Creative Friday, Good Mail & a Pizza Picnic

This is the happy scene from yesterday's Creative Friday. I wrote 10 notes and Michelle created some darling birthday cards. It was a great success, and Eva slept the entire time!

Whitney joined us for Creative Friday for a little bit and drew some pictures and wrote a letter to her sweet, new pen pal Luci. It was cute.

I came home to find this cute Conference Kit basket waiting for me. My visiting teachers must have dropped it off while my sister Lori was here. It was most pleasing to open the door and see this waiting on the table for me. It has treats and a notebook and pens in it. What a great idea.

I got this fun package from Amanda S. yesterday. She sent this super cute notebook, glittery eggs, some scrapbook stickers and a really nice note. Thanks Amanda! (Also, I love all the cool stamps on the envelope.)

Kind Janae sent me this little key chain, charm with my name on it. That's so nice. Thanks Janae!

I ordered sewing machine needles from an ebay vendor and this is the adorable way they packaged them. I love the ric rac taped to the envelope and then how they tied the package of needles like an old-fashioned present.

My new blogging friend Andrea sent me this cute card to thank me for the good mail labels I sent her. Thanks Andrea!


Last night the kids and I had a pizza picnic while we watched Funniest Home Videos. We attempted a self-portrait (which was fun to do). It's super grainy because I didn't want to use the flash. (Whitney is wearing the cute nightgown Kristi's daughter Annie Kate gave her.)


After I put the kids to bed I was blissfully free for the night. I almost couldn't decide what I wanted to do, but ultimately chose to be one with my scrapbook room. I watched Sense and Sensibility on the computer (I love that movie so, so much, even more than Pride & Prejudice, gasp!) I cleaned up my desk a bit, organized ribbon and just felt happy. It was a wonderful night. I took a picture of my bulletin board because I love the addition of the postal book Kristi sent me. I decided to put it up there so I can always see it, I also think the title is a great reminder to send good mail.

I slept great last night (except for a 4:00am pee break) and am excited to watch Conference and use my new Sunday notebook. Landon gets to go to the Priesthood Session with my brother and my dad tonight, how cool is that?

**How was your Friday?
Do you love Sense and Sensibility?
How do you organize your ribbon?**

Recovered

Thursday proved to be a good day at home for me (after all the morning's hullabaloo) so I'm in good spirits today. Randy has been out of town this week so I haven't had to surrender the computer to him in the evenings, so that's been nice. The kids miss him like crazy though, so I've had to try to be more fun to fill in the gaps a little bit. I kind of wigged out last night because their bedroom was such a wreck (entirely Whitney's crap). I sometimes feel like if I don't freak out then she doesn't know I'm serious. Do you ever do that? It's like while I'm yelling I know it's ridiculous, but I can't help myself.

Whitney: "I'm going to tell dad about this."
Me: "Good, tell him about all this crap shoved under your bed."
Whitney: "No, just that you're throwing away the things I made him."

This sounds harsh, but really she draws on every scrap of paper she can find and then "cares" about it so much that she shoves them in the toy bins, under the bed, under the dresser (@#%$) and in any crevice available. This makes me crazy. The funny thing is that by the time we were almost done she was totally cheerful and happy...because she likes it clean!! Good hell!


Thankfully I had time to relax by myself last night to recover from such an episode. These are my Netflix selections that arrived yesterday. I'm surrendering completely to PRMSD and loving every minute of it. I watched The Lake House last night and was surprised that I didn't hate it. (Is Keanu actively working to make his voice more manly? If so, it's working.) Also, where can I get a mailbox like that?

This is some good mail Landon left taped on my bedroom door recently. He actually wrote my name and address on the other side of it and had it folded to look like an envelope. I thought it was pretty cute. (He crossed out his printed name to write it in cursive, apparently n looks like m.)

I got this cute thank you card (are those Cricut letters?) from Natalie for the good mail labels I sent her (which she ordered). I'm not sure how she found me. Thanks Natalie!


I got this cute card from Rachelle thanking me for the birthday gift I sent her last week. I love how she tweaked this store bought card to make it so much cuter. Also, I love it that she used such a tiny piece of ribbon, I have pieces like that all over the place and need to put them to good use. Thanks Rachelle!

