I've got happy news! We finally have a year's worth of food storage, a 72 hour kit, and a two weeks supply of bottled water.
It feels so good to be obediant and it's a relief to know that whatever else happens in this crazy world, we'll be able to feed our children. We've been working on this goal for a long time. We first worked toward a three month supply. When we reached that goal, we focused on water and emergency kit acquisition. Then we saved and scrimped our pennies together (so long big screen t.v. dream) until we'd saved enough to get the nine months of long-term food storage.
Last Saturday, Todd and I pawned our kids off on some ward members and headed up to the Richmond cannery. We canned 1,100 pounds of wheat and beans in about 5 hours with some help from other cannery patrons.
As the boxes of #10 cans began to pile up, I became worried that we wouldn't even come close to fitting them all into our Acura Legend. Somehow, clever Todd managed to fit all 31 boxes into the car with literally NO room to spare. The trunk was stuffed, our seats were scooted as far forward as they could go, and boxes were piled from floor to ceiling in the back seat.
Before we climbed into our cramped quarters for the drive back, we saw that our poor car was so weighed down that it only had a 1/2 inch clearance from the road! Everytime we went over a bump or a rough patch in the road, we heard a scraping noise. Our muffler was in grave distress! We received many strange looks as drove home on the 64, but thank goodness, we made it home with no permanent damage. And so ends our food storage adventure.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Sheepish Hello
Hi Friends. I'm feeling, shall we say, a bit sheepish for not posting for almost two months. I do have an excuse, though. I think it's an excellent one. I'm pregnant. I'm finally wrapping up that dreadful first trimester and I can actually see beyond trying not to lose my cookies and my next nap.
The best part of February: My sweet Jonah boy was baptized! Here is his invitation:
It was a beautiful baptism and my pregnancy hormones made me extra emotional. Todd's parents and his brother, Boo and sister, Angela flew out for the big event.
Here is Jonah with friends, Marshall and Charlie,chowing down on barbeque beef buns after the baptism:
This is what Jonah wrote in his baptism memory book (I hope he doesn't mind me posting it): "After I got Baptized, I felt like I was perfect as Jesus. I felt like I was fresh out of the box. I felt like Satan (or Lucifer) was gone forever." (I love this child.)
Moving on....today I woke up to three kids deliriously jumping all over me. "Look out the window! There is snow EVERYWHERE!!!!" Sure enough there was! This is our first snow storm since moving to Virginia almost three years ago. I'll admit even I was excited at the 1 inch of snow on the ground. The kids begged me to get their snow gear out of storage in the garage and by eight o'clock, they were dressed and ready to go out and make snowballs.
ANTICIPATION:
Can we go out already??!!!
And They're Off!!!!
Later on, after the older boys were off to school, my neighbor invited Reuben and I to go sledding with her. "Sledding?", I queried, "Isn't Norfolk Flat?" Turns out, there are a few man-made "bumps" near our house at Northside Park.
The best part of February: My sweet Jonah boy was baptized! Here is his invitation:
It was a beautiful baptism and my pregnancy hormones made me extra emotional. Todd's parents and his brother, Boo and sister, Angela flew out for the big event.
Here is Jonah with friends, Marshall and Charlie,chowing down on barbeque beef buns after the baptism:
This is what Jonah wrote in his baptism memory book (I hope he doesn't mind me posting it): "After I got Baptized, I felt like I was perfect as Jesus. I felt like I was fresh out of the box. I felt like Satan (or Lucifer) was gone forever." (I love this child.)
Moving on....today I woke up to three kids deliriously jumping all over me. "Look out the window! There is snow EVERYWHERE!!!!" Sure enough there was! This is our first snow storm since moving to Virginia almost three years ago. I'll admit even I was excited at the 1 inch of snow on the ground. The kids begged me to get their snow gear out of storage in the garage and by eight o'clock, they were dressed and ready to go out and make snowballs.
ANTICIPATION:
Can we go out already??!!!
And They're Off!!!!
