Black Friday

Yep, I was one of the crazy people who waited in those insanely long lines to get those killer deals.  I made a last minute decision to go black Friday shopping, so I ended up going alone at midnight (it would have been much more fun with a friend).  I showed up to target and waited in a massive line just to get into the store.  It was cold, smelled like cigarette smoke, and there were some seriously scary looking people there.  It seemed like everyone around me was on edge to get their t.v.  Every time some one would walk out with a T.V. I would hear moans around me and people were starting to get mad.  My main goal that night was to get a Christmas tree and Razor scooters for the kids; and when the people behind me (who were there for a t.v.) found that out, they laughed out of relief.  I finally got in the store and with all the t.v. talk, thought I would for sure get the scooters, but no, they were gone.  Dang.  So I went to the Christmas trees and luckily picked one out for $30.  Since I was already there, I looked around to see what other deals I could find, but didn't find much.  I still grabbed some things anyway, because there is this mental thing where you believe if you buy it on black Friday, it must be the best deal. (Wrong!)  So for almost an hour I suffered to carry all of my stuff, in a moving winding line, including a big Christmas tree box, all with no cart- yeah, that was the other thing, there were no more carts! It was painful.  I was seriously questioning why I had done this.  Once I finally checked out, I walked out of the store passing multiple empty carts.  Nice.  I got home, happy I found a cheap tree and went to bed, only to get up a few hours later to hit some more deals.  To jump to the point here, I didn't find a whole lot of deals and I realized that black Friday is not what it used to be.  You really do have to become one of those people who camp out for days and eat Thanksgiving dinner in front of Best Buy to get the real deals.  Otherwise, save your time, your sleep, and even sometimes your money for any other week in December.  Didn't it feel like stores were just giving things away this year?  Every week was a new sale, and honestly, I found better sales on every day but black Friday.  Maybe that was jut me.  And even the great deal I got on the tree turned out to be a waste too.  First off, the tree is cheapo.  I got a nice star tree topper, put it on, and my tree bent in half, lol...wayyy to weak. I'll be selling it on Craigslist soon, and hoping to get a real tree from now on.  Second, I saw that dang tree at Target for weeks at the same price I had gotten it on black Friday...total waste of straining my arms in that long line, at midnight!  Along with my tree, things that were sold out that night, were later found on the shelves within days at the same price as Black Friday.  With the Internet now, it seemed like there were constantly 3 day/3 hour sales, everywhere.  It was hard to know when to jump on something.  So in the end, I realized, I'm probably not going to go Black Friday shopping again in the future.  Well, unless I have a friend/sister with me to do it with, because that might be fun...but as far as the sales go, I don't know how worth it is.  Anyone else feel the same way?

Thanksgiving

From a little Family Home Evening Lesson, our family's thankful tree.

What am I grateful for?  My list is long, but to list the ones that are heavy on my mind and heart right now; here they are (in no particular order)...

*A husband who works his butt-doody off for us, and often sacrifices sleep to do so.

*A husband who loves me and our children.

*My precious children who teach me so much and are alive and well.  Their innocence, child-like faith, and
love.

*Motherhood, and Heavenly Father's trust in me to be a mother.

*Parents that are still alive and love me.

*A super kind-hearted father who always treats me with love and does the same to all those around him.

*A sister who I can always call when I'm having a mental battle and need to talk to a female; or if I just need any kind of help; or if I just feel like chatting and we can talk about whatever and have a good time doing so.  A sister who loves me and my family.

*A temple only a couple of miles from my home.

*The restored gospel.

*The Holy Ghost to help me know right from wrong; and to recognize truth; and to guide, protect, warn, and teach me.

*Forgiveness: to be able to be forgiven by God, and for those who I have wronged that have forgiven me.  I'm also grateful for being able to forgive myself and others.

*My Savior, Jesus Christ, who has set the perfect example and suffered for me so I can repent, grow, and live with my Heavenly Father again.

