"Best Day Ever of My Life So Far!"

Can you even imagine saying something like that? That's what Landon said last night after Randy asked him if he'd had a nice birthday! What a kid. I guess we did alright with his special day.


The only things Landon wanted for his birthday were the MegaMan game for Game Cube and the boardgame Life. We got him the video game and Max & Lucas gave him the other one.


To celebrate, Landon invited his 5 best friends Max, Lucas, Soren, James and Benjamin (but he went camping and couldn't come) to go bowling. I didn't feel like having a big crazy water party with 15 kids like we've done the past 2 years, so this seemed like a better option and something unique for his 8th birthday.


The kids were all so anxious to get their special bowling shoes and were running all over and taking off their regular shoes and leaving them in the middle of the floor, so for a little while I was rethinking the intelligence of this party plan. But once they got going it was fine. They were hilarious to watch and had as much fun watching the balls come out of the ball return as they did trying to heave it down the alley.

I'm glad there weren't any more kids than this, they were very energetic and excited (why don't I ever feel like that?). Landon and Whitney tied for the bowling win with 103 points each. That's pretty funny considering they don't really know what they're doing.


I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and m&ms on them for the treat. The kids loved them, but man did they make a huge mess. I hadn't really thought of the crumb-factor when I made those. I ended up borrowing a dustpan and broom at the bowling alley to clean our mess up. It looked as if they're each taken a handful of crumbs and spread them all over the place.

After the party we had a couple hours to relax at home before the kids' soccer games, then after the games we went to Pizza Factory for Landon's birthday dinner. It was quite the fun day. Click here for the rest of the photos.

**What's the best birthday you ever had?**

Talk About Funny

I don't have much time to post, but I just have to hurry and write about yesterday's soccer experience with Whitney. She is so funny! We got there 15 minutes before the game, so the kids were just shooting into the goal and running around. Once the game started, it didn't take very long for Whitney to decide she doesn't like having to share the ball with anyone. She half-heartedly ran around after the ball, but never tried to steal it from anyone else. When it was time for her to come out of the game to rest she told me she likes practice better "because I get to kick it."


She also said, "Mom don't talk, it annoys me." Meaning she doesn't appreciate me cheering her on and helping direct her when she's playing. Alrighty then....



After half time she was seriously pouting while on the field, at one point she and a little girl from the other team were standing in the middle of the field while everyone else was running after the ball. I didn't appreciate this behavior in her, but did find it a little bit amusing. The coach finally decided to put her in as goalie, and that worked out well. I think she enjoyed the standing around in the goal and then getting to do a big kick when she saved the ball from going in the goal.


She's actually really good when she wants to be. She's a fast runner, a strong and accurate kicker, but she hasn't grasped the idea of the dribbling and stealing the ball yet. Oh well. I'll try to work with her so she can enjoy the game more next time.

Also, since she's on the preschool/kindergarten team she's playing with kids who are not yet 4 years old! She's almost 6 and looks like she's older than that. Crazy.

**Any advice or similar stories for me?**

I have an 8 year old!!

Today is Landon's 8th Birthday! Wow, where does the time go? It feels like it went so fast and yet took forever at the same time. I ache when I see the pictures of him when he was little, the past is rather blurry for me and I fear I wished away a lot of his cute, little-boy stages because I was unhappy with my life then. I can only resolve not to wish away any more time.

This photo was taken in October 1998, Landon was 2 months old.

This cute photo was taken in the fall of 1999.

Photo taken fall 2002 at a preschool field trip.

Landon at kindergarten graduation, May 2004.
He was in serious need of a haircut.)

Photo taken July 31, 2006

Here are my top 8 favorite things about Landon

1. His beautiful blue eyes and long, long eyelashes.
2. His desire to what's right.
3. His sense of humor.
4. His intelligence.
5. His helpful nature.
6. His ability to quote lines from tv shows.
7. He always says "thanks mom."
8. His generosity and kindness.
   

**I feel like I've forgotten some of my favorites about Landon,
for those of you who know him what am I missing?**

Thanks Robyn for reminding me...Landon is a huge reader and I love that about him!

