My first cup of coffee

They gym I go to has a nursery. You have to make an appointment for your children to go. I would never have joined the gym if I knew this information ahead of time. It drives me crazy!
There is only lady in there so there is a low maximum for how many children can be in there. Their toy selection is LAME! (remember this is the place I had to ask them to turn off Power Rangers movie because I thought is was too old for my children) I think the lady who runs the nursery got her training from someone in the mafia, she kind of scares me.
Language is a big barrier for her and the moms, which just ads to the difficult process. You have to sign like 4 different things to sign your kids in, wrist bands for me for the two kids, a sign in sheet. Oh my I have to plan 5 minutes just to get in. There are never more than 5 kids in there and she sees me everyday, but I continue to sign my name 5 times.
Why I say it feel like the Mafia is because when I call to make an appointment she almost always says she is full but then whispers, "what are the kids names?" I then say "Caroline and Sally Jane" she will then whisper and count to 10 a few times(like she is counting names on the list), pause and then says, "OK bring them in, it's OK"
I always feel like she is kind of shuffling them like the underground railroad with eyes shifting from side to side. It is so funny.
At first I was so frustrated with the process, I found myself not going to the gym, but then that meant the Mafia was winning. We just got a new manager and so at some point I may chat with him about the whole appointment thing... I just think it is so lame and the fact $100 could restock the whole nursery with some awesome toys. But I have tried to go with the system and as my friend Emily G has taught me kill them with kindness.
So, I stay a few extra minutes and chat with the lady and make small talk. Even though honestly I really have no idea what she is saying. With all this being said I have to say my kids LOVE going there. They run in give her big hugs when they come and go. She always kisses them on the forehead. She is so good to them.
Today, I deiced to figure out a few things she likes, snacks or drinks that I could bring in to her sometimes. Like Good Gym Mail. I know that to get prime spots on the schedule I need to stay on her good side, and I am fine with that.
So today I asked her what her favorite drink is. She told me a long story that I think was that her coffee maker broke this morning. So I left and thought I will go buy her a cup of coffee. It is just around the corner from the gym.
I walked into Starbucks and for the first time looked at the menu on the wall. I usually just order Hot Chocolate. I don't drink coffee and have never ordered one for someone. I kind of had a panic mode of what to do. I decided I would order whatever the guy in front of me ordered. But then Caroline threw all the milks on the floor from the cooler display so it was then my turn and I had missed his order. I was stressed. I felt too rushed with a long line behind me to say, "Hi I'm 36 and have never ordered a cup of coffee, what do you suggest?"
So I ordered a Cafe Latte.
I went back and ran it into the gym, put in on her counter, smiled and ran out the door. I am sure tomorrow I will have no problem getting an appointment.
Yes, I admit I give bribes.

Self Portrait Tuesday

Theme: Put your Best Foot Forward

my right foot is my best foot, the nails grow better, it is not at dry and cracked and it even says so right on the foot, "Best"
my toe nails are never painted, if I ever get a pedicure I have them painted clear. My feet are size 10 but wear an 11 1/2 in a running shoe. They are not as cracked this winter thanks to Anne who sent me the best foot creme ever! I love ribbon especially when it is pink and green.

what is this post all about? check out Lelly's challenge. try it you will like it.

Happy Birthday Spencer W.

Today is my brother Spencer's birthday and yes he is a Spencer W. The above photo is of him and me... maybe I need to rethink the whole perm thing, YIKES.

One of my favorite memories of Spencer was on my wedding day he was probably about 12. He made necklaces for all the girls in Jeff's family to give to them at the reception in New Mexico. He is very creative and loves photography. He knows the ins and outs of most computers and can seem to always figure out any of my passwords I have. He is very caring and kind. He can usually be seen holding the door for people at church, helping someone on the side of the road or will always tie your fly on your line if you have problems when fishing

this is such a great photo of all us kids in front of the home we grew up in, in Las Cruces. It is all of us encouraging Spencer to ride his little car.

Bevan, Kristi & Spencer July 2006

I love you Spencer have a great wonderful day and go eat some yummy Chili Reno's for me.

You can wish Spencer Happy Birthday on his blog here.

Halloween 2006
Sister Power

We have this thing in our family, and I am not sure how it really started, called Sister Power. When ever the girls get rowdy, nasty, or after family prayer we say "Sister Power" and the three girls put there hands in together and then

they say, "Sister Power" and raise their arms up. They will usually do it three or four times in a row.

