Lucy's "Sick" Day

Lucy woke up this morning with a sore throat. She didn't have a fever- my kids never do- and she wasn't her normal morning-grumpy self. She was an irrational, hysterical, sobbing mess. So, home she stayed. Of course, she experienced a miraculous recovery about an hour after lying in bed. Being the mean mom that I am, I insisted that she stay in her room anyway. (If you stay home sick at our house, you spend the day acting like a sick person.) She came out to show me the song she had written with accompanying illustrations. I had to share.

Love

Your

Teeth

No junk food

Don't be sad

Have a lovely day

The End

NOW it must be true

Jason and I had dinner at Pei Wei last night and spent the whole time discussing the move situation and what we should do. I was feeling pretty despondent (still) when I opened my fortune cookie.

Yeah, I know I've had answers to prayers, but this!

My Big But

This time, it's really official.

The Welker family is moving. Not to somewhere exotic. We're moving back home to Arizona. For many of you this is old news. The new news is that the house is officially for sale. As soon as we have a buyer, we'll be on our way.

This whole process has been another life lesson for me. I know God lives and loves me personally. But do I put that belief into practice daily? I've been reciting Proverbs 3:5-6 over and over.

"Trust in the Lord with all thy heart;

And lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct thy path."

I say that I trust my Father, but I continue to fret, worry, and stress over things I have no control over. He has previously answered our prayers, and I know this is the path we should take, but I still mourn and pout about leaving my beautiful home, my friends, and our amazing ward family. I know He has worked miracles in my life before, but I continue to doubt that everything will work out in the end. I am abundantly blessed and am excited about being closer to family, but I constantly murmur and complain about all the work and changes ahead of us.

This morning I read scriptures that brought great comfort to my heart.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;

so shalt thou dwell in the land,

and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the Lord;

and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the Lord;

trust also in him;

and he shall bring it to pass.

Rest in the Lord,

and wait patiently for him:

fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way."

(Psalms 37:3-5,7)

Yes, there is a lot I can't control- a buyer for the house, the time-frame of our move, finding the perfect house in Phoenix, etc. But I can control my attitude, my words, my demeanor around my children. I'm so grateful for scriptures and that nagging voice in my head that reminds me to stop, to read, to ponder, and right now, to trust.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Houston has seen some very uncharacteristically cold weather this winter. This weekend wasn't just cold- it was literally freezing! Highs in the low 30's and wind-chills in the teens. We just aren't prepared for that.

Apparently, neither is our house.

Coming home from Seminary, I noticed some water collecting in the street in front of our house. Small rivulets of water were streaming from the little patch of grass between the sidewalk and the road.

Jason was staying home from work because he finally admitted that he had a cold. We called the plumber, who confirmed Jason's suspicions that the freeze broke one of our pipes. He gave us two options... #1- Pay a lot of money to dig around our yard to try to "find" the broken pipe, then replace it. #2- Pay a lot of money to replace the "rotten, stinky, cheap" PVC with copper and not even worry about finding the leak. The plumber was voting for option #2. He told us he would return the next day with an estimate.

For those of you who know my amazing husband at all, spending 24 hours stewing about how big an expense this would be is enough to drive him completely batty. On Saturday morning- despite continued freezing temps AND his cold- he decided to start digging "just to see" if he could locate the leak himself. He called a member of our ward who liberally offered advice and a specialized shovel. And then Jay got to work.

Our neighbors drove by and asked what happened. A few minutes later, she and her husband came back and started digging along side my husband. She works with lawn irrigation systems and really knew her stuff. She called her brother for assistance and eventually the leak was found and they determined it was coming from under the sidewalk, just above the manhole cover. While Jason was ready for a sledge-hammer, Tori knew more sensible ways of working around that problem.

Tori and her brother, Adam, made quick work of circumventing the leak with $20 worth of supplies from Home Depot. They filled in the new holes, and while our front yard won't win any beauty prizes, WE GOT NO MORE LEAKS!

Our neighbors- Tori and Nelson- were (are) amazing. They spent their entire Saturday afternoon helping us out. They refused any payment and wouldn't even let us buy them pizza. They epitomize the Savior's teachings,"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

I have to say that my husband is amazing too. Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." Jason said that he had prayed and prayed that there was some way to fix the repair, but not have to pay massive amounts of money. I'm the type of person who would pray like that, then wait around for a miracle to appear. My husband has the faith to make his own miracle. The miracle was that the right people were home and available to help and that the leak was "easily" found. I know there are others in our ward and area that were much harder hit by this freeze. I'm just grateful for my blessings.

The weather is starting to warm up now. It's good to see sunshine again. But it doesn't replace the sunshine and warmth in my heart.

New Year's Catch-Up

Last year, we started a new tradition for New Year's. It's fun for us to look back at how we've changed and stayed the same. Here are our results, complete with this year's silliest pictures and a couple of new categories...

Tyler-

Favorite breakfast- Over-easy eggs

Favorite lunch- Totino Pizza

Favorite dinner- Ribs

Favorite color- green

Favorite TV Show- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Favorite book read in 2009- The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Put half in the bank, buy a laptop, cell phone with good service, some new games and a giant plasma TV in my room."

Best Friends- Austin F, David S, and Cory M

Best thing about school- Leaving

Worst thing about school- Arriving

Favorite Past-time- Hanging with my friends

Favorite Song- "Check Yes Juliet" by We the Kings; "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr.