Solitude + Shopping = Happiness

Yesterday was the last day to return last years k12 curriculum to the Davis Country School District in Farmington. This is about an hour away from us, so Amie and I had arranged with the grandmas to watch our kids so that we could drive up there without the added chaos of 4 kids (you know how I love that), and then go to lunch and shopping in Salt Lake. Well, Jimmy's mom cancelled on her and then Amie hurt her back on Sunday, so things were not looking good for our outing. So I ended up picking up Amie's k12 stuff and my mom's (she homeschools a bunch of neighbor kids using this program) and driving up to Farmington myself. It ended up being a great day.


I haven't been to Farmington before and must say it's a rather cute town. It took me about 15 minutes to find the k12 drop off place. It turns out I was across the street at some other country buildings that fit the description of the drop off place. Go figure. The actual supply drop off took about 4 minutes.

After that I headed back South and went to Woods Cross. I got some lunch at the Apollo Burger Drive Thru and ate in the car. I had my book on cd (The Alchemist), air conditioning and good food. It was a treat for sure. The retarded thing is that I was trying really hard not to spill on my shirt, so I was holding the cup with my tasty vanilla shake in it up close to my face and instead some shake-like condensation dripped onto my shirt! Drat. I ended up walking around the rest of the day with two stains on my shirt. %$#@


I ended up shopping at the Memories Store in Woods Cross. This is a Making Memories Outlet Store where everything is 30% off. I usually only go there about once a year so it was a great treat to go there. Of course, there were two young mothers there with multiple children who were ready for naps so that was very annoying. I try to be empathetic because I know what that's like, but then again I tried not to take my little kids out to stores like that either. It was mighty obnoxious. I kept wondering what the employees were thinking because the kids were running around and screaming and there's a lot of stuff to ruin in there. My shopping experience greatly improved when they finally left.


After my wonderful $30 outing at the Memories Store I drove to Brick Yard Plaza to claim my gift certificate Betsy gave me for my birthday at Paper Creations. They had a hard time finding it so there were a few minutes of slight panic, but sure enough they found the sheet of paper with the info on it and made the gift certificate for me. Betsy is extremely generous with me, so I had $100 to spend there. It's a weird feeling because I'm always so cautious about what I get. I tend to like to get lots of little things instead of one or two big things, but with $100 to spend I was able to be pretty free with what I wanted. My total ended up only being $86 so I grabbed Ali Edwards' new book and paid the extra $7. Good times.


I also went to Home Goods and Tuesday Morning while at Brickyard Plaza. I got a new shower curtain (I ruined our other one a week ago when coloring my hair) and a big "S" book end for the family room. While at Paper Creations there was another woman wearing a black skirt and hot pink shirt just like me, she laughed when she saw me and said "Hey we're twins" I said, "Do you have a stain on your shirt too?" She actually said, "Yes, I spilled diet Coke earlier, but it dried already!"


I was done with all this shopping by 3:00 and just couldn't bear to be done with my free day already so I called my grandma to see if she felt like having a visitor. She did, so I stopped at Village Inn to get 2 pieces of pie for her (Lemon Meringue and Carmel Pecan) then went to her house in Midvale. I don't visit her very often because we rarely go to Salt Lake and because there's nothing for the kids to do at her house. It ended up being nice to just hang out with just the two of us. I got her big box of pictures out and looked through all of them. She has so many great old photos. She was beautiful and my grandpa was so handsome. She doesn't remember a lot of the old details and always seems sort of embarrassed to talk about the pictures, but I like to drag the stories out of her. She let me take a whole bunch of the photos so I could scan them and make copies! I'm excited about that. She also gave her old autograph books from her mom, brother and herself. Her mom's book dates back to 1902! Very cool. I think she was happy that I wanted that stuff. (This is their Christmas card from 1953! My mom is the middle child, meaning not the oldest or youngest.)

Happy Mail Box

This is a cute card Pam made and sent me, so creative.

Elisa sent me one of her famous homemade bars of soap and a very nice note. Thanks!

Kristi (with yet another very cute personalized card) sent me a couple fun mix cd's she's made. Thanks! I've already loaded them into itunes.

Collette sent me a very nice note in this cute card, she knows how to write a great note.

