Oh those awesome, alluring, office supplies!

I love office supplies.  I really do.  Paper clips and printers.  Folders and files.  Sticky notes and scissors.  And Paper!  Paper!  Paper!  Punched paper and purple paper.  Cardstock and calendars.  Sharpies, fax machines, desk top blotters, three ring binders and tabbed dividers.

I used to spend evenings browsing through the catalogs sent to business addresses, dreaming of the day when I could buy office supplies without taking out a loan.  I limped along on leftover file folders from an office that was going to throw them away and refilled ink cartridges.  I refilled my own ink for a long time because I could save a few bucks per cartridge, but the price was in brightly colored fingers for years.  I dreamed of a supply closet filled with tape and boxes of pens.   I envisioned those lovely shelves filled with everything that I would need to print and file, and I filled out order forms that I never could afford to send in.  I sat in old chairs and worked on old computers, and figured out ways to do what I needed to do with a $25 printer and Kinkos.

I learned during those lean years running a business that you don't need fancy office chairs, and a new computer every year.  You don't need to have that supply closet with spare ink cartridges and assorted types of paper and those pretty boxes of pens.  I learned that you can spend time or you can spend money.  I chose to spend time refilling that printer ink because I wanted so much more than unstained fingers.

I wanted debt free success more than I wanted the supply closet that now I stand in front of  to admire and smell those lovely office supplies, that I can reach in and use whenever I have need of them.

They are precious to me today.  I know what they cost.

Teaching Kids to be Entrepreneurs

It is really important to me to teach my kids to be entrepreneurial.  I want them to know how to take care of themselves and we live in the greatest country in the world with unlimited opportunities for, well, for opportunity!  They don't have to own businesses and they don't have to invent some new gadget, but I think it is very important to have an entrepreneurial mindset.  I have 12 kids.  I own a thriving business that my kids have watched me build and to some degree that all by itself encourages the mindset we want.

An entrepreneurial mindset is summed up in the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, and really has not so much to do with how much money one makes as it does the attitudes behind what you do.  In my way of thinking (and his) it includes perspectives toward security. What makes one feel secure in terms of their income?  An entrepreneurially minded person feels secure when there is a set back they have control over how to respond and can go out and work harder or build their business to make more money.  Someone without that mindset might hope for a raise or go look for a better job.  Their security is based on someone else giving them more money for their work.  Mine is based on digging in more to grow my business.  Perspective is all it really is.  I don't like (at all!) the idea that someone else can take away my income by cutting my salary, laying me off or firing me.  I feel more in control when that is my decision not someone else's.

We have worked very hard on teaching our kids how to go get what they want.  Want a vacation?  Find a way to earn some money.  Want a car?  Earn one.  Got an idea?  Work it through and find a way to see if it will work.  They don't all work.   Try anyway.  Fail.  Figure out how to try and sometimes fail.  And then do it again.  Until you find that perfect combination of idea and execution that will succeed.

We have taught them the most important thing there is to learn about earning money and owning a business and that is how to sell.  You can have the best idea for a product or service in the world but if you can't get someone to buy it, you don't make a dime.  We have sold glowsticks at fireworks shows, rocks, paper airplanes, window washing, weeding, and today David presented me with a business plan to ask for me to invest $300 in a business to build Go Karts.  The kids have learned how to figure profits and what constitutes a good margin.  When they want something the first thing they do is find a way to sell something to earn the money.

I LOVE THAT!

One summer they wanted one of those giant blow up water slides.  It cost around $500.  They asked for me to invest in enough glowsticks at 4 cents each to earn the money.  I bought them and they paid me back out of the first nights sales.  They paid me for gas and snacks for the evening.  We went and they worked HARD to sell glowsticks at the fireworks shows all over town during the summer.  Each stick sold for $1 each but there was always some waste and some that had to be sold at a discount.  They had to figure out the profits and any amounts needed to reinvest in supplies.  One night at around midnight I drove to the local WalMart and we purchased a water slide!  Bonus plan is that we sure saw a lot of fireworks!

