Tom's Birthday

Man I am behind on this blog!  His birthday was a month ago and I'm just now posting about it.  It's been a crazy summer and this blog took the backseat.

For Christmas I got my dream bike.  You can read about it here.
I love my bike and the girls and I have so much fun riding around the neighborhood we wanted Tom to have a bike and love it too.  Well, when we told him we were buying him a bike for his birthday on the way to the bike shop let's just say he was less than thrilled.  See he has never had a nice bike - ever!  Well guess what?  We changed that!

We had him try out all kinds of bikes until he found the perfect one.  He couldn't be happier.  Plus......he has already signed up for a triathlon so having a bike is pretty important...wouldn't you say?

look at all the fun bikes you can choose from!  This is the same store they bought my bike from.  They even gave us a discount since we bought from them before.

We took it out to my car knowing full well it would fit.  I mean we have always been able to fit anything and everything in my car so there was no doubt.

It was a tight fit.  But it fit!  Both rows of seats had to be put down so the girls got to ride in the back with the bike.  The squeezed in there and laid down because her have instilled the fear of policemen in them and they didn't want to get caught without a seat belt.  Good thing we were close to home!

We went on a family bike ride right when we got home and it was so fun!  Can't wait to have the weather cool down enough so we can go again.  There's something about 112 degrees that makes bike riding not sound like fun.  One more month and we should be good! 

Happy Birthday to my sweetie and his new bike!

Guess What????

I got a BIKE for Christmas! 

A BIKE!!!

I haven’t ridden a bike in 23 years! 

23 years!!!

I know I am repeating but this is HUGE!!! 

I am feeling so good – my arthritis is doing fabulous, my thyroid is all leveled out and I have ton’s of energy!  I haven’t felt this good since getting arthritis 23 years ago and thyroid cancer 1 year ago.  I so wish my Mom and Dad could see me ride my new  bike!  They would be so proud of me.  Heck – I’m so proud of myself!!!!!!

I told Tom that I haven’t been this excited for Christmas morning in years – years I say!!!  I even had a hard time going to sleep.  I didn’t know if I could ride the bike and I didn’t know what color the bike was but I knew if I had the chance I would make it work.  And guess what???  I rode that thing all day and I feel great!  It was so fun to ride around the neighborhood with my girls and have them look at me with big smiles on their faces.  It filled my heart!♥

And………I didn’t care if people thought my bike was dorky (I chose this kind of bike so it wouldn’t put any pressure on my joints)

but…….it’s been a HUGE hit in the ‘hood!  Everyone wants one – including all the kids!!!  Look at me being a trend setter on my new bike (wink)!  Who knew?

Anyway- come on over and I’ll let you take a test ride.  I bet after riding it you will want one too! 

I love it!  Thanks sweetie for making my wish come true♥

*more Christmas pictures coming soon*

52 Blessings - Week 4

My bike is my blessing this week.

Are you sick of hearing me talk about it?

I just love it so!

This week it has helped me:

♥go find my children in the pouring rain,

(they were down in the greenbelt playing in the lake that had formed from all the rain)

♥take Abby to gymnastics around the corner

♥go for a ride with Abby and Cassidy to activity days (girls church group)

♥have a ton-O-fun yesterday riding with my followers who I have dubbed

"The Bike Brigade" (all the neighborhood children).  We pretended we were in a parade and waved to everyone we saw.  I had about six kids on bikes with me as we rode around the 'hood for about an hour.

Lot's of fun I tell ya!  LOTS!

♥my favorite thing so far was giving this little guy a ride in our "bike brigade".  He couldn't have been happier and neither could I!  Just look at that smile - I love him! (my nephew Will)  Doesn't he look so cute in my bike basket?

A Place For A Bike

 My brothers are the most creative men I know.  They always have been and in my book they always will be.  I have three younger brothers that never cease to amaze me with the fun projects they come up with for their cute families and...mine!

 My brother Kurt felt my girls needed a bike rack to keep their bikes from laying all over the yard, garage, street etc...you get the picture.  Now did he just go and buy a bike rack?  Nooooooo he made one out of scraps of metal that came from something that got taken apart (I can't think of what it was now for some reason???)  Reuse, recycle, right!

I had nothing to do with him painting it pink...he knew we were a bunch of girly girls over here so he did that all on his own! (he has all boys so he gets extra points for having to go buy pink spray paint).
**my favorite part besides the massive amount of love that went into this project?  The "A" and "C" on either side of the rack.  A for Abby and C for Cassidy. **
Thanks Kurt - we ♥ it!

