Run Noah, Run!!

I feel so thankful tonight. I am in a warm bed with my Valentine, knowing all my kids are safe and tucked into their beds. We had a big wind/snow storm here and luckily we were clear of things.

We also got great news that our nephew is walking again. He had not been walking for 4 days and it turned out to be a virus that is on the mend. We got word that he is jumping off the couch and running around again. So Run Noah, Run!!

Kason's report on Walt Disney

WALT DISNEY
By: Kason Keller


Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney, had five children, four boys and one girl.

Soon after Walt’s birth, the family moved to Missouri. Walt had a very early interest in drawing and art. Infact, one time he talked his sister Ruth into painting one side of the family’s house with tar.

Walt Disney had many interests. He enjoyed trains, and studied photography. HE also gained a knack for acting and performing.

Walt started his first business, Laugh-O-Grams in Kansas City. The business went bankrupt and Walt packed up his suitcase and headed to California. Walt Disney was twenty-one-years old at this time.

Walt’s older brother, Roy, helped Walt start a new business and set up shop in their uncle’s garage. Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds. Together they had two daughters.

When Walt originally came up with Mickey Mouse, he called him Mortimer. Lillian convinced Walt that the mouse’s name should be Mickey. Mickey Mouse became Disney’s icon and Walt had a genuine love for his animated friend. Walt was known to say, “He still speaks for me and I still speak for him.”

Walt Disney was a innovator and an optimist. Even fourty years after his death, we still continue to grasp his ideas, and his creation, remembering him and everything he has done for us.

As Mr. Disney once said, “WE KEEP MOVING FORWARD and opening new doors and doing things because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”












January 17, 2008
Dear Mrs. Scanlon,


Thank you for doing this project! Kason and I have had so much fun learning about Walt Disney. He is one of my heroes and I have to admit I was pretty excited when Kason came home from school with news of this project and said he wanted to be, Walt Disney.

Kason enjoyed this so much. We had so much information that we had to go over how to organize sentences and paragraphs. (which, I am very rusty at) It was a great and fun way to help him learn. I know the handwriting needs work, but I am so proud of him for writing this report. I thought I would just type it up incase there were a few things that were not to clear on the paper. This is a piece of school work we will keep for Kason. We are getting props together for the Wax Museum part. (This was a labor of laughter and love.)


Jennifer Keller

Check out my Slide Show!

Strep Sucks!

So Derek and I both got Strep. Yeah. <---read sarcasm here! Our poor little Ryan has some chest congestion, fever and stuffy nose. (my poor wittle baby) It's hard to take care of sick kids when both parents are down. It is not too bad. Derek got an antibiotic shot, so he is on the upswing. I am allergic to some antibiotics, so I had to get the Z-pack. I know it works faster then most, but I would have rather got the shot and taken some benadryl for the itchiness. I am still laid out in bed.

Speaking of my bed. Ryan is sleeping with us again. Well, with him sick and both Derek and I feeling lousy, it just makes it easier. Infact all of the kids are sacked out on our floor. (I always think our bedroom is too big and then all the kids come sleep on the floor and I am reminded why Derek wanted a big bedroom.) I am starting to wonder why we have 4 bedrooms? Everyone sleeps in ours! Ohwell, at least when they are teenagers and they come in late, I will know!

Some cleaner recipes

The first is the Laundry Soap recipe. Mine did not gel at all. I don't know what I did wrong. I still am using it and it works great!
Here is the link to the recipe;
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/15/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent-and-save-big-money

Here is where I got the recipes for the glass cleaner it works FANTASTIC! I have not yet used the multi-purpose cleaner. I did add 2 tbsp of Baking soda to it, for an added abrasive. If you too, want to try this, add the baking soda ver, very slowly.
http://organizedhome.com/pantry-recipes-homemade-cleaning-products

PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW THEY WORK FOR YOU OR SEND ME A RECIPE THAT HAS WORKED FOR YOU.

I WOULD ALSO LOVE SOME GARDENING AND BOTTELING TIPS.

THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE US HERE AT, FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS!

She blinded me with Science

I have been trying to figure out ways to save money on our Grocery bill. It has been high since milk and now eggs have went up. ( I think also it has something to do with Austin and Kason getting older and TALLER. And Jaxon and Megan can hold their own in that dept.) So I decided, that there our a few things that I really like and don't want to have to do without. One is Fabric softener. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Downy's Lavendar Fabric softener. We never used fabric softener when I was a kid, but when I started to use it, I fell in love! I decided maybe I will try making my own laundry detergent. (I know I am up in the night.) But for you hum & haw 'ers, Yes, I did find a recipe and read many reviews about people who have used it.

