Layed Off

Jeremiah came home this evening with the great news that he has been layed off. The company he has been working for has stayed pretty busy except for this last month. And since the people that work for this construction company consist of the owner and Jeremiah, it was very understandable why Jeremiah was the one to get layed off.
Any who we are on the search for a job. So if anyone know of anyone who is hiring PLEASE let us know.
Some of his great qualities are, Jeremiah is an amazingly hard worker. He learns quickly and is willing to do almost any job. He has experience doing a lot of different jobs.

Deep Thoughts by Michael Muldowney

Me : Michael where does chocolate milk come from?
Michael: from the factory
Me: What kind of factory
Michael: From the chocolate factory (duh mom).

This is for Steph. Sorry it wasn't as good as I hoped for.

Joys of Motherhood

Today was one of those days when I truly love being a mother. Sad to say those days don't happen to often. It seems that I am just trying to get through the day with out yelling at my kids to often and trying to keep the house in order. Recently I started enforcing a chore chart. Though most days it is a struggle to get the kids to do all their chores, today was a day I reaped the reward from all my hard work. Michael and Joseph hurried and made their beds with me only asking them to do it once. And when I was looking for Isabelle to have her make her bed, I found her in her room already working on it. Joseph and Michael were more the happy to help with dishes (usually it is fight to get them there and to finish the job) and Isabelle was excited to help them both do their jobs.
Since we were able to get everything done in half the time it usually takes we were able to spend some time making cookies. It was so fun to measure stuff out and have Michael pour it in while counting how much of everything we put in. Isabelle was the support team and clean up crew. Any sugar that fell on the counter she was more the happy to lick it up. Once we got my Dad home from therapy he joined in and helped put the dough on the cookie sheets. Everyone was rewarded with cookie dough.
Also when we got home from picking up my Dad, I asked Joseph to put away Isabelle's coat. Usually I get the response of "Oh Mom I don't think so". Well today I got a "Sure Mom". Then he proceeded to help her off with her boots and putting them away for her.
It was so nice to have sweet children that were happy to help me out and their siblings. I also came to realize I need to enjoy my children more. I am often caught up in the chaos of trying to get this that and the other done, I don't sit down and enjoy what the Lord as given me.
So here is to Motherhood. One of the hardest and most rewarding things in my life.

Deep thoughts by Michael Muldowney

Michael: Mom chocolate chip seeds grow into cookies

How did I get such smart children.

The Accident

This is what happened. I was trimming my bangs because they were getting longer then I like. Jeremiah came into the bathroom and was talking to me about something. I was trying to pay attention to what he was saying and trim my hair at the same time. All of a sudden I realized I was cutting to high up. This is what they ended up looking like.

What is the lesson I learned. Just ignore your husband when trimming your hair. And blame the bad hair cut on him. After all he did run out of the bathroom laughing really hard when he saw how short and uneven they were.
I did figure out they look ok if I pin them back. So if you notice I have my hair pin all the time it is because I am trying to hide my bangs until they grow out. Hopefully they will look better once I wash my hair again and try fixing them.

***Post Script -This picture doesn't show all the different lengths of my bangs. In the middle sections they are longer then both sides. The side on the end is way way shorter then all the rest of my bangs. It is not only are they short but they are really uneven.

Shopping from Josephs View

Joseph had my camera while we were shopping at Walmart the other day. I thought he did a pretty good job of capturing the experience from his view. The Camera Man
Isabelle and her crazy hair

getting soup
Kisses from Mommy
following others
Big spacious lanes

little feet
What are we shopping for
mmm Pizza

found a friend from church

Other shoppers

Mmmm I want these

Mommy looking at more girl cloths
Getting bored

OH I hope I get candy Check out Other kids waiting to head home.

Heading home.

School Head Ache

**Warning this is long
Well it has come to pass that it is time to enroll my children for school next year. Yes it is January and the school year won't start until mid August. With it being a choice district it takes that long to get everything figured out I guess.
I have been stressed like no other. I have been trying to figure out where to send the twins. And if I send them to a different school then what William is attending (Cresthill), should I move William. I felt a strong impression not to send the twins back to Cresthill. I felt that with what happened last year that they would have a target on their backs from the get go. I had heard a lot of good things about Southridge so I thought I would check that out. So all the schools had open houses for parents to let them check out their schools. Well Jeremiah and I went to Southridge. We felt it was better then Cresthill but I didn't feel that comforting feeling I was searching for. But I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do. Plus it was going to be really hard to get William in. Because they were cutting back a 2nd grade class. Also if we decided to try to move William from Cresthill he would loose his spot at Cresthill. We decided to try to get the twins into Southridge and if they got in we would put William on a waiting list to get in. And if they didn't get in they could get right into Cresthill since William was there they would have priority. So I did a lot of praying to find comfort in that decision or to figure out something.
Friday I went to my friends, Kim, house to let our kids play together. She informed me that Fort Casper Academy was having an open house that evening and she was going to check it out for her little boy. I decide to check it out even though I had decided long ago not to send the kids there. They expect a lot out of their kids and I wasn't sure if my boys would do very well with all their wiggliness.
Well the second I walked in a felt comfort wash over me. ( I am crying just thinking of the feeling of relief). I sat through a presentation the principal gave. Ever time I felt a concern for my boys, from the things she said, I would feel a small voice letting me know it would be really good for them and they would be OK. I left knowing what to do for my boys. Jeremiah and I decided not to even try to keep William at Cresthill.
So now we are crossing our fingers, holding our breath and praying a lot that the boys will all get into Fort Casper Academy.
I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the Holy Ghost. That I know he watches after us even on things that don't seem that big. That he knows all of my concerns and worries. I have always been blessed to know when something is right. I always receive a strong impression which way I should go.
I have also learned once again never to say never. Here are a few of my nevers.
-I never want twins (I still laugh so hard about this one)
- I never will live in Utah (Jeremiah felt the prompting and I followed my husband)
-I never will work while I have kids at home. (Wow I still am amazed by the way the job landed in my lap and I knew I needed to take it. Also I knew from the second I took it I would only be there 1 year. It was a really hard year. But I know with out a doubt that is what I was suppose to do).
-I never want to live in Casper again (Ha here I am)
-I will never send my kids to Fort Casper Academy.
I am sure I will find more as Heavenly Father leads me a long my road.

