it was a fully moon that night

Setting up Camp

This weekend our whole family slept in a tent. (I didn't really sleep because I am such a nervous wreck that some animal was going to come and get us)
We had a great time at our ward (church congregation) camp out.
Memorable moments

• the beautiful red barn we pitched our tents by
• Annie Kate finding a new buddy in the ward
• The kids getting to watch a projected movie on the side of the barn
• seeing 20 miniature ponies
• the young men trying to scare my little kids - but it not really working
• listening to the young men's conversation in their tents and Jeff saying "alright guys - goodnight!"
• sitting around the fire and having someone come up to us and asking Jeff if he has a brother named Scott - which he does. (the just moved from San Francisco and were in his brother's ward -small world)
• the excitement on the girls faces when we got in the car and they asked where were we going and we said, "Camping!"
• sweet little Sally Jane sleeping in a tent
• remembering how much camping Jeff and I used to do when we first got married
  

and the winner is....

Lisa picked the winner based on the number of years she has been married which is 8 - and it is also the ages of her kids added together.

This was a little tricky because Ashley did not enter the contest but did comment, so counted 8 down from hers.

and this 8th person was Jill! her word is Love, so she will be soon getting a wonderful "my word" sterling sliver tag!

A HUGE thank you to Lisa Leonard who sponsored this giveaway. Her jewelry obviously inspired many people to enter an share some wonderful stories, struggles and joys. If you have a spare minute take some time to read some of the best comments ever. It is a reminder we all have struggles and trials - you may not read about them on our blogs but they are there - and we are strong women making goals to celebrate life and do our best!

Thank you and congrats Jill!

Lisa Leonard Designs

What has gone out my door this week

a cute freckled face girl with braids and bows

a card (on Good things Stationery) to President Bush letting him know my 3 little girls pray for him every night. This was prompted after a very disturbing news story today - what is up with not supporting leaders in our country? this is a rhetorical question - no need to answer

What has come in my door this week.

My visiting teachers. I don't think I have ever looked so forward to them coming over. You just never know how bad someone may love having their visiting teachers come. My visiting teachers are great and always ask me about me, what I am doing, how I am feeling, something exciting about my life and then they even seem interested too. The lesson they gave had a few things that stuck out that I want to remember so I typed them up.

The lesson this month theme was one heart and one mind

“Spiritual submissiveness means … community and communion as the mind and the heart become settled. We then spend much less time deciding, and much more time serving. …

We talked about how this quote could go at the top of every meeting agenda - less time planning and more time doing! i am not a big fan of long meetings.

We must begin by becoming one within ourselves. We are dual beings of flesh and spirit, and we sometimes feel out of harmony or in conflict. … As we endeavor day by day and week by week to follow the path of Christ, our spirit asserts its preeminence, the battle within subsides, and temptations cease to trouble. There is greater and greater harmony between the spiritual and the physical until our physical bodies are transformed … to ‘instruments of righteousness unto God’

This reaffirmed to me the importance of taking care of my body just as much as my spirit. I have often underestimated the importance of taking care of myself.

We also talked about being one as a family makes us a stronger neighborhood, church congregation, class at school, unit at work - when we are confident in ourselves and feel whole at home we won't be so needy and can get out there and do some good in the world.

Don't tell my husband,
but I think I CAN cook

I have told my husband forever that I can't cook. He has witnessed some bad disasters. Like the year for his birthday I made him an Apple Pie because he loves them so and I forgot something and it was gross! I always say, "oh I can't cook" But in the past week I have made yummy homemade rolls, Mindy's yummy granola and today egg rolls. I just may be blowing my cover.

but even though I made an awesome dinner Sally Jane went for instant Oatmeal instead and took apart the table's center piece during dinner

when i said, "does anyone else want Oatmeal?" Caroline raised her hand

Annie Kate was smart and ate the egg rolls.

Yesterday I went to pick Caroline up from school and the car would not start. I called a bunch of people to help me and found someone to give my battery a jump. I even printed out instructions off the Internet to make sure I did it correctly. The first line of the instructions read,

The first thing you want to remember when jump-starting a car is that a slight possibility of explosion does exist.

Well, I totally failed and did something wrong and it didn't start, but when Jeff got home it did. Next on my list is to learn how to jump start my own car. Good thing - there was no explosion.