My best friend from High School Betsy sent this cute card thanking us for the birthday present we sent her son for his first birthday. I think this is such a cute idea for a card, especially since they live in Michigan and I never get to see them. I'm missing him grow up and loved seeing this progression of pictures.

**Do you find yourself sending more notes now that you see them posted on all the different blogs all the time? Do you enjoy seeing what people get or not? I love seeing what everyone gets?**

P.S. These deliveries were from both yesterday and today--it's not that crazy around here.

Misc.

• I had a pretty good time at Seven Peaks today. I remembered my favorite low-lawn chair, packed a decent amount of food, sat in the shade of Amie's umbrella, and even took a few photos of the kids. I did manage to forget sunscreen (what?) and had to finish off Amie's bottle.

• I drove out to Eagle Mountain AGAIN today. Can you believe it? I dropped the kids off at my mom's house for a sleepover and had to pick up all the k12 supplies from last year from the kids' my mom teaches (for a woman with 10 kids who schools them at home) and Amie's stuff so that I can take it all up to Farmington tomorrow to give it all back.

• Randy and I went to the movies tonight to see Talledega Nights. I love Will Ferrell, but didn't love this movie. I laughed a bit, but think I hate NASCAR stuff even if it's a comedy.

• Why must the movie previews tell the whole story? I always end up feeling like I don't really need to go to the see the movie because I already know what's going to happen.

• Why do people keep their stupid cell phones on during the movie even though they've been reminded to turn them off? Rude. I think the only time that's okay is if you're waiting for a kidney transplant, and even then you should have the phone on vibrate so as not to disturb everyone.

• I enjoyed the top 20 pieces of popcorn that had butter on them and couldn't help but feel disappointed with the rest of the enormous bag of popcorn.
  

• It's weird to be home without the kids here at night. I have to close their bedroom door or their room seems too lonely.

• I got more stuff from Amazon, k12, and notes from friends today but will have to post pictures tomorrow when I'm not so tired. Thanks Kristi, Collette and Betsy!

• Jessie thinks she might be sick of blogging, does that freak anyone else out? I feel kind of violated by that and am trying to shake it off.

**Any random comments to add?**

Nice things about Eagle Mountain (really!)

We drove out to my parents' house in Eagle Mountain (willingly) to visit them, play with the kittens, and to pick up my sister Lori's car so Randy can drive it now that he finally sold Robyn's car last week. We've gotten spoiled having 2 cars all these months while he was able to drive Robyn's car while it was being sold (and she's in Australia). Since Lori is in Australia visiting Robyn and since she's trying to sell her car too, Randy's the man for the job. We had to share a car all weekend and that seriously cramped our style after 7 months of being a 2-car family. Things are especially tricky now that the kids are both playing soccer because their practices and games overlap.


Anyway, I ended up taking some photos of the kittens (they're so cute), the gorgeous sky, and some of my dad's garden plants and flowers. These are things I actually LIKE about Eagle Mountain. I've been rather harsh in my disdain for the drive out there and feel I should tip the scales a bit and share some of the good things. It can be beautiful out there.



I took this picture of Landon last night at my parents' house. He looks so much older to me lately, and it's freaking me out a bit. He turns 8 this Thursday the 10th! We went to a baptism of one of his classmates from church on Saturday and I just can't believe that Landon will be getting baptized in less than a month! When did this happen? How do I have an almost-eight year old child?

We're heading out to Seven Peaks today. We haven't been back since that heinous day a few weeks ago. This time I'm packing enough food, won't forget my trusty lawn chair, and got enough sleep last night. That last time was seriously awful and I feel badly about it. Wish me luck today.

**Are you shocked every time your kids turn a year older?**
What are your favorite things about Eagle Mountain?
Any advice for Seven Peaks?

Happy Birthday Georgia!!
(If you're not reading her blog, you're missing out.)

Great Saturday

This the huge stash of mail I got on Saturday! You know it's a great mail day when the mailman has to bring it to the door because it won't fit in the mailbox. Hooray. Three of the packages were books I'd ordered from Amazon, and the magazines are all ones I subscribe to, but they all came on the same day, wow. The huge envelope was all the way from Australia and full of goodies from my sister Robyn, and the other cute envelope contained cute stationery from Kristi. Thanks you guys!!