Later on, after the older boys were off to school, my neighbor invited Reuben and I to go sledding with her. "Sledding?", I queried, "Isn't Norfolk Flat?" Turns out, there are a few man-made "bumps" near our house at Northside Park.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Book Blitz
On Friday, I went to the Walden Books going-out-of-business sale (Thanks, Janice!). I didn't go expecting to find much, but $50 and 20 big, beautiful hardback books later, I was feeling deliriously happy. I can't decide whether I'm more thrilled with the oversized coffee table books, the special edition read-aloud children's books, or the classics I picked up.
I grabbed book after book until I thought my arms would break and then asked permission to deposit them behind the sales counter so I could keep on looking. As I was carrying my third armload up to the counter, I realized that I had not thought out the logistics of getting all of my new loves, I mean books, out to my car. Thankfully, the sales associate was very helpful and offered to put them on a book cart and wheel them out to the mall loading dock for me.
Now my only obstacle was figuring out how to breeze through my front door loaded down with 20 new books without my husband having a conniption. An "Illustrated History of Guitars" book given as a peace offering seemed to do the trick.
Here is an itemized list of my purchases (try not to be too jealous):
* An Illustrated Directory of Guitars
* Best Ever Recipes for your Slow Cooker
* 500 Soup Recipes
* America's National Parks
* Portraits of North American Indian Life
* Old Yeller
* The Snowy Day
* The Iliad
* Stuart Little
* Little House on the Prairie
* Wee Sing Classic Rhymes and Lullabies
* A Passage to India
* Craft Fun Colossal Book and Kit
* The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes
* Animal Origami Adventure
* The Three Musketeers
* The World of Dick and Jane
* Magnetics on the Move
* Peter Pan
* The Practical Encyclopedia of Orchids
Can you see why I'm so delighted? One small example--I never in my right mind would pay forty dollars for a book about growing orchids, but I'm so glad to own it!
I grabbed book after book until I thought my arms would break and then asked permission to deposit them behind the sales counter so I could keep on looking. As I was carrying my third armload up to the counter, I realized that I had not thought out the logistics of getting all of my new loves, I mean books, out to my car. Thankfully, the sales associate was very helpful and offered to put them on a book cart and wheel them out to the mall loading dock for me.
Now my only obstacle was figuring out how to breeze through my front door loaded down with 20 new books without my husband having a conniption. An "Illustrated History of Guitars" book given as a peace offering seemed to do the trick.
Here is an itemized list of my purchases (try not to be too jealous):
* An Illustrated Directory of Guitars
* Best Ever Recipes for your Slow Cooker
* 500 Soup Recipes
* America's National Parks
* Portraits of North American Indian Life
* Old Yeller
* The Snowy Day
* The Iliad
* Stuart Little
* Little House on the Prairie
* Wee Sing Classic Rhymes and Lullabies
* A Passage to India
* Craft Fun Colossal Book and Kit
* The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes
* Animal Origami Adventure
* The Three Musketeers
* The World of Dick and Jane
* Magnetics on the Move
* Peter Pan
* The Practical Encyclopedia of Orchids
Can you see why I'm so delighted? One small example--I never in my right mind would pay forty dollars for a book about growing orchids, but I'm so glad to own it!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
My Sissies.
I just had to post these pictures of my sissies taken by Annie's photographer pal, Kristy Cephalo. Aren't these girls adorable? I miss them sooo much!
Sissies.
Clara Bethy--zee baby of our family.
Annabelle
Sissies.
Clara Bethy--zee baby of our family.
Annabelle
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
My very favoritist poem in the whole wide world, ever.
I love reading poetry. The right poem can make my pulse race, my teeth hurt, and fill my stomach with hard little fists of joy. "Sonnet" by Elizabeth Bishop is the quintessential "right poem".
