Crafts!!

Okay, so last year I went to Super Saturday, and I taught a card class. Well, to make a long story short, more people were on the list for my class than the number that they had given me, so I wound up making kits and teaching the whole time, and never got to do any of my crafts. (They gave me pieces in kits, and they are still sitting in a box in my craft room, undone.) I am one of those people that if it's a kit, half the time I never get around to doing it. I have good intentions, but the SS thing is for people like me who will never get around to it later! So this year when they asked me to help with something, I said sure as long as I didn't have to sit and teach, since I wanted to do things this time. Well, it was great. I didn't have to take too long to teach, it was really an easy project, and a few very sweet sisters helped me to make the projects that I wasn't going to have time for. (Sister Coggins announced that there was "someone" last year that didn't get to do any of her projects, and that they wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time. She was talking about me!) Anyway, it was fun. Sister Ammerman made my Quiet Book, Tara made my menu board, and Angelyn is cutting my pants! And I got all of my other crafts done. (Hopefully I didn't forget about one!) Makes me want to pull out that box and do the others now.

That's so funny!

Let's start out with telling you that Alyson is petrified of bugs. Especially ones that fly. (FYI - we have discovered she is allergic to stinging insects, so there might be a reason for that!) When she sees one, wild shrieking begins, and continues until the bug is taken care of. Well, Sunday on the way to Grandma Janie's house was no exception. A very small bug had somehow gotten into the car, and Alyson spotted it. Wild banshee sounds ensued, and after a few moments, Jed turns to Alyson and says "Alyson, Faith is when you don't get scared......... SO, Kill the fly." And ends the conversation.

Daddy the Tickle Monster

When I was little, my dad would crouch down in the middle of the living room floor and play "Tickle Monster" with us. We would all take turns attacking him, and he would grab us, and tickle us for a moment, then let us go, and the whole cycle would start over again. It was one of our favorite parts of the evening. Imagine Zach, Erin and I teaming up to pounce at the same time, seeing if we could take him down, only to get caught! I remember thinking how fun it was when Dad would play tickle monster with us. Well, Daniel has a very similar game with our children. They take turns attacking him, and Jed's started taking a running leap at him. They have a great time, and burn off some energy. I finally got a few pictures of it! (And the picture of just Alyson was when she figured out I was taking pictures and said "Mommy, take my picture. I smile, see-- Smile!!")
Enjoy!

Today

Well, General Conference was this weekend, and like it always is, it was an amazing, uplifting experience. (For those that are not Latter Day Saints, twice a year we have a big meeting where the leaders of our church speak to us, and it is broadcast all over the world in many languages. We are able to watch it via satelite, internet, or at church buildings.) I am so thankful for many things, and for this particular post, I'm talking about the invention of the HDMI cable. We were able to watch Conference here, in our own home, on our TV, and were able to hear it despite the four and two year olds playing/arguing in the background. (or foreground, at some moments) I loved the talk by Elder Bednar when he mentioned that they had not always had perfectly behaved children. It makes me feel better about the fact that we're here, our children are catching bits and pieces, but not all of it. Hopefully, they will remember the fact that Mommy and Daddy listen and watch the Prophet and Apostles speak to us, and will remember us explaining who different people are, and will know that this is important. Jed and Alyson both have wonderful teachers at church, and I know that Jed was excited today when we sang "How Firm a Foundation", which he knows from Primary. It was just such a wonderful session.
In between sessions, we cleaned Jed and Alyson's rooms and then after dinner we cleaned the play room. When we were done, Jed got in the shower and Alyson brought me one of her baby dolls (which she carries around half the time treating it like a real baby. She talks to her like I talk to Alyson, and it's so cute!) and said "Mommy, Baby Laiza needs a diaper change. Do we have a diaper?" (She says diaper "dipuh" and Laiza sounds like "Wiza") And I'm thinking ... okay, I have no size N diapers for this doll... cloth diapers! So, I go downstairs, grab some scraps, and we cut out two diaper shaped pieces, and put them on the twin dolls. Alyson was so excited. We finished baths/showers, brushed teeth, read stories, said prayers, and tucked in to bed. It was a very calm night. Kind of a perfect end to this wonderful weekend.

Well, the kids WANT to go...

