Waiting at the Doctors office

Well Hello there,

My topic today is about waiting at the doctors office. There is always a wait. Some as little as 5 mins. Some 15 mins, or 30 mins. And maybe you have even had to wait one to two hours. But have you ever been at the doctors for 8.5 hours? Well Robert did today. I dropped him off at 8am. He got his paperwork completed at 11am. After 3:30 he was finally sent to another room besides the "waiting" room. By 5pm he was finally seen. But he needed to have a prescription filled. I arrived at 5:30pm to pick him up. 8.5 hours.

So remember when having to wait those short little minutes and you feel like the time is dragging by, be thankful that you haven't spent 8.5 hours there.

PS We still do not have the results of his tests. Those will be available in a few days.

Cheers.

Leslie and family

To Homeschool or not to Homeschool

I have been considering homeschooling, give me your feed back whether you vote or not on my poll. I truly would like to know what your opinion is.

I am considering these choices for curriculum:

Calvert (Like a private school)
Carl G. Maeser Academy (LDS curriculum)
Georgia Virtual Academy (like a public school at home)

Let's talk about it.

Leslie

Music

Hey just wanted to apologize for some of the songs on my blog. I did not realize that they had foul language in them. I have since removed them and replaced them with clean music. If you hear of any that I may have missed please shoot me a message and let me know.

Sorry.

Leslie

Happy Easter

Hey Happy Easter everyone!

We have had a sugary sweet day, how about you? We woke up this morning with the kids happy and eager for the day. We gave them gifts from Grandma and Aunt Tracy right away. They were happy to receive new Sunday dresses/suits, toys, and candy. I ironed their clothes so they could wear them today without looking like it came out of a box, and threw the kids in the bath tub. I trimmed the kids hair (except Elaina's) which I like so much more now that I trimmed it
(I wasn't real happy with their haircuts from the last time I cut it). After Robert and I got ourselves ready for church we grabbed our things and drove to church. I thought we were running late but actually arrived 5-10 mins before the meeting started. Yay for us. The chapel was full and the meeting superb. Special musical numbers and entertaining speakers made it particularly enjoyable. And our kids were actually behaving themselves so we could enjoy it. Nursery was the next meeting for Robert and I which was much more lively than we expected. We have been averaging 5-8 kids but today we had 11. I am not complaining at all but the activity in the small room felt like the 18-20 kids we had before the new year. (It may have been the 6 adults in the room that made it feel particularly small though). I was grateful for their help today.

After church was over we cleaned up and headed home. Three of our four kids were asleep and so Robert had a few minutes to finish our last minute 'work'. The kids stayed up till 9pm decorating hard boiled eggs last night so we hid those in the back yard and stuffed a few plastic ones too. After filling the baskets in the nick of time the kids woke up to dig into some more goodies.

I would call this a successful Easter, not because of the new clothes, or the candy, but because my children were able to tell me what the real meaning of Easter is--The resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have so much gratitude and humility for his sacrifice for me. He has given me a gift that no other could give--to be resurrected like him someday.

We have a Garden...sort of.

Hey all,

I had so much to talk about that I decided to split them into different posts so that everyone can see the different topics.

I was preparing a lesson for the nursery kids at church "I am thankful for trees, flowers, and plants." So as I was preparing, it made me want a garden, so bad. But we did not have permission or the tools to dig up the backyard. But, while we were shopping a Home Depot for flowers for the nursery handout, I added a few plants to our cart (otherwise known as a buggy here in the South). When I got home I was so excited to plant our tomatoes (2), cilantro (1), ceyanne peppers (1), banana peppers (2), onions (1 bunch), chives (1), basil (1), sage (1), cucumbers to pickle (2), cucumbers to slice (1), and a zuchinni plant (1). It's not like in Pullman, but it's something and we are proud of it.

After we found out about the move, we are really glad we did not go to all the work to put these in the ground, we will now be able to take our garden with us.

It's part of being a Hagen...I guess.

Well hello friends and family,

This is just a quick update to let you all know what is going on in our neck of the woods/swamp.
Can you believe it. We made it one year in Savannah!!! We survived...sort of.

