1- Sew at least one new item of clothing for me.
2- Make great room (and/or family room) curtains.-- I *have* finished curtains for the big kitchen window!
3- Go one mile (run/walk) in 12 minutes or less -- I've lost 5 lbs already by doing so much work out in the yard (mowing edging, trimming the hedges of many small villages, etc.). I don't know about my 1 mile goal yet, but at least I'm getting more active and being successful at it!
4- Clean out and sort jewelry boxes
5- Catch up one year of scrapbooks
6- Read the entire Book of Mormon
7- Get a new family picture taken
8- Clean out my bedroom closet
9- Sort my craft type items (including sewing) -
10- Make a new temple dress (does not fulfill goal #1)
11- Be involved in at least one PTA project at the elementary school -- Last week I got to be a helper at the school field day the next-to-last day of school. It was fun working with tons of kids and ended up being really helpful for the people in charge too. Yay!
12- Get last year's blog book printed and bound
13- Make some nice hair pretties for MY daughters
14- Read some classic literature
15- Plant something and keep it alive -- My yard is so pretty! I'm by no means perfect at this "yardwork" thing, but so far, so good! It will be fun next year to know what to expect instead of this guess work I have to do right now. I hope I'm not pulling out too many non-weeds!
16- Improve dysphonia to be able to sing again with less pain -- Work in progress.
17- Learn two new hymns on the piano -- I have been playing some! So I'm making progress here.
18- Plan and enjoy a family vacation (even if it has to be in Utah County)
19- Back up all digital photos on new DVDs (or other storage device) and store safely
20- Participate in fruit and vegetable co-op when possible and learn new ways to enjoy produce
21- Create a 7 generation pedigree chart
22- Finish quilts for the girls' beds -- O.o
23- Take a class through the community programs
24- Follow FlyLady principles to get/keep the house in a happy state. -- You should see my kitchen this week! I got it organized and did a good job on the cleaning. The new chore chart is working well for all of us so routine cleaning is better organized. Phew.
25- Read a book by a church leader -- I just gotta finish!
26- Spend $1,000 to improve financial outlook (pay off debt faster, put in savings, etc.)
27- Look at the stars more -- First we'd have to have an evening without mega cloud cover and rain! I swear the earth has shifted so we now live in the Pacific North-West instead of the desert.
28- Clean the Sharpie "artwork" off the playroom walls
29- Update our family's emergency preparedness -- Had a lesson about this in combined priesthood/relief society. I have had it done before, but need to update foods, medicines, sizes of clothing, current information, etc.
30- Learn to use the lenses and settings on my camera
31- Return and report progress on my goals
Monday, June 6, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
FIRE!!!
DON'T MISS THE POST FROM LAST NIGHT!
I'll bet you know I like to take pictures.
One of my favorite things to catch is something that is normally fluid or constantly changing and see it in a frozen state where you can really examine it. Kids work great for this as they're rarely still and ALWAYS changing.
Last night during our "camping" in the back yard (as a side note, after the girls were asleep I soaked in our jetted tub to get the campfire smell off. That's my kind of camping!) I played a lot with photographing fire.
I took probably 50+ pictures. I'm going to show here the few I couldn't resists sharing. In some of them you can see flickers of the color changing flames. I love the sharp focus on the crumbling, burning logs. Since it's gray and cloudy yet again, here are some pictures to warm you up!
I'll bet you know I like to take pictures.
One of my favorite things to catch is something that is normally fluid or constantly changing and see it in a frozen state where you can really examine it. Kids work great for this as they're rarely still and ALWAYS changing.
Last night during our "camping" in the back yard (as a side note, after the girls were asleep I soaked in our jetted tub to get the campfire smell off. That's my kind of camping!) I played a lot with photographing fire.
I took probably 50+ pictures. I'm going to show here the few I couldn't resists sharing. In some of them you can see flickers of the color changing flames. I love the sharp focus on the crumbling, burning logs. Since it's gray and cloudy yet again, here are some pictures to warm you up!
Too busy to be interesting
I realize I havne't posted much of interest lately. The truth is that I've been doing too many things! And LOVING every minute of it.
(Well, most minutes anyway)
The battery and the back-up battery for my camera both ran out of juice recently so I couldn't take any pictures. So I cleaned out my purse today and found the charger and went a little crazy.
I have still been feeling decently well. This week I developed a strange lesion on my foot that was clearly infected. As per SOP for me, the mega antibiotics they put me on weren't working. (SOP= Standard Operating Procedure). The swelling was getting worse and it HURT. So I had to go in to the Instacare (doctor's orders) and they added a second ultra mega antibiotic. The infection started clearing up pretty quickly after starting the second thing was added, so it looks like we can skip the blood work and all that mess. Phew! Now it just looks and feels like a big patch of skin was scraped off the top of my foot. Much better! (I'll spare you pictures. You're welcome.)
