Letter Hunting.

I am on a quest.

I want to photograph things that represent every letter of the alphabet! This is not an original idea. I have seen it done before. I don't just want to find printed letters and photograph those. That is too easy. I want to find a letter in something else.

Here is an example: A telephone pole is a great T.

Slippery slide is an S.

Swing set frame is an A

These are a few of the ones that I have found so far. My husband thinks that I need to see a therapist. I told him that taking photos helps me to AVOID needing a therapist! I have gotten a little obsessive, however. I am constantly looking for a Q and a K. I have almost the entire alphabet. Some letters (S) I have more than one. I want to create a sampler type of layout. I want to have it big-and framed. I will put it on the wall in my preschool this fall.

I created this layout for a class I have been taking. This is my name. ROSIE---can you see it?

I was thinking that it would be fun to have the entire alphabet and then do all the children's names in my preschool as gifts for Christmas.

Maybe I do need a therapist!

Baseball

"What's more American than Baseball?" We have spent much of the last six weeks supporting M at his baseball games. Twice weekly games and one practice. He has been on a good team this year. They aren't the best in the league but they also are not the most struggling team. M has played 1st base mostly. He has been good at it.

This past Wednesday they played a team that had previously whooped them--twice! Well, this was a different night! The other team couldn't get a hit for anything. It was one of those times as a Mother that you are proud of your son and his team for playing so well. However, you are so sad for the other team. It is one thing to lose a game. It is entirely a different story to get stomped!

This is what the final score looked like!

Little bits of progress!

It is already June 25th! I can't believe it. As I type that, I realize that I missed my big sister's birthday! So, Happy Birthday Betsy!

We have been busy little bees around our house! My sweet hubby slipped in a pool last week and has injured his back. He has a bulging disc. That is not good news, however, the therapist believes that within a week or two he should be almost back to normal. Because of this injury he has been home for a couple of days. Sitting at his desk on Monday about killed him!

With him home a few little things have gotten done!

*Saturday I painted my garden bench. This bench is in my "garden of potential." It is a large garden spot that I have only dreamed about doing anything in yet. I usually try and spray the weeds at least once a year. It has so much possibility, I just haven't gotten there yet. I started out with the kids helping me paint. That was a good plan in theory, but a bad plan in reality! They were sloppy and didn't last very long. I worked on that bench for about five hours. I had paint everywhere! I decided to try spray painting (we had used primer) the final coats. Okay, that bench will never be brush painted again!

I have never been a spray paint person. I am now! It was so fast and easy! After I finished the bench--in about 45 minutes, I then painted three shelves for Miss A's bedroom! I have been putting all of those off forever! I am a spray paint believer!

While we were at Home Depot yesterday we purchased the spray paint and also brackets to put the shelf up in A's bedroom and also the brackets to put the satellite receiver on in my laundry room! It has been parked on top of my deep freeze for a year, which means that it is very difficult to actually USE the freezer.

Today we actually put those brackets up in the laundry room. I already had the shelf just waiting!

I am planning to actually get more paint so that I can paint the playhouse. This poor playhouse has been an eye sore for about 10 years! It was my niece's playhouse. My big brother built it but never quite finished it. They played and played in it. Well, 10 years ago we went to Idaho and brought it back to Utah. My hubby had plans to finish it. Well, it wasn't high on the priority list. In fact, it wasn't even on the list! Over the course of 10 years about every other year he would spend about 2 hours working on it. Well, this is the year it is going to look a little bit better! I am going to paint it even if it doesn't have a door! Perhaps painting it will make the door happen more quickly!

I will try and add some after pictures of all these things later!

Same thing different day

Last week I wrote about consistency. How did I do with this? On a scale of 1-10--10 being good. Probably about a 4! That is just not good enough!
Summer has really started (finally). The weather has been wonderful. This has made the children forget that they all still have responsibilities. I am not sure what I am going to do to remedy this problem but I have to do something. I have to have more control in my house! I hate the messes.
Will this ever change? This is something that really makes me crazy. I HATE constantly hollering at my kids to do the same things---again. It makes me old and ugly. I understand why women age so much worse than men. WE are the mother's.

I have heard of people actually picking up their children's things that are not properly put away and putting them into a garbage sack. I am considering this. I truly don't know if this would affect them one bit.

So in the spirit of Smart Habits Saturday I will continue to do the same thing again, and again and again. Try and teach my children to put their things away and help in this house. After 15 years of parenthood I am beginning to lose hope that anything will ever change. I try but I feel as if truly, I am the only one that cares at all. We could live in a complete sty and they wouldn't care. They would just think that I wasn't doing MY job.