*A Heavenly Father that gives me everything and always allows me to feel his love daily; and has created a plan of happiness and provides a way to be with our families for eternity.

*That my husband has a job.

*A home, with so many luxuries and things to enjoy and love.

*A body that works and allows me to do so much. 

*The internet that has allowed me to learn so much; provides info. at my finger tips; helps me stay in touch with so many people; gives me a place to take a break from stress; a place to record family history and keep pictures; and has made learning easier.

*All of our family

*Friends that care and stay in touch.

*Nature and it's marvelous beauty, purpose, function, and use.

*Opportunities that have been given to us recently.

*The fact that it's starting to look more promising to move back to UT in just a few months.

*Music, specifically my mp3 player, that makes doing chores fun, late at night.

 *All the lessons I have learned.

*Prayer

Some Thoughts on Entitlement

Time to get some thoughts out. I've been thinking about...you guessed it...entitlement lately.  It's interesting being a parent for many reasons.  One of those reasons being that at some point your children reach an age where your parenting is very apparent.  It can be a big slap in the face at times when you see your child act a certain way and you know it is probably because of something they have seen you do or somehow you have taught them that it is okay.  Yucky, scary, wake up call!!  I feel like I have always tried to teach my children to be grateful and appreciative and to help and work.  But lately, I have seen some attitudes of entitlement in them that leave me feeling frustrated and confused as to what in the world I have been teaching them.  I don't give them everything they want.  I discipline them daily, as needed.  I teach them manners.  I do say no, a lot.  I don't buy whatever I want, when I want it.  Where have I gone wrong?  I still don't totally know, but thinking back, I do see where I have spoiled them at times when it was really unearned or even deserved.  For example, a while back when Rich was working constantly and we had a little extra money, I would take them out to eat more often than normal.  I admit I did this for several reasons.  One being that I despise being in the kitchen; you can call it lazy, or whatever you wish, but it's not something I enjoy.  Another reason being that with Rich being gone so much, I needed a break.  And eating out, even if it was fast food, was a break for me.  It wasn't all of the time, but definitely more than I should have.  I totally regret it because we could have saved some money and now my kids feel entitled to going out when, once upon a time, going out was such a treat.  FAIL!  Now I often hear, "Mom, what's for dinner?"  Me: "I don't know yet."  Kids: "Cool, then lets go out," or "We better go out,"  or "Can we go out!!??" Ugh!  I totally did that to them. I see that.  I'm trying hard to get them back on the track of "being home is better."  But boy, do I feel like I did them a disservice.  So there is one thing for sure I see I did!  I'm sure if I sit and think long enough I could come up with more ways that I/we contributed to it.  

Another thing I have been thinking a lot about lately is Christmas presents.  In the past, I have always made the bulk of their presents "from Santa."  I did this because that is how I grew up, and I thought that doing this made Christmas morning more magical.  But now I realize that getting a ton from Santa could leave a child feeling entitled, especially when they are used to getting quite a bit from the jolly guy; and it could leave the parents feeling like they have a lot to live up to the following years.  I was recently talking to my sister and she shared with me what some of her friends do.  She said they give 3 gifts per kid; one from Santa, one educational gift, and one fun thing/something they asked for.  Just one gift from Santa.  Now that makes sense to me.  It has always bothered me in the past, watching my kids tear open their gifts with excitement, but not being able to really turn to someone and thank them for it.  It's just onto the next gift.  Sure it's fun to think it's from Santa, but if you give them a lot of stuff from Santa, it's probably easy for them to expect it next year too.  So I'm really thinking about how I want to change things.  As parents, it's so fun to give gifts to your children and to see their excitement, but sometimes it's also easy to get carried away and give them too much.  Yes, even on Christmas.  I feel like this Christmas my kids might see a little less under the tree and maybe that will disappoint them a bit, but I know we will be doing them a great service by stopping the spoiling now and not when it's too late.  


A couple of weeks ago, we were at an 11 year old boy's birthday party.  He opened up several gifts and he said, "yeah," in a sarcastic voice, just tossing the gifts to the side.  The last gift he opened was an iphone.  This lite his face right up.  An iphone at 11 years old!  What will he get for Christmas or his next birthday?  