Today was the first day of SUMMER VACATION!
Last night I was taking my nighttime pills (4 this time because of the antibiotics) and looking out the kitchen window. I popped the pills in my mouth followed by a quick drink of water, but one pill jumped for its life! Since I'd already swallowed the other three pills I couldn't be certain which one it was (and can't risk double dosing!) so I reached quickly for the over-the-sink light so I could find the pill to verify. I accidentally flipped the garbage disposal switch instead. And yeah, the pill had fallen in there. So... I just had to go without. I discovered a few hours later it must have been my anti-anxiety med which also helps me sleep. So I started summer vacation of just a couple of hours of sleep. Delightful!
(Don't worry, we're gonna get to the pictures)
Actually, it was delightful. We ate breakfast and put on our shoes to go do our yard work (ME?! doing YARD work?! like... OUTSIDE?!?!?!). Caught the weeds, did some edging, cleaned the sidewalks, etc. Lovely morning.
Then we came in and the girls gathered up their lists off the new chore chart I made (yeah, it's pretty awesome) and got their chores done while I did my chores too.
Lunch time and the yard work and house work was done! One of Kate's friends called and invited her to play. Another of Kate's friends (who was a bully just two weeks ago. How does that girl manage to change people like that?!) called to say hi. Literally. He said "Hi. Uh... I gotta go. Bye." Very funny.
(Don't worry... pictures are coming soon. Stick with me here... or just scroll right down if you're impatient)
Then my friend from next door at our last place of residence called to ask if her kids could come play while she had an appointment.. Yes, please!!! And out came the camera. My girls were SO excited to see their friends again. Lizzie was counting up how many extended family members she has: cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents... and the Lewis family. We walked down the street to feed the donkeys / horse (mule?) some carrots then rode bikes.
The big news? Sabrina started the afternoon riding her bike with the training wheels (which have been sliding upwards gradually) and ended it riding a two wheeler all alone! LIZZIE was the key! She put Sabrina on her own bike, showed her how to start, and helped hold onto the back while she got started, picked her up when she fell, and cheered for her like crazy. It was so absolutely precious. I hope these girls remember working together like this. I sat on the side and took pictures. It was too beautiful to get in the middle of it.
After Daddy got home from work we went to the store and bought Kate's birthday present several weeks early. She got a new bike (again -- poor girl has gotten a new bike for at least half her birthdays!). Her old one is too small for her and needs to have one tire replaced and the brakes fixed. Sabrina really needs the bigger size bike too. So Kate gets the shiny new bike, and in a few weeks we'll get around to repairing Kate's old bike to be Sabrina's "new" one. Complicated, but it will at least get all the girls onto properly sized, functional bikes. Considering how much they use their bikes (TONS) it is an effort well worth the time and money.
It was a bit chilly and overcast all day, but we still spent a great deal of it outside. In the evening Michael pulled out our fire bowl and a batch of firewood. We sat out on the patio and made s'mores then threw a box of flame coloring on the fire and watched the colors. Finally Kate brought out a flashlight and the Harry Potter book I'm currently reading to the girls. I read to them while the fire burned down. It ended up being a pretty late night, and it was windy and there were a few raindrops too, but it was the perfect start to our summer. And as close to real camping as we're going to get for Memorial Day Weekend ;)
Eventually I'll get around to taking and posting pictures of my yard and house projects. In the mean time, if you just gotta see and are in the area, why don't you come visit? ;)
(Well, most minutes anyway)
The battery and the back-up battery for my camera both ran out of juice recently so I couldn't take any pictures. So I cleaned out my purse today and found the charger and went a little crazy.
I have still been feeling decently well. This week I developed a strange lesion on my foot that was clearly infected. As per SOP for me, the mega antibiotics they put me on weren't working. (SOP= Standard Operating Procedure). The swelling was getting worse and it HURT. So I had to go in to the Instacare (doctor's orders) and they added a second ultra mega antibiotic. The infection started clearing up pretty quickly after starting the second thing was added, so it looks like we can skip the blood work and all that mess. Phew! Now it just looks and feels like a big patch of skin was scraped off the top of my foot. Much better! (I'll spare you pictures. You're welcome.)
Today was the first day of SUMMER VACATION!