The New Addtion to the Family

So here is our new Van. We ended up buying it less then a week after I had my wreck. The rental car that we were given to use until we got a new one couldn't even hold our whole family. So we decided we need to get a new van fast. I did some research one the Internet and had some ideas of what kind of van I would want. Well Thursday I went to one dealership and found the van I wanted most. We ended up driving it home that night and finalized everything on Friday. We got a Chevy Uplander LT. It is a pretty blue grey.
There are many features I love about it. #1 it has doors that open from the key chain. This makes it so much easier while trying to get all the kids in the car and my Dad. #2 it has a DVD player in it. I try not to use it all the time (which is very tempting) I try to use it only when I know the kids will be in the car a long time and they are being a little crazy. And with that #3 it has head phones so the kids can listen to their movie and the rest of the people in the car can listen to some music. #4 You can start the van from inside the house with the key chain. I love that with this cold weather. There are a lot of other things that I love but those are my top 4.
I am so thankful we were blessed to find a van that suit our needs and some of our wants. And that we could afford it.

Jots and Tittles

For those of you who do not know, which will be most of you I think, I have recently (in the last year) discovered an interest in writing. So much in fact that I joined an elitist online writing group. OK, elitist may be a little strong. It is however exclusive, primarily to protect the intellectual property writes, er... rights, of the individuals involved. At this point I am looking to reach a broader audience, and naturally receive more praise and adulation. Well, I won't be too offended if you don't like it. Nevertheless, I still need to protect my own writes and so The Philosophers Stoned will be a private blog. If you would like to get an invite just email me or comment on this post. Doing so will be considered an acknowledgement that you will respect my rights and not create any reproduction for any purpose and that you will leave some sort of feedback, positive, negative or otherwise. As an added incentive I will be posting some material that is exclusive to TPS and cannot be found anywhere else. Bon Appetite. Sort of.
-Jeremiah

Isabelle's prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for day. Thank you I come home. Thank you I didn't poop on the floor I pooped in the toilet. I didn't poop on floor I pooped in toilet. Thank you the dinosaur didn't eat me. Thank you I poked it. (more about the dinosaur that I can't quite remember) (me interjecting with "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen") Thank you for day. Jesus Amen.
I love my kids prayers. They are so full of meaning to them. With their own little concerns. Man I wish my biggest worry for the day was if a dinosaur was going to eat me or not.

FHE

Tonight I was in charge of the lesson. For all those who teach the senior primary you will know exactly where I got the idea for my lesson. I started with 2 present boxes. We had Joseph leave the room and I gave the two boxes to two teams. I explained to the teams that they need to talk Joseph into taking their boxes. The teams consisted of 1. Grandma, Grandpa and Michael 2. Daddy, William, and Isabelle. When Joseph reentered the room quickly the team started shouting out thing to persuade Joseph to take their box. Things like "mine is bigger", " ours is prettier", "mine has candy in it". Joseph was running back in forth like a dog trying to decided which bone was better (he was so cute those little legs can move) As Joseph decided to take team 1s box, Daddy hit below the belt and said "mine has a kitten(his favorite thing in the world) in it" Joseph quickly changed him mind and grabbed team 2s box and open it to find no kitten. He was very sad. I quickly connected this to Joseph Smith and how when he was trying to find the right church. How different churches tried to persuade him by saying this one is better, nicer, we have the priesthood, and we are the true church of God. Then I read James 1:5 and told the kids after Joseph Smith read this he knew Heavenly Father would answer his prayer about what church was true. I then explained the First Vision. Then I told them like these boxes, the other churches were empty and didn't have a Kitten/the Priesthood and were not the true church of God. I then explain that is how our church came about and that we do have the priesthood and all its keys and that we are the true Church of God. I have never seen my boys sit so still during FHE. I could feel the Spirit very strongly and I know they could too. I am so very thankful for my Mom suggesting this to me (since she had just done the same thing the day before in senior primary), and I am very thankful for the guidance of the Spirit.

New Years Resolution

I usually don't make a New Year Resolution, but this year I decided I should. We had a lesson in relief Society about 2 weeks ago and we wrote down on a index card one of Joseph Smiths traits we wanted to work on. Then we were suppose to put it somewhere we would see it everyday so we could remember to work on it. It has been really good for me. So while I was working on this one trait I was thinking about other things I need to work on and change in my life. I thought I would write it on my blog so I would look at it regularly and keep trying
1. Love my Husband more. I don't give him nearly as much love as he deserves.
2.Love my Children more. Same as above.
3. All Christmas presents will be home made and I will work on them starting now. ( I am really excited for this one. I already figured out what I want to make for Isabelle.
4. Have a strong testimony of the restoration of the Gospel.
5.Get some form of exercise every day. ( except Sunday. Well I can take a nice family stroll)
6. Read the Book of Mormon.
7. Read at least one scripture a day. Preferably 1 chapter a day.
8. Be less selfish.
9. Go out for meals only once a month. This will be a hard one for me.

I thought of some other things that I know I will break so I don't want to write those down. So here it is. The start of a better me.