Five for Friday

A.k.a. another miscellaneous post from me, but this one is on Friday.


I tried to get a picture of the enormous holes in Whitney's jeans (which I referred to earlier this week) but she suddenly got embarrassed. Here she is trying to avoid the camera, but I got them. Can you believe she has 4 pairs of jeans and they ALL look like this!


We had the Scout Blue & Gold Banquet this week (along with all of you apparently) and it turns out that Landon was the one leading the flag ceremony! What?! He had had two practices with his pack, yet never said anything to us about being the one directing everybody. I told him it's a good thing I had my camera with me and he said, "Well, there's that." What in the world? (He did a great job by the way.)


Laurie M. and I were finally able to get together for lunch yesterday after a month of crazy Thursdays (the best day for her). It was totally my fault that I had something going on all the other Thursdays, but still...a month? We met at Chipotle and talked for 2.5 hours! Thanks Laurie! (Could her jacket be cuter?)


Landon seems to be transition out of the "obnoxious kid" stage into a very endearing, witty, cute boy stage of life (hooray!). I took him outside so I could take some picture of him yesterday and then tried to get a self-portrait of us together (we never take pictures together...why is that?) and after 5 silly attempts on his part we finally got this one. Not too shabby right? It's kind of surreal to stand next to this person who came out of me and to see how much we look alike, we have the exact same eyes.


I got this darling card from Carlo yesterday. It was a thinking of you card, which was so thoughtful, especially considering she's had her own stresses going on for the past week. I emailed her and she said she has a new approach to good mail in that she sits down to write a card every day. I think this is a great idea. Who doesn't have time to do that? Plus, over a year's time that would add up to 260 cards being sent (not including weekends). That kind of thoughtfulness would really add up and benefit both ourselves and the recipients!

Randomalicious

So it's Thursday, February 28th (good grief where has the month gone?) and I feel like I'm in life limbo right now. The blues seem to be coming in waves so sometimes I'm up and sometimes I'm down, but at least when I'm down I'm not sobbing uncontrollably; it's more of a retreat to the cozy kind of thing.


Yesterday Randy was home a lot of the day so I was in the cozy reading my book club book. Having him home and on the computer is making me question some of the things I normally do, because I'm finding that I'm feeling a little lost. I'm not out buying things for the house or kids so that's been kind of weird. Normally I have all kind of errands to run, but since I'm trying not to spend money all of that has come to a halt.

I ended up getting a lot of reading done yesterday and found it rather peaceful. I like this book. I don't know anything controversial about the author or the book, so for me it's all interesting even though it's my second time around.


I have a lot of gray hair! I had to start getting regular weaves because of it, but I can still see the grays, especially when I pull my hair back. It would be nice if gray hair looked as good on younger women as it does on younger men.


In other news...I got a postcard from the gym! How sad is that? I haven't been gymalicious in about a month so they're checking up on me. I thought I was unstoppable since having my epiphany about how it's easier to do hard things than it is to feel bad about not doing them, but I didn't account for not feeling bad about not doing them. I'm hoping this is just some sort of winter-time, unemployment-related funk I'm going through and not the new me.


Wendi sent me this nice card and book on Tuesday. They arrived at the perfect time for me so I got in the cozy and read for a couple of hours. I find that I'm highlighting something on every page (always a good sign) and have lots of ideas for upcoming Sunday Thoughts posts. Thank you Wendi for such a thoughtful and well-timed gift!

Kristy sent me this cute thank you card for some products she ordered from my Etsy site. It was very sweet of her to let me know she was happy with what I sent. Thanks!


Elizabeth also sent me a thank you card regarding the good mail labels she ordered from me. I think it's cute that she wanted hers to say "Aloha" on them, and think it's nice of her to send me this card.

I had lasagna and a Twix for breakfast today...is that so wrong?

Happy Birthday Becky!!!

**Do the blues hit you in waves too?
Have you read in the cozy this week?
Does your gym send you postcards?
Do you have gray hair too?
What's the weirdest thing you've had for breakfast?**

The Great Landini

Last night Landon came to show me the Abraham Lincoln hat he and Randy had just made for his class presentation today. It instantly cracked me up, especially because he was being so funny about it. I ended up sneaking (not so slyly) some video of him and realized I haven't posted about him in awhile. So this post is dedicated to The Great Landini.

