Costume Snafu

I pulled another all-nighter last night, sewing a medieval costume for Dani for the medieval fair at her school today. When Dani told me last week that she needed a costume, I was kind of cranky with her teacher, wondering why he required costumes for them. Sewing is obviously beyond most of their capabilities, and acquiring one that would satisfy Dani is kind of expensive. After looking online, the cheapest thing I found was going to cost me $45 by the time shipping was added, and I wasn't sure it would be big enough, or even get here on time. So, I bit the bullet, spent $25 on fabric and supplies, and set to work sewing a costume myself. Yesterday, I started from scratch, drafting my own pattern, and looking on the internet at pictures of medieval costumes. I carefully made the underdress, to be durable and nicely finished, because it's the kind of thing that could be adapted for future uses, and because of its one-size-fits-all construction, it even fits me. But at the end, I was slopping the overdress together, frantically trying to get it done. I delivered Dani to school 20 minutes late this morning. Whew!

>The aftermath in my dining room: after sewing all night, it was worse than it looks, believe me.

This is what I was going for with the underdress:
Classic Chemise from tudordressing.com There's a lot of good stuff there.
Kind of what I was going for with an overdress. What I wound up making was sloppy, but it was done, you know?


But, once I was done, I had no chance to take a picture with the rush this morning. So, tonight before bed, I asked Dani to put it on, so I could take a picture of it for my blog. What does she tell me? "Oh, I cut off the sleeves because they were too long and puffy and when I pushed up the sleeves, the elastic was uncomfortable." WHAT???!!!!! I spent HOURS making that thing, and it was awesome!! I figured at least the underdress/chemise would be around for a long time, not casually destroyed in one day's usage!! It should have had years of use left in it. After lecturing her for ten minutes, I told her to put the costume back on, so I could take a pic for my blog. It's the least she could do, I said.

I asked her if this was the face she wanted to make for my blog post, and she pouted and refused to talk to me. Sigh...

Cost for online costume - $45. Not having to sew for 12 hours or deal with pouty daughter - Priceless.

See, this is why I don't sew clothes anymore. Hours and hours of effort for something that's difficult to make turn out right. Cardmaking, however, I need to stick with that. 15 minutes can produce something beautiful. And you can make a project for pennies in supplies. Although, sometimes I think I should just give up crafting of ANY VARIETY all together, and just read books from the library for the rest of my life. Heaven knows, it would certainly be cheaper.

When You Get Bored in the Car

See, this is what happens when you get bored in the car, with kids who are starting to go stir crazy, you take pictures:

Gil, propping up Connor's head by sharing his pillow. What a good big brother.


Dani, taking just the right angle.



My slight obsession with cute baby feet, although they're kind of grungy from playing out in the grass at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Star Valley.

More pics and stories tomorrow. Lots of catch up. See ya!

Little Miracles

I think today was one of those tiny little miracles that happen sometimes. Easy to overlook, but there nonetheless.

See, I woke up this morning, got up, and just knew that I had ZERO motivation. Like, I could just go back to bed, or laze about, THINK about being useful, but in the end get nothing done. I got up with Foofie, got her a bottle, put on my exercise clothes (just in case I actually got up the motivation to exercise), etc., and promptly sat down to watch tv with her. We played Moochie (this is how she gets fed a lot these days - eating off someone's plate, baby food has gone out the window), eating some awesome wheat bread I made yesterday (at least yesterday was productive). I thought, "There is almost no chance something constructive is going to get done." By about noon, my self-fulfilled prophecy had come true. Still in my sweats.

But then Zen came home for lunch, and I puttered around, not wanting to look like a total heathen. I sat at my computer downstairs, just messing around. That led to, "Well, I'm sitting here next to the laundry room. I might as well put in an easy load of clothes." Thus started three or four loads of "easy" laundry, the kind you don't have to check very hard for stains - towels and jeans. Then, Gil called, wanting to come home because he felt sick. I thought I could hurry and pick him up and get back before Zen had to go back to work. About 20 seconds later my visiting teachers showed up (I forgot they were coming), and I had a little dilemma. See, Foofie was asleep in her bed, and I didn't want to wake her up in the middle of her nap to go get Gil. I looked at Zen, who was heading back to work, kind of in the air about what to do. Could I send Zen to get Gil, would I have to wake up Foofie and put her and Connor in the car? My VT's handed me a plate of spice cake slices with cream cheese frosting (dude, it was so yummy, must get a recipe), and said they would catch up with me later. In the end, Zen went and got Gil, but I missed my visit with my VT's. Would it be weird if I called them tomorrow and asked them to come back? If it didn't sound so needy, I'd ask them to come once a week. I really enjoy my visits with them. Must be something about adult conversation with women that just fills a void nothing else can.

