Hmmm...

On Sunday at church we heard some pretty interesting stuff that has been on my mind all week. What was talked on(that I can remember), was that we should go to God with all our cares, even the small ones. And going to God for your brethrens cares and remembering to bow down and pray for them when they ask, and not forgetting about it. That's all been kinda on my mind lately. Sometimes I forget I can just go to God for things. Sometimes He's the last person I go to , sometimes because I forget totally, or because I think it's such a small thing that it probably doesn't matter much to God. But I had remembered a prophecy I got the day I was baptized that said He'd answer the great things and the small things that I asked of him, and it just got me thinking after that was talked on in church. I guess I just think that I shouldn't be asking God to take away a headache because I think I should be suffering through it without a word, because Jesus suffered alot more than I've ever suffered,so why can't I suffer through a bad headache? Weeelll, most the time with me, my headaches hurt so bad that they feel like your head going to explode, and the first person I go to crying, are my parents! And after suffering with the headache for hours, someone'll ask me, "have you prayed about it yet?" and then it's like...no...I didn't even think about it!! :/ After the first couple times (you'd think I'd learn the first time) that happened I prayed after each time, and not 5 or 10 minutes later,the headache that was painfully bad ALL day was gone so fast! Now, If I would've asked earlier maybe it wouldn't have gotten to the point where you can hardly bear it. I guess I'm probably failing in that. God has done so much for me, why isn't He the one I go to first with my cares? I'm still learning to cast all my cares on God, but some seem so silly or something I can suffer through, or I just can't even begin to put into words HOW I feel.I'm still learning how to do this....

Anyways!


Tecumseh(our dog) is back! heeehee, I don't think we'll ever get rid of him. Everytime I hear that he's lost in the woods and isn't coming home, a couple days or hours later we hear that he was found. I should just stop believing it!! He's never going to pass away. Lol. He's probably got 20 lives or something like that.

Well, I'm taking a little break from my day and relaxing. I worked at the library today, and there was a Halloween story time there, and all the little kids dressed up in their costumes, it was sooo cute! Mandy, Kristen and I dressed up too in our costumes. ^-^ Kinda embarrassing, but it was fun. After story time Kristen and I rushed home to get out of the costumes, and ran over to the church to meet Tiffy and do some decorating for the halloween party before Kristen had to go to work. The decorating still isn't done, so Kristen and I are going there later to finish it all up, but it's looking cute.

1993-2007

Tecumseh our dog isn't coming home. :( Yesterday dad and timmy went hiking in the mountains with Tecumseh, and when they started to walk down he didn't want to come with them. Even with a leash on he didn't want to move. And where they were at was a dangerous place to be pulling a dog down the mountain, so they called him and he still wouldn't come...so he's still up there somewhere!
It's sad,but it was probably the best way for him to go. He didn't seem happy in the city like he was happy in the country, so maybe he'll pass away a much happier free-er dog then he was here in the city. Its weird not having him around though. I already forgot he wasn't here, I was getting ready to throw some extra food out to him, and was like, Wait a second! He's not even here!!! :(

A song

I liked this song alot. I heard it for the first time today on an old CD mom had of Paul Overstreet's Christian CD. I just thought it was a sweet song. I couldn't get the music to it,so I'm sorry you'll just have to read the words...

"I won't take less than your love"

"How much do I owe you?" said the husband to his wife,
"For standing beside me through the hard years of my life.
"Shall I bring you diamonds, shall I buy you furs?
"Say the word and it's yours.

And his wife said: "I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the riches of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"How much do I owe you?" to the mother said the son.
"For all that you have taught me in the days that I was young.
"Shall I bring expensive blankets to cast upon your bed?
"And a pillow for to rest your weary head."

And the mother said: "I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the comforts of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"How much do I owe you?" said the man to his Lord.
"For giving me this day and every day that's gone before.
"Shall I build a temple, shall I make a sacrifice?
"Tell me Lord and I will pay the price."

And the Lord said: "I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the treasures of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the treasures of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"No, I won't take less than your love."

I mostly liked the end of the song when the man asked the Lord how much he owed (is that a word?Lol.) him. It a simple thing the Lord tells the man He wants in return. Easy to say, hard to prove it sometimes. Just got my brain thinkin'. Anyways, there ya go, that's my song of the day.

Birthday!