Last night I was taking my nighttime pills (4 this time because of the antibiotics) and looking out the kitchen window. I popped the pills in my mouth followed by a quick drink of water, but one pill jumped for its life! Since I'd already swallowed the other three pills I couldn't be certain which one it was (and can't risk double dosing!) so I reached quickly for the over-the-sink light so I could find the pill to verify. I accidentally flipped the garbage disposal switch instead. And yeah, the pill had fallen in there. So... I just had to go without. I discovered a few hours later it must have been my anti-anxiety med which also helps me sleep. So I started summer vacation of just a couple of hours of sleep. Delightful!
(Don't worry, we're gonna get to the pictures)
Actually, it was delightful. We ate breakfast and put on our shoes to go do our yard work (ME?! doing YARD work?! like... OUTSIDE?!?!?!). Caught the weeds, did some edging, cleaned the sidewalks, etc. Lovely morning.
Then we came in and the girls gathered up their lists off the new chore chart I made (yeah, it's pretty awesome) and got their chores done while I did my chores too.
Lunch time and the yard work and house work was done! One of Kate's friends called and invited her to play. Another of Kate's friends (who was a bully just two weeks ago. How does that girl manage to change people like that?!) called to say hi. Literally. He said "Hi. Uh... I gotta go. Bye." Very funny.
(Don't worry... pictures are coming soon. Stick with me here... or just scroll right down if you're impatient)
Then my friend from next door at our last place of residence called to ask if her kids could come play while she had an appointment.. Yes, please!!! And out came the camera. My girls were SO excited to see their friends again. Lizzie was counting up how many extended family members she has: cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents... and the Lewis family. We walked down the street to feed the donkeys / horse (mule?) some carrots then rode bikes.
Top left: Sabrina's last ride with training wheels. to Bottom right: Sabrina riding a two-wheeler all alone!
After Daddy got home from work we went to the store and bought Kate's birthday present several weeks early. She got a new bike (again -- poor girl has gotten a new bike for at least half her birthdays!). Her old one is too small for her and needs to have one tire replaced and the brakes fixed. Sabrina really needs the bigger size bike too. So Kate gets the shiny new bike, and in a few weeks we'll get around to repairing Kate's old bike to be Sabrina's "new" one. Complicated, but it will at least get all the girls onto properly sized, functional bikes. Considering how much they use their bikes (TONS) it is an effort well worth the time and money.
It was a bit chilly and overcast all day, but we still spent a great deal of it outside. In the evening Michael pulled out our fire bowl and a batch of firewood. We sat out on the patio and made s'mores then threw a box of flame coloring on the fire and watched the colors. Finally Kate brought out a flashlight and the Harry Potter book I'm currently reading to the girls. I read to them while the fire burned down. It ended up being a pretty late night, and it was windy and there were a few raindrops too, but it was the perfect start to our summer. And as close to real camping as we're going to get for Memorial Day Weekend ;)
Eventually I'll get around to taking and posting pictures of my yard and house projects. In the mean time, if you just gotta see and are in the area, why don't you come visit? ;)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Gardening
Sabrina and I were making the rounds this morning in the yard, attending to weeds and such. She was just so stinkin' cute, of course I had to take pictures.
Yes, she really does grin that much while gardening!
Yes, she really does grin that much while gardening!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Mother's Day Cards
Here are the cards Kate and Lizzie made for me at school for Mother's Day: Original spellings retained.
"Happy Mom Day" (She told me she saw she was running out of space to write "Mother's" so she shortened it to "Mom".)
"Dear Mom, Thanks for all you do for me and my sisters, from your oldest dautur, Love, Kate"
I couldn't get this picture to rotate properly, but this is a fill-in-the-blank Lizzie did.
My Mom
By Lizzie
Mother's Day 2011
My mom is 31 years old.
My mom is 10 feet and 90 inches tall.
My mom weighs 89 pounds.
My mom has blue eyes and brown hair.
My mom's job is...(she erased "my mom dos not" but couldn't decide what to write)
My mom's favorite food is fish.
My mom's favorite color is purpel.
My mom's favorite thing to do is clen my bedroom.
My favorite thing to do with my mom is walk arond the block.
I know my mom loves me because she loves me.
My mom knows I love her because I love her.
My mom is great because she is grat.
M akes the best cakes.
O ne of my favrot people.
T aller then my dad.
H er hugs are the best.
E ats lots of trets.
R uns all day.
It was a lovely Mother's Day with a fresh gerbera daisy from church, a nap after church, and vacuumed floors with dinner ready when I got up in the afternoon.
Michael gave me a beautiful purple jeweled butterfly box. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, though, and it's ALL the way upstairs right now. So I'll have to add one another day.