Okay, so after all that drama, I went back to my computer, and I thought, "Man, I just know there are some bills due. I better go to the upstairs computer and check." Well, one thing led to another, and I balanced the checkbook, paid the bills, and got the medical bills caught up.

Then, I thought, "I could probably exercise. It's only 30 minutes. Yeah, I can do that." So, I did it, even though it took an hour to clock 30 minutes on my machine, with all the interruptions from the kids. Then, I showered, dressed, and put some clean clothes away. I took Gil to play dress rehearsal, mailed a bill, and shopped at Wal-Mart for dinner. After dinner and getting the kids in bed, I fixed the broken headphone jack on Zen's Palm Pilot, attempting soldering electrical components for the first time. The sound doesn't play out of the small speaker in the back, so I messed up something, but at least now you can hear sound through a set of headphones. So, it was a small success. Then on to a blog post before bed.

OH MY HECK. I was USEFUL today! How did that happen? 'Cause when I woke up this morning, I was completely in the "watch soap operas and eat chocolate bon bons" frame of mind.

I'm going to count today as a small miracle. Somebody must have been nudging me just a little, so I didn't have a stroke from not-accomplishing-anything.

I Used To Be Smart

Well, after a check-up phone call from Sue to see why I'd dropped off the planet in blogging world, I decided I'd better post something, since SO MANY PEOPLE rely on my daily posts. Not.

What shall I write about? Hmmm...

Nothing major has been happening except a bad case of brain freeze. I'm so overwhelmed by the amount of things sitting in my craftroom that need returning or selling that my brain just kind of shut down and I totally goofed off the past two or three days. But it's time to get back in the saddle. I was going to make some progress today, but I wound up doing lots of house/mom stuff. I had a major headache all day today, and I hope it's gone after a good night's sleep, but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tonight we went to the Rock Springs High School annual academic awards ceremony. Gil got a little certificate for having a GPA 3.5 or higher. He'll probably have a 4.0 for the year. But it was funny sitting there, and not just because Gil and his friend Ty were being goofy all through the presentations (how many different ways can you clap? Freshmen). All these students, at the pinnacle of their achievements, and it made me think of my own high school and college graduations. Man, that was the last time I felt accomplished. You know? I made good grades, teachers liked me, I felt smart in class, just about the only place I felt useful. In a lot of ways, high school and college are artificial, but still, it's nice to be recognized. So, I started thinking of my accomplishments since then. It's a depressing/humorous list:

1. When he does something obnoxious, Gil calls himself "Your Accomplishment in Life". Thanks, son. Ditto on the other ones. Warms my heart. Whenever the kids play Wii Rock Band, I think, "I am a bad mother." Can I throw out the tv and the Wii?
2. On the way home tonight, I asked Gil and Zen what I'm best at, etc. All they came up with was that I am the best cook in our family. Best out of 6. That's awesome.
3. A monkey-load of debt. Yey me.
4. I am pretty skilled at cleaning puke, changing diapers, removing stains, staying up with sick kids, etc.
5. Oh, I just remembered, the other thing Zen came up with tonight is that I'm good at acquiring new hobbies. Although, I think that qualifies more as a disease than a talent.
6. But, I'm getting pretty good at this blogging thing, except when I go through a brain freeze.
7. Okay, I am a creative person, for better or worse.
8. I'm a fast reader, but only in binges.
9. I sing well, but I don't know if I can take any credit for that. It's like having green eyes. It just happened, I got lucky.
10. Random - I totally like my October B-Day. Again, I take no credit for that. But it's a fun, festive month. Potentially icky, but still, I love the pumpkin cakes, and the orange/purple color combo.
11. I like giving things. Of course, with an addiction to credit cards, this currently is a bad thing (I AM trying to overcome this), but I figure someday I'll learn to apply this trait well.