***I remembered what he recycled to make this....our old trampoline legs.  They were very high quality and it was such a waste to throw them away so Kurt took them and made the bike rack!

Things To DO:

I am in a posting rut. I have a lot of things I could be posting. But....I'm finding so much joy in reading everyone else's blogs that I end up not posting on my own. I need to post on mine first and then catch up on all the latest.

On a side note, I haven't been spending as much time on the computer as I was a few weeks ago. School has started and although I thought life would slow down because of it, it has sped up! And FAST! I seem to be running in several directions all at once.

Here is my To-Do-List that seems to never get done:

1. Organize this office.
The files, the closet, the pictures. All of it needs a major overhaul and I'm not quite getting to it. ( Wonder why? Maybe because it sure doesn't sound like a fun project?!)

2. Organize my finances.
Well, I have officially given up. I'm horrible at it and since Tom is the finance guy I have turned it over to him. My life lesson on this situation is - I am not good at it and I quit! I'm not proud of my inability. I wish I could chart and graph and plan and see into the future. But my brain is not built for these kind of things. I have other areas of focus that I am good at and I plan to work on those instead.

3. Organize my schedule.
I want to wake up each day and know what I have planned. Right now I am working on brain power and lets face it, my brain has flaws. I would love to figure out how to make Outlook ding me with appointments, birthdays and such. Since I check my e-mail throughout the day this would be fabulous!!! Also writing things on my calendar and then looking at the calendar would be helpful as well. I told you the brain has flaws!

4. Do things that I love.
I seem to be spending all my time doing the things that I have to do. Laundry, cleaning, homework, errands, church jobs. I am thankful to be able to do all these things. I don't mind doing all these things, and for the most part I enjoy doing all these things. What I need to do is set aside time for me to do hobbies that fill my soul. I would love to take a real photography class. Weekly. Learn new things. Do homework. Know what AV is or how to do depth of field. I would love to learn digi-scrapbooking. Photo shop. Yoga. I want to plant a vegetable garden this fall with brandy wine tomato's, peppers, basil, cucumbers and lettuce. I miss having a garden and need to make time for that. I want to go on walks with my kids, or better yet bike rides on my Wizard of Oz bike and explore our little town. I want to read more, sleep more, exercise more, love more, share more, help more and be more.

For now, I will try and be focused on my day to day list and hopefully add in a few of my to do list items. Everyday is an adventure and I'm looking forward to the ride.

What are some things on your To-Do-List?

How do you find the time to do the things that you love?

What are some of the things that you love?

Top 10 Tuesday On Wednesday

This week is flying by!  I have been so busy latley I can't seem to wrap my head around all the things I have to do.  My new crazy life is going to take some getting used to.  Since I haven't been blogging as much as I would like I thought I would put what I have been doing and what I have to do this week as my Top 10:

10)  I can't drink soda.  I want to and I try but.......it just doesn't taste good anymore.  sigh

9)    I'm in charge of the 1st grade surprise going away party for the student teacher in Amberly's class.  It's Friday at 11:30am.  I work until 12pm and I have a huge conference I have to be at with Tom at 12:30.  Feel my stress?  Oh and we are supposed to do family pictures that night.  I didn't plan that very well did I?  (See what I mean about having to get used to CRAZY?)

8)   We have a Congressman for our State flying in to do this conference with Tom on Friday.  He's stressed which makes me stressed. Breath Cara - Breath!

7)    I have been taking a Photoshop/Photography/computer class once a week.  I love it and this week I learned a little about Light Room.  I......am.......in.....L♥VE!!!  It's amazing and I can't wait to learn more.

6)    Today I took Cassidy to the Dr. for a check-up and we sat in that little tiny patient room for 1:45 minutes.  Talk about CRAZY!!  We were both crawling out of our skins by the time we left.  Sheesh!

5)     I had a brilliant idea to become fans/friends with all my favorite celebrity bloggers, movie personalities, TV shows and music stars on Face Book.  Face Book has become so much more interesting.  I don't have to hear about everyone's farmville stuff or who they are friends with.  Plus I have gotten some great deals and ideas! (like I said before - I LOVE blogging so much more than FB - I just had to spice things up or FB was going bye-bye!)

