So a minute ago, I was putting lotion on Connor, as he was fresh out of the tub. I had him laying on his back, on my bed, and when I leaned over to rub lotion on his tummy, he kicked me right in the chest with both of his heels. I don't know why this little conversation made me laugh so hard. Maybe you wouldn't think the words coming out of his mouth, would match up with his body. He's so little, yet I'd say he has the vocabulary of a 4 year old (those of you who have been around him can vouch for me).

Me: Ouch Connor, that hurts. We don't kick.
Connor: But, I'm just playing (as he was saying this he had his eyebrows raised and was shaking his head, while sort of holding his hands up in the air... totally serious).
Me: I know, but it hurts me. Don't kick.
Connor: Mom, we don't say "but."
Me: Ok.
Connor: Mom, don't get the lotion in my eyes.
Me: Ok, Connor.

End of conversation. So random.

Dear Jess,

This morning, my kids were yelling at each other. Nothing new, right? Well, in the middle of their little argument, Connor told Haylie, "And I don't love you!" I thought, 'Wow! I didn't think I'd get to apply Jess's experience to our own lives so soon!' After explaining to our kids about how yelling and hitting makes Heavenly Father sad and telling them that the Holy Spirit leaves our home when there is anger present, they both just looked up at me and said, "Oh." Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me:.....I love it when we show each other that we love them. It makes us feel safe and happy. When we are hitting and yelling at each other, it makes Heavenly Father very sad and then our home isn't happy anymore.

Haylie: Yeah.

Connor: Yeah, and the policeman will come and get us and get big blood on us and take us to jail.

Haylie: Yeah, they will take you to jail, Connor.

Me:..............

So Jess, thank you for your words of inspiration and enlightenment. I think I will have to keep this in mind, maybe in a couple of years. I guess my kids are a little young for this talk. Oh well.

Sincerely,
Cassi :)

Soooo... I sort of forgot one IMPORTANT thing in my last post....

JOE AND I STARTED A NEW BUSINESS TOGETHER!!!

Minor detail, I know... ;) It's an online business, similar to Amazon. Basically, we have our own online store. Everyone should check it out... Go to:

http://smelltheroses.mychoices.biz

It's so awesome! There's tons of awesome products that are sold wholesale including drinks, snacks, skin care, vitamins, diet supplements, kitchen products, cleaning products, laundry detergent, eye care (including contacts!!), sporting goods, and much more. Basically anything you can thing of... PLUS, there's tons of partner stores like Barnes & Nobles, Bass Pro Shop, The Golf Warehouse, Baby Universe, Dick's Sporting Goods, Joann Fabrics, Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Orvis, Petco, and many more. AND you can get hotels and car rentals at discount prices!

We would really be grateful if everyone would support us on this. If not by shopping at our store for your everyday things, then pass the word along to your friends!

Eventually we would like for this to be our main source of income, so we need our clientele built up. The more people we get to shop at our store, the better! We make money, and our clients save money! Also, if anyone is interested in starting their own store, let us know. We can help you get it started. :)

Thanks!!!

Okay okay. It's time. Every day I sit down at the computer, click on "Dashboard," and see who's got some new dirt. :) After more than a month, I felt guilty enough and decided to contribute some of my own new dirt.

So... what's been happening in the life of me? Hmmm... a lot I guess. Or a little. Depends on which way you look at it.

The "a little has been going on" part comes in here: Joe got a HUGE pay cut (ha). We found out the middle of July, that starting August 1st, Joe was going to get an almost $4/hr pay cut. Nice warning, huh?! Really put a damper on our lives because we had planned on going to visit Joe's sister Rachel, who had had a new baby on July 21st. Also, Joe's brother Will was getting married July 31st. SO! We decided that we would go anyway and just prayed that everything would turn out okay. And it did. Well, at least so far.

Haylie turned 4!! while we were in Burley! Holy moly! Seriously corny and cliche, but how did that happen? I am freaking out at the thought of her going to Kindergarten next fall... totally not ready for that. I just had a meeting with some ladies here in town about the preschool we are going to run. There will be about 12 kids total, ages 2 to 4, and I'm sure I will later regret deciding to do this. So many things to keep me busy! This weekend is Haylie's birthday party at my mom's. We decided to have a pool party since she has taken to the water like a fish. Should be tons of fun! I will blog about her birthday after I get the pictures from that, as well as the pictures from the party we had in Idaho.

We decided that either one of us would need to get a 2nd job. Joe happened to mention the fact that we would need a 2nd job to one of his co-workers and just like that... he had a job. His co-worker's sister works at Tagaris Restaurant off of Queensgate Rd. and all Joe did was call her. SO simple and SUCH a blessing! Tonight is his first night working, bussing tables and running food. It's just minimum wage, plus tips, but we are hoping its enough to make up the difference of what we are losing.

Other than that, we are "hanging in there," whatever that might mean. Trying to stay positive. I'm grateful that Joe did the '8 days on, 6 days off' thing in the past... I'm hoping it makes this go a lot more smoothly. Apparently business slows down around October, so they will probably let him go and we will have to do the job hunting thing all over again. We are hoping to find a full time job that pays the bills, in between now and then so that Joe only has to work 1 job instead of 2. Not a happy thought of switching careers... we like to think of it as a detour. Survey work is just not happening right now, so doing something else, ANYTHING else, for a while until the economy picks back up, is okay with us.

Well... I'm off to watch a movie. Alone. :'( Hopefully Joe will be home soon. Hope everyone is having a great summer! Look out... before we know it, it will be Fall!!! :D