Bath fun

On Sunday we let the kids have a treat and take a special bath in our bathtub- they had a blast!

Autumn walk

We went for a nice autumn walk along the canal behind our house on Saturday. The kids took turns riding on Daddy...

There was one beautiful view that I really wanted to show Shawn. I wish I had a better camera- this would look better, but it was absolutely gorgeous- this is just the best I can do with my cheapo camera.

Kids painting

They are just like their Daddy- isn't it cute?!!

Goofy in How to Hook Up Your Home Theater

They actually made a new Goofy cartoon- I have always loved his "How to.." segments! Enjoy!

6 Jobs- no $- Are you freaking kidding me?

Okay- so as most of you know, Shawn works for a video game company drawing fun art- which he LOVES! It is an awesome job to brag about and he can never complain about his work, but the pay is a little low (Job #1).
So, I got a part time job working for my in-laws at their medical spa (Job #2). This helped make ends meet, but when we moved down to Payson it put me half an hour drive away from work, so now I only work one day a week for 5 hours for them- not much.
We have also been doing laundry for my mother-in-law- she has some major problems with pain in her joints and we are pretty sure that she has Fibromyalsia (or however the heck you spell that), so over a year ago we started doing laundry for her- because the simple act of folding and hanging clothes hurts her, so she pays us $10 a load and we do about 5 loads a week for her- so there is a little more money(Job #3).
Then Shawn's karate teacher (yes he does Karate- isn't that cute! He does it with his younger brother as bonding time and his mom pays for it in exchange for Shawn giving Drew art lessons as well and they have fun being together); anyways- his teacher teaches karate at UVU (formerly UVSC for anyone who didn't know) as well as some other real subject like Math or something- anyways, they wanted to add another karate class to his repertoire and he recommended Shawn for the job of teaching it even though he isn't quite a blue belt yet. So, Shawn teaches one class for two hours a week at $30 an hour (Job #4).
Then I used to work at Curves and I loved it, but I don't have the hours during the week to do it- but there was a girl at my Curves here in Payson who worked only on Saturdays and she was moving- so I took her job. I only get minimum wage, but I get to work out for free (thus saving us $30 a month) and I get a little bit of money for time when I am usually not doing anything anyways, hence (Job #5).
Then, Shawn's Aunt owns her own medical billing company which she does working from home and has gotten busy enough that she needed to hire a part time work from home employee. She offered me the job just this past week. I will need to answer phones Mon-Thurs from 9-4 and double check stuff on her billing- I am barely starting to get trained with this, but this now makes it (Job #6)!
Yeah, now granted three of these jobs just started and I haven't gotten paid for some of them yet, but at the same time- we are working 6 jobs now between the two of us and still, we have no money! No one can say that we aren't trying as hard as we can- but our bills have like tripled in the past few years and it is tough to keep up! I don't mean to sound whiny or complainey, but when we consider that we are living in my parents house paying very little rent and we are in theory saving up to purchase a home of our own and we haven't been able to save anything- that is where it gets scary- and we don't even spend as much on things like DVD's as we used to! Anyways- I just wanted to vent about it- that is life, I guess! Who knows, maybe Shawn or I will write a book and make tons of money- that would be nice!

This made me LOL out loud!

Tough Love vs. Spanking - Good Argument
Most of the American populace thinks it is improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have 'one of those moments'.

One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk. Some say its the vibration from the car, others say it is the time away from any distractions such as t.v., video games, the computer, iPod, etc. Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps alot, too.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.



Sincerely,
Your Friend







This works with grandchildren,
nieces, and nephews as well.

Laundry...do you think I should wash them?

An Engineering Mind: Superman and Thermodynamics

So, this is a friend of ours from back in the married student ward days- he actually has several of these videos that he has done- I think they are hilarious! If you enjoy it, go to You Tube and check out his other ones! Enjoy!

Final Twilight Trailer from Summit Entertainment!

Fall . . . the second most wonderful time of the year!

I LOVE FALL!!!!

I don't know what it is about it exactly that I love so much about fall. Maybe it is the fact that every fall for my growing up life was a time of change- of new things and moving on to a new place. Or (and this is the most likely) it is because for me, fall is all a big build up to Christmas!!!
Whatever the reason, I just love fall! I also LOVE conference weekend! I go into what Shawn calls a baking frenzy during General Conference. Over the past two weeks I have made Cinnamon Rolls, Zucchini bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, apple crisp (several times) and just during conference I made breakfast casserole, coffee cake, etc. I don't know what it is, but as soon as it turns cool, I begin to bake and that lasts me through Christmas and then after that I am pretty much done with it for the year. So, I was thinking that since I have the recipie for the best cinnamon rolls ever, I would share them with you all!

Cinnamon Rolls (supposedly it is the Cinnabun Recipie)

Roll dough:
1 pkg yeast
1 c warm milk
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c melted margerine
1 t salt
2 eggs
4 c flour

Make as bread dough; knead and place in an oiled bowl and let rise until double. Then roll out in a large rectagle shape (about 1/4 in thick and 21 in by 16 in)

Filling:
1/2 c melted margerine or butter
1 C brown sugar
2 1/2 T cinnamon

spread the melted margerine over the rolled out dough. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the melted butter. (tip: leave the top 1/2 in bare so that it will stick to the dough when you roll it up.)

Roll it up and using string or floss or whatever you want to, cut into 1-2 inch thick rolls. Place in bake ware and let rise. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until light brown.

Icing (this is the best part):
1 stick softened butter or marg
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c cream cheese
1/2 t vanilla
1/8 t salt
Beat until fluffy.

Enjoy!