For those of you that don't know, Daniel hates camping. I don't know what it is, but his version of camping is in a hotel room. Personally, I enjoy it. And I kinda miss it. So, I've been wanting to take the kids camping sometime soon. Daniel's dragging his feet, of course. Then, this great thing happened! Jed is so excited by the idea of camping. My parents let him spend the night one night and set up a tent inside the house. He had a blast. He's been begging to sleep outside, or to go camping all summer. This week we learned about fire safety on Monday in his preschool class. (Yay Genean!) Today he sat down with me and said "Mommy, let's go camping, and we can learn fire safety with the camp fire! Can we cook marshmallows on sticks and be safe and have fun?" I just smiled. This afternoon/evening we're going to have candles and cook marshmallows over them so he can at least try it. Hopefully, we can convince Daddy!

Already??

So, everyone knows that Jed has eyelashes about a mile long. Several months ago he started trying to use them to his advantage. He has figured out that if he gives this certain smile and bats them a time or two, old women swoon and give him whatever he wants. Well, he has been teaching Alyson, apparently. We went to Tot Trade yesterday, and they both flirted shamelessly with the lady at the desk selling candy and popcorn. I had seen a friend in line behind me, so we were waiting. While we waited, they talked and flirted and batted like crazy, and of course she offered them both free popcorn and oohed and ahhed over them. Poor kids. I suppose they get the flirting honest, though. They do have Daniel and I for parents!

Dora

I really don't like Dora. Break out the name calling but shoot me please. As an explorer, you would think after 5 jazillion episodes she would know where she is going but noooooooo........ Chica can't even find her own house without help from "super map." Ever wish Swiper the Fox would just eat boots? I do. From now on, I'm rooting for broken legs and the alligators.

Waste not..

So when Daniel wears out pants, it's only one area that gets worn out. The rest of them are just fine. So I've started cutting off the still good parts and saving them. Well, we felt kinda junky yesterday, but I had had a long nap and wasn't tired yet. So I pulled out the Legs of Daniel's old Khaki's, and made a jumper for Alyson. It was my first attempt at doing this, and I did it free hand (no pattern), and I must say I was please with just about the whole thing. (I don't know how to do button holes with my machine yet; those need work) I also used some old curtain fabric (I just shortened Jed's curtain so it would actually fit his window, and used the remnant from that) to make him a tie. It's my first one, and it's a little wider than it should be for the part that goes around the neck, but it looks really good! I have pics of the jumper! I'm excited to make them some clothes this fall! (sorry the pics are so blurry! Used the video camera to take them, and they seem to always turn out that way!)

Boys will be boys...

So, boys stick together just as much as girls do. We've been feeling a little under the weather today, and Daniel's home with it too. (Let's try not to spread too many germs, right?) So I toss him the phone (Honestly, it was a beautiful shot. We're talking, swish, hole in one, no rim type thing. Gorgeous.) It goes right into his hands, and he fumbles the ball and it goes rolling on the floor. Jed, my loving traitor, turns to me and says "That wasn't a very good shot mommy." "What? Honey, Daddy dropped it. It was a great shot!" (In Daniel's defense, he agreed with me, saying that it truly was a rare and beautiful toss made by me) But Jed just couldn't believe that Daddy would miss it if it was a good throw. Man, guys are just as bad as us girls!

Crayons

I hate crayons and I love crayons. They are great for occupying time and fun to watch kids color things and be so proud of them. They are also a PAIN. Alyson was holding her crayons and straining. I asked her what was wrong and she replied simply,"It's not broken." The look on her face was "Duh daddy, can't you see what I'm trying to do." I have never seen crayons get totally used up before. I wonder what these execs. at these companies are thinking? Did they never have kids who would break the crayons so here I am to propose and idea that would revolutionize the crayon world -

Mini Crayons!!!!

Ok, I know that they exist but oh, the potential! A great marketing team could sell this. All you need is former parents who took an active role in the raising of their children.

I hate broken crayons!

Kids say the darndest things

It's dinnertime and our kids naturally hate everything they put in front of you but Alyson is fond of the bread family. We also had grapes and beef stroganoff but she was not fond of that. She ate most of her bread (dinner rolls) and didn't eat the hard bottom portion and asked for more. I get up, give her another piece, wait for a second and ask "What do you say?" She answers a curt "No" and goes about eating the piece of bread and Shannon starts rolling with laughter. I just kind of stood there with disbelief watching her chow down and thought, "Well give me back my roll then," but I figure, since she is eating, why bother her?

