Before I Forget

This was also a bittersweet Memorial Day. Normally I spend the afternoon at the cemetery for the Veterans tribute, and then meet up for lunch at Julie's house. I wasn't there last year, and it didn't really faze me.

This year I would have had a better reason to visit. Here are some shots of the headstone that I totally jacked from my sisters blog. Thanks, Jill.

The headstone is granite, and it was carved in Belgium. My mom would be pissed that it's so big. Not her style at all. But that temple engraving is so gorgeous, she would forget all about the size issue.


I love how it says "Pokey". She would get such a laugh over that. I wish I could hear her laugh just one more time. And her smile was always so sincere. She deserves the beauty of this headstone, and so much more.

I miss you, mom. I love you.

Mom's Day Recap

I have to admit, I was dreading Mother's Day. I had these horrible feelings conjured up, and I was certain they would take over and drown me in sorrow.

I was wrong.

I had a great day. A little sadness, of course, but nothing like I had anticipated. Luckily, part of the reason for that is living outside of Utah, the Mother's Day church service wasn't a sappy song and dance meant just to make mom's cry. It was just any other Sunday. Youth speaker, check. Primary kids singing "Mother I Love You", check. Stake Young Womens President speaking on Relief Society, check.

Even Relief Society itself held a lesson not related to Mother's Day. "Facing Persecution with Fatih". Totally unrelated, see?

I was glad. I needed a break from the sorrow I had dreaded so much. I did leave during Sacrament meeting because I got something in my eye, (really! I did!) and as I was coming back out of the restroom, I was greeted by good friends making sure I was okay. Of course, it looked like I had been crying due to the watering eye situation, but I was fine. What good friends I have. Thanks, girls.

I was also treated to a mani/pedi/eyebrow wax for my day, and took the older girls along with me, as well. We had a great time, and their nails look beautiful! I bought myself a new pair of shoes, and 2 bouquet's of flowers, and called it good.

We had a bbq with some friends yesterday, and as always, we talked too much, stayed too late, and had too much fun. But that is what friends are for, I suppose.

So I survived my first motherless mother's day. I'm sure there will be more sad times to come, but I can do it. Also, thanks for the cards and letters. I have such an awesome support system, I know I can get through anything!

Gettin' My Green On

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Today I'm getting my green on by making a delish dinner of corned beef and cabbage. Hopefully all will turn out well.

So go get some green on, or don't be surprised when a stranger pinches you on the tushie.

Totally Random

I realized yesterday that it's been a while since I posted any pics. I guess my thoughts have gotten better of me than my camera has. But here is some proof that I do indeed take pictures most days. I just don't get around to uploading and posting them like I should. Bear with me.


Emma playing dress up with Mags. This is a pretty rare occurrence around our house these days. Emma is growing past the dress up stage, and to be honest, she and Maggie rarely play anything together anymore. Unless it has to do with the computer or the DS, Emma pretty much stays away from having much to do with Maggie. I think she sees her as the annoying little sister. I remember being that annoying little sister. It's a hard stage.


Here is Gretta enjoying opening up her birthday present from Poppa. When we were in Utah for the summer, my mom had this little fox that graced the bottom shelf of one of her cabinets. Gretta always found it and carried it around the house. I had completely forgotten about it until it arrived as part of her package. You can see she pretty much thinks it's the coolest thing ever.



This was her first expression after ripping open the paper it was wrapped in. She was as shocked as I was. But then she hugged it, kissed it, and tried to ride it around the house like a horse.


Pre-tearing of the goods. She also got an outfit that she thinks is pajamas, a pack of Care Bears playing cards which have mostly found themselves shoved into every nook and cranny of the toy room, and a fancy schmancy card with Minnie Mouse on it. She loves it all!