Wish my luck. I need it. Maybe a few prayers would help also!

Check out the Lazy Organizer for more Smart Habits Saturday.

Help

I want to learn how to scrapbook digitally. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am planning on purchasing photoshop elements 6. I do not have the faintest idea of how to start.

My World

Tonight I was heading down to my laundry room. It has been ignored the last few days. As I checked on my little people I decided that it was much to beautiful outside to be stuck in my basement. I decided to walk around my little country neighborhood with my camera. I believe that most of us are too busy most of the time to take a moment and look, really look around us. These are a few images of the beauty around me.

For more Talk about Tuesday check out the Lazy Organizer.

Summer Nights

The Lazy Days of Summer

This is what summer is suppose to look like when you are a kid! Hanging out with your cousins with sleeping bags and popsicles! These kids had already built a fire and roasted marshmellows and hotdogs. They played for hours this evening without fighting! This is always a miracle.

Do you ever wish you could go back to those days? They seemed to go on forever. You played and played. The nights were warm(okay-here they are still nippy, you must wear a hoodie) and the trampoline was your paradise. I am glad that my children can have times like this. They disappear too quickly.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

My sweet husband is one of the greatest blessings of my life. He is a wonderful husband, a great Dad and just an all around really great guy. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

I have been working on a project. One of the assignments was to do a layout about someone who is a "safe place".

So, in honor of Father's Day---

I love you, sweetie!

Summer is Here!

June is moving along quickly! It is already the 15th! The weather in Utah has been so strange this June. We have barely begun to have weather that actually feels like summer. It has been cold and rainy. There has been frost in the mornings.

Yesterday was a glorious summer day! We went out to the lake. We were on the water with very few other people-which is always such a great thing. The kids played in the water, in the mud and on the boat. My #2 child is a daredevil. He loves wake boarding. So, he did that for quite awhile. I was able to get some really good shots of him. I totally respect sports photographers. It is so hard to get a good clear shot in a moving boat with a moving target that you are shooting!

My sweet hubby and I are totally convinced that the memories we create with our children will be with them forever. Our time on the boat is almost always great. We have a few incidents of fighting (#3) but on the boat they are fewer and farther between, which is a good thing!

After we got home we had a great dinner. I had actually thought about it before we left---a small miracle! I put pork ribs in the crock pot. They were fabulous-they just fell apart! After dinner we sat on our front porch and just enjoyed the summer smells. After a few errands we sat on our back porch and watched the stars. Except for some major fit problems from #3 it was an absolutely lovely day!

We are truly blessed!

(#1 girl was at Youth Conference-we also had two nieces with us).

Smart Habits Saturday

My children have been home for summer break two full weeks. How has it been going? Well, until yesterday it has felt much more like March than June! We haven't had much outside time. However, that has now changed! Sunshine is on the way!

I have really been trying to keep my kids on track with their daily chores. Honestly, you would think that I had become the Nazi Mom if you listened to #3! She wails "why do we have to clean? It is suppose to be summer vacation!" In truth, we are doing pretty well. It isn't perfect(my house will never be) but they are all doing a bit better. The consistency is really helping to keep the house from falling apart around us. My #2 boy is frankly a terrible bathroom cleaner! I have to go back in every single time and show him where he missed. Usually, it doesn't even look like he touched anything. I have watched him--I think that he is a bit grossed out to touch anything! So, he needs much more practice! I have also had to add little tiny details to their charts. Things such as wipe outside, inside, behind, top and all lids. Take out the garbage, wipe the tub, sweep the floor. --Somehow he thinks that a bathroom is clean if you pour cleaner in the toilet and swish it!!

Another problem that I am trying to tame is towels. My kids like to take baths in my big garden tub. That is alright(I do hate that there are so many extra dirty clothes in my bathroom-maybe I need a hamper!) but they take the towels that are hanging up and then my hubby and I don't have one to use because of course they never bring them back.

So-last week we went to Shopko and bought towels. I told them they could each have two towels. They had to be different so that everyone would know who's towel was who's. Those were the towels that they were suppose to use. If they don't hang them up they will be wet and smelly!

This has worked for this one week! Hubby and I have had a towel every time we get out of the shower! I have also had much less towel laundry!

I am hoping to keep working on projects on bit at a time. My summer is going to fast! July is mostly scheduled out so the projects need to get finished in the next two weeks.