Emily

Favorite breakfast- crepes

Favorite lunch- Tostadas or burritos

Favorite dinner- Ribs

Favorite color- Black

Favorite TV Show- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Favorite book read in 2009- The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson (yes, she read all of them this year.)

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Take my friends shopping to the Galleria Mall."

Best Friend- Teya M

Best thing about school- Lunch

Worst thing about school- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th periods

Favorite past-time- Playing DSi, computer, coloring and sleepovers.

Favorite song- "The Final Countdown" by Europe

Randy-

Favorite breakfast- Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries

Favorite lunch- Leftover pizza

Favorite dinner- Pizza

Favorite color- Red

Favorite TV Show- Teen Titans

Favorite Book from 2009- Anything by Dav Pilkey

If I had a million dollars, I would- "First of all, get a really cool game, and the rest buy DSi points for as many games as possible. And a calculator. And a clock."

Best Friend- Josh T

Best thing about school- Totally awesome events and parties

Worst thing about school- Room 86 (time out room) and work

Favorite past-time- Play and watch video games

Favorite song- "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor; "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash

Lucy

Favorite breakfast- Oatmeal with chocolate chips and raisins

Favorite lunch- Banana/Nutella sandwich

Favorite dinner- Hot dogs or burritos

Favorite color- Pink and blue

Favorite TV Show- Tom and Jerry

Favorite Book from 2009- All the pink books in the library (but she didn't like "Pinkalicious" very much.)

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Buy all the things I like, such as toys, and buy some stuff for dad for building projects." (I think she's a little jealous of this.)

Best Friends- Lynlee B, Emelynn Y

Best thing about school- Specials (PE, Music, Art) and Centers

Worst thing about school- Homework (Yes, in Kindergarten!)

Favorite Past-time- DSi

Favorite Songs- "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, "Yellow Submarine" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles

Jason

Favorite Breakfast- Muesli and yogurt, or Target's Chocolate Hazelnut cereal, or Chocolate Chocolate-chip muffins

Favorite Lunch- "Any lunch I don't have to make and includes homemade cookies"

Favorite Dinner- "Steak, maybe? There's so many good foods."

Favorite color- Brown

Favorite TV Show- Lie to Me

Favorite Book Read in 2009- "Rough Stone Rolling" by Richard Lyman Bushman

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Buy a fur coat . . . I'd move closer to family, invest the rest and maybe go back to school"

Best Friend- Karen W

Best thing about work- Coming home

Worst thing about work- Long hours

Favorite Past-time- Holding down the couch with Karen and playing family games

Favorite Songs- "She Loves Me" by will.i.am, "Careful" by Guster

Karen

Favorite Breakfast- Sticky buns on Christmas morning

Favorite Lunch- Anything Jay makes for me

Favorite Dinner- Blue Hawaii calzones from Alamo Drafthouse (When he heard this, Jason said, "Oooh good one. I want to change mine.)

Favorite color- Brown and deep purple

Favorite TV Show- Fringe

Favorite book read in 2009- "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

If I had a million dollars, I would- Open a board game store.

Best friend- Jason W

Best thing about being a stay-at-home mom- Staying home

Worst thing about being a stay-at-home mom- Staying home

Favorite Past-time- Dating my husband, crochet, and playing board games

Favorite songs- Anything by Zoe Keating, "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas wasn't just a day of fun- it was an entire week of fun! On Monday, we made our traditional gingerbread houses. The kids each made their own and had a great time. (For all my blogger friends and family whose houses fell apart- you got to do it from scratch. I'm a believer now.)

On Tuesday, we went to see the Nutcracker. Tyler had seen it in the 4th grade and was the most excited to go again. However, he was the only one who said he'd rather not go again. The rest of us loved it- including Randy who discovered a fear of heights from our seats in the balcony. (Sorry- no pictures.)

Wednesday was a baking and cleaning day. (Again, no pictures, but that's a good thing.)

Thursday was our Christmas Eve celebration. Santa got pie instead of cookies. I recommend that since he was verrrrry good to us this year.

My favorite new tradition this year was making- rather than buying- family gifts. Lucy made Tyler a "treasure box." (Grandma made all the kids "Snuggies." That's what they are wearing in these pictures. They love them and I'm jealous I didn't get one!)

Randy gave me a coupon book. He will try a new food, learn a new game and do extra chores. He warned me not to "waste" the coupons. I don't plan to!

Emily made Jason figures for a game. This picture doesn't do justice to all the work she did.

Tyler made Randy a rubber- band maze game.

I made Lucy a bracelet and Jason made Emily a beautiful shadowbox to show off all of her creations.

Helping the kids make their projects was a lot of extra work for me and Jason, but I think this was worth doing and I'd like to do it again next year.

We have another week off from work and school and then on to start 2010! Hope you had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.

Snow Day!

Dec. 4th brought us some winter weather- at least Houston's version of it. We actually saw a couple of inches of snow in our back-yard before it melted all away. Of course, Houston shut down for the day- Jason's office closed and the kids got sent home from school early. (OK, all my Utah friends, you can stop snickering.) We spent the afternoon watching movies next to the fire-place. While we haven't seen snow again, this has been the chilliest December I've ever remembered. We had four days of fog, and lots of rain and wind. Yes, we've had a few of those lovely warm and sunny days. But for the most part I've been able to insist that the kids wear their jackets to school. Which is the way it should be in December.