Here is Maggie showing off her Valentines boxes she made for her dance class. We only had to make like 10 valentines, so instead of buying a huge pack of cards for $3.00, we went to our local craft store, bought 10 pieces of paper for $1.00, and used their die cut machine to cut the design for the boxes. She folded them, I glued the bottoms, and she filled them up with candy hearts. They were the hit of the class for sure.

So that pretty much sums up the most interesting pictures I've taken in the last few weeks. I'm still on the lookout for a funny Friday image, but I'll keep looking. I have the best one, but for the life of me, I can't find the picture to go with the story. I'll do my best, just for you.

*I have been asked about the origin of the fox. I can honestly say I have no idea from whence it came. It's just always been around the house, and I never thought to ask my mom about it. You know, it wasn't one of those important things you think about in the last few weeks of someone's life. I find myself having a lot of those moments. I wish I could call her up and ask her. Anywhoo, if any of you know where the fox originated, I would love to know.

All Due Respect

Thank you, dear President's past. I love getting a Monday off school. Not that I go to school, but my kids do, and that means I get to sleep in. I love my sleep.

So thank you for being super, and earning us all a day off. You rule(d).

Heart

Happy Valentines Day.

I got a PajamaGram delivered last night. The shirt says "I'm with Cupid" I find it funny.

All Sugar Daddy gets is me. Moody, bitchy, bloated, ornery me. He better take it and like it.

Whew. Almost.

There is much more to this title than you will ever know. Surprisingly, I do keep a lot of my personal life to myself. But there are a few meanings that I can expound upon here.

1. We made it to Utah in just under 25 hours. That's driving time, people. We encountered 100 slide offs in Des Moines, and just after passing through the city, realized they had closed the highway behind us. Good times. But we made it. I have a picture of what Diesel fuel does when it gets too cold. You'll see it soon.

2. Christmas was good. The kids had a great time, got too many presents, and ate too much junk food. Just like Christmas should be. We were all dreading the holiday without mom around, and it turned out just fine. All the grandkids got teddy bears with outfits on that are made from Nunn's clothes. They are so adorable, and we all had a good cry. Then TroyBoy pulls out purple hand made bracelets for us girls, and they all have little sterling sliver ribbon charms on them. Another good cry ensued. You'll see pictures of those, too.

3. Yesterday, the 30th, Sugar Daddy and I celebrated 11 years of wedded. Bliss, okay, wedded bliss. And Meg also go married yesterday. Yes, she went through with it. Nevermind the shackles and gags that were involved to get her to say "Yes" at the appropriate time. Kidding people, kidding. Fear not, there will be oodles of picture of that day to follow.

4. We saw Body Worlds today. So cool. The science behind it is amazing, but to see how delicate life is reinforces to me that God is in everything. There is just no doubt after seeing that. Not that there ever was, but you know what I mean.

5. Tonight is New Year's Eve. We are spending the evening with Troyboy and Kelli making home made pizza with artichokes and olives. Mmm Mmm good. Do you think I could get sued for using that as my motto? Oh well.

6. Which means that this year is almost over. If someone had told me last year what 2008 would hold, I would have laughed. Now, I know there are no limits to what life can bring. So, in keeping with that frame of mind, my resolution for the year is to work on enhancing my food storage. Before you start sending me links to places to buy powdered water, and ways to preserve chicken hearts for 100 years, let me explain that I don't plan on doing that kind of food storage. I mean the kind that entails extra supplies of things I use deliberately, daily even. Not stuff I will shove in a corner of my basement and forget about until my 14th child needs a bedroom down there.


So, I hope you are fully prepared for the onslaught of pictures that are to follow. Life has been good to me for the last two weeks, and as much as I hate to leave my family, I'm ready to get back to reality.

Good Santa, Bad Santa

We had our annual Ward Christmas party on Saturday night, as did the rest of the Mormon world, I think. Being on the newly formed activities committee, we were in charge of various aspects of the party. Part of the food, including baking 5 bags of potatoes, the paper products, and finding a suitable (get it, suit?) Santa, were all left up to us. After volunteering said Santa, there were a few weeks where we weren't sure we would even have a Santa. Luckily, he came around, and decided it would be good for his soul, not to mention his sleeping habits, since if he had rejected the part, he would be sleeping on the couch. We procured a suitable suit from neighbor Kate, and Voila! Santa was born.


