

Good thing that Shane and I both agreed that Peanut Butter was 

DEFINITELY a staple we should not do without!!

I readily admit that I was in denial about how much food 

we had in our house while Shane was working.  

I did not realize how much food we actually had until it began disappearing, 

and the shelves in the kitchen became more and more bare.

Shane had a similar experience, he eventually confided in me that  

the empty fridge at the end of the week depressed him very much.  

I was glad I had a simple answer for him.  

That empty fridge meant that we were doing things right.  

We were using every item we had on hand.  

An empty fridge at the end 

of the grocery week was not a sign we were failing, 

because we had resources to fill it every week.

I definietly do not pretend that we did this alone.

We were incredibly blessed during harvest by friends who would gladly 

share potatoes, squash and even fresh eggs.  

At Thanksgiving Shanes family brought us dinner 

and we had leftovers for weeks!!

I do believe that I was inspired along the way 

as to how I could conserve food, 

stretch food, and be more grateful for what we had.  

It was not just a coincidence to me when I would find diapers on sale 

for $19.99 instead of $26.99 and pullups for $7.99 instead of $14.99.  

I know that the Lord was looking out for this little family,

helping me find those things our family needed.  

When things were really tight I would stick to only essentials at the grocery store.  

Bread, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit like apples, pears, and bananas 

and some fresh veggies like broccoli and carrots.  

For more than a month I fed my family on less than $80/week. 

I realize now that some of this is phrased in the past, 

I want it plainly known that we are still in the thick of things.  

In April we started receiving assistance from the church 

as even $80/week was looking scary.  

We truly reached the bottom of our barrel, Shane heading off to Alberta 

for training and work stretches us in different ways than just monetarily, 

it stretches us emotionally, mentally, and for me even physically. 

Next I'll be sharing our discovery of hidden pride 

that we did not even realize we carried with us.

Ms A.'s First day of Kindergarden

One of the first things I needed to get used to in Ontario was 

Junior Kindergarten.

Ms. A was so ready for kindergarten and super excited.

 I felt like this was a super blessing and 

I'll blog more about that later.

For now here's some pics of her first day.

Ms. E loved walking her to school but definitely felt left out.

It's old news to her now and we like to remind her 

she'll be in school in September anyway!!

Now seriously I promise the next post will be about Thanksgiving!!

Christmas!!

OK so all there really is to say about Christmas around here is that

#1 I start thinking about Christmas gifts to make in august 

(results to come in a different post) 

#2 We live quite close to three different sides of our family! 

= very busy Christmas time!!

We love Christmas and all the family and the traveling and party's.

 The girls did pretty good this year with all the stimulation.

Some days it was just good to be in the car so they could 

relax and kinda crash/calm down before another party began!!

So without further ado here's a crash course in Christmas!

Webster Christmas Party

 Mr. T got lots of attention!!

 

 

Next stop was Great Grandma and Grandpa Hudson's

Such a fun time with family . . . 

 

 

and the nativity

read by Great Grandpa Hudson.

 

 

 

  

Next we spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa Websters

 Auntie Deanna took charge and 

we all had a fantastic time!

 $0.50 cent gifts!!

New slippers for everyone!

Awesome new stool/seats from Grandma and Grandpa!!

 

Three Little Pig Puppets!

(which we Immediately used to tell the story!)

 

Next day Dinner with Grandpa Dwight and Grandma Carol!!

 

Christmas Eve at Grandma Cathy's 

 

Sledding

 

Pj's and Presents

 

Toenails Painted

 

Snowshoes for Dad

 

Mr.T's new mat

 

Every one was pretty wiped in the end!!

 

Then TADA!! 

Christmas Morning at home!!

All excited that Santa came and filled the stockings!

 

Ms. A's big girl pillow

(to go on her new bunkbeds!! 

Coming around birthday time)

 

Ms. E loving her brush and comb set!

 

Mommy feeling spoiled with a vacuum sealer!

(even more useful than I Imagined)

Daddy feeling spoiled with new tools!! 

(1st project - bunk beds!!)

We were all feeling very blessed 

and happy 

and well fed!!

So grateful for family time before the new year 

and time to count our numerous blessings!!

More about this to come in the new years post!!

Pictures of My Sister, General Conference and Thanksgiving!!

Ok here comes the continuation of the last post!! 

First off HOW GORGEOUS is this girl???

Seriously Someone needs to just up and Marry her already!!

Ok so confession time - I haven't had my camera out in a LONG time!!

I have been ok doing some for family and friends,

but Shooting with this kind of purpose well I don't do very often 

because I confess I have a love-hate relationship with my camera!!

I love taking photos and the creative process, visiting and talking with clients, 

seeing their reactions to my favorite pictures, I love it.

I hate the little voice in my head that sometimes becomes a bit too loud, 

"you are not at the top of your creative game", "you are not that good", 

"your post processing is lousy", there are other things that this voice says.  

As you can see this little voice is quite annoying. 

I also love photo's that show emotion, love, caring, awe, 

humility for creation, all kinds of holy impulses 

that remind me of Gods love and his gifts to us.

I also hate that post processing techniques have made it 

almost impossible to enjoy a picture without wondering, 

is this what the photographer saw, is his craft the lighting he saw, 

the emotion captured in an instant, 

or is his craft the post processing that brings all that forward.

See Its a bit of a Turmoil.

So for now I get to WORK on something fantastic - MY FAMILY!!!

Photography gets to be a perk/hobby/interest 

that keeps my creativity flowing. 

