Fun at the park

The weather was gorgeous today! I hope it stays like this. We all enjoy getting outside. Yesterday we went for a walk (all of the kids were either pushing a stroller or a shopping cart), and Monday they rode bikes up and down the sidewalk. Today we went to the park. Tomorrow baby Nathan will be here, so we will probably stay close to home (probably play in the backyard). It is so nice for them to me able to get out some of their energy, and I need the exercise, too!

My Mean Mom

I got this in an e-mail today, and thought someone else might enjoy it, too. Here it is:

Someday when my children are old enough to
Understand the logic that motivates a parent,
I will Tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:
I loved you Enough . . . To ask where you were going, with whom,
And what time you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you
Discover that your new best friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours
While you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger,
Disappointment, and tears in my eyes.
Children must Learn that their parents aren't perfect.
I loved you enough to let you assume the
Responsibility for your actions even when the
Penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
But most of all, I loved you enough . . .
To say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles of all.
I'm Glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.
And someday when your children are old enough to
Understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.
Was your Mom mean? I know mine was.
We had the Meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids Ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.
And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was
Different from what other kids had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all Times.
You'd think we were convicts in a prison.
She Had to know who our friends were, and what we were
Doing with them. She insisted that if we said we
Would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve
To break the Child Labor Laws by making us work
We Had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to
Cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash
And all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie
Awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.
She always insisted on us telling the truth, the
Whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time
We were teenagers, she could read our minds and had
Eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn
When they drove up. They had to come up to the door
So she could meet them. While everyone else could
Date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16 .
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of
Things other kids experienced.
None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's
Property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.
Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults.
We are doing our best to be mean
Parents just like Mom was.
I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!
PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE MEAN MOTHERS YOU KNOW. (And Their Kids!!!)

Pictures from our trip last weekend

She found a picture of daddy (he was at the game, so I guess she was missing him)

Playing bingo with Grandma Alice.

Grandma Alice and Grandpa Bonnie gave Morgan this bunny. At first, she was scared to death of it. After we played the song over and over, about 5 times, she got used to it... Now, she dances and claps her hands to the music!

Merchandising

The mystery shops have almost all dried up. They are few and far between. However, when one door shuts another opens. One of the companies that we use now has a lot of merchandising assignments (we have signed up for 15 this week). They can be tedious and not too much fun, but we need any income we can get. Since I am watching kids Monday through Friday, that leaves the merchandising up to LeCount. He was at Walmart yesterday, tagging merchandise, and he will be at another Walmart today doing the same thing. Then, there are a few store audits to do, and a few minor merchandising (shops that take 30 minutes or so). These jobs don't pay much, but something is better than nothing. LeCount is still looking for a job, but so far, he has had no luck with that.

Odd Jobs

Here are 20 odd jobs portrayed in Rica Schiff’s books.
1. Breath odor evaluatorWhat they do: Odor judges smell nasty morning breath or breath “insulted” with strong scents, like garlic or coffee. They rate the breath on a scale from one to nine, one being the worst. To test odor-reducing products like gum or mouthwash, they smell the breath again and assign it a new rating.
2. DienerWhat they do: Prepare cadavers for the pathologist before autopsies are performed in hospitals.
3. Ribbon candy pullerWhat they do: After a heated combination of sugar, corn syrup, water and coloring agent has cooled, batches of different colors are laid out side by side. Someone then pulls the candy thin until it’s about an inch wide. The final product is a multicolored hard candy.
4. OcularistWhat they do: In short, they paint artificial eyes. It sounds easier than it is, since as with real eyes, no two are exactly the same.
5. Flatulence smell-reduction underwear makerWhat they do: Create underwear that protects against bad human gas for people who suffer from gastrointestinal problems. The underwear is made with various materials and filters to help remedy hydrogen sulfide gases, the main offender in foul smells.
6. Beer testerWhat they do: Taste – and spit out – beer all day to approve new and existing flavors.
7. Crack fillerWhat they do: Using a silicone sealant, they repair the wear and tear inflicted on monumental structures, like Mount Rushmore.
8. Ball testerWhat they do: Assess basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls for air-retention, inflation, roundness, weight and reboundability.
9. Video game testerWhat they do: For eight hours a day, five days a week, a group of males and females of all ages play video games. They repeat levels, games and characters, looking for any bugs and/or glitches in the software.
10. Tampon testerWhat they do: Check all sizes of tampons for absorbency and cord strength in accordance with Food and Drug Administration standards. Most testers check up to 125 pieces per day.
11. Gold reclaimerWhat they do: Scour old teeth for fillings, melting the gold from them with broken gold jewelry into tiny gold pellets, which are then resold to jewelers.
12. Dog snifferWhat they do: Once a week, they analyze the odor of dogs' breath to test the effect of the animals' diet on their teeth. Breath is graded on a scale of zero to 10 and is categorized as sweaty, salty, musty, fungal or decaying.
13. Potato chip inspectorWhat they do: Search for overcooked or clumped chips to discard as they come down the assembly line.
14. Porta-potty servicerWhat they do: Like regular restrooms, portable toilets need maintenance, too. Once a week, service workers clean these single-stall facilities to achieve certain standards of sanitation.
15. Barbie dress designerWhat they do: Fashion designers at Mattel Toys, the company behind Barbie, create hundreds of new styles for Barbie and her ever-expanding entourage.
16. Wax figure makerWhat they do: Mold wax to create figures, often for, but not limited to, the human form. Figures are often made in the likeness of people who have achieved historical or celebrity recognition.
17. SafecrackerWhat they do: When combinations are lost or forgotten, safecrackers use their ears and fingers to open the safe.
18. Wig makerWhat they do: Put simply, they make wigs, but the process is anything but simple. First, wig makers create a plastic model of the wearer’s head and hairline, and then they transfer the mold onto a padded canvas similar to the client’s general head size, covering it with wig lace. Using a needle, they knot and pull thousands of hairs, one by one, through the mesh cap. Once all the hairs are in place, the wig is styled to the wearer’s preference. 19. Paper towel snifferWhat they do: Paper towel manufacturers prefer their products to be odorless before, during and after their use. Naturally, paper towel sniffers ensure that once a paper towel is used, there is no noticeable scent.
20. Foley artistWhat they do: Use whatever they can find to create and record the noises used to make the sound effects in films, like heavy footsteps, rolling thunder or creaking doors.
Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