Consistency!!That is my goal!

for more Smart Habits Saturday check out the Lazy Organizer.

Coming Together

The blanket is almost finished! My girl has sewn it all by herself! It is going to be very cute!

She just has to finish the edge stitching and then clip and wash!!!

Clean Up Time!

This is what my workspace has looked like for the last little while! I have been working on a project and so I kept using the same stuff over and over. However, it finally got to where I had about a 8x8 inch working space!

So---I am taking some advice I have heard lately. Edit, edit, edit! My workspace is now looking more like a table instead of a garbage pile! I have also thrown away lots of bits of garbage and put all my ribbon into my ribbon box. I even put pins into many of the spools to keep them from unraveling!

I am going to try and focus some energy on my scrapbook studio in the next week. I want to get it back into shape. It is such a disorganized mess that I can't find anything and it is not a fun place to create. That has to end!

So, I am going to take little 10 minutes take-outs and work on getting this space back into shape!

Consistency!

That is a word/action that I struggle with. For years I have realized that being consistent in anything is what brings true success. If we want to lose weight we have to consistently exercise and eat well, not just once a week. If we want to learn a skill we have to consistently practice it, whether it is the piano, painting, photography, golf, etc.

This summer I am really trying hard to encourage my children to consistently help keep our house nice. Every morning(almost) I have had them clean their rooms and do their other chores from our chore chart. My #3 child balks at this every single day. "Summer is supposed to be a vacation, why do we have to do all this cleaning?" I keep explaining (sometimes nicely, other times not so nicely) that if we consistently pick up our house, put our things away, wipe the counters, vacuum floors, etc. then our house is always pretty clean. It isn't a HUGE project.

I am hoping that by summer's end they will have a better understanding of WHY we do a little everyday. Perhaps then it will continue into the school year and they will be on their way to understanding that a little bit all the time is much easier than a lot everyonce in awhile. It also makes for a much happier momma!

Sewing

My 15 year old daughter is sewing! This is amazing because she has had no interest in this type of activity-ever!

I made my cousin's new baby girl a darling "rag" flannel blanket a couple of weeks ago. (The fabric in the picture-I forgot to take a finished picture!) It was so cute that my girl wanted one for herself. We looked at a couple of stores for fabric to no avail. Everything was very baby or plain. Yesterday we went to JoAnn's fabric and found what she liked. This afternoon we have been cutting squares and sewing them together. I ended up rotary cutting the squares for her. She had never used this type of cutter before. I have had her sewing the squares. I figure that this is a good introduction to sewing. Nothing too complicated or precise. I think that it is going to be a really fun blanket for her to wrap up in. She will love it even more (hopefully) because she made it herself.

Tired

I am exhausted. I am waiting up for my 15 year old. We went to the lake today. It was cool but still sunny. Hopefully, tomorrow I can add some pictures.

One week down

I am still here. We have officially had our first full week of summer vacation. It hasn't felt like summer, however. It has been cold, dark and rainy. It has made all of us tired. It is 11:50 am any my little guy is still asleep. His big sister (#1) was up early with me to go to the gym. The she went back to sleep also. #2 got up and went back to sleep. They are all just exhausted.

We have been trying to stay on top of the messes around the house. MissE isn't too happy that we have to clean all the time. "It is supposed to be summer vacation, Mom!" Well, MissE, there will always be work to do! I am trying to teach her the concept that it is easier to clean up little messes than to wait for it to be a big mess. She isn't getting it. In fact, she needs to get back into her room and make her bed.

We have been looking for cute flannel to make a blanket for my big girl. We are having no luck. I is all baby or plain. We have a couple of other stores to check out.

I am in the process of a new creative craze. I am trying to find letters in odd objects and photograph them. Hubby thinks that I need therapy!

Progress

Summer has begun! We have started off on a good note. I sat down with the kids and we had a talk about my expectations. The things that they needed to do everyday to maintain order. I hope that we can continue. I explained that there were some projects that we would be doing all summer long that I would be expecting their help with. Yesterday we started the garage. It had become a dumping ground. We have a corner that is supposed to be for coats. There are hooks and shelves for shoes. Well, Mr. #2 and Miss #3 have been HORRIBLE this winter about putting anything away. Truthfully, I decided to ignore it. It made me angry every single time I had to push shoes or coats out of the way. However, I didn't want to deal with it. Yesterday was the day. It isn't finished yet but we are making great progress. I am trying to decide what system would work better. Lockers? I don't know. I just know that I don't want to continue with the horrible mess that it has been. I also need to go through all the other shelves in the garage. We have some great shelves but a few of them seem to not have a specific purpose laid out. Therefore, they become the home to anything that doesn't have a home. So, I need to work on that. My sweet hubby is usually pretty organized, however, if things aren't labeled with a specific purpose even he just sits things. So, that is one of my next projects.