My 9 year old neighbor came over today with her very own laptop.  My kids sat in awe over the fact that she had one of her own.  When they told her how lucky she was to have it, she said, "I know!  Santa brought it for me!"  OH GREAT!  Just what I wanted my kids to hear.  You can only guess what they what for Christmas now.   


When I see children with grown up things, it annoys me; not because I'm jealous, but because I know they can't possibly appreciate those things.  And if we just use the excuse of Santa, to spoil our kids, then sure they will think they deserve it...after all, Santa has a naughty and nice list.   


It seems like we are failing as a society to say no to our children and even ourselves.  I think it's too easy to give in so we or our kids are not the only ones without.  I remember the feeling of being the "only one," my senior year, without a car.  When all the kids around me were getting cars for their birthday (most of which were super nice), I had to save up for half of my car, and wait for my dad to save his half.  By the time I got my car, I was just months away from graduating.  It felt amazing to be more grown up, but it also felt amazing to know that I had worked for that car.  I worked to save the money, but I also worked in the way of delayed gratification.  I really appreciated that car.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the scenario, that changed my life and from there on out I was able to delay gratification, but I'm sure it taught me a lot.  I wish I could say I have been great at it, but that's not true.  I think we live in a society where most people feel entitled.  It's not just kids.  It's easy for me to feel entitled to many things as well.  Anyway, just some thoughts, I better get to bed!  I found this book that I really want to read... 

watch a video on the book here.

The duck pond/park (2 wks ago)

We've lived in San Antonio for over 2 1/2 years and we have only found one duck pond.  I'm sure there has to be more, but this is the one we go to and its a long 30 minute drive to get there.  We hadn't been since Cooper was a baby, so we knew he'd enjoy it more this time around.  And as you will see, there are a ton of pictures!

On the way there.  Love those lips!

Jonah has always been so calm in the car.  He gets very serious and will barely look at you or talk.

These domestic ducks are quite funny looking.  And they are not shy!

Jonah backing it up!

This picture tells it how it was, Jonah backed up, trying to stay far enough away, but still wanting to participate.

"Gimme more, Brother!"

There were some pretty ones there.

Note the front tooth hanging by a thread!

Cutie!  We then headed over to the park...

 

Best lighting shot of the day!

 After the park we went out to eat and then we headed home.  I was looking through my pictures on my camera, and showing Rich a few while driving home. We both chuckled at Julien's crooked loose tooth.  Julien was in the back listening and within seconds starts screaming, "My tooth, my tooth!"  It fell right out!  I turned around and snapped this shot...of course my flash was off!

He was so excited!  And yes, that is our G-hetto van, and yes, the ceiling needs a little glue! 

There he is, with orange chicken all over his face Mr. Toothless. He will be asking for his two front teeth for Christmas because his other front tooth is very loose now too!  Let's hope his new teeth come in a lot bigger.  Poor thing has my tiny teeth.

More Halloween Fun

 The library was having a little costume party.  We brought our neighbor (who I just recently started watching after school every day).  It was geared more towards younger kids, but they still had fun. At least I got some cute pictures!

This big picture looks like they are having a ball, huh!  It wasn't that bad! They played some kiddie games, well Cooper did, anyway; and paraded through the library for trick or treating.

We also did some sophisticated pumpkin carving back at home!

Well done, Honey!

And finally, the real Halloween night arrived and we did some traditional trick or treating!

 The kids had a fun October.  I'm glad they had fun, but I am also glad it's over!  I'm so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas!  I broke out the Christmas music already!  By the way, Pandora has the best Christmas station ever!!

Trunk or Treat

The kids count the days until the ward trunk or treat!  They just love it!

I'm so glad my dad was able to come too!

The older boys ran off and I stuck with Coop, I definitely got more pictures of him.  I love this age.  He knew just what to do and wasn't a bit shy.   Too cute!