Listen

Well, this was going to be a post of our Yo Gabba Gabba concert, but our camera is on the fritz so I don't have access to the pictures right now. Chase took the card out of the camera and put them directly onto the lap top which he has at work. He was able to save those pictures, so I will post them later. Until then here is a story and/or lesson for y'all...

About 3 weeks ago I went into our youngest's room to check on her. I wanted to make sure she hadn't thrown all her blankets out of her bed which she likes to do; it was supposed to be a cold night. As I went in through the adjoining bathroom door, I was only using the light from our bedroom so it was dark. I noticed something on the floor by the door and thinking it was a toy I decided I should probably pick it up before someone stepped on it. Right before I bent over to pick it up, a thought pops into my head... "Turn on the light". Well, I reasoned back to that thought in my head that that would be stupid because I would risk waking up the baby. As I'm bending down, and looking closer I'm not sure if it's a toy or something wrong with the carpet, but I kept going, never turned on the light, even though that prompting came again. Well, my finger made contact, not with a toy or the carpet, but with a scorpion. I screamed and immediately as it stung me I knew what it was even though this was my first time being stung by a scorpion and I couldn't see what it was. I flipped on the bathroom light and saw it scamper away out of the corner of my eye.

Chase came running in to see what happened and as I tended to my wound he flipped on the baby's light to try to find the scorpion to no avail. All, the screaming, and rummaging, and lights shining never woke her up. Well, a panic set in because I have had really bad reactions to ant bites here and I thought for sure I would stop breathing or lose a limb. I immediately took some benadryl and tried to ice away the pain in my finger. The whole time I'm doing this, I know very well that I had been warned. How stupid could I have been to just dismiss such a blatant prompting and warning. I have no doubt that the spirit tried to warn me, but I obviously knew better. I couldn't have felt more stupid and humbled. Well, I was blessed that nothing but some temporary pain occurred. The sting hurt really bad immediately, and dissipated into a dull throbbing, but by morning I felt nothing, only a barely visible bump was at the sting site.

I began to wonder how many other times had I just ignored a prompting that would have saved me so much grief and pain. I also wondered how many times a "thought" popped into my head that was an actual prompting that I had followed that had helped me or someone else. I hope that I have followed more promptings than I have ignored. Sadly, I think often times, being the humans that we are, there are lots of times where we think we know better or because something doesn't make sense to us we ignore it.

My scorpion sting was a big wake up call. I need to remember to listen and not think I can handle things on my own or don't need the help of my Savior and Heavenly Father. I need to realize that my Heavenly Father knows what's best for me and He can and will help me if I allow Him to and if I will take the time to stop and listen. This life is so crazy and busy, it's very easy to get caught up in the bustle and forget to stop and listen. I think of my own children and how I try to keep them safe and warn them of dangers and how sad it must be for our Heavenly Father when we don't listen. He's there to guide us and protect us, even if it's to prevent me from a stupid scorpion sting. I just hope I'm paying attention to the bigger promptings no matter how strange they may sound that may have eternal consequence for myself, others, or a loved one. I started to think how many times does Heavenly Father use us to help someone else, or uses others to help us. I started to think, what if I was lazy on one of those days He needed me to follow a prompting and I just dismissed it, I really and truly hope not.

On Tuesday night I took my youngest to the doctor for what I knew must be another ear infection, which it ended up being. As I waited at the drive up to pick up her medicine I had texted Chase about it and slipped my phone back into my purse. Almost immediately, my phone rang, so I fished it back out. It was my friend from church who I also visit teach. She asked if I had tried to call her, I said no. She said her phone rang, but then no one answered and/or it went dead after she picked it up. I apologized but couldn't understand how I would have dialed her number. Instead of just ignoring it though, my friend decided to call me back. I explained that I was in the drive up getting meds for Joelle and that she had an ear infection again.

My friend is a nurse and she asked if they gave her the pain drops for her ears as well. I answered no, and she was shocked because it was a common thing to do for the pain. She then told me that she had an extra bottle at her house that I could have for Joelle. Even as "coincidence" fell on "coincidence", it never occurred to me that she had possibly followed the spirit by calling me back. My friend then said, "Well see, you may not have called me, but the spirit called me for you". I laughed, but looking back she could have just ignored my call and assumed I'd call back if it was important. It may be just a little thing, but it shows me that my Heavenly Father loves me and He loves Joelle and is mindful enough of her that He would care to ease her pain, even just a little.

I am going to try to be more active in listening, even when a thought or an idea seems a little strange or even uncomfortable. I'm going to try to pay attention and try to create more opportunities for me to be able to receive and recognize the promptings in time for me to act on them. I hope I have learned a valuable lesson from all this and that I will not be foolish or stupid in the future and always listen.

p.s. Sorry about my blog background, I just realized it covers some of the text on the top. I will try to look for a new one tomorrow.

