The Why

I was too depressed to write last weeks "This Week at Our House" because I was too depressed to report another week of unemployment. But my kids have gotten after me for this "oversight". They like hearing what I have to say about them each week. So despite no job, no job prospects, and feeling a bit down, tomorrow, I will make up for missing one week, and get back to my "This Week at Our House" series.

This Week at Our House #19 Coming Late

1. John had several interviews. Will one pan out with a job soon, PLEASE.....
2. I am getting better at making wheat bread that the family will eat.
3. Ruth had the usual school and friend drama that goes with the 9th grade. I am glad she feels comfortable telling me all the gory details of a teenage girl's social life. 
4. Kate had a fun week. She and Adam left Wednesday night to go with their grandparents down to Phoenix for their cousin's baptism. Kate said it was weird because there was hardly any work to be done-- unlike our crazy house. 
5. Johnny had a very lonely week without his two playmates. But Johnny did get registered and finished his testing for Legacy Prep Academy. He will be an 8th grader there next fall. Wow! This makes it official: Ruth will graduate in 2016, Kate in 2017, and Johnny in 2018. Johnny will be 16 when he graduates high school.
6. Adam went to Phoenix too. Mariah is about his favorite cousin. He had a ton of fun. He is not much of a conversationalist, but he told me all about the cacti and palm trees. 
7. Rachel went off track. Once she heads back to school, she will only have a few more weeks of the first grade. Then she has a 3 week summer break before 2nd grade begins. Year round school is weird.
8. Anya got all signed up kindergarten. I was going to keep her home one more year, but she really wants to go. I hope I am making the right decision with this one.
9. Joseph got caught playing with with pee in the toilet after he went to the bathroom. I will absolutely have to rub this in when he is older and embarrassed. I smell sweet revenge in my future. But, really, I love this kid. I am glad he is mine.
10. Josh missed Kate. When Ruth came home from school each day that Kate was gone, he'd wait for her to sit down and then climb up on her lap. 
11. Arwen is still very bald! Poor kid is going to be one of those 2 year olds with no hair. She is almost 10 months.

Being Real: Unemployment

We know John will get a job and possibly very soon. We know we need to have faith in order to receive the blessings. This is not a complaining or a doubting post. I just want to explain some of the difficulties of unemployment.

Before John lost his job, I would spend a little extra every month of items just to store. After a couple of years, we had acrued only about 3 months of food storage as well as a few items we considered more for long term storage. Since, we were struggling and living at the very edge of our income anyway, I wouldn't say we were prepared for a long period of unemployment. We have been using our storage. We had some food, soap, shampoo, cleaning products and toiletries. They have helped us, but we are running out. We have pretty much used up all of our stored meat, bread, cereal, and baking supplies. We are down to grinding wheat to make bread, a few cans of fruit and veggies, soups, chili, and beans. We are now at the tough point. The kids keep telling their dad to get a job when they find out we have run out of another item.

In regular unemployment life I would shop every couple of weeks. When I shopped, I did not have to buy everything and that kept our grocery bill down. When I can go shopping again, I will have to buy everything. That is going to cost a LOT! I suspect my first grocery trip after John gets a job will be around $1000 dollars. We need everything!  I will have to spend an additional amount on toiletries and cleaning supplies too. It will be hard to make up for the lost shopping trips. I suspect it will take us another two years to get all of our basics plus another 3 months of food storage.

In addition to the basics, we would usually buy a big ticket item about once a month. We have not been buying those. We have this growing list of "When you get a job we need to buy" items. Those items include shoes, clothing, tires for the van (they are nearly smooth now), repair items for things that have broken, items for yard care, and some shelving and a mattress for Anya, paint and painting supplies for the inside of the house that were already on our "to buy list" before the job loss.

When I am being real, I have to admit that unemployment puts us behind. It will take some serious financial planning and a couple of years to catch up. However badly we planned for this event, I am glad that we had the storage we did to get us through.

This Week at our House #18

1. I have reasonable hope that John is a prime candidate for a job close to home. Nonetheless, we will continue on in faith and obedience trying to learn what the Lord wants to teach us from this experience.
2. Warm weather has arrived, and I am enjoying spending time with my kids out doors. Motherhood is precious. I am very conscious of the blessings of my fertility and healthy body. Mother's day was wonderful. I especially loved the sweet homemade gifts and poems from my children.
3. Ruth has been a moody 15 year old. I am making her hang out with her family as much as possible. She likes to hide in her room when she is home. I think the added time around her parents and siblings and the service that automatically comes with being around so many small children is helping her. She may disagree. I can see the difference.
4. Kate had her first full week of summer vacation. She cannot wait until Ruth is out of school, so she has her buddy around. 
5. Johnny is on the sprinting end of finishing up a class he took too slowly at the beginning of the school year. He will have to work real hard on it over the next two weeks. This is a good lesson in procrastination. 
6. Adam is definitely ready for school to be over. Because he has year round school, he will have a 2 week break after tomorrow and he will not be done until the end of June. I have enjoyed reading Fablehaven with him this week. I think he is starting to like books. I will be surprised if he ever becomes a bookworm.
7. I love Rachel's chatter. She always has so much to say.We have discovered that when Rachel wants to be, she is a good runner. She ran 2 miles straight and wasn't even winded. I will have to continue taking her out. The only problem is when she does not want to run, she is awful.
8. Anya has enjoyed the outdoors this past week. She also loves playing with the neighbors and looks forward to hanging out with her friends as much as they are all allowed.
9. The toys in the living room have helped Joseph stay out of trouble for another week. The simplicity of the solution is funny. I had to give up the idea of a clean, nicely decorated living room. But, it is worth it because Joseph is not tearing everything apart, and I am not spending all day trying to control my temper.
10. Josh is talking too well. I miss some of his early words like "bobble" for all round fruit, and "keys" for all other food. He discovered our cat, over the last couple of days and just smothers him. Thankfully, the cat is taking the smothering kindly.
11. Arwen continues to scoot around. She still hates most foods. She will eat bread and guacamole and that is about all for food. However, she regularly digest paper and other small items she finds on her floor travels.