Learning how to approach people to offer them a product or service, presenting the benefits, evaluating your market, reaching the market with an appropriate product is all part of the process and crucial to their education in my opinion.  The sales skills learned and the excitement of making money for yourself ingrained during those evenings at the fireworks shows are absolutely invaluable and priceless.  It is a life lesson.

Give a man a fish and he eats for the day.  Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

Give a kid a car and he drives today.  Teach him to earn his own and he feeds his family for a lifetime.

A Snowflake tutorial. :D

I make GREAT snowflakes.  Here is how:

Cut paper into a square

Fold square diagonally.

From center of long fold cross one side into thirds.

  

Fold second side over to thirds along the long fold.

After it is folded into thirds fold that in half , keeping the center point.

Cut the bottom off....

It should look like this.

Begin cutting.  The point will be the center of your snowflake so make an interesting cut there.

Make all your cuts being sure to keep some of each fold.

Open carefully and unfold.

Finished!

 Some snowflakes!

Christmas recipes from two Kligkids!

Ben age 6:
Chocolate chip cookies: You put the powder in, you put a little water in and the eggs, and then you mix it up really really good.  Then you roll them up to a ball and then you put them on a pan and then just leave them until they are done.  If you want for it to take not so long 300 if you want it to take long 200.  If you don't mind it really really long then 100.

Spaghetti: Take some noodles and put a little sausage in it, NO cream, then put some hot water in it.  Just wait until it's done.  Then it's done!  That's the way I like it and my recipe.

Tacos:  Okay take the taco things, take some cheese and put it on the bottom, then put a little sausage and some more sausage on top; Cooked sausage and that's how you make it.

Hot dogs:  Put some hotdogs in, put some cold water in it and put a lid on top then just wait a little,  Then take one out and put it on a bun and put a little mustard and ketchup.

Chocolate pudding:  How I make chocolate pudding is I take some chocolate, melt it and put it in a little plastic cup and put a little lid on top and put it in the fridge for five hours and then how I like it is I take some chocolate chips and melt it and put it on top.  Yep!  That's how I like it!

Lasagna:  I take some noodles and I make it like a restaurant.  I take two full pieces and put the sauce in the middle and put it on top, take two and put sauce in the middle and put it on top.  Then I take some sauce and put it on top of the noodle and put it on and then put it on.

Hamburgers:  I take some hamburgers and I cook them and after they are done I take the buns and put it on and then put some ketchup and mustard on and then one thing of cheese.  That's it!  That's how I do it!

My favorite dinner is alfredo:  I take some water and put some cream in and some milk and a little seasoning.  Then I put the right type of noodles in.  Then I put sausage in it and let it cook.  Done!


Katie age 8:
Chocolate chip cookies:I would take flour and some eggs and about a cup of water.  I would take some chocolate chips and put them in.  Then I would mix it up really well, and then I would roll it up and put it on the pan and set the oven for about 300 degrees.

10 Christmas observations.

1. Don't let 'em fool ya, there are really only 5 Christmas songs.  I think if I have to hear yet another version of "Let it Snow" I may scream.  And "Santa Baby" should be illegal in all 50 states.
2. Whenever I see a really great Christmas light display I feel just a bit guilty that I have never done that great a job on mine.  "Maybe I could just try harder."  Uh huh...Yeah right.
3. Every year my kids and I have a contest to see who can come closest to predicting how many times we hear the phrase "Christmas Miracle"  The winner gets a whole day off.  
4. There are some people that I never know what to get.  Every year I struggle with it.  Is it okay to just give them fruitcake?
5. I do love my Christmas tree.
6. I am a *pet person* and have a whole houseful of them.  I still have never quite understood the concept behind Christmas stockings for dogs.  Do my dogs feel badly that all the other dogs got gifts?  Ernie would like a new squeaky toy...
7. When your tree is full of precious homemade ornaments from kids and grandkids, how do you decide which ones to get rid of to make room for the new ones?  Of course the broken macaroni ones make that a bit easier.  Maybe I could request all macaroni ornaments from here out.
8. Glitter is evil.  
9. Snowflakes are cool and I can make the most beast (it means *coolest* to my teenagers) paper snowflakes you ever saw!
10. Women already have far too much pressure put on them between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I wanna know who had the bright idea to start Neighbor Gifts too!?!