Eleven Months Old

Foofie-Loo was so cute today, I have to show off some pictures:



That's my Sassy-Loo-Hoo! Just want to cover her cheeks in kisses!

Dave Ramsey, Here We Come!

Lookin' forward to tomorrow! Oh, yeaaaaahhh!

P.S. When I was talking about getting outvoted on the tv issue, I meant Zen. But you're right, Katie, I could still encourage all of us to find other things to do. Gonna have to work on that...

Thought(less)? Thursday

Dude, what is up with this week?! I get to the end of the day, and feel like nothing got done! I did get up this morning and exercised, then it went downhill from there. I rallied around 3pm, but still, blechhh!!!!

I did go to book club tonight. Man, I cannot get enough of stuff like that! Although, being the mom is a good thing, and I still want to be that most of the time, but I could use a few hours away once a week, instead of once a month. To my chagrin, I did not read the book for this month, Hattie Big Sky, I just went to socialize, but I'll try to be better next month and actually read the book selection. You know, put some of those English degree skills to use, and feel a little bit smarter, instead of totally stupid most of the time.

Also, I have decided that I am an IDIOT for trying to pick up a new hobby. I have neither the time, nor money (especially no money), to devote to another craft. I'm sending back everything that is still returnable, that I have purchased for this beading thing, from books to supplies. It's a total "scorched earth" policy. Everything must go. I will only focus on my family, my calling, and getting all this stuff in my craftroom sold off. Then, I'll only make cards. Finito. Nothing else. That's it. No more distractions.

Note to self: teenagers are rough. Emotionally, they act like two-year-olds sometimes, but want to be treated with the same respect and have the same privileges that adults seem to have. It's such a bad combination. Sue, NEVER bring the tv back into your house. All the kids' shows have stupid or incompetent parents, or there just aren't any parents present at all. I wish I could drop-kick my tv, but I know I'd get out-voted on that one. Besides, I don't know how much difference it would make at this point with my teenagers.

Bills Shmills

Just a bill day today. I don't even have any cute anecdotes to share. At least Emma is back to her normal spunky self. Whew!

I felt better when I woke up, which surprisingly was 6:30 am. I could still feel the edge of exhaustion wanting to creep in, but I resisted and got myself up. I exercised, helped kids, dressed, balance my checkbook, and paid bills. But when Deet went down for a nap, so did I. Then, I was up again, working on bills, then cooking dinner, eating, playing with Connor and Emma, organizing some things in my craftroom, reading stories to Connor, and now I'm going to bed. Sorry, nothing interesting to report. Here are a couple random pictures for your amusement:

5 Aug 06 - and so it begins, Connor's obsession with water

10 Aug 06 - Dude, do I have to eat the whole thing?

Yep, you're still the Biggie!

Totally Useless

Emma was better today, and had most of her spunk back, wanting to wander off to explore and play. Connor got her to laugh and giggle.

But me. That's another story.

It's possible that Emma really did have some kind of flu, and has passed it on to me. But the symptoms are different. Personally, I think it's my medication. I don't know if I've blogged about it recently, but I ran out of my medication several weeks ago, and our prescription insurance carrier told me that all maintenance-type medicine had to come through a certain pharmacy, or had to be ordered by mail. Well, seeing how I live in a small town, mail order was my only option. It's taking forever to get the paperwork done, and in the meantime, I've been dragging my feet, not really lighting a fire under anyone's rear, either. Sue suggested I ask my doc for some samples to tide me over. I did that, and then each night when I went to bed, Zen was already asleep, so I couldn't find them in the dark. Each night I'd say to myself, "I'll find it in the morning and put it in the medicine cabinet." I finally did that yesterday, took my pill last night, and then this morning, I woke up with the most bone-deep feeling of exhaustion. I barely got up, got myself dressed to exercise, before I literally fell back into bed, not wanting to move or do anything.

I was totally useless today.

This is what Zen found when he came home today, a totally trashed house, which I think really annoyed him. He started pestering people to pick up the house when he came in the door. I think he was thinking, "I worked my tail off all day to come home to THIS?!" Here's Foofie, feeding herself Cookie Crisp cereal out of a bowl, which came from who knows where.