This Weeks Pictures

 

What I wrote for Mother's Day

For United Families International

Freedom, gay marriage, Minnesota, motherhood, Teaching Children

Mothers for Freedom

In Homosexuality, motherhood, Same-Sex Marriage on May 10, 2013 at 9:24 am Diane Robertson
I wanted to write about mothers and motherhood and the blessing and joys that come from being a mother. I wanted to tell mothers that they are doing a great work and to hang in there. Mothers change the world. Mothers are in charge. But alas, as each day passes getting us closer to mother’s day, legislation is being written that will destroy religious freedom.

This week, Delaware legalized gay marriage, and Minnesota is on the fast track to legalizing it too. That makes three states forming laws that give sexual preferences rights over religion, speech, and parental rights just this month.

I am worried. I believe these states are ramming this legislation through purposely at this time for good reason. The Supreme Court is reviewing two cases about marriage, either one could be used to legalize gay marriage for the nation. I believe these state legislatures are trying to show the Supreme Court justices that the United States is ready for gay marriage.

The United States will never be ready for gay marriage. It goes against the first freedom James Madison sealed for coming generations in America– religious freedom. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.  Gay marriage laws prohibit the free exercise of religion. If gay marriage were to be legalized throughout the nation, the constitution, the bill of rights and all the sacrifices of our founding fathers will be damaged.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. Freedom of religion and gay marriage cannot stand together in the law. They are opposites.  Mothers remember this Mother’s Day that it is you who have the power to change the world. You cradle the next generation in your arms. Your influence goes beyond the media and the liberal universities. Please, take your role seriously and teach your children like the mothers of our Founding Fathers must have taught their children—to love freedom, life, and liberty above all. Happy Mother’s Day.

For a Well Behaved Mormon Woman

My name is Diane Robertson. I am a stay at home mom to 9 kids, and wife to my best friend, John. My oldest is 15 and my youngest is 9 months.  I wash about 4 loads of laundry a day and I have more dishes than I ever imagined possible outside a restaurant. I wouldn’t change my life.

This week I will be attending a reorganizing meeting for a non-profit political group that I write and volunteer for, United Families International/ United Families Utah. I work with some of the most amazing women I have ever met. They do so much good for families across the globe. I am honored to be a part of their organization. I feel called by God to be a part of their organization. With this organization, I stand up for political issues that affect the family. Sometimes this is frightening. I am not working on the glamorous politically-correct side. Still, this work is more exciting than changing diapers, wiping noses, and reading that favorite story for the one hundredth time.

 When I go to this meeting, I will be asked to donate more time. I want to do more. Eventually, I want to do a lot more and eventually I can do a lot more. Family policy is important to me. My family is important to me too-- much more important to me. Right now, my family is young.

As a covenant mother, my first calling is to my family. There will be nothing I can do—not service—not a job—not a church calling—that is as important as my job as a mother. I will regret losing time with my young children if I make them my secondary job.

In today’s world, being a mother is not glamorous. Being a mother is looked down upon. You might get more praise from the world if you choose to be the manager of McDonald’s. Being a mother is hard work. You are not going to get a pay raise for a job well done. You will probably be tired every day. That is okay. Feeling tired, under appreciated, and overworked is very little cost for the joy your family and your children bring when motherhood is your number one priority.  And that joy will last for today, for tomorrow and for always even as you wash that 1000^th load of laundry.

Rachel Tidbit

Rachel told me that her teacher is so old, her teacher's mother was a pioneer.

This Week at our House # 17

We lost the camera, no pictures this week

1. John is still unemployed. This getting hard, but we are trying to be patient and calm. We know that the Lord will help us and get this fixed in time. We won't loose faith.
2. I got to meet a person that I have been doing United Families Utah stuff with online. I loved getting to know her. We have a lot of common ground including many children. She also went to law school with my sister in law and lived in the stake that I grew up in. The LDS world is a small place.
3. Ruth had a field trip to a Hindu temple, a Budhist temple, and a Mosque. She had fun with her friends and I think it was a good experience for her.
4. Kate has one math lesson left and then she is finished with the 8th grade. The bonus of homeschool is working at your own pace. Kate has one full extra month of summer vacation.
5. Johnny got accepted into Legacy Preparatory Academy, a public charter school near us, as an 8th grader. We've decided to go that route for Johnny this next school year. He'll have to work a lot harder and I think that will be good for him.
6. Adam and I chose his homeschool classes for next year. It looks like Adam will be my only homeschool kid next year. He seems fine with that. 
7. Rachel got top grades on her report card and was given a difficult poem to read in front of the class. Yay! Rachel.
8. Anya had her booster shots for kindergarten. I had to hold her down. She freaked as soon as she saw the needle. Anya told me that Arwen is now a human because she laughs like one.
9. I moved all the toys into our living room on Monday. They look horrible, but that one thing kept Joseph out of trouble the whole week.
10. John shows Joshua train videos on youtube. That is now Josh's new addiction. Whenever he sees a computer he asks for trains.
11. Arwen is adored by all. She is happy all the time and everyone loves her a ton and wants to be around her.