My project list is long. I am compiling it. It is probably depressing!

Reading Challenge

A new Book of Mormon reading challenge is going to begin on June 3rd! I am going to do this again! It was so good for me to have a goal and a way to chart it. If you are interested in this challenge visit the Hinkley Challenge site. It is free and easy. It is also a way to help us do what we already know we should be doing.

Last time I finished the entire Book of Mormon in 95 days! I am so proud of myself for doing this! I hope that more people will join in!

Pigsty

I am tired. We are home from church. It was a small miracle. We made it to church and we walked in the building TEN minutes early!

I am going to take a little nap and while I am resting I am hoping that the little cleaning fairies come and clean up the pigsty that has overtaken my house.

Fun Night!

We are back from our little getaway! We went out to Wendover to the Collin Raye concert. It was great! It is a small theater that has a really nice feel to it. I don't think that there would be a bad seat.

Poor hubby did have to sit next to a man that felt that he should sing along (badly) to every song. We were able to scoot over a seat and turn so it wasn't quite so bad.

It was interesting, there were older women acting like lovesick teenage groupies! It was so pathetic that it was funny. I just hope that they were having lots of fun.

If you have never been to Wendover, Nevada, let me describe it for you. You drive about 180 miles away from Salt Lake City. You drive across what I think would describe H*ll! It is the most flat, barren piece of earth that I have ever seen. It is the bottom of the (prehistoric) Lake Bonneville. It is also where the salt flats are. So, with the salt, nothing will grow. Then you come upon a city in the middle of nowhere. The only reason it exists is for gambling.

If you ever want to take a drive I will point you in the right direction--I won't be going with you anytime soon!

Allergies

Dear Pollen,

I understand your purpose. I understand that we need you, however---could you take a little vacation? I need to have energy to function in my life. You cause me to feel lethargic and hungover(ok,I haven't ever had a hangover but it sounds good!). I have a pounding headache and I just want to lay on the couch and do nothing. So, think about it, just take a tiny little vacation. Do it for me. Please?

non-affectionately,
Stuffy and irritable

Time for a Change

I have been feeling a bit out of sorts lately. I have attributed it to my lack of exercise due to my foot injury. However, I have been realizing in the last few weeks that I have just been in a slump. I haven't wanted to do much. I have become terribly lazy and unmotivated.I have been using my foot as an excuse. It is lame of me. I have also gotten much too plump around the rear!

So, I am trying to motivate myself enough to get back on the band wagon. My children will be finished with school tomorrow and Thursday. This means that there will be many bodies running around ALL DAY! I have to be focused if I want to have a smooth running, pleasant summer.

I am formulating some goals in my head. They are beginning to look a little like this:

*get up early-no later than 7:00 am.
*go to gym before 7:30
*check out new gym ( closer to home)
*shower and get dressed immediately after workout.
*have responsibilities written down for children-everyday
*stay on top of laundry
*15 year old to do her own laundry
*11 year old to begin understanding laundry
*bedrooms picked up

All in all, these are things that seem normal to any naturally organized person. To those of us who struggle staying on top of all the many facets of life these things have to be written down--over and over again. I have to reevaluate constantly.

For more Talk about Tuesday ideas check out the Lazy Organizer and her beautiful new baby.

Hover Craft

Remember the Jetson's? I often wish that we had little hovercrafts that you could hop into and get from place to place more quickly! Today is one of those days! We will now return from our weekend. It is only 3 1/2 hours but it sometimes feels like 9. I shouldn't complain, however, because my sweet hubby has already driven us here, had the party, driven back home (3 1/2 hrs) gone to his LONG church day-8-5 and then driven BACK to Idaho. He will now drive all of us home. He is a saint!
I am lucky, he drives and I read,listen to my ipod or sleep.

Party Time!

It has been a whirlwind weekend! We have been in Idaho for my Mom's 70th birthday. My sister, brothers and I planned a surprise party for her. We managed pretty well keeping it a surprise. One brother said a bit too much and then the ten pounds of thawing hamburger pushed it over the edge! We ended up having about 40 family members come and wish her happy birthday! It was fun to have a reason to see family. We are really a very close family but with life moving along it seems that it is so easy to not make the time to be together. The older we get, the more people are involved. I have 36 1st cousins on my Mom's side alone. So, every one of those cousins is married and I believe all of them have children except one. I have cousins that are now grandparents. That makes for a really big family! I feel blessed to be a part of a family that generally really enjoys each other!