Yesterday was moms birthday! We didn't do too much for it, sadly. Philip and Tiffy are in Idaho, and we thought mom would love it if the WHOLE family was there to celebrate her birthday, so it's just going to have to wait until Monday. Amy and I got dinner all planned out for mom on monday so that she doesn't have to think about anything, and dessert is being taken care of. I can't yet tell what were going to have, because it's a surprise...or really it's to keep mom from having to think about it at all! ;)

Anyways, today is a big sewing day...for mom. She's finishing up my costume for the Halloween Party (Since I don't know how to sew yet....)and starting Jonathan's costume! I'm really excited to see how they both turn out! ;) Were going to team up and be Dorothy and the Scarecrow! ;) I personally think Jonathan should be the cowardly Lion! Not because he's cowardly or anything, he just looks more like he'd look good as a lion! Lol! But it'll look cute. I tried getting Timothy and Russell to be the other guys, but no such luck. ;) Would've been too cute. Jonny and I will have to come in Skipping or something. Lol!
Sometime next week before Halloween, Tiffy, Kristen and Sis. Lorri (amy's mom) and I are going to decorate the church and get it all ready for Halloween. There's alot to get ready for this week. Mom and I are in charge of making White Chili for the Halloween Dinner.Yummm!!! I'll definitely will post pictures of everyone at the Halloween Party, and post the pictures of the winners of the Costume contest!!

Yippee!

Today is a good day. I worked all my 5 hours at the library (I usually work 2.5 hours on Tuesday and 2.5 on Thursday) so that I could go into town with Amy on Thursday. Feels nice to not have to worry about going into work on Thursday. So i got home and decided I'd make some tortilla soup for everyone and monkey bread. Yum yum! When I cook, it's a good day. I have alot of fun trying out new recipes, or deciding what's for dinner for the family. It makes me happy.

A few nights ago Amy came over and had found a website on how to make an old pair of jeans into a jean skirt, so I decided I'd try it too with her! We both don't know how to sew, so mom helped me alot with some parts. I got an old pair of straight tan jeans and started tearing it apart,basically.
That's what it looked like (these pictures i got online..not my pants or Amy's.) Next,we got fabric to go in between the legs of the pants. I picked fabric that was red and had little flowers on it. Then you pin them on the way you want it to go.
You could put the fabric on both front and back, or just in front. I wanted to do just the front, but we kinda messed up and had to do both front and back. (the directions weren't easy) And instead of making it be a floral fabric you can do a jean type fabric. In the end it turned out pretty cute. And it's a cheap way to make a skirt, if you've got extra fabric sitting around, and pants that are either too tight, or too short, or whatever it may be on you. That pair is my finished project! Now, Amy's gotta finish hers!

Is it worth it?

*sigh* i straightened my hair today, got it most the way straight, and I'm sitting here thinking, was it worth it? Was it worth my time today? Probably not. It's probably all vain anyway, and a definitely a waste of time. For the people who know me good, I've got REALLY poofy hair. Let's just say, dad was able to have an afro when he was younger..so he's passed down afro-y/curling hair to me and most of the boys. I used to struggle with this every once in a while, where I'd want to just 'accidentally' chop off my hair in my 'sleep' one day and call it good. Get rid of the hair that I've been made fun of since I've been in my teens. I learned a couple years after I turned 13 that my hair was in fact curly, and not JUST afro-y. Some of my cousins got the same hair as me from their mom (my aunt) and so they kinda showed me how to sorta get rid of the poof and get more of the natural curl that was in my hair hiding. But even when it's curly it's THICK and long, and hot. So, I straightened it this morning, and I'm thinking why did I do that when I could've let my hair just curl!? I guess I'm not very content with what I have sometimes. I get so frustrated with my hair because I've gotten made fun of alot for it...called Afro America, or Puff the Magic Dragon, isn't the greatest. Then, I see girls with straight hair that are trying to get curly hair. Or I talk to a girl that has really thin hair that wants thick hair like me...I guess we kind of all want what we can't have. Really what it all comes down to, I should be thankful that I have hair, and thankful with what God gave me. Some days I'll be walking down the street feeling like I look like a wild woman, and someone random will come up to me and give me a compliment about my hair, and its like, wow, I needed to hear that, because half the time before I hear something like that I'm JUST thinking I wanna cut my hair off now and kinda asking God why I got stuck with crazy hair like mine. It's all vain stuff.Stuff that doesn't matter one bit,because it doesn't matter WHAT you look like, whether you look like a wild woman or a fancy one God doesn't care one bit about it I think. Thankfully I haven't 'accidentally' cut my hair off in my 'sleep' and don't plan on it. Who are you really trying to impress? I can't really answer that, because I don't think i'm really trying to impress any one, it just gets on my nerves sometimes, or gets old curling it everyday.