School!

Well, Jed and Alyson are very excited tonight. In the morning they are going to be starting "School" with a group of parents in our ward. We are switching off days, and we will be doing a letter a week. We talked about what the kids were excited about, and Jed mentioned that he wanted a back pack. Well, I'm kinda crafty, and I thought.... I have all this material, some of which is in characters that they both really like... I bet I could make them back packs! So, last night Jed, Alyson and I sat down and they picked out the fabric they wanted me to use. Jed chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Alyson chose Veggie Tales. Tonight I sat down at the table while they watched a Sunday friendly movie, and made two back packs. They are denim and the character fabric, and they are super cute. Jed came over and helped me make them. From start to finish, it took about an hour to do the project. I was very happy with the results! I have not done snaps or anything yet for the top, but I'll get there! Anyway, Jed and Alyson went running around the house wearing them, quite happy. (Alyson found her bed and passed out before I could get her picture, though!) Well, I just wanted to share our fun day!

It has been well documented that we are attempting to color our thumbs green with produce and we've shown some flat dirt that would rival Covil's from years back (brownie points to those that would get that) and some sprouts. Now it's time for results.

Our flourishing garden














1 of 4 cucumbers














Cherry tomato














Regular tomato not yet ripe














And some failures. Hey, nobody's perfect but I'll take the results we have.

Houses and Boo Boos

So, admittedly it has been far too long since I last did a deep cleaning of my children's rooms. Today, I went upstairs to do a thorough cleaning, and saw a few interesting things. Some things I learned that I had never known before:
1: Apparently the side of a dresser makes a great chalk board.
2: Houses get owees too.
3: Only the name brand bandaids get used on houses.
4: Chalk is easily smuggled into rooms.
5: Bandaids that have been adhered to carpet don't like coming up from said carpet.

This was the conversation when I discovered the first bandaid on the floor, stuck to the carpet.
"What's this, Jed?"
"The floor had an owee."
"Um... okay honey. But let's not do this any more. It's hard for Mommy to get them up."
He hung his head and left the room. As I worked more, I found out why. (Side note, I do make my children clean their own rooms for the most part. However, when it gets down to the end, I vacuum and dust myself.) I found a total of 20 bandaids stuck to various places on my carpet. I don't know if anyone else has done the math, but that's an entire box. How fun! While my first instinct was to call my son in the room and beat his butt, I thought to myself... he's four.... he's four... no beating... he's four... and counted to 10 about 20 times. Then I could see how cute the whole thing was. (Some were in the hall, most in Jed's room though. Makes me wonder what he's doing to cause so many owees.... :-) ) By the last one, all I could do was shake my head. A few remnants of sticky parts of bandaids are still on the carpet upstairs, but overall it's much better.
The mural on the side of the dresser was nice. He must have tried to erase it, because it was pretty much a blob when I got up there, but the dresser was covered in chalk. It's nice and clean now, at least! And we had a nice little chat about the fact that chalk stays outside.
Anyway, that was my morning adventure! Chalk and bandaids... who'd have thunk...

Scrapbooking...

Okay, so if you know me you probably also know that I am a scrapbooker. I love it. I love being able to express myself creatively through my pages. It's stress relief, it's fun, and I just adore crafting. There is an amazing giveaway/challenge going on right now on a friend of mine's blog, debbysdares.blogspot.com
Debby Lewis is an amazing crafter with a huge heart, and it's been such a blessing to get to know her and to be able to see her beautiful works of art. She's really been an angel, and I'm so thankful for her friendship. The challenge this month is about helping children. I encourage you to go there and check it out! And the giveaway that she's offering is absolutely mind blowing!

Homeowner thoughts

Being a homeowner of a new home has its perks but there are also things you wished you could have done differently if presented with the chance.

First off - Sod would go down the day I close. It would be written into the contract. The sod I lay down is beautiful and thriving, all because I took care of it when I laid it down. They don't insure sod because it's a "live product." Unfortunately, it wasn't a live product once we moved in.

Second - All doors will be opened and closed full and will latch and stay closed once closed. They will also make sure to fit.

Third - Things must match. The big window in our living room must have window panes that match. I know you're thinking "What?" The top portion that doesn't move has 4 panes. The bottom portion has 6. You don't think about that until you notice it, or Shannon does. That's it for today's edition. Until next time. Ingat Kayo.