The video is sideways because I framed the shot vertically like I would have if I had been taking a photo, but I forgot that I can't rotate the image when it's a video. Duh.


I'm not sure when Landon started calling himself The Great Landini, but he has been doing it for awhile now and has the kids at school calling him that as well. He often signs his papers this way. Here is a shot of the big card the 4th graders signed to thank Robyn for giving her presentation on Thailand. Landon wrote his message on the back of it and signed it The Great Landini and put (Landon) in parenthesis in case there was any doubt who it was from.

I had a very early (7:30am) parent teacher conference with Landon's teacher yesterday morning and even she referred to him as The Great Landini. Here is the preview of his report card.


She also gave me this sheet that she had had him fill out himself. He admitted that he needs to work on his penmanship (amen to that), outed Whitney for being the reason he's late to school sometimes, and indicated that sometimes people are mean and annoy him. His teacher was very surprised by this and so was I, so upon returning home I talked to him about it. It turns out that the "mean" people he's talking about are the kids who call "hands" on him while playing soccer even though the ball accidentally hit the upper part of his arm. (Phew!)


This scene in our coat closet is SO Landon. He barely "hangs" up his coat each day. It drives me crazy. Whenever I open the closet it practically attacks me and often gets knocked down. Sometimes he even hangs it on the vacuum cleaner. Aargh!


One of Landon's main jobs around the house is emptying the dishwasher. He does this without complaint, but often doesn't do it the way he has been instructed to do so. For example, when he puts these big utensils in this container (which couldn't be easier) he often does it so they're sticking out every which way and barely in there. I don't know why this is an issue, how hard is it to put them all the way in the container? I don't know, but this is how he did it this morning.


This is Landon's "made" bed. I think it's cute that he still has a couple stuffed animals he sleeps with AND his headlight which he uses every night to read in bed.


This is a view of some of his bigger action figures (he has tons more) and his Game Cube. I love it that he still plays with these.


I took this picture of Landon a couple days ago and was impressed that his fake smile is starting to look more believable. He didn't resist me taking the photo (woohoo) and willingly posed with the two books he'd received in the mail from the book chain letter thing I participated in. This is a milestone for him (the realistic fake smile)!

The Great Landini is a sweet, smart, hilarious boy who is generous, thoughtful, kind, sensitive and spiritual. He is hard on himself whenever something doesn't come easily to him (like penmanship) and is used to excelling at most things. He wants to please others, knows how to be a good friend, enjoys life and is his own guy. I just love him.

P.S. Yesterday's UTI scare was a bizarre false alarm, thank heaven!

**Did you ever give yourself a nickname?
Do you have quirky kids?
Was penmanship hard for you?**

SPT--Scavenger Hunt

This week's assignment from Lelly involved using the words lips, light, little, laughter, lavender and lunch...here goes.


Today Lori and I went to lunch at Thanksgiving Point. There was much laughter, little seriousness, bright light in our eyes as we tried to take this picture with our freshly made-up lips, and no lavender in sight. The End!

**How did you do??
Shouldn't I get extra credit for lunching with Lori?**

Hanging On

My SPT post will come later today after my feeble plan comes to fruition. So for now I will report on some of the miscellaneous happenings of my life (which seems to be in a downward spiral right now).

• I think I might have a UTI, but am not sure. I don't want to go to my doctor in Provo for another 1.5 hour wait to find out. #$@!
• I really just want to go back to bed.
• My car is making a heinous sound and leaking fluid (that can't be good), but I can't get in to our mechanic until Thursday. That means we're doing the one car boogie again AND have a large repair bill in our future (did I mention Randy is unemployed?).
• I have to go to the dentist tomorrow to get a broken filling fixed...do you think this has anything to do with my ice-chewing habit? I'm looking forward to the bill for that and some handy tooth-sensitivity too.
  
• All of Whitney's jeans have serious holes in the knees, but I can't find new jeans that fit her. The girl has too much junk in her trunk for a 7 year old! I hate sending her to school looking like a ragamuffin every day.
  
• We have our first Scout Blue & Gold Banquet tomorrow night (oh joy) and reading about Lelly's experience has me dreading it even more than I already was.

But on the brighter side...