These are the cards Kristi sent. She wrote in the KC card and made me a set of the Jill Stuart cards. They're so cute. Kristi you have such great design, I love everything you send. Thanks.

This is the stash of fun stuff Robyn sent me. The cute polka-dot binder has sheet protectors in it so it can be the cutest document holder ever. The hot pink thing under the cute card she made is a little coupon holder, then there a J key chain, darling pencils, and a cute green notebook. I love this stuff! Thanks Robyn.

Robyn also sent Landon his birthday present and this very cute home made card. They're darling.

This is Landon with the t-shirt Robyn sent and the Pirates of the Caribbean watch and pencil case. He's excited about all of that fun stuff. Way to get these items here 5 days early all the way from Australia!

Whitney had her first soccer practice yesterday and loved it! Randy took her to buy the special socks, shin guards, cleats, a pink soccer ball and little orange cones so she'd be all set. (I love it that he took her shopping to multiple stores to get the things she needed, he did this without me asking him to do it. What a guy.) She was giddy. She's the biggest, fastest and strongest on the team because they put her on a team with other kids starting kindergarten, so that means she's with kids who are tiny and barely turning 5 when she'll be turning 6 in October and is tall already. I fear for the games, but think it's cute that she feels so strong and fast. When they came home from the store she put on her new stuff right away and had to show me all her moves. I'm so excited that she's playing soccer. I love soccer and played it in Jr. High and High School. (Check out the rest of Whitney's soccer photos here.)

**Thoughts?**

--Who subscribes to Creating Keepsakes?

Good Times

This is the progress I've made in my room over the past 3 days. It may not look much better to the untrained eye, but everyone in this house thinks it's clean. I sorted through a lot of stuff that had accumulated and found new homes for some of the new things as well. I have a lot more to do, but at least the computer table is completely clean and we can walk in here. I know I could spend all day every day in here and not be finished, but it's a good kind of mess since most of it is stuff I love.

So last night Jenn, Michelle and I headed out to Saratoga Springs (which is just South of Eagle Mountain) to see Lisa's beautiful new house and to pour over the new Stampin Up Catalogue. As I've indicated before, driving out there feels like you're heading to Vegas and this was no different except that the drive was prettier. Since we were heading South instead of continuing West we were driving parallel to Utah Lake and the mountains, Jenn snapped this picture from the car window as we tried to figure out where we were going. We had gone too far because we missed Lisa's "easy" landmarks. After calling her and having her actually answer (which is no small feat) we turned around and headed back. I kept glancing down at the gas gauge in my car to see if we were going to have enough gas for this trip!

Lisa's house is absolutely beautiful and it was very fun to get the tour. We especially loved her scrapbook room. It literally looks like a store in there. She got this great paper rack from a store that was getting rid of it, then she added these cute metal tins to hold her cards of ribbon. It was very pleasing. Also, look at this very cute mini-book made out of tags. It's painfully cute.


I also took advantage of this "Lisa sighting" (check out my new gallery dedicated to Lisa) to take some pictures of her and to get a better one for her blog profile since she's so unhappy with the one I put on there the other day. It's kind of interesting how I did the dirty work and got in trouble for it, but that Amie is really the puppet master getting me to do it. Surely everyone knows what kind of influence Amie has on me...need I remind you that this is our 3rd year going to Seven Peaks??


We stayed at Lisa's until 12:30am, then took Jenn home and went in to see her beautifully rearranged Craft Room. I never get tired of looking at all her awesome things. I love the paint color, the red accents, and all the stuff she has displayed. She's going to blog about it one of these days when life calms down a little bit. So I didn't get home until about 1:20am and was wide awake. I read some blogs, then took a shower, got a bowl of cereal and watched "So You Think You Can Dance," this means I didn't get to bed until after 3:00am. (And I'd been doing so well with my new adult sleeping schedule.)


So I slept in until 9:45 this morning and actually felt really good when I woke up. We got to Michelle's house around 1:00pm and still had a full day of creativity (we didn't leave until 7:00pm). I made cards and actually sewed on them! I know everyone has been doing this for years now, but I've only done it one other time and am so intimidated by the sewing machine that end up feeling very pleased with myself when I end up liking what I've created. I'd like to show you, but the cards are for some of you so I can't post them until they're delivered.

