Too hot in my house!

I try to keep the fire burning and the house warm. We have a little bit of oil but I am hoping that we do not use very much of it. It was snowing all day today, so I decided to bake some cookies. I was really excited to try this recipe that my mom found. It is an old family recipe that was lost. I have very fond memories of these cookies from when I was growing up. (who doesn't have fond memories of cookies)? Mostly in Wisconsin. They are Dutch sugar cakes. So I baked them and they are not what I remembered. Either I did something wrong or they are not the same recipe. I remember them being more puffy or full in the middle and mine are so fragile that they fall apart when you pick them up. This is not stopping anybody from eating them. They still taste good. Anyways my indoor thermometer says that my upstairs was at 82 degrees. We were sweating up a storm. I didn't even have a very big fire going today. I wonder if the snow creates extra insulation? Oh well I think I maybe sleeping with the window open tonight because I am used to sleeping cold, and it is only down to 79 degrees. At least the furnace is not coming on. I guess sometimes you just can't win. The Seminary kids will be happy because they won't be so cold tomorrow morning. Hopefully they will be able to stay awake.

Murphy's Law

I often think that our family should change our last name because of Murphy's law. If something can go wrong it will. Keith has been out west since January 5th. He was also gone for about a week and a half right before Christmas. He had work out in Ut and not any here so we were grateful for the work. I have learned so much since he has been gone.

1. I should learn how to fix cars! The vans timing belt went while he was gone the first time. So the kids and I have been driving the big red truck. Then the truck broke down twice while he was gone. I think it wanted to break down again on Sunday evening too. We left my parents house very late on Sunday (Super bowl and The Office), While we were driving down Drury lane it was making a really loud strange noise. I pulled into the gas station, looked at the tires to make sure they weren't flat and looked underneath the truck to make sure we weren't dragging anything. Nothing so the kids and I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to bless this truck that it would work and started it up and no more strange noise. We made it home safe and sound!

2. I really like my husband! Sometimes when your spouse annoys you think oh I wish he would leave for a little while. Well I am going to try and just laugh next time he annoys me. Besides he is usually laughing while he is annoying me.

3. I would love a shorter drive way. It has snowed a lot here in NY. In fact it is snowing while I am typing this. We have a wonderfully long driveway that is great every other season except when it comes time to shoveling! I know I have 2 teenagers and they need to learn and I do make them shovel but I am usually out there with them because I feel guilty if I am not helping.

4. Keith does so much to keep our house running! When he is home I do not worry one bit about anything breaking because I know that he can fix it. Plus he always keeps the woodstove going which I took for granted. I smoked out our whole house yesterday trying to get it started again because I let it die out on Sunday. So we will smell like campfire for a while.

5. 6am comes to early in the morning. Keith teaches early morning seminary along with everything else he does so I am taking that over while he is gone. I am right there with the kids hoping for a delay or snow day so I can sleep. I do like teaching because I am learning so much but I like my sleep too.

6. There are a lot of wonderful people out here in NY who are willing and do help me and the kids whenever we need anything! I get phone calls and visits making sure that everything is going well. I am so greatful for everyone that has helped us in our time of need and I hope that real soon it will be our family being able to be of service to others.

So as you can see I miss Keith and can't wait for him to be home! I think that I have taken for granted how lucky I am to have such a wonderful handy fix it man for a husband. Plus I miss him making me laugh almost every day of my life.

Other than that the kids and I have been keeping busy with Odyssey of the Mind, Seminary, school, shoveling the driveway, going to the hospital for IV treatments, church stuff, and going over to grandma and grandpa's house.

I thought I would include a picture of the logs that almost made me have a really bad day. Here is the story behind the logs. I had been having the kids bring in would and stack it near the wood stove so it would be easy to keep going. Well they had stacked it so close that a few of the logs were touching the side of the stove. This was the first Sunday that the truck broke down, so we were not able to make it to church because we did not have a ride. The Elletts were on their way over to see if they could get the truck running. I was upstairs and I kept smelling smoke. So I checked the oven and I walked around the house. I finally went downstairs and saw all of this smoke coming from the family room. That is when I saw the logs. They had a little bit of a spark and they were charred and smoking. I guess it was a blessing that we were not in church because I think that would have caught our little log cabin on fire really fast. So no harm done and the kids now stack the wood a good foot away from the stove.

I hope everyone else is having a great winter. I know I am because I count my blessings everyday and I am learning that we are truly blessed!