This is just about the cutest thing ever. Natasha's daughter Luci sent this cute card to Whitney, so that they can become pen pals. It's so cute it hurt my heart. Whitney was very excited, though she does want to know when the packages are going to start coming (is she my daughter or what?!). This will be a good opportunity for her to learn about being thoughtful and thinking of others. Right now she's a bit too focused on the receiving side of things, so I'll be helping her with the sending side of things. I made her some stationery of her very own (though she had some critiques for me). I really hope this works out well for Luci too.

I'm watching Eva this morning while Michelle gets her hair done. It's hilarious to have such a tiny person in this house. She is loving all the toys and is chatting about everything. She keeps asking for "Minty" (Whitney) and Landon and I keep telling her that Minty's at school. It's kind of funny that that's how she says Whitney, because in general Whitney is not minty fresh. Ha. We'll be heading over to Michelle's house later for Creative Friday. It feels like it has been a long time since we've been able to get together. I hate that.

**Do your kids give you good mail?
Do you wig out about messes?
Are you doing anything creative today?**

P.S. If you missed Emily's SPT from Tuesday go read it now, it's awesome.

Survival by Default?

Most likely my title is overly dramatic, but after a day like yesterday and a morning like today's I kind of feel like that. My Wednesday ended up looking like this...

{My first kindergarten self-portrait}

Kindergarten 9-12:
I was in charge of the "Summer" rotation. This meant talking about summer and then keeping a group of 7 kids on task to cut out a tree trunk, foliage, draw apples, write the word summer, and put their name on their paper. This doesn't sound so hard right? Wrong! Most of the kids were enthusiastic and willing to cooperate, though most get distracted easily (the boys more than the girls for sure). They're all so cute and I love it how some of them choose to sit next to me and snuggle up next to while I talk (my kids aren't really like that). There's one little boy (the one who informed the class Santa Claus doesn't exist) who just seems angry. He scratched another boy with his scissors, thumped him in the head with his glue stick, and just got irritated by anything anyone said. Should a 6 year old have this much anger? Poor guy. That hurt my heart.


The Rec Center:
I signed Landon and Whitney up for tee ball and coach pitch baseball (I guess we better teach them how to play first) and for swimming lessons. Last year they didn't even get to take swimming lessons because the classes were all full by the time it hit my radar, so this year even though it was snowy and cold I was on top of things. Lessons start June 4th.


Reading March:
Fortunately I had our book club book on my iPod so I was able to listen to it while doing other things. This helped me out a lot because I would have had to shut down completely to read in order to finish in time. Whenever I do this I get irritable because the other things I need to do don't get done, plus I tend to doze off a lot so it's a waste of reading time.

{Their Before Hair}

Haircuts:
Hooray my fruity-haired kids are gone and my cute kids are back. We went to the Salon (the same one I frequent) at 3:30. Landon got his hair cut first so I gave Whitney her practice spelling test and then read like the wind. Landon brought his book too (I'm always telling him not to go anywhere without a book) so while Whitney got her hair cut he and I sat on the couch in the Salon and read alone together. So nice.

{Their After Hair}

Los Hermanos:
I called ahead to order chips and salsa for my contribution to our book club snackage and the girl I talked to cheerfully said "Okay, they'll be ready for you whenever you want to pick them up." So after the haircuts we drove up the street to pick up the chips and salsa. The kids like to run in to get them so I stayed in the car frantically reading. After 5 minutes they came back out with an employee! who said they didn't have my order and what did I want? $#@! How hard is this? It wasn't even a busy time of day. Good grief, that's why I called first. So the kids went back inside where it took another 10 minutes to get 1 bag of chips and 1 medium salsa! (It's a good thing I had my book with me or I would have been pissed at the time issue.)


Migraine:
By the end of the chips and salsa debacle I had a migraine. I had to turn the radio off in the car and try to get home in one piece. I felt very negative, didn't want to read, didn't want to go to book club, didn't want to be. Fortunately it was Relpax to the rescue once again! I took one as soon as I got home, laid down in bed and continued reading March (fortunately it wasn't a full blown, can't open my eyes, kind of migraine). Within 45 minutes I was feeling fine again and all was right with the world.