With excitement for my new "Science Project" I went to Wal-Mart Friday and after getting 3 carts full of groceries (no, I am not kidding.) I found out that they do not sell Borax and washing soda there. I was a bit bumbed and tired. I took Jaxon and Ryan with me and we were there for 3 hours. Ryan was crying, Jaxon kept running into my heels with his shopping cart and I am surprised I did not need a blood transfusion from getting whacked on the back of the ankles so much. After waiting for 45 minutes in line, (I was the 2nd person in line and that should tell you how slow our cashier was.) the Wal-Mart check-out girl had the nerve to ask me, "Did you find everything Ok, today?"
I replied quickly with, "No, I could not find sanity anywhere!"
She said, "Oh, I think that's in the produce department."
(She thought I said celery.)
I decided not to take this conversation any further. I was allready on the verge of tears ( and I was a wee bit nervous I would jump over the scanner and strangle her to an unconsience state for prolonging my agony by 45 minutes.) I did want to disagree, by saying, "No, I think your sanity is kept in the Liquor dept., but I choose not to self medicate!"

Thankfully, Derek went to our grocery store on Saturday morning and came home with both of the things I needed. (My hero!! I love that guy of mine ; ) So tonight for Family Home Evening we talked about the importance of thriftiness and I told the kids how we might be able to cut some cost if we made a few of our own cleaners. Now, some of you might be thinking, "Why in the heck did she try this with her kids?" Well, after thinking of doing this by myself and getting excited about trying them out, I had an epiphany! (they are few and far between) If I am excited to try what I made, the kids would really be excited! Ok, well maybe atleast more willing to help clean and do laundry. So after we closed with the song, "Put your shoulder to the wheel", we went to the kitchen where we made our first batch of laundry detergent. Then after about 10 minutes we were done, so we then made our own Glass Cleaner and Multi-Purpose cleaner. The kids loved making them. I was reminded very quickly that adding baking soda to vinegar makes for a good volcano lava. It was not to bad. we wiped it up and then we were done. The kids were having fun and they were sad we were done. While the kids and I made cleaners Derek made our second batch of Laundry detergent. So, we now have 2,5-gallon buckets (with lids on them)sitting in our mud room. I am hoping it will turn out.

If my calculations are correct (I just love to say that) we will pay .015 cents per load. We usually spend about .27 cents a load. (that is without bleach and fabric softener.) At our house we do (well, we should do) 9 loads of laundry a week. So that is a $2.25 savings a week. I know that might not seem like alot, but I also found a Fabric Softener recipe that I plan on using. I have not figured out the cost savings on that yet, but it will be a much bigger savings and even though I did not want to give up my fabric softener, I am really excited to see how this works. I am looking forward to trying, toothpaste, mouthwash, and liquid hand soap. (The fun never ends!!)

I will keep you all updated on how our "Amish" cleaners go. (I figure it cannot get worse then shopping with kids and I have lived through that. Barely, but I have lived through it.)

2008 is almost here

Derek's sis, Wendy put the following on the Keller Website. I thought I would share:

Yesterday in RS we studied a talk by Elder Faust (inserted into the back of the October General Conference Ensign) called The Power to Change (something like that) READ IT. Anyway we were also given a handout that goes like this:

PROBABILITY OF IMPLEMENTATION

A study at a major university attempted to delineate the factors involved in a typical human's ability to translate the acceptance of an idea in the implementation or application of that idea, i.e., turning thoughts into actions. The results were as follows:
ACTIVITY Implementation Rate
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Hear an idea that you like 10%
2. Consciously decide to adopt the idea 25%
3. Decide when you will do it 40%
4. Plan how you will do it 50%
5. Commit to someone else that you will do it 65%
6. Make a regular appointment with the person you 95%
committed to and report your progress

Anyway, I really liked that and I want to try that this year. We also talked about not making too many resolutions and/or making reasonable goals instead of something you will never be able to do.
Good luck to any resolution makers!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I (Jenn) thought that was great. Before I read the former, I was getting ready for the day and I thought of ways, I could better my life. To tell the truth I am a HUMBUG, when it comes to New Year's resolution, because I think of them as Weight Loss. Not this year, (Sure I need to drop a few pounds, but I am hoping to set other goals that might eventually leead to doing that.)

This Year, I have different ideas. I will write down my goals, but I will not bore you with my plans of action.

1.) I want to (will) Enjoy Life. (I have a great life & great people in it, so I want to LIVE it!)

2.) I want to (will) have a closer relationship to Heavenly Father.

3.) I want to (will) be a better wife to Derek. (He deserves it.)

4.) I want to (will) be a better mother and have better relationships with my kids.

5.) I want to (will) go to Cancun. hee.. hee...hee... ;0) (Thanks Larry & Karen!!)


What are yours??

New, New Year's Resolution

This year, I am not going to make the same New Year's resolution, "Try and lose weight." It is not like it has been working for me anyways. Infact, it seems to be the opposite. Maybe I should say, "This year I want to gain 20 pounds!" Then maybe I would lose weight. No, with my luck I would finally accomplish a goal.