Everyone dined on cereal today, and I had Zen pick up a 16" pizza from the Wal-Mart Deli, that we threw in the oven. It was pretty good, actually. Not bad pizza for under $10.

But the house was worse than the pictures look, believe me. Maybe my body will start regulating itself on the meds, and I'll have my energy back over the next few days.

Let's Play Beading

Okay, the first thing we noticed this morning, was how QUIET it was after the teenagers went to school. I think it's because most of the media was shut off. Foofie Loo, Baby Deet, Digga-Digga (a new one, just one of her baby sounds) is still tremendously leechy. I said to Mom, "I hope this isn't a permanent personality change." 'Cause I may have a breakdown if she is going to start whining ALL DAY LONG whenever I don't hold her. Although, she did throw up in her bed last night, so oddly enough, there's some hidden hope in this sickness. Maybe she'll get better, and be back to her sparkly self. Let us pray.

Emma sat with Grammie, briefly, and watched her play computer on her laptop, then she went back to sobbing. Sigh...

I exercised with Baby Deet sitting in the baby backpack on my back this morning. She contentedly bounced around back there for 30 min., but when I needed a shower, Grammie stepped in, and was the baby packhorse.

Mom, hard at work, carefully selecting her bead colors. You know you want to bead with us!

Foofie was content to sit by me, if I kept giving her things to throw off the table.

These are the projects we finished today, althought there are a few major ones we almost completed, and you will have to see them tomorrow.

Foofie lay down with her snuggle blankies and fell asleep watching Dora and Max & Ruby. Whew!

Tonight, we barbequed chicken, which took forever to cook because my grill needs cleaning. But then, we sat down and watched Better Off Dead with Grammie, who wanted to see it so she could be in on all the inside jokes. I was kept busy taking care of Emma and Connor, but I could hear her and Gil laughing at parts of the movie, so I think it was a success. She'll have to tell us in the comments, which parts of the movie were her favorites.

'Night y'all! It's only 9:20pm, and I'm too tired to do any more. No late nights for you! (this is the Soup Nazi speaking)

A Post About Mother's Day, of Course

Hold on to your butts, because this is a long one. SORRY! I think I wrote a book, or something. How do I get paid to write?

Mother's Day was both good and bad this year. Good things - cards, gifts, my Mom came to visit, but bad, too, because I still feel exhausted, despite my ginormous nap today, and because Foofie Loo is still miserable. I'm about 96% sure it's teething - the second set of teeth are coming in on the bottom and have barely popped through the gums, but on the other hand, she has been a pathetic nightmare for four days now, just lying around, constantly wanting to be held by me or she will burst into tears, and she'll often just moan and moan when I'm holding her. She sleeps more than usual, there has been some throwing up, she doesn't hold formula very well even though she wants it, and there's been diarrhea, poor Pooky. When will it end?

Cooking dinner for everyone. I made a new recipe, inspired by a recipe card I picked up at Wal-Mart, but I changed several things, and added others. I call it Veggie Pasta Marinara. I wish I'd taken a pic, now, but the basic idea was to cook 1lb. of dry pasta, I cooked bowtie. In another pan you saute 8oz. tub of sliced mushrooms, about the same volume of sliced zucchini, maybe 1-1/2 cups worth, about three roma tomatoes cut into chunks, about 2 to 3 tsp. of minced garlic (don't be shy), then at the end add 1 14-16oz. can of italian diced tomatoes, juice and all put through the blender, then salt to taste. Put that over the pasta and add freshly grated parmesean (I buy it preshredded in a bag), and wa-lah! you have a yummy dinner! Serve with garlic bread and a salad. There are probably a lot of summer veggies you could cook like this. I look forward to cooking them some more!

Dinner with my Mom, who is here to visit for a few days, and will leave Tuesday.