Kind of funny...
Jeff flew out of town early this morning and flew back tonight. It was so funny because I thought the whole day he was in San Antonio but he was actually in Minnesota - I need to work on my listening skills.

SPT

Challenge:

i've been meaning to do this for a long time. i'm so glad i finally got around to it!


I finally got my eyebrows waxed!

Lisa Leonard Designs

My word
worth reading something free at the end

This year Michelle did a great post encouraging us to take the challenge offered by Alli Edwards in this blog post.

Here is the summary.

"A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow.

"Today I want to introduce you to the idea that a single word can be a catalyst for enriching your life... Last year I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January - a word that I can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life - something I wanted to bring into my life in a more tangible way.

"Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2007?"

I know I talk about this all the time, but in case you don't know my word is

S T R E T C H

I took Michelle's challenge to take this challenge and it could possibly have been one of the best choices I made this year. I don't know if a day does not go by that i don't think of this word. I programmed it into my cell phone so every time I turn it on the word stretch comes up. (I never know where my phone is, but that is beside the point)
I should probably save this list for the end of the year recap of my word but this can be a 3/4 way list of how this word has affected me.

• i stopped biting my nails because I knew this would be a big stretch for me and I wanted to see if I could do it. and I did.
• I used to drink 5 diet cokes a day and after my lovely kidney stone i decided to stop cold turkey. this would be a huge stretch for me and i did it. not a drop since May
• our church callings in the downtown congregation have been a huge stretch for me and pushed me to do things I never thought I could do or wanted to do. (ie lead the music in primary)
• I picked a really huge project in the middle of April that I have worked almost daily that will come to an end in October. This project is the biggest Stretch of my life - seriously and since I am still a little afraid I may not fully complete the project I will wait till it is over to share the project, process and completion. But trust me on this it has been a huge stretch.
• traveling to Europe was a stretch for me. I had some serious anxiety about actually going and thinking it was all going to work out. I mean we went there not even knowing where we going to sleep the second week. But my husband was confident it would work out. He did all the planning and I chose to follow his positive attitude and make an adventure out of it. I have some serious anxiety flying and while on the plane (C-5) I kept saying the word stretch over and over. This trip really changed our relationship in that I enjoy letting my husband taking the ball and running with it. That has not always been me , but it is the new me that has stretched myself to do so.

I have had some wonderful bloggers send me some wonderful reminders of my word that i keep in my creative room. I have now added one more.



A few weeks ago I found a link on Mique's blog about a jewelery designer Lisa Leonard. She makes hand stamped, sterling silver jewelry. She will do any name or word you want. I decided to order one of her necklaces to wear everyday until my October goal is complete. On one side it says my word, Stretch, and the other side is stamped with the word 2007. I plan to pick another word for next year, get another silver tag with the year and add it to my necklace. Just think over time it will be like my life journal on a chain.

dog tag necklace

This past week I have worn it and I get asked everyday, "why does it say stretch?" I love telling people of my goals and accomplishments this year.

After receiving my necklace I emailed Lisa and asked her if she would be interested in giving away a "my word" necklace to one of my blog readers. She said yes!

{This is the part where you can win something free}

photo from Lisa Leonard designs, circle tag necklace

So here is the scoop for a chance to win one of these wonderful sterling silver tags with your own word and year on the back,

• leave a comment of your word of the year and how it has affected you this year.
  
• If you have not picked a word this year this contest is still for you too, pick one word that so far would represent this year for you and why.
• This contest will end on Friday and Lisa Leonard designs will be picking the winner.
  

Thanks Lisa for doing this I can't wait to hear about everyones word!
Lisa Leonard's Blog

2 Sundays in 1

It is amazing to me how much more I have to write about our Sunday's than I did a year ago but because I have so much more to write about I have so much less time.
The above photo was Caroline last Sunday on the way to church, but this week was the same story different dress. I need to start a sleeping on the way to church smugmug gallery. Both little ones seem to fall asleep on the way to church every single Sunday, and many times on the way home.
Our last Sunday was just great and long, and hard and great. We didn't get home until 8:30 pm and we dragged ourselves in the door. We were lucky enough to have some friends in our local congregation invite us over for dinner. We didn't leave church until 5:30 so we had to go straight there. There was a baptism after church and I served the cake, so my black dress was sprinkled (or smothered) with white icing. Good thing our friends didn't care what we looked like - we were all a little hammered.

