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It's offically official

2011-03-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Darren finally proposed. They have been dating since September and talking marriage since December. We really like Darren. He is fun and silly. He brings out the happy in Amber. Darren will be taking his medical boards in June and then leaving for five weeks for a rotation in San Diego. So it looks like we will have a wedding in August. Ugh. At least that is what Amber is saying. I hope they will have mercy on me and opt for September or October. This is the link to the video Darrn and his friend filmed while proposing to Amber. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nK9e75PArs

The Temple Rocks

2011-03-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

It was dark and rainy today. A rare welcomed event. As a result track practice for Michael and Tennis practice for Tyler were canceled. Darren was still at work so that meant Amber was still home. All six kids home at the same time between 6:30 am and 10 pm. WOW!
The clouds parted and I knew this was my chance.
I herded them all in the car.
As we drove up I was disappointed to see that the gates were already up and grating had begun. But with some encouragement from the more daring we squeezed in between some fencing marked No Trespassing (yikes). Yeah, I am wicked. One of the kids said "I feel so ALIVE!" It felt like going TPing. A bit naughty but harmless.
It was muddy and covered with thorns.
We frantically went on a rock hunt.
Ron had warned me when I told him my idea a few weeks ago "if everyone did that there would be a big hole." I thought that was and even better idea. Think of all the money the church would save if the members dug out the foundation.
So today I am off to find a good rock tumbler. They aren't pretty rocks but I think with some polishing they could make a nice tie tack, necklace or something that will help my kids look forward to attending our future temple someday.

French braiding

2011-03-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Besides marveling at the clothing at the Renaissance fair we drooled a bit at the braiding they do. One year before Amber cut her hair the braider offered to do her hair for half price just because they wanted to play with her rear length locks.
This morning went very smooth so I was able to braid a couple of heads.
I think it is more Dr Seuss than King Arthur but the girls were pleased. I thought for sure Aubrey would get teased. In my jr high experience braids=nerd, weird braid = super geek. But times have changed I guess she was pleased to report that everyone liked it and thought it looked like Katniss Evergreen's hair from the Hunger Games book.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T22:51:00.001-08:00

In spite of all of our preparations I forgot about the most important tradition handed down from my parents. Cupid comes first thing in the morning and leaves boxes of chocolates for the kids on the doorstep. So I waited up until 12:00am to run to Walgreen's. No kidding I ran into a friend from church.

Heather designed her own hair clip this year. It turned out soo cute.

She also came up with the minky mailbox for her valentine cards at school. I did the measuring and pinning she created and did all of the sewing.

Aubrey was a bit envious that JR high kids don't get valentine boxes anymore so she made a purse for that function. We got inspiration for the valentines at Made but changed the message for our much more mature tweeny friends.

We ended the eventing with a nice meal on the good and only china. I realized after dinner that I don't have that much china.?? When I asked he admitted that he had bought it for our anniversary last October. What a sweet surprise.

Waffle fundraiser

2011-01-30T08:28:00.001-08:00

I am not a huge fan of fundraisers. If given a choice I would much rather just right a check. But, the waffle fundraiser was super fun and the girls made some serious money towards camp. We have a super talented group of girls. I picked up the cutest beaded bracelet. Scrabble tile jewelry, a collage that was promptly stolen by my girls and a super darling leopard print apron. Among other things, Aubrey (ok I helped because I LOVE hand embriodery!) made the cute hair clips. The CTR one is my fav.
Aubrey earned $90 of the $100 she needs for girls camp. Pretty cool.

Caroline's wedding dress

2011-01-22T06:24:00.001-08:00

December is a blur. I am sure everyone feels that way. The first two weeks were completely consumed by this dress. I first started it and wrote about it here
The best part about sewing this dress is that it is now finished! Wedding dresses are a little to stressful for me. People always want something custom and that just adds to the pressure. Plus I am a huge procrastinator. Not about little stuff. It is always the big stuff. It is like I have to have a pressing deadline to have the courage and confidence to jump in. No not confidence because I never have that. More like I have to be able to get to the point where I don't care that I am going to fail because horrible or not it has to get done.
But in spite or all my short comings, I am so glad Caroline loved it. That was the most worrisome part. She was beautiful and so was the venue, Sassi in Scottsdale. Now I understand why she changed the date three times to make sure it all worked out.

A truly sweet couple throwing a beautiful celebration. I wish them all of the happiness!

November 2010

2011-01-14T16:48:00.001-08:00

We attended a family fitness event and had a great time. Could someone please mass market this for me? Kids in a giant hamster ball. Awesome!
The next Saturday we rounded up some friends and cousins and went to the Tangled party. Super fun and we scored tickets to the premier in 3-D!

Later that night...for Amber's birthday party we piled a bunch of friends in the car and went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. She has great friends. And with the exception of the huge fit Aubrey threw because she wasn't allowed to come, we had a blast.
Ashley is speedy fast. She qualified for the Division 1 cross country meet and did a great job.

Happy Birthday Amber

2011-01-11T18:54:00.001-08:00

Can you believe she is nineteen! It was a total food birthday. We started the day with biscuits and gravy. She got the makings and equipment for creme brulee. Including a pretty cool torch.
Her "cake" is made completely of ice cream. Reese's cups on top and creme de pirouline chocolate hazelnut wafers around the sides. Two of her favorites.

Proud birthday girl can still blow-out allll of the candles.

Dinner at our all time favorite restraunt The Wild Thaiger owned by our dear friends Olashawn and Dave Weaver.

October 2010

2011-01-10T02:27:00.001-08:00

I set a goal early this summer that every morning I was in Prescott I would hike to the top of Spruce Mountain. I was able to hike it over 15 times. I had deer jump across my path. Encountered wild turkey and other creatures. On one of my last hikes I watched the fog roll in and wash over me, maybe it is a cloud when you are that high. Either way it was super cool.

Our area experienced a wild and costly hail storm. I just had to include the picture of Amber who ran out in her face mask with the other kids to play in the hail. Reminds me of Edvard Munch's Scream

October is especially busy time for us. Marching band season is at it's peak. Ron helps drive the equipment. High school swim is also reaching a fevered pitch. Michael swam this year and Tyler competed in four events at regionals and the state swim meet. The shop is insane! We are so busy but at least now we have it down enough we get to sleep at night. Feeling a little overwhelmed and with my hip on the mend after a month of gimpiness I told the kids I couldn't sew costumes this year. I was impressed with the creations they came up with, creating new ones for every party they attended. I think my favorite was the one Michael wore to the stake Halloween party. He took the pants and top from the Anakin costume I had sewn for Tyler many harvest moons ago and created a Sasquatch.