Yesterday, my Uncle gave me a nice compliment and said I was our family's, Erma Bombeck. Well, I was flattered. But I honestly did not know what Erma Bombeck wrote about. I just knew my mom really liked her books. So last night I got on the web and read quite a bit about her. WOW!! What a funny and wonderful lady. (Larry, thanks for the compliment, but I am no Erma Bombeck.)

After a long year of ups and downs, I have decided that my new year's resolution is going to be "Enjoy Life More!"

Erma Bombeck wrote a poem and after reading it last night, it just solidified my resolve to enjoy life more. Here is the poem:

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

"I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's." More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it , live it and never give it back."

Erma, thanks for leaving us with that great advice!

P.S. After reading some of her famous quotes, I was so relieved to find out no one has ever died from sleeping in an unmaid bed! Sheesh, I cannot tell you what a relief that is to me ; O)

Five Kids or a Blizzard? Take your pick!

Tonight, I took Megan to Build-a-bear. She got a gift card from Santa In Manhattan Beach. I told her I would take her the day after Christmas. I decided it might be easier to take her by herself then with all 5 kids. So we left the boys(Derek included) home and headed for the Mall in Orem. The roads were icy and it was snowing. As we were driving home, I could not even tell if I was in a lane. I was starting to get nervous and thought, "I wonder what is scarier, trucking 5 kids through a mall or Driving in pouring snow on Icy roads?" The answer was obviously taking 5 kids to the mall. It was great to now have perspective and I was no longer nervous about driving in treacherous conditions.

The Christmas Bomb!

Yesterday morning, before the kids got up. The house looked so pretty. The whites lights glistening on the tree and on the greenery over our atrium doors. The presents were wrapped so sweetly under the tree. The Family Room, DIning area and Kitchen were nice and clean. It was a nice 10 minutes of enjoying that moment. Now I really know what they mean, when they say, "Take a picture it will last longer!" Derek had gone to go get the the kids. They all looked so cute. Ryan in Derek's arms. The kids half awake, but very excited! All them dressed in their Christmas jammies. Then it happened!!! The gift opening began and that we can keep a handle on by throwing away wrapping paper as each present was opened. But it was the opening of Teckno Dogs, Robotic spider, Remote Control Cars, Bratz Make over Doll, (I lovingly refer to Bratz Dolls as Hooker Dolls.) and way too many Spiderman toys that come with about 30 tightly twisted, wire twist ties each and their boxes that are ripeed into a million peices to get the beloved toy out of the box!! That is when our house looked like The Christmas bomb had went off at our house. It was crazy and I was thankful Costco sells batteries in bulk. My Aunt and Uncle gave us the most amazing presents. They suprised us with a nintendo Wii and they are taking both of my brothers, their wives, and Derek & I to Cancun this March. Derek and I are so excited. Especially since it will probably be snowing here in Utah and we will go enjoy 80 degree temps on a warm beach. I know gifts are not the biggest part of Christmas, but a trip to Cancun has got to hit top of WOWWY gifts!! Derek has always wanted to go fishing in the ocean and I am so excited he will get to do that!! Myself, I am hoping to hit a couple of zip lines in the rain forest area and go horse back riding along the beach.
This Year I was not feeling up to cooking a big dinnerand then cleaning up. SO we got a Costco Pizza, the kids put on the Nativiy Scene, and we watched It's a Wonderful Life on TV. It was GREAT!! We might do this every year.

How to be a in-the-closet Santa!

Actually, I have no idea how to be an "In the closet Santa" It just sounded like an intriguing title. Tell the truth. Did it intrigue you? No, you can tell me. .......Oh, be quiet! It's my Blog! If you think I'm crazy, well I would have to comply with that quick observation. But really who can blame me. Being a mother of 5 at Christmas, can really wear a girl out. Especially, all that ordering online while Derek and I shopped for the kids at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, and of course E-Bay! (We were wearing pajamas.) It is the first time I have done a bulk of my shopping online and hard to believe, I know, but the first time I shopped in my Pajamas.

OK, now about the closet thing. My closet is a walk in closet that is 16 x 5'. Now that might seem large to some of you and small to others. It is HUGE to me. Derek and I don't own that many clothes. Nor do I want to. I HATE LAUNDRY. The person who invents disposable clothing will have my undying gratitude for the rest of my life.....Oops! I got side tracked. Anyways, I have my sewing machine table and Ironing board set up in the closet and that is how I use up the bigger half of the closet that we don't use. Well, I just went into my closet and there are boxes everywhere. Infact, I can't get to Derek's clothes. It is not my fault. He is the one who stacked the boxes. Walmart and Toys-R-Us send huge boxes, for not alot of items.

You might be thinking, "Hey Lazy, wrap the gifts and put them under the tree." Well, that sounds great but, the kids take after me and poke holes in their presents to see what is in them. So I can't! I have put some Christmas presents under the tree. But I did not put any names on them. So that has stumped them, for the time being. (I just hope I remember, which present goes to which person.) It's a tricky business being Santa's Helper.

I love you Derek! Thanks for 14 fun years.