A little while ago we got a letter for our landlord (which is not that uncommon) from the Toyota dealership behind us. We did not think much of it, but let his manager know what was going on. She told me to open it and it was a request to go to a meeting, blah, blah, blah--junk mail obviously. So about a week ago the power goes out from the storms here and Robert and I are outside talking to our neighbor, Leo and Catherine. They ask me if we heard about the meeting. We said we heard about it, but did not go. She said that Toyota wants to buy all 20 houses on our street to expand, because the Truman Parkway Hwy is starting phase 4 of the project and will be taking some of their property. There were 18 out of 20 at the meeting. They agreed to have the homes appraised, to choose the appraiser, contact the two home owners that were not there and meet back in two weeks. Leo and Catherine also said that everything will be settled in about 6 months. So needless to say we are looking for another place to live.

Just the other day we talked with the manager about this (she had no clue, neither did the owner---his father-in-law went to the meeting). We discussed our options with them and they are willing to help us and work something out. We will see what happens.

The Hagen's

Tribute to President Gordon B. Hinckley-out of the mouths of Babes.

A couple of weeks ago we mourned the loss of a great man, Gordon B. Hinckley. He was a prophet, seer, and revelator in these days of uncertainty. As we broke the news to our children, especially our two older girls, we wanted to assure them that all is still well--Heavenly Father will choose another prophet. I think my little Samantha said it best.

The story continues...

We attended the funeral services via church broadcast system. Literally the chapel was empty. Everyone else must be watching this from there home dish service. There was only one older couple there and an older gentleman. My husband and I felt a bit disruptive there with our four children. We were trying to keep them quiet by serving them pieces of lunch, you know the usual, peanut butter and jelly, carrots, cubed cheese, raisin pieces, etc. But the reverence quickly ceased as the meal disappeared. Ah-hah I thought, "I am a prepared mom, I have "quiet toys" for them to play with (on the floor) so that they do not disturb anyone." So I pulled out the coloring books, the small cars, and lacing cards. Roughly 5 minutes later, giggles, cries, and pouts creep into my ears. Stearn looks and frowny faces should do the trick. Nope. Pointy fingers jerking to the children's direction. That will let them know I mean business. Nope. To the back of the chapel. Nope. Out in the foyer. Nope. To the car? Nope. The first services were over. The couple left.
I clearly understood that it was our children's quiet time and that this was not going to be easy. Robert was busy with the girls while I was working with Brian. So while I was out in the car, I grabbed a blanket and wrapped Brian in it. As soon as he was still he quickly went to sleep. I walked back inside, laid Brian on the back bench, and scanned the rows for problem child number two, Elaina. She had been squeezing between the wall and the pews, and squawking when her head got stuck. And yet continued to do it repeatedly. Once we made eye contact the game began. Running between the pews then ducking under to the next row as Mommy got close, clearly Elaina was winning the game. But alas, Mommy, with her quick legs and long arms reached and grabbed a hold. Now we can sit and watch the funeral cars go by on the T.V. We found something quiet for her to do until the grave site services were over.
The old man left.
We were there by ourselves now with a breath of relief that we didn't have to stress every time our children made a peep.
The life and tribute of the Prophet began and I wanted to see it since the media wasn't covering the death of the prophet of the world. So after 3 1/2 hours of services to the prophet it was time to go home.

The following Sunday was Fast and Testimony Sunday and our girls wanted to bear their testimonies. They, one by one, went up to bear theirs. Katie bore her testimony about Temples and how a family can be sealed for time and all eternity. She practically ran off the stage and down the aisle and into her seat. We quickly told her that running in the chapel was inappropriate. Then we let her know that we are proud of her. Then Samantha wanted to go up and so she went by herself. She began, "I want to bear my testimony. I know the church is true. I know President Hinckley is.......dead. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

Oh, everyone laughed. Even the Stake President stood up and said, "Just as that little girl knows that President Hinckley is dead, I know.......yatta, yatta, yatta." I didn't even get to listen to what he had to say because all of our friends around us were smiling and giving their condolences for our embarrassing moment.

But I would like to let you know that
I am glad that I have been able to share this experience with my children and to show them that The Lord has a plan for us. We are not left here to wander after a prophet has died. The Lord has order. I know that the Lord has called President Thomas S. Monson to be our next prophet and that his counselors Henry B. Eyring and Deiter F. Uchtdorf, are also called of God. I am grateful for this opportunity to test my faith and ask God, and to find out for myself. Have you taken the time to find out for yourself?