Tyler was nominated/crowned as the Junior class royalty at homecoming. He carried his trombone through the entire ceremony and ran across the field when it was over to play with the band. It was him just being his happy/goofy self and we all had a good laugh.
Less than a month after I was called as the ward YW president Ron was called as the Bishop of our ward. We over lapped for a few weeks while he prayed about who should replace me. I tried to do some fun things with the girls during the shortest calling I have ever had. On the day he was called after all our company had gone home the kids sat around the table and made up this little rhythm. " Ten, ten, ten, we'll never see out dad again!" It was cute and luckily not true.
Ron has made a real effort to come home early from work and spend time with the kids before he goes to his meetings in the evening.

September 2010

2011-01-09T14:40:00.001-08:00

It goes so fast. Tyler traded up his pinewood derby for a real set of wheels. Sigh. His Eagle Court of Honor was so much fun. We had a lot of friends and family come out to show support and love. Current members as well as a few former members of Greenway High School's vocal ensemble started the evening with the Star Spangled Banner. It brought the house down. I got goosebumps and choked up all at the same time. Above right Johnson side scouts.

Grandpa Mel pinning on Tyler's eagle award. Ron leading the Eagle Charge.

Tyler awarding Sister Pomeroy with the mentor pin.

Another high point in September is the princess ball. The little girls always look forward to this evening. Aubrey was sad she was too old to go this year. And although Ron really hates dancing the event has really grown on him.

August 2010

2011-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

First day of school pictures are always a little frantic around here. We struggle with punctuality in general and have a hard time switching from swim mode to clothing and remembering how to do our hair. I had to beg Tyler to slow down so I could get him. Amber started at GCC a week after the kids.

This is my 5 year old neighbor Jonathan and his first day swimming, really swimming. I love teaching kids to swim. It is like taking their first steps. They gain huge amounts of confidence and freedom. It opens a new world of fun and adventure. I have always thought I could teach anyone to swim until I went head to head with Jonathan. He spent the summer stubborn and scared. I thought we might have to start all over next summer. Finally the last few weeks of swim weather I pulled out my big guns and he found the courage and motivation. Hooray!

July 2010

2011-01-06T07:09:00.001-08:00

Our world revolves around swim team in the summer. Ashley and Heather are on the dive team as well.

Ashley celebrated her birthday with good friends and a swim party.

Her cousins Daniella and Terry even came.

I'm back! I think

2011-01-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

Well I guess I will try to be a blogger again. We had a clss activity on blogging for the girls. So I guess I will try again. I sure loved keeping up with friends.

June recap

2011-01-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

The only thing I remember about June is girls camp. Life was a blur for the most part before and after. It was my first time at Camp Lo Mia's West Camp. Soo beautiful but soooo hot! We had a heat wave the first few days it hit 100. Very miserable for the girls

Aubrey mustering all of her courage to go on the zip line. I had to go first.

The quilts turned out great. For many of the girls it was there first experience sewing. We made 15 in all.

Slacker

2010-06-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

How sad that I am already a blog slacker and I have only been doing this a few months. I have a huge pile of posts half done in my drafts. So very little free time. Sigh. I leave for girls camp on Saturday and I hope after I return home I will be able to sleep again and get caught up on the rest of my life.

Temple trip

2010-05-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Friday we all piled in the car and headed to Gila Valley for the Temple open house. It was beautiful! After we left the Celestial room Heather told me "When we went in that last room I was really cold and then I got warm, all over my body." What a great blessing to help her recognise the Spirit. It made the six hour round trip sooo worth it.
I am so excited to have two more temples built in the next few years so close to home. What an awesome expeirence for my children.

I also enjoyed the trip. It brought back so many memories of driving to my grandparents house. Lots has changed but the topography hasn't, it was a beautiful day in the high desserts.

FHE Book of Mormon Party

2010-05-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

We thought a celebration was in orer. We finished the Book of Mormon in our early morning scripture study. Going out to eat is a rare and special treat for the kids. This is one of our favorite places. It is a gyro shop that sells Thrifty ice cream. But we mostly love the guy in the back of the photo. It is a huge hot dog and the bun is painted like the American flag.

2010-05-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Jane block

2010-05-03T07:49:00.001-07:00

This block was simple, so I thought. But you can clearly see the wonkiness. I still have a lot to learn about dealing with the bias.

Ice Cream Social

2010-04-29T17:22:00.001-07:00

Wednesday through Friday of this week is the annual ice cream social. It is a fund raiser for the choir program at Greenway High. I don't know the dollar amount but I am sure they make bank. Over the three nights they had more than 700 people turn out. Friday night was sold out.
For $7 you get to enjoy the ambiance of the school cafeteria, listen to some very talented kids and eat all of the cafeteria ice cream you can. Which is not much because it is well, cafeteria ice cream. All I can ever down is a banana split and a root beer float. By Friday I was sick of it and just asked for ice.
As far as the kid part goes they have to audition the number they would like to preform. It is very competitive and less than half of the acts that auditioned this year made the cut.

Here is Tyler with the NSYNC Bye, Bye Bye group. They performed Wednesday and Friday. By far ne of the most popular acts of the evening.

On Wednesday night Tyler did "I'm Too Sexy" Very funny and he did a great job.

Surprise for me! He had a big solo in the finale all three nights. "Camp Granada" He even got the Hello Mutta, Hello Fatha down. Very cute he is such a ham.

Thursday night Ty decided to go as Robin. Why? Because he wanted to wear the elf tights! Shouldn't I be a little worried about my son wanting to wear tights. Yeah I think so.

Tyler making a cameo in "Stupid Cupid."

Amber's Duet with Aaron Walth, "You're the One that I Want" from Grease. She rocks those pleather pants.

And on a sad note. Amber and Tyler had a duet together. "Anything You Can Do" but I don't have a still picture for that. Because I guess I am the only one that can take a picture in this whole family. Even though I was video taping and the big fat camera with the huge fancy lens was sitting on the table right next to some one (who will remain nameless) with all their fingers and thumbs.

Prom

2010-04-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

The last two weeks of my life were completely consumed by this dress. Amber designed what she wanted and I had to figure out how to make it work. I tried to draft it the best I could and then sew a practice dress to work out the kinks.

Amber and Ryan. I love the look on Ryan's face. He does not like getting his picture taken. But he is always a good sport for me.
Again the real motivation behind finally getting his eagle project done. He wanted to drive the Mustang to prom. He has had his license for three whole days and Ron told him he could. Crazy.

Department of Moter Vehicles

2010-04-26T07:24:00.001-07:00

So this is the real motivation behind Tyler's sudden interest in getting his Eagle Scout Leadership Project done.

Area choral festival/ concert

2010-04-25T02:32:00.000-07:00

What a fun day for Aubrey. She was invited to represent her elementary in a sort of honor choir. A bunch of elementary schools a few junior highs went over to the high school and during the day and practiced with the big kids. That night they had a big concert.

Aubrey with her buds, Evenlee, Alyssa and Megan.

