What in the World!

Now that Adam is 5, he has found it appropriate and very grown up to add new phrases to his vocabulary. My favorite is, "What in the world....!" He pretty much says that any time things don't go exactly as planned. It was pretty cute when I overheard this expression as he was trying to put a toy back together and it wasn't happening. He muttered under his breath, "what in the world is this thing doing to me!" He also likes to use the word "actually" alot. "Mom, it's actually......." He will proceed to fill in whatever he would like to say. One of these days I need to take a video of him talking with his hands. It's too cute. I was so proud of him the other day as I arrived home with the car full of boxes for our move. Adam marched right out and proceeded to be a little gentleman and essentially emptied the entire car by himself as I talked on my cell phone. When I got off the phone and realized what happened I thanked him and he said, "Mom, I like to give service to people to show them how much I love them. And I love you Mom." I pretty much melted right there. I find myself just gazing into his darling face just wishing he would stay this little forever. Can you tell I'm going to cry on his first day of Kindergarten? I found some old pictures that I just love because their just so sweet! See, I can look at the mess now and say, "Oh, wasn't he just sweet!" I guarantee I didn't say that then.

No Girls

Conversation with Adam in the car this morning;
M: When your last month of karate is over you can pick something new to try like gymnastics or something.
A: Well, I might want to try gymnastics. But I don't want to go to a dance class that has lots of girls like the one in Indiana.
M: What's wrong with being in a class with girls?
A: Well, I don't like to be friends with a bunch of girls. I just want to stick with boys.
M: Oh, but you like to play with Haley and she's a girl.
A: Yeah, but she's a girl I know and I'll just stick with her. I like Haley, but I don't want to be friends with a bunch of girls I don't know.
M: You'll probably have alot of girls in your kindergarten class.
A: Oh, well, I'll be friends with the girls in my kindergarten class. Just not the girls at the dance class in Indiana.
M. Oh...okay.

I still couldn't quite get out of him why exactly he doesn't like girls. Maybe he thought he had to wear a tutu if he went to a class with all girls. Or, maybe he just doesn't want to be the only boy. Anyway, this conversation happened on the way home from registering him in Kindergarten. I can't believe my little boy is going to school! This all seems to crazy! Time goes by too fast and I wish my little stinkers would stay little just a little longer.

God does love us!

Hello it's me again. Back again from my regular hiatus. Usually, I become resistant to journaling when I have plenty to write about. In fact too much to actually sit down and document. I have so much to report and say that I usually get overwhelmed and quit for awhile. My guilt eventually gets the better of me as I contemplate the volumns upon volumns of journals that my father has painstakingly kept over his now 68 years of life. You'd think I could blog a consistent word here and there instead of post silly pictures of my face on different famous people. Anyway, I feel compelled to share a huge blessing and answer to prayer that will drastically improve our families' quality of life in the next year to 6 years. We have spent this last year crammed into a tiny 720 square foot home. We have been very grateful to have a roof over our heads that was affordable as the cost of living on the east coast came as quite a shock from the slow-paced mid-western state of Indiana. But this home was much less than ideal for our growing family. Now that we know that Rob has some long-term stability with his job, we have been praying for an opportunity to purchase a home that we could stay in for awhile. I think in our 7 years of marriage we have moved almost 7 times! I have gotten very good at moving but I'm ready to settle down. When we went about getting pre-approved to purchase, we quickly realized that until Rob received his first real pay increase at the professor level (it happens when he officialy has his doctorate degree in hand) we would not be able to afford anything suitable for our family. I was very discouraged and had resigned myself to the possibility that we would never grow up and have a home of our own. That we would always struggle month to month to make ends meet. Just when we had decided that we would just stay in this tiny house another year, I checked craigslist out of auto pilot habit and came across this ad that seemed too good to be true. There are many scams on craigslist, but when I saw the pictures I had the distinct feeling that I had found our home. As it turns out, we have found the perfect set up for our current situation. The couple had decided to rent for one year to someone that was interested in buying the same home at the end of that year. The market is terrible out here so this is really the ideal. To rent a home this size, location, and quality, you have to pay at least $1350-$1600 per month! Crazy hugh! They are renting to us much lower than the normal market value so we feel very fortunate to have just found it to rent for the time being even if we don't buy. We are 99% certain that it is exactly what we would want to buy for our first home, so we are planning to purchase the home which is currently listed at almost $10-15,000 under the current market value at the end of this next year. We found our home! We signed the lease tonight so it is official. I can't tell you how excited and blessed I feel! Today as I was cleaning my tiny corner of a kitchen and watching the ants march across my table that we have learned to coexist with, I smiled to myself because I could now have peace in knowing that we will be in a much better situation than we are now. I will no longer have nasty moldy caulking in my shower that I can't scrub clean no matter what powerful chemical I use. All the windows will actually lock! I won't have stray dogs and cats roaming into our yard and tearing through our garbage and pooping in my yard later to be transported into my house on the bottom of a little boy's shoe. I'll have a dishwasher! After 3 years without one, I will cherish every moment I spend filling that machine! I will have a place for everything! No more trecking out to the storage unit to retrieve everyday used items. My boys can play without falling all over each other in their tiny bedroom/playroom. Can you tell I'm excited? Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure so you can share in my excitement.

