Week in Review 9/2/10

Week in Review 8/26/10

Week in Review 8/19/10

Week in Review 8/12/10

Wow! This was a while ago, but I'm so glad I have the pictures as a reminder. I took the girls and #5on a mini fieldtrip to Red Butte Gardens one morning for a sort of photo safari. The girls and I are all click-happy and we LOVED walking around the garden picking out cool shots. We also had a Scout Court of Honor with the boys in our ward. I'm so proud of #2 and his accomplishments. We're just a few requirements and an Eagle project away ... Yay!

Because we're such mean parents, we've made the Eagle rank a pre-requisite for his driver's license.

That's how we roll.

Week in Review 7/29/10

Hmm, this week had a rough start with #1 in hot water for ... not knowing how to be 16 yet. She lost her phone and driving privileges and was pretty much under lock-down except for work hours - needless to say, she pulled a double shift on Saturday to stay off my radar. ;) Sunday was the youth sacrament meeting and we got to listen to the youth tell us all about the different summer camps and youth conference. We also found out Sunday night that there was no way on Earth that #2 and Chandler were going to make it back from California anytime soon traveling standby into Salt Lake, so we had to adjust our plans.

Turns out the best fix was for #1 and I to roadtrip down to Vegas and pick the boys up from a flight there. Six hours in the car with my own daughter when we're barely speaking to each other ... let's just say neither of us were sure how we felt about it. I finished up my jetBlue shift, we each packed a bag, gave Izzy a quick bath and finished up the laundry and dishes and we were off. We topped off the tank and zipped through a carwash, grabbed some gross fast food and spent the next 40 minutes or so in awkward silence. Somehow ... thanks to my prodding, we were able to have cleared up most things between us by the time we pulled up to the Red Barn in Santaquin. We peeked around the shop and decided there wasn't anything we wanted so jumped back on the freeway. I have to say that being trapped in a car together without any other distractions and plenty of snack food isn't a bad way to work through some of these things and have a productive conversation with a teenager. (I'll have to remember that for future issues)

Anywho! We pulled into Vegas, checked into the hotel, grabbed dinner at Chili's and very quietly made fun of the couple who were sitting on the same side of their table. Next came the tricky airport business, luckily the boys were able to find us without a hitch. Back to the hotel ... kids texting and on iPods until who knows how late while I passed out. The next morning brought breakfast and the lovely drive home. Oy! Exhausting.

And believe it or not ... Wednesday was even more tiresome! I took the 3 bigs to a "Discover Scuba" class at Dive Utah and redeemed the groupons I'd purchased in June. It was a riot! The kids had a blast, but we were pretty worn out by the time we had to lug our gear back to the storage room. That night we had plans to go boating too. Scuba and boating all in the same day? Yup. Can I tell you I slept like the dead that night? Thursday we tried to keep the schedule more mellow .... it was dreamy.

Week in Review 7/8/10

The reality of what has happened is starting to settle in now. We tried to have a normal day Friday and #1 and I did some running around together. We popped in and out of a few shops and I even gave blood at a local drive. It struck me as we were walking by the Red Cross trailer that it was the smallest way I could help someone in need that day - but may really save someone's life. It felt good to make some kind of contribution to the medical world after last week.

Saturday morning we stood by family tradition and attended the neighborhood 4th of July breakfast in hubby's home ward. My father-in-law, Sam, had actually been serving in their bishopric when the breakfast was first initiated some 30-ish years ago. We picked Mom up on the way knowing it would be difficult for her to be there - knowing it was another tribute to Sam to go. She did great though. She was able to catch up with a lot of old friends and seemed to talk about the events of the week with ease. She is my hero.

The afternoon was spent at D's memorial services and we were really touched by the stories that were shared about him there. It was actually a celebration of his life and focused quite a bit on the music he loved. The highlight of the service for us was getting to see Little D ... not sure when we'll see him again. I sure love that little guy.

