{Everyday Happenings}

Today has been adventurous as we spoke for the first time in our new ward. I've managed to dodge the bullet the last two times I was asked because they asked within a couple of days within both my boys due dates. Not this time. Chris did awesome & I cried:) We each took turn with the kids & thankfully we have great members in our ward that reached out & assisted. I even heard a little boy whisper behind us to his mom asking what was wrong with Jaden (he can be tough in Sacrament meeting.) I heard her say that he was tired & that both of us were speaking so they needed to be helpful. Gotta love the strangers (hopefully friends soon) that reach in to assist.

We can be boring but thankfully we have fun together doing the simple things.

Jaden loves to "mow me lawn" & we like to use that as a bribing tool to get him to do things. He does exactly what daddy does...as a pretender he puts gas in his mower, pulls the string to start it, & empties that grass. His rows are as perfect as daddys too.

AND of course ball is a favorite past time for all the boys Whether they play baseball, basketball, golf, or simply eating the ball (Landon) they all think its great.

Where did my little boy go...

Jaden is growing right before my eyes. I just watch him in awe at the things that he does & discovers. The phrases that come out of his mouth keeps me laughing all day.

Yesterday I took Jaden for testing with the school district. For awhile we've been very concerned about his speech. In March we had his hearing checked to see if maybe he didn't hear very well & therefore wasn't saying the words clearly. His hearing results were better then average. At this point he was put on a waiting list with a Speech Pathologist in Rexburg. About a week after we moved I received a phone call letting us know they finally could set him up an appointment. Nice timing!!!

Anyways there were a few different people that told me to have him tested by the school district because they have early intervention programs & if he qualifies we don't have to pay, yippeee!!! They called me back two weeks ago & set the appointment for yesterday. About a week ago I finally took Jaden for his 3 year check & I mentioned to his new doctor that I was concerned about his speech & that I had an appointment with the school district. His doctor said he thought his speech was fine & that very few 3 year olds spoke clearly. So then my doubting begins & I'm worried I'm one of those over-concerned mothers. Chris reassures me that it's better to be safe then sorry.

Because of Jaden's unclear words we've been working really hard to make him repeat words that he doesn't say correctly. As we were driving to the appointment I started asking Jaden to repeat some of his more difficult words & they were coming out perfectly. Again, I'm worried that I'm wasting someones time.

The appointment was an hour & I got to watch Jaden with each activity. The first activites were puzzle types; as an FYI Jaden excels at these types of things so then I'm really worried they are going to think I'm crazy. I don't know how they rate certain things so I'm not sure how he did, we'll find out in a couple of weeks, but it was very enjoyable watching Jaden try to figure out the different acitivities. The comments that would come out of his mouth were of course hilarious.

I love this little guy & if he passes it means he's where he should be & if he doesn't we get free services. Hopefully we don't wait too long:)

A nation in trouble..

I'm worried. Our economy is in trouble. I don't believe that there is a perfect solution & won't even begin to think I know how to fix this. Everyday it seems like another bank is failing.

I think that this will affect everyone. This is how I think that it will affect me. I'll be paying more taxes to cover this huge bailout of AIG & so many banks. PLUS I think we'll see a decrease in spending. I actually am a huge supporter of this & believe in purchasing something only when you can afford it BUT a decrease in spending affects everyone. As an example, Chris (my hubby) sales advertising. Chris is paid mostly on commission. As businesses fail (because we aren't spending) they won't be advertising. Other examples are the jobs that will be lost, the businesses that will fail, homes will be lost.

Regarding the housing market. This is probably the saddest thing. It's disappointing that there was so much corruption. I do think that the homeowners hold some responsibility though. An ARM loan sounds great but that was a huge part of the problem. When we were looking for our first home the first mortgage company that we talked to tried to convince us to get this type of loan. The positive was that the interest rate was low to start with & could stay that way. I'm conservative & I told Chris I wasn't comfortable with this type of loan & didn't like the push in this direction by the mortgage company. Thankfully we made a different decision & I wish so many others had done the same thing. I also hope to see the end (I think they might already be gone) of 100% financing. If you can't afford a down payment you can't afford a mortgage. So many go into a home under a false sense that they could afford it. Homes are expensive. There are so many expenses that you don't have when you rent. Sometimes the excitement of a home clouds our judgement. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE, before you get into a home.

I do want to mention that I think there are unfortunate circumstances that may cause someone to lose there home & it's out of their control. Examples may be a medical emergency or loss of a job. These things aren't forseen & you can't always plan for it. I just don't want to see anyone else lose their home because they were greedy & wanted more of a home then they could afford.

This morning I was with some ladies from our ward & one of them had mentioned that they've been trying to sell their home since February. Her husband got a new job in Salt Lake & her & her three children have stayed behind to try to sell their home. I'm sad for her...this has to be a HUGE trial. It's hard with the market the way it is to have a lot of hope but her attitude was great.

I wish I knew the perfect solution at this time. I try to listen to recommendations & can only hope & pray that our country will choose the best one. I'm very happy that Senator McCain has chosen to suspend his campaign so that he can get to Washington & try to assist in fixing this problem. Although I think it may be politically motivated this is where he needs to be & this is what he should be doing. It's his job. I only wish Obama saw it this way also.

I hope that all of you will be impacted minimally; I think everyone will be impacted. Be wise & work hard!!!

Sadness!!!

I did something REALLY dumb. I was trying to create my own background & messed up the HTML completely. The only thing I could see to do was to delete the blog & start over. I believe I was on 59 entries...I feel like I lost so much.

But that is ok. This gives me a clean slate, right???

Gotta go take care of my kids. I've already spent way to much time trying to fix this!