Eagle Project

2010-04-18T06:06:00.001-07:00

Tyler has been a Life Scout for almost two years. He has been amazing. He has done most of his rank advancements on his own as well as his merit badges. But when he got to his Eagle Leadership project he was stuck. He needed help and direction. Luckily for us Sister Benion recently became the new advancement coordinator. She has been instrumental in breathing new life into our formally dysfunctional scout program.

Yikes! Who is that?

Dad and Tanner.

The Elders even stopped in on their way in and out of the other wards dinner.

Russian message from who else, Dad.

These two spent a big chunk of their time mistakenly sanding the sanding blocks!

My handsome boy

Sister Bennion, Andrew, Zaydee and Ashley.
With the help of 54 volunteers. We were able to make 35 T stools for Vistancia Elementary special needs program.

baptism/prom

2010-04-10T22:39:00.001-07:00

The dress turned out. Thank goodness for easy patterns and for the super shiny, easy to work with fabric Heather insisted on.
I had sent Heather and her friend Catlyn outside with the camera to take pictures before the baptism. It was a "please, get out of my hair" moment for me. But look at what a good job Catlyn did. Heather's pictures of Catlyn are just as pretty.

I am not sure there is anything more awesome than watching your baby boy baptize your baby girl.

I was a little hesitant about the whole thing and left the decision up to Heather. She of course wanted her Daddy at first but after thinking it over and me promising Tyler wouldn't tease her she changed her mind. What a neat experience for Tyler and hopefully a real bonding moment for them both.
It was a stake baptism and Ron is the high councilor over it. I had to wonder as he was conducting the meeting, standing at the pulpit in his suit and tie. If Tyler wasn't going to do the baptizing would Ron have conducted in the white jump suit? That would be a sight.

We had family and friends over for dinner after and this little cutie joined us. Another Katlyn. Tyler met her a EFY. She lives across town but they have a nice little friendship and get together every now and then.

I love her dress! The pictures don't even come close to capturing how pretty it is. It is iridescent with purple hues. The back laces up like a corset. Truly an amazing dress.
Katlyn's prom was at The Science Center. The kids had a great time.

tux shopping & Campjambarama

2010-04-09T11:24:00.001-07:00

Tyler has been busy. Too busy. We were not able for the last couple of weeks to get to the tux shop for a fitting. So we were down to the last week before prom and trying to find a store that would a) rent him something and b) not charge an arm and a leg for our procrastination. "We" finally had the brilliant idea to find a used tux and buy it. With three proms this year and his junior and senior year still to go this seemed like the smartest thing to do.
I am a genius I tell you.
It was a crazy, driving around, cranky mom afternoon. But we finally found a little shop in the barrio. Angel's Tux shop owned by two brothers. Very young entrepreneurs so sweet their mother must be so proud. They had one tux Tyler's size. It needed a seam mended and the buttons on the jacket replaced. Apparently the guys at this store can't even thread a needle. They thought the repairs were extreme and sold me the whole thing for $40.
Smoking, smoking deal.
After a frantic afternoon we loaded everyone with a male chromosome that lived in my house plus three into the Pizgaur and sent them off the the Scout Campjambarama 100 year celebration. I hustled home and by nine o'clock I was finally cutting out Heather's dress for her baptism tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Boo Boo

2010-04-06T12:29:00.001-07:00

In my present stash Heather found three Polly Pocket sets. EVERYDAY for the last month she would drag them out line them up and then play with them. I am not sure how that is done while they are still in the packaging but she did. She wanted them all for her birthday. Look at the one in the picture. It is a pirate Polly Pocket. How cool is that?

When she said she wanted a Baby Alive also, we had to cut the Polly Pocket set to just one. Otherwise I think I would have had a true mutiny on my hands.

She thinks the Baby Alive is hilarious because it can pee.

I had to include this picture of her.
I have so many pictures of Heather making faces at me. She is so the family clown.

The frosting on these cupcakes is ridiculous. All of the kids went home with stained mouths and hands.

Heather originally wanted Gyros for breakfast. I had to talk her out of that. Can you imagine gyro breath all day? So we had Gyros for dinner. Her second breakfast choice was ice cream! So we compromised and had french toast with vanilla ice cream. It was surprisingly good.

I can't believe my baby is eight.

Easter

2010-04-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time over the Easter weekend. We did all of the traditional Easter things. I love it when conference and Easter collide. Best weekend ever. I just loved all of the talks on family. Lots of guilt but more hope, encouragement and ideas to help our family. It is the first Easter our family has ever been apart. Kind of sad but so worth it because Ron took half of the kids up to see General Conference. As a bonus Ron and Ty watched the priesthood session in the Tabernacle with Lance and Uncle Marv.

Dear Jane

2010-03-31T21:53:00.001-07:00

I loved making this little block. Very simple and apparently I like applique. Who knew?

Tennis Anyone?

2010-03-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I love tennis! It is the best!
Tyler is undecided whether or not he will play tennis or return to track next year, but I am sold. My top ten why tennis is my new favorite spring sport.

5. No new equipment purchases. We have some old ratty rackets in the garage.
And your school shoes will do just fine. (you have to buy spikes for track and field)

4. If your kid is not that good they play on the far side of the courts. Tyler started the season as 2nd alternate on the JV team. This
really translates to....you can bring a chair and sit under the shade of a tree at the far end of the parking lot..

3. Tennis matches take a while. So your kid can call you from home when it is finally their turn and you can run over to the school and not miss much. As apposed to a track meet where you have to wait all afternoon for you kid's events that last a few seconds.

2. If your kid gets better and is ranked 2nd on the JV team he moves to the middle of the courts...you can actually park your car right by the courts. You never even have to get out of your car! You can sit on your fanny, listen to the radio and sew while you watched. Just don't encourage anymore practicing because if your kid makes varsity your fun is over. You will have to go sit on the bleachers and clap with the other moms.

1. Last match April 20th! Those poor Track mom's are still out there cooking in the bleachers in mid May.

I love tennis

Percy Jackson Party

2010-03-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

We finally had Aubrey' birthday party. She is a huge Percy Jackson fan and has read the whole series. We turned the house into camp half-blood for the evening. We had variety of blue food.

The cyclops were my personal favorite.

The girls were sent on a series of quests to defeat evil monsters. They have been studying Greek mythology at school so they breezed through the riddles pretty easily.

They made Camp-Half Blood T-shirts.

Decorated individual cakes.

Lots of silliness.

We ended the evening at the drive-in watching Percy Jackson, of course. I missed the cutest picture of all. Nine darling girls packed into the trunk of my Yukon.
I will leave the chairs at home next time.

pine wood derby

2010-03-26T03:40:00.001-07:00

The acheivment day girls hold a pine wood derby every year.

Aubrey and Ashley racing each other.

Aubrey took 2nd place this year with a replica of Dad's Pinzgaur.

Ashley with her friend Rachel. Ashley won the "Pinkest Car" Award.

Aubrey and Meagan racing. Sister Pomeroy is on the right of the picture.

Have you ever seen such cute judges?