Santa with some neighborhood girls. Excellent babysitters, these girls. Look how excited they are!


Who knew Santa had such big beautiful blue eyes?


And here he is telling a sweet story of the symbolism of the candy cane. He did an excellent job. He knew most of the kids by name, which is always a plus when you're playing the part of Santa. The only "oopsie" moment, was when we realized he had on brown shoes, and not black. Eh, small details.


All in all, it was a great night. We had plenty of potatoes, ran out of side dishes, and had to make an emergency run to Jewel for more cookies for dessert. But everyone had a good time, and we fed and entertained about 165 people for 2 hours. Not bad. And our Bishop gave us a count, saying he thought we had at least 40 non-members or investigators present. Wow. That's unheard of in Utah. I don't even know 40 non-members in Utah! It's refreshing to see the community all come together to celebrate a common thread, regardless of religion.

That was our one big party, and now we're pretty much taking it easy until the Memorial Day picnic. I think we are planning a Spring service project, but we have to wait until the ice melts (around May) before we decide exactly what it will be. Now, it's all about getting us to Utah, through our first Christmas without Mom, and having the best wedding ever!

Ha Bum Hug

What day is it? Monday, the what, 7th? 8th? I don't even know. And from the looks of it around here, you can tell I don't really care. We have a total of zero Christmas decorations up. Yep, zero. Zilch. Nada. This isn't for lack of intentions. I've been meaning to get them up for weeks now. It just hasn't happened. Let's face it, I don't feel like hauling up that heavy box from the basement. That's what the menfolk are for. And my manfolk has been AWOL for the last few days. Between work, church stuff, Christmas partying, and DVR, the time to do it has eluded us.

But there is a more sinister reason behind my slacker ways. You may recall that I don't like Christmas much, and that is what sparked True Meaning Tuesday. It's hard to want to play the role of a Holiday lover when truly I'm a total Scrooge about it. I know, I suck. Another reason is that we leave for Utah in a week and a half, and we'll be there for 2 weeks. Do I really want to decorate for the 10 days we'll be here? Not really. And I certainly don't want to come home from Utah after all the celebrations there, and have to take down Christmas stuff I never wanted up in the first place. Do you see my logic here? I knew you would.

What's a mom to do? I'm thinking tree, minimal other decorations, and it all comes down the night before we leave. Sound like a good compromise? I thought so.

Sugar Daddy's Day

Happy Birthday to you, my dear Sugar Daddy. There are so many things I love about you, so here are just a few.

• You can fix anything.
  
• You watch "Ice Princess" just to see the ending.
  
• You have an immense love for jackets and coats of all styles.
• You snore like a fog horn.
  
• You are always thinking of the girls and I, and ways to make our lives easier.
  
• You take out the garbage cans every Thursday.
  
• You like your sleep time.
  
• You can make friends with just about anyone.
  
• You do all the ironing.
  
• You love me and the girls more than anything else.
  
• And we love you too!
  

Have a great day!

There's also a sweet blurb about Sean over at Terrill's blog, so you can check that out here.

Thanksgetting

I heart Thanksgiving. I really, really do. I love the day before Thanksgiving almost more than the actual holiday because of our super fun family tradition of dinner and a movie that evening. Picture it; a family of 20 or so, half of which are kids, crammed into Applebee's, spilling chocolate shakes, sending back undercooked steaks, and raising the decibel level by at least 20. Then we head to the movies. Remind me to tell you a story of the family accusing us (oops, my bad) of sitting in their seats, even though they were 15 minutes late, and the theater was less than half full. They just couldn't make the mental jump and take other empty seats. Geniuses , I say. Okay, so that was pretty much the story. Now you don't have to remind me. We also had a girls only sleepover at my inlaws, and all the girl cousins stayed up waaayyy too late, and laughed too loud, and had to wake me up at 4 in the morning to do laundry duty. Darn bottled water next to the bed. It was a good time, though.