After dinner, we all watched a show we think is hilarious, Whose Line Is It Anyway, an impromptu sketch comedy. It's like a cross between stand-up comedy and live theater. I think you have to see it to understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, we were all cackling away, and my Mom was just staring at the tv most of the way, with this flat expression on her face. It was either, "that's so cheesy and boring, that's not that funny!" or "that's just so crude, that's not funny!". I guess we were a bunch of heathens. My favorite gag is when they do Props, a bit where they take funky objects and say funny things about them. Tonight they had two large foam black curves, which one minute they pretended was a giant parrot beak out to get them, and another minute it was a ginormous mustache on a guy's face. I might have to acquire that show on dvd, eventually (quite yelling at me about my spending!). Is my birthday too soon? Although, I think Gil may beat me to the punch, because his bday in is July.

After we made the kids turn off the tv, we read scriptures, Zen went to bed for his 3am yard call, I got Emma ready for bed, and then the rest of us played Imaginiff, a silly game where you read off cards, and vote on character traits about people. For instance, if Connor was an animal, which kind would he be? A dog, a chimpanzee, or a toad? There were more choices, but the majority of us voted chimpanzee. He's such a monkey! Classic! He was just bouncing off the walls tonight, a little Mexican jumping bean. Then, everyone went to bed, and here I am blogging.

I was researching motherhood/womanhood quotes a week or two ago. Here's some good stuff I found:

A search about Motherhood on the Church's website This yielded some great stuff.

The Joy of Womanhood by Margaret D. Nadauld, Young Women General President, Ensign Nov. 2000, 14-16
Grateful daughters of God "know that the way they have chosen is not the easy way, but they know it is absolutely worth their finest efforts."
"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."
They understand what Elder Neal A. Maxwell meant when he said: “When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?”" 4 “The Women of God,” Ensign, May 1978, 10–11.

Some other Church talks, too good to quote in little pieces are:
.Daughters of God by Elder M. Russell Ballard

Mothers Who Know by Julie B. Beck

.Are We Not All Mothers? Sherie L. Dew - Dude, she rocks, and that's it. Read it, and you know you are important, even in the commonness of your life.

And some touching and funny things from www.quotegarden.com

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan    
Although, honestly, we have some serious food-sharing issues in our house. We are BAD, BAD people. "NO ice cream for you!" The Soup Nazi lives on.

A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries

All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown

It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge. ~Phyllis Diller

Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose Bierce

Women's Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's the men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one's likely to do anything about that. ~Golda Meir

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty     Multi-tasking on speed.

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul     at 9pm "You want HOW many cupcakes for your class party tomorrow?!"

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't. ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams     When do you grow up and get your own apartment? GET OUT!!

Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children. ~Marilyn Penland     Dude, being an embarrassment to your teenagers is the funnest part of parenting!

Now the thing about having a baby - and I can't be the first person to have noticed this - is that thereafter you have it. ~Jean Kerr     Ummm, you mean I have to take it home?

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb     DEET!!!

Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. ~Red Buttons     That's Connor. Swat his butt, and he's likely to say, "That doesn't hurt!"

If nature had arranged that husbands and wives should have children alternatively, there would never be more than three in a family. ~Lawrence Housman     Ain't that the truth?!

Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children. ~Sam Levenson     This one deserves some pics in a mini album.

The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents. ~John J. Plomp     Ditto

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~Dinah Craik

Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece. ~Author Unknown     That's right, sister.

A woman can say more in a sigh than a man can say in a sermon. ~Arnold Haultain Becky's quote - "Everything I know about SARCASM I learned from my children." I swear I'm going to get a t-shirt made with little stick people under this quote. Gil will be in sunglasses looking like James Dean, Dani will have a fashion diva pose, Connor will be pulling a cat by the tail, and Foofie will be grinning wildly in the middle of some mess. And I'll be sitting on top of a pile of laundry, holding a soup ladle.

A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction. ~Oscar Wilde     No makeup for you!

The rarest thing in the world is a woman who is pleased with photographs of herself. ~Elizabeth Metcalf     Another truth.

Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche     I'm sure he was a lovely man.

When men reach their sixties and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking. ~Gail Sheehy     God made women to endure.

If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning. ~Aristotle Onassis     I feel shame.

You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment. ~Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"     Snorting/giggling at the moment.

The supply of good women far exceeds that of the men who deserve them. ~Robert Graves     Dude, that's why there is plural marriage in the eternities. You do the math.

