Confucious Quotes

So, I was playin this game called Mah Jong at gamesinaflash.com and every so often I would have a quote pop up when I would find a particular match (I'm still trying to figure out what match exactly). Some of them are as funny as can be. It makes me want to learn more about Confucius.

Confucius quotes:

"He who sleeps on road wake up with run down feeling."

"Man who run behind car get exhausted. Many who run in front of car get tired. Man who run beside car ... pretty darn fast!"

"He who sit on tack is better off."

"He who laughs last, thinks slowest"

"Man with glass house not take shower in day time."

Gifts for You! (Made by Me)

Lucky you!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1 - I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (Though I may ask so questions during the process.
2 - What I create will be just for you.
3 - It'll be done this year (might take a little while).
4 - You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article. I may crochet or quilt something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5 - I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same.

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Good luck!

Top 10 Dinosaur Questions

At the world's largest dinosaur museum, there is a display that discusses the "Ten Most Commonly Asked Questions about Dinosaurs." The display is laid out like a wheel with the dinosaur picture in the center and each of the ten questions circling it like they were at the end of the spokes of a wheel. Here are the questions and answers.

Paleontologists

These paleontologists are hard at work, uncovering dinosaur bones to be displayed in the dinosaur museum. Or are they on display at the dinosaur museum?

Next to these paleontologists is a window where museum workers, and/or current paleontologists, uncover new fossils that have been sent to the museum. It is interesting to see how long it takes and how detailed the work is to reconstruct a dinousaur skeleton.

Dinosaur Eggs

Historic Bugs

The rain forest exhibit at the natural history museum fascinates me. The bugs are so realistic looking that I am grateful the exhibit is fully encased in glass. The bugs are so big that they make the logs look small. I did not zoom in on any of these pictures.


Centipede

The snake is definitely dwarfed by the centipede.

Giant Dragon Fly

Scrapbooking the Blog

I've been finishing up updating my scrapbook of blog posts. Now, I'm caught up through the end of November. I just haven't been updating the blog. I'll get back on that now.

Flour Girl

For each holiday, we usually make sugar cookie cutouts that relate to the holiday. This week we made the cookies with my sister-in-law Victoria and her girls. Bekah had so much fun that she became covered in flour. Benjamin did a great job frosting and cutting out cookies, but he decided he liked playing with his cousin's toy kitchen more.

Brownie Points for Michael

Michael left me this message on the bathroom counter the other morning. He doesn't do things like this very often, so it made this extra sweet to me.

Blog Much? (300th Post)

I've got a passion for blogging. What can I say? I have been scrapbooking my blog and this is the result. It has been a great way to preserve our family history and my efforts at journaling.

Mary & Gary's Quilt

After completing a couple of other quilts with stars or triangles, this one was much faster to put together. I was able to complete this quilt from start to finish in 31 days (Jan 9th to Feb 9th). I really enjoyed making this for them.

I Heart . . . .

I borrowed this from my friend Brittney's blog. I like this approach to Valentine's day! Here's what you do . . . . tell us, what do you heart!? Not who . . . we know that . . .what?

I heart my family.

I heart making simple crafts.

I heart making sugar cookie cutouts for every holiday.

I heart shoveling snow and mowing the lawn.

I heart Christmas.

I heart blogging.

I heart the color purple (not the book, the color).
I heart receiving packages.

I heart reading a good book.

I heart my camera and taking pictures.
I heart Adobe Photoshop for editing said pictures.

I heart blog hopping, keeping up on what's going on in other people's lives.

I heart baking.

I heart eating baked goods. Yummy!

I heart spending time with my family.

I heart cuddly blankets.

I heart doing puzzles.

I heart holding hands with my husband.

I heart crocheting and quilting.

I heart browsing and admiring antique furniture.

I heart projects.

I heart organizing.

I heart McDonald's french fries more than any other fast food restaurant.

I heart finding a bargain.

I heart shopping online and then going to the store with the best price to purchase what I want.

I heart the Dollar Tree. I'm a sucker for a good deal for only $1.

I heart my cell phone. It's how I keep track of everyone, especially my husband.

I heart a clean house.

I heart spring flowers.

I heart the satisfaction of hard work.

I heart serving others.

I heart developing my talents and learning new things.

I heart libraries.

I heart cheeseburgers, strawberries, and chocolate.

I heart indoor plumbing.

I heart technology.

I heart my children and the amazing things they learn and teach me every day.

I heart making lists.

I heart elastic pony tails, or any kind of pony tail holder that keeps my hair out of my face.

I heart sharing.

I heart my washer and dryer.

I heart watching the snow fall from my warm house, preferably wrapped in a warm blanket.

I heart electricity.

I heart curly hair.

I heart good movies. Drama, action, comedy, romance, etc.

I heart cookie jars.

I heart packing and helping people move, but not moving myself.
I heart the freedom to worship.

I heart books on CD or cassette.