I hope all the wonderful women out there had a great celebration of womanhood last Sunday!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Roughly 1,000,000 words, part 2
Finally got the rest of the collages uploaded. Phew!
First picture is actually the earliest one -- from before we moved. The girls were playing with rose thorns (Sabrina made a very fiesty and effective fake fingernail out of one. Her expression cracks me up). Michael is also doing little rocket bombs with them -- pop-gun style "explosions" in a metal "rocket" you throw at the ground. Good fun.
The rest of these are in our new home. Our REAL home :)
Yes, these are recent pictures. We got a few inches of snow a week or so ago. Thank you, Utah "Spring". At least we got a sneak peek at how beautiful things are going to be covered in snow!
For Family Home Evening last Monday we walked across the street to see the donkeys. I think they're donkeys at least. They seem very short. The lighter colored, scruffier fellow is named Otis. We know that's his real name. The darker guy is actually Otis's son, but we don't know his real name. While we were feeding them carrots, though, the son got cranky and started whining and kicking at his Papa! So we dubbed him Cranky Pants. That awesome tooth photo on the top right is Cranky Pants.
A few landscapey type pictures I took of the girls with Otis and Cranky Pants. We live in such a beautiful world!
Lizzie is now sleeping on the loft bed Kate has been using for a few years. Kate never had a problem with it at all, but Lizzie ended up being very nervous about falling off. There was already a top support on each side of the bed, but we went out and bought another piece of wood to make a middle slat so she'd feel safer. We had to trim the pieces down a bit, though, so we kinda put it off a bit... and sure enough, she managed to fall out of bed. Michael and I ran in when we heard the THUMP. It was about midnight. She yelled like a banshee, of course. We determined there was no major bodily damage done, then went into "calming-down" mode. I got her snuggled into my bed then got Kate tucked back in bed. Michael went out to the garage, cut down the boards, and screwed them on right then. Sabrina decided everybody was up so she was determined it was morning time. It took some convincing to get her to go back to sleep. With the new boards up Lizzie feels much better and does fine in the loft bed again. Phew! She had a sore shoulder for a few days, but nothing that even looked impressive. Poor thing ;)
(Pictures: Top left: Daddy snuggling a very startled Lizzie. Top right: The improved bed. Bottom left: Kate in her bed. Bottom middle: Lizzie back to sleep in my bed. Bottom right: VERY dark picture of Sabrina in her bed.)
The weather finally warmed up! Michael was walking around the house and saw a couple of birds bathing in the little waterfall in our backyard. Lather, rinse, repeat. Air dry. It was pretty cool to watch them!
We got the girls a perfect sized wheelbarrow. I still need to find them properly sized gardening gloves, but they have done a great job of following me around the yard and gathering up the weeds or any other garbage out of the yard. Then they put it in their wheelbarrow and take it to the garbage when they have enough. Today we did some pretty major yard work (planted tomatoes, strawberries, cantaloupe, and radishes, removed a little ground cover, did some weeding...) and they had a great time doing their part. They also now have properly sized real shovel (for approved use only) and lawn rake. Pictures below: Michael checking the sprinkler system with Sabrina and Sabrina with the new wheelbarrow.
Tonight when it was about bedtime we put it off a bit and went for a walk. The girls chose to ride bikes / scooters and Michael and I walked along with them. We just went around the block, but it was a beautiful evening. We are getting to know our new neighborhood. It is just so beautiful here and the evening walk around the block in our neighborhood with our children on their bikes was absolutely idyllic. I cannot believe how blessed we have been, not just to have a home, but to have such a wonderful little family. It's amazing.
Now that I'm caught up hopefully I can get back to shorter more regular posts. In the mean time, I'm going to go soak in my tub again :)
First picture is actually the earliest one -- from before we moved. The girls were playing with rose thorns (Sabrina made a very fiesty and effective fake fingernail out of one. Her expression cracks me up). Michael is also doing little rocket bombs with them -- pop-gun style "explosions" in a metal "rocket" you throw at the ground. Good fun.
The rest of these are in our new home. Our REAL home :)
Yes, these are recent pictures. We got a few inches of snow a week or so ago. Thank you, Utah "Spring". At least we got a sneak peek at how beautiful things are going to be covered in snow!
For Family Home Evening last Monday we walked across the street to see the donkeys. I think they're donkeys at least. They seem very short. The lighter colored, scruffier fellow is named Otis. We know that's his real name. The darker guy is actually Otis's son, but we don't know his real name. While we were feeding them carrots, though, the son got cranky and started whining and kicking at his Papa! So we dubbed him Cranky Pants. That awesome tooth photo on the top right is Cranky Pants.