4)  I finally got my house clean and back in order yesterday.  I refused to let my kids play outside AT ALL!  I'm so mean.  All they do is play outside and believe me, I am a HUGE fan of playing and outside.  I just needed major help and yesterday was work day - like it or not.    We worked, we got it done and today....they are outside running, skipping and playing again.  No harm done.

3)  Dinner tonight?  Homemade Chicken Pot Pie  YUM♥

2)  I talked to my long time friend yesterday (30 years and counting).  He said we were Auto-Immune-Buddies and I'm the only one that he knows that he can talk to about what a pain it is having a body that doesn't work right.   Glad I could be there for ya Perry!  I told him I got a bike (1st bike in 23 years) and he was thrilled.  Buddies we are!

1)  30 days until school is out.  19 if you are only counting M-F.  Summer is around the corner and I can't wait!  No schedules, no have-to's, lots of swimming and fun.  My goal is to have the kids do some sort of school work in the morning, their daily jobs and then free time.  It's going to be fun!  I can't wait!

3 Things

1) I tried on pants today at Target. They have a two mirror thing going on in the dressing room. One in the front of me and one in the back. I realized that the holidays have not been good to my backside. I also realized that if Target uses skinny mirrors I'm in deeper trouble than I thought!

2) My girls mopped the floor today while I was gone for a few hours. I love them♥

3) I realized that racing a 7 year old (named Santiago) who is riding a motorized scooter that goes 15 mph isn't a good idea. My hip hurt all night and I was so worried that I might not be able to ride my beautiful bike anymore. But today it's fine and I'm for sure going to keep my racing at a snails pace♥

TMI - Too Much Information

I realized that is has been a week since my last post. Time does go by quickly when you're having fun!

I'll start with Thursday:

After pre-school we went to IKEA. I got inspired by that web page I mentioned and needed some tools to organize! IKEA is the place for that. We dropped the kids off at the playland and away we went in search of goodies. I got lots of photo boxes, CD boxes, CD cases and paper stacker thingys. The best purchase was my $17 chandalier that Tom hung in our closet. It's the cutiest thing ever!!!! I might have to go back and get one for the girls bathroom. Too cute!!!

Thursday night Tom was gone so the girls and I watched Aquamarine cute movie)ate spaggetti w/ meatballs and i put all my IKEA boxes together. A little FYI for you. IKEA is cheap because you do all the labor. If you want to spend about 3 hours putting CD and picture boxes together yourself, get them from IKEA. If not, search elsewhere!

Friday:

Fun Friday!!! YEAH!!!! We went to Brookes, got take out from Pei Wei and she had everything ready for us to scrapbook two pages. She's the "Queen of Cute" and out pages were to die! It was fun to not have to worry about the kids, they played outside most of the time and had so much fun themselves. Just what they needed! When we went to pick the kids up from the bus, Cassidy had stuck her Rollerblades in her backpack without telling us and was skating down the road while Bree carried her backpack and MaKayla carried her shoes. The little stinker! Smart...but still a stinker!! She's so funny. That night Tom and I with the girls went back to IKEA to get his office some shelves so he could get organized. Good thing it's close.

Saturday:

We all went to Tom's new office and worked at getting things put back together after the move. Then Tom took the girls to see Flushed Away and I came home to work on my scary office. I spent 8 hours in here and it looks much better!! I haven't touched the pictures yet, but now that this place is clean I can focus my energy on pictures, pictures and more pictures.

Sunday:

We went to church. Abby got up and was ready before everyone else. She loves "beams" as she calls her Sunbeam class (3 year olds). We came home and the girls played ALL day together. They were supposed to take their Sunday nap (we did) but they played quietly while we were sleeping and then kept playing until bedtime. This almost never happens. Because of the 5 year gap they play but then fight, play then fight. It was a happy day for all!!!!

Monday:

I did pre-school and the kids are getting to be so fun and obedient. We did finger puppets, talked about our five senses, had kabobs for our snacks (the kids took raisins, orange slices, apple chunks, hot dogs, cheese and grapes and put them on tooth picks in whatever order they wanted) and did "finger pudding" as Abby called finger painting with pudding. It was great, I love pre-school.

FHE - we went to this new park by our house and Tom and Cass roller bladed, Abby rode her bike and I walked around the park. It was fun except for the big hills that all three of them biffed on. We had a lot of crying for a while but it turned out to be a fun activity none the less.