It has been a fun distraction and encouragement of the power that they can give each other. I even have a smumug gallery just for times when I see the power in action. Sister Power Gallery

Kristen, had commented today on how she likes my girls names and it got me thinking on the sister power tradition in our family. (doesn't makes sense why, but it did)
My husband named each one of my girls. It was a very important to him to just pick the perfect name. He always thought long and hard about each name. I appreciate how serious he took giving each of them a name and each of their names fit them perfectly!

Something to think about :

If you could rename yourself what would it be?
Do you have any fun "Sister Power" like things you do in your family? I would love to know and always need more fun traditions and distractions.

that's what she said

this morning Caroline woke and told me

"Mom I need to runaway"

"you need to runaway?" I said

"Yes, I SAID I need to runaway!"

"Where are you going to runaway to?"

then she said in a very "duh mode"
"I am going to runaway to my birthday!"
Well she has 8 months of running, I hope she is back by dinner.

no signs of stoppin!

It is 1:30 pm and the snow is just coming down! We had a Sunday School Sleigh Ride out side.

And it was fun to see the John Deere hold up in the snow.


It even pulled Sally Jane around the block. Ryan (my brother) remember when you did this with a real car and ski's


Our neighbor walked by so we were lucky to get a photo of all us at Sunday School today!

snow day

today was supposed to be ward conference and I was actually quite excited about it. It would have been my first time ever doing sharing time for Primary and I was even more excited about that. But we just got a call there is no church today. It is snowing right now and around noon there is supposed to be an ice storm. I can not believe how disappointed I am that it is cancelled, other than the fact I don't have to get ready and can spend the day in my jammies, I just really look forward to going downtown each Sunday. I even have started a hand sewing project that I will do in the car to take advantage of the time and was excited to get started on that.

Looks like we will be having sharing time in our little house with our little family all snugglie in our jammies by the fire!
Have a great Sunday!

On site Research
Clara Barton

This morning I took the girls to the Clara Barton National Historic Site. It is the home that she lived the last 20 years of her life in and it was the headquarters for the Red Cross. Annie Kate will be her for her wax museum project at school and so we did a little on site research. Taking photos was not really an option since I was flying solo and taking Caroline to a historical home where you can't touch anything is like taking me to a fabric store and telling me not to touch.
I will go back for sure since you can take photos and the quilts on the bed would make any quilter go crazy. They were pink and green and had scalloped edging. On Clara's bed was her actual crazy quilt. I seriously started crying... got teary. The history that is bound in that quilt brings my two loves together: fabric & history, in my mind the perfect match.
Clara's office must be where Pottery Barn gets all their ideas. The organizational systems and desks were old and awesome. The tour guide told us that she was a hard worker and loved to write letters and wrote many. She must have loved Good Mail.
Jeff had a conference today so since he missed it we will have to go back!

Orange you glad it's Friday

Cristin had given me the idea of putting an orange in my daughter's lunch every Friday to remind her it was the last day of the week and to get excited about the weekend. I started this about 3 months ago and would write on the orange, "Orange you glad it's Friday?"

After about a month my second grader said, "why do you keep putting an orange in there, I don't eat them and i don't understand why you are writing on it."

I tried to explain how cute it was, she was not too excited. So I started putting in the Brach's Orange gel slices covered in sugar. They come individually wrapped and she actually likes them and thought this would be the perfect reminder of Friday.

Then after about 2 months she said, "Mom I don't really like those"

So now I have just gone to Hershey kisses on Friday's and have not heard any complaints. If anyone thinks of any other cute ideas let me know. Even though I don't think second graders care about cute ideas, just yummy treats.

S t r e t c h

My word of the year that I picked for myself is Stretch.

The reason I picked this word for the year is because I feel like there are some things in my life that come really easy to me. I tend to take advantage of these things and settle with them instead of using them as a head start and really push myself and run with them.
For example there have been many times I have spoken at church or given a lesson where I don't spend much time preparing or may even just stand up with little or no outline. In the end I do just fine, but always feel like if I would have taken those gifts and prepared or really "stretched" myself I would feel better and learned more.
I never stretch out before or after going to the gym. I can barely even touch my toes. I want to stretch myself physically this year just as well as mentally
I have Fibromyalgia and always feel like my body is in one big knot anyway and I know stretching would probably help it feel a lot better. I can't stand getting massages but always dream of getting on some stretching board and having 4 people pull me every-which-way.
So, this year I hope to take the talents I have been given and stretch them out a little more and see what they can do.