A few landscapey type pictures I took of the girls with Otis and Cranky Pants. We live in such a beautiful world!
Lizzie is now sleeping on the loft bed Kate has been using for a few years. Kate never had a problem with it at all, but Lizzie ended up being very nervous about falling off. There was already a top support on each side of the bed, but we went out and bought another piece of wood to make a middle slat so she'd feel safer. We had to trim the pieces down a bit, though, so we kinda put it off a bit... and sure enough, she managed to fall out of bed. Michael and I ran in when we heard the THUMP. It was about midnight. She yelled like a banshee, of course. We determined there was no major bodily damage done, then went into "calming-down" mode. I got her snuggled into my bed then got Kate tucked back in bed. Michael went out to the garage, cut down the boards, and screwed them on right then. Sabrina decided everybody was up so she was determined it was morning time. It took some convincing to get her to go back to sleep. With the new boards up Lizzie feels much better and does fine in the loft bed again. Phew! She had a sore shoulder for a few days, but nothing that even looked impressive. Poor thing ;)
(Pictures: Top left: Daddy snuggling a very startled Lizzie. Top right: The improved bed. Bottom left: Kate in her bed. Bottom middle: Lizzie back to sleep in my bed. Bottom right: VERY dark picture of Sabrina in her bed.)
The weather finally warmed up! Michael was walking around the house and saw a couple of birds bathing in the little waterfall in our backyard. Lather, rinse, repeat. Air dry. It was pretty cool to watch them!
We got the girls a perfect sized wheelbarrow. I still need to find them properly sized gardening gloves, but they have done a great job of following me around the yard and gathering up the weeds or any other garbage out of the yard. Then they put it in their wheelbarrow and take it to the garbage when they have enough. Today we did some pretty major yard work (planted tomatoes, strawberries, cantaloupe, and radishes, removed a little ground cover, did some weeding...) and they had a great time doing their part. They also now have properly sized real shovel (for approved use only) and lawn rake. Pictures below: Michael checking the sprinkler system with Sabrina and Sabrina with the new wheelbarrow.
Tonight when it was about bedtime we put it off a bit and went for a walk. The girls chose to ride bikes / scooters and Michael and I walked along with them. We just went around the block, but it was a beautiful evening. We are getting to know our new neighborhood. It is just so beautiful here and the evening walk around the block in our neighborhood with our children on their bikes was absolutely idyllic. I cannot believe how blessed we have been, not just to have a home, but to have such a wonderful little family. It's amazing.
Now that I'm caught up hopefully I can get back to shorter more regular posts. In the mean time, I'm going to go soak in my tub again :)
Roughly 1,000,000 words, part 1
I'm going to do a quick catch-up on some major events. Click on collages to see them larger. If a picture is worth 1,000 words then I've had a lot to say this time!
Apparently Blogger doesn't like so much cuteness in one post and rejected the other uploads, so I'll try to do them in a second post in a second.
Up first: The Southern Family Egg Hunt.
We're ready to MOVE!!! (taking the seats out of the van and getting the truck). Also, Kate with her twin cousins in a nook in our new house acting as live statuary. Very giggly statuary ;)
Our little egg hunt in a new yard. All the eggs were collected and put together in the most appropriate container: a packing box. Then we sorted and divided for everyone.
Saying goodbye to the old house. It sure had its problems, and we were VERY ready for our own place, but there were a lot of great memories made in the 3 1/4 years we lived there.
And hello to our new house! A few glimpses at our entryway and the peek through between the Great Room and Living Room. The girls had a half-dead helium balloon. One would drop it through the opening then someone would catch it below and throw it back up. A half dead helium balloon is great because it makes for a very slow motion style no-damage game of catch.
more to come in a minute...
Apparently Blogger doesn't like so much cuteness in one post and rejected the other uploads, so I'll try to do them in a second post in a second.
Up first: The Southern Family Egg Hunt.
We're ready to MOVE!!! (taking the seats out of the van and getting the truck). Also, Kate with her twin cousins in a nook in our new house acting as live statuary. Very giggly statuary ;)
Our little egg hunt in a new yard. All the eggs were collected and put together in the most appropriate container: a packing box. Then we sorted and divided for everyone.
Saying goodbye to the old house. It sure had its problems, and we were VERY ready for our own place, but there were a lot of great memories made in the 3 1/4 years we lived there.
And hello to our new house! A few glimpses at our entryway and the peek through between the Great Room and Living Room. The girls had a half-dead helium balloon. One would drop it through the opening then someone would catch it below and throw it back up. A half dead helium balloon is great because it makes for a very slow motion style no-damage game of catch.
more to come in a minute...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)