My Aunt Alice

It was only about 2 weeks ago that I posted about our family reunion to show my Aunt Alice how much we all love her.



Eight days after that reunion she passed away. I don't think anyone expected her to go so quickly. Her Daughter described her death as a "beautiful death, if death can be beautiful". She was surrounded by her family and lots of love. Her Funeral was today, so again my Mom flew into town and my Sister drove down with her whole family.

It was a large very traditional Catholic church funeral mass. My kids had tons of questions about what was going on and unfortunately I could only answer a few of them. At the church my girls kept looking at me like "why are you crying?". At one point Lucy took a Kleenex out of my purse and was dabbing under her eyes. She was not crying at all but just thought that was the thing to do since I kept doing it.

At the graveside although I had drilled my girls not to stand on grave markers, Lucy did. I love this photo of her checking out this marker, it is actually where Aunt Alice's parents are laid to rest.



Afterwards they had a beautiful lunch served in the same backyard that we stood two weeks ago as Alice passed out bags of her jewelry to all the women and girls in the family. At the time it felt so sad and awkward but today as I saw all the granddaughters wearing her necklaces and pins ect. It felt just right and I know that's how Alice would have wanted it.


Again we took a photo of all the grandkids, this time without Alice. After everyone snapped a bunch of photos we told them to do whatever they wanted, this was my favorite photo of them all.

I know that we should celebrate the person's life and I know that she is happier now and this was a blessing because she was so sick, but I am still terribly sad and know (from loosing my own Father) how hard it is going to be for her daughters and her grandkids.

Welcome to the jungle!

Every time I pick Lucy up from Preschool we walk through the jungle. There is a little path along the side of the school that has cement stepping stones. The plants are usually wet and sometimes she almost gets lost in them, but it is her favorite part of the day.



I have started parking at the end of the path (the opposite direction of where I pick her up) just so we can go through the jungle on the way to the car. I love how excited she gets every time.



Ruby went this same preschool 2 years ago. I used to park far away from the path and I would get really bugged when she wanted to go "get dirty". I tried to distract her so I would not have to wait for her to walk the whole path. I am so thankful that I have mellowed out with time and each child, I wish it would have happened sooner.

So now I just watch all the other Moms try to keep their kids out of the wet bushes while I go through the jungle with Lucy.

The BIG reward.

I never loose my keys. Really, I still have the same key chain that I got from Sundance 14 years ago. Last night I lost my keys. We only have one key to my car so this was obviously a problem. I searched the house all night and morning and in desperation told the kids that whoever found my keys would get a HUGE reward. About two hours later Haley found my keys. For her HUGE reward she choose going to the Library to get 20 books. When I was 8 years old I would have considered this a cruel and unusual punishment, but to her this was a HUGE reward. I seriously can't relate.

Heart block exchange

Our quilt group got together tonight to exchange our heart blocks.
I love them all and can't wait to get them together in a quilt!

You can check out some of the exchanges we have done at http://theblockexchange.blogspot.com/

Good mail

I received good mail from someone I do not even know. It completely made my day. It was so fun to read through her blog and get to know her and see photos of one of my favorite places in New Orleans. Thanks Natasha!



It totally made me want to pay it forward, so I did.


Good mail, Good day!

More good advice...

My friend Diane S. gave me some great advice.

1. To quit coloring my hair myself and get it done professionally. I did not realize how bad my hair looked until I had it done right and then looked at old photos. Thank heavens she said something.

2. To buy a Food Savor. She was always telling me how wonderful they are and how she uses hers for everything. I finally got one (about 2 years ago) and it quickly became one of my favorite things. I can't tell you how much time this little machine saves me. I buy everything in bulk, cook it and vacuum it into portions that we use. It takes a couple of hours of cooking once a month then super fast dinners for the rest of the month. Here are a few things that I do with it.

Ground turkey(big 4 pack from Costco)- I cook it all at the same time but will make some seasoned with taco seasoning, some with onions, garlic and celery (spagetti ect) and leave some plain for chili or whatever.
Chicken- I buy raw chicken breasts and cook them, shread them and then bag then in spacific amounts that I need for recipies (chicken enchaladas, tortillia soup etc). Sometime I take the raw chicken and put it in the bag with a marinade, vacuum it, then I can just cook it in the bag and it comes out so juicy. I also will cut up chicken and put teryocky sauce in with it so it's ready to go for stir fry.
Ham-I buy one of those big hams at Costco that you bake with the glaze on it. I will make it for dinner then bag up the rest in to 5 bags with glaze and I have 5 ham dinners that I can cook up in minutes. My kids love ham!