I received my order from Jessie's Etsy shop (notice her darling good mail label). I'm so glad I ordered this. I think her felt creations are so clever and inspiring. I will be keeping this up year round, not just during March. I need to remind myself that I am indeed lucky.

Elizabeth sent me this darling quote about her word for the year "Love" which happens to be my word for the year last year and so far this year year as well. Thanks Elizabeth!


There was a hole in the envelope though, I hope nothing fell out.


I was happy to receive one of Lelly's creative Valentine's, and have hung it on the bulletin board above my computer. Thanks Lelly!


I received this nice just-because note from my new blogging friend Kristy (she's a close friend of Patsy's).


Janae sent me this cute thank you note for the birthday stationery I sent her. Thanks Janae!


Another new blogging friend, Linda, sent me this fun package yesterday. The bookmark says "Parenting is full of challenges, but eventually they move out." Ha. She also wrote me a nice note. Thanks Linda!

**Why do the crappy things happen all at once?
Do you want to go back to bed today?
Are you doing today's SPT?**

Happy Birthday Amy!!

Here is a list of 32 things I know and love about Amy.


She's very tall.
She's oh so skinny.
She looks like Geena Davis, especially in her bridal photos.
She is very good at reading instructions and figuring things out.


She's a creative genius.
She is always tired.
She only drinks water.
She loves Burnt Almond Fudge ice cream.
She makes good guacamole.


She has created an awesome studio.
She taught herself Photoshop.
She can sing pretty well and always wins at Sing Star!
She no longer fears death all the time.


She has recently taken up painting and is good at that too!
Her girls all have brown eyes like her.
She often makes big changes without telling anyone (much to my chagrin).
She is good about getting an idea and following through on it.


She always wears jeans and a t-shirt.
She is an excellent photographer.
Her legs are 6 inches longer than Adam's but they're the same height.
She loves chocolate and eats some every day.



She has a great marriage.
She has recently become a reader (hooray).
She's very computer savvy.
She is stronger than she thinks she is.
She is a great mom.
She loves music but also likes to have her house quiet.
She's excellent at Dance, Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero.
She loves her family.


She creates beautiful blog banners and posted the instructions so we could all learn how.
She often contradicts herself; it's hilarious to those who know her.
She's always trying to improve herself.

Happy Birthday Amy!!!

This is from our family party Saturday night.

Sunday Thoughts

President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency: “The family unit is fundamental … to our hope for eternal life. We begin to practice in the family, the smaller unit, what will spread to the Church and to the society in which we live in this world, which will then be what we practice in families bound together forever by covenants and by faithfulness. We can start now to ‘promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family.’ I pray that we will. I pray that you will ask, ‘Father, how can I prepare?’ Tell him how much you want what he desires to give you. You will receive impressions, and if you act on them, I promise you the help of the powers of heaven” (“The Family,” Liahona, Oct. 1998, 23; Ensign, Feb. 1998, 18).


This quote is from this month's visiting teaching message (hopefully you already know that) and is the one I focused on during my visit last week. I especially love the part I put in bold type here, because it's such a reminder about the power of prayer and how the Lord is waiting to bless us, but that we need to specifically ask for His help.

Last week during our Primary Presidency meeting one of the sisters shared a thought about prayer and mentioned that they'd been having trouble with something at home (she didn't say what) and that after several days her husband said, "We haven't even prayed about this yet!" Apparently the nature of the problem (probably something kid related) wasn't something that would obviously be handled by prayer.


I thought this was such a great example of how we should go to the Lord in ALL things. How many of us ask for help with the big things in life, but fail to seek guidance for the small things that nag us daily? (Potty training, discipline, nurturing others, communicating, how to love our families better etc.) I tend to pray about the same things over and over again, maybe just rewording them so as not to be too repetitive, but if I was more concerned about my relationship with the Lord I would be more likely to go to Him in all things. I can use all the blessings He wants to give me.

Happy Birthday Betsy,
I Miss You!!

**What's your take on this?

Kristi: Thoughtfully Out of Control!

I don't know what I did to deserve such a fantabulous package from Kristi, other than that I took a one-two punch last week with Randy's job loss coinciding with me running out of my Zoloft. Apparently days of crying and some suicidal-type blogging inspires the thoughtfulness gene in others and seriously aggravated Kristi's, because whoa daddy!