a common sight on the way to church other churches that have clothes and food out front for the community

I don't think I have ever been so grateful for anyone making me dinner in a long time. It was such a great way to end a long day. I really have noticed lately how lonely I have felt not living near the people we go to church with and not going to church with the people I live by and so it was so nice have some social interaction. We had some great dinner conversation that I can't wait to collect my thoughts about and finally do my "it's my job" post that I have been writing in my head for 8 months.Also she made these INCREDIBLE Southern Living Mississippi Mud brownies.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows

Frosting for The Mississippi Mud Cake

Ingredients

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Preparation

Beat all ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Preparation

Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour and chopped pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan.

Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. Drizzle Chocolate Frosting over warm cake. Cool completely.

Note: 2 (19.5-ounce) packages brownie mix, prepared according to package directions, may be substituted for first 7 ingredients. Stir in chopped pecans. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Proceed with marshmallows and frosting as directed.

we often park in front of this house on Sunday's if we can't find a parking spot on the street the church is on. I wish I had a close up they have these statues and figures my girls love to look at

This Sunday was like a factory going on in our home before we left for church. I got up at 6:30 am to finish writing the Primary Program for November. I am also in charge of managing the ward website and the Stake has asked that every family have their photos in the directory online - I have kind of put this off for sometime and was trying to cram it in this morning only to find out all the photos files were too large and I need to compress the photos.
Our nursery is in desperate need for new toys or just toys for that matter. So I finally refinished the awesome puppet theatre I got with 20 puppets at a garage sale last spring for $5.00. Annie Kate and I spray painted it pink, sewed pink and white check curtains and topped it off with some polka dot bows. Throughout the week I collected some toys from friends and we were excited to load those up as well. (I can't believe I did not take a photo of the completed puppet theatre - I was in such a rush)
The last thing I had to was finish getting sharing time put together, shower and get the girls ready and pack up our cooler of food and drinks for the ride downtown. We try to always have cold juice or milk for the girls when we drive back. We were in such a hurry I left my hot rollers in my hair for the drive and just took them out before we walked in. We drive past our church right when our regular ward is ending and sometime see people getting in their car. Our friends were getting in their car and we chatted for a minute only to remember I was talking with rollers in my hair. Then after about 20 minutes I turned back to look at the girls who were sick today (so their eyes were already a little droopy) to see that their hair never got brushed and Jeff and I both thought the other had put shoes on Sally Jane. Nope she was barefoot!

When we got to church we made the mistake of going straight into the crying room. Which is new for our building. They knocked out a wall in a room behind the chapel and put in a glass window. Our kids were just out of control and because they knew no one could hear them they seemed to be even worse. So, our kids then became too noisy for the crying room. I kept them down in the basement while I cleaned up for primary. I wish I could get to church earlier to vacuum and clean the rooms but for now during Sacrament meeting with my kids is my option. I also set up the donated books that our local ward has gathered. It is just awesome and fun to see everyone get so excited to take books home. Someone had donated the entire set of Junie B. Jones books and I was excited to put those aside and give the set to two girls in our primary.

We have a new group of BYU interns that come out for 6 months at a time and have 3 of them in primary now and they make such a difference and seem to rejuvenate the rest of us.

I have noticed much of my past Sunday posts seem to list how long everything takes and what we do. I think that is reflective of a few things - we seem to being doing more the more we find out about needs, the time and travel issues seem to be affecting us more than the first 6 months, I seem to be more hesitant to really share too much personal information of this is really blessing our family spiritually, but I will say that it is blessing our family in so many ways. I doubt I will ever be the same after our time in this ward from watching how much everyone serves in this ward. People just give and give. There is one man who wakes up early every Sunday and bakes dozens of cookies or fresh bread and passes them out after church. Another man who will bring fresh fruit, bags of apples or pears and puts the bag on the front of the street for the members to take home on their way to the bus or metro, it is such a blessing because who is not hungry after 3 hours of church. There is a family of 4 boys who come to church every Sunday often without their parents. They take the bus or metro. One of the boys is Caroline's age. This past Sunday he slept in my arms or on the floor for the 2 hours of primary only to get up to take the bus back home. he is the sweetest, patient little boy in the primary.