I wasn't posting this to say the people that straighten their hair are bad for doing it, I do it maybe once a month,or once every two months. These are just my thoughts, and you can do what you want with your hair. :)

5 Days, and safety pins....

Alot can happen in 5 days! I went to baby-sit today, and Sarah is already walking everywhere! When I left here she was just learning to take a few steps, and now she's not crawling at all!! It's kinda sad that I missed all that! :'( But this makes things ALOT more fun, now I can go for walks with her without the stroller! YIPPEE! We walked all the way down their road to go pick up Natalie at the bus stop, and she walked the whole way. ^-^ So so cute. Although, now this means she's getting into anything and everything, so I have to keep a close eye on her. Today she found a safety pin somewhere in the house and was carrying it around OPENED. I about had a heart attack! She was just starting to put the needle in her mouth when I caught her. Thank the Lord she didn't fall with that thing opened. Phew.Anyways, that's about all that happened today. Just had fun working. :)

Oklahoma Trip

This is Stephine and Mary, two of the girl I hung out with.


Oh boy, where do I begin? That was so much fun! I made a lot of new friends there. So, lets see...

Wednesday
We got into Oklahoma round 9:20ish at night and were met there by Bro. Mark and Sister Rosalie and their family and Bro. Justin and Lindsey. After we got our bags and stuff, we went straight to Bro. Josh and Sis. Rachel's house where a lot of people were waiting up to see us. Bro. Michael and Sis. Cindy were there with all their kids and bro. Jake. We just chit-chatted with some of the ladies there, while the guys visited a little until 11pm. The first night I was really nervous and shy, so I didn't say too much to the girls that were my age...they seems kinda shy too. SO, then we went to Bro. Mark's house to send the night. Mary, Sarah, and Me!

Thursday
Once I got up, Sis. Cindy was over for breakfast at sis. Rosalie's house. And later on Bro. Michael came in with a rooster he had killed earlier that morning. It was really funny. We all got woken up by this annoying rooster the kept crowing non stop it seemed like, so they got rid of it. Kinda sad, but kinda funny. They crack me up. Anyways, we all had breakfast and left to go see Sis. Shelly and Bro. Everett. They had pet deer in their backyard that they take care of and stuff, and the week before sis. Shelly had gone out to feed the deer, and got attacked by the buck. (Which supposedly they're really aggressive during mating season, which is right now I think) She looked pretty messed up. Her whole body was covered in bruises! I've never seen bruises that bad on someone...
And she had a few bad cuts on her legs and her arms. Some of them were pretty deep, but thankfully she wasn't feeling the pain of them that bad. But anyways, she was a very sweet sister, and it was nice getting to know her for a bit. Me and Stephine!

Later that night we all went to one of the younger kids' birthday, and all the Owen's were there...I thought it was the whole church...but it wasn't! So, that was cool getting to see everyone. I got to talk with Bro.Tim for a long time. He's awesome. He's got alot of good stuff to hear,and you could just see how much he loved our family. Then I talked to sister Sherry! She had been to Oregon one time in the summer, and so I already knew her. She's really sweet!!
After that alot of the teens went over to Josh and Rachel's house to play bible trivia. That was nice, because then I kinda got to know each of the teens alot better than I did the night before.
Sis. Cindy and Bro. Michael. :D

Friday
Mom, sister Rosalie, Katie and I went shopping at a cute little clothes store in town the next day. I got a cute hat here. It's different. And then they took us all over to sis. Cindy and bro. Michael's house to stay the night there. They had a few girls my age, so I hung out with them alot. I don't think i've ever felt so at home any where. The brethren were so sweet to us. And the girls (Stephine, Megan, Mary and Sarah) it felt like I knew them my whole life. They were just really good girls. They had alot of the same kind of thoughts I had on clothes and stuff, which was really cool. I could just be myself without feeling like they thought I was stupid for what I thought and for just being ME.
That night we went to church and got to meet the rest of the brethren. But I'm not going to write all that was talked on there because then this post would be huge.

Saturday
We had stayed at Bro. Michael's house that night. Woke up and alot of people came over for a BIG breakfast! (Eggs, breakfast burritos, bacon, biscuits, gravy, fruit, soup....etc)It was yummy! Wow, I don't remember what happened the rest of that day...I think we went back over to bro Lindal's house for a church dinner kind of thing, and just played volley ball and stuff. And earlier that day I THINK us girls, stephine,megan,sarah,rachel and I went shopping at the mall...but I forget if it was that day, or the a different day. Sorry. but that was fun to hang out with them. Annnd, I don't remember anything else. The days are all kinda mixed together for me.

