Earning Money

Sunday night during Temple Table we had a quick family council regarding summer. We came up with a summer day theme:

Make-it Monday

Travel Tuesday

Water Wednesday

Education Thursday

Ferg Friday

We are still unsure what Ferg Friday looks like, could be taking Fergus on an adventure? Maybe a free for all?! We also made a change to our chore rotation, made dishes separate from the kitchen. Everyone will have a day to do dishes instead of an entire week following the day each person feeds the dog. It went quite well this week! It puts less pressure on me since I end up mostly doing the dishes for 2 weeks in a row with Evelyn and Josie. 

Monday we had a fun activity making bracelets. I showed Josie how to use a bracelet loom to weave a fun pattern. Evelyn made a bracelet for Mrs Curtis. I finished making a slew of fun earrings made out of squishmallow shrinky dinks. I signed up to feed the Missionaries, members are to have a less-active member or non-member in attendance in order to have the Elders over. My less active ministering sister was able to come over! I was thrilled to finally meet her. I served Mediterranean nachos. Basically pita chips with hummus, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, feta, and greek olives. It was so refreshing! 

For travel Tuesday we traveled to the park for free lunch, traveled to Arctic Circle to redeem free sundae vouchers I collected, and traveled to the library. The travel part was a bit of a stretch but getting out was very nice. Sara and I went to get an endowment session in at the Boise Temple at 2 pm. I went with an agenda, seeking clarification on where I need to be next year: at home or work one more year at Reagan. I left with the feeling to wait and all will be sorted out. Not sure I like that answer, but I am willing to accept His will whatever that might be. Sara said Dusty was finally going to attend the temple after 13 years! I am so impressed Dusty is making strides to get himself back to the temple, that is no small feat.  

Josie was anxious to have a lemonade stand in front of Ronald Reagan. It was rainy on Monday so we opted to use lemonade at the water activity for Wednesday. I baked up a few dozen batches of chocolate chip cookies for the kids to sell. I am so proud of the kids for raising money to get us to Boston. They stayed out on the sidewalk for 3 hours! Earned about $130 for our trip. Josie had a great idea to pull out the slip and slide after to cool down. The slide ripped last year after it’s first use, we used the famed flex tape and patched up a 6 inch tear with no problems! A little soap, water, and bodies made for a fun afternoon refresher. I went to the dermatology center to get the rest of a mole excised from my neck. I was thinking the dr would shave a bit more off, oh no…it was a true carve out a chuck of flesh moment. I have a nice 1.5 inch wound with 7 stitches, two inside and 5 on the surface. It itches my brain to distraction. Justin and Dusty went to the temple for a 6 pm session. Justin had a job interview beforehand with a Boise-based company. Lynette (from Pennant) contacted him asking if he was interested in doing contract work for 30 hours per week on a 4-6 week long project. They were able to negotiate a very reasonable hourly rate, I believe he will start next week! We are feeling much better knowing he has enough coming in to pay the mortgage and other necessary expenses. 

Justin left for an interview in Grinnell, Iowa early Thursday morning with Brownells (firearms). He worked with the CPA at Brownells when he was at Cabela’s. She is leaving and highly recommended Justin for the position. We asked Justin to buy another F.U. (Foofoo unicorn) at the airport, he was unable to locate one so settled on Mortimer the Moose, aka Morty. His interviews on Friday went very well. He said the town feels much like Sidney, NE. He drove through a neighboring town with a heavy Dutch influence. Morty even got a fancy pair of wooded shoes to go on his bare hooves. 

At home I made a last moment decision to have a garage sale. We had a Lego challenge which was to build a robot. Phillip’s was of course unusual, Everett’s was battle-tastic, and Evelyn made a robot prison and retreat. Heather Bird suggested I raise money with a yard sale, one of my least favorite activities. She had items to donate so I was spurned closer to the idea. The kids caught fire and went through their belongings donating quite a pile of stuff! I was very proud of their decisions to get rid of stuff, even their beloved stuffies. I asked for other donations and had 5-6 folks donate items! We worked hard to get everything sorted and ready for Saturday morning. I did not get signs posted until 9 pm Friday night. Justin got home around midnight on Friday after a very long day of interviewing and traveling home. 

Kim Overall suggested I take our load of donations to the park next to the Islands because they were hosting a community yard sale. Amelia and I ultimately decided we would get more sales closer to the Islands than in our neighborhood. That entailed 3 trips with the van and truck stuffed to the gills with donations. Justin woke up to help us out at the sale, and get the largest items moved from out home to the park. We set up at the public park in front of Sister Braden’s home hoping no one would object. We were able to raise $330 for our Boston trip! Hooray. I am glad all the large items sold, especially the play house, play kitchen, and large chairs. I had to return home at 12:30 in order to set up for a newborn session at 2 pm. My body was in so much pain after the session. I need to get myself to a doctor one of these days. The little boy, Fabian, was a dream baby. My knees and joints are all swollen and painful making sitting, kneeling, and bending over torture. Justin and the kids wrapped up the yard sale around 3 pm, basically stuffed everything left over back into the van. Amelia and I went to DI after my session was over to donate the rest of the stuff. I was back on the road at 5:40 for another photo session with Jana Izatt and her husband for their 20th anniversary. Awwww! I had them buy ice creams and walk around downtown for their session. It was very fun and cute. The kids were begging for homemade caramels, made that for a movie treat. I borrowed Migration from the library on Tuesday, we watched that as a family. 

My kids are all down in the dumps because the Ostlers left for Boston early Friday morning. Ambree and Carson complained the entire day about going, refusing to pack, help out, just laze on the couch whining. I snapped, went over and told them they were ungrateful little snipes. Whining when we would give anything to go! Sara gave me a thumbs up, hope those little stinkers buck up their attitudes. 

Jeremy and Yulia sent us $50 this week to help raise funds for Boston. I just sat upstairs and cried. I sent my mom a text letting her know, my brain was not fully thinking. I just wanted her to know how awesome it was that Jeremy and Yulia were giving when their own situation is not the best. I appreciated their sacrifice so much. Mom texted back alerting me that they had to pay a very hefty (like hefty) tax bill and couldn’t donate. I felt so bad that she thought I was asking for donations. That was not my intention. Dad sent us $300 for our trip. 

I think we will be able to make it if we camp along the way and eat grocery store meals. I found a much cheaper hotel in the Boston area for $114 a night, probably in a flea motel, but it’s what we can afford. I don’t know if we should camp in Palmyra or stay in the hotel I reserved. We are taking a leap of faith and making the trip happen. I pray mightily that our van will not break down or malfunction.