Tuesday:

I went to the hip Doctor and every things great! I fell while taking Cassidy's baptism pictures and it's been hurting ever since. I was worried I would have to have my hip re-done but NOPE!! It's all good. Hopefully for another 5 years. I'm crossing my fingers.

After the Dr. Abby and I went to see Aunt Janet and Uncle Pete. It was fun and Abby didn't want to leave. We will have to go see them again soon. Joey and Matt came over for a visit that night. It was good to see them too. I haven't seen them for awhile and it's always nice to see my Bro's.

Wednesday (today):

London came over and Abby was SO happy!!! Yesterday she sat outside at 4:00 waiting for London to come. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her she wasn't coming until tomorrow. She just waited and waited. Poor girl. You can imagine her excitement when she showed up this morning. I'm glad they are good friends. Abby needs a "girl"friend. All her other friends are boys.

I guess that wraps up my week. I will remember to not wait so long between posts. Ta-Ta for now!

Top 10 Tuesday

Tips and Tricks and Other Stuff

10)  Give the kids a bucket, soap and water and let them go to town washing bikes for the afternoon.  Good clean fun is what I love to see my kids doing! 

9) No matter how much you like these rolls, BUY them don’t try and MAKE them.  Unless of course you are a bread making expert.  Then by all means go right ahead and while you’re at it bring me a few.  These took three hours not one hour like it said on the box.  They were difficult and then not near as good as when I buy them at Desert Book.  I even watched the YouTube video on how to roll them (which was helpful) but still….not worth it.

8)  I think I have mentioned this before but am going to say it again.  I always have one side of my sink filled with hot soapy water.  I throw dishes in there as I am cleaning up around the house (because I am constantly finding cups and little bowls everywhere) to soak.  Then when I get a minute all I have to do is load them in the dishwasher.  I also do this because unloading the dishwasher is my most dreaded chore and I have given Cassidy that duty after school.   So instead of having stinky dishes with dried on food sitting around most of the day they sit in nice hot water just like I would like to do. (wink).   

7)  I also soak my cookie sheets and let the hot water do the work for me.  No scrubbing here.  I learned this early on – let the cleaner do the work for you.  Spray the table, counters, tub, mirrors and wait a few minuets.  The cleaner does the work and all you have to do is wipe it clean.  No effort!  Just don’t spray and walk away and forget.  Then you have stuck on food and dried cleaner and you have to start all over.  I have done this a few times.  Can you tell?

6)  Let the six year old clean as much as she likes – and she likes to clean.  Last night she volunteered to clean out and organize all the VHS and DVD’s in our cupboard.  See that large pink CD case?   We threw out all the DVD plastic cases and put all the DVD’s the kids can watch in that.  We still have some DVD’s in their cases because I need to get another holder.  This way it’s easy to grab and take to the next room, on a trip, over to Grandma’s whatever.  I learned this from Mindy – she’s so smart!

5)  These are my #1, #2, and #3 cleaning friends.  Windex I use on everything thanks to Clover Lane.  The other two are amazing in the bathroom and kitchen.  I even used the greased lightning on my bro-in-law’s pants yesterday that had plumbing grease all over it.  The pants came out of the wash good as new!  The scrub free will get all the hard water off your shower door and make it look brand new.  You just need a few squirts and a brilo pad.

     

4)  This is my new favorite tip.  I am a green onion junkie.  I use them on anything and everything.  Omelets, tacos, chili, Hawaiian Haystacks, salads, etc. I am trying to grow them in my garden but I haven’t had much luck….yet.  I read that once you use your green onion tops, just stick the bottom white part of the onion in a cup of water and they will re-grow.  I had to try it and TA-DAH!!!!  This is after a week!  A brand new bunch of free green onions.  I wonder how many times this would work? 

3) I got this cute Family Home Evening idea from this blog.  She’s one of my new favorites.  Our family had so much fun ‘heart attacking” the kitchen.  The girls had already made a ton-o-hearts while I was taking my Sunday nap so I thought what’s a few more?  I love the idea of writing what we love about each member of our family on a heart.  Makes the person feel extra special!

2)  In church last Sunday one of the speakers talked about how important it is to not get in a slump.  One of the ways to get out/ keep out of said slump is to get up and get dressed every morning.  Sounds like a simple thing to do but she swears by it.  She even has given it as homework to her patients that suffer from depression.  They are surprised by how easy it is yet how much good it can do.  I have noticed a big difference in my days since I have been doing it.  I get a lot more done and have been feeling much more productive which in return makes me feel happy. (picture from gap)

1)   When people tell you that no one will notice your adult braces –

 P.S. DON’T LITSEN TO THEM!