Thanksgiving 2011

Well, I had a whole bunch of cool pictures to share of Thanksgiving...until the camera decided to get rid of them all. I have a sneaking suspicion that Joelle played a part in the camera acting up. She had climbed up onto the piano, retrieved the camera, and pushed some buttons. One of the older kids discovered her with it and brought it to me. The camera was set to some strange setting and after looking at it Chase was able to put it back to normal. However, when I put the camera into the computer to charge it and transfer pictures, the computer said there was an error and then poof all the pictures were gone, Chase couldn't save them.

So, take a minute and close your eyes and now imagine a beautiful spread of yummy food :) Imagine my beautiful table centerpieces that I made for the first time ever. I will try to describe them to you later.

I brined the turkey the night before, then buttered and salt and peppered it before throwing it into the oven. I had made 3 pies the day before...french silk, pear, and apple. Our good friends brought a pecan and pumpkin pie and also some really delicious mashed potatoes. I made creamy peach jello, rolls, veggie tray with dip, and a lime slush punch. I utilized my crock pots for the first time for Thanksgiving this year, it turned out perfect. I had one big crock pot with my stuffing. I had gone to Jimmy John's and purchased 4 loaves of their day old bread, it made the best stuffing. My mom gave me a triple pot crock pot, if that's a name for it. I put corn in one, green bean casserole and gravy in the others. I followed Ken Black's (Chase's uncle who makes the best gravy ever) gravy recipe, and to my utter delight this year it turned out :) . I also made cranberry sauce, but had a store bought can on the side for Chase just in case the homemade kind didn't do it for him. I don't think I left anything out, it turned out pretty awesome. I had 4 new recipes that I tried this year so I was nervous they wouldn't turn out, but everything was great.

For my centerpieces, I took 2 small clear vases, and alternated layers of acorns and cranberries. Then I tied some raffia around the vase. I put one vase on my fall table runner with 2 small pumpkins (leftover from Halloween bowling). On the other table I found some leftover fall material scraps and layered them and put the other vase there with 2 more pumpkins. It was pretty, I'm sure it wasn't that impressive, but I was excited about it. The kids weren't too happy though because I made them go out and collect acorns for me. I had leftover cranberries from the cranberry sauce.

We had a fun dinner with just our family and friends and we hope everyone else had a Happy Thanksgiving as well!

Halloween 2011

Joelle the Peacock

Emery the Poodle

Girls getting ready to go to the Trunk or Treat

Cute Halloween girls

Emery and Joelle

Cam the Scary Skeleton

Addie getting her dance moves on

Addie the Disco 70's Girl, her trick or treat bag was her orange purse

Addie and Cam

Bailey the Dresser Drawers

Me as a bunch of Grapes

This Halloween we got to celebrate a couple of days instead of just one. Addie had a Halloween party, then our ward had a Trunk or Treat. The trunk or treat was put together last minute, so we volunteered some games at our car while the kids came around. I used all the games I had put together for Cam's Kindergarten class when I was home room mom. I knew those games would come in handy again, I'm glad I kept them. We had pumpkin bowling, pumpkin broom races, cauldron toss, assemble the skeleton, and monster match. We had a ton of fun at the ward trunk or treat! On actual Halloween day, the kids were not allowed to dress up in their costumes at school here. Previously, we had dropped Bailey's costume off at her friend's house so she could ride the bus home with her friend and trick or treat in her friend's neighborhood. The rest of us dressed up and headed over to our friends' house from church. We ate a yummy pumpkin dinner and then went trick or treating in their neighborhood.

This was Joelle's first time walking and getting treats. It was pretty funny to watch, she was very in to the trick or treating and it was all serious. She was very possessive of her candy bag which was only a grocery sack. Joelle wouldn't let anyone hold it for her and she would drag it along. When we got home there were holes in the bottom of the bag and some of the candy had been worn through the wrappers where she dragged it. We went and picked Bailey up and then headed home where the kids dug into their candy. I was very impressed this year that Addie didn't inhale all of hers in one night and actually made it last about a month. In fact Emery was the first to finish all of her candy, but of course she didn't go as long or get as much candy as the others did. Cam just finished his a couple of days ago, and of course Bailey still has a ton of her candy which she has added to her bucket. I wouldn't be surprised if she still has some of her candy when Valentine's Day rolls around next year.

