Choice vs. Opportunity Costs:

Yesterday I worked as an EBD teacher that supported the classroom teacher. I got to sit through 3 Senior Economics Classes. I heard the same lecture three times on Choice and Opportunity Costs. So the students had to pick 5 things they would do if they had an extra hour every day, but each of those 5 things had to equal an hour by themselves. They then had to choose one thing of those things to do over the others.
Interesting enough...by subbing I was making the choice to sub and my opportunity cost was missing out in the morning with helping with the girls.

Two things learned yesteday... balance is possible but communication is the KEY...

On the days that I sub...the girls have decided they like it when their dad gets them ready.
As Kaydree puts it:
1. He lets us turn on the television in the morning and watch Disney Channel.
2. He lets us eat whatever we want like: cookies, brownies, donuts, chips....ect.
3. He lets me wear whatever I want.
4. He lets me do my hair whatever way I want...even if it means not at all.

Now I must admit that I don't mind a break from the morning routine because the morning somehow can end up being the most stressful time of the day. Trying to get everyone out the door and moving in the right direction or at least in the same direction can be a challenge!


Now I will tell you that my husband/my eternal companion/best friend should get the FATHER OF YEAR AWARD for yesterday morning!

Isn't she so cute? Just had to add this picture!

When Benjy dropped Karsyn off at school he noticed it was pajama day. He called me and said, " Everyone was in their pajama's except for Karsyn, so I quick ran to Kmart and got her some pajamas and a pair of pink lined crocs..."(second pair in a month.) Benjy was already going to be a little late for a CLE class downtown and now he was really running late. He told me.."Kristen, you should have seen her little lip quivering, she was trying to be such a good girl about it, but she was so sad...I just had to go get her some pajamas and she couldn't wear her boots all day with them!"

Here are the new adorable pajamas, he did such a good job picking out cute little valentine penguins!

Her second pair of lined crocs, however these were on clearance for $5. Good job Benjy, I have taught you well! ;-)
Now for the second catastrophe that hit my sweet husband..he noticed on his way out the door that it was Karsyn's turn to bring a snack for her class. He could have went downstairs to our food storage and could have grabbed a couple boxes of granola bars...which we have as you can see from this picture. Although it would have been interesting if he had brought a bunch of fiber one bars for 4-5 year olds! ;-0

Benjy forgot we had them and he said, "besides what kid wants a granola bar?" So he went to the gas station and bought Vanilla Wafers, Cheez-its and M&M's: "healthy enough, right?"

Except he accidentally grabbed HOT and SPICY...... oops! Let's just say Karsyn's class did not even try the Cheez-its! LOL...

I have to tell you... last night as Kaydree and I sat reading our books, all cuddled up in blankets and Benjy and Karsyn were putting together a puzzle...I thought..."Is it possible to love someone so much?" I texted him to tell him that I was sorry that I hadn't communicated all of that to him, he was so sweet and said, "It was no big deal!" He still makes my heart skip a beat when I think about how much he loves me and our little girls!

I May Have Gone a Little Too Far...this time!

On Sunday Mornings, Benjy leaves about 2 hours before the girls and I do in order to go to a Meeting. This Sunday I was having a bad hair/wrinkly forehead looking day. So I asked Kaydree to get some scissors. She brought up some fisker childproof pink ones and I started cutting! Kaydree just about died! She was half laughing/half in shock, "MOM.... what are you doing, what did you do!" I have been known to do this from time to time dating back to Middle school! A great example I am being to my girls, right?
Here is a nice chunk of some that I cut off. I thought Benjy would laugh when he saw me walk into church. Instead I got, "I really really like your hair!" So, I was feeling somewhat confident until yesterday... things went very wrong. Here is a picture.

I volunteered in Kaydree's class and she said, "Mom... your bangs are crooked and one of my friends said, "Your mom looks really different!" Which I think translated into...."What did your mom do to her hair?" Last night Benjy and Kaydree both told me I looked like a boy! Yikes! Aren't they nice?????? Karsyn said, "Mom I love your new bangs, I think you look pretty!"
This morning when I was getting ready to teach at Anoka High School, I decided I better take a little more time and effort to make my hair look somewhat presentable! I thought it looked decent from this angle? Thanks to Andrea, I am going to a Salon that will fix my spur of the moment desperation on Tuesday!