Sunday we went to church and then went out to lunch and came back to take a quick nap at bro. Michael's. Later that night we all headed over to Bro. Timmy's and Shawna's house for Indian Taco's. YUM. That was awesome! That night they had a thunder storm come in, which was really cool. Jonathan got sick that night,with a fever and a really bad headache. So once the thunder started getting really loud we went back to get him and take him to sis. Rosalies for the night.

Monday all the teens went to a place called 'Incredible Pizza'. It was a pizza place AND a arcade/mini-golf/bowling/go karts/bumper car place. It was fun! After that we went and saw the bombing memorial in Oklahoma City. That was pretty sad. I don't really know the whole story about it all, but it was interesting. There was a tree there that was one only tree that survived the bombing, it's called the Survivor Tree. And it was burnt in a few places, but still looked as healthy as could be. Someone later sent us all a text message with the picture saying, "If only our faith in God ran as deep as these roots...the Tree that has stood the test of time...we should be as this tree planted by the water...in God we trust....by faith in him we Stand." just kind of something to think about I guess.

After that we pretty much went back to michael's house, packed and then went to the airport. This trip went by way too fast. I miss the brethren really bad. I wish they lived here, or we lived there. It just felt like home! I'm definitely going to have to plan another trip down there to see them!

Anyways were back, and home safe! Missed everyone here! Sorry if this is long and boring. I don't know how else to explain it, but it's not boring to me! :D

Pumpkin Patch!

I went to the pumpkin patch today with Sister Mandy, Sister Kristen, Brother Danny, Jonathan, Abigail and James. It was sooo much fun! :D I was trying to remember to bring my camera today,but Mandy got to my house faster than I thought she would, so I wasn't able to grab it. So I guess my phone camera will do...but it's a little blurry because it's probably time to wash the lens. Anyways, we put James and Abigail in a wheel barrel and took them down a long road to get to the pumpkins. James was having soo much fun! The whole way he was opening his mouth saying "Aaaaaahhhhh!" as we went over the gravel road. It was pretty funny. You might be able to hear him in the video that I took...IF the video works. Anyways, I found a tiny tiny pumpkin in the patch, I almost took it home for the fun of it, but I didn't want to pay for it. ;D The pumpkins were about 25 cents a pound, so that'd maybe make that 1/2 a penny or less...if that's possible! I'm not gonna think too hard on that one.I don't know if you can tell what the guys are doing, but it's an outhouse with a picture of a mans legs(on the left) and a womans legs (on the right) and then it's got a hole on top for your head to poke out. It looked pretty silly.

Anyways, tomorrow we're (mom, dad, timmy, and jonathan and I) going to Oklahoma for 5 days! It'll be my first time flying in a plane and i'm really super nervous. But I'ts going to be alot of fun. I can't wait to meet all the Oklahoma brethren! :D I haven't started packing yet, so I better get to that soon! Tonight the whole family is coming over to have dinner and say goodbye to us. That'll be fun! Maybe we'll pick who our secret santa's are! :D Since our family is getting bigger every year, we draw names with the siblings and on christmas day we guess who gave us out present. It's a lot of fun. :D But sometime the boys are hard to shop for. :P Maybe I'll get a sister-in-law this time!!! Anyways, I better get cooking, and packing! Don't miss me too much, I'll be back before you know it. ;) Just kidding.

Oh no!

For the last week or so the little girl I've been baby-sitting for a couple years has started going to the bathroom in her pants...and shes never really done that in the past. I've been having a hard time with her every time I'm there. I'm having to check and see if she's gone, and keep making her get up and go even if she says she doesn't have to.But in between times, she's already gone in her pants. I really don't know what to do, so I called my mom and she wasn't able to get to the phone, so I called Sis. Mandy to ask her what she would do if Abigail went potty in her pants. The first thing Mandy said was, "well, did you pray about it?" I guess I've never really thought about doing that for something so little like that. I was getting frustrated that this kept happening and trying not to show it when I was, and couldn't think of anything new to say to the girl, but "that makes me really sad when you do that!"But when Mandy said that it made me cringe and think, is God looking at me shaking his head wondering why I didn't go to HIM in the first place? I went to someone else before I even thought to go to Him. I guess sometime I feel like little things like that aren't important enough to answer, but sitting here thinking about it, If she were my child and she was doing this over and over again that I'd probably be on my knees praying about that, so why not be praying for this little girl. Any body else have suggestions on how to get a 6 year old to stop going to the bathroom in their pants? I really don't want to embarrass her too badly because I don't want her alway remembering me as the baby-sitter that was mean and embarrassed her about going potty. But maybe a little embarrassment will help with it? Not really sure HOW to go about this.
Mandy also said, that i could always bring a little surprise for her, like a piece of candy or a book from the library to look at, but only give it to her at the end of the day IF she didn't potty her pants. So I might try it. I think part of the reason why she's doing it is because she just started school,and her moms best friend just passed away, and she was pretty close to the lady. So, i'm going to assume thats the reason why this is all happening all of a sudden.
Watching these kids are teaching me alot about what its going to be like having my own kids..I know i'm not there ALL the time with them, but I'm with them 24 hours or more a week. Its kinda nice seeing what I need to work on before I have kids of my own. Where I need more patience,and where I need to be more firm and not to let any of my frustration show in the way i talk to them or let it show in my facial expressions.