This was a bittersweet Thanksgiving. You know, another first without Mom. It's that sick sad time line we all keep in our heads, and I'm starting to resent it. And it was less another person this year too. Sugar Daddy was here in Illinois all by his lonesome. He managed just fine, though. He caught up on his sleep, and even cleaned up the house! He's such a good husband. He did forget to buy a turkey for our Sunday celebration of Thanksgiving, though, which warranted a trip to Jewel on a Sunday for a "fresh" turkey. Remind me to tell you the story about Sugar Daddy forgetting to buy a turkey, and then getting stuck with all that the store had left, a fully cooked whole turkey. Really, I'll go into more detail about that one tomorrow, and I even have pictures.

I know Mom would be proud of our Thanksgiving, though. It was perfect. Crowded, loud, too much food, naps, football, roll ups, cheese tree, chips and dip, and lots of pies and cheesecake. And I think we all took away more than just pot bellies and L-Tryptophan hangovers. We got renewed as siblings, and as daughters and son. We learned that no matter where we are, we have fun together. We learned that Dad is stronger than we (I) thought, and that he is doing okay. We also learned that being in the temple all together is one of the most special things a family could ever experience. We're all very excited to have Josh join our family next month. I know mom would be proud of that, too.

So all in all, it was a good holiday. I always feel like I get more out of Thanksgiving than I give. I guess that's what Holiday's are supposed to be. Family, friends, fun, food, and growing a little.

Things I Hate

I hate that I only have today and tomorrow left to get ready for next Saturday's craft show.

I hate that I have piles of laundry on the dryer that need to be put away.

I hate having kids on anitbiotics, and repeatedly forgetting to give it to them.

I hate waking up cold and headachy.

I hate that I have to leave Sugar Daddy alone for Thanksgiving.

I hate that my dog has a uterine infection and I hate that it will cost a fortune to treat her.

I hate it when my Voice Mail light is blinking, and then there isn't even a message.

I hate lying awake stewing about life.

I hate cancer.

I hate being in a bad mood first thing in the morning.

I hate that I still have 3 more days until I get to see my family.

True Meaning Tuesday

It's time for me to make a confession. This is hard fought because it practically goes against my DNA code.

I DON'T LIKE CHRISTMAS

I know! How can it be! But it's true. I don't like feeling torn in so many directions, and I don't like "settling" for the perfect gift to give some one I may not know very well.

I do love the spirit of Christmas. I love the lights, and the snow, and the food, and the food, and the food. But I especially love the stories of Christmas. You know the ones, the ones when you hear it, you start to get all goose pimply, and your eyes well up (or in my case, sweat) just a little. The ones that make your heart feel good, and your faith in humanity is restored. These stories can come in many forms. Children's books, short stories, family history stories, or songs. (Christmas Shoes, anyone?) But if we're lucky, or very observant, we may be privy to one of these stories in the making.

So this year, I'm starting True Meaning Tuesday. The Tuesday part is insignificant, mostly it just sounds good with the True part. Feel free to participate on your own blog. I will be telling one of these stories each Tuesday. Some will come from me, some from other people you may or may not know, and some will come from other sources such as published stories and such. My hope is that through this act of seeing the True Meaning of the Christmas season each week, my eyes will be opened to the miracles of the season that are happening around me. Thus making the necessities of this Holiday more bearable.

So stay tuned for your first dose of True Meaning Tuesday. And enjoy the Holiday season.

In Case You Haven't Had Enough

I understand how boring it can be to browse the various blogs on your Google reader and see only images of mediocre children dressed up as mediocre characters. But I bring you Emma. A most beautiful child, in a most beautiful home made costume. I had a few people tell me they needed to see all of my kids in their costumes, so here you go.