When a child has a life threatening problem:

1. Never tell us that we are doing *it* wrong.  *It* is unbearable and we are doing the best there is to do.  Honest.  If you would do things differently that is fine.  But don't tell us.  This is not your job or burden to bear and we DO have to do it and you don't.


2. Let us cry.  We are so sorry that it makes you uncomfortable, but it is a fact of our life now.  It does not mean we have given up hope.  It means that this is scary and hard and we are facing the possibility or probability of death.


3. Help us.  We are in over our heads and need help with basic life.  Cook a meal or do our laundry.  


4.Please be sensitive to the fact that we have a lot of stress to deal with.  We may not be cheerful all the time.  We may eat too much or not enough.   We might not feel social all the time. 


5. Please don't ask us to not face the facts of the situation.  It is not wrong for us to grieve the life that didn't happen or the loss of our dreams.


6. Sit with us.  Just sit sometimes.  Be here when we need someone to talk to.


7. We know that this is not a short term problem.  If you want to be a friend then dig in with us and stick around.  Don't get bored when it seems to go on and on.  This is our life now and we have been abandoned by a lot of people already. 


8. Remember that while miracles can happen and we do believe that, it is not a reflection of our faith if God chooses not to heal this particular child.


9. Please recognize that this whole situation makes you scared and uncomfortable and don't let it cause you to avoid us.


10. Please remember our families too.  This is really hard.


Thanks.

When a child dies. What NOT to do:

Some of you know my daughter Rachael died by getting hit by a car while riding her bike.  She was 12, and in a coma for two weeks before she died.  It is life-changing and I learned some things through it, that I hope help some others.

1. Never tell us that we are doing *it* wrong.  *It* is unbearable and we are doing the best there is to do.  Honest.  If you would do things differently that is fine.  But don't tell us.  This is not your job or burden to bear and we DO have to do it and you don't.

2. Don't tell us that they are in a better place.  We know heaven is nicer than here, but we like them here just fine and really...it feels like you are saying we are not good enough for our child to stay.

3. Please don't tell us ways to save them or how we could have saved them.  "If only's" hurt us.  We already want to and can't or couldn't.

4. Don't tell us that God *must* heal our child if we just have enough faith. Perfect healing is in heaven for us all and I have yet to meet a Christian who never died.  If faith was all it takes to heal everyone NO one would ever die.

5. It hurts us to be told that losing a child to death by sickness or accident is the same a when your 94 year old grandmother died in her sleep 2 years ago.  It isn't the same thing at all.  We know you are in pain, but it is not the same thing.  At all.

6. Please don't expect us to be back to normal in a month and it is a fallacy to say grieving takes a year.  We will never be the same and it will take a long time to find our way again.  We will never be *over it*.

7. Please help us.  Life is so overwhelming that after the death it is hard to even think of HOW to cook a meal, let alone do it.  And if our child has not died yet, please offer to help in any and every way possible.  If you are far away, money helps us to buy help.

8. Let us cry.  We are so sorry that it makes you uncomfortable, but it is a fact of our life now.  Tears will come and it doesn't mean that it is bad to talk about our children, only that we are deeply grieving them.

9. It means a lot to us when you remember our child.  Expecially later when it feels like everyone has forgotten.

10. Having another baby is not the answer to losing the one that died.

11. It is NOT easier, or harder, that we have other children.  No one can replace the one that died.

12. Please don't watch us as though we are about to throw ourselves into the open grave.  None of us likes to be thought of as a freak show.  And please think of us as something other than the-lady-whose-kid-died.  That is a hard definition to live with.  But also please be gentle with us for quite a while.  We can't handle rough treatment.

13. We may gain weight, or lose weight, or sleep more, or not sleep at all.  We may be sad for a long time.  It does not mean something wrong with us.  It just means we are profoundly changed.