Piano!!

We're the proud owners of a Piano! I went to Craigslist yesterday morning, just to look (I've been looking for a piano in our price range... free... for a while. Wishing for one for even longer!) and someone had posted a free piano! I emailed her, and she called me back very quickly. She wanted a good home for it, and we've been dying to have one for Daniel and I to practice (of course his practice sounds MUCH better than mine... Something to do with having taken lessons for many years or something... ;-) ) and it just worked out great! We were both thrilled. We picked it up at 6:30 last night with the help of Jared and Kristen, Grady, and us. Susan (She is the woman who owned the piano) was just so wonderful! We hugged when we left, both very happy with the way things worked out. Now I have a beautiful Schaff Brothers piano in my Dining room (which will be used as a music/formal living room), and I couldn't be happier! Oh, and Susan is moving soon, and also wants to find a good home for a large computer desk. L shaped, with built in book case/hutch. If you are interested, let me know and I'll connect you with her! Yay, Piano! We cleaned it this morning, and my children and I sat and played for about an hour!

One of those days...

So, this morning I went to Aldi to start getting some of the things for Freezer meals. (I'm so excited to be doing them again!) I had a whole list of places we needed to go and things we needed to do today, and Aldi was number one. So, first aisle, there's the Ketchup. On the list. I pull out the two bottles that I need, and as I'm doing so notice that there is an extra bottle in the box, and it has been kind of balanced in there. When I removed the two bottles, it must have thrown off the balance, and out flies the other bottle. Seriously, it was like watching it happen in slow motion. Puss had dropped the potion, and Donkey was trying desperately to get to it, but this time he didn't make it. The bottle hits the grounds and bounces up, erupting while it does, and covering me from thigh to toe in ketchup. I found someone and let them know what happened (She looked REALLY annoyed with me) and went to the bathroom to attempt to clean myself up. No paper towels. So, I'm there, leg propped up on the sink, kids running around my other leg, using toilet paper and baby wipes to try to clean myself up. All I could think was... Well, it's gonna be one of those days!

Do I look like I can help you??

So, what is it with children that they think that Mommy sitting down is a bad thing, and the perfect time to ask for everything under the sun? I go to the bathroom, and just as I sit down, the door bursts open with one of my children, frantically saying "Mom, Mom, I'm thirsty. Can you get me a drink?" Now, here I am in the rest room. Exactly what part of this makes it look like I can go scampering off getting beverages for people?? My new answer is "Do I look like I can get you a drink right now?" Another one. I get everyone's plate made for dinner, get them on the table, we say prayers, I get mine last. I sit down, lift the fork to take a bite, and "Mom, I need _____. Can you get it for me?" Now, Daddy is sitting right there. He's already inhaled half of his meal. Is there a law that they can't ask him? Anyway, I just had to share with someone! It's been interesting. All questions like those have now been referred to Daddy once Mommy has finally sat down. :-) I love my hubby.

Southern Savers

Southern Savers has been a wonderful tool for us in keeping our grocery bills down, and they are having a giveaway on their blog in honor of their birthday! A $50 gift certificate to your favorite grocery store! The people who run this site are genius! We actually were coupon shopping last night and ran into another lady with the same list that we had, and realized we were are Southern Saver fans. It was so much fun to run into another groupie!

Where is Uncle David when you need him??

Or Isaac for that matter? Okay, so yesterday I picked Jed up from his Grandma Bass' house, Hunter was with us. All of a sudden, I hear "Knock Knock", "Who's there?" with incredibly silly ends. This went on for several minutes. Then "Mommy, tell us a knock knock joke!!" and all I could think of at the moment was Apple. Apple Who? Knock Knock. Who's there? Apple. Knock Knock Who's there? Apple. Knock Knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange Who? Orange you glad I didn't say Apple?? Which,l of course, led to piles of laughter from the back seat. But they wanted more. I my mind went blank. And I thought of Uncle David, and his endless knowledge of jokes that would tickle my children to no end, and wished he was there! And then I thought of Isaac, who when he was little would sit for an hour and tell me knock knock jokes, and find each one absolutely hilarious, and thought "Why on earth didn't I pay better attention! I need to ask them for a list!!" So, anyway, here's to you, David and Isaac! I miss being so close to you!