To really appreciate this poem, you MUST read it out loud, in your MOST expressive voice (promise me you'll do it!):
"SONNET"
by Elizabeth Bishop
I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
To really appreciate this poem, you MUST read it out loud, in your MOST expressive voice (promise me you'll do it!):
"SONNET"
by Elizabeth Bishop
I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Crandall Christmas
The month of December kind of sucked me under. I've finally re-emerged to the surface and am ready to join the blogger world once again. I wrapped up my classes on December 10th and I felt such an immediate sense of relief and freedom that my feet couldn't help doing a slight skip every few steps as I walked away from the testing center. I know bragging is unbecoming in a lady, but I'm going to do it anyway:). Drumroll........I received a 98% in my anatomy class! Jonah has been pretty proud of me for the last nine months. This past summer, his favorite way to introduce me to people was, "This is my mom. She is the best "human body describer in the world!". I still have 2 prereqs to go, but I've decided I deserve a break so I'm not taking classes next semester.
We bought our tree a little late this year. Todd loaded up a hatchet and the little boys in their winter garb and headed up to the Blue Ridge mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree. (Okay, maybe they didn't drive all the way to the mountains. Maybe, just maybe they found our perfect tree behind the Seven-Eleven).
Jonah and his pals helped all of the Hyde Park neighborhood get into the Christmas spirit by Caroling from door to door. I wasn't aware of this delightful activity until I answered my door to this:
I was impressed. Especially with little Stella playing her heart out on her violin.
I wanted a wreath for my front door this year. I found the perfect one at TJ Maxx (love that place!) for the right price and promptly hung it on my front door from a length of ribbon per Martha Stewart's intructions. I was so enthralled with it that I would run out to the sidewalk and look at it several times a day. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy (maybe you think I am too?). I was enthralled with it right up until the day it started to rain and my perfect Christmas wreath began to bleed rivers of red down my front door.
Apparently, there are two categories of wreaths: the indoor kind and the outdoor kind. I wonder how I missed that important fact in my 30 years of living.
The night before Christams is my favorite part of the whole season. We have some really special family traditions centered around Christmas Eve. We eat gooey cinnamon buns for supper (Great-Grandma Jensen's secret recipe), we open Christmas jammies;
Someone's a bit excited.
We act out the Nativity Story:
Apparently, Mary needed to stretch her legs, so she let Joseph have a turn on the donkey.
And we sing Christmas songs—both sacred and secular: PRESENTING Yonah serenading us with his own rendition of "Mamacita, Where is Dee Santa Claus?" with his back-up dancers Ezerita and Ruvane! (It is at times like this, I wish I had a digital video camera to show you how truly awesome this performance was).
Then, we tuck the childlings snugly away into their respective beds so Santa can begin the long, laborious night of preparation.
The hit of Christmas morning was the GBOP--the Great Big Outdoor playball! It took Todd all of an hour and half just to pump up this ball (with an electric pump, no less). But it was well worth the effort. The ball was too big to push out the front door so we had to open both of the french doors in the family room, take it through the backyard, and then out to Hyde Park in front of our house.
The boys took turns climbing inside the ball while the other two rolled them around the park at high speed. It was hilarious!
We bought our tree a little late this year. Todd loaded up a hatchet and the little boys in their winter garb and headed up to the Blue Ridge mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree. (Okay, maybe they didn't drive all the way to the mountains. Maybe, just maybe they found our perfect tree behind the Seven-Eleven).
Jonah and his pals helped all of the Hyde Park neighborhood get into the Christmas spirit by Caroling from door to door. I wasn't aware of this delightful activity until I answered my door to this:
I was impressed. Especially with little Stella playing her heart out on her violin.
I wanted a wreath for my front door this year. I found the perfect one at TJ Maxx (love that place!) for the right price and promptly hung it on my front door from a length of ribbon per Martha Stewart's intructions. I was so enthralled with it that I would run out to the sidewalk and look at it several times a day. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy (maybe you think I am too?). I was enthralled with it right up until the day it started to rain and my perfect Christmas wreath began to bleed rivers of red down my front door.
Apparently, there are two categories of wreaths: the indoor kind and the outdoor kind. I wonder how I missed that important fact in my 30 years of living.
The night before Christams is my favorite part of the whole season. We have some really special family traditions centered around Christmas Eve. We eat gooey cinnamon buns for supper (Great-Grandma Jensen's secret recipe), we open Christmas jammies;
Someone's a bit excited.