Everyone notices.  Everyone, adults, children, strangers, dogs, you name it they notice.  Luckily I only have to have them on for two months.  Just some minor adjustments.  I got them because we took Cassidy in for braces for her birthday.  That’s all she wanted.  While we were there the Dr. stuck Tom and I in the chair and slapped braces on us too.  So our new saying is:

“The family that has braces together, stays together!”

Have a happy Tuesday!

Top 10 Tuesday

Ten Things I Love Right Now:


10) Modern Family - this is my new favorite show!
9)   Wearing shorts.  It's that time of year again.
8)    Lemon and Lime body souffle from C.O. Bigelow- it's the best body lotion I have ever had!
       And....it smells so good I want to eat it right out of the jar!
7)    My photography/Photoshop Class - I am learning sooo much my brain hurts.
6)    Riding my bike with my girls (is it legal to put this in every time?)
5)    Gummy Vitamins.  There isn't a better way to take them!
4)    Viva Glam Lip Gloss from MAC - I ♥ this stuff.
3)    Clausen Taco's....It's whats for dinner and they're delicious!
2)    Strawberry's that are too big to put in your mouth.  Yep... I have some and they are good!
1)     Aqua blue spray paint - I found the perfct shade to finish a project in Cassidy's room.

What's some of your favorites right now?

Colorado Part 6 - Going Home

The last day we went to the Russel Stover Factory and can I just say I have NEVER seen so much candy in one place at one time. Amazing! The girls had fun eating all the samples that were EVERYWHERE!

Then we spotted these Tee-Pees...........So we had to go and investigate.

It turned out to be the Ute Indian Museum. (Do you like the cheesy picture of the girls and I in front of the museum?) The girls had fun playing in all the tee-pees.

The also LOVED trying to all fit on this big bear statue. Even little Heidi got in the picture Ü!

On the way out of town we stopped in Telluride Co. I totally fell in love with this charming town. Everything about it was unique and cute and friendly. My favorite thing was all the flags that lined the main street. I felt the towns patriotism. Everyone had a dog or a stroller. LOVED IT!!! We went up the mountain a bit and saw Bridal Veil Falls. It was beautiful.
We ate a yummy breakfast at Maggie's out on the sidewalk while watching all the people walking up and down the street.

This picture doesn't do the main street justice but I love how the mountains are all around and the hanging baskets line the streets with the flags outside every shop. I loved how there was no fast food, no gas stations, nothing commercialized there. Reminded me of Carmel Ca.

And who wouldn't love a town that had a cafe with this to greet you? Flower boxes, a fun bike and a nice dog. Welcome!!!

Lastly we stopped at Four Corners and took a picture. I'm sure I will never be there again so this is proof that we were able to be in four states (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado) all at the same time.

The End!

Spring Break

I don't remember having spring break growing up. Maybe because we had a full three months of summer instead of only two months here in AZ. This week has been a fun one for me and the kids. I wasn't planning on doing anything. That was my goal. Letting the kids play, taking it day-by-day. No trips, no commitments just relaxation and fun. So far this has worked out except for the relaxation part.

Tuesday we decided to go to Tuscon to see Joey and Joni. My brothers were going to a Diamondback spring training game, so the wives and kids (of my brothers)went to see the new house and go to a museum. Their new house is awesome and they love being there. We had a great lunch of yummy Mexican food. I loved the restaurant because they had a salsa bar and a chip bar! How cool is that? I think that should be a standard. No waiting for someone to bring the chips and refills on the salsa! Loved it!!

No museum because of time, but we had lots fun at the park. Tuscon is very "desert" no landscaping alongside the roads, no one has grass - anywhere, and no street lights lining the roads. We will have to go back soon so I can go see more of the city. I hear it's pretty neat.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Mindy, Monica and I took the kids to Freestone Park with their bikes and blades. We had a picnic under a shade tree next to the pond. I was surprised how long we stayed. It was the perfect temperature in the shade with the nice spring breeze. Abby must have gone around that pond 10+ times. Her little legs going as fast as humanly possible on her barbie big wheel. She probably rode that bike a total of 4 miles at least!!!! Cassidy of course found the tallest pine tree possible and climbed all the way to the top! The crazy girl. The boys laid on the train tracks waiting for the train to run them over, and had fun rolling down the huge hill. After the park we went to Bahama Bucks for a cold yummy treat. Why don't they have a store by us?? We need one close for summer!