Recipes Per Your Request:

Some of you have asked for the recipes from my determination to use up flour. Here they are:

Someone asked for the recipe. Some also call it Salt dough? Here are some more professional looking pieces. WE didn't do the cut outs yet, but the girls loved this stuff. I love the smell...Benjy not soooo much!

Baker's Clay Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup water

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl and knead until smooth. Add food coloring if desired.
Make shapes and bake at 300 degrees until set and golden (1/2 hr to 1 hr). For a more golden appearance, paint with a beaten egg when it is almost done baking and looks dry. You can paint with egg twice or three times for a darker golden color. Don't use the egg on colored dough.

As for the cookies, well I am a little humbled to tell you that I got it off of the back of my chocolate chip bag. Here it is:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 375° F.COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

ENJOY>>>> Ya' ALL!

My Determination to Use up Extra Flour!

Since I had extra flour that wouldn't fit into my extra containers...

I made Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Look at the height of my cookies I was so shocked! I had to take a picture.

And another picture... actually there were lots of pictures, I picked my favorite two. What can I say...with a new camera and cookies actually turning out...how could I resist?
Benjy came home and couldn't believe his eyes and then he tasted them and said, "Who brought cookies over?" I told him I baked them and he said, "These look and taste like real cookies!" Yay me!!!!! I did it!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was...am! I think I have told plenty of people who won't be surprised to see this post! Hee Hee.....
After the cookies were done...I had a huge bowl of flour left...so I got on the internet and pulled up my favorite childhood past time... and made Bakers Clay! (remember mom?)

The results: Karsyn's spider...with help from dad.

Kaydree making a turtle...
Kaydree's is on the top and Benjy's is on the bottom!

Okay...I couldn't resist...just one more picture of my cookies.
Well, I had to add my favorite picture! I might frame these...Just kidding...well? maybe..

Feeling a Little Defensive....

I preface this post with this... my children are sleeping, my husband is in the shower and I have already read the Ensign this morning. Someone recently said that they took some time off of blogging to "be a better mom." I often get asked, "How do you find time to blog?"
My response is this...it takes me anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on the day, to make a post on our blog. If I were keeping a written journal, it would easily take that long.... if not longer. The majority of my post are done in the early morning hours when my family is sleeping, well...except for Charlee or on a 90 minute prep when I am subbing.
Also.... I do not watch T.V. We have one show that Benjy and I enjoy watching together..on Monday nights at 8:00 for one hour. Other than that....I do not sit in front of the Television, so replace my blogging time with one 1/2 hour show and there you go....that is how I find the time.
I feel a little defensive because I have had people tell or insinuate.... that somehow those of "us" that are bloggers are not as good of moms or friends because we blog? Well to this...I say... I know that someday my children, Benjy and I will look at these blog books and be very grateful that we have these memories for us and for our generations to come.
Even if I tried.... I couldn't even put into words how much I would treasure these thoughts, memories and testimonies if I had them from my grandparents that have already passed away.

We all have the same amount of time...how we choose to balance our time is up to us and not for someone else to decide. Now...if Benjy or my girls told me that they were feeling neglected, I would get up at midnight and sacrafice my own sleep, if that is what it took.
I have some very private and heart felt eternal reasons why I blog...that I may share.... just not at this time.

I want to end this post with this...for all of you... that have shared with me how much you have enjoyed our blog and how much you hope that I never stop... (Aunt Judy...) I have promised you that I will not.... I want to thank those of you and tell you how much I love you for supporting and trusting in my ability and desire to constantly balance and make the most of my time on this earth because someday...I will be gone... but my memories will be available for my loved ones!

Food Storage.

Some of you may or may not know that we take food storage pretty serious in the LDS Church. Here is a little overview of why....

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others. (my favorite part)

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."

I have to admit, having children and the economy being what it is.... It brings me comfort to know that I have slowly been building our food storage. Some people worry when we advertise this...because they feel that if something really bad happened people would come to our house looking for food. This is my take on it...if something that bad really happened...of course I would part of our substance to help others. Would I really just stay in my home and feed my children and watch our friends, neighbors or family starve? NO....
I personally feel that by building up our food storage, I can rest easier if something were to happen to Benjy's job, or we got snowed in or something of that nature..we could be self reliant. Also, I buy food storage stuff very cheap, find ways to get it free with coupons or get large quantities when it is ridiculously cheap!
Yesterday our church was able to get a canning machine for 2 days. I took advantage with the goal of canning 50 pounds of rice ($20 stores for 30 years) 25 pnds of flour, noodles and oatmeal.