We act out the Nativity Story:
Apparently, Mary needed to stretch her legs, so she let Joseph have a turn on the donkey.
And we sing Christmas songs—both sacred and secular: PRESENTING Yonah serenading us with his own rendition of "Mamacita, Where is Dee Santa Claus?" with his back-up dancers Ezerita and Ruvane! (It is at times like this, I wish I had a digital video camera to show you how truly awesome this performance was).
Then, we tuck the childlings snugly away into their respective beds so Santa can begin the long, laborious night of preparation.
The hit of Christmas morning was the GBOP--the Great Big Outdoor playball! It took Todd all of an hour and half just to pump up this ball (with an electric pump, no less). But it was well worth the effort. The ball was too big to push out the front door so we had to open both of the french doors in the family room, take it through the backyard, and then out to Hyde Park in front of our house.
The boys took turns climbing inside the ball while the other two rolled them around the park at high speed. It was hilarious!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
High Adventure...in Walmart!
What is black Friday? Having never experienced this monumental morning, I decided to venture out at 4:30 am to see what all the hype was about. Destination? Wal-mart. Goal? to leave the store with one ride-on power wheels jeep.
Ezra has been begging for one of these jeeps for almost two years now. Walmart's black Friday flyer was advertising them for $88. The small print underneath the picture: "Quantities limited. While supplies last", tipped me off that the chances of actually getting one of these jeeps was very slim, but I had to try, right? So the night before, I laid out some warm sweats and set the alarm for 4 am. Todd rolled over in bed, grinned at me, and predicted that I would still be snoring away when the sun came up.
Of course, I had to prove him wrong. Four hours of sleep, and a couple of snooze buttons later, I washed the sleeps from my eyes, threw on the sweats, ran a brush through my hair, and headed out into the cold, black morning--a girl on a mission. I pulled into the Walmart parking lot at 4:30 am on the dot. The first thing I saw? A line, hundreds of people long, stretching from one side of Walmart to the other. Apparently people had been camping in line all night. Now what could be worth a night on a cold, hard sidewalk, I will not venture to guess. I was tempted to just keep on driving--back home to my warm bed, but then I thought, I'm already here so here I'll stay.
As soon as the clock struck five, everyone started running. Running in a long line was definitely a first for me. As soon as rolled into the door, I bee-lined it straight for the toy section. Halfway there, I ditched my cart (for greater speed and mobility of course). At 5:05 exactly, I arrived at the toys. Alas, no power wheel jeep. Then someone tipped me off, "They're in the garden section". So up and away I went. I clocked in at the garden section entrance at 5:09. Of course, no powerwheel jeeps. A Walmart associate informed me that there was exactly four blue powerwheels and four barbie powerwheels and that they were all gone in the first minute the door opened. Bummer.
Since I was already there, I decided to stick around and see what other deals Walmart was offering (I know, I'm the typical sucker who gets pulled in by the door buster only to stay and shop). I bought a few things, stood in line for close to 45 minutes to pay for these purchases which really were not that good of a deal, and headed out to the parking lot. Once in the car, I looked over my receipt and noticed a few price descrepancies. I debated whether to just go home and come back later when the Walmart madness had died down, but ultimitaley decided I'd rather not make an extra, unneccesary trip. So back into the chaos I headed, purchases in hand.
After waiting in yet another line and taking care of business at customer service, I started to leave the store at 7:00 am, when I spied one of the lucky consumers who had nabbed a blue power wheels jeep standing in a check-out line. Now I have a problem with striking up conversations with complete strangers. I just can't help myself. I've always been like this. Even the weirded-out, "are you talking to me?" looks don't deter me. So, I approached the woman and asked her how she had managed to be one of the "lucky" ones.
Well...this woman told me that some Walmart associates had found a few more jeeps in the back of the warehouse that they'd accidently missed and she'd just picked hers up. As soon as I heard the news, I broke out into a full run toward the garden section. And there, surrounded by a Holy Light were two power wheel jeeps! At the same time, me and another woman placed our hands on the last two power wheel jeeps. Emotions were running high. I kind of felt like I'd just won the lottery. The other lucky winner was standing across from me with actual tears in her eyes! By this time, I no longer had a cart and didn't dare leave my precious treasure. I was in a quandry..what to do, what to do? At this moment, some Christmas spirit kicked in and a Walmart man offered to push the box along the floor to the hardware counter and keep it there for me while I ran to grab a cart.