Jane

2010-03-25T08:12:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest Dear Jane block. I thought I would include the before picture because it needed so much pinning around those curves it looked like a porcupine. I thought it was cute.

Spring Break at the Cabin

2010-03-24T08:26:00.001-07:00

We spent the tail end of spring break in heaven, Groom Creek, AZ.
I guess this is what spring is like for most of the country. The snow is melting, little streams running and the weather perfect. Even though it is very nice at home right now it was nice to get away.

We took the baby chick and duck up with us. Duck enjoyed swimming in the creek. It looks so grown up.

Ron and the big kids could only stay a couple of days. I must not have been in photo mode while they were around.

Our week was full of picnics and games.

I love this picture of Heather in a snowball fight, barefoot!

I got a bit of sewing done from my favorite spot on the porch.

Dolly Donations

2010-03-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

I finally got time to make some dollies for the Haiti Dolly Drive. They were fun and easy. I only wish I had been able to get involved sooner and spread the word (the deadline is next week) about a good cause run by an amazing young mother, Sarah. These girls on the web astound me. I remember having that kind of energy when my kids were small and doing lots of volunteer work. But this younger generation has a vision we lacked.
Amber did all of the face painting. She is very talented. I am all thumbs with a brush and was so grateful she was so excited to help. Aubrey helped with some of the sewing. She has a good eye and a very straight stitch.
Hopefully there will be another Dolly Drive because all of my girls want in on the action.

Aubrey's birthday

2010-03-22T20:22:00.001-07:00

Mom's party

2010-03-21T21:26:00.001-07:00

For mom's 70's birthday we put on a sock hop. It was so fun. Mom was very surprised. Probably because the party was 6 days after her birthday. I think we were all surprised too. We had to postpone it 3 times. Our biggest challenge is always scheduling.Heather and Syd did all of the food. Sydney set up her Sweet Sips (Italian Soda). Heather also brought hula hoops for the kids. How does Taylor do that?!

Carol and Janice. Carol put together a video of mom's life that was so nice.

Jaydn, Jessica and Jazmyn

Mom worked at a soda fountain as a kid. So we had a few soda jerks making malts and shakes.

Jason and Stephanie

The Boys
Forrest and family also came. My camera died soon after they showed. So I don't have a pic. But I have darling video of their cute, cute baby! Heather has better pics at her blog.

For my part I made 11 poodle skirts. Well minus the poodles.

Happy Birthday Dean

2010-03-12T21:35:00.001-08:00

Wasn't he a cute kid.

I love this picture Heather took. It shows how sweet and good natured he is but he is giving you that look that says "you better put that camera down or I am going to put your kitty on the ceiling fan!"

Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-03-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated my mom's birthday. I realized not one of us tried to get a picture of our little lunch outing. I am sure out of respect for mom's dreadiness of having her picture taken.

My top 5 favorite things about my mom:

1. She is 70 and doesn't have to color her hair! Not kidding it looks exactly like it did in the picture above (maybe a little darker) taken in 1970 something. Well less poofy. I remember when I was little she didn't really like the color of her hair. She called it mousey brown and said when she was younger it was dishwater blond. I don't hear that anymore. I think she likes it now. I hope I have that no gray gene. So far so good.

2. She is a wicked awesome quilter. A longarmer to be exact. I think I love this more than anything. I am not sure how old she was when she started. She was always a good seamstress when I was young but only did very needed sewing. The occasional dress or Halloween costume. Wedding quilts for us girls. I have vivid memories of potholders for the RS sisters stressing her out.
But what I love most is that she was able to master a skill and pursue a hobby after all of her child raising was over. It gives me hope that someday I will really have time to do what I want to do.

This is the quilt she made me for Christmas last year. I got to pick the pattern and the 30's fabric. I LOVE IT!

3. She is an example of love and service. She still has church callings. Saturday was her first day working in the temple record office. It was challenging but she was happy to serve.
4. She shows up to my kids stuff. I know it can't be easy but it means a lot to my kids. Last night, even on her birthday and after visiting my nieces art reception at ASU. Mom and Dad made it to Aubrey's district honor choir performance.
5. Patience. She is the most patient person I know and always has been. I don't ever remember her yelling at me as a kid. Not once. I wish my kids could say the same.

One Busy Week after the Other

2010-03-06T03:37:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday was New Beginnings in our ward Aubrey and Meagan were invited because they will be turning 12 soon. Meagan was sure to put mascara on Aubrey for the special event. I sang a duet. Fancy evening. Down the hall the other half of the family was at a court of honor. Tyler got a couple of merit badges including camping (finally)!

Aubrey and her friends finally finished their science fair project. It was a oatmeal pinhole camera. A very cool project but it was time consuming, frustrating and expensive. I think the moms were happier to see it end than the girls and they were sick of it after the first week.

This Wednesday was Aubrey's last achievement day. She has been blessed with consistant and fun leaders, Sister McDaniel, Hansom and Steele.

I spent Wednesday night sewing camp quilts with the YW. It went so much better than last time. Friday was my monthly Dear Jane class with mom. So much fun.

Foul Fun

2010-02-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Friday night Amber's friends Ryan and James brought over a baby duck. We all thought it was so cute and then realized they brought it to give to her. After a long quacky night we realized it needed company. But no more ducks please. So they went down and bought a couple of baby chicks. It took some mean pecking but they are friends now. I love how the little one likes to hang-out on top of the duck.

Saturday morning my cousin Forrest and his wife Jodi called and asked if I would like a couple of laying hens and a chicken tractor. They surprised me and brought five Barred Rock hens (so generous). We already have one Rhode Island Red. So now we have a real flock of laying hens. It has been a long time and I am so enjoying it.

zipper pouches

2010-02-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite thing to make. These little zipper pouches are so fun and easy. I saw a really great tutorial at Dana Made It. For these pouches I cut the fabric 6x8. They will make a nice little make-up bag. They match a couple of purses. One is not done yet and the other I gave away without taking a picture. Maybe I can hold the little bee pouch hostage and the owner will send me a picture of her purse to rescue her make-up bag!

Weekend

2010-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

We had a fun filled weekend. Our chicken laid her first egg.

It snowed again! This time we really got it.
The kids had their regional choir preformance. It was amazing!

This little piggie went to market

2010-02-20T21:38:00.001-08:00

This is Gelato Alexa's guinea pig. It is so cute. Alexa is a very devoted pet parent, she adores this little pig.

Photo by Alexa. I just love the bubbles.
Wool Gelato with the first bloom on my dwarf peach tree.
Alexa's mom came up with the idea of a guinea pig purse after seeing me work on another felt purse. At first I brushed it off as impossible. But I found the challenge irresistible. It was so much fun to make. I caught myself giggling a few times.