14. We will never be the same as you once knew us.  Please don't expect us to be.

15. Remember that our families are hurting too. 

16. We can't help you through our child's death.  We recognize that it is hard for many people but please don't lean on us as we go through this.  We can't hold you up.  We have other people that we have to help already.  Come and help hold us up instead please. 

 Pretty please?

Morning people. AKA: the bane of my existence.

I know some of you.  You can't hide from me.  Some of you are Early Risers (ER).  I see you sitting there smugly on your third cup of coffee with your 7 loads of laundry completed at 6:00 am.   Which I suppose is okay with me in it's sad and twisted way.

 

But here is the deal:  All of you ERs think that there is something wrong with the rest of us who live in the real world.  When someone wants to get up at stupid o'clock in the morning (which is anything earlier than 7:00 am) I give them that freedom.

I allow those around me to participate in all manner of activities that I think should be illegal.  Things like eating sushi, or watching Clint Eastwood movies.



 I am a very tolerant sort of person that way.  I seldom mock those that like to go to bed three minutes after dinner is done, or people who shower in the morning instead of the correct time which is just prior to bed.  I accept the people who handicap themselves by deliberately putting the toilet paper on the spindle improperly and also those that use that weird shampoo.

I mean hey, it is all personal preferences and I can learn to stomach your choices even at personal cost to me.  It is clear that I am seldom opinionated and can trust that while you are foolhardy and clearly unbalanced, that you have the right to make stupid choices.  This is America.

But why can't you offer the same level of complete acceptance to normal people like me?  I don't like to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and start work while it is still pitch black outside.  I get far more pleasure from a sunset than a sunrise and no, you can't convince me it is so much more beautiful to see the sunrise.  The only time in my life I have voluntarily seen the sunrise *after* going to bed, was when I  had a plane to catch and it was not fun for anyone near me.

There is a certain level of cliquish superiority that you ERs possess that makes the whole group of you feel that those of us who prefer the evening hours to the morning hours are an inferior lot destined to lives of unproductive squalor.  Admit it.  You think that anyone who stays in bed past 8:00 am is flat out lazy and hardly worth bothering with.  I have seen your d wide-eyed deer-in-the-headlights expressions when I casually shock you by saying that not only have I slept until noon on more than one occasion but I wasn't even sick when I did it!

I am convinced that you all have the idea that without you ERs the productive world would grind to a barren halt.

I am here to stand up for those of us who have been maligned for far too long! Those unspoken and unnoticed and, I truly believe, the majority of people who see early mornings as a curse upon society.  I am taking a stand and fighting for our right to be heard, I tell you!  Heard in the streets and the normalcy of waking  at a decent hour brought to the downtrodden and sleep deprived of America! 

Let our sleep mask be the symbol of our protest and our cry for equality!

Oh tacky, glittery, tawdry, gaudy, Christmas!

It is that time of year!  Glitter factories around the world have toiled all year long to provide us the essentials for the season.

I think that we all somehow release the 5 year old little girl who resides in us when we begin to decorate for Christmas.  Gaudy baubles that we would not have near our home decor suddenly become our favorite pieces.  We become addicts to glitter and tinsel and cheap plastic shiny things.

I picture middle aged women in China in the factory where these lovelies are made. They must chuckle at the foreign idea of us transforming our homes into twinkle-lighted, glittered, sparkly, wonderlands of mis-matched red and green, as they sprinkle more sparkle.  Add a holly berry!  Add another cotton ball!  We need a nativity!  No nativity?  Make one of meat and bake it for dinner.

Of course I am not immune.  Late fall-time hits and I start feeling familiar urges to begin to stock up on sequins and new plant items made of metallic shreds in anticipation of the winter galas to come.

This one comes in a 6 pack!

I watch with private chuckles as the more sophisticated among us decorate with more elegant glitter and more stylish golden orbs and white twinkles as they pretend that their 5 year old little girl has some taste about the process.

And the clothing...ah the Christmas attire.

And don't even get me started on the full lines of *sexy Santa girl* outfits out there.

We truly take leave of our senses when it comes to Christmas!  And lest you think I mock those different than myself take a gander at the sweater I am wearing in this picture ---------------->