The rest of the weekend was getting hubby and #2 ready for Scout camp. They left for the Carlisle Ranch in Wyoming early Monday morning for a week of fly fishing, whitewater rafting, horseback riding and aviation. You should have seen the stack of waivers we had to sign away on. Yikes. I can't take another tragedy right now. No sir!

Week in Review 6/17/10

June 11 through the 17th was ALL about camping. It started out with Webelo's camp in Millcreek Canyon, admittedly a nice change from my Bear troop. There was a 2 mile hike and lots of classes on things like how to shoot a BB gun and the fine art of archery. The weather cooperated and the boys were great - can't complain too much about that. Of course ... Saturday, dear hubby was kind enough to drive me up to our girls' camp site to see if it had flooded with all the seasonal rain. It was a mucky mess and I wasn't sure how we'd get through the next week.

Of course, we got the final word that camp was on, regardless of the muddy conditions, so I started piling all our gear in the living room while dearest went to pick up the trailer. The 4th years went up Monday morning and the rest of us followed on Tuesday. Lucky for us, the sun worked some magic and really dried out the area a lot before we got there. Hubby came up with us to help us get all set up. He picked the best spots for the tents, we needed 5, and the girls did most of the tent pitching themselves. The Nepali girls who came with us were beautiful and a pleasure to get acquainted with. Of course there was an immediate issue between my own daughters, complete with tears, but it wouldn't be camp if everyone got along the whole time, would it? We did our best to resolve it and got on with the day.

We started our series of devotionals, which would take us on an imaginary cruise starting in California and ultimately ending at Christmas Island. Each day the girls answered a series of questions about standards to find out the next destination. We talked about things like music, movies, modesty and dating. Each island we stopped at also had a craft to learn. The first day we made hemp bracelets, then beaded fabric necklaces and the last day we made wire rings with stone embellishments. I'll try to post more pics of the crafts with instructions soon - just remember that time flies around here.

For the most part, the weather was on our side ... but there was one morning when all the tent zippers had frozen closed. We actually had to poor hot water on one of them to get the girls out. Good times. Great memories!

Week in Review 6/10/10

I know I'm behind. I know. Life is full of surprises as always. We've had a lot of heartbreak recently and I'll try to address them all as gently as I can, but I'm not quite ready yet.

As for the week of 6/10/10, it was busy. We made lanterns to take to camp, planned the 'spiritual journey' that my devotionals would take us on, celebrated the baby blessing of a beautiful little lady, got a perm, made a flag, had a huge hail storm and #1 started Driver's Ed.

Busy.
Full.
Happy days.

Week in Review 6/03/10

Still trying to catch up here, but I love these pictures!!! I wish I could see my family more often. The boys are just growing up too fast and I'm missing out on a lot.So this is my family!!! My mom and sis both live in Vancouver, Washington. They are two of the cutest women I have ever known ... and they make me feel like a giant, which doesn't happen very often when you're only 5'4" tall. My 'big sis' is only 4'6" and Mom is all of 4'10" on a good day. #1 and I got to spend almost all day Friday shopping with Grandma. We love to hit the Goodwill stores when we're in town - talk about bargains! Then even had all these Indian sari's that made me want to host a Bride and Prejudice party. We also ran to the Korean store to buy more delicious goodies. That night we picked #2 up at the airport and had another ginormous Korean feast. The baptism was Saturday morning and #2 was the first speaker. He did an amazing job while Grandma and I kept blotting the tears away. We try to look tough, but are softies through and through.

We took a thousand family pictures after the service and then had lunch at my sister's where we could FINALLY break out our surprise for the birthday boy! We brought him a giant custom fortune cookie from a fantastic shop in Salt Lake ... that I didn't even know existed until the day before. Rufus, the owner, was a dream to work with and was able to make our custom cookie with about 4 hours. It was beautiful and their whole family couldn't wait to sink their teeth into it. The giant fortune read,

"I'm learning how to choose the right.
I'll do my best both day and night.
But when I'm not sure what to do,
the Holy Ghost will help me through."
Congratulations on your baptism. We love you.
May 29,2010

He was so cute reading it out loud to everyone and the cookie really was delicious. The rest of the trip was spent playing Korean cards, eating more Korean food and admiring Mom's perfectly manicured yard. It was a short trip, but filled with lots of great memories. I just wish I could have brought all the kidlets and hubby dearest along too.