My sister and I have an unwritten rule that we don't both come to Mom's at the same time. It is just too crazy. The house is just not that big! So, this has been a bit crazy! I brought my four and two extra's and she has her three. Then we always have my nephew who lives next door. It makes for LOT's of bodies! Oh, well, it also makes for memories that will be remembered long after they all have children of their own.

I tried to get pictures of everyone before they left the party on Saturday. I only missed one cousin! Oops!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday! Mom!

You are the essence of the word HOME!

Thanks for being such a great Mom.

Thanks for teaching me to see the beauty around me.

Thanks for teaching me to love the flowers.

Thanks for singing crazy songs.

Thanks for not making me eat cooked cabbage.

Thanks for letting me dig up your grass and plant flowers.

Thanks for teaching me to sew.

Thanks for taking me to the library.

Thanks for taking me to church.

Thanks for being you.

I love you! R

Happy 15th Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe that she is already 15 years old!

Love you!

Monkey!

You Will Be Missed

The funeral for Bob Lehman was wonderful. It was such a fitting tribute and celebration of an incredible man. My brother, Bob's son in law told my husband that Bob is the only person that he can think of that he has never had angry thought towards. He said that meant a lot to him because he is easily irritated.

During the 2002 Olympic games Bob came and stayed at our house while he was a volunteer at the Bobsled venue. We would anxiously await for his return so that he could tell us all about his adventures. We watched so much of the Olympics and really felt a part of the excitement because of Bob. My children came to adore him. He was like another Grandpa and you can NEVER have too many Grandpa's.

He didn't want to put us out so he was often a bit hesitant to bother us. One morning he was going to the venue later so he was there for breakfast. He came up with a sealed bag of sliced apples. He asked if he could do a trade, apples for some cereal! Of course I told him that he didn't need to do a trade and he could help himself to anything. The funny thing is, that was the first time that I had ever seen fresh apple slices in a bag. Now they are available at McDonald's! Every time my little guy gets a baggie of apples at McDonald's I think of Bob and his "trade". I also remember asking him if he wanted butter and jam on his toast. He told me that he would do without the butter. It was the only thing he was "giving up" for his health. I think of this every time I butter a piece of toast.

Bob was an avid outdoors man. There wasn't an outside sport that he didn't love. When I was in High School he took me skiing almost every Saturday for years! He was on the ski patrol for about 45 years. I never felt like I was an inconvenience to him, not ever.

He was a great man and I am glad that I had the opportunity and blessing to know him.

He will be missed.

Funeral

We are headed to Idaho to a funeral today. My sister in laws father Bob passed away this last week. He has been struggling with Melanoma for about 6 years. He has been amazing. He will be greatly missed.

Pull up a chair

Pull up a chair and sit awhile. Take a moment to be still and really listen. Listen to your heart. I believe that we are so inundated by sound(ipods, cell phones, computers) that we often don't realize that we are not giving ourselves some of the best therapy around. Quiet!

Have a beautiful Sabbath

A Good Place To Be

I don't think that there is any place that I would rather be than with a little one cuddled up under my chin.

My little MissE had the camera this day. I am glad that she did!

Dancing-Again

Spending the day at Lagoon(local amusement part) for the National Dance Competition. It is one of those crazy days that take forever but they work so hard for. This year we have decided not to ride rides. We are going to wait on go on an average Tuesday when there is nothing else going on and the lines aren't so long. We have done rides along with the dancing for the last few years and we just don't want the added stress of "making it worth it."

Olives, Please

"Momma, open the olives, please." says little man.

A few minutes later this is what I find!

Aren't my new bowls just happy and cheerful? When I saw them I knew that they would just be so much fun to use. They are my happy colors.

Bring Summer On!

I am ready for summer. A change of pace. A few different things to do. Warm nights.

Car or Garbage truck?

I often wonder if I drive a Suburban or a Garbage Truck!

This is the mound of STUFF that I pulled out of the INSIDE of the car--NOT the trunk part!

Why is it so difficult to actually take with you what you bring? My husband has gotten after me for years about my messy car. I have told him repeatedly that when he really lives my life then he can say something about it!