To make a long story even longer, I left the Walmart store victorious! I was one jeep powerwheels toy richer (or $88 dollars poorer, however you prefer to see it) with the happy assurance that I had just made my little boy's Christmas. And so ends my marvelous black Friday adventure!
Ezra has been begging for one of these jeeps for almost two years now. Walmart's black Friday flyer was advertising them for $88. The small print underneath the picture: "Quantities limited. While supplies last", tipped me off that the chances of actually getting one of these jeeps was very slim, but I had to try, right? So the night before, I laid out some warm sweats and set the alarm for 4 am. Todd rolled over in bed, grinned at me, and predicted that I would still be snoring away when the sun came up.
Of course, I had to prove him wrong. Four hours of sleep, and a couple of snooze buttons later, I washed the sleeps from my eyes, threw on the sweats, ran a brush through my hair, and headed out into the cold, black morning--a girl on a mission. I pulled into the Walmart parking lot at 4:30 am on the dot. The first thing I saw? A line, hundreds of people long, stretching from one side of Walmart to the other. Apparently people had been camping in line all night. Now what could be worth a night on a cold, hard sidewalk, I will not venture to guess. I was tempted to just keep on driving--back home to my warm bed, but then I thought, I'm already here so here I'll stay.
As soon as the clock struck five, everyone started running. Running in a long line was definitely a first for me. As soon as rolled into the door, I bee-lined it straight for the toy section. Halfway there, I ditched my cart (for greater speed and mobility of course). At 5:05 exactly, I arrived at the toys. Alas, no power wheel jeep. Then someone tipped me off, "They're in the garden section". So up and away I went. I clocked in at the garden section entrance at 5:09. Of course, no powerwheel jeeps. A Walmart associate informed me that there was exactly four blue powerwheels and four barbie powerwheels and that they were all gone in the first minute the door opened. Bummer.
Since I was already there, I decided to stick around and see what other deals Walmart was offering (I know, I'm the typical sucker who gets pulled in by the door buster only to stay and shop). I bought a few things, stood in line for close to 45 minutes to pay for these purchases which really were not that good of a deal, and headed out to the parking lot. Once in the car, I looked over my receipt and noticed a few price descrepancies. I debated whether to just go home and come back later when the Walmart madness had died down, but ultimitaley decided I'd rather not make an extra, unneccesary trip. So back into the chaos I headed, purchases in hand.
After waiting in yet another line and taking care of business at customer service, I started to leave the store at 7:00 am, when I spied one of the lucky consumers who had nabbed a blue power wheels jeep standing in a check-out line. Now I have a problem with striking up conversations with complete strangers. I just can't help myself. I've always been like this. Even the weirded-out, "are you talking to me?" looks don't deter me. So, I approached the woman and asked her how she had managed to be one of the "lucky" ones.
Well...this woman told me that some Walmart associates had found a few more jeeps in the back of the warehouse that they'd accidently missed and she'd just picked hers up. As soon as I heard the news, I broke out into a full run toward the garden section. And there, surrounded by a Holy Light were two power wheel jeeps! At the same time, me and another woman placed our hands on the last two power wheel jeeps. Emotions were running high. I kind of felt like I'd just won the lottery. The other lucky winner was standing across from me with actual tears in her eyes! By this time, I no longer had a cart and didn't dare leave my precious treasure. I was in a quandry..what to do, what to do? At this moment, some Christmas spirit kicked in and a Walmart man offered to push the box along the floor to the hardware counter and keep it there for me while I ran to grab a cart.
To make a long story even longer, I left the Walmart store victorious! I was one jeep powerwheels toy richer (or $88 dollars poorer, however you prefer to see it) with the happy assurance that I had just made my little boy's Christmas. And so ends my marvelous black Friday adventure!
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