So, this year's costumes were mostly finds from Goodwill. At the beginning of the year, when we first moved here, I found the poodle and peacock costumes at Goodwill. I decided to purchase them because I had no idea when or if we would get our stuff from storage in UT which included all our Halloween stuff. As Halloween grew closer Cam had already called the skeleton costume I got for really cheap after Hallween the previous year. I got Addie her costume from Goodwill as well, except the wig which I also got on discount after Halloween in UT. All I had to do was take in the pants a little which were too big. Bailey had the idea of being a dresser drawer. We had plenty of boxes, but I really didn't want to get involved with her project, but she begged and begged and finally sucked me in. I guess she gets her crazy costume ideas from me, I have always tried to find unique and fun costumes. So, she took one of the boxes, made "drawers" for the front and colored everything. I got some dresser drawer knobs and a tiny alarm clock from Walmart. We went to Goodwill and tried on a bunch of lamp shades, I'm sure people thought we were nuts. We finally found a lamp shade that wasn't too big and Bailey found a necklace chain to attach for the light switch. We positioned her toe sock as if it was hanging out of the drawer, and lastly, I stuck her little baby picture on top as well. It turned out to be a fun costume and she had people give her extra treats because they liked her costume. For myself, I stole Emery's grape costume that we did a few years back. I could only find green and red balloons so I was a bunch of green grapes. I squeezed her little hat that I made on my head and we were all set.

We had a pre-Halloween dinner by ourselves, since we were invited to dinner on Halloween night. We made mummy dogs of course, with eyeballs(grapes), and witch fingers(carrot sticks). I was a little lazy with the Halloween dinner this year, but the kids had fun. Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins

A few days before Halloween we finally carved our pumpkins one night while watching the Charlie Brown Halloween special. Chase was working, but he's been working a lot, so I couldn't keep putting off the pumpkin carving or it'd be too late for Halloween. I forget how creative and crafty my kids can be though and it took me forever to carve out all the pumpkins by myself. Luckily, Joelle was content with just coloring her pumpkin. She has discovered coloring the last couple of weeks and LOVES it, a little too much. I had her on a place mat and was watching her, but I guess not closely enough because some sharpy did get on my table. I guess those spots will be there to forever remember my little crazy girl happily coloring her little pumpkin to her heart's content.

Joelle coloring her little pumpkin.
Emery coloring the back of her pumpkin too.
Bailey carving the top of her puppy pumpkin.
Addie and Cam gutting their pumpkins.
Bailey and Joelle cozy on the couch watching tv.
Emery getting in on the cozy action.
Kids with their pumpkin creations.
Oooooooh, spoooky!
Blurry pic I tried to take with the flash off so you could see the lit pumpkins and the kids' faces...didn't really work well.
Cute pumpkins.
Bailey also drew a pig vampire on the back of her pumpkin.
Back of Emery's pumpkin that she drew.
Joelle and her masterpiece.

Church Chili Contest

Bailey showing all that was left of her chili. After the judging, everyone gets to eat the chili.

Our church had a chili contest back at the beginning of Sept. As soon as Bailey found out about it she begged and begged me to let her enter. I tried to explain to her that she would be up against many Texans who had a lot more experience making chili than her. She didn't care, she fancies herself a chef among many other things... an artist, a writer, etc. Anyway, I finally relented and told her she'd have to start the chili as soon as she got home from school in order to have it at the church in time to be judged.

First off I need to clarify that Bailey has never made chili before, she has cooked very little actually. Bailey cooked everything, I helped drain the fat off the beef and maybe chopped some stuff, but this was Bailey's baby. She told me what she wanted to put in and I would give some suggestions as to not put in too much or too little of a certain spice, but that was all. We took the chili to the church and I was not expecting anything.

It was a blind judging, so no one knew who made which chili. The winners were announced, and the top 3 won a prize package. Bailey kept bugging me to find out how she placed because she was afraid to ask for herself, but I was busy with some behavioral issues of another child at that moment. So, she got her little brother to go up and ask. Surprise, surprise...Bailey placed 5th out of 15 entries! I was completely shocked! So, I guess next year she's gotta up the anty and try again. I was very proud of her and also learned a lesson that day to not discount anything and always let my kids try even if the odds are against them.

Crazy Sock Day

So for Red Ribbon week last week the kids had a different day every day that they had to dress up differently. Here are some pictures of them dressing up for crazy sock day. I didn't get a picture of Emery, she just wore some Halloween socks that lit up. Both Addie and Bailey won first place for their grade. Cam won second place. The girls won some water bottles and I can't remember what Cam won.

Sea World

We had season passes to Sea World that my parents bought us when they came to visit. I somehow lost my pass so up until this last visit to Sea World, Chase had been taking the kids by himself. My mom mailed us her pass to see if they'd let me use it. The morning we decided to take them a few weeks ago, Chase called to make sure they'd let me in. They said I had to show my ID and for $5.00 they'd print me a new pass. Well, we hadn't even tried before to get another pass because if you read on the pass itself it says they are not responsible for lost or stolen cards blah, blah, blah, so I figured they wouldn't do anything. I went and stood in line to see guest services while Chase took Joelle on the carroussel and the other kids stood in line to ride the Shamu roller coaster.