**What did you do today? Any thoughts about any of this?
Are you intimidated by sewing machines?**

Living la vida loca

This is the very cute package I got from Jessie today! Thanks Jessie, I love everything. (Where are you by the way? You haven't posted in a week, I'm going through withdrawl.)

This is how I found Landon reading this morning--sitting on the floor of the closet leaning against the wall! Have I taught him nothing? Am I not the queen of cozy? Is this an open revolt? Why in the world would he choose to sit on the floor when he could be cozy on the couch or on any of the pillow-covered beds in this house? I can only think he's not right in the head or is so absorbed in his book he doesn't care where he sits. This is inconceivable to me because part of the bliss of reading is being totally cocooned in comfort. He must take after Randy or something.

Amie mentioned the UPS man making lots of deliveries to her house bring k12 school supplies so when the UPS guy backed into the driveway (scary since Landon was right there watering the flowers) today I couldn't help but take a picture (I was already out there taking pictures of the flowers). We've been getting daily deliveries as well which signals the tail end of summer for us. One of the beauties of home school is that we can start and end whenever we want, so there's no rush to cram things into summer because of school approaching. This influx of boxes and supplies isn't helping with my quest to declutter though. Yesterday I took out all the supplies from last year so I could give back the stuff that's reusable and recycle the workbooks we're done with. Now I have all sorts of curriculum for this-coming school year to load onto the shelves. My work is never done.

I actually got to work on the mess in my scrapbook room for 4 uninterrupted hours yesterday! Landon had called to invite a boy from church over to play, but his mom ended up having Landon go over there and invited Whitney too! This was quite the welcome boon after hosting neighbor kids 8 hours a day all summer. It was so nice. I listened to The Alchemist all day as I sorted through stuff and cleaned out my room. This is a huge project, especially considering the generous influx of gifts from my birthday. I had to take all the bags of stuff I had piled on the floor out of the room so I could maneuver in there (this created new messes in the laundry room, kitchen, and hallway). The picture above is of the mess I created on the kitchen counter from stuff in the scrapbook room. I took this picture moments after the kids came home, and Whitney had already positioned herself at the counter coloring.

I still have lots of residual mess to clean up today, but I'm feeling pretty good about it. I made serious progress yesterday, I've got great books and music to listen to while doing it, and my air conditioning works so I'm okay. I think having a few days in a row to be at home has been very beneficial for my state of mind.

Last night Whitney barreled into the house yelling "Mom, there's a snake come see it." I grabbed my camera (of course) and went out the door to the garage. As I opened the garage door Randy was standing right there and scared the crap out of me (just by standing there). I get all weird and squeamish around snakes so my body was already prepared to be jumpy. The snake was on the driveway and was seriously tiny. I was both intrigued and full of the willies. I saw another one in the flower bed this morning while I stood there with Landon watering the flowers; this seriously decreases my desire to get my hands in there and weed.

**How do you feel about snakes, messes,
flowers, the UPS guy or school approaching?**

Yesterday

I ended up spending some quality time thinking about you guys and getting a bunch of good mail ready to send. I love doing that, and love dashing to the post office and getting it all sent. Once again I used the automated machine (sweet love) and actually had to wait 30 seconds for my turn. I love to glance in at the people standing in line so that I can time myself against their progress. I mailed 5 packages and still beat the woman who would have been in front of me in line...she was still waiting for her turn! You gotta love that.

Last night was our ward book club discussion of The Giver. We had 12 people there! That's a smashing success. I love how everyone has such different reactions to the books. I don't know why, but I'm always surprised by this. I tend to approach books with a very open attitude and really don't get ruffled by them unless it's heinous writing. Several of the women there last night said they struggled with this book because they were so upset while reading it. What? I can't decide if the way I read is better or worse or just plain stupid because I never feel like that when I read a book. I view it as a whole new world CONTAINED in that book, so I'm not upset about it (unless it's a true story like Cane River or something), but since this is a fictional world it stayed pretend to me.


One of the best parts of this book is finding out that they don't have color in their world. Can you imagine? It's inconceivable really. So much so that while reading it through the filter of the the experience of our world full of color, weather and differences it took awhile to realize their world was pretty much gray and unchanging. What's the point of having flowers? How do you differentiate times of the year? I can't wrap my mind around not having weather.