When we got home, Bree came over to spend the night and all the kids played outside until dark. So far so good. I hope Cassidy will remember this week and think her Mom is the best for providing all this fun. (Cassidy and Bree just went by the office with their sleeping bags, I wonder what they are up to........?)

Well, I best be off to start another fun fill day. We are going to another fun park in Scottsdale with all the cousins and sis-in-laws on Tom's side. I'm tired all ready and it's only 7:30am! Help me!

Big Bright Balloon on Fun Friday

Friday after school the whole neighborhood was playing outside - in our front yard, backyard and even inside our house.  I was making pretzels for the crew to snack on when I heard screaming and shouting from the backyard.  "MOM come see the BLIMP!!!!"  I didn't think anything of it until I got out there and see a hot air balloon right on the other side of our neighbors house!  WHAT???  That's not a site you see everyday.

So the kids all took off around the corner while I waited the 3 minutes for my pretzels to come out of the oven.  By the time I got on my bike, rode around the corner the balloon had landed in the greenbelt across the street.  We of course went to investigate along with 100 other friendly, nosy neighbors.  By the time I snapped a few pictures the crew was in clean-up mode.  It was interesting to watch.  They had everything down to a science.  We even got to see 3 horses and their riders ride by us while we were out.  

I don't know about you but who gets to see a hot-air balloon land in their neighborhood?  We all thought it was pretty darn cool.  The kids talked about it all weekend!  It was a "Fun Friday" for sure☻

Where I Have Been

Last week was LAME! I got crazy and decided to clean and rearrange the office and threw my back out. Am I really that old?? My Dad would always throw his back out and be down for days. I was down for a week. Physically and mentally. I hate it when I hurt myself on purpose! I mean come on people, some part of me hurts all the time and then I go and do something to make it worse? LAME I SAY!

Anyway, I didn't get much done last week so this week was catch up. (I'm not even going to post about last week)

Monday: Laundry and Class Chef at Abby's school. I was in charge and we made frosting. It was fun and the kids turned ordinary cupcakes into cute Easter Bunnies! Then we had Family Home Evening where I read the story Sunday Stations by Marci Cole. out of The Friend. The kids (Garrett, Zac, Abby, Cassidy, Peyton, Kaylee) loved it and seemed to learn from the story.

Tuesday: Weight Watchers - only lost .6 pounds! Cleaned, laundry, got a Hot Rock Massage to help by back. It was soooo nice! I wouldn't recommend it in the summer but would be perfect for those of you that live where it is cold. Or on a rainy day. Very relaxing. Then we had gymnastics, dinner, homework, bed - the normal daily routine.

Wednesday: I forgot to go to my blood work appointment. Oops! But I did go with M&M to do our Crack and Snack. Heh-heh. That is where we go get our back cracked by our favorite guy then go get some lunch! Crack & Snack! It's always more fun to do something with a fun name don't you think? Then Abby had gymnastics - was gymnast of the week - got a medal, and the rest of that day is a blur!

Thursday: I felt much better after my back was adjusted and actually had a good nights sleep. I was still a little sore but was in high spirits. I called Kim and her boys to go to the park before school with Miss Abby. Poor girl - I don't do this as often as I should. I need to play with her more since I only have 4 months till she's gone all day to 1st grade!!! Ugh! I then went to Kim's to help her pack (she's moving) then went on a box hunt for her (she needed smaller boxes) Later, Cassidy had gymnastics and showed her coaches her back handspring and back flip. Then she got a medal and was on cloud nine for the rest of the week. We had to hang both girls medals up in their room and take a picture. They are such cuties! I'm so proud of them.

Friday: Abby went to school at 8:15am for field day at school, Cassidy was sick so she stayed home and I went to help with the stage decorating for Cassidy's school play on Thursday. After lunch I came home and cleaned out the closets and garage and filled my car with bags and bags to take to Good Will. My back was feeling A LOT better! I hope I didn't wreck it! The day was so beautiful outside! We got new training wheels on Abby's bike - the kids played all afternoon (it was a half day) and I had a somewhat lighter house (less JUNK!).