Some Things Never Change

2010-02-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

I love brown boots and orange wheels as much as I did 30 years ago. When I was 9ish my mom use to drop me off at Skateland with $1.25. That would buy a hot dog, a soda and a Saturday morning of skating. I would never dream of dropping my kids off at the rink now. But I think that is a blessing. I still love skating and it is even more fun reminiscing with my kids in tow.
It is funny how I can go through life just not noticing a thing. The minute I snap a picture it is like I wake up from a trance. What mother would let their child go out in public like this? Last night we just needed this kid in pants, any pants. She hates these pants! They are Strawberry Shortcake and sooo cute. She hates them but was willing to submit when the skating rink was on the line. Too bad they don't match!
We won't go into the hair. It is her new "look".
On the way home Aubrey noted they didn't play YMCA. They always play YMCA. How disappointing! I don't care what decade it is, a skate is not complete with out a little nod to the disco era.

Another Birthday Girl

2010-02-16T07:51:00.001-08:00

Underneath that sheet is Alexa. In honor of her birthday we did a little kidnapping pay back. We had planned on just taking her to the newly released Percy Jackson movie. But we ended up with a little time on our hands.

What is a captor to do with time to kill but some cruel and unusual torture! Alexa was such a good sport. I love her as Angel Moroni!

The kids are wearing toga's. These days Aubery wears one to school. They are studying ancient Greece and mythology in social studies.

The unveiling! Isn't Lexi such a pretty girl, well young lady! Super sweet, fun, musical, gorgeous and she SEWS (yeah)!

Happy Birthday Devy!

2010-02-15T14:48:00.000-08:00

Today is my beautiful niece Devy's Birthday. She was Belle for Halloween and made the costume herself. When I saw these pics I thought she should apply at Disneyland. But she has bigger plans than that

Devlyn is in her last semester at ASU. She is in the jewelry program. Her specialty is precious metals. Dev makes custom jewelry and is sooo talented. I wish I knew how to do links, I would put one right here to her blog or etsy shop.
I do have her blog on my list "crafty blogs I like" Devlyn Arrilla Jewelry.
Kind, smart, creative, talented, pretty and a dead ringer for Belle. Happy birthday Dev.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

I love this holiday. A fun day to express love with out a lot pressure.
I try to make a nice dinner. I took some pics of some of the new things I tried this year.
Heather's hair really did look like a heart 10 hours ago. It is very messy now but it was fun and different to use a big needle to sew hair in place.

The girls and I had fun making the newspaper garland and the felt heart hair clips. Heather has a surprisingly good buttonhole stitch for a 7 year old. And sweet Ashley tried to make one for every little girlfriend she has.

Jane block two

2010-02-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

So here is my second block. It was much more simple to sew. However, getting it pinned correctly was maddening. Having a triangle to work with was frustrating because you are dealing with a bias cut which is nice and stretchy. But it took a fraction of the time to sew, which was nice. I did this in little spurts while I was waiting around for a kid, make that kids away from home. Time that would have otherwise been wasted. Very gratifying.

Grand Slam

2010-02-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

I had some early morning fun with the big kids. Thanks Denny's!

Aubrey's quilt

2010-02-07T12:28:00.001-08:00

Tada! Here is Aubrey's quilt top for her bunk quilt at camp. She is a really good little sewer for her age. Her seams are nice and straight. She agreed to be my guinea pig for this project I will be helping 13 other girls make a similar quilt. I had a few calculations wrong for Aubs. But we worked it out and I think it is pretty cute and a simple into sewing/quilting.

The finished quilt is 54" x 60". We cut 15 strips of 7 inch wide fabric. Then sewed them together in groups of three using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Then cut those groups 7 inches wide. Then alternated, rotated, continued to use the 1/2 seam allowance and assemble into final quilt.

Insane Jane and Me

2010-02-06T21:50:00.001-08:00

I saw at my local fabric store that they were going to be teaching a civil war era quilt. I knew my mom had purchased civil war reproduction fabrics with the thought of making a quilt someday. It seemed like a great opportunity to spend some time with her. So I signed us both up. The quilt is generally referred to as Dear Jane. It was weeks later that I looked at the quilt. I pulled it up on the Internet and about fell out of my chair! There are 225 quilt blocks/patterns. No block is the same and no colored fabric in the quilt is repeated. It is beautiful and overwhelming. But here is the kicker. It is hand pieced.
So Friday I spent four hours making one block. When I left class that day I told everyone they were crazy and I hoped I would never see them again.
But I really loved it and I spend tons of time waiting for kids in the car, etc. I always try to have a book or embroidery to help with my lack of patience but this will be so much more fun.
This is the most simple block in the quilt. I love the way it is so perfectly lined up. I even love the back and how all the little seams just knew exactly how to lay down. That woman was a genius I tell you!

Friday really was a great day. I got to spend time with my mom doing something I love, sewing. Then Ron and I went to the Chocolate festival. Downtown Glendale was all lit up and very romantic. We wandered the antique shops, another favorite. Bought some goat milk fudge, yummy. But chickened out and ate at a Mexican restaurant instead of soaking up the atmosphere and eating the street vendor food.
A few nieces spent the night and today I helped Holly and Alexa start a bunk quilt for camp. Alexa is coming with our ward this summer. She is a camp hopper, attending a different cousins camp every year. Holly just wanted to learn to sew, so that will be fun.
Tonight we had our monthly get together with the in-laws. After telling Ron's mom about my class she pulled out the quilt tops her grandmother had made. Amazing! One was grandmothers fan. But the other one was a nine-patch, like mine above but the squares were one inch! Each block was only three inches square! Both of the quilts were hand pieced. Now this makes one wonder, why?! She probably could have used a machine she died in the early 1960's. But this is the same grandmother who's children bought her an electric stove in her old age, and she never used it. She just kept cooking in her wood burning stove. Maybe they were really poor and she could not afford a sewing machine.
Most likely she took a class and some crazy person told her to hand stitch that thing!

Another fine mess I have gotten myself into!

2010-02-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

Amber was invited to be a bridesmaid by a close friend. I offered to help with the sewing. What did that mean, kind of vague, my very non-committal way of offering to help. Well to the bride it meant WEDDING GOWN.

It is my lack of self confidence that makes this scary. I look at the patterns and I think I can do this. It is much easier than Michael's pirate costume at Halloween.

But then I look at the yards and yards of white fabric and I want to run away screaming. I will need to combine two different patterns, make some adjustments and add a train of my own design in order to copy a dress she saw at David's Bridal.

Deep breath the wedding was planned for October. I would have all summer to work on it. The shop is slow, life is calmer, it would be after camp too. Lots of time.
Well they just moved the date up to....April!
So today I am cutting the bodice out of pink satin I had laying around to see if I can get the fit right before cutting into all those yards of white satin and organza. Yikes!
I know there will be tears before this is over, I sure hope they are tears of joy!

January is OVER!