The finished product!

Okay, so here's the end result! There is still a little strip in the very back that is "bare", but hopefully that will eventually have other things in it. (Basically, we're not made of money and could only afford two pallets, but it works out because a third would have been way too much.) If you look close, you can see the blueberry bushes behind the garden. Eventually they should be nice and full. (Yay!!) Anyway, 4 of the 5 seem to be doing really well. Most of the garden seems to be surviving well. I'm very excited! It's been really nice to say "Go outside and play" and they can go out!

Grass!!

Well, the grass arrived on Saturday (Our neighborhood has a sod day in the spring, where you can order the sod and on the last saturday in May they deliver it to your house.) Daniel spent the whole day laying the sod, and we've been very careful to follow all of the watering instructions, and it's still looking nice and green! Hopefully it will all go well, and our back yard doesn't look near as sad anymore! (By the way, Heather, Daniel says "Ask and it shall be given!") I don't have a picture of it totally done yet, but I'll post one tomorrow. Yay!! No more red clay dragged all over the house!! And at least half of our back yard will be green!

Jed and Alyson's Playhouse!

So, I researched and looked around till I finally found the play ground that I wanted. I wanted it to be solid wood, not metal, and it needed swings, a slide, and just a few other fun things. Oh, and it had to be under 500. Well, Toys R Us finally had the one I wanted on sale for under 400, and I was sold. I went down and paid for it, and it was here just 3 days later. I brought it home, our neighbor Robin Dawkins and Daniel got it off of the truck, and it sat in my back yard, with all of the wood labeled and ready, for several weeks. Finally my dad and Uncle Bill (who was visiting from San Francisco) offered to come help Daniel put it together, and it got a good bit of the way done in one day. When I got my tonsils out, Daniel actually had time to finish it. It looks amazing. I'm so happy with the results. And Jed and Alyson love their new play ground! It fits perfectly in the back yard, and we have it positioned so that no matter where I am I can look out a back window and see them. It's just what I wanted! A big thank you to Daddy, Grandpa Bass, and Great Uncle Bill!

Oh, yeah... forgot...

So, I forgot to mention that on Friday my tonsils came out. So Daniel has been home since then, and will be here tomorrow and Wednesday as well. If you've called and no one answered, it's probably because Daniel was running an errand and I can't really talk yet, so I didn't bother trying. (It kinda stinks when you're a vocal person, and you can't really talk or anything like unto it.) Anyway, some fun things have happened as a result:
The playhouse got finished!! It's beautiful, and the kids are really loving it.
Daniel has learned how to use the mini food processor (mainly to grind things up for his wife...)
Alyson has slept in two days in a row. (she must know that Daddy needed the sleep after waking up in the middle of the night to get mommy tylenol and ice...)
My front yard got mowed! (again, I'm liking this whole Daddy being home long enough to finish some of these chores...)
I might be able to think of more if I weren't drugged at the moment. Anyway, Thought I'd share some. Enjoy!

Survival of the fittest

And I'm not sure who's going to make it. Alyson to copy whatever Jed is saying or contradict him. For instance, the typical exchange, in the backseat of the car, halfway home is -
J: Your name is Alyson, mine is Jed
A: No, my name Jed, your name is Alyson.
J: No Alyson, I'm a boy, you're a girl.
A: I not a girl, you're a girl

and so forth. At this point, I'm not sure if Jed, Alyson or Mommy and Daddy is going to survive. Tune in next week to "These are the days of how the world turns in a guiding light."

Funny you should mention that...

So, have you ever done something really dumb, and it always comes back to haunt you? Well, I have a funny example. Several years ago Daniel sent me to the store while I was sick with a 102 temperature. Not the brightest move on his part in the first place. So anyway, I had been looking for some very cheap fabric to make curtains for our bedroom , since it was always several degrees hotter in there than the rest of the house, and I was hoping to make something light blocking. While at WalMart, my delusional mind thought that I should go take a look at the fabric. I went over there and found some hunter green fabric on clearance for a dollar a yard. Great!! Now, how much did I need? Again, delusional. I thought I would double it, and 7 feet for each panel, so that's 28 feet. No problem! Well, the feet didn't make the conversion with the whole insane-dimensia thing going on, and I bought 28 yards of fabric. I think I still have a yard or two floating around. So instead I made curtains for the living room, our room, a friends house, gave a few yards away, made Daniel's halloween costume out of it, you know... it was the all purpose fabric. So tonight I mentioned that I was going to start thinking about what I want to do for the curtains in the living room, and Daniel says "Gonna go buy 50 yards again, huh?" and we both had a good chuckle. Then he let me know that it's just one of those things I will never live down, and that the number of yards I bought will continue to increase over time. Just thought it was funny that we do things like that.