Yes, she's in a poodle skirt, made by yours truly. Even the little doggie and leash. Yes, because I'm that talented. And yes, she's wearing her pajamas underneath. We took this picture on Wednesday afternoon because I forgot to get a picture of her on Halloween. She was home "sick" that day, cough cough. But what can I say, I'm a big softie about stuff like that. But seriously, she is sick. She has an ear infection. Her first ever. So I thought she deserved a day off for that.

Halloweenies

This was quite the Halloween around these parts. After arriving back home on Friday afternoon from a nice getaway to the city, we scurried around getting things ready for our party that evening. What started out as as small, intimate affair, blossomed into a full on fest. It was great. I think after final count we ended up with a total of 55 people. Just what Halloween should be.

Here's Maggie in her Princess dress. This isn't her costume. This is her daily attire. But at least she got candy for wearing it this time.


And here's Maggie and Gretta. Notice Gretta's costume. It is so cute. You'll never guess what she is. And I mean that because she absolutely would not let me put her costume on her. So she went around in her overalls. But she still looked cute.

And here's a taste of what part of our group looked like. We all tried to Trick or Treat together, but between burning corn bread, and runaway dogs, we ended up split up most of the way. That's okay, because we arrived back home, and had the most fun. White chicken chili, red bean chili, cornbread, and good company. The recipe for awesomeness.

Busy busy

We've been an in-law hosting house the last few days. It's been so awesome to have family come and visit. I love having the MIL here to entertain the kidlets with puzzles and games, and all other sorts of distractions. But I also love having the MIL here because she shares my love of all things craft. 'Cept she's good at it. So we've been keeping plenty busy around here with projects galore.

This is the first taste of what is to become many, many wonderful items. One is already finished, but it will have to wait. I know, the suspense, yeah yeah.



This is the other outlet du crafte. This was last nights family night project. My kitchen table was slathered with newspaper, and then the newspaper was topped with paints and pumkins and brushes, oh my! We ended up with a pumpkin per person, and one extra. I think they'll look quite loverly on the front porch.

Stay tuned for more excitement. We received a phone call this afternoon asking to be the B&B for more family members later this week. Of course I was more than happy to oblige, so it should bring some good times.

This day

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. You must understand my love of food and family to get this. Even though it's not a "Holiday" on any calendar, it's the most important Holiday to me. You see, every year on Thanksgiving Eve, my entire family goes to dinner and a movie. That is 19-20 people, depending on if Meg brings a date or not. We inundate the local Chili's, and harass the waitress just enough to get her to smile and not spit in our food. We then traipse on over to Jordan Landing where we see the latest Christmas Cash Stealer of a movie. Can you picture it? 20 people, 10 of which are kids, (unless you count Meg as one of our kids, then it's 11), crowding into theater seats with popcorn, candy and soda, and being vewy vewy quiet while doing this. It's great fun.

The reason this is so fun, is it's the only time we see a movie together each year. My family has never been big movie goers, it seemed there was always a motorcycle race or monster truck rally to attend instead. Just sitting around laughing at, I mean with, my sibs is super cool. We all get along so well, it's freaky. We're all pretty different, especially me, but we just work. It's what family is all about.

Then there's tomorrow. Tomorrow is the denouement of my Holiday excitement. For many it is Christmas, but I prefer the food, and turkey, of Thanksgiving. My mom makes the best turkey dinner ever. It's perfect. The turkey is juicy, the potatoes are fluffy, the gravy giblety, and the yams marshmallowy. And then there's the rolls. Oh, Rhodes, you make a mean roll. Thank you for your refined sugary goodness. My hips and tummy shelf thank you too.

Sorry for such a long post, but it's just such a great day, I can't bring myself to abridge. So in keeping with the spirit of the season, Happy Thanksgiving! And merry Christmas, too.