And Now it's time for...a Cliff moment!

Yes, It's finally here, my Cliff Claven section. (If I spelled this wrong forgive me, I'm impaired and don't e-mail me. It's not nice to make fun of impaired people!) Anyway, from time to time I will post some interesting, useful (or useless depending on your point of view) and completely unrelated information that will make you say, What? Huh? and HOLY COW!! Though not in that order....

...but i digress....

Here is todays useless piece of info:

6 Alternate Uses for Your Freezer

6 tricky problems your freezer can easily solve.

Eliminate unpopped popcorn
Don't you just hate the kernels of popcorn that are left at the bottom of the bowl? Eliminate the popcorn duds by keeping your unpopped supply in the freezer.

Remove wax from candlesticks
Grandma's heirloom silver candlesticks will get a new life if you place them in the freezer and then pick off the accumulated wax drippings. But don't do this if your candlesticks are made from more than one type of metal. The metals can expand and contract at different rates and damage the candlesticks.

Extend candle life
Place candles in the freezer for at least two hours before burning. They will last longer.

Unstick photos
Picture this: Water spills on a batch of photographs, causing them to stick together. If you pull them apart, your pictures will be ruined. Don't be so hasty. Stick them in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Then use a butter knife to gingerly separate the photos. If they don't come free, place them back in the freezer. This works for envelopes and stamps too.

Clean a pot
Your favorite pot has been left on the stove too long, and now you've got a burned-on mess to clean up. Place the pot in the freezer for a couple of hours. When the burned food becomes frozen, it will be easier to remove.

Remove odors
Got a musty-smelling book or a plastic container with a fish odor? Place them in the freezer overnight. By morning they'll be fresh again. This works with almost any other small item that has a bad smell you want to get rid of.

How's that for a Cliff moment? Completely Useful, or Useless? You decide!

Cold, Cold Blizzard

There is a cold, cold, cold, cold blizzard on the warpath today. They tell us not to leave our houses unless completely necessary. There are lots of reasons to dislike blizzards. So I thought I'd list some reasons I like blizzards, cold snow storms, and winter in general!

Chicken noodle soup, I love it!

Hot Chocolate, yummm........my kids just bought marshmallows shaped like snowmen for ours today.

Books, who doesn't love to curl up with a book on a stormy day? My kids LOVE to read, and this gives us an excuse to read more!

Christmas movies....always seem better during a storm...I don't know why? Today is a Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Two of my favorites. Maybe we'll watch the Muppet family Christmas where they go to fozzies mom's house for Christmas during a blizzard...hmmm...I LOVE Christmas movies!

Board Games! I don't like to run electrical devices during a storm, I am not confident on my houses power surge capabilities. So Board Games it is! We love to play, and this gives us another excuse to play!

Warm Blankets....snuggled on the couch with the books and the kids is how I spent my morning. Yumm....

What do you like to do when it storms?

Life, and experiences, and living.

I thought I'd just let you in on some, um, well, funny? Is that the word we'll use? Okay, funny things that have happened this week.

Item #1. Shawn wakes up every morning stinky. No surprise. However, he also heads straight for the refrigerator and pulls out the cheese. Not just any cheese, colby jack every time! As we're cutting the cheese...hehehe....he will squeak "CHEESE!" So we've taken to calling him the stinky cheese man. If you've ever read the book with the same title you'll laugh.

Item #2. Haley melts to pieces once a day on a regular basis. We're working hard to prevent it, and cut it off before it's out of control. One particular day she wanted to watch TV and she needed to do her chores. She started melting, and screamed, "I want to watch Monsters Impersonated!" I couldn't help it....I melted in a pile of laughter.

Item #4. Mark and I were driving home from Bountiful yesterday. In a funny mood. I'm loosing my voice and am very tired. Haley and Mark in the back seat are poking and prodding and playing a game where someone is going to get hurt and start screaming. They are loud, and my head can't handle it. I squeak, "Hey! Let's have quiet time!" Of course, no one can hear me. So Mark bellows, "Hey! We're having quiet time!" That lasted all of 3 minutes. We're still in a funny mood, they start at it again. Mark bellows, "Hey! There will be punishment!" and I reply, "Punishment will include but is not limited too time on a chair, in a room, or away from the TV. " Mark, "Side effects of continuation may include tears, grumpiness in situation, soar bottoms and death." We cracked up and the kids just stared at us like, What? So, I'm sure they think we're nuts.