By the time we got home the little girls were hammered (this would have been a great photo too) I turned and looked at them and thanked them so much for coming to church with us today, I don't know if I ever really thank them for coming each week.

We made Jeff's Tortilla Soup (he has claimed the recipe as his own) in the crock pot today, which I have never done before and it was great! Dinner was funny tonight because Annie Kate had received a coupon in her lunch box this week (thanks to Cristin who sent me this coupon book, it is from Hallmark) that at one dinner we had to tell her all the things we love about her. So she used it for tonight. She was cute asking everyone, "so what do you love about me" I just may be giving myself one of those coupons this week.
The story behind the soup is that Jeff ate it every day for two weeks in Medical School while preparing for his board exams. He studied at the same building, same room, same chair ate the same thing for dinner every night for two weeks to get his mind geared up for the test. It seemed to work but I think the studying paid off more than the soup did.
Try it for dinner this week you will love it. I half the cumin

Medical Board Tortilla Soup

1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. Oil
2 lb chicken
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 10oz can Ro-tel tomatoes with green chilies
4Cups of chicken stock
2 cup beef stock
1 can tomato soup
1sp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder

I just put all of this in the crock pot and then when I came home I shredded the chicken and put it back in.

To serve: Line each bowls with crispy four tortillas (this can be done by putting them in the toaster) Pour in the soup and top with green onion, shredded Jack cheese and sour cream.

Jeff snuck in a 30 minute nap to then head back downtown for a fireside night with all the youth. The Bishop and youth leaders gave all of the youth blessings for back to school. He said it was a great night. It was a great day and I learned new things today that I didn't know yesterday and this experience is truly "stretching" me in way I didn't know I could stretch.

and the envelope please...

The pink envelopes have now all left my home. They did not all go on the same day but little bits at a time, so some of you may not have yours yet but by the middle of next week I am hoping they are all in your mailbox. (to our Canada, France, Australia and Great Britain friends it may take a little longer)

After the first 75 were sent the lady at the post office realized she mis-calculated the postage and did not put enough on those first batch sent. So, some of you I may owe .17 cents to. Hopefully they will make it to your home with a postage due vs coming all the way back to me and then me resending them, only because it will take less time. (I am happy to reimburse anyone the .17 cents)

I am not sure if I would have ever finished these if it would not have been from the help of Anne who did lots of typing, mail merging, key chain making, copy and pasting and give me the kick I needed to stop getting overwhelmed by the project and just finish it. So thank you friend.

Also a huge thanks again to our Pink Christmas sponsors who are listed on the Pink Christmas website. Take a few minutes to check out their sites and forward them to your friends, without them this year Pink Christmas would never have happened.

last but not least if by the end of next week you have not received your envelope you can email me, but if you never sent me your profile sheet and address and only posted you wanted to join, keep in mind I had no way to contact you. I tried, trust me on this one, to get everyone in.

finally

My good friend Nicole taught me how to make rolls last Thanksgiving. I have tried for almost a year now to make them on my own. Every time I have tried something always goes wrong. Tonight I tried again. They were great and even looked good too.

being honest is not hard
it is just inconvenient

In the past year I feel like I have had many times where I have gone to a store and get home or to my car and realize the store didn't charge me for an item. Some of the time it is is my fault it was in either in my daughters hand or didn't get taken out of the cart and others it is the store's fault. I get uneasy with myself when I feel myself justifying it by saying, "well they should have caught that" It really does not matter it needs to be paid for.
I then feel I am faced with the moral dilemma and getting my kids back out of the car into the cart to go back and pay for the item. When I am by myself it is automatic because it is just me and I don't think twice. But with the kids it is different.
So this is when I realize I like being honest and think it is the right thing to do, but when it is a inconvenience it is hard.

The other day while buying my plants at Lowes I realized that they did not ring me up for my liquid fertilizer (which I got sold on this summer). I was lucky they had a check out basically in the parking lot so I could go 5 steps from my car to pay without removing the kids. I started to think what would I have done if I had to go back in. It crossed my mind to leave the item in the cart in the parking lot, but that is almost the same thing as me just taking it - or is it?