I heart country music.

I heart clean music with a good rhythm to it.

I heart giving away the things I make.

I heart people who take the time to listen and really listen.

I heart my children's nap time.

I heart popcorn while watching a movie.

I heart opportunities for growth.

I think that just turned into 'Count my Many Blessing.' I think that is because I love the many blessings I have in my life. Now, it is your turn. What do you heart?

The Best Bath Toy Ever

The other day we had a dirty accident in the tub and had to take all of the bath toys out so they could have a hot, cleansing bath of there own. Consequently, the next time I went to give the children a bath there were no toys to play with. My children love to play for a while before we scrub them with 'bubbles' so I gave each of them the 'best bath toy ever,' a wash clothe. Once they each had a wash clothe to play with they sat and played for a good 20 minutes using their imaginations. Benjamin had a pirate hat, a underwater mask, and a flag. Bekah had a dress, a baby blanket, and a hat. How inventive!

Mom, What Do You Know About Tigers?

Today I learned something new about tigers. Benjamin, who is forever asking questions, asked me how old tigers were this morning. In an effort to answer his scientific question, I searched the web and found this fact page about tigers. We learned that tigers in the wild live between 10 to 15 years and tigers that live in zoos can live between 16 to 20 years. I also learned that the gestation period of tigers is 16 weeks and litters are usually 3 or 4 cubs. Additionally, tigers way an average of 660 pounds with the female being smaller than the male and they can get up to 13 feet long. Hmmm . . . . you learn something new every day.

Random Picture with Random Updates

I hate spiders! However, there were a lot of them around this summer when I was trying to learn how to take Macro pictures. The jumping spiders, like the one in the pictures, are harmless but they can jump pretty far. Anyway, this was a picture I took during my photography class that didn't get put in my portfolio.

Now, on to the random updates.

1. I got over my fine issues with the library. They have relaxed a bit, or become more regulated, on how they apply fines. I have been more aware of the condition of the materials I check out, and we are now checking out twice as many books as we did before. If I only bring home 10 books at a time, the kids have me read them all the same day we get home and want to go to the library to get more books.
2. Benjamin and Bekah ask to be read books all day long. They often don't want to be read the same book twice, unless they really like it, and that is why we check out so many books. This has also helped increase Benjamin's reading capabilities. He can recognize about half the alphabet by sight whether the letter is upper or lower case, and he recognizes all of his numbers 0 through 10 and is starting to recognize and understand higher numbers. Bekah's vocabulary is booming! It is fun to be reading her a book and hear her say a new word that was just read to her. It is great that we are starting to develop two way communication more fully.
3. My root canal went well. My mouth is still sore, but not in near as much pain as it was beforehand. I will have my permanent crown put on in about 10 days or so. Thank goodness for insurance that helps pay for expensive procedures!
4. My elbow is getting closer and closer to being back to normal. I still can't straighten my arm or throw like I used to but it is getting closer. I can lift and sew and knead bread again without my whole arm hurting. My scar is even healing nicely, which is really good since the doctor had to open up my arm at least 1/3 of the way. The major downer part is that the metal in my elbow makes my elbow doubly sensitive. Hitting my funny bony is REALLY painful! That part is getting better with time as well and I am hoping that I won't need another surgery in the coming months to remove it.
5. I am looking forward to planting a garden this summer and not having to deal with moving during harvest time. I am hoping that the snow will melt a little bit more so I can finish putting my flower beds and garden box in before I need to plant some things. I didn't get that project finished because I broke my elbow and didn't get released from the doctor until after the snow covered the yard.
6. Speaking of finishing projects, I have 3 stars left on Mary and Gary's quilt. Considering I started that on January 9th of this year, I would say that is quite a feat to finish it in just under a month. (I am planning on doing the last three stars today and I will post pictures of it later). Usually, I start a project, focus on it, and get about 75% of the way done before I let it just sit there for a while before I go back and finish it. I am semi out of projects at the moment, but I need to get caught up on my scrapbooking and I have enough of every day life to keep me busy.
7. While I was working on quilts the last few months I listened to some good books on CD. After we came home from the wedding I realized it had been a while since I had actually sat down to read a book, even though I checked out a bunch from the library. I decided that one of my new priorities is taking time each day to read a good book. I read "Magyk" by Angie Sage over the last few days and it reminded me how fun it is to read books and let your mind create the voices of the characters and picture what is going on. (By the way, this was a fun book! I really enjoyed and am now reading the second book in the series, "Flyte." I highly recommend them to anyone who likes to read about magic.) I LOVE to read books and am always looking for books with a good, clean story line. I am really disappointed when I check out a book that sounds good and find it talks about sex graphically, uses foul language, or has other graphic descriptions about the disgusting things in this world. I am thankful for the GoodReads.com website that has allowed me to connect with my friends and see what they are reading. I have found a number of books I don't think I would have found otherwise and it has given me a little more direction on looking for books when I go to the library.
8. The vampires called me again to ask me to donate blood. That is, the Red Cross called to invite me to a local blood drive. I don't even have to remember when it has been more than 60 days between donations because they usually call me when I am elgible to donate again.
9. Bekah has finally reached the Terrific Twos and is an expert on scolding her brother and throwing tantrums. Benjamin has reached a new stage of independence that consists of doing what he wants, when he wants, and talking back to his parents. We are working hard on being kind, patient, and understanding. I have to admit that I do better on some days, but not most days. Oh the lessons children will teach you!