Here are a few quotes I liked.

"Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?" page 89

"Well..." Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?" page 97

"He found that he was often angry, now: irrationally angry at his groupmates, that they were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them." page 99

"He had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now he understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud." page 121

"In one ecstatic memory he had ridden a gleaming brown horse across a field that smelled of damp grass, and had dismounted beside a small stream from which both he and the horse drank cold, clear water. Now he understood about animals; and in the moment that the horse turned from the stream and nudged Jonas's should affectionately with its head, he perceived the bonds between animal and human." page 122

"He had walked through woods, and sat at night beside a campfire. Although he had through the memories learned about the pain of loss and loneliness, now he gained, too, and understanding of solitude and its joy." page 122

"He was in a room filled with people, and it was warm, with firelight glowing on a hearth. He could see through a window that outside it was night, and snowing. There were colored lights: red and green and yellow, twinkling from a tree which was, oddly, inside the room. On a table, lighted candles stood in a polished golden holder and cast a soft, flickering glow. He could smell things cooking, and he heard soft laughter. A golden-haired dog lay sleeping on the floor." page 122

The woman leading our discussion said her favorite lesson from the book is to appreciate color. I was struck by that and thought how wonderful it is that books offer so much to us and that even though there is controversy in this book and all kinds of questions raised, the absence of color is a big factor. She said that after having read this book many years ago (back when it was being considered for the Newberry Award) she traveled to Ireland and felt like she soaked up and appreciated all the colors of green she saw there, and felt that if she hadn't read this book she wouldn't have looked at things that way. Interesting.

**Do you stop and think about color very often?
What things do you love the most?**

Random

I finally finished listening to Brick Lane by Monica Ali. (Thanks again Georgia.) I don't know if any of you pay attention to the book listings on my sidebar, but it has been on there forever. I loved listening to it, but before getting my iPod I just didn't get to have any real concentrated listening sessions. I'm in love with listening to books on my iPod! I joined an online audio book rental place and have received Gilead and The Alchemist so far. That's just happy. The only bummer with audio books is that I don't have quotes to enjoy when it's over.

Yesterday was Lisa's birthday and since she's impossible to get a hold of I thought I'd try her at work since that's a fixed location where they actually answer the phone! She was working on her birthday! Amie and I met up at Stamp Attic to visit Lisa. That store is so tiny that we were breaking some fire codes by being there. It's seriously the size of a walk-in closet so to have Me, Amie, Lisa, James, Jessica, 2 of Lisa's daughters working there, and another employee just made for a serious crowd. (My kids were outside the front door.)

Remember yesterday when I was so happy about the cloudy weather? Well it turned into hot sunshine for most of the day and didn't rain until evening. Today we have an officially rainy day (it's currently pouring) and I'm thrilled. The kids and I went to play in the rain yesterday, but it slowed down considerably once we got out there, so I ended up feeling foolish.


Yesterday I received a cute package in the mail from Rachelle. She sent me 3 very cute file folders from Old Navy (which I had been admiring just last week), some gum, ribbon, chip-chatter J's, mini post-its for marking passages in books, stylin emory boards, and a nice note. I just love stuff like that. Thanks Rachelle!


I scrambled to make it to the post office before 5:30 yesterday so I could get a couple of items out. I can't stand losing a mailing day if I have stuff ready to go. I have a good relationship with the automated post office machine and am still shocked that nobody is ever using it when I go to the post office, maybe they like standing in line to mail one thing. Who knows?


Tonight is our Ward Book Club to discuss The Giver by Lois Lowry. I stayed in the cozy and read this morning until I finished (delightful). I listened to this book on cd several months ago, but still enjoyed reading it. I had actually forgotten the ending! The discussion tonight should be really good because the lady leading it works at the BYU library and is a specialist in young adult/children's literature. I'm so proud of myself for finishing it early enough to have a peaceful day.

Has everybody signed up for Kristi's Pink Christmas Gift Exchange yet? You can sign up until August 10th. She has like 55 people signed up already! It should be very fun.

**Do rainy day make you want to shout,
kick your heels up and shout?**