The semester is officially DONE!

I am so relieved that it's over. Working, buying a house and going to school is very stressful. So naturally, I was a bit worried about school. Not everyone knows but my GPA last semester was a whopping 2.3. The greatest but I survived. So this semester was really important. I finally get my grades back and I have a 3.2. I got (1) A, (1) B+, (2) B's and (1) C+. Needless to say, I am extremely happy

My son the Ladies Man

Okay, everyone who grew up with us knows that Daniel and I were both flirts. So, it makes sense that our son is one as well. Actually, he goes one step further. Here is the general dialogue whenever a cute little girl comes around. "Mom, she's pretty" then "Mom, I like her" then "Mom, I love her" and during all of this he somehow gets the girl to hold his hand. The child is 4! Anyway, we went to the zoo the other day with my friend Rebecca, and the children that she nannies. The little girls name was Bailey. Within 10 minutes the normal dialogue started. Within a half hour they were holding hands. Anyway, it was all very cute, and I just keep thinking... what on earth am I going to do when he's a teenager?!?!

Anyone here love the idea of going to the grocery store and spending your money on food that seems to be rising all the time? Well, with a new house and being counseled to be able to provide for yourself come economic hard times, Shannon and I wanted to plant a garden. For the preparation of the garden, see the below post of Shannon's. We also went to my mom and got 5 blueberry bushes. This was last Saturday so we have had plenty of time to kill them if we turn out to have a black thumb. After constant vigilance of watering them blue berry bushes and the garden, we are beginning to see the fruits of our (mostly Shannon's) labor. First picture is a redbud tree my mom gave us. The rest are blueberry and garden pictures.

Things you remembered as a child

When I got home today and we were about to eat, I asked Jed if he could go tell Alyson it's time to eat. He proceeded to stand there and yell at the top of his lungs, "ALYSON, IT'S TIME TO EAT!" In my mind I am hearing my mom say the same words that I said to him. "If I wanted to yell I could do that, go upstairs and tell your sister it's time to eat." Then I recalled my brilliant response so long ago when I was probably approaching my teenage years - "Then why didn't you?" Oh the joys of being a parent and remembering what your parents told you and you did the exact same things your kids are doing.

One of those days...

So, has anyone else had one of those "Okay, I don't know that this one will MAKE it to puberty..." moments? Okay, so this week I've been working on my garden. I dug it, I put the walls together, I hauled the dirt and filled it in. Woo Hoo. In the course of all of this, I pulled a muscle in my neck and back. It's bad enough that I went to the doctor this morning. Not so good when he feels your neck and says Ow. Anyway, so that's where we start. I went to my parents to take the truck back, thinking "No sweat, I'll rinse it out and we'll be good." Well, it rained yesterday. So the remaining dirt basically turned into black cement like sludge in the bed of the truck. I had to dig it all out, then sweep what I could out, then I took it down to rinse it. Again, sludge. Well, the last step is the only one I had to do in the driveway, and the driveway was all black, (just the bottom. I did it so that I would get as little as possible dirty) and at the end, I'm thinking... okay, this water is working so good. The landscape guy had been using a leaf blower before for this kind of job, mom and dad have one, bingo! So, the "shed" has things packed very tightly against the walls. You have to be very careful to get things up and down. I got it down (It's on pegs above my head.) and then I call to see how to turn it on, and they say not to worry about it. (that's another story I won't go into right now. :-) So, I go back in. Well, in order to get around the other stuff to the pegs, you have to kinda do what looks like a pirouette move. So picture me, stiff arms, neck and back, holding up this huge leaf blower over my head, in the pirouette move, and trying to get it back on. Enter Jed, scream in that "my-sisters-hair-is-on-fire-and-the-world-is-ending type scream. "Mommy Mommy!!!!" Of course, I'm thinking something must be wrong, so I freeze in that pirouette stance, blower in mid air, "what's the matter, honey? what's wrong??!!?!?!" He stops, and says "Can I have some candy?" And that's when the moment happened. I think if I weren't hurting so bad, that leaf blower might have left my hands. Good thing. ;-)
Anyway, I hope it gave you a chuckle.

