9 tips to get him to do chores

At the end of this post is a list by Gretchen Rubin 
on how to get your husband to do chores without nagging. 


Dennis likes to empty the dishwasher for me, 
but since his stroke sometimes he has trouble holding onto things. 

Occasionally a plate won't make it to the cupboard. 

We've lost a few so far.

On another note, tonight we were eating at a Mexican restaurant. 
It was obvious our waitress was new. 
She seemed unsure of herself, and nervous. 

She unknowingly dropped some food as she was carrying plates to 
our table. She left quite a heap of scattered cheese on the floor. 

As soon as she was out of sight, Den got down on the floor 
(which was not easy for him) and quickly cleaned up her mess.
He didn't want her to get in trouble. 

So here's Gretchen Rubin's list....

Number 1 would never work for me. The note yes, but the empty container...he would never notice.  I like Number 2 the best! 

But I think I would add a Number 10 to her list: 
"Just be thankful for what he can do."

Getting ready for their big night

Karen and Tyler, in Idaho, are just about all ready 
for their 2nd annual Halloween party....which was actually tonight. 
So I'm anxious to hear about it!

But until then I can watch this video.

They had this first annual party last year, just 2 
months after moving in. What a great way to make fast friends!

I love the excitement of it all, 
and how they put their whole hearts into it! 

Overnight Oats

So I've noticed for years these cute little overnight oats people put 
in mason jars and then show them on Instagram or blogs. They 
even make several at a time and have them all ready to eat in the 
morning for days.

Cute food does not impress me in the morning. And why prepare 
oatmeal ahead of time when it's so easy to make it the morning of? 

That was until I read in Reader's Digest, Oct issue...
about Overnight Oats:

So then I took notice and decided to just give it a try. I put my 1/3 
cup oats in a bowl with a cup of milk (I use oat milk), handful of 
blueberries, and some raspberries.

Den and I put our bowls in the fridge the night before.

Sometimes we even make tomorrow's oats right after breakfast. 

He likes his just plan, 

and then he adds maple syrup and cashew butter in the morning. 

Then next morning it did not appeal to me to eat it cold so I put it in 
the microvave for 75 seconds....then add some sunflower seed 
butter. The soaked oats texture seemed odd at first, but it was tasty. 

And I soon noticed something else...it was more filling and stayed 
with me most of the morning. Something about those oats being 
soaked in that milk all night.

But what I noticed the most, 
is they taste even better to me made this way. 

Since Dennis doesn't like change I didn't expect him to like this 
new oat way...but he does! 

I'm sold. Done deal. This is the way I prefer my oats now. 
Just thought I'd let you know. 

Here's a question I've never had the answer to:  Why are most 
people content with the same breakfast every morning, but would 
never want the same lunch and dinner every day?

I got to be with 7 year olds today

Dennis teaches the 7 year olds every Sunday at our church. 

Today I got to help him since his team teacher couldn't make it. 

I mostly just sat and listened 

as Den taught them about Paul in the New Testament. 

How Paul got thrown in prison but he could still pray, 

and still had the ability to feel joy. 

One little girl raised her hand and asked, 

"But how could he feel joy in prison? 

When I got a shot I didn't feel joy."

Den responded that we sometimes we have to 

go through hard things, 

but we know our joy will return. 

And as the children were very intently listening, 

Dennis said that no matter what we go through, 

we know we can always pray.

We are never alone. 

Another girl had a comment, that was only vaguely related,

"One day I saw someone at school being bullied.

I told them they shouldn't do that, 

but they wouldn't listen to me." 

Another girl advised her, 
"You can pray about it. 
And then you can warn the person who is a bully 
that it's not very nice, 

and they shouldn't hurt feelings like that."

Then the only boy in the class, 

whose feet don't even touch the floor, had this to add:

"You can even pray with your eyes open 

for the person who is being bullied."

It was like listening to group therapy run by 7 year olds.