Week in Review 5/27/10

Oy to the vey ... how can it get any more busy???

It seems like things should really wind down at the end of the year, slowing down to a nice easy pace ... things I could handle with my eyes closed. Why then did I end up double booked with kid activities almost everyday??? So not good. So hate to pick which even to go to first and which I would only catch the tail end of. Uck. OK. Here's the recap.

We started out the weekend with the big guys leaving for a scout camp out at the sand dunes, followed by several loads of sand-encrusted laundry. Fun. After that, hubby left for Idaho on a business trip and I got slammed with the rest of the week. There was a one-night-only cross country parent meeting for the oldest scheduled at exactly the same time as the pack meeting where #4 would be receiving his arrow of light. Luckily, his mommy was able to attend ... so we sat impatiently through all the cross country mumbo-jumbo and then raced down the hill to Scouts. We missed the presentation by about 3 minutes. Dang. #2 was able to snap some photos for me though.

Next, there was a full day of Airports Training for me followed by ... the mixed chorus concert and mother/daughter church activity ... scheduled at the same time again! So, I high-tailed it up for the concert and then raced down the hill to the church just in time for refreshments. One of these days I'm going to get a ticket on that hill - knock on wood. Thursday started off with a double whammy. There was the 9th grade awards assembly and 8th grade SBO skit assembly ... same time. At least this time they were in the same building. #2 opted to skip out on his own ceremony to come to watch the skits and cheer for his little sis with me. We also let big sis sluff morning classes to come and scream with us. Let me tell you, my 8th grader has got some serious moxy. She performed her own rendition of The Evolution of Dance ... solo. If you don't know it, you should definitely watch it here. Her courage paid off too. She was the only girl elected!!!

So I ran from the assembly, home to pack for my weekend trip to Washington. Got the last bit of laundry done so hubby would be all set. Waited for #1 to get home from school and we were on our way. We made a quick stop at hubby's office as he'd just gotten back into town from Idaho. I saw him for all of 4 minutes, 2 hugs and 3 kisses, then off to the airport, in the air, into PDX, whizzed back to my mom's house where we shoveled down her delicious Korean food and raced to my nephews' baseball games. Yep, 2 games ... same time. What the heck???

Busy, crazy-crazy busy. Whew!

Week in Review 5/20/10

This week was all over the place. We had the primary elections for the 2010-11 SBO's, in which #3 was running. The slogan she chose was, "Vote for me. I already told my mom I won." Catchy, isn't it? She put together a great video for her skit too where she sang her own rendition of the Backstreet Boys "I want it that way". This girl's got moxy - I'll give her that. She made the first cut too, so she'll continue on next week. I've been crafting up a storm making samples of the projects we'll make at girls' camp. I'm just about done putting the devotionals together too ... along with the camp skit and cheer. (It's been busy) Soccer games ... photographing extra stock for my shop update that hasn't actually happened yet ... and #4's orchestra concert filled up the rest of the week. OH! And I scored on a great card rack for the Christmas shows - extra motivation to actually get some cards designed and printed up, right? I can always use extra motivation.

Week in Review 5/13/10

Another birthday = another partay! #4 opted to skip the 'friend' party last year, so we went a little overboard this year. We decided to take his rag-tag group of friends to Boondocks for the night of their lives. ;) They were all so excited and were such fun to hang out with. We all had a blast watching the boys run around and get crazy. Driving and laser tag were definitely the highlights of the night ... followed very closely by his violin cake (courtesy of his ever talented mommy ... don't forget I'm the step-mommy so I'm not bragging shamelessly this time).

We also squeezed in Izzy biweekly haircut and were able to have a great visit with hubby's mom on Mothers' Day. Work is ... work. I've finished up counting my leftover inventory from Beehive and have to admit I was more than a little disappointed. I should really just stop selling these in Utah. I can't compete with jewelry, hair accessories and baby items in this market. :( On the other hand, now I have loads of new stock for a big shop update. I just need to photograph like a madwoman and make all the new listings.