Before:

After:

Which one do you like?

I had a little too much fun today with a website where you can put your face in a celebrity hairstyle. This is what I came up with.


Brad Pitt with my hair Cindy Crawford

Oprah
Victoria Beckham (my favorite)

Bill Clinton
Some Actress I don't know
Jessica Simpson
Some girl from Grey's anatomy (I think) Hillary Clinton

Sweet Success

Taking just a moment to express gratitude for a little success we've experienced this week.



We had our very first FHE that didn't involve a significant amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Typically I feel like pulling out the WWF costumes and jumping into the ring with these two little roughians I have here. But this time, we had so much fun together. The boys have been obsessed with Abinadi and King Noah for several weeks now so we relived the story with them using gospel art kit pictures. Then we had to teach Lincoln the difference between the prophet Noah and King Noah because he was somewhat confused. He'd point to the picture of the prophet Noah and say, "Dat king Noah?", then to the Wicked King Noah, "Or dat King Noah?". Took awhile but I think he's got it now. Then we went to Dunkin Donuts for Dessert and stopped by the Little League Baseball games for an impromtu watch. All in all a delightful evening spent together as a family.

My headache is gone

Many of you know that I've been working from home as an Independant Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay for two years now. All this time I felt like I had found the best solution for my desire to achieve financial freedom while staying home with my children. After all, with all due respect to my sweet hardworking husband, being married to a musician who teaches does not yeild high pay checks. Perhaps someday he'll really roll in the dough as a performer but for now, we really don't know what the future will bring. I want to be able to plan for the future but I also want him to pursue his passion because I know he will be happiest doing so. Unfortunately for him, he married an extremely ambitious human being who has grand plans and dreams that will never be realized when our basic needs are barely being met. Now, please do not get me wrong here. I am a huge advocate of living within your means and the knowledge that more money does not bring happiness. However, with a growing family (no not pregnant yet), and ever growing prices for basic living expenses, we are finding that no matter how hard we try to conserve, it seems we are always running short and digging a deeper hole. I agonize over the massive amount of student loan debt we have accrued that has begun looming over our heads as his schooling comes to an end. I wonder if we will ever be able to raise our children in a modest yet suitable home. I want them to have the best education I can give them. I struggle to see how things will work unless I can help in some way. So back to Mary Kay. I was convinced that there was not a better work-from-home opportunity available out there for women of small children. However, there were a few things that have grown bothersome to me about the business. I have begun to notice that having an inventory is somewhat of a headache. And just the "Details" aspect of the business was really becoming a stressful thing for me. I have started to observe more clearly how Mary Kay moms/women sort of run around like chickens with their heads cut off. At least the ones who are making money at it. Thus, defeating the purpose and false sense of "doing it all" and "keeping priorities in order". I found myself annoyed with all the hoopla and fluff that just isn't me. I longed to attend a meeting where the women were just real and gave me the facts and info I needed to be successful. In short I felt like I was spending too much time on things that didn't really matter and were not generating income. I have had an ongoing battle in my head fighting these concerns I had. I truly believe that Sister Beck's talk speaks absolute truth and I want to be a woman who knows. Not one who is running around struggling to supplement income and missing valuable opportunities to teach and nurture my children. I would like to share with all of you that I have found an opportunity that has not only resolved all my concerns that I've had in my Mary Kay business, but goes above and beyond the Mary Kay business plan that I thought was so perfect. Because of my business experience in Mary Kay, it was not difficult for me to see the simple, yet brilliant set-up this company has to offer. I attended a Melaleuca meeting today upon the recommendation of my brother and sister-in-law. Yes, it's Melalueca the Wellness company that I speak of. Some of you may have heard of it and may have preconceived notions of the nature of the business. Basically, they provide products that we all use everyday, are cost effective, and that have the best interest of our physical health and the good of the environment in mind. Most of the products come from the best of nature but are backed by intense scientific research. I actually grew up on the products and have been converting my home over since August of last year because of the problems we have with allergies in our home. The revenue generated from the sale of the products goes directly back to the consumer. This is totally starting to sound like a commercial. So I'll just cut to the chase. I want to share this company with everyone I possibly can. If you are interested in using products in your home that you invest in every month anyway, that are more cost effective, better for your health and the environment, that come to your doorstep every month then please email me asap at karabrndt@yahoo.com. For all of you clean freaks out there, you're going to love the Safer for Your Home cleaning product line. My personal favorite is the laundry detergent. You can check out the website and learn all you want to know at http://www.melaleuca.com/. I look forward to getting your response.