We had our Primary Program this sunday, whew, that's over! During the program we had several children answer a simple question instead of memorize lines they didn't understand completely. One boy was asked what he knew about Joseph Smith. His reply was, he was a boy that listened to several different religions talk and went bonkers, so he prayed and saw a vision. Another little girl asked how she knew the Holy Ghost was real, she answered, "Because when I throw snowballs at peoples faces I have a feeling this is a bad idea." Kids are so honest! I didn't do much for it. Haley, my 1st counselor was in charge. I can honestly say it was the best program we've had. And I've never heard a choir of kids sing so loud.

Well, that was our week. Let us know about yours!

ER

Things My Mother Taught me...and she didn't even know it!

My mother turns 50 in January. (What a great opening line! Keep reading mom! Don't kill me yet!) She has brought me up with my 5 siblings through heck and back. I have never proclaimed to be the perfect child. In fact I was a terror! However, she taught me many lessons in life. To celebrate her 50th year on this earth, I have made a list of lessons I learned from her, that were taught by example....ehem....

1. Always double check the gas pump is put back before driving away. (love ya mom!)

hehehe......

2. Never give a toddler an entire candy bar. (Lesson learned with help from Joel, age 2)

3. It's a bad idea to leave a 12 year old in charge of her 5 younger siblings in a torrential thunder storm. ( We all recovered physically, except the baby birds. I still hate thunder)

4. You can do anything with duct tape. (including car maintenance, thanks dad)

5. You can clean anything with Simple Green.

6. You don't need a dish washer...that's what the Lord gave you 2 hands for!

7. Sometimes the dog is your smartest kid.

8. It doesn't matter if a house is haunted or not. If the kids believe it... it is. (I swear to this day, there is something unnatural about that house!)

9. If you keep a close relationship with the Lord, he will help you. Even if you don't think you need help.

10. Always follow through with your promises (and threats) no matter how outrageous, it helps your children. (I remember a certain mother throwing the van door open and confronting a certain unruly teenager that had snuck out in front of her entire group of friends. * embarrassing* Thanks mom, you saved my life.)

11. Your mother is usually right about the boys you date. (Saved my life again)

12. Don't ever stick anything in your ear, it may sprout. (With the help of Jodi)

13. Be careful what you say around your very smart toddler, it may come back to haunt you! (or the rude lady next door)

14. Yes, we have rules for a reason. (remember the riot downtown?)

15. You will survive this, and be better for it. (Still with us mom?)

16. Kill an enemy with kindness...they never died...but I have less enemies!

17. Your mother is generally right about parenting.

18. Yes, you can fit 6 kids into the back of a subcompact car. (though they may come out bruised and scratched up)

19. Pay attention to everything, you never know what knowledge could do for you. (Thank you girls camp first aid courses, and Jodi's leg thanks you too)

20. You can't microwave forks.

21. If you wake up in the middle of the night with an insatiable desire to buy water and fire wood....follow through! (If you meet the entire ward at the store at 3am, you know where it came from)

22. You can do anything you set your mind to, or the minds of your children.

23. The Lord has a sense of humor. (Lesson learned over, and over, and over)

24. A Mothers Intuition is real, so listen to it.

25. Just keep learning, just keep learning....learning...learning...what do we do we Learn.....

Thanks mom! Love you! You have been an incredible mother!

Most of you understand the meaning behind these...Have a Great Day!

It's been a while...

So, here's why...

mark's father, David, came out from Missouri for a week to help us start our basement remodel. We worked like dogs for an entire week, up early, up late....we ran into problems and still we succeeded. We managed to almost completely finish the bedroom to the sanding down of the drywall phase....and the bathroom needs a little more drywall work, and i have to pour the cement shower basin, but it shouldn't take too long...as long as I get down there to do it!

Halloween, what happened?! I don't know...you tell me!!! We we're up early and worked straight until trick or treating time. The kids, in thrown together costumes went to Grandma's Party, thanks to Sara and then trick or treated in Curtis and Mary's neighborhood. It rained, but not too much...they seemed to have fun...it's all a blur. Then we came home, put them to bed, and fixed a major plumbing problem until about midnight. We don't know much about electrical and plumbing...and very little about mudding and taping so we tried to get as much done as we could before David had to leave. I hope he recovers well...he worked so hard!

When I have a little more time I'll post pictures of Mark's baptism...halloween...and a few other things!

luv ya

Erin