2010-01-31T11:28:00.001-08:00

I am so relieved to be done with a long hard month. January is always tough. The store is still busy (thankfully) but I have to complete my quarterly and end of year books for the accountant. There are also quarterly and end of year forms to turn into the IRS. Which always makes me nervous. One of our employees got married at Val Vista Lakes, beautiful and so happy for him but it left us shorthanded for two weeks In the midst of it all we had three funerals to attend of people we loved. Mrs. Miller and Grandma I wrote about. Sister Keller was the other person we lost. I wasn't super close to her but I was to her children, especially Lucinda. Her kids were in the youth program in Central Ward when I served in the stake and ward Young Women's origination. Those kids were incredible and I wanted my kids to be just like them, musical, smart, kind and strong in the gospel. I watched their family closely as a young mother and many of my parenting decisions were based on those observations. My kids have them to thank for our lack of TV watching. (even though I am pretty sure they are not very grateful for that now, I hope they will be someday.)

The photo above was take after grandma's funeral. This is Ron's parents family. It was so good to see many of Ron's cousins who live out of town. Ron has 36 first cousins. When Tyler read the obituary he was so cute. There are 109 great-grandchildren. Tyler read that out loud and then said "Oh, I thought I was special!"
The funeral was so nice. Grandma had a pretty pink coffin. The stories they told of her in her life history showed off her spunky personality and her kind heart. They had on display a scrap book she had kept of all "her boys" while serving as a scout leader. They mentioned how much she loved those boys. She made them birthday cakes and kept in contact them as they grew up. Amazing for anyone but especially for a mother of six children and an Indian placement program child for seven years. It really inspired me to want to be better about letting the kids I work with know how much I love them by keeping track of them and the important things in their lives.
After the funeral and luncheon, we stopped by the Military Vehicle Club's show/fundraiser for military families at the Papago base. It is down the street from grandma's church. Ron belongs to the club and usually takes his Pinz down and volunteers. I thought this was quite a sight. Michael climbing the rock wall in his church clothes.
Amber and Tyler tried out and made Regional Choir. They found out last night, so that was a happy ending to a sad day.
Our family sang "Love at Home" in sacrament meeting today. So glad we did but more glad it is over! Ironic because during our practice Saturday afternoon Amber was upset that it was infringing on her social life. I think it sounded like we had only practiced it 3 times but that is all we dared because of the crankiness.

Hippie Chick

2010-01-28T05:24:00.001-08:00

I don't know how people who live in cold places keep their kids in pants. I only have to pull it off for a few months before the kids are back in shorts. It feels like someone has grown out of something almost everyday. When Aubs got a hole in these pants she begged me to mend them. This seemed like a huge waste of time because they were too short. So I got the idea to add strips at the knees and add a few inches. But by the time I got it sewn up they were too tight. So I added strips along the side. But they were too short again. Aubrey was having a huge growth spurt. We just kept adding strips until the pants fit. I had planned on embellishing the pants when I was done but I like them as is. They remind me of some of the clothes the teenagers wore when I was a little girl in the 70's.

Continuous Bias Tape

2010-01-27T07:02:00.000-08:00

I love bias tape but have never been brave enough to make my own, until NOW! My mom tried to teach me. Mrs. Hancock, my high school sewing teacher, tried to teach me. When I saw it all spelled (drawn) out at http://pir8.freeservers.com/quilting/CBT/. I felt brave enough to take the plunge. I had to ignore all of that math and concentrate on the pictures.
I think it is darling. What is cuter than polka dots! I will never go back to boring, one color, prepackaged bias tape again!

Dinner in Honor of Grandma

2010-01-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

Grandma was a great cook and we thought we would have a few things with dinner tonight that she loved to bake and we loved to eat. Homemade bread of course and her oatmeal (bacon grease) cookies. I put in the left over breakfast oatmeal into my bread and forgot to cut back on the water. I had to keep adding flour. I thought it might go over the mixer before I was done. But it turned out excellent.
As a newly wed I found out grandma put bacon fat in her cookies. Yes they were good but I was so grossed out that I did not eat them for years. Several kids later it seems nothing can gross me out. They are the best oatmeal cookies ever! I quadruple grandma's original recipe and substitute half the bacon fat with butter. Hopefully that is a little more heart healthy. But I add an extra egg so maybe not.

One more grandma memory I would like to put down before I forget...

One spring day 5 to 6 years ago the kids and I planned a day to visit two of the grandma's. My mom had recently planted a Passion vine in her yard but she had no butterflies yet so the kids and I had gone out that morning and gently harvested lots of Gulf Fritillary (agraulis vanillae) caterpillars off my Passion Vine to take to her. On our way to Mesa we stopped by Great Grandma Johnson's home to do yard work. We spent the morning raking leaves, digging grass out of flower beds, picking up pecans and various other little tasks.
As we were leaving Grandma said to me "That plant you gave me is growing really well. But there are these little worms that keep eating it." I was very excited and replied " Oh grandma, those are caterpillars. They become beautiful butterflies!" Her response was "Well, whatever they are they are eating my plant so I go out every morning and I squash them!" All of us could not contain our horror. There was a collective gasp/shriek. My kids were kind of shell shocked. Eyes wide mouths open. We composed ourselves and got in the car. We spent most of the drive to Mesa laughing at the irony of our caterpillar relocation plan to one grandma while the other was murdering our little friends.
Gulf Fritillary visiting my home on Mother's Day 2009

Grandma Eva Johnson

2010-01-25T07:09:00.001-08:00

This morning at 6:23 am Great Grandma Johnson passed away. She had a massive stroke Wednesday. She will be so missed. She was my grandma for over 20 years a few months shy of how long I had my maternal grandma. We are all taking comfort that we are a forever family and she led an amazing life for over 91 years. The last eight she spent wishing she was with grandpa.
I spent the first decade of our marriage hearing "you should be a pioneer woman like grandma" every time I asked Ron for help with something physically hard. I haven't heard that in a while so maybe I am getting close. But she has always been tougher than me.
Some of my favorite memories include...

Her visits to my home on 9th ave. On one visit I realized I had only ever seen her in a dress and pumps. I was a new mother and had given up on heels and lipstick. But there she was with her hair done, lipstick on, wearing a dress with matching pumps and handbag in her 70's.

Aubrey had a class assignment this year where she had to interview the oldest person she knew. Grandma won hands down. When asked what was the best invention in her lifetime she said electricity. Why? "It made all of the difference in the world!"

Touring the dairy, now bed and breakfast, where she grew up in Prescott. The owners were very gracious and it was nice to have grandma give us the grand tour. We got to hear and see where grandpa kissed her when he brought her home from dates.

Groom Creek...will always be synonymous with grandma. When Ron and I went to see her Friday she couldn't open her eyes or communicate that well but she managed to ask if there was snow at Groom Creek, pronounced Groom Crick.

The time she almost got in a fist fight at the parade. We were in Holbrook. Two women were being very rude and came and stood in front of our chairs. Grandma was so mad and was trying to get Aunt Maralynn and I to jump in the fray. Luckily Aunt M would have nothing to do with it so I hid behind her.
Doug and Eva Johnson with Amber and Tyler January 1994.