This is usually what happens. We get in the car to go to a ball game(or any other place). It is cold so everyone grabs a blanket and a coat, we might also have a tablet and backpacks, books etc. We wouldn't want to be bored. We return from the ballgame and the only thing that is taken out of the car is my personal purse and my coat. I help unbuckle #4 and then we go in the house, I plan on returning. I get inside and #2 and #3 are fighting, the dog has knocked over the garbage, homework is shoved in my face, dinner isn't ready, piano needs practiced, the phone rings, I wipe a bum or two, clean up a spill or two, read a book, sign homework, answer the phone again, do a load of laundry(or five), make sure dinner is cleaned up, prayers said and get ready for bed! That is why my car is messy! I am only one person!

Evidence

Evidence that I have other people that live in my house!

I didn't get any of this out. Unfortunately for me, I did put it away!

I Do It Myself!

Little Man yelled "help me turn it on Mom!" "I cook my breakfast by myself"

I help him push the time on the microwave and then I walk into the other room. I hear the beep, so I come to get his pot pie out of the oven.

This is what I found , Little man standing on the oven, microwave door open, two oven mitts on his little hands and his pot pie carefully being removed from the oven!

I guess my "Little Man" isn't so little anymore!

I Created!

I actually created in my studio!

I have this wonderful room in my basement that has a big problem. It is often ignored. Ignored to the point that it becomes a "junk room" instead of an art/scrapbook/sewing studio. Well, my Mom came a few weeks ago so I had straightened up to put the extra bed up. Well, after I removed that I put my island table back up. My Mother in law went to a card making party and brought home an idea for a card that I just had to recreate. So, I went to work. It was so cute that I made another. Then I realized that all the scraps and mess were already out I should just create some other things. I loved how they turned out.

So, the moral of this story? Make more than one while the mess is out! The thought process is already there and all the supplies are available.

Just for your information the cards are like little envelopes--the inside piece pulls out with the little tab. Hopefully, it shows in the pictures.

For more Talk about Tuesday visit the Lazy Organizer---send some labor vibes her way, she needs to have this baby before it is twelve pounds!

Ease is important!

My #1 girl still thinks that I don't post about her enough. So, we were heading to the Grandparent's, two houses away. This is what she looked like!

Mother's Day

My life is always moving along!

Mother's Day was lovely. My sweet hubby got us tickets to see Collin Ray in concert! I am so excited. He also gave me a gift certificate for Photoshop Elements 6. I haven't picked it up yet.
We woke early, went for a beautiful walk and then I crawled back into bed! We went to church at the singles ward, heard our grandma speak and came home. We had a nice dinner.
The kids made me a darling card that had all their pictures on it and they had all written a little note inside the little pocket.These are the little things that I love! We went to Grandma's house and gave her a darling little papersack mini album. It turned out SO cute.

As much as I fret and stew I am so grateful that I get to be mother to these four wonderful children. I always knew that I wanted to be a mother. I never doubted it for a minute. Occasionally now, when they are fighting or the house is a wreck

I wonder, but only for a minute(or two). Then I look at the big picture. I realize how quickly time goes. My daughter is almost fifteen. I met my sweety when I was 17 1/2! That is a bizarre thing to realize. This life is going faster and faster. I want to be able to really absorb all the beauty and goodness I can out of it. These "little people" will not be little all that long!

Comment Problem

I have had comment problems! If you have tried to leave a comment. Try again, I had done some tinkering and messed up the comment place!

Smart Habit Saturday

What has happened to my habits? Well, it seems that they have flown out the window. My house has been a wreck all week and therefore I have felt all upside down, inside out. So, what is my habit?

Recommit and Refocus

Recommit to my life goals.

Refocus on how to achieve those goals.

Read my scriptures-this is one goal that I have been doing, I just need to keep going

Family Scripture Time-recommit! We have to do this more often. An ongoing struggle.

Exercise-I did go to the gym today. I have to start slowly because of my foot but I HAVE to get more exercise. I have lost SO MUCH GROUND being laid up. I must exercise!!

Follow Through--this is one of the main things that I need to work on in my life. If I can have more follow through, consistency and commitment in all aspects of my life I will feel much more contentment in my life.



For other ideas check out the Lazy Organizer.

Here we go again!

I am going to do it again! I have cleared my chart for reading the Book of Mormon. I will begin again. We have been instructed to continue to read our scriptures throughout our lives--so, I will begin again!

I am still so glad that I did this challenge. For some reason it just propelled me to really concentrate and finish. I hope that I can continue to read more regularly having had this experience.

I DID IT!

I DID IT!

I finished reading the entire Book of Mormon in 95 days! Yeah me!

