Random

Some good mail I received last month:

Thank you to Amy for the cute tags I won on her blog! And thank you to Claudia for the cute Halloween card. I loved it. I have been horrible at sending out Good Mail lately... just not on the Survival List at the moment.

The other day I made some stir fry noodles and pulled out the chop sticks. The kids had so much fun eating with them and actually did pretty well. The next day Austin told me how much  he loves that meal!

I love to see my girls being creative! I also enjoy seeing them use all of the stamping and scrapbooking stuff that I don't use anymore! I have quite a stash in the basement and they go 'shopping' every now and then, coming up with stamps, paper, stickers, etc. I figure it's good, at least someone is using it! Right?

The other day Jared brought home a dozen roses from the store for no reason. It was a nice gesture and it came when I was feeling really tired and worn out. I've been working two jobs and life has been really crazy lately. I am still working at home, plus doing personal training in the evenings and some mornings. Jared has been making up the difference at home, since his work has unfortunately trailed off and he was finally laid off (we knew it was coming) last week. So we're now one of the many families in Utah and in America currently unemployed. Love this wonderful recession. Good Times!

So needless to say, my house is suffering. Those of you who think that my house never gets messy and crazy, you should stop by! Like I said, we're in Survival mode so the necessary stuff is getting done, like clean laundry, bathrooms, dishes, meals, etc. We're doing our best ...and our best has stains! (that's for you, Amy!)

Ashley is such a character. She is usually building a fort, singing to herself, reading books or playing Leapster. She loves Pink Panther lately (since we borrowed Jill's DVDs) and wants to have a movie marathon every day. I need to set up some scheduled play dates for her b/c she is really needing friend time. Oh, and don't get me started about her hair. If she's out of my sight for 5 minutes, she pulls it all out. I've given up!

My in laws sent us a load of Cadbury's chocolate and yummy stuff from Australia. Do I need to mention it's basically gone?! We had to hide it from the kids, esp Ashley. She is such a treat hound. The good thing is, she'll do anything for a treat, so we used it to bribe her. But really, that's not great parenting is it? Chocolate for Chores! Sounds like a charity organization.