My First Race

Well, here I am again blogging after a long break. I am still alive. In fact to prove it, I'm posting tonight about my very first 5K race that I ran this morning with my mother-in-law. She flew into town earlier this week and arranged for us to run this 5K together in Newark, DE. She's run several races in the past 6 months but this was my first. I had no idea what to expect and came out of it totally pumped for my next race. About a month and a half ago I was in the middle of training for a half marathon. I had to stop for a bit because I was having some pain in my left hip and both my knees. So, it felt good to be running again and now I'm excited for that half marathon one of these days. The course was actually quite difficult. It was a trail run which entailed steep hills with exposed roots and rocks. All in all I was proud of my time of 40:48. On the treadmill I can run a 5K in about a minute less so I was very happy about it. I must explain that I have NEVER been a runner. I was a good power athlete in high school back when I was buff and skinny (remember, skinny is relative! I was still bigger than many of my friends), but I never ran more than a mile without dying. Get me out on the volleyball court and I could slam the ball down your throat, but I didn't stand a chance with endurance. I've been slowly working up my endurance for the past 6 months. I ran 5 miles straight for the first time of my life on December 12th. I stopped the half marathon training at 6.5 miles. So, I obviously have a long way to go. But I have totally become hooked on running for the mere fact that it was something I never thought I could do. My favorite part of the race was passing a bunch of skinny people! Moral of the story: If a 200 lb amazon women can run a 5K so can you! I wish I looked cuter in the picture, but I guess you're not supposed to look cute when you're hot and sweaty without makeup. Wait a minute, what about all those other girls at the gym that start and end all decked out? Hmm.... Oh well, I guess I'll just have to settle for being cute when I hold perfectly still. You either have it or ya don't! I wonder if I'll be sore tomorrow...

Spring Break in Washington D.C.

We had a wonderful day in Washington D.C. this last week as Rob had his spring break. We enjoyed a morning at the temple where Rob did a session and I took the boys to the visitor's center and watched the Joseph Smith movie. We love the D.C. temple. It is such an amazing structure and as you can see from the picture. It's one of the largest temples I think. The boys love seeing the temple on the horizon as we approach D.C. It is becoming tradition for the boys to come into the visitor's center and sit in front of the Christus statue and listen to the message from the Savior. Then they like to climb on the statue much to our frustration at times. After the temple we took the boys to the Smithsonian Zoo. Washington D.C. is one of the greatest places to visit with your kids because so many amazing locations are free of charge and they are extremely high quality. All of the Smithsonian museums/locations are free of charge. The boy's favorite thing to see were the Panda bears and the Golden haired Tamarin monkeys. It was a pretty rainy day so we spent most of our time in the indoor attractions.