Spelling Bee Queen

2010-01-24T18:50:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe I contributed any genetic matter to a kid who could win a school spelling bee. I never made it out of the classroom for one of those things. The picture above was taken after winning her school spelling bee. The bottom picture is from the district spelling bee held on Jan 14th. Our district includes jr. high schools so she was bumped out pretty quick. Aubrey is one smart kid. I have warned the older children they will be working for her when she takes over the world.

What happened!

2010-01-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

Look at what someone did to my baby boy!
The picture on the left was taken after he was blessed. The picture on the right is after he was ordained a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. I held it together the day he was ordained. I kind of forgot what that meant until the next Sunday when my baby sat up on the stand. I teared up through the whole sacrament. Then again in primary when the kids sang "I Know My Savior Loves Me" To top it off Jonas, our primary's very autistic kid jumped up from off the floor and started squealing and doing his happy dance when we started singing I am a Child of God. He was testifying in the only way he could and I felt it. It ended up being a very sniffily day for me. I talked to his teacher later, I was so surprised that he recognized a song. She confirmed that his reaction had nothing to do with what he was doing on the floor. Then I talked to his mom. She said they sing that song every night at bed time. There was no reaction this last week when we sang it again. So now it really feels like a special treat.

You only get to live in happy teary land so long before your kids check you back into the reality of motherhood. Amber leaned over this last week as the sacrament was beginning and in a mocking tone said, "Are you going to cry again?" I was sure I did not!

Vegas Baby

2010-01-21T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ron and I spent two days in Las Vegas. I have very few pictures for proof, because it was a business trip and we attended the Shot Show and the ANME (Army Navy Military Expo). Not the most exciting photo subject material unless you like dead animals or thousands of guys in camo. Actually it would be a great place to meet men if you were single. A 1 to 1000 ratio. This year we skipped the main floor and concentrated on law enforcement, tactical and military distributors. It still took the entire two days but thankfully I was spared seeing video after video of hunters shooting cute deer and elk. I needed therapy after the last Shot Show.
This year it was fun and very productive. It was good to see our very nice vendors, touch and feel their new/upcoming products and place a lot of orders. But I always wish it was a craft show.
This was the cutest thing I could find. Chuck Taylor reproductions (I wanted to buy some but they are no longer made) O.D. converse were standard issue during WWII. The only other thing that was pretty was the ballrooms. Part of the show was in the Venetian. One of the prettiest Hotels on the strip. Beautiful rugs, embossed wall paper, chandeliers, gilded everything. The bathroom is the prettiest one you will ever go in. All of the above and they pipe in classical music. Total luxury, I wanted to take a pic of that but I thought the bathroom attendant would think I was out of my mind.
I wish our big craft show in Phoenix next week would take notes. I am not looking forward to the stinky state fair setting.

We ate dinner at KOKOMO'S. It is super swankified. The waiters walked around with towels over their arms and there was a wine bucket at every table. The picture of us above was taken by a photographer working in the restaurant. I forgot to take a pic of the dessert. It was a chocolate torte. I am not one for chocolate cake. But it was amazing. Normally we would skip an expensive restaurant and just grab something to have more time to see the sites. But it was part of a dinner and show package. We thought we had tickets to Mystere as part of out hotel package at Treasure Island but our trip fell on a black out night. Ron in his desperation even looked to see if we could go to Donny and Marie ( I have been hinting about them for months.) They were blacked out also, whaaa! So he got this package, dinner at one of the Mirage restaurants and tickets to Terry Fator. Terry Fator and his opening act, Ben Harris were both so fun. We have avoided comedy acts in Vegas for obvious reasons but luckily it was clean.
This was by far the highlight of my trip. What an honor to meet (and get a hug from) Ed "Doc" Pepping of Easy Company 506th Parachute Inf Reg. 101st Airborne Division. He served as a medic during WWII. He took part in the Normandy Invasion on June 6th 1944. The Book and movie "Band of Brothers" are about his company's experiences. I have not seen the movie but I now have a signed copy of the book!
I always love meeting WWII vets. It is the best part of my job (next to hanging out with Ron all day.) Two weeks ago a Navajo code talker was shopping in my store. I had a wonderful visit with him and wish I had the guts to ask for a picture. The WWII vets are sweet gentlemen who remind me of my grandpa.

1987

2010-01-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

I have been in a cleaning and purging frenzy.
I found my student ID from my senior year in a mystery box in the garage.
Except for the big black splotch on my face I think it is a cute picture. My kids were unimpressed. First they didn't know who it was, which is very insulting because I think I was kind of cute back then. Next they didn't know what it was, apparently student ID cards have evolved so much retro ones are hard to identify (am I really that old). They could not believe how "ghetto" my ID was. "It is just laminated!" I think as punishment I should take all of my music back. No more Michael Jackson or Boston for anyone under 35!

Obviously I survived high school and I had some great teachers and good friends. And unlike a lot of my friends by the end of high school I really liked my parents and enjoyed being at home. I feel blessed to consider my parents and siblings my best friends. Isn't that what we are really suppose to learn in high school?

Strategy

2010-01-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

These were intended to be Christmas gifts for the kids but of course I missed that deadline. I have been practicing free motion embroidery and was finally brave enough to put it on something other than ratty cabin towels.
My main purpose was to cut down on laundry. I am hoping the kids will hang up their towels after their shower. It is very frustrating to walk into their bathroom after they have all gone to school and find a huge heap of terry cloth.
My Aunt Linda is a real inspiration and has embroidered several of my kids really cute baby things over the years. I used octi-hoops and had to practice a lot but I think I am finally getting it. Just don't look to closely.

Saturday continued

2010-01-13T03:05:00.000-08:00

Buddy's 16th birthday party was Saturday night. It had been postponed due to Mrs. Miller's memorial service.

I counted over 50 kids but it was like counting cats so I wasn't real sure what the number was.

They played guitar hero and ping pong.

DDR and basketball.

There was an impromptu marshmallow stuffing contest.

The evening ended with Tyler being pushed in the pool.
Several kids had asked me if they could throughout the night. He a was a great sport

and went around hugging everyone still dripping wet.

boys and mom included

After it had mostly cleared out a small group went TPing getting a girls house about two blocks away. They were only gone about half an hour but came back to find someone had TPed us! Silly kids.

Saturday is a Special Day

2010-01-11T07:07:00.001-08:00

The Young Women went up to our cabin for a Book of Mormon reading challenge reward. I tagged along to do some pre-camp certification. We were pleasantly surprised that the snowfall from three weeks ago was still on the ground.