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Thanks Michelle for encouraging us all to do this!

so that was fast!

I already got my order(in 3 days) from Good Things and it is so great! I am just thrilled with it. I got some stationery for Jeff who needs some for work and actually some with my blog name on it to send. There have been a few times when someone has made just an awesome comment that has really meant a lot to me so I thought it would be great to have them on hand for the perfect little note.
Stefanie sent in the blue labels for the brown envelopes which is great to be able to write the address on. Jeff will be so hip and he doesn't even know it.

finally almost caught up on blogging... I have been so busy and behind!

Hands Up for Character

There 6 pillars in front of Annie Kate's school and each one represents traits they try to teach each of the students. Each month they select different students that represent one of these traits and they get to put their hand print on a pillar inside the school. There are 6 pillars right when you walk in the school that are painted red.
Annie Kate was chosen to put her hand on for Trustworthiness.
It was kind of a neat thing to watch them each come up and get their hand painted blue.

They painted her left right hand since she is left handed, so she could sign her name



I was lucky to catch a snap shot with her Principal Mr. Chep right after. It was a great day!

Blog Soup
New Orleans Style

Over time I eventually want to introduce you to my sidebar. I like to think of it as blog soup. Remember that show that was hosted by Greg Kinnear called Talk Soup where he would give you the highlights of different shows. Well, I will try to give you a little snipit of some of my sidebar over time.
But today being Mardi Gras I thought I would introduce you to my New Orleans friends.
We lived in New Orleans for 4 years while Jeff was in school and it is amazing how many friends I made from all over the country there and luckily have been able to keep in touch with them.

So here you go.
Tasha is from Nevada, expecting her second girl this summer and currently lives miles away from the Hershey Chocolate Factory. They will only get a few more months of fresh chocolate as she gets ready to move back west this summer. She quilts, embroiders and has a little cottage business of her own making cool, not cheesy, fabric covered binders.
Amy W. is from Missouri, has real blonde hair, incredible taste, throws great parties and her and I lived in the dorms together but didn't know each other. (which means she lived in the dorms with Jill, Michelle and Stacy and Jen too) One day in New Orleans she woke up decided to paint and had painted the cutest prints ever for her daughter. One of my best garage sale days was with her in Old Metairie. She lives in CA and seriously has the cutest kids! Oh ya, and I love watching her fingers move when she talks.

Lara, is from Utah and I always think of her when I walk into any Banana Republic store. She currently lives in Texas and does not know I think this but wins one of the best baby announcements I have ever received!
Jenny is from Arizona but now lives in Texas. She is totally organized and can out clean me any day. She is very resourceful and worked really hard to put her husband through school. I remember she had a job typing in the wee hours of the night and delivering phone books door to door.
Mindy is from Utah but now lives in Idaho. She is very brave, has a big smile and in all of our minds is the queen of quilting. She taught all of us how to quilt in New Orleans. She dug a twin mattress out of someones trash for me, waited 8 hours in the hall for Annie Kate to be born and makes great homemade pizza.

Liz, I think is from Florida, but i am not quite sure if I remember. She LOVES her kids and is great at making handmade cards. She has a great voice. She lives in Connecticut and has great websites on her blog. I always love it when she does surprise good mail sendings where she shows the good mail she is sending but you don't know who is going to get it.Chanel is from Hollywood.. seriously she is. She grew up knowing one of my sister-in-laws. She is one of those people you follow around in a store and whatever she buys, you buy because if it is not already cool, it will be! Whenever I get a Sundance catalog I think of her. She is a wonderful director of fabric and sent me one of the best emails ever after I had Sally Jane. She loves porta potties so if you see any cool ones email her... hee hee!

Rebecca is the first person I ever met with a cable modem. She was so ahead of her time. She has her own pottery kiln. She is a wizard with her camera. She gave her daughter the best Christmas present ever this year. Have you read about the bunnies? She now lives in Oregon, I want to say she is from Montana, but now I am second guessing myself and wanting to say Utah...