Well...I underestimated (seems to be a consistent issue in my life) the number of cans I needed. I told Jessica 12 cans... ha ha ha... 9 were filled with rice alone!

WE opened my 25 pounds of flour and filled my remaining 3 cans...

I had over 1/2 a bag of flour left and open to get creative with....hee hee hee!

Stay tuned to see how I got creative last night with my flour! ;-) Thank you so much to Jessica, Jared, Cindy, Norma and Dan for helping add to our food storage! It really was a lot of fun and I can't believe we were done with every one's in less than an hour!

Indescribable Joy...

I experienced the greatest joy when I was baptized a little over 10 years ago and yet when Kaydree was baptized on Saturday, somehow that joy was indescribable! My eyes welled up with tears just thinking about her decision on our way to her baptism. To know that your child wants to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer is one of the greatest blessings one can receive.

Grandpa and Grandma are both converts to the church and joined in their teenage years. They both gave talks at Kaydree's baptism and they were very heartfelt and testified of our Savior and their trust in him. It meant so much to us to have them fly in from Washington to be here. My entire family came to support Kaydree in her decision. Again, words can not describe my gratitude for their love and support. They all had to not only drive a long way, but they hit very, "white knuckle driving roads" as Spencer would put it! The roads were horrible and yet they were determined to be present on this very special day.

Karsyn started telling everyone that she was turning eight in 3 weeks and that she was going to be baptized. She informs us that she is ready now...... all she has to do is reach the age of accountability and then she can choose for herself.
This is the only picture I got of Kaydree in her jumpsuit because I overestimated the size of Benjy's suit and he really didn't want a picture capturing the site!;-) It was a little snug and a lot too short. oops...

There was an amazing support shown from our Ward Family. Some of the Primary Children came to help Karsyn sing, "When Jesus Christ was Baptized." It was a beautiful day...not so much outside but within the walls of that Chapel!
It is always a special time for Benjy, myself and the girls when our families can spend time together, including our Ward Family... The most important people in our lives all in the same room at the same time.

I hope Kaydree will always remember the promises that she has made on this day and above all be forever grateful for the One who makes it all possible.

Kaydree's Birthday with Family.

On Saturday Morning we were busy getting ready for Kaydree's Baptism and Birthday Lunch with family. My Parents drove up from Marshall (four hour drive), Steve and Lori drove from Kansas (11 hour drive) and Spencer and Emily drove up from Iowa. (3 1/2 hours drive) They all arrived around lunch time so that we could celebrate Kaydree's Birthday before her baptism.

Right before everyone arrived, Grandpa sat down with Kaydree and shared some thoughts with her about baptism. He asked her what the best gift she has been given and she said the scriptures.
Grandma spent time convincing Karsyn that she has a tail!

Charlee trying to pick up Cooper's scent on Spencer.

Kaydree blowing out her candles. I love the look on Nick's face!

I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but Kaydree was so excited and our family felt so grateful for the love and support of family!

Grandpa and Grandma Villarreal's Anniversary

Benjy brought his parents back to the airport this morning and there were a lot of tears. Karsyn was sooooo very sad. I just got the computer out for the first time since Friday morning. I have a lot to blog in order to preserve our memories. It will take a couple of post to update our blog! I wanted to take advantage of every moment we had with Grandpa and Grandma and the rest of the family coming up, so I took a break not only from blogging, but laundry and going to the gym. Today...is get caught up day!

On Friday we spent the day shopping and then we went out to eat with the Klines. They served a mission in Argentina when Grandpa and Grandma were Mission Presidents.

We went to Ruby Tuesday's and enjoyed the evening catching up.
We ended up shopping so long that we didn't get to Como Zoo which is okay, because it was so cold!

Grandma Villarreal is making blankets and Karsyn liked to snuggle up next to her and play her DS.

Grandma really liked Charlee. She has decided that he is way too spoiled!

Grandma French Braided the girls' hair and they loved it! Too bad their mother doesn't know how to because the looked so cute. Grandpa bought Kaydree and Karsyn birthday gifts. Kaydree got an E-pet and Karsyn got a Little Pet Shop.

Karsyn decorating her dog.

I love Grandpa's hat. Uncle Danny and Auntie Shalayne sent it to him and it reminds me of the one my Grandpa Cap use to wear!

Benjy looks a lot like his mom!

Karsyn showing off her hair!