I also have girls' camp in the works and have been busy planning craft projects and devotionals for the girls. I'm running out of time for that too, only about a month left. Good thing I work well under pressure.

Week in Review 5/6/10

Birthdays, beehives and pompadours!The beginning of this week was filled with anxiety and anticipation for the upcoming Beehive Bazaar. Hundreds of dollars worth of luminaries and night lights were waiting in line at the paint shop. I found out my new packaging tubes weren't going to make it in time for the show so I had to rework my display ideas. Waiting and worrying is not my strong points. I'm much better at pulling all nighters than pulling my hair out. The only real relief was an impromptu bowling adventure with great company. All in all, everything came together in the end and the location at Thanksgiving Point was fantastic. I even got to go to the opening bash Wednesday night with Wanja to see Mad Max and the Wild Ones. What a riot! A family rockabilly band out of Springville, Utah, made up of 3 brothers and their dad ... with the boys age 9, 12 and 18-ish. Too cool.

Then we went directly to the next family birthday. #4 is now 11! We took him out for birthday dinner/breakfast at IHOP, since we didn't have him his birthday morning, and then sent him on our signature ribbon maze to find his present. The ribbon started at the dining room table and wound through most of the rooms in the house leading him all the way to our storage room in the basement. He was supposed to pick up all the ribbon along the way which makes it so much more silly and helps the excitement last a little longer. What was the big surprise??? Yeah, pretty obvious from the photo. I love this little-big guy so much!

Week in Review 4/29/10

Ah, yes, the big weekend! My baby girl turned 16 on Saturday. 16? How is this right? We actually celebrated Friday so all the kids could be here with her. We had our traditional birthday breakfast with placemat and chair decorations from her siblings. She went off to school and came home to more decorations as we got ready for her party. I found an absolutely beautiful cake at Baskin Robbins that was perfect for her. For the party, we rented out the bounce side of Classic Skate in Sandy and invited just about everyone she knows. The turnout was pretty sparse, but we all had a blast ... including Wanja who so graciously came along to help chaperone. (I have the best friends) She even raced me through one of the inflatable obstacle courses ... where I almost wet my pants because I was laughing so hard.

Aside from birthday celebrations, the week also contained a trip to the Huntsman Cancer Institute to visit a very special patient who was struggling with pneumonia. After that we spent a sunny Sunday afternoon with hubby's sweet parents, started the soccer season for #5, had our girls' camp kick off meeting and made a delicious creamy chicken and wild rice soup. Oh! I almost forgot that Izzy also had a 'friend' over for a few days and was able to get some good girl/dog time in with Maddie. It was really cute to see how they interacted with each other and it's made me start thinking about getting a second pup ... who have I become anyway?

Week in Review 4/22/10

Well check me out! I'm actually posting this one on time! I know the timing seems weird, but my weeks run from Friday to Thursday for a couple reasons. First off, January 1st was on a Friday this year ... and Friday is when our week ends with the kids, as in they flip houses every Friday. So let's see what happened over the last 7 days.

We received news that my father-in-law's health is failing pretty quickly, so the next few weeks may be a bit shaky. My brother-in-law has been in the hospital for his own health reasons. Needless to say there were lots of good-cheer-spreading visits to those we love. I got to actually have a lunch date with hubby dearest, which was way overdue. The cub scouts got to clean the church grounds Tuesday night ... allergy alert. I admired more of the gorgeous spring flowers in our neighborhood ... allergy crisis. I finally made a big dent in planning for girls' camp thanks to a quick shopping trip to Robert's.

The rest of the week was spent getting ready for the big birthday party tonight. (Heaven help us) The guest list was close to 50, but we really don't have any clue how many people to expect. I just hope it's everything she hoped for. You only turn 16 once. Wish me luck!