The escuela

For all my Spanish speaking amigos...

I had my advisement today and it turns out I need 7 more classes to graduate. I am taking four classes in the fall and three in the spring. My senior seminar will be in the Spring. I am excited beyond all words and just wanted to let the 3, er, 5 people that read this blog know. Cheers!

Alyson's Two!

Well, it's official! Alyson is two years old. We had presents, and cake and ice cream. I made a Princess Blanket for her, and she got her first barbies. It was a very fun evening. And we got to spend the day together doing fun things at home, which was nice. Here are a few pics.

Okay, so this is our new house! They are in the middle of putting up our fence now. When we finish getting the rooms inside put together, I'll add more of those. Enjoy!

30 days in...

I'm amazed... More than 3! So, we've been here for a whole month now, with no more big disasters (knocking on wood now) and we're getting ready to have our meeting with them to give them our list of things that need to be fixed. Yay! We're doing pretty well. Alyson is going to be turning 2 on Saturday, and we're going to just have a nice dinner, cake and icecream here at home. I'm making her a blanket for her new big girl bed (we took apart the bunk beds and put one in each of their rooms.) She loves Jed's and tried to "borrow" it regularly, so I'm making her one of her own. It has pink, purple, yellow, polkadot, and arguyle squares, and a panel in the middle with Belle (who is her current favorite princess), Aurora, and Cinderella. (I just finished the front. I'm planning to get the back pieced together today.) The back has blue polka dot, blue princess print with Cinderella, aurora, belle, snow white, and jasmine, and then I have leftover of the other fabrics from the front to put throughout. Anyway, I'll post pictures of that and the house when I'm done. I'm so excited! I think I'll have some material left over, and I might make some little blankets with it. Haven't totally decided that one, but I'm thinking about it. Anyway, I hope that ya'll have a great day!
Shannon

New Home

Well, here I am at last, all 3 of you that stumble across this blog. Shannon and I finally sold our house in January and closed on our new house on Friday, February 13th. The Elders quorum helped us pack up and unpack. It took about 5 hours from first loading to unloading the last box from the truck. So we unpack just enough to survive and go to church in the morning. I begin to hook up the washer and dryer connections. I hook up the water and start the first load. After getting it started, I then go downstairs and begin to unpack the car. I get upstairs and Shannon starts screaming bloody murder. There was about 1/2" deep water in the laundry room. Brilliant me forgot to put the drain hose in the pipe. We use every single stinking towel to get the water up. We then get in the car to go to Shannon's parents house and find the water has leaked around the drainage pipe where the washer sits into the garage and starts leaking from the light bulb in the top and from the power outlet...Great! Wonderful! All on the first complete day of owning the house. To make matters worse, where I parked the car is where the automatic garage door wire is hanging down because I hadn't gotten the time to install it so when I got out of the car earlier, the wire got shut in the door acting as a wonderful way for the water that leaked onto the top of the car to run off INTO the car, Both side pouches of the car were full of water as well as about 1/5th of the seat. So I finally get that cleaned out and semi dry. By the time we finally got home, the leaking water was now a very slow drip. A ring appeared shortly thereafter around the light. Day is finally over.

So after breaking in our new house, we finally get unpacked enough to cook. Shannon begins to make eggplant parmesan. First time using the over so we get the over preheated and ready to put in. It is in one of the tin pans and as Shannon is putting it in the oven, you guessed, it dropped. So we cleaned it up, added more eggplant and scooped out as much from the oven as humanly possible at this point. There is of course some that is already cooked into the oven so there is nothing we can currently do about that. Once we get done it's too late to do a self clean because you really need to clean it immediately after. The next day is Sunday so we put it on for 4 hours and go to church. We get back and most of it is ash left over but scrubbing was still necessary to get some of the more stubborn portions off.

One week later, we finally got internet service. Of course, the hardware was supposed to arrive the day before. It didn't. We got it the day of, after the AT&T guy set it up. And now, here I am, listening to U2, on the fifth song, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, finally getting this post finish. Enjoy our tales

Till next time...