Calling All Mothers!

Being somewhat of an old fashioned girl at heart and being raised in a generation of days gone by, I have been pondering things that I had growing up that I want my kids to have. I received a forwarded email that put in a nutshell my thoughts and desires.

"We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom. If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head. I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand. These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life. Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you."

Although there are a few things in there that I don't really care to have my children experience, I do long for the good simple life. I want to be able to provide amazing memories for my children where they can learn the essentials to life. Memories that don't cost much, if anything at all, but will leave lasting imprints on the minds of my precious little boys. So, I ask you...all you amazing mothers out there, what do you do to create priceless (pun intended) memories for your little families. What little fun traditions have you started with your children that they love. What do you do to create special one-on-one experiences with each of your children. I know this isn't rocket science and we've done some fun things ourselves. But I would love to hear all of your ideas.

(Oh, and for the record. We are not disappointed about BYU at all. We truly are happy here. We just hope that someday we can be closer to grandparents. And we are planning to visit Indiana when Rob gets approved to come and do his written exams. Sometime this summer, I guess.)

News of the Week

Well, some of you know that Rob had applied to BYU Provo for a Voice Faculty position. We were hopeful so our kids could be closer to grandparents, but did not come out triumphant in the end. We found out today that he is no longer being considered for the position. We actually are relieved to know now where we will be for a few years. So, Delaware it is....at least for now. Rob is extremely happy at the University here and is well liked. We love the area, so we feel we will be really happy here longterm.

Easter Fun

Lincoln tried to drink the food coloring but was a little surprised by the vinegar I think.

A tiny glimpse into this little personality!

Cheese! This is his face everytime I tell him to say cheese.
Sporting his very cool hat, the bathtub toy basket. Posing very nicely for me.






A common occurance these days. The timeout corner! His favorite phrase right now is "No Way!" His new haircut just this morning! Isn't he sweet! I showed him in the mirror and he said, "Coot!"

Showing Grandpa Brandt his new Jet plane.

What a complete joy this little package of a boy!

Brothers, friends forever! At least I hope....

I don't know how many times a day I say, "Adam! Leave your brother alone!" or, "Not so rough you guys!" or, "Stop, he doesn't like that!". I have 8 brothers, so you'd think I'd be used to how rough boys are with each other. Come to think of it, our home was a regular WWF fighting ring! I have been blessed with a gift that ought to feel natural for me to recieve considering my background. Two very physical "all boy" boys! It's not that they fight all the time. They are just extremely rough when they play so somebody usually gets hurt. I do love, however, that they are absolute buddies. They love each other so much and will play for hours on end together. I remember telling Adam in the hospital room when Lincoln was born that he'll be big enough to play with Adam before long. Boy has time flown by! I was somewhat concerned that their distance in age would mean they may have trouble being close, but time has proven otherwise. I love it when Adam just smiles from ear to ear when Lincoln does something funny or says something smart. He's always anxious to help him out in teaching him how to do many things. Sometimes he loves his brother so much that he just can't keep his hands off him! Now that Lincoln's big enough to fend for himself, he gives Adam a run for his money at times. The other day I captured on film a very funny scene played out by the boys. It is a duel between Harry Potter and the Lone Ranger. Yes, for all you "no gun" mothers out there, they were shooting and killing each other. Sigh! I've sort of given up on that one. Anyway, I love this first picture where they appear to be friends but Adam's got his hand on Lincoln's neck. The Standoff...
Harry Potter attacks as the Lone Ranger says, "Who me?"
Both lay dead in a heap. I guess violence doesn't pay in the end...
I just wish I had charged my video camera battery to capture the belly laughs and giggles as the boys played this little game for at least 30 minutes. Adam would shoot and Lincoln would roll his eyes back in his head and throw his body on the ground. It was hilarious. Life is never boring with these two around!