A few months back I came home and realized the girl at the post office had not charged me for a book of stamps. I still have yet remembered to pay them back and have now lost the receipt. I have many times payed the store back the next time I go, but have some times forgotten. I think I still owe Wal-Mart $1.88 for a sippy cup the girls had put in the stroller last October when I went to buy pumpkins. Maybe I will send them a check today.

So, I got myself thinking I am honest because I really believe it is the right thing to do or is it only when it is convenient? I wonder what category I fall into. How about you?

I love having dirt under my fingernails - it reminds that I don't bite my nails anymore!

SPT
Clean Hands

Are you the type of person that can stop reading a blog because of one post? If you are, this could be the last time your ever read my blog. I may be writing something you don't want to know about me.
Ok, so here is goes..................


I am not big into hand washing. It is not that I am against it - I am just lazy. Reading Lelly's public service announcement for this SPT was totally for me and now I am freaked out. I am sure there are those who read it saying, "there are people out there not washing their hands" yes that would be me. I guess it would be like me reading a public service announcement about the need to use toilet paper and me saying, "there are people out there who don't use toilet paper" oohh why am I even going there.

Of course I wash my hands when they physically look dirty or using the bathroom, but I would never walk by a sink and think, It has been a few hours I am going to wash my hands.

So if I have not lost you yet, this could do it. I refuse to fight my kids when they won't wash their hands. In case you don't know I have screamers and kickers. Holding my kid up at a public bathroom sink while they are screaming and kicking me is not worth it. And since I handle all of my two youngest kids bathrooms needs I figure they are not even using their hands and washing mine seem to do.

So, If you want to leave me comments on how this totally grosses you out or that you are no longer reading my blog because you know my grimmey little fingers have typed this post at least leave me a farewell message. But I will say after Lelly's SPT topic I will wash my hands more and may even choose to take a few kicks in the gut at a public bathroom

... also in my defense I do carry a Purel Key chain - does that help?
so I planted my fall window boxes full of cabbage and greenery - perfect day to take a dirty hand photo!

Frog Eye Salad

Missy this is for you! Try it you will love it.

3/4	cup sugar
1	tablespoon flour
1/2	teaspoon salt
2/3	cup pineapple juice
1	egg, beaten
1	teaspoon lemon juice
1	cup acini di pepe pasta
2 (11	ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (20	ounce) can chunk pineapple, drained
1 (20	ounce) can crushed pineapples, drained
1 (8	ounce) carton whipped topping
1	cup miniature marshmallows

In small saucepan mix sugar, flour, and salt, stir in pineapple juice and egg.
Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Add lemon juice.
Set aside and cool.
cook Acini Di Pepe according to package directions.
Combine cooked mixture with Acini Di Pepe.
Cover; place in refrigerator until chilled.
Combine remaining ingredients, stir lightly.
Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

This is Acini Di Pepe in case you have not heard of it.

Do you love this salad as much as me?
Have you made this before? Do you think you might try it?

Pink Post it notes.

If I was to have a post it notes for things I would have loved to have blogged about this week these are what they would have said.

I am not great at taking people dinner when they have babies or such but wish I was. I never know what to make. A friend of mine in my local ward had a baby and since I am a little out of the loop with who was bringing them dinner I just grabbed a Pizza at Sams that can be cooked anytime, but is fresh, a pineapple, bananas and then some cookie dough balls that can be frozen and cooked anytime. I was hoping the cute ribbon on everything would disguise it not being homemade.

Soccer has started and last week was AK's first game. She scored the first two goals last week and scored a goal this week. She got a big aggressive and went up and stole the ball from the star player on the opponents team and accidentally wiped her out. I felt bad for the other girl but was so proud of AK for getting in there! She is still a bit timid but learning.

We purposely did not watch the Office all year so we could netflix it and watch the entire season in one sitting - well over a two day period. So last weekend we watched it and I was laughing so hard - it is the funniest show. It kind of pushed the limit with me on a few issues and would make me blush if I was watching it with my grandma. I don't know if I can hold off from watching it again this season but I think it will be well worth it.
My Nikon has been out of commission since returning from Europe. The lens broke into our second week. (that was the only bad thing that happened on our trip - I wonder if I will ever get to finish writing about our trip) So I have been without my good camera and it is starting to drive me crazy, I need to call them and see if it is is fixed. I only have one lens and am wishing I had more about now.