I think that is all the updates I have. I didn't feel like each one needed their own post.

Food Storage

Food storage. Is it important? Yes. Does it take time, effort, and planning? Yes. Is it do-able? Yes.

Over and over again, we are encouraged, and commanded, to have food storage. I don't know about anyone else, but the concept of having a one year supply of food is financially, emotionally, and spacially overwhelming. Especially when we lived in a small apartment with limited storage and financial resources and a small child who got into everything.

Then as we moved to larger living spaces we still had the financial restraints. How were we suppose to build up our food storage if we didn't have the money to do so? I'll tell you how, by having faith and acting on that faith.

In one of the main lectures and presentations we have heard about food storage, I finally heard soemthing useful that applied to use in our situation. What was that advice? Buy a little more each time you go to the store.

Wow! What a concept! I didn't have to go buy a year's supply of food tomorrow. I could do it a little bit at a time. I could start with small goals like enough food to last for one month since I usually bought enough food to last two weeks. This made an amazing difference for us.

Instead of buying one bottle of jam, I would buy two. Instead of two or three boxes of cereal, I would buy four or five. I would watch for case lot sales, save for them, and buy cases of things we use on a regular basis. Instead of buying cans of things we don't eat or know how to use just to store because we needed to have 'food storage' I buy things that store well for long periods of time that we actually eat. I look for ways to use food storage items like powdered milk, learned how to can fruits, and planted a garden. We also bought a freezer so we could keep more meats and frozen vegetables on hand. I have also practiced rotating food and using food before the expiration dates so that the money spent on the food does not go wasted.

What did I do about limited space to store food? I got creative. I bought inexpensive wire shelves that can be rearranged into different configurations instead of expensive metal shelves, and put them in a storage closet or a corner of my kitchen. I used my 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes to store flour, sugar, and other such items, in because they were air tight and stack nicely and look neat when stacked in a corner. I used rooms that company does not go into to stack and store food. If you are the only one who sees it, who cares what it looks like? I also used less visible corners in other rooms to store the canned goods. Like under a built in desk that was behind a shelf or entertainment center.

Do we have our 1 year food storage? No, not yet. Are we closer? Yes. Have we learned a lot about food storage, planning ahead, and budgeting? Yes.

I started building up our food storage about 4 years ago. It has been a slow process due to some financial set backs and changes, but it is still a process. We are moving forward and we continue to have faith that we can do it a little bit at a time. It is amazing to me to look at where we are now and reflect on where we were even a few months ago. We have truly been able to accomplish the goal of building up our food storage. The Lord will truly bless those who move forward in faith even if they do not know if what they set out to is possible. With the Lord's help, anything is possible.

To sum this post up, buy a little extra of what you get at the store each time you go and you will be surprised at how fast your food storage can build up and grow. It is possible!

Super Bowl Sunday

Yes, we went to a SuperBowl party. No, I don't particularly like football or follow the NFL. The part I like is the tradition of getting together with friends and eating really yummy food. We have gone to Jeff and Shara's house for three years now for Superbowl Sunday. (I have to admit that I was excited when there was a rumor about it becoming Superbowl Saturday, but oh well.) It is a fun tradition that we look forward to every year. Thanks for having us!

Winter Zoo Trip

Drinking hot chocolate after making pine cone bird feeders.

Proof that you can learn something new every time you go to the zoo:

Benjamin & Bekah seeing how they measure up to the size of a gorilla.

The monkeys liked their indoor habitats to keep them out of the cold snow. They were very active jumping all around the branches.

Look! Bears really do live at the zoo!

Snow Leopard snoozing

Checking out the Lynx through the viewing window at "Grandma's House"

The Leopard was prowling at the viewing window.

The cats are definitely more active during the winter.

A couple of Saturdays ago, between our anniversary and Mary's wedding, we went to a Winter with the Cats activity at the zoo. It was a rainy day, but the cloud cover made the temperature warmer than usual. The zoo was also less busy than usual, so it was a relaxing family activity.

In the winter, the cougars, leopards, tigers, etc. tend to be more active. This Saturday there was free hot chocolate, bird feeder making (I don't know what that had to do with the cats. Maybe it was because cats chase birds?), and information presentations about the cats. Benjamin and Bekah were able to touch real leopard and tiger furs, the safe kind of samples not the kind bought at the store or alive. We also saw the other animals that were in their winter habitats.