Trendy Mom at the Park Day

Thanks a lot, guys, for forgetting to send me the memo that today was the day for trendy moms and perfect children to go to the park and not the day for normal, unshowered mothers to take their dirty, active, "I dressed myself" children to the park. Unfortunately I learned it the hard way by just showing up at the park today. I should've known something was up when we walked into the parking lot full of Lexus, Mercedes, and Acura SUVs. Of course we had walked to the park in our InStep double bike trailer/stroller. I quickly noticed that I was the only one there in knit pants, t-shirt, a baseball cap with bedhead poking out the back, and running shoes, and I believe my boys were the only ones there not in Polo shirts, khaki shorts, and leather sandals. Believe it or not, Sam was wearing knit shorts that were much too short for him and black velcro tennis shoes with no socks and on the wrong feet nonetheless (his proud attempt at getting ready himself). I should also mention that he had ink drawings all up and down his legs that I haven't been able to scrub off for the last 2 days. Getting the picture? I decided to proceed with the day since we were already there despite the looks we were getting. Sam immediately went for the most put-together family there, and he became a magnet to an 18-month old girl named Harper. He loved her; he couldn't keep his gentle hands off of her, and personal space boundaries were completely out the window. To Sam's credit, Harper was completely taken with him. Her mother? I'm still not sure. Sam did tell me on the way home that the girl's mom told him he was a very good boy. Maybe she was worried that he comes from a neglectful home???
My first instinct was to want to bury my head in the head or high-tail it out of there as fast as I possibly could. Instead I chose to be grateful that we had a stroller to walk to the park and that we actually did it. I'm grateful we had clothes to wear there even if we did look incredibly homely. I'm grateful Sam is so social and loves everyone around him, and I'm especially grateful for how nice he is to other kids. I'm grateful Will got to swing all by himself, and I loved seeing him smiling when the wind was blowing on his face. I was also happy that Sam's construction dream came true today. There was construction going on all around the park, and he was mostly interested in watching that. The workers let him sit in their tractor; he wås so happy I thought he was going to pass out. I was grateful that on the walk home I felt proud to have such a simple life full of simple pleasures. I was grateful that my life is so full of love from precious children that I don't spend a lot of time distracting myself with much else.
Yes, this is how we actually went to Trendy Mom at the Park Day

disclaimer: this was in no way intended to be a judgement or lecture to those moms who are so put together all the time or who drive expensive cars. Please don't take offense or misinterpret my feelings or experience.

birth.day: an anniversary of a birth

Pete on his special day

Pete celebrated that anniversary today. His 30th anniversary to be exact. Since I've become a mother I have realized that a birthday probably has the very most meaning to the individual celebrating and their mother. Afterall, no one experiences the birth date like those two. In keeping with that realization, I think it's only appropriate to highlight Pete's birth story on this monumental anniversary. The details come from no other than his very own mother; it's amazing how mothers never forget a detail about that special day.

Pete was born on Saturday, May 27 at 7:07 a.m. at LDS Hospital, and he weighed 7 lb. Lots of 7s, huh? His due date was June 6, so he was a little early. He had big eyes, a little dark hair, and rosy cheeks right from the start. He wasn't much of a crier either.
The little details of the experience are what make the story really interesting. The day before Pete was born was the last day of school for his older brother who was 8 at the time. He had gone to a sleepover that night, and Jane didn't know the boy's last name so she couldn't track him down. Someone met him at his house the next morning to pick him up and let him know he had a little brother. That's the funny part; I'm sure Jane was worried about the him the whole time!! Anyways, the evening before Pete was born Jane was at Ing Floral buying ground cover. She was feeling labor pains all evening but didn't go to the hospital until around 3:00. They were going through red lights the whole way to the hospital. She was only in labor for about 5 hours, and it was fairly easy. The exciting part of the event was she didn't know if she was having a boy or a girl. As soon as he was born and they told her he was a boy, her first thought and reaction was "I knew he would be a boy!!" She was then overwhelmed by the miracle of it all.

30 years later his mother still has this to say about him:
"A special thanks for always being such an example to us. I love your happy countenance. You've always had a desire to do good... helping others, obedience to gospel principles... and fun to be around. We love you for your devotion to your beautiful wife and boys."