Saturday: I went to work with Tom for a meeting with an organizational guru. I learned a lot of new tips that I am going to use on my horrid paperwork in the office. I hate paperwork because.........I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-the-paperwork. Now I have some ideas and am excited to use the new tips! I then raced home got the girls ready for birthday parties and dropped Abby off to her friends B-day party (40 min early thinking I was 20 min late! Can I just tell you how mortified I still am about that?) I took Cass to her friends then back to the office. After the meeting we ran errands, had lunch, picked up the girls went to another birthday party, came home and made dinner, played with the girls then went to bed - 10:30. Exhausted! What a busy day! I thought Saturdays were supposed to be relaxing! jeez!

Sunday: We got to church semi-on-time again this week. Only about 8 min late. We will probably master it then change to 10am (which would be my dream!) My cute little class was very good today. We talked about The Word of Wisdom. I tore out a bunch of pages from my magazine stack and we went over whether each picture was good for our body or bad. Some of the things like candy and cake are good but if we eat it too often or too much it's bad. The kids loved it and we even went over by 10 min! The funny thing was I couldn't find a single picture in any of my magazines of beer or cigarettes. My printer was broken so I couldn't print any off the net either. But the kids got it. After we came home we had "quiet time" The kids have to go to their rooms for 1 hour and read or play quietly while we take a nap. That way they don't fight as much while we are sleeping and we get a longer nap! Yep- I'm no dummy!! We are trying to plan a family reunion with Tom's side of the family for the summer. So some time was spent doing that, watching a movie with Cassidy, Made dinner, tried to make a chocolate cake with just the mix and a can of pumpkin (I'm not sure if I like it) and now I'm here catching up on the blog. Hopefully this LONG post will make me not wait so long between posts!! I like short little cute posts. Not novels like this one. (Thanks for sticking it out if you have!)♥

This week looks busy and fun! School plays for both girls, my Dad's birthday celebration tomorrow, weigh in to see if I lost any weight.

FYI on the whole weight loss thing -
No thyroid means no weight loss!
It's very discouraging!
And I'm being very good!
Only cheating a little (wink-grin)
I think it's going to take a LONG time to loose these 15 pounds!

Good night for now! I'm off to bed so I don't eat anymore chocolate cake.

Picture of the girls with their medals tomorrow!

Enjoy the Ride

A little quick page I did that I had in my file. Not sure where I got it. I've had it a while and it was before I kept track for credit purposes. Sorry who ever did this cute page! I love how it turned out. Abby taking her dolly for a ride on her bike in the warm sunshine. ♥

12 on the 12th - April

It was 2pm when I remembered that it was the 12th.  I'm still proud of myself for getting my pictures taken and it posted.  Next month I'll do a better job of capturing the whole day.

Pictures:

1)  strawberries in our garden

2)  fresh from the dryer-clean, fluffy, white towels

3)  the alarm on my phone goes off at 3:45 so I don't forget to pick up the girls. 

4)  Cassidy with her Easter colored teeth.  She got one of every color band on her braces in honor of Easter.

5)  Abby after a meltdown eating an apple to get her blood sugars up.

6)  Michael and Abby jumping on the tramp.  Notice Abby has her iPod.

7)  Cassidy's new hobby.  Doing other peoples hair.

8)  my nicely mopped floors.  Aren't they pretty?

9)  banana bread in the making. We needed a snack for school tomorrow.

10) me on my bike.

11) Abby - with her iPod stirring her ice-cream and sprinkles to perfection.

12) reading scriptures

go HERE to learn more about 12 on the 12th 
*leave me a comment if you are doing this fun project.  I would love to check out your day!

Memory Monday

Back in 1980 my family set off for our first family reunion ever!  I was 8 years old.  I had not seen my cousins since I was 2 and I only had ever seen my first two cousins Kyle and Amy since the others weren’t born yet.  We were very excited for the trip and I remember while driving there I was looking out the back window at the desert scenery passing along behind us all brown and empty.  Not like the lush green ocean views I had grown up with.  All of a sudden I saw clothes flying all around as we sped on by.  It was our clothes!  We had our suitcases strapped to the top of our car and one of them opened and out flew all our clothes.  We pulled over and the kids had to wait in the car as my Mom and Dad walked along the side of the road picking up clothes.  Good thing we were in the middle of nowhere and there weren’t many cars going by.  I remember how embarrassed I was seeing my Dad’s underwear on a bush!