I hate women because they always know where things are. ~Voltaire     There is too much sad truth in that statement. I am the ultimate finder in our house, mainly because I never give up, never. These people will casually look once, then come and get me to find it for them.

Good-looking girls break hearts, and goodhearted girls mend them. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966     Becky's madeup quote - "One cannot always be goodlooking, but one can always be goodhearted."



Okay, now for some of my own fun stuff, sort of.

Dude, I have lost my cell phone. I feel like I got my arm cut off, or something. I have wanted it so many times over the past four days. I have received permission to get a new one, if I can't find the old one by the end of the week, but I don't know if I have the patience. But I do feel conflicted. On the one hand, it would mean spending more money, which I'm not supposed to be doing right now, but on the other, I do feel like I want to recover my current phone, because I want to save all the pics I had on it! Sweet new camera phone or save the pictures? Believe it or not, this is a tough choice. But, if you love me and are practical, you will probably pray that I get the old one back so I don't spend money and so that I have my pics back, as lame as they were. When I was in Wal-Mart last week, before I lost my cell phone, I took pics of funny Mother's Day cards. I had started texting them to my email, so I have most of them, but I'll just have to tell you about the ones still hiding on my cell phone somewhere:

I swear I needed some of that this week!
I don't know what the punchline was on the inside of the card. It probably didn't need one, but I thought the pill bottle on the back was cute.




"Everything I know about ladylike behavior, I learned from you." I kind of think we fit into that category, unfortunately. Sue, you'll have to bring the Family Stone movie when we run away together next month. Doesn't that sound funny?! "I'm taking my sister, and we are running away from home! Neener, neener, neener!!!"




Yep, very, very cute and syrupy, but good. Imagine Snoopy's theme playing in the background.

And a few I remember, that are probably hiding on my cell phone:

The front of the card says something like "It's important for the family to spend a quality night together at home." Then on the inside, it says something like, "In the meantime, I'll be out with my friends having my second margarita." And "Ladies Night" plays in the background. Sounds like a weekend holed up in a hotel room, watching chick flicks, pounding ice cream, and laughing ourselves silly. Can I do that sometime?!

The front of the card has a picture of a kid sitting on the can in the bathroom. The inside of the card says something like, "Thanks for all the years you put up with our crap!" Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!! I may have to go to Wal-Mart early in the morning to see if there are any left after all the Mother's Day shopping chaos

And almost three hours later, you have an ÜBER post on Mother's Day. Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Cleanup

We participated, along with our ward, in the Rock Springs citywide cleanup this morning. We had a section of road between our house and the rec center, and picked up trash in the big field by the rec center.

Connor kept running around looking at things. Here he's looking at ants.

We found a pretty good blue baseball outside the fence at someone's house, so we just threw it back over.


I did exercise this morning, but I did a major amount of squats, too, picking up trash with Foofie Loo on my back.

Connor invented a little game, where he ran around finding trash, then was able to call it a "clue." "Look, Mom another clue!!!" But a clue to what? That people are idiots, leaving their trash on the ground.

Hmmm, mostly wire, cardboard, and bits of broken bottles. I found a small flask of whiskey out in the field, and I found myself wondering how germy it was. But I wasn't curious enough to take the lid off and investigate.


Good job, crew!!!

Then, we went to Smith's for donuts, and Taco Time for a smoothie for Gil. Yummy!

Too Lazy to Blog

See, this will be a fun game. These are some pics from a few months ago. YOU provide some captions or stories, and I'll tell you later the real deal about the pics when I'm not so lazy.







P.S. I was at the doctor's office today with Emma, who it turns out is probably just teething. Go figure, but more on that later. The waiting room was jam-packed with older people, and this made Connor very nervous. "The people are looking at me!" You know, 'cause he's the only kid in the room besides Emma, and they are both cheap entertainment for everyone else to watch. So, he got up and went over to the aquarium to look at the fish. I kept looking at him and giving him my cheesy "I love you aren't you so cute!" overly-smiley-face, at which point, he gave me the hand. You know the one, the "talk to the hand" thing with his face turned away from me. I tell you what, being an embarrassment to your children is on my Top Five Best Reasons To Be a Parent list. Good times, good times.