Do I sound like Rachel Ray?



I vacuumed our food and clothes for our 72 emergency kits and was able to easily fit all the supplies and first aid for each person in a backpack. I also vacuumed Lucy's emergency earthquake supplies required for her preschool.




Fyi-I have the big machine(V2490) that they sell at Costco, My Mom bought a smaller version for herself and she doesn't like it at all.

Good advice

Eric’s Mom who is a retired reading recovery teacher gave us some of the best advise for encouraging children to love reading. She said to give them a reading light on their bed and let them stay up as late as they want as long as they are quiet and reading. I immediately thought of all the reasons that would not work for us, but she did this with her 4 boys and she swore by it, so we tried it. We have done this with Haley for 3 years and have recently started it with Ruby. I cannot tell you what a brilliant idea this is. Haley loves to read and will usually stay up an hour or two past her bedtime (8:00) to quietly read. She is in 3rd grade but her teacher told me she is reading at a 5th grade level. Ruby who is just a beginning reader will sit quietly in her bed and sound out words to herself. There is something to be said about a child quietly concentrating on reading without any distractions... yet they feel like they are getting away with something because it is after their bedtime.

Family Reunion

Last Saturday we had a family reunion for my Mom's side of the family. Like most family reunions there was a bounce house for the kids, cotton candy, tons of good food, but this was not a typical family reunion. My Aunt Alice was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has metastasised throughout her body. There is no positive prognosis. This family party was really an opportunity for everyone to see her and say goodbye. It was a great day in a hard, holding back the tears kinda way. On one hand it was painful to know that I will probably never see her again in this life, on the other hand it was great to see her get to enjoy her family and feel the love that everyone has for her.



My Mom and Sister and her Husband flew into town for the party. It was the first time all of the cousins have been together in more then 10 years. It was great to see all of them now that we are all mellow and married with kids. Oh, the stories that I could tell.

Happy Mardi Gras!!!!

The Mardi Gras quilt is hanging and the Mardi Gras wreath is on the front door, but it doesn't feel like Mardi Gras here. I miss the month long celebration that you can't help but get caught up in.

Let me explain why there is a port-a-potty on my Mardi Gras quilt. The first year we lived in NOLA I was driving down Veterans Hwy and saw more yellow port-o-potties then I had ever seen in my life. They were everywhere and there were trucks delivering more. That was when I realized Mardi Gras was coming and I was so excited. While stopped at a light I noticed that all the bright yellow potties were called "Pot-O-Gold". I think from that moment on I/we laughed each time we saw a Pot-O-Gold. No matter how hard you try, if you spend time at the parades you are going to see and probably even visit a "Pot-O-Gold", it is just part of the Mardi Gras experience.






Before we moved there if you had told me that I would put my young child in a small seat on top of a six foot ladder so she could see the parades better and catch more loot- I would have thought there was no way. But we did.



When Ruby was born we even upgraded our ladder to a 3 seater so that our girls could have a friend join them.



I can't wait to take my girls back again to see the city and experience Mardi Gras (the non-Bourbon street version), but I know that it will never be the same for me. Part of my great memories of Mardi Gras were all the friends we made while living down there. Here is a photo that we took in 2001 of all the Nola Mom's at the time. I wish we had taken a photo every year as some moved away and new Mom's moved in.


Happy Mardi Gras!!!

I have lost it.

Yesterday was an unbelievably hard day for me.
I have been really sick since Friday with horrible sinus problems that caused one of the worst headaches of my life and a fever. By Sunday I convinced myself that I was ok. I was not. Crawling into bed for the day was not an option. Eric was at work all day and I had committed to too may things to stay home. For some reason I thought I could do it all...sick. I took all three girls to church. I caught a panty infraction on the way out the door. I taught the Relief Society lesson. It was horrible. I could not concentrate and felt really confused. I went home and cried until it was time to take all three girls to the Stake Fireside where I was in charge of a display on Family Home Evening. I don't know if it was all the medications I was taking or because I was sick and week, but I could not stop crying. As soon we would get it the car I would cry. Whenever people were not looking at me, I would cry. I was trying so hard to just keep it together.

I forced myself to run this marathon day while sick because I did not want to let people down or put someone out at the last minute. I did do it all- but I did a horrible job at everything...then cried that that.