Allison is from Utah but is truly the New Orleans girl because she is actually there. Her husband and her just recently moved back after evacuating from Katrina. One of the first things that I remember about her is that she loved children books and had a great list of them that she shared with me when we met at the Children's museum. I don't know how she does it but her hair ALWAYS looks great, rain or shine. She has the best sugar cookie recipe and it tastes just like those big pink cookies they sell at the gas stations in Utah.

Shawna and Jordan moved to New Orleans after I moved but also have great blogs that you might want to check out.

Happy Mardi Gras

We lived in New Orleans for 4 years and pretty much became Mardi Gras crazies! We loved it and looked forward to it every year.
This year we had a fun dinner with our friends the Hunters. They brought over their Gingerwood house and so we both attempted to make a Mardi Gras houses. The icing was a little thick and it was hard to find good Purple, Green and Yellow Candy, but the beads were a fun addition.

Our menu was:

• Rita's Jambalaya
• Baked Louisiana Sweet Potatoes (you can wrap these in foil like a regular baked potato and then add butter, a little brown sugar and cinnamon.. oh yum!)
• tripled layered jello, grape, lime and lemon
• Red beans and rice
• King Cake ( i couldn't believe it they had it at the grocery store for only $4.99 and it was Great too!)
• Pralines (unfortunately these did not turn out, for some reason the sugar did not dissolve. Do you New Orleans girls use Rita's or Missy recipe?

We had a fun time. Jeff didn't make it home but we saved a little bit of food for him.

Class Party

I am not sure how I got put in charge of the Second Grade Valentines party but I did. I have really tried to lay low and not volunteer for much this year to take time to get adjusted and it is hard to take the little ones to school with me.
Today was the Valentines Party because of our snow/ice storm last week.
I had a very poor response asking for other parents to help me, besides the apples and grapes being brought in for the food I was on my own.... oh wait that is not true, someone brought in cookies to decorate too.
Me and the girls decorated the class room on the 13th at school as it was totally snowing and school was shutting down to get everyone home. We put tule on each chair, red for boys and pink for girls along with a name tag and a big red velvet bow. The tule is so cheap and the red velvet I had bought 100 yard roll at the ribbon outlet for $1.00.
We played this fun game with chopsticks. I had put on different large plates Hershey Kisses and Heart Gobstoppers (which I was able to get all half off since we were having this after Valentines day, such a great deal) and then gave all the kids a set of chopsticks to pick up as many as they could.the hearts we threw away but any of the kisses they could pick up they got to keep. I thought it was a really fun idea, yet some of the kids got really frustrated not being able to use the chopsticks.

The other game we played was with playdough. I had made this playdough recipe, (it won me best mom of the year last year) and doubled it so there was a small ball for each kid. I put them in small plastic baggies.
We had one kid come to the front and draw out a Valentines word out of a basket. Lips, roses, cupid, heart and also Mr. Chep (the principal) boa constrictor, soccer ball etc. The child in the front of the room said the word and then everyone had to make that shape. Doing the principal was really funny. I thought it was so fun and everyone was getting to play with playdough along with take it home. But after the party Annie Kate said, "I don't think that game was as fun as you thought" so funny.
Caroline and Sally Jane were totally running-a-muck the whole time. There was one other parent trying to help me but it was CRAZY. They both kept sneaking out of the class room and coloring on everything. They loved the computers, I just hope they didn't break them.I did make an apron for her teacher that we gave to her at the beginning of the party. You can get really cheap aprons at Sam's Club in their food service section. I sewed ribbon at the top and then just did iron-on transfer paper. The heart is a stock design in scrapbook factory and the font is Mr. Giggles from 2peas. She put it on at the beginning of the party and then I gave her a red fabric marker for all the kids to sign it. This would be a great end of the year activity too.I didn't get many photos due to the fact I was two hands too short and this was when I was realizing my camera had seriously been injured from the fall.
It was an exhausting morning getting ready and a little overwhelming afternoon.. but I am now off to get ready for our Mardi Gras Party tonight! It is Holiday madness at our house!

