Rough Week at the Chambers House

They say that when it rains it pours. We have definitely been feeling the pouring rain here. Hopefully it will stay dry for awhile at the Chambers house.

1. Two weeks ago the garage door broke. It was the torsion spring which counters the weight of the door making it so the garage can actually go up. Mike said it was something that he couldn't fix. We had to get it fixed since we couldn't get into the garage at all. Cost: $150.00.

2. The car that Tiffani has been driving died on Monday the 20th (the very first car that Mike and I bought together.) It was going to cost somewhere between $700 and $3000 to be fixed. We decided that it wasn't worth putting that much money into a 19 year old car. Now we have three drivers and just two cars. It's hard to adjust to the loss of something when you have become so accustomed to it. I have loved that Tiffani can drive herself to where she needs to go. She also helps me get the girls where they need to be and runs errands for me. Now Tiffani and I are trying to work out the car thing and I'm definitely feeling the loss of the Honda. We are trying to convince Mike to get another car. He told Tiffani that she needs to save her money and that he would 'help' her get another car. Cost: A car for Tiffani $$$$



3. Thursday as we were all trying to leave, Tiffani came home from Seminary with a flat tire on the Suburban. It had a screw in it. So now we have three drivers and only one car that is working with all three of us trying to get out the door. Not happy people at the Chambers house. The tire was too worn out to justify fixing it, so Mike decided it was time to replace all 4 tires on the Suburban (the tires were near the end of their lifetime.) Mike put air in the tire and drove it to work hoping that it would last until he could get to COSTCO for a full tire lobotomy. Tiffani and I left in the other car and I dropped her off at school, then I went to school. After I got out of class I went to meet up with Mike to take the Suburban to COSTCO for new tires. It took 3 hours.
Cost: 4 new tires $900.00

4. Monday morning my cell phone breaks. Not just a little break but completely broken in half and unusable. Mike and I have been talking about switching cell phone companies but Courtney is still under contract until March. Luckily a guy that works with Mike had the same phone we do but had recently changed wireless provider, and hence had a new phone leaving the old one out of service. He kindly gave me his old phone. I was so happy! Who would have thought that one could be so happy about a phone. Cost: None except the $2.50 for a new ring tone.

I know that it could be worse and I am grateful for the many blessings we have; family, good friends, a job, food, and a nice roof over our heads.

The Ward Trunk or Treat

Last Saturday our Ward had a Trunk or Treat. The girls had a good time. Here are some pictures of those in our Ward that got into the night and some that didn't.

Kylie is a ladybug and Ashley is a fairy.

Kylie and Maddie.

Ashley and Megan.

This is Averi. The girls babysit her and her brother. She is just a cutie. She wasn't scared of the dancing witch statue she was just mesmerized by it.

The dancing witch, I need one of these.
Courtney the angel and her group of friends.

The Lloyd Family

The sister missionaries.

Our friend Tom.

Here I am in no costume.

Ashley at Camp Jolt

The week of October 15-17 Ashley went on a school camp. Unfortunately I was unable to make it as I had a test that week. I was happy that one of Ashley's friends mom was going and knew that she would watch over my little girl. She had a lot of fun and we all missed her terribly. We were happy to have her home with us on Friday. I bought Ashley a disposable camera for her to take pictures so that she could tell us all about her three days away from home.
Here are the pictures that she took. What priceless pictures of what she saw on her trip.

These picture Michelle, Ashley friends mom took of Ashley doing the Zip-line.

This is Ashley and McKenzie.

I love this picture of Ashley I don't know how to turn it the right way, sorry that you have to look at it sideways, but I love that she is so happy and having a good time.
In her bag I packed a letter for her to read every day and a treat, each letter I asked her to write down something that she enjoyed about that day or what was her favorite part.
Here is what she wrote:
Day 1
1. Going on the night hike.
2. Finding rocks and then we got to smash some.
Day 2
1. Going on the Zip Line
2. Going in the water trying to catch fish and stuff.
3. Doing the GPS Scavenger Hunt.
Day 3
I asked her what her favorite part of her trip had been:
The Zip line!!!!
And I think she would also say coming home to better food and my mom.

A Special Family Home Evening!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Ashley gave us a family home evening lesson about the value of work and how it takes everyone in the family to make the house function.

We talked about how a family will be strengthened by working together. Also how we as individual members can gain a self-esteem by realizing that we can make a worthwhile contribution to the family.

I helped in reminding that I know we are all busy but that I can't do it all alone. We talked about how we all need to pitch in and help out more. We then discussed what life would be like if no one did any work around our home--what would our house look like. Ashley then had everyone list their favorite chore and their worst chore and how we could help each other with the worst chore. Here is everyone's answers:

Kylie:
Favorite: Vacuum the stairs
Worst: Kitchen and cleaning the bathroom sink

Ashley:
Favorite: Making my bed
Worst: Kitchen

Courtney:
Favorite: Making my bed
Worst: Cleaning the bathroom and Kitchen

Tiffani:
Favorite: Vacuuming the stairs
Worst: Unloading the dishwasher and cleaning the bathroom

Lisa:
Favorite: Cleaning the bathrooms ( Cant stand a messy bathroom)and vacuuming (it just makes your house feel clean)
Worst: Laundry (it is just never ending)

Mike:
Favorite: Fixing things that are broken
Worst: Cleaning windows

We realized that not many of us liked cleaning the kitchen but that pretty much everyone liked to vacuum the stairs. I think its because it is the fastest job in the house to do.


When then talked about trying to have fun when we do chores. Like when cleaning the kitchen or the bathroom (which seemed to be the ones that no one likes to do) we could sing songs, dance (which is my favorite thing to do), listen to music and laugh.

And the end she read this quote:

"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do you best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know." Charles Kingsley

I loved this lesson on how we can work together as a family and keep our home a clean place. And-- our home has been a lot less cluttered!

Let us know what your favorite and worst chore is to do?

More Halloween Fun!!

Okay, I found the cutest recipe ideas for kids at Halloween Time. We had these cute little mummy dogs for lunch today. The girls thought it was fun. Here is the recipe along with a few other recipes that I found on one of my favorite food blogs, Picky Palate.

Breadstick Mummy Dogs

1 roll/pkg Pillsbury Breadstick dough (12 count)

12 hot dogs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll all 12 breadsticks from package. Cut each into 3 equal strips. Take 3 strips, one at a time and wrap around 1 hot dog starting from the top of the hot dog. (Each hot dog has 3 thin breadstick strips around it). Leave a small space towards the top of the hotdog to make mustard eyes. Continue wrapping all dogs then place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

2. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes. Use mustard or ketchup for the eyes.

Ooozing Monster Apple Mouths

1 large Apple of choice

Peanut Butter

Mini Marshmallows

1. Core then cut the apple into fourths. Cut out a small wedge on the skin side of the apple. Blot inside with a paper towel then spread lightly with creamy peanut butter. Cut mini marshmallows in half and place over peanut butter to make the teeth.

Pumpkin Spice Blossoms

1 Spice Cake Mix 18.25 oz

14 oz can Libby’s Pumkin

½ Cup sanding sugar

1 bag Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the cake mix and pumpkin until well combined, about 45 seconds. With a cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll top half in sanding sugar (dough is sticky) then place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until cooked through. Quickly transfer to a cooling rack and immediately press kisses into the center of each cookie. I immediately place cooling rack into the fridge for 15 minutes so the kisses don’t melt. I tried both ways and it melts down if just left at room temperature. Enjoy!

About 36 cookies