We made the foil dinners I had practiced with the kids earlier in the week. My kids had no trouble with the activity. But we had a few minor glitches with some of the girl's dinners. Only a couple of them had ever heard of a foil dinner I had to explain in great detail over and over how to make one. Luckily they had no trouble with the hot dogs and smores we ate for dinner. So no one had to go home hungry.
My favorite part of the day was working with the second year girls who had to start a fire. Not really the dealing with them part, this group is definitely cityfied. But after trying to prod them along and listening to things like "lets quit", "I wish my dad was here he can make a fire", "can't we just use the oven?" and "I can't do this." they did it! It took at least half and hour for the fire to get going but they were so proud of themselves when it was finally successful.

They had a great time playing in the snow and doing all kinds of silly things these pics are just a sampling.

And of course this little tag along had a great time. I just love the chocolate lip liner!

Wrestling

2010-01-07T20:20:00.001-08:00

So we have a wrestler in the family. He has only had two matches that he participated in because our Junior High team is so big compared to the other schools in the district. The first match he won with a pin. The second one the other day he lost by one point in the third round. He was moved up to varsity for this match and it was a rough, tough match with three rounds. Mr M is one scrappy kid. Ooh maybe that can be his nick name here, scrappy.
I hounded him a little to join. Funny I know me anti-violent sport mom but this kid needs sports. He kept "forgetting" his permission slip. Finally, one day at the dinner table when it was just Mr M (scrappy), The Big man and I left, Mr M said "I think Buddy will tease me if I wear that outfit." I said "Of course he will, we will all tease you, but we have gotten use to Buddy's speedo I am sure we can get use to your stretchy uniform. At that The Big Man hung his head and quietly said, "I still haven't gotten use to that speedo."

So you can catch me in the stands next week. Screaming for my boy to beat up another boy while they are both wearing lycra. Scary.

Camping out

2010-01-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Well not quite camping out but we made tin foil dinners for dinner tonight. It was fun and I wish I had taken pics of the kids or at least of the dog. We had to leave one man on guard because Charlie or dog kept trying to pull someones dinner out of the coals with his paw!
A very fun meal for the little kids because they got to choose exactly what went in but even my boy scouts who do it on camp outs all the time enjoyed it. Buddy got very creative and added sauces to his meals (yes he had two or three). Worchestire sauce is surprisingly yummy addition.

The brownies were an after thought. The meals only took about 20 minutes to cook and I had a lot of live coals when they were done. It seemed such a waste not to make a cobbler. But it was getting late and I was too tired to hunt in the garage for the dutch ovens or do anything more than mix something (lazy I know). So a little experimentation. I just used the cast iron skillet that lives on my stove top and brownie mix. The only tricky part was balancing the coals on top of the lid, it is rounded. And then making sure to tap off as much ash as possible before taking off the lid. It worked great.

Upcycled Basketball Jersey

2010-01-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

I am unable to upcycle anything that still makes a great hand me down. We have been very blessed to have received hand me downs from others and I feel morally obligated to pass it forward instead of cut it up.
I had to really talk myself into this project. This was a basketball jersey in the give away box. One layer of cream and one layer of white fabric. Basically two jerseys sewn together at the shoulder and armhole seams to make one reversible jersey.
There were no rips or stains that would make it crafting fair game. So I justified it by the ugly factor. On the back was the number but on the front was the city of phoenix logo along with parks and recreation department ramblings. Who would want to wear that if they weren't on the team. Right?
I just cut under the armholes straight across to make the skirt pieces. Sewed the two layers together and turned the numbers into pockets.
All the girls loved it and were disappointed it only fit Boo Boo. But Buddy (the jersey's original owner) thinks it is a fashion abomination.

Estate Sale Fun

2010-01-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

I don't go out looking for estate sales but every now and then they find me. Saturday was such a day. I desperately needed some retail therapy but had no time to spare. Lucky for me the estate sale fairies dropped one in my neighborhood and I took the time to stop.

The top item on the left is a child's apron. Underneath are two yummy vintage fabrics each a yard in length. The children's sewing book was printed in 1964 and the illustrations on the inside are just as darling as the outside. And the icing on this little cake...the string porcelain poodle lamp. It is so super cute. The shade is hideous and needs to be recovered and I took this pic before I cleaned up the doggy. But I am a antique lamp junkie and did I mention it is pink! My grand total, wait for it....$17.00!
Yeah I know you are saying "But Laurel, there are other 1950's string porcelain poodle lamps in worse shape than yours on ebay going for 50 bucks!" And all I can say is I KNOW!

2010-01-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

We went to a couple of kickin' parties last night. The first one kids were invited. We left early to drop the kids off at home and headed to a grown-ups only party. I must say I like the family party the best. I guess that says a bit about my maturity level.
We came home from the grown-up party to ring in the New Year with the kiddies. We had missed most of the excitement. They thought it would be fun to celebrate by jumping in the pool. It was 44 degrees out side and our pool is not heated. It must have been freezing. Crazy kids but they thought they were very cool.

2009-12-31T15:00:00.001-08:00

It was a very sad day at our house. Mrs. Miller passed away yesterday. She was our across the street neighbor on Sandra Terrace. The Millers were like grandparents to Tyler. He began mowing their lawn when he was 9 years old. The teenager down the street had lost interest and so Tyler because of his size and experience (at our house) became their lawn boy. His starting wage was $6 a mow. In the beginning I would have to go also because he wasn't strong enough to lift the bags full of grass into the garbage can. He still pushes the mower over to their house on Saturdays and has had a few pay raises, and increase in job duties over the years.

Tyler's relationship with the Millers quickly turned from hired hand to honorary member of the family. They always fed him an amazing lunch and remembered his birthday. He tried to remember their birthdays and always visited Mrs. Miller on Mother's day. Mr. Miller had beagles all his life and told great stories about hunting with them. So of course Tyler had to have a beagle. They had a mutual love for basketball and the Phoenix Suns. Tyler would often watch the game at their house. We were all so happy the Suns beat the Lakers Monday night. It made Mrs. Miller so happy. We felt like it was just for her.
I will always be so grateful to the Miller's for loving my boy, teaching him how to work like only an employer can and treating him like one of their own. The Miller's children live out of town and mostly out of state we had only met one daughter when Mr. Miller had his knee surgery. Mr. Miller introduced Tyler to everyone as "his boy." The family kept laughing and saying "This is little Tyler!" because that is what the Miller's called him apparently. Ty is 6'3" and towers over everyone in that family. Every kid should have a Mrs. Miller in their life. I will miss her so much.

Snow in Phoenix

2009-12-30T09:09:00.000-08:00

We woke up to this. with two teenagers in high school TPing is regular thing around here. At first they use to fight over who it was for, both claiming ownership. But have quickly learned the owner is also the cleaner. So the conversation this morning was...
Amber- "It's from your friends, it was your birthday two days ago."
Tyler-"No, you had your wisdom teeth out yesterday and your friends were hanging-out together last night"

I hope the little kids still think it is fun to clean-up TP. draft 8:47:00 AM by Blobs Delete

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