I participated in the Hinkley Challenge in honor of President Hinkley. It has been a wonderful experience. I was so determined to complete this challenge. I am quite proud of myself!!!!

Recap

Wow, what a day! We had to be in Salt Lake at the Temple by 9:30 for a wedding. Both the bride and groom (Lyndsay and Blake) were from the singles ward. It is so much fun to witness these young couples getting married. This was one that was especially fun because we watched their romance blossom.
It is always special to be in the Temple. It is so calm and reverent, so unlike the rest of my life.
After the wedding I had to go to a craft store to get things for my cubscouts to make for Mother's day. They turned out so cute! I forgot to take a picture of all of them with the boys!

After scouts I had to do my blogging presentation for the Relief Society enrichment meeting. Hubby was there to help set up the technical stuff. He said that I rambled! I hope that I didn't do too poorly! I think that sometimes it is harder to listen to someone that you love because you are used to them. I am going to go with that! He is used to me so he felt like I rambled! Also, maybe he is just not inspired yet about journal keeping!

Tomorrow I will attend MissE's Mother's Day performance. She is so excited about this!

Almost There!

I am almost finished reading the Book of Mormon! I have been part of the Hinkley Challenge and it is coming to a close. It has been a hard thing but a wonderful thing also!

Go look at my sidebar to see the graph! Send me some good vibes so that I can finish it by the 10th!

Spring has Sprung!

We have been having beautiful weather! It is so welcome and so needed! Our entire family worked in the yard on Saturday to get the flower beds cleaned up. Winter is so hard on things!

We have grass that is starting to green up and tulips ready to bloom!

Spring is here! Go and enjoy!

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

I had a strange thing happen today. As many of youknow, I am a scrapbooker in theory. I love to do it, I collect product, I take thousands of pictures but I just haven't made enough time for it since my #3 child was born. Well, I have been reading a new book by Stacy Julian-founder of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine and author of a few books. I met Stacy years ago before the magazine. I just love her personal style. Well, I emailed her this week. I pasted a copy of my Orange Crush blog entry. Well, Stacy felt that it captured what she is trying to teach enough that she posted on her blog! I was shocked to say the least! So, go check out Stacy Julian's blog. She is a bright spot.


Also, go and make something bright and happy, in honor of National Scrapbooking Day!

Smart Habits Saturday

I haven't joined Smart Habits Saturday for a few weeks.

What has been happening? As always, tons! My last habit was about personal journals. Well, I haven't fallen in love with LDSjournals.com. I guess that I am just familiar with blogger. I think that I may get a private blog that I write more personal information on.

I have been asked to explain blogging at my church's women's enrichment night. Ok? I am not an expert. However, I will try.

Why do I blog? I started blogging because it sounded interesting. Now I blog because I have realized that I am actually keeping my personal history. I record many more details of my life here on this blog than I write anywhere else. I have yet to master a paper to pen journal.
So---my blog has become a type of journal for me.

I found a site Blog2Books, that offers a program(free) that you can download so that you can print your entire blog(or parts). It is saved to a pdf file and then you can either print it at home or take it to a printing store(Kinkos) and have them print it and bind it. I actually figured out how to do this today. There are still some things(many) that I don't understand but I managed to get a hard copy of the first five months I had my blog. It was fun to look back at it. I feel that it is a new type of journal.

So, my New Habit? Well, I am going to really work on my life goals. Those ones that I have talked about forever. I won't bore you with the exact details. However, I have been very tired this week. I can tell, my house is suffering. I am suffering. So, I am going to try and stay
FOCUSED. I know WHAT I need to do. I just need to do it!

I am also going to schedule a bit of creative play time. I want to try some watercolor pencils. They look like they would be fun. I have also decided that I want to just start doodling again. I used to do this all the time. Now, the only doodling I do is on the phonebook!

I hope that I can actually feel energetic enough to work in my flowers. They are crying for love. That is if it doesn't snow again!

for more Smart Habits Saturday visit the Lazy Organizer

Sunshine!

Today is a beautiful, sunny day! I had to share a doodle that I hope will brighten your day. Sometimes coloring is the best thing for you!

Happy May Day!

HAPPY MAY DAY!

Today is May 1st! Celebrate with some flowers! In my neck of the woods it is cold and snowy again so I am putting some sunshiney vibes out there!

To Do List

Do you ever wish that this was still YOUR to-do list?

(list by MissE)

#3-ask Mom to tuck me inn---it is hard to read!

Crazy Girl!

