Plugged in?

Yes, this was posed. And so was the next one, I was trying to get a 'natural' pic of Becca as she headed out for church today. She's such a little fashion diva! It's hilarious!

A package of googly eyes

We bought a package of googly eyes to make some of these. They're prayer rocks! (Thanks to my friend Heather for this pic! ;)


The new package of 'eyes' sparked some serious creativity in Becca! She went to work sewing, stuffing, and glueing together puppets! I had her take a picture of them to show you. The ostrich, the dog and the elephant.

...and I will pour you out a blessing....

So, I wanted to share with all of you some of the amazing blessings that the Lord keeps pouring into our lives! We just finished our 4th month of living on our food storage, and our cupboards and shelves have never been fuller. We have truly been blessed in a remarkable way.

I know now that the Spirit was driving my decisions and my actions last September. That's when I started using coupons and looking for bargains. I was VERY driven to restock our 3-month supply of foods and pretty much turned it into a full time job. When we found out that John would lose his job on October 20, I knew why I did what I did the month before.

Anyhow, we had to slow way down on what we were able to buy for our family, but I still kept an eye out for super cheap and FREE things to add to our storage. I eventually figured out a way to print coupons online for free. Then, the store around the corner started their new policy of doubling coupons, so I was able to turn around and use those coupons to get FREE food! I wanted to post these videos (they are from my private 'Savvy Sister' blog) because when I reviewed them, all I could think was "Manna from Heaven!" I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's blessings in our lives and for always providing the things that we need.

I have more to say about all this, as some really wonderful things are happening- but I'll know more later this week, so I'll post them later!

This could also be titled, "How to stock your freezer for next to nothing!" I am really picky about the deals I get and I've been able to fill my freezer with lots of things for rock bottom prices! I want to show you what some of the possibilites are with these short videos.







P.S. I didn't pull out the ugly freezer stuff- frozen meatloaf and hamburger. I like to brown a whole pack of hamburger at once, and even add in some boiled wheat to make it stretch further. I'll freeze two cups at a time in a bag and whalaa! Instant meat ready for a recipe: tacos, spaghetti, sloppy joes.

Also, the cranberries for 25 cents each (!) were bought at Carl's Super Saver in Ogden. It's a little bit of a "dodgey" store, but wow- what deals! This was the same place that I bought the applesauce cups for 10 cents each. The cranberries were on sale 4/$1 right after Christmas. You can freeze cranberries for a YEAR, so I bought 12 bags! I'll use them throughout the year for cranberry salsa, an awesome cranberry cake recipe that my friend Rekehl recommends, and for homemade cranberry sauce whenever we have turkey- yum!

Praxis Test

This is the last post about me for a long time, I promise! It's not often that a Mom has to take a written test, but that is what I did about a month ago at Weber State. In order to keep my teaching certificate current, I have to take classes and tests, etc. and renew my license every three years. So.... this time around I decided to finally take the Praxis test. (I've been putting it off for about 6 years now.) This test covers areas in Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science.
I was surprised to get an envelope a couple of weeks ago with a folder in it that said 'Excellence' (pictured above) on it. Inside, was a certificate and a letter saying that I scored in the top 15% of all test takers that have taken the test! I know that it's not genius level or anything, but as a stay-at-home mom, I'll take what I can get!
The certificate said: "Your exceptional performance earned a score that ranks within the top 15% of all test takers who took this assessment in previous years. This achievement indicates a high level of proficiency in an area critical for professional educators."
Honestly, I'm just glad I passed- I was worried about wasting the $130 I had to pay just to take it! Alrighty, so there you have it. Like I said, that's the last post about me for a LONG time.... we will return to our regularly programmed posts all about A and B and T, thank you!

Guess what?

I started teaching piano lessons! So far it's been great. I'm realizing that it's much easier to be a teacher than the student- I'm not the one that has to practice all week long! (Although I should.) Some parents in my ward asked me if I taught lessons and I kept saying no. Then I thought, "Why don't I?" Well, for years this was the reason why not:

But now that Tommy is growing up and getting more independent, (again, thank you public school!) I think I can swing it. I got my first 3 students last week and another girl will start next month! I'm so excited!

P.S. If you could all include us in your prayers, we would really appreciate it. If you're wondering why I'm doing the coupon blog and teaching lessons, etc. just read 'Start Rowing' in this month's Ensign. Our family knows, but John actually lost his job last October. I know, again, the Ryans are on the financial roller coaster. We didn't say anything because we knew a new job would be right around the corner- unfortunately we were wrong! We would appreciate your prayers, thanks so much! The Lord has blessed us soooo much! I'll write more about all of that later.

Follow the prophet? Yes, I think I will.

I need your help! Will you please speak up over here:

http://thelolaletters.blogspot.com/2010/02/heather-said.html

and reveal yourself as an intelligent, wonderful woman that follows the prophet? I mentioned on my cousin's blog that I 'follow the prophet' and 'he knows the way' and I've been accused of being childish and naive (go figure.) This was in response to a book review where the author explains that women are happier if they a. get married later b. have children later and c. have fewer children. (Hmmm... I wonder where those ideas came from?) So, if you have anything you'd like to say, go check it out! I think it'd be awesome if we all left a comment about how we are intelligent, fun-loving, spiritual women that actually follow someone besides Oprah Winfrey. (Did I just say that? Yes, I think I did.)

**WOW! If you want to read an AMAZING comment, read the one by Jill Collier- you are so awesome, Jill! She's my super cute, talented, best mommy, sister-in-law! Way to go, Jill!

Grandmas may not like this post... involves kids and snakes!

The kids and I took advantage of the FREE Science Saturday up at Weber State University last weekend. Little did we know that we would be making some new friends!

Don't you love how calm and relaxed Becca is holding a baby python??

Then, we met the full size version! Eww!! My kids didn't mind petting this huge 15 foot guy. (Even Allison.)

Yep, Becca looks like a professional snake handler here.

How did you do Grandmas? Did you make it to the end of the post?? Pretty gross, eh?

Our little drummer boy

I couldn't help myself... I had to post all four- he kept getting better and better!