I came home much later than usual from my Creative Friday with Michelle because Randy picked the kids up from school (unemployment has its perks) and because game night was moved to Saturday. So I walked into the house around 7:00pm and found this darlingly decorated, big box waiting for me on the table. Leave it to Kristi to decorate the box in wrapping paper AND ribbon on all four sides!


I opened the box (with Landon and Whitney looking over my shoulder) to find this wonderful sight! Ahhhh, my sweet Dr. McDreamy lamenting the fact that I was having a rough episode. The card alone would have been a treat!! When opened it plays the theme song to Grey's Anatomy (the kids think that's the coolest thing ever). It also had a nice note from Kristi inside saying she wished she could have gotten this to me last week. I must say, anytime is a good time for a package like this!


Under the tissue paper I found a plethora of beautifully wrapped packages. I gasped when I saw them and exclaimed "It's like Christmas!" Whitney was sitting right there and said, "But they're all for you." Ha. I just couldn't believe it. I was scooping them out and setting them on the table and it seemed like it took such a long time, they just kept coming. (This act alone was joy-inducing.) Also, underneath all the wrapped gifts were many spools of white ribbon because I'm always asking her to get me some when she goes to the ribbon outlet. Boy did she ever!!

I was in utter disbelief and had to take a self-portrait indicating this fact.

The kids wanted to help unwrap things, and Landon proved quite helpful because I couldn't unwrap the lipstick Kristi sent me. She sent all of my favorite treats (Cadbury Eggs, M&Ms, Caramel Twix, Milk Duds, etc.) so at one point I said, "Do you think she's trying to make me fatter?" Whitney said "No" but then Landon said, "Yeah she's trying to fatten you up so she can eat you like in Hansel and Gretel." I had to laugh at that.


Here is the final display! It's unreal is it not? The Jolly Postman book is so cute. I've never seen it before and just love it. It has actual envelopes and letters inside addressed to and from various Fairy Tale characters (so clever). I don't know how Kristi finds these things, but so far she has sent me 3 different books about the mail. Clever, clever girl.


This is me modeling the new lipstick she sent me (it's perfect) and demonstrating my mood and feelings after receiving such a generous package. I had to call her right away to leave a gushing message of grateful gibberish just so she'd know I got it.

Disclaimer: This is seriously over-the-top good mail sent by a close friend (not a well meaning blogger), so don't think this is normal. This is just a good mail anomaly of which I happened to be the lucky recipient. I feel like saying "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy" along with "I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky."

Beyond thank you to Kristi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Can you believe this?
Have you seen this darling book?
What are your favorite treats?
Do you decorate mailing supplies?
Do you ever get to use the word anomaly?**

I had to actually create a new Smugmug gallery for this package because I took so many photos. You can see them here.

Creative Friday--Hammer Time Edition

Today's Creative Friday involved a hammer and nails for a little bit. Michelle has been working hard to clean and organize her studio this week and not only has a totally clear desk (no small feat), she has finally decided to hang up some of the fabulous decor items she's had lying around for years. I was happy to assist her by handing her the hammer and by telling her whether things were level or not.


This is just a tiny peek of the goodness that is Michelle's studio. She really should post all about the big makeover Marc orchestrated 5-6 years ago (could it really be that long ago??) that resulted in her very awesome studio. It was such a fun thing to be a part of and really turned out well. (How's that for a teaser?)


I worked on some thank you notes (7 of them) and on an Etsy order. It seems like I did more than that but I can't remember now and this is the only picture I took of my work area.

Michelle also finished monogramming the awesome apron she made me for Christmas. It looks so good! I may actually be inspired to cook (let's not get crazy) or bake more often.

I just had to take a picture of Michelle primping her now legendary lips before our self-portrait attempt. She really didn't even need to reapply because her lipstick was already perfect.

Here is what we ended up with.

We had a fabulous lunch of enchiladas, but I somehow failed to document those (I was too busy snarfing them down).

I have some wickedly good mail from Kristi to report, but it deserves a post all its own so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

**Do you let stuff accumulate for a long time
before you finally hang it up?
Do you wear an apron when you cook?
Do you want to see Michelle's studio transformation?
Any guesses on the good mail from Kristi?**