Mom--

Write about how I discovered my dyslexia today and about my car wreck and all the other things I told you about today, in your blog!!

Love,

#1 girl!

Cracked me up!

(sticking her entire fist in her mouth is one of her hidden talents! She is also fine, the wreck wasn't too bad-stupid boy drivers! She thinks she is dyslexic because she is mixing things up all the time.

She thinks I don't write about her enough!)

Glass Bottle

The other day my friend and I went to a bakery. I saw a glass bottle of Orange Crush soda.

Orange Crush. When I hear those two words I am instantly a little girl in my Dad's shop.

My Dad had an autobody repair shop. They would fix the body of a car and then repaint it.

The shop was a children's paradise! My brother Vance and I would run around the entire place. There was an old elevator that we would play on. The building had been a furniture store in a former life. We would ride up the elevator to the upstairs. It was huge! It was full of boxes and other interesting things. We weren't supposed to play up there but we couldn't help ourselves from peeking into this strange place. I am still not sure what all that stuff was! There was also a huge stairway leading to the upstairs. I remember thinking those stairs led to some mysterious forbidden wonderland.

We would ride the elevator up and down, over and over again. When we stopped in the basement we would get off in the paint mixing room. This is where the machines were that would shake the cans of paint until they mixed enough to use. There was another short flight of stairs, somewhat like a cellar. I remember that room being rather scary to me.

My brother and I would play for hours going up and down the elevator, turning on the mixing machines, peering into the unknown boxes, running up and down the stairs. Dad sold snowmobiles for awhile so there were those to sit on also. I remember one called "Big Bertha!"

Occasionally Dad had a very important job for us. He would "need" us to paint a fifty-five gallon metal drum. We thought this was the most important work ever! We took pride in how we painted those cans! I can still see those big blue stripes in my mind! Little did we know that our "important job" was painting garbage cans! Dad was trying to keep us entertained and busy!

After running around and around and around like little kids do, Dad would send us across the street to Orr's market. A little old fashioned grocery store. This was an experience so different than today's shopping. It was an old building( it was the grocery store my Mom shopped at as a girl) yet it had many wonders to behold. It had all needed groceries, meat counter, vegetables etc. There was fried chicken and fishing licenses. Hamburger and bullets. Toilet paper and tackle boxes. It had all of these wonders in three little aisles! It also had a really cool old register with the pop up numbers.

When Dad sent us to Orr's we would go to the cooler and buy a glass bottle of Orange Crush soda, then we would walk back across the street with this cool orange goodness.

I miss Orange Crush in a glass bottle. I miss going across the street to get it. I miss opening the fridge at the back of the shop and finding a bottle of Orange Crush. I miss my Dad.

The 40th Birthday Party was a success!

The big 40th birthday bash was a success! We had him mostly surprised. I think he suspected something but just wasn't sure how or what. We had lots of friends come over and visit. They brought silly gag gifts. I made a little 8x8 album with old pictures in the middle that people wrote on-like a guest book--turned out so cute!

Hubby's Mom and I had gone through hundreds of old pictures, I scanned them and then had them printed. We put together 7 poster boards of pictures. It was lots of fun to see him look at all these old pictures. It was also fun for my kids to see them.

So, I think that he was surprised--

Now, on to Miss E's baptism. I will pick up my Mom from the shuttle at 1pm, take MissE shopping for a dress, do laundry(this is a constant) and then get ready for everything tomorrow!

Happy 40th Birthday!

Happy 40th Birthday Sweetie!

Your were a cutie WAY back then and you are a cutie now! I am lucky to have spent more than half of my life with you!

P.S. You are older than me!

Real Life!

I am stressed. I am short tempered. I am cranky. I have had 3 periods in 5 weeks. I have parties to plan, pictures to print, food to order and a house to clean.

Probably not the best time to be late for school or have a messy bedroom!

Spring Break

We actually got to have a spring break this year! Our school district usually adds one day to Easter and that is it! This year Easter was so early! So, we went last week to Lake Mead, NV. It was great! The weather was nice and the wind didn't start up until we were ready to leave. The two big kids wake boarded until they just couldn't anymore and we ate good food, listened to music, read a bit and just hung out together. This was the first time we have ever gone to Mead without friends. While we missed them it was actually quite nice to just be our family. After the first night(much too tired--all of us!) everyone got along pretty well.

It was nice to get away and just relax. My sweet hubby really needed to get away.

Now is catch up time with laundry! It is amazing how much laundry there is over six days. I usually try to do a load or two everyday, not doing any for six---there is a TON!