Week in Review 4/15/10

Hmm, this was a pretty bland week as far as our typical household schedule goes. Nothing major going on. No one got grounded, suspended or arrested. No illnesses. No training! Whew! It was nice to taste a little normal for once.

I did however get the chance to go and donate blood at the blood-mobile. I really try and go every other month and jetBlue makes that easier by having the truck come to us. I enjoyed lots of spring flowers ... and paid for it in runny eyes and snotty tissues, dang these allergies. I found some great little dishes to use as 'ring keepers'. I have one in my bathroom, one in the kitchen and one in the laundry room. They are so cute. You like?

Week in Review 4/8/10

It seems our oldest has some friends that don't think highly of us. We got egged again. Uck. This time she had manage the clean-up on her own, so she could learn why we don't egg people ... or hang out with people who egg us. Easter weekend was much better after the clean-up was finished.

General conference is always a treat for me and this year we started a new tradition. We each packed up our own 72 hour kit in our own backpacks during the last conference. This time we started eating from them and will repack them with new food items as soon as they're empty. I want to make sure that these kits stay usable and that we're not putting things in them that the kids won't eat ... or that don't keep well. It was funny to see the kids get so excited about the whole event.

We went to a baby shower for a cousin on Saturday and got to bring a new appliqued baby blanket and set of cute burp cloths. I'm not sure why I have such a thing for making handmade gifts ... I just can't help myself. Sunday we did an indoor/outdoor egg hunt with our nephew. The rest of the week was fairly mellow, no major mishaps and no one was grounded for life. I even got to teach my scouts how to make a few quick desserts for their families. All in all it was great. Now, we're really headed into spring - allergies and all. Yikes.

Week in Review 4/1/10

The play and my training both wrapped up the same week. Whew! Not a lot actually happened the last week of March. I went to Jen Gochner's spring boutique with a couple girlfriends, which is always nice. I had my first few real work days on my new desk ... a little touch and go, but I survived. We had a special guest speaker at pack meeting and learned a lot about helicopter pilots in the armed forces. Everybody loved it, especially the dads who were there. It was cute to actually see there ears perk up as they came to life, not a normal occurrence for parents at scouts. Then there was more spring snow ... just in time for the beginning of spring break. Joy. 5 kidlets at home and crap weather. Yikes.

K, just 2 more weeks and I'm up to date with these bad boys. Tomorrow should be another full day. Stay tuned ...

Week in Review 3/25/10

Holy scheduling nightmare. Training, training and more training ... waiting for #3 to be released from the hospital. Volunteer hours that still needed to be put in for the play chaperoning the boys' backstage room during the play and the cast pool party the next night. The cast party was, of course, scheduled for the same night as Junior MORP (love their take on 80's fashion). Sheesh! How many places am I expected to be anyways? And I'm surprised I didn't get some kind of funky disease from the gum collection in the choir room. Have you ever seen anything so gross? Ugh! Despite the junior high germ fest, I was caught off-guard by my son's friends though. Just before the play started they all quietly stood in the corner to say a prayer together. I'll admit I was a little misty-eyed. Oh! We also cheered at the next track meet and got Izzy her first name tag. She looks so grown up with her new 'necklace'.

Week in Review 3/18/10

The third week of March was ... full, to say the least. It was my first week of Crew Support training. We had final dress rehearsals and sound checks for the play. #1 had her first track meet of the season. #3 was diagnosed with strep on Monday, missed 3 days of school and we found out it had developed into pneumonia by Thursday, the opening night of Hello Dolly that she and #2 were both in. Talk about a bummer. She made every single practice and wasn't able to perform once for the public because she was so sick. On the other hand, we flew the 'ex' in from Cali as a surprise for our 2 oldest. It had been a long time since they'd seen their daddy and it was somehow fitting for him to be here for this. Aside from all that, we tried to squeeze in some relaxation and actually had dinner in the park one night and as well as a quick trip to our favorite library. We also enjoyed celebrating our niece's birthday my sister-in-law's house where eating is an art. I wish I could accurate describe the BBQ ribs they make ... and the cake. Heaven!