Classic Ruby

Today I worked in Ruby's class that has artwork all over the walls. I was looking at all the kid's snowman pictures. Most said "My snowman is happy" or "My snowman is big" I could not help but notice that one of the snowmen did not look like the others...of course not, it was Ruby's snowgirl. Her snowgirl picture said "My snowgirl has red boots".
Forget the fact that she had blonde hair with barrettes and a purse, she had on red boots!
So Ruby.

6 Things that make me happy

Tagged by Jenny..


6 Things that make me happy:

1. My Man

2. My kids. I don't know if it's because they have gotten older or I have just chilled out as a parent, but I enjoy them so much more now then I used to.

3. Friends. Friends are my Prozac. I like to be around people.

4. Completing a task or project. If I could only complete more then I start.

5. Giving gifts

6. Coming home and changing out of my jeans into PJ bottoms.

I tag Allison M.

Help!

So our Stake leaders have come up with a brilliant idea to set 5 goals as a stake to help strengthen the family They are calling it "Gimme Five".

Our Stake is having a fireside to help get people excited and commited to these 5 goals in their families.

I have been asked to do a visual display that will "Motivate people to have Family Home Evening by giving them easy ideas that they will want to do in their home".

If I was giving a talk, this would be easy...but a visual display...I need help.

If anyone has any idea of how I could accomplish this or what I should display- I'm all ears.

Ruby's party under the sea

Ok, so we were not really under the sea... we were in the garage, but it looked pretty cool. We have always had a hard time with Ruby's party because it's in February. Our house is really too small for a party and it's too cold to have it at the pool so It's always a dilemma. Last year we talked her into taking a friend to Disneyland (We had passes and the friend had a pass). That worked out great, but this year she wanted a party at home. Eric and I decided the only way was to convert the garage into a party room.

I purchased a bunch of table clothes at the $ store. I borrowed a friends helum tank and a table and chairs from the Nursery. Eric taped the table clothes together and made all the walls then I cut green table clothes to make the sea weed. We had a bunch of plastic fish from an old party so I hung those around the walls. We had music from The little Mermaid playing. I know the girls loved the room because they all wanted to be out there.



In order to go into the Mermaid Lagoon you had to be a mermaid, so as the girls arrived they each received a bag with:

skirt- I bought the fabric downtown for $1 yard. I decided to leave the backs open on a few of them because we had several differnt body types and I did'nt want someone to not fit into one.

shirt- These were $1.32 from Tscapparel.com. They are a local company so I did not even have to ship them. I embroidered each with a mermaid and the girls name.

A flower clip- A bundle of flowers ($ store) hot glues to metal clips.

Mermaid hair- After they were dressed I sprayed Aqua net hairspray on their hair then sprinkled green glitter all over their hair.

They were all very cute and loved their outfits. All the girls were so good and polite, I think they felt pretty and so they acted accordingly.


The really bad idea.
I thought they would have fun trying to pop a balloon to get the shell necklace inside. As soon as the 1st balloon popped several girls started to freak out that they do not like loud noises and almost started to cry. So Eric ended up quietly cutting open the balloons.

I bought a regular fish pinata and converted it to a pull string pinata so there was no bat/hitting. Each girl had a little purse($ store) for the candy from the pinata.



Ruby felt like the queen of the sea, so It was worth it.

Good mail and a sick Lulu

My little Lulu that never stops moving has been sick and sleeping for 2 days. She has had a 103 fever yesterday and today. It's so sad to see one of your kids so sick and out of it, but I have to say...I have been getting a ton done!

Like saying thank you for all the good mail that I have received. It's kinda embarrassing when you receive a 2nd piece of good mail from Jill, before you have acknowledged the 1st piece. I received two nice cards from Jill along with some "good mail" stickers. I received a cute Valentine from Ms. Jenny, an adorable birth announcement from Jordan (the address was correct, but it went around the world before it got here). I also received a wonderful collection of recipes that Allison put together, so fun. THANK YOU!



I have been getting ready for Ruby's big party Friday. I have been drilling sea shells for necklaces, making flower hair clips, sewing mermaid skirts and embroidering names on purses for all 13 of the girls. I am just praying that Ruby does not get Lucy's sickness and we have to cancel the party. Fingers are crossed.

Look at these cute purses that I got at the dollar store. What did we do before the dollar store?