I took back the lead paint covered Dora house to target. No box no receipt and they have this whole system of how they return it - and it was smooth. I had bought the house and about 5 sets of people and furniture all 75% off in June. I probably only spent $40 dollars. They gave me back $80. I told the lady I did not spend this much money and she said sorry this is the way we do the return and how Mattel wants us to do it. So that was a total score. The girls loved that toy and played with it every day so I went upstairs to the toy department and they each picked out a new house with people.

Caroline picked out the Polly Pocket Airplane.

Sally Jane the Pretty Little Pony tree house.

I feel like I have not seen the girls since - they love it. AK never really played with little toys as much as these girls seem to. Also we couldn't have Polly Pockets around with having babies around.
I feel kind of guilty not just saving it for Christmas.

Which leads me to my next thought. I saw this lady on the news at the first of the year who had set a goal for a whole year to not buy anything new (this excluded food and necessities) - and she did it. Every time I buy something this year I think of her. I had wondered if I could set that goal for Christmas for my family. I am not saying I am going to do it but just thinking about how that would work. We do feel a need to spend this Christmas giving and really focusing on our ward family and others. After traveling this year we feel like any money we spend we think of how many days or what that could give us in travel time or money. I am afraid if I wanted everything to be homemade I could end up spending more money and would get overwhelmed with losing so much time.
I have these days where I want to sell everything I own on eBay and spend it on food storage. My mind moves in such extremes sometimes.
(boy that was some rambling)
Any thoughts on having a Christmas where would not buy anything new?

I got a great phone call today with someone from our local ward inviting us over for dinner tomorrow night. When she asked me I got totally choked up I couldn't even talk. She thought the long silence on the phone was me not wanting to go and was trying to figure out how to say no. In a burst of tears I said, "YES! and thank you so much" We have a long day tomorrow with a baptism after church and the thought of going over to someonelses home is such a blessing. (but I must say I was even surprised at myself and how emotional i got about it)


We are now 8 days with no air conditioning. (whole new system coming hopefully on Monday) Good thing the weather has turned absolutely beautiful! I even had a sweater on at the soccer game today. And guess what color it was...

not my sweater but the only cute photo I could find online. this one is from Lilly P. herself!

yep. Pink!

no make up

for no reason at all - really no reason I have stopped wearing make up. Since July 22 I had not worn a stitch of make up until last Sunday. I didn't wear it on our trip to Europe and then when I got home I was in such a haze and felt like I was constantly sleeping I never put it on. Then I went home for over a week and never put it on there, then since being home I thought why bother. I am lucky to still have a post summer tan so I think that could be why I don't feel like I need to wear it. But I have loved being able to rub my eyes at any time and not get mascara smeared everywhere.
So Sunday I thought I should end my near two month cycle and wear it - I ended up crying the entire Sunday and so I spent the whole day with mascara dripping down my face -
I never seem to have the few minutes to even put it on and now that I have gone almost two months I think I have given up on make-up, is that crazy! I probably look like I just woke up every day but I love it. But I am fully prepared to put it on again in a month when my pasty winter white complexion comes back.

Sally Jane on Sunday in her Elephant Smocked dress which will make a great
dress to wear around these parts during election time

Sunday

I seem to never have time to write about my Sunday's on Sunday and spend the rest of the week wishing I did. This past Sunday had MANY life lessons that I must take the time to write about.

We had a long day.

• Hour drive to church
• 3 hours of church
• I did singing time in primary which totally stressed me out!
  
• congregation Munch & Mingle dinner
  
• Fireside put on by the young men who all spent the summer in Idaho - oh that is an amazing story
• drive home
• Jeff dropped me off at the Stake Center for a Stake Primary meeting
• got home around 9:30 pm

It took us 20 minutes to just pack the car with...