I got up to the counter and explained I had lost my pass and needed a new copy. She asked for some information and then asked if I was the only one who'd lost the pass. I answered yes and she said ok, printed me a new pass and that was it, she didn't even charge me, like it wasn't a big deal. So, this whole time I could have been going with them...whatever, I guess they just try and scare you into keeping your passes safe.

Anyway, so it was a special Halloween Sea World, so we decided to go. We really didn't participate in anything special though, we didn't go to any of the shows and we didn't do the trick or treating. Most of the Halloween stuff was at night too and was too scary for the kids, so we went on a few rides and looked at some animals and went home. It was perfect weather and surprisingly wasn't that crowded. Joelle actually got to go on some rides this time around too.

Riding the carroussel with Dad.
Bailey and Emery on the Shamu coaster. I was surprised Bailey got in the first car since she has a problem with "drops" on roller coasters, but I guess this one was pretty tame.
Cam and Addie in the tail section.
Joelle up high on the Big Bird egg ferris wheel. I was riding with her and she got bored and tried to climb out freaking me out until they finally got us off. She kept fighting me when I tried to hold on to her and the seat belts weren't all that secure. I think we'll be sticking to rides that are low to the ground from now on.
Emery afraid to take a picture with me and the alligators.
Kids standing in front of some spooky skeletons.
Emery and Joelle waiting for the big kids and dad to get off their rides.
We got pretty close to the dolphins considering we weren't in the massive crowd paying an overpriced $6.00 for fish to feed them.
Bailey, Joelle, and Cam with the sharks.
I believe a Sand Tiger Shark, or Black Tip...not sure.
Joelle all tuckered out after a busy day.


Little Girls Dancing at Sea World while waiting for the others to get off their rides.

Ant Bites

I know y'all are excited for this post, but like I said this is a journal for me as well. So I'm documenting stuff...the good, the bad, and yes...the ugly. This summer I had several run ins with fire ants. Now, I had been bitten before by red ants in CA, and fire ants are a whole new story. First off they just swarm you and your whole limb, appendage or whatever just feels like it's on fire...I guess that's where they get their name from. Of the 4 times I was attacked, 3 were in or near my garden. I had a fairly good reaction to the first bites and with each preceding attack my reaction to the bites worsened to the point that the attack documented below drove me to the doctor. The doctor almost gave me a steroid shot, but thought it was infected so gave me antibiotics instead. The pharmacy was late filling the prescription and I thought I was feeling a little better so I never got the prescription filled and opted to let it heal on its own. After every attack it took weeks for me to heal, it was so annoying. With this particular attack I was barely able to walk and couldn't put on my shoes. I took benadryl which wiped me out and ice packed my foot all day for about a week. I started wearing my snow boots with my pants tucked inside and keeping a distance any time I had to water the garden. I'm hoping next year we can take some precautions to ensure we don't get as many fire ants... they are evil. I don't want to have to be getting an epi pen just so I can garden.

Fat foot compared next to my normal foot, you can see some of the scars on my normal foot though from when I got bit on that foot before.

Grandma and Grandpa Beebe Visit

My parents came to visit back in the middle of May. See, I told you I was way behind and these last few posts are out of order, but at least I'm getting them done. The kids were still in school, but we took them out for 2 days, which was supposed to only be 1 day. The 1st day we took them out of school we were on our way to Sea World, but a huge crazy storm hit literally on our way there and they closed down Sea World. We were lucky to make it back home safe, it was a crazy doom and gloom type of storm. We ended up getting off the freeway and stopping at Big Lou's and getting pizza. The 2nd day we took them out to try to go to Sea World again and it was so hot and humid the day after the big storm. The kids had a fun time though. My parents bought our family season passes.

We went to Landa Park in New Braunfels with the little girls and my mom. We rode the train, played on the cool playground, and fed the really ugly ducks. I took my mom to a doll shop just around the corner from us and she bought the kids some dolls and some pots to go on Joelles cooking station.

We went on the river walk on the non-touristy part, and took my parents out to eat at my favorite burger place Chris Madrid's. We had to wait for a really long time on a Friday night, but it was worth it. So much cheesy, juicy goodness...yum! For me to talk about a burger like that, you know it must be good.

We took my parents to the Salt Lick, and I took my mom to the Dragon Place too. We went to Seguin Trade Days at the park as well. One day the kids got to go swimming for a bit in the pool, even though it was a little too cold. I think that was about it. We had a really fun time and can't wait for them to come visit again :)