{Collette modeling her plane eye mask
I need to get one of those!}

Book Club:
I finally finished the book at 6:45pm in time to get myself ready and the house picked up before going to Collette's house. My mom came to pick up the kids (they slept over there because Randy is out of town), so that was very helpful and gave me 45 minutes of quiet before I had to leave. We had a good night planning our Paris outings and discussing the book. I got a little freaked out about the long flight and the potential exhaustion and disorientation upon arrival, but I bounced back. I just keep thinking of Tasha's advice about me being able to choose what luggage (both literal and emotional) I take with me. This is very helpful and keeps me from spiraling into worry and irrational fears. Thanks again Tasha!

{I took this through my windshield this morning.}

Eagle Mountain:
I had to drive out to Eagle Mountain (@#$%) to pick up the kids this morning. They hadn't packed clothes because they knew they were leaving early, but I had forgotten about that so instead of getting Whitney to school right on time (for once) we had to come home and get her changed. She tried to say she didn't fell well enough for school, but since she did tell me she felt well enough to play I had to put the kibosh on that attempt. I got her to school about 20 minutes late. Grrrr.


Gym:
I was experiencing some major mental resistance about going to the gym, but since I wasn't able to go yesterday I HAD to go today. That meant coming home from taking Whitney to school, changing my clothes (why hadn't I planned ahead?) and then heading back out to the gym. I did it! But I am irritated by so much driving before 10:00am and just want to stay home. Today was one of those workout days where my legs felt like lead, so it was harder than usual, but I'm so proud of myself for going that I was able to push past the pain. Who am I??

**Do you know any angry kindergarteners?
Would you have been bugged
by the chips & salsa incident?
Do you like your kids better when they're cute?
Do you experience resistance to self-improvement?**

Wednesdarific

I was hoping this week was going to be a nice, calm one but apparently it's not. Today is the craziest day of my week. I'm helping in Whitney's class for "Kid's Day" from 9-12, cramming to finish March for book club tonight (I wish I knew how to speed read, but every time I try to read faster I find that I just end up holding my breath), all day today is our ward temple day and I really want to go, my shaggy-haired kids have appointments at 3:30, and I have book club at 7:30. I keep trying to move things around or eliminate the unnecessary, but everything is necessary. I suppose the hair cuts could be moved if they really had to be, but since the kids look frightening right now and since I can read my book at the salon I'm choosing to see this as good multi-tasking.

I have to catch up on this past week's good mail arrivals.

Pam sent me these great Paper Source labels and the new flavor of Orbit gum (Mind Mojito). Thanks Pam, you know I'm a Paper Source junkie!

I got this sweet birthday thank you note from Amy W. Thanks!

I got this nice note from Ruth B. (Kristi's mom). She read a book (The Stone Diaries) I'd sent her and was sharing her thoughts about it, so nice. Thanks Ruth!

Mindy sent me this Happy Spring good mail with my favorite Cadbury eggs. (I didn't realize this picture was so blurry until after the sun had gone down and the chocolate had been eaten.) Thanks Mindy!

Kristi sent me a "Just Because Wednesday" envelope of treats which included these cute labels, 2 of my favorite Lindor truffles, a "J" printers type piece, and a note. Thanks Kristi!! (I plan to use some of these today.)

I got this cute card and mommy business card from Natasha, thanks!

I got this nice birthday thank you from Liz. Thanks!

{This is what we woke up to this morning.}

My spring fever symptoms were squashed a bit with the cold rain, blowing wind and hail we got yesterday, and then the snow we woke up to this morning. The kids and I went to Chili's for dinner (and to visit Lori while she was working) and to Costco wearing flip flops and short sleeves. We ended up freezing and running through the rain (not in the fun way). I actually had to take a hot shower when we got home. What's up with that?

**Is your Wednesday crazy too?
Are you a fast reader?
Did Mother Nature mock you too?**

Spring Fever--SPT

"It's spring fever...You don't quite know what it is you DO want,
but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"
--Mark Twain

{My gardening hat and supplies in the garage}

That quote from Mark Twain pretty much sums up how I feel during the spring. Every year I'm giddy when it appears spring is actually arriving. I'm in disbelief, yet see buds on the trees, daffodils and crocus in my yard, and feel the breeze through my open window. All of these indicate that winter is on its way out and spring is on its way in, and yet I have my doubts (there's snow in the forecast).