HS Boys State Basketball Tournament

Cutie

About 5 inches at 6:30 PM

This is Morgan "winking" at me. I finally caught it in a picture!!

This is the dress that Anne sent for the girls. Jaden and Morgan have matching dresses. Since it was cold out, I just put the dress over her sleepers. What a nice surprise to get that in the mail today!!! Rebekah said that Morgan looked like a princess.

Well, it's 6:30 PM, and the snow has pretty much stopped. We are at 5 inches right now. I don't know if it plans to snow some more over night. I guess we will see in the morning. Good grief!!

No, these are NOT the same pictures from the other day

Morgan eating with the big kids!

OK... I don't know what's going on around here, but it is snowing again!!! It is coming down hard and fast, too. We should have a blanket of snow in a few hours. I will post more pistures after the snow accumulates a little. Unlike two days ago, though, it is FREEZING outside!!! I don't think we are going to play in it today!

Making "Snow Day" pictures

The kids made pictures of snow. We talked about what color it is, the fact that it's cold, and the different things we can do with it (i.e. make a snow man, etc.)

Having fun in the snow

Jaden's snowman

Jaden sitting in her fort

Wow!! Jaden had a blast! Morgan wasn't so sure about it. I guess it's understandable since she couldn't even walk through the snow without falling face first into it. It was so deep for her. Jaden made a snow man, and LeCount and I helped her make a little fort. We stayed out for about an hour. Jaden wanted to stay out all day, but we had to come in and get ready for our day (baths, lunch, etc.) Rebekah and Joshua will be here any minute, and then, it will be nap time. Too bad the snow will probably be gone by the time they are through with their naps. (don't forget to click on the play button twice to see the 4 videos. The one with Morgan is really funny!)

Help end world hunger

I know that not everyone likes to use their money to help with this cause, but how about playing a game. Go to this link, and for every word you get right, they will donate 20 grains of rice to a needy child. You can look up the words in the dictionary, too. I am including a link to an online dictionary as well. However, you should try to answer what you believe the words to mean. When you do it that way, the words stay more at your vocabulary level. You can play for as long as you want.
http://www.freerice.com/index.php
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

From strange to stranger

This is what the car looked like last night (above)

This is the car this morning (above)

Our poor bushes!!

Now this is really starnge. I woke up this morning at 7 AM. The snow had stopped falling, but we are covered in snow. Usually it melts by morning, but not this time. I went out and took some more pictures and measures how deep it is. It is 5 1/2 inches deep!!!! I have never seen this before!! Not here, anyway. Here are some pictures.

Hmmmmmmm

OK, I wasn't planning to post 3 times today, but I just looked outside and saw snow. You may remember that on Friday, the kids got to run through the sprinkler (it was in the 80's)... Today it was absolutely freezing. Thank goodness the snow waited until night time. Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Pictures from the art contest

Children International has an art contest every year. These kids are so talented! Here are just a few of their beautiful creations.

Awwwwwww! Nap time!!

I can't believe it! Today is the first day with Rebekah and Joshua here early enough for nap time. I can't believe they are all sleeping peacefully at the same time!! This is total BLISS!! They got here a little after 10 AM. We played and read stories. Then, I fed them an early lunch at 11:30 AM. When they were finished, I layed Morgan down in her crib (she went right to sleep). The other kids took about 45 minutes to wind down, but they all fell asleep. Now I can breathe for a minute before it all starts back up :) The weather is yucky (rainy and cold), so I am going to take them to BK to play, after snack time. I am going to sit down and prop my feet up for a few minutes, and then, start on some chores.

Job ideas, anyone?

I am so stressed right now. I am hoping some of you may have some ideas for us. LeCount and I no longer get unemployment. The mystery shopping has slowed (I don't see any available shops on any of the sites I go to). Our only income now is the money from watching the 2 kids (basically, nothing)... So, anyone have some ideas? LeCount has applied almost everywhere for a full-time job, or so it seems. I was thinking maybe retail now, until he can find something better. Anyone know of a store in particular that is hiring? Also, I think I will have to do something at night and on the weekends. Any ideas? Thanks, guys!