Game Day

It was game day for the boys today. They had brother Danny over to play some computer games for half the day. As soon as I got home for work they all looked at me and were like "soooo...what's for lunch lorraine?" HA! When I told them I was leaving to go into town, they started to make me feel guilty and Timo even used the "But...but...but...I'm your little brother! I'm actually two times your little brother! Aren't you going to take care of me?" and made a sad face. Sigh. I'm a sucker. I ended up telling the boys I'd ran into town REALLY fast and be home in about 1 hour with some pizza for them. I love my brothers. :)

After I got home and they all ate their food, they ran to the computers to play their games, and I just sat in the door way watching them having fun. And communicating where they should meet, and how they were going to plan their next move. They're actually really funny to watch. But there's nothing like the sound of happy men enjoying their days off work! :D

Nothing too exciting happened today. Which is a good thing! :D I just sat in bed with a good book and opened my window to listen to the pouring rain, shivering in my covers! It got cold fast here!! The leaves are already starting to fall. YAY! This is my favorite time of the year! When it gets super cold, and rainy. Cold enough to break out yummy smelly candles, scarves and hats! It said we were going to have thunder and lighting today,but it hasn't happened and probably won't. Thanks alot weather guessers!! ;P

Well, I'd best go get dinner cooking before all the family gets home! Later gator.

Grumpin' along

I don't know why, but almost every time i get home from baby-sitting I'm grumpy. I kinda don't want to talk to anyone when i get home, I just want to sit and stare off at nothing and think about whatever without being interrupted. I know it sounds like I'm selfish or bratty, and I hope I'm not either of those. But I snap out of it REAL fast. Once I get a shower and get all the baby-sitting grime off me and say a little prayer that I'll snap out of it, by the time I'm out of the shower i'm happy as can be and up and about making dinner for my guys.

Why I'm telling you this, I don't know. It's pointless and stupid, but so is this blog sometimes (MOST of the time.)

Shopping til you drop

Weeeelll, the topic tells you all. I shopped till I dropped today with Jonathan. I found out that it was Natalie's (one of the girls i baby-sit) b-day today and I thought it was in November! Ooops! Sooo, I went shopping at Toys 'R Us and Wal-mart looking for a Easy-Bake oven. Those things are sooo cool, I have great memories doing that with Brittany! But unfortunately they were out both places I went. And I think I know why. Just recently they had a recall of all toys made in china because they painted their toys with lead. BUT i was reading on wikipedia about this:
She looks so happy. That's what it was like when I cooked with my easy baker! ;D

In February 2007, Hasbro and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 985,000 Easy-Bake toy ovens after finding that kids' hands and fingers can get caught in the oven's opening, thereby posing serious risk of burns. Since the February 2007 announcement, an additional 249 reports of children getting their hands or fingers caught in the ovens, including 16 reports of second- and third-degree burns. As a result, Hasbro recalled all front-loading Easy Bake ovens sold since May 2006, even those that were repaired with the free kit distributed after the February 2007 recall. This unfortunate turn of events was the result of Hasbro's apparently ill conceived redesign of the original time tested Easy-Bake Oven

Now, that sounds pretty silly. I never put my fingers in my oven. People shouldn't be giving their kids a toy like that if the kids aren't smart enough not to put their hands in it. They have a tool to get the food out, and the tool is NOT your fingers. Lol. And it's common sense to not stick your hand in a REAL oven anyway. Hmmmm. Anyways, it's sad, but thankfully I kept my easy bake oven in my closet all these years, waiting for the day I can take it out with my little girl, OR my niece(nieces? ;D) and cook something with it.

OH! But now they have these new ovens that have the disney princesses on it, and it's called a COLD bake oven or something like that. You put ice in it and somehow it cooks it. Don't ask me how, it's probably magic anyways. ;)

So! There you go, now you know that you probably can't find an easy bake oven in stores any time soon!

Other than that though, shopping got done pretty fast. Shopping just makes me sleepy really fast, so after about 30 minutes I'm a zombie walking around.