{My scary hall closet.}

I feel a surge a energy and excitement that pretty much propels me forward. I want to scour my house, clean out every closet (when did they get this bad?), pull weeds, plant flowers, wash the car, clean the garage, play soccer with the kids, go fly a kite, have a picnic, shop for spring clothes, take pictures of the budding trees, stare at the emerging tulips, and pretty much anything else that involves soaking it all up. I don't need a doctor for this diagnosis, clearly it's Spring Fever!

**Do you share my symptoms?**

Negotiations

I don't know what is up with the universe, but there seems to be a conspiracy to keep me from getting nice long chunks of REM sleep. I know many of you have to get up with babies and little kids in the night, so you have no sympathy for me, but since I don't have to get up with kids in the night shouldn't I be able to sleep straight through?? Apparently not.


I went to bed around midnight last night and woke from a bizarre dream involving me pitching movie ideas for Jim (from The Office) to star in. (I think he might be my latest comic actor-crush.) So I was ripped out of my dream at 2:30am with the world's fullest bladder. (This seems to be happening a lot lately since I've been drinking so much water.) I took care of my business quickly and got back into bed and tried to rejoin my dream, but no such luck.


I must have fallen asleep quickly though, because the next thing I know I was hearing music playing. In my sleepy stupor I reminded myself that Randy and I have actual alarm clocks, not radio wake-ups. Then I thought Landon must be up really early watching tv (although this is not something he EVER does at home because he uses all his "screen watching time" on his Game Cube). So I got out of bed and opened my bedroom door to hear the loud sound of N'Sync singing a Christmas song. What the heck? It was coming from the family room (I paused for a moment fearing a burglar, but really how adept could they be with such a noisy arrival?) It turns out it was iPod (which sits upon a speaker set up) which had somehow been set to go off at 4:03am $%$@. We don't even know how to set this thing?? How did this happen? Oh the humanity!


So I went back to bed again, all the while cursing the fates and calculating my sleep deprivation. My alarm was set for 6:02 so I could get up and go to the gym, but when 6:02 arrived I hit snooze twice and then reminded myself that I could go at 9:00 after I take Whitney to school. So I went back to sleep. If only I had negotiated with myself back at 4:03 rather than torturing myself with the 6:02 alarm situation unnecessarily. What am I a rookie? Good grief. I fear my day will be full of yawns and yearning for my bed.

Note to self: No more tankers of water before bed! (Notice my headlight in the photo, hee.)

**Do you ever have nights like this?
How did that iPod alarm get set?
Why does my bladder revolt some nights
and not on others? I always drink a lot.**

Happy Birthday Denise!!
(she doesn't have a blog)

Sunday Thoughts

{My latest Sunday Notebook}

So after my premature announcement that I was almost ready for a new Sunday notebook, last Sunday was finally the day. I love filling up my Sunday notebooks and I love starting over with a new one, so I'm happy to announce this is my latest design. I just found a cheap and ugly ($2.99) notebook at Ross then took it off the spiral binding, covered it in paper, stamped my initials in paint, and then mod podged over it. Voila! A new Sunday Notebook.

________________________________________________

Last Sunday this young couple in our ward spoke. They're both finishing at BYU this August and are expecting their first baby in May (the wife is ridiculously cute pregnant). Anyway, the husband applied to 9 different dental schools and then to a hard-to-get paid research job at BYU. He had gotten rejected from ALL the dental schools and was feeling rather crushed, but then miraculously got the research job at BYU.

He said, "The Lord's plan for me is different than my plan for me."

The cute wife spoke about becoming more like a little child in that we become submissive enough to ask for help. She said...

1. Children have the power to believe.
They trust completely those who teach them, that's why it is so important to tech them the truth while they're young.


2. Children know the power of prayer.
When David O. McKay was 8 years old he lost his new pocket knife. After searching everywhere he knelt down to pray for help and was shown a vision of the exact spot where his pocket knife was hidden.


3. Children have the power of love.
Kids continue to love even when parents are less than kind. The example she used was when she served in the nursery and how joyful the kids were when their parents picked them up and how sweet that was considering they were only apart for 2 hours!


4. Children have the power of enthusiasm.
Children love every aspect of life. They see the beauty of every small thing and have a zeal for living.