(and maybe reminds me that behind the home making 

and the mothering I'm an individual!!)

So here's to my sister who gave me a chance to remind myself 

that I'm still an individual and still capable of 

capturing some great photos!!

Now moving on to more family business.

General Conference!! 

OK I admit that I was a little nervous about general conference this year.  

I have two very active little girls and have started to feel really feel pregnant.   

I had created a lovely bad of things for Ms. A to do in the spring and 

was a little worried that this year she would be quite uninterested in 

the same things that had been in the bag for a while.

So turns out that with a little prep work and a wonderful grandma 

who paid for the friend to come to our house,

 General Conference was wonderful!!  

Early in the month of September we helped Ms. A construct 

the Conference chain from the friend.

Which gave us 14 activities to do with her 

( 1 a day) leading up to conference Saturday.

I confess I mostly loved it because it was shanes

 idea and he did most of it with her.

(Which she ADORED!)  

 

 Now a couple of weeks before conference I also had been thinking to myself. 

"I'll just add 2 things to the conference bag so that the girls will have 

some quiet things to do together and I'll be able to just sit 

and write notes and feel inspired!"

I admit that as a single lady I relished conference in a way that 

I could at no other time, I suppose I became kind of a snob.  

I wanted the girls to be perfect so that I could receive inspiration 

and revelation about what I have been struggling with. 

(like when I was single and only had me to worry about!!)

So with a prayer in my heart I bought a couple of new 

play dough adventures, and that is how the girls spent the 

morning session of conference - PJ's and Play Dough.

Shane even enjoyed himself.

(and yes that is an overturned laundry basket we used as a table)

Lately I had been feeling a lot like the girls were just too much for me 

and I never had a minute of peace to just read my scriptures or even shower.  

One of the things I learned through conference was that the lord knows 

what he needs us to hear and he'll make ways for us to hear it.  

The girls were not perfect and not amazing the whole day.  

But as I prepared treats and colored in coloring books and put them first 

before my incessant need to take notes, 

I found that the lord provided a way for me to do both!  

I had my notebook handy and gave the girls what 

attention they wanted from me.  

When something important was said it was like a little volume button 

was turned on and I was acutely aware that 

I should be paying attention to this part. 

In some specific instances it was a single word.  

Like Elder Hollands use of "Ash-heap".  

My head shot up imidiately when I heard it and 

I resolved that after conference this was a talk that I needed 

to read again, and again, and again.  

(mostly because when I read his talks I imagine 

his voice which I love listening to.)

There were blessings like the girls playing downstairs nicely together 

for almost the entirety of Elder Perry's talk about 

the importance of family and marriage and children. 

(which of course I felt was speaking directly to me!)

I felt very blessed after the Saturday sessions as 

I looked back through my notes.  

I felt like the lord had given me an enormous blessing in 

being able to bless my children throughout the day, 

as well as receive the very knowledge and strength 

that I was looking for from his inspired servants!!

Sunday was another story altogether, mostly because 

it was intertwined with 

Thanksgiving.

Sunday morning was filled with rush to get ready for conference 

followed by rushed lunch followed by visit to a wonderful couple 

who have kind of adopted our little family.  

Margaret and Weldon are amazing and she had called Shane earlier 

in the week to tell him that Weldon had completed a beautiful 

swing set/tree house/play area in the back yard.  

Therefore we should naturally come to conference on Sunday 

at their house in the afternoon.

Shanes mom was planning on being there with them and 

we were all headed over to her house after for thanksgiving dinner.

So we went and let the girls play to their hearts content 

until it was time for conference to start and then we went inside 

and the girls played with all of the new toys and books and things.  

(new to them anyway) 

We enjoyed conference together and migrated over 

to Grandma Cathy's for dinner.

Now you may remember this post about wanting to have a more 

meaningful thanksgiving that wasn't just about huge dinners 

at multiple grandmas houses!!

Well that thankful board didn't really make much of an appearance 

because I decided I wanted to get the girls 

all excited about conference too. 

So here's what really happened.  

On a night when we were all tired and a bit cranky 

we had an impromptu family night.  

We sat around the table and made a grateful chain.  

 

 

I remember being in awe at how easily Ms. A got the concept 

that we wanted to list things on each ring of the chain 

that we were grateful for.

 I was even more amazed when without my explanation she also 

understood that I was hoping for something more meaningful than 

ICE CREAM.

The first thing that Ms. A was grateful for was her Sister, 

then mom and dad and so on.  

Mom and Dad of course wrote things down like conference, 

scriptures, prayer, showers (ok mostly me).

Ms. E followed suit with her list, mommy, daddy, bunny, 

blanky, grandma, etc.

I had a brainwave that we should take the chain to each thanksgiving dinner 

and give all the adults in Ms. A and Ms. E's life 

a chance to add to her grateful chain. 

And so It grew.  

Even some of the most reserved uncles wrote at least one.

After Hudson Dinner it was 40 chains long.

(which Ms A delighted in counting)

After Webster dinner it was even longer - close to 80 chains long.  

I was glad to see how excited the girls were and how Ms. A 

was really in awe of all the blessings that had been written down.  

Even if some of them were days off work, bacon, 

icing without the cake, and being thankful for being humble.  

(silly uncles)

We really were grateful for our wonderful family and friends this Thanksgiving.

As well as a loving heavenly father who reminds us that 

even though there is still so much going on 

if we focus on what is most important, 

with faith in him everything turns out for good.