Very sweet and wise 7 year olds.

I left there wishing that every 7 year old, 

and every child, 

knew about Jesus Christ and how He taught us to live. 

Just as I was about to finish this post, I had to go on Facebook for 
something and happened to see what a friend from my past wrote...
we knew each other as little children!

Today, he shared this on FB, and I couldn't agree more:

“When the focus of our lives is on … Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.”

Unexpected Friendships

I listen to several podcasts. Mostly in the middle of the night when I wake up, and can't go back to sleep...like last night. 

I just put on my sleep phones (they are soft earphones I can lay on), choose an episode, and then get lost in thought about what I'm listening to. 

Last night's chosen episode was called Unexpected Friendships.  

It's about 3 unexpected friendships....three different people shared their stories about pairing up with people they would never expect to hang out with, but did, and their lives changed for the better. 

It's from the podcast This Is the Gospel. Yes, it's put on privately by members of our church, but I think anyone could relate to these 3 stories. 

The first 1-2 minutes are a little slow, but then the stories begin...

Unexpected Friendships


I will be back with other podcasts I like. 
If you have any to recommend to me, please do!!

I love October 11th for 2 reasons.

When McKenna told me that Baby Jack would be born on October 11th, I was happy because that was already a very special day to Den and I.

We "met" online on Oct 11th, 21 years ago. 

I had no clue how much both our lives, and the lives of our children, would all change because of one email:

Den kept all of our letters, starting with that first one, and then putting each subsequent letter on top of the previous one. 

I can hardly believe tomorrow we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. He still feels like my new husband!

Baby Jack came home Sunday morning, 

just 2 days old. 

Baby Jack's song

Many in my family have a song that belongs just to them. 
I never choose it for them, it just happens. 

Whenever I hear that song, I always think of them and even say to whoever's listening, "Oh there's _____'s song!"  

Most of those songs came because it was playing on the radio while that person was with me...and there was just some significance to them being there with that particular song.

Or I knew they were going thorough a significant day at the time I was listening to it. 

Regardless, it just happens.

So Friday morning as I was busy in the kitchen making lots of food, I turned on Pandora, and put it on shuffle, as I usually do. 

But since we just learned of Baby Jack's birth about an hour before....I thought to myself, okay what ever song comes on I will most likely associate with him.

Just after I turned on Pandora, Dennis was calling me into the garage. I left the food, and the music (not even paying attention to it at that point) to see what he needed...then I decided to throw some clothes in the washer. I was not even aware of what song was on....nor could I really hear it much from where I was in the house.

Then I came back into the kitchen and as soon as I did THIS is the song that was playing.....

So I know.....THIS will aways be Baby Jack's song to me.

Welcome Baby Jack!

Meet our newest grandson, Jack!

Born this morning at 7:53 am

6 lbs, 14 oz

He looked a little worried, 

but watch how he relaxes 

when he meets his sister Scarlett.

The Day before Baby Jack comes....

McKenna has a 5:30am appt to have their baby tomorrow!

I sent them a few questions to answer for me today...

I'm thinking I will most likely not sleep much tonight. 

This is just too exciting!

This could very well be our last grand baby. 
(I may have said that when Juliet was born!)

Looking back 8 years when she was expecting their first baby, Grant...

Aldi is almost ready here

We keep driving by the brand new Aldi by us. 
The shopping carts are out now so opening day must be soon, right?

Meanwhile, it just so happened this week one of my 
favorite vloggers did a short video on her favorites at Aldi. 

This makes me even more ready! 

Elora and Hailey 10 years ago

My granddaughter Elora, and my brother and SIL's granddaughter, 
Hailey, have always had this straight forward bond. 

Even back in 2009 they could speak their mind. 

I was happy to run across this little gem today....10 years later!





And this one's for you, Darlene, since you asked for a recent picture.
This was actually taken 15 months ago.
I wish I had a picture of them at their Great Grandpa's funeral last March!