All of these thoughts are simple, but as adults we complicate things. What if we just loved? Just trusted? Just prayed? Just approached everything with enthusiasm? What if we asked for help instead of being obstinate and self-righteous? Hmmm.

**What do you think?
Have your kids taught you lessons?**

I'm Official

It's very late and I'm crazy tired, but I just have to share my disbelief and joy. My passport arrived today!! I'm official and can now travel about the world like other people often do. Perhaps I'll end up catching the travel-bug and becoming a jet setter (or not). But how exciting is this?? Only 34 more days until I go to Paris! Holy Crap!

**Do you have a passport?
Do you have the travel bug?
Do you need Valium to travel?**

Don't Be Cruel...The Sequel

I'm in Eagle Mountain again because my mom went to Jackson Hole with some girlfriends (I support all girl trips and she rarely does this) and my brother Andrew doesn't have school today (neither does Whitney). So my sister Lori came over yesterday afternoon and we ended up getting Cafe Rio takeout and heading out here. It ended up being a fun night, kind of like a slumber party. At one point Lori laughed so hard she had water come out of her nose (apparently I'm very funny, ha).

My kids slept in the guest room next to Lori's room and I bunked in with Lori. She has a Queen-sized bed but I was cramping her style and stressing myself out by trying not to disturb her (I tend to thrash). I thought I was okay and had just drifted off to sleep when I got the worst heartburn of my life and started coughing like crazy. I ran to the bathroom to search for antacids but didn't find any. So I tiptoed out of the room and went upstairs to search the cupboards and bathrooms up there. No luck! I was starting to panic. My throat felt like it was disintegrating and I feared another coughing fit so I settled for 2 Pepto Bismal tablets (weird) instead. I climbed back into bed with Lori but couldn't fall asleep for a long time (grrr).

Next thing I know I hear Whitney coughing like crazy. I flew out of bed fearing she was throwing up. The guest room is connected to Lori's room through a bathroom so I ran through there to check on Whitney but found the bed empty! I went out into the family room and found Landon and Whitney lying on the couches watching "Flushed Away". It was 4:45am!!! What in the world? (Apparently I'm not meant to sleep well when I'm in Eagle Mountain, it's so cruel.) I asked them what they were doing up so early and they both looked at my like I was the crazy one.

So I went back to bed, but slept in the guest room so Lori could have her space and because I knew she had to get up at 6:10 to get ready for beauty school. It took me a long time to fall asleep again and I kept hearing things so it was more like a tormented nap. Hence me waking up once again with good ole Bobby Brown in my head singing "Don't Be Cruel."

"Hey yo cutie, what's up with this attitude?
I thought I was being real good to you.
I treat you sweet, take you out at night
but you never say thanks, girl that ain't right."
"Don't be cruel, cause I would never be that cruel to you
(no oh oh)
Don't be cruel, girl you've got to change your attitude.
(no oh oh)
Don't be cruel"

**Any night time sagas in your world?

What's the cure for hit and run heartburn?

Why don't kids want to sleep?**

Happy 30th Becca!!

If I start a load of laundry...my story

Do you ever feel just like the mouse, the pig, and the moose in those children's books where one thing leads to another and then ultimately back to where they began? My daily home life is pretty much just like that.


If I start a load of laundry, then I'm going to have to gather more.
When I take the sheets off the bed, then I'm going to want to flip the mattress.


If I flip the mattress I'm going to knock some things off my desk.
Then I'll notice how dusty it is and remember that I don't like to live like that, so I'll want to reorganize and clean my desk.


But the sheet are off the bed so I need to put those in the washer.
When I pass the kitchen on the way to the washer I see that breakfast dishes need to be done.


As I do those dishes I look out the window and see that the bird feeder is almost empty. So I go out to refill the bird feeder.


I notice what a beautiful day it is and think that I should really take some pictures of the spring flowers before they're dead.


I get my camera and take some pictures all the while cursing my wretched digital camera skills and wondering how I've regressed so much.

Then I have to load them into the computer and put them in my Smugmug gallery. Which reminds me that I really should blog this morning because it has already been 24 hours since my last post and I'd like to get that taken care of so I can focus on all the housework I need to do today.

(Meanwhile, the dishes aren't done, the birdfeeder isn't filled, and my desk isn't cleaned! And on and on and on.)

The End!!

**Does this sounds like your life?
What's your process like?**