Hick Juice

This morning Haley said "Mom, thank you so much for buying hick juice, I love that stuff.". I told her I had no idea what she was talking about. You know Mom hick juice, it's in the fridge. She was adamant that I knew what she was taking about. Finally I checked the fridge and realized she was talking about Hi-C juice boxes. Hick juice...who knew.

13 years!

Eric and I have been married for 13 years today! It’s hard to believe that this all started with a blind date that I was going to call and cancel, but I could not find his phone number. We went to Los Hermanos and the Hale theater on our 1st date. About half way through our date he said “We have been out for about 3 hours, and we are in Provo so will you marry me”. I said no.

From the first time I met Eric I thought he was too good to be true and putting on a show. Once I realized that he really was that nice and thoughtful and it was not a show- I married him. The biggest blessing of my life.



While we were engaged I was looking through a catalog and saw a large wood bed and said how much I loved it. Eric told me he would make me one for a wedding gift. Ya right, I thought. But he did, he actually made the bed that I saw. I love it.


This is pretty much the story of my marriage. Eric is always surprising me and overwhelming me with his kindness, generosity and abilities to accomplish anything. I have stopped saying ya right.


Here are 13 of my favorite things about Eric:
1. The way he looks at me.
2. He makes me laugh so hard it hurts.
3. He is an amazing Father (This is typical of him making a project. The girls will be all over him and "helping" him and he is so patient with them).

4. His strong testimony of Jesus Christ and willingness to serve.
5. He really can make, do, fix or figure out anything.
6. He never complains
7. He is an craftsman.
8. The respect he has for his parents (all four of them).
9. He keeps me balanced.
10.He has a great butt!
11.He makes me happy.
12.He is appreciative.
13.That after 13 years, I would rather spend time with him then anyone else.


Happy Anniversary Love!

i chat

This morning after several phone calls between my Sister and I, we figured out how to do an i chat. None of us had ever done this before. The kids were going crazy showing their favorite toys, what they were wearing to church, holding up their hamsters ect. They sang Happy Birthday to Ruby. They were cracking each other up opening their mouth in front of the camera. It was hilarious!
We are hooked!

Family Party

Yesterday was Ruby's "real" birthday. We gave her tons of options of what she could do on her birthday. Out of all of the options she choose having her Grandma's and Grandpa's come over for cake and ice cream. She decided what kind of cake and helped me make it. It had two layers of "pink" cake with a layer of chocolate brownie in the middle and chocolate frosting. This was all her idea and it was actually really good. I frosted the cake but let her put her name on the top, she thought that was so cool. As soon as we got home from church she grabbed the big plate and started chowing on the last piece.

Happy Birthday Ruby!

I can't believe that my little Ruby is 6!

Ruby was named after Ruby Haight. The first time Eric and I met Ruby Haight we both walked away in love with her. She was a tiny little lady with a huge heart, a wonderful smile and an incredible strength about her . Not long after that we both decided that if the next baby was a girl she would be named Ruby.
Our little Ruby is such a bright spirit in our home. She too has a huge heart, great smile and is incredibly strong.



Ruby is obsessed with her hair and clothes. She always wears a skirt, carries a purse and often asks after she gets dressed if what she is wearing is "style".


She is our only child that cut her own hair.


Ruby loves to sew and she is really good at it. She knows how to use all the features of my machine and even drops the needle to turn her fabric.

She loves to design outfits and says that she wants to be a clothes maker. I'm just guessing that she will probably go into design of some kimd when she grows up. Last year as I was putting her to bed I had to take a photo of how she designed her shelf. She had arranged all of her favorite things as if she was designing a window display.

Ruby is very creative. Usually her bad choices have to do with art or make up supplies. She is a leader, sometimes for good...sometimes for bad but she is always having fun so

Ruby has a special relationship with her Dad. She has him completly wrapped around her finger.

It is a tradition in our home that when you wake up on your birthday you have the birthday quilt on your bed. Then later that day when we hang the quilt we take the birthday person's photo in front of the quilt. It is fun to look back at past years to see how much they have grown.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!

DONE!

I just come out of the sewing zone.
My house is a disaster, who knows if my kids have been fed or bathed in days... but I finished all 16 of my blocks. Our quilt group is doing a 4" heart (everyone using the same pattern) Valentines block exchange and we are only allowed to use white, red and black fabric. I can't wait to see all the other blocks!
(Before anyone calls CPS, my kids are fine. They are all still alive and will recover quickly.)

Now onto the mermaid skirts!