• more awesome books for the primary
• 2 dozen rolls
• bowl of fresh strawberries
• 2 dozen cupcakes
• bowl of fresh grapes
• yummy frog eye salad - i love that stuff
• my bag for Singing time (which did I mention totally stressed me out)
• girls soupies and pillows - one seems to fall asleep on the way there and one on the way home
  
• pack the cooler with ice and milk for the drive home
• Sacrament meeting bag of tricks
  
• snack for the girls - they always get so hungry after sacrament meeting
• dinner for the girls - the line is always too long for them to wait during munch and mingle so i bring something for them to eat right away

Annie Kate's Sunday craft she came up with that morning

On our way to church we were about 6 blocks to the building and I saw two people walking down 16th street (one of the busier bigger streets) walking away from the direction to the building. I said to Jeff I bet those two people are looking for our church, turn the car around. I then started to doubt myself thinking, the side walk is totally crowded and they are walking away from the building, 6 blocks away! Jeff turned the car around and we followed them to the corner, without thinking I jumped out of the car and went up to them and said, "By chance are you looking for a church?" It was a girl and guy in their mid 20's. He was in a white shirt and tie and she was in a dress. They seemed a little stunned and I wonder if she was wishing she had a can of mace. After a few seconds of uncomfortable conversation it turns out they were looking for our building. I then said, "oh jump in the car we will drive you there, you won't make it on time if you walk" They started to walk with me and then they must of thought, "what are we doing getting in the car with these strangers" I then seemed to reassured them they were safe . They both hopped in the front seat (i later found out they were not married but had just moved here and were interns at the Barlow center) This is the second time we have found people looking for our building and being blocks away looking on foot. I am grateful for that gut instinct I often get.

Today I was in charge of music time for the primary. I tried to talk myself into not going and playing sick, but it didn't work. There is nothing that stresses me out in serving in the church more than doing anything with music. I stress out about leading a song in any meeting. I have a very sad and disappointing singing voice but what I have going for me is I love being in front of people, I have a lot of energy and my audience are the nicest, kindest and most forgiving kids I know.
My friend Cara W. in Tennessee is the best primary music person I know and I used her trick of using rainbow yarn while the kids are singing coming out of a can. I will have to give more details later. It was a flop, because I didn't know any of the words to the songs so I had to read off the posters. I did a really bad job bordering on horrible. Talk about being humbled and appreciating anyone who can sing and conduct people singing. I even went out in the hall during junior and senior primary cried on Jeff's shoulder and said "I can't go back in there" to which I received his response, "ok are you done yet, I have to teach my class" Dang - he is so good for me! So I went back in and flopped again. I can not carry a note! Words can not express how happy I will be when the regular girl comes back in town. She will get the biggest hug from me when she gets back. There were only two of us in primary on Sunday so we were a two man band.

I continue to feel the blessings of knowing such amazing people we go to church with. I am a lucky girl to have this experience and feel it so great for our kids. But it is difficult. I continue to feel a guilt for having such a great life and it is hard for me to see such extremes on Sunday of the neighborhood I live in and where I go to church.

Our Stake primary meeting was as usual wonderful. I did have my camera but by the end of the day was so tired to pull it out and take photos of their wonderful theme. I thought of Andrea the whole time thinking, I should take photos and handouts and send them to her!

I guess it was a blessing we had somewhere to be all day because on Sunday we were on day 3 of no air conditioning and it was PAINFULLY hot. We still don't have air conditioning and won't until Monday. good thing the air has cooled a little bit outside.

Halloween 2006

Halloween Costumes...

Oh my I can't believe I am already feeling the Halloween costume excitement/stress. I LOVE to sew my kids costumes but this year just may not be the year for me, so I am contemplating my options. So far Annie Kate wants to be an Indian girl even though I am trying to talk her into being Olive Oil - can you imagine how cute this costume could be!

Sleeping beauties foot last year in the Halloween parade,
which she ended not marching in but being carried

I am also trying to convince Caroline to be Sleeping Beauty for the next 4 years after all the work her dress was last year. She is teetering between a bumble bee, a princess of some sort or something with wings. I think Sleeping Beauty with wings could be a good compromise.

Sally Jane loves Cinderella and is a perfect fit for the costume - i just can't decide if I want to sew another child size prom dress, but the ones in the store are so glittery and stiff, I would love to make one out of cotton and with a white scalloped peekaboo skirt.

photo from Beastly Buddies

But I am excited to share a website that I found today. I picked up an AWESOME Snow White costume at a consignment store for $12.99. It is handmade and beautiful. It has blue velvet on the bodice and purple sleeves - and just quality at it's best. I looked up the company and found out that it sells for $69.00. I know that sounds pricey but this is so well made. So here is the site Beastly Buddies, if you want to buy a WELL made costume or get great ideas of what your child could be.
I am also a big fan of costumes on EBAY, but shop now for the best prices