Today was our part 2 of Valentines day. We had Annie Kate's party at school and got to pass out Valentines. So I thought I would show you what we made along with some good mail and Valentines we got in the mail last week. I loved opening my mailbox everyday!
A few years ago my friend Sonja gave me the idea of having her kids write something special about each kid in the class on their Valentines. We did it last year for the first time and it was such a fun thing to do. This year we did the same thing but used Thesaurus.com to look up new words for nice, friendly and such. It again was a fun project to do together.
I got the idea for the shovel from Emily and Holly (blog peer pressure sent both your way). I ordered the shovels from I - Party and then tied on these skittle filled plastic hearts With the saying, "What I dig about you!"
Michelle sent a handmade beautiful Valentine that is SO Michelle. She loves black glitter and I loved seeing it on the card. thanks it is really fabulous.
Our Tennessee neighbors sent a group Valentine from the street along with a cute snow photo. Annie Kate was so excited to see everyone, but wished she could have been there. She keeps asking when we are going to come back and visit.
Amanda sent AK this darling April Cornell dress she found at a second hand store awhile back. Even though we had a total white out on Sunday (it is a summer dress) Annie was so excited to wear it
My brother Bevan sent Annie Kate this copy of the Hobbit. I remember my mom reading this to us when we were kids. He wrote a 2 page handwritten letter telling an awesome story of history from where he lives and then gave her a riddle that can only be answered from reading the book. Bevan this was so thoughtful and a wonderful gift.
My mom sent us a Valentines Day package with yummy treats and the girls each $5.00. We called it Mimi Money. Caroline used hers to buy a Cinderella camera at the Disney Store. She took it downtown to the museum and took pretend photos of everything. It was so cute because she would get down on one knee to take the photos and then she would scream SAY CHEESE. Thanks mom!
Amy M. sent this simple yet beautiful Thank you and Valentine...(I can't find the photo of the valentine) She has simple beautiful taste!

one of the ladies I used to visit teach ( i will be on just a writing route now due to distance in my new ward) in my local ward sent me this listing of a few homes in her neighborhood for sale, to give me the plug to be her neighbor. She is an incredible gardener and if I had not been her visiting teacher I would NEVER have gotten to know her so well or if ever. We are really nothing alike except our love for gardens and I was so giddy by her nice good mail. It felt good that we have not been too forgotten yet. All of the homes our about 4 times our price range but if we stayed here, it is where I would want to live and I would love to be her neighbor. Maybe I could afford to rent out her garden shed.
Liam and Asher sent these girls great yummy Valentine's from Krispy Kreme! This is the best idea and I am doing this next year for sure. We used them after our day downtown on Saturday. Thanks so much! I love this idea.
Anna, sent this darling card along with the cookie cutters which have been put to good use yesterday. We need all the spring wishes we can get here. Thanks to one amazing woman, I was trying to find her 100 list because it would blow you away.
Mandy sent this wonderful little package of treasures. Cool ribbon and doodads. I already used the cool chipboard in some good mail. Thank you and yea Montana!
Luke and Elle sent their cousins some awesome Superman tattoos and treats. The other two suckers got eaten before the photo was taken. Thanks guys!

Nice thank you from Carlo who is sporting her new cute Good Mail labels.

My sister in law made these cute Valentine Day cards with my two nieces, Savannah & Ryan. Kari they really turned out so cute!
Amy S. sent me this incredible pink package. With Pink Hot Chocolate, yummy ribbon and this beautiful Anna Griffin Card. Thanks and what a wonderful treat!
My friend Liz sent out her Valentine cards. I look forward to it every year. They don't send Christmas cards and so it makes it such a treat to get it in the mail. Stefanie do you recognize Brenna? My friend Liz is incredibly talented and if you have not seen her Pink Christmas gift take a second to do so, it is pure eye candy!
Pam sent me this handmade card, in fact I don't think every cards he has ever sent me is handmade. along with a bag of pink marshmallows. Thanks so much, my girls loved them and they were great with our Pink Hot Chocolate. (side note if you want to see a darling idea to use these for next Valentines check out Jamie's blog, Mindy's sister-in-law)
This was so nice of Jenny to send me a thank you note for her ribbon winnings. Of course do I even need to say how much I love the card? i think not! love it!
Hanna's Valentine was such a great idea using the scripture from 1Corinthians.
I got this very nice thank you from Jill who is the graphics wizard now.. she is so good with thank you notes.

Amanda S. sent this nice note with a handmade letter plaque of sort that I am using in my scriptures as a book mark.

My mom has the best handwriting and wrote me this sweet thank you note, i loved the photo because I can see her beautiful swirls!