That was one of my most memorable family memories.  I made a new best friend with my cousin Amy who was a year younger than me.  i learned how to ride a bike by my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill (I was 8 people).  I played with all these fun friends and realized that we were my family!  I fell in love with Amy and Lisa’s trundle bed and thought that was the coolest thing I had ever seen.  To this day I love trundle beds!  I remember walking in the creek, climbing up in the boys loft, taking a shower in my Aunts shower that had a floor length window to the outside secret garden so it felt like you were showering in the tropics.  I remember Joey being about 1 and eating so much lasagna that his tummy was HUGE and round!  We all remember that and when that trip is brought up the lasagna story is always retold! I loved every minute of that trip!

I have been going through the boxes of pictures I have in my closet.  Pre-digital pictures.  I want to get them all in albums so we can sit and look at them.  That is one of my favorite childhood memories.  We would go in the game closet and get the picture albums out and look through them all.  I had every picture memorized!  I want to be able to do that with my own children.  So instead of waiting to scrapbook them or photo book them they are going into leather albums I bought at Sam’s Club – 2 for $13.99.  Can’t beat it.  It’s the memories I want more than the creativity. 

As I have been going through and organizing pictures I found this doozy and have been  traumatized all weekend.  (I scanned it in so the quality is bad – it’s 19 years old)

I'm sitting eating lunch with everyone and-have-no-shirt-on!!!! 

My brothers came over and I showed each one of them asking why Mom would do that to me?  You should have heard the comments!!!  They weren’t nice to their only sister I tell ya. 

I’m 8 remember?!?!  And what’s up with my haircut??  Jeez!  I remember my nickname was Christopher Robin and now I know why!  My word!!!!  Notice my new best friend cousin who has a darling little dress on and a ribbon in her hair.  Then there's me – n*ked as a jay-bird!  If my Mom were here she would have some explaining to do!!!  My Aunt Kathy is here and she tried to make me feel better but it didn’t work. 

So I ask you: 

Do you have pictures of you when you were young that can be blackmailed?

Do you have a favorite family reunion memory (and did it involve clothing)?

Did you have a bad haircut when you were little?

Hope you have a great Monday♥

(and please don’t judge me by my past (wink)

House Week - Top Ten Picks

Above my front door that I look at everyday when I leave the house is a saying:

The Most Important Things In Life Aren't Things

This is to remind me of a lot of things, my family, my faith, my knowledge and wisdom, my cute little girls and my sweet husband. All of the things that I get to take with me when I leave this earth. I don't get to take all the "things that surround me, pulling me in every direction."

That said, my Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas is coming up in a month and............

I have made my list of "things"and checked it twice.

Everything happens in one month for me so I have got to plan accordingly.

Don't judge me.
The sign works 11 months out of the year!

Since it's "House Week" I thought you could preview my list of things to fill my house.
It does count...doesn't it???

Top 10 Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas "Things"

1) Love this lip gloss. I tried it on Saturday at the Blissfest and it stayed on ALL day!

That is rare for me. I eat my lip gloss off in about 15 min! Go check it out here I was wearing generosity and wisdom together.

2) This bike - even if it is a little Grandma-ish would be perfect for me and my arthritic body. That way I can take the girls around town for some girly biking fun. I don't know about the color blue - maybe yellow or red or hot pink! 3) I am in D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E- need of some new jeans. I have one pair that I like - ONE PAIR! So embarrassing!

4) Have I told you the story of when I had three couples over for dinner and realized that I didn't have enough silverware? Uh hello!!!! Nothing matched and I can't seem to remember EVER getting a brand new set - EVER. I think what I have in my drawer is my Mothers wedding set, a second set that we bought at the grocery store when I was 10 and a few other random pieces. Even with all those I still don't have enough to feed eight people. Jeez!

5) A new bathtub that will cover every inch of my body in water. Dreamy.

6) I saw these at Anthropology - Thanks Emily for giving me the idea to go there. I want A LOT of things there but stood in front of these measuring/cups/bowls for 20 min. trying to convince myself into buying them. They are $38 but each little cup can measure 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cup. I want them - therefore I need them!

7) Love this little sweater from Down East Basics - love it! And I love her make-up too!

8) This would look so pretty over my dining table. Or over my new tub either way................

9) Oprah did a purse and shoe intervention and it made me realize that my shoes are.....LAME! So on my list are these little beauties from Zappos.

10) A wrap dress looks good on......anyone with any body type. (I'm serious! Have you ever worn one?)This one is on my list (Down East Basics). I saw one at Gap that was cute but couldn't find a picture of it.

What is on your Top 10 List today?
Oh and because it's house week - here is my favorite house plan site
William E. Poole