It sounds like you, Pete, came into this world with the same mild and honorable countenance that we all love you so much for even now. I'm grateful for your birth 30 long years ago and more grateful that you are my husband now. The most popular song when you were born was "Can't smile without you"; how appropriate. There would be a lot less smiles around here without you!! We love you even if you are an old man now!!


hoping to be with you for 30x3000 more years!

Out with the old and in with the new

Well, my first sewing machine has been retired. Pete bought it for me on my 1st birthday as a married couple, and it was the machine that I really learned to sew on. I definitely got my moneys worth, not to mention valuable experience, but as my hobby and skill level has increased I've outgrown it. Kind of sad, but I'm so excited about my new purchase.
The Janome's favorite place


The burial (Pete even sang "How Great Thou Art" as I lowered her down)


After much research and prodding from my grandma, I popped for the Bernina Activa 240. Yes, folks, I have the Mercedes of sewing machines.

Bernina Activa 240


The new one




I know I will have to sew a lot to get my moneys worth out of this one, but I have high hopes. There are so many options, and I should be able to do all of my quilting projects totally on this machine. YEA!! For those of you who need projects done, send them my way; or those of you who want to get together for a sewing date, then give me a call. I'm excited to work. I'm really excited. Thanks, Ganny, for your support, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Click here to share her excitement. Now I'll be blogging even less and sewing more. :)

finally doing the post

My sister has been wanting me to do this for a long time; sorry I'm just barely getting around to it. This one's for you, Mel!

The rules are simple:
1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/.
2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.
3. Using only the first page, pick an image.
4. Copy and paste the picture into your blog.

What is your first name?

What is your favorite food?

What high school do you go to?

What is your favorite color?

Who is your celebrity crush? (Does he count as a celebrity??)

What is your favorite drink?

What is your dream vacation?

What is your favorite dessert?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What is your favorite indulgence?

What do you love the most?

Charlie bit my finger

sorry for the lack of interesting blogging material lately; I'm trying to think of ways to change the layout for blog, so watch for those changes. hopefully interesting stuff will start happening to post about. Until then, here's something funny to watch. I laugh so hard that I cry; perhaps because this is almost a daily occurrence in our house. This one's for you, Amy. You better laugh!

last day to be 28

Yes, the title says it all. Today is the last that my age will be closer to 18 than to 40!! SCARY! Time sure has a way of sneaking up on you, and that has sent me into crisis mode today. This has been the most difficult birthday yet; let me try to explain why. I've always had this vision of what being a grown-up is for as long as I can remember. This image consisted of a very experienced, talented, strong, smart person. I've been realizing that although my age and circumstances certainly have progressed me to adulthood I certainly lack the discipline and skills that I thought adults would automatically have once they reached adulthood. Sadly enough, today I realized that the only thing that time alone does is ages you. If I want to have the skills that I thought would come in adulthood then I have to discipline myself to have them. Darn it; it looks like I have some work to do. I guess the good news is that I'm not 29 yet, not until tomorrow. I should live it up tonight, and oh I will- sacked out cold from old age in my bed. Just kidding, I know I'm not old yet, but the reality is I'm not getting any younger, and the way time has snuck up lately I will be 80 before I know it!

Kids say the funniest things!!

Sam has just been having a heyday with learning to talk. He says some of the funniest things. Today he was letting Will look at a snail shell that he found. Of course Will put it in his mouth. I quickly removed it and asked Sam if we were supposed to put snails in our mouth. He said "No. Just worms." WHAT!??? It was so funny. He was also telling Norma about the dragon roller coaster he rode on last week. He was all excited telling her how fast it went and how it went around and around. He was talking with so much excitement that he was almost out of breath. Then he stopped and said "I was so freaked out!" WHAT!??? Where in the world did he hear that? It was so funny.

Will just loves and adores ALL of Sam's quirky antics. He just watches him with such adoration, and he laughs at everything he does. They love each other so much. I wish I would video their interactions all day for a permanent reminder of what special friends they are. Hopefully they always will be.

To spank or not to spank...part 2

For those of you who are not in love with the idea of spanking are going to love this story. When I was in kindergarden-8th grade I went to a small school in Oklahoma. Well, at this school the principal gave swats (or spankings) to kids who had misbehaved. If you were the deserving one, then you were taken into his office and placed your hands on his desk and he paddled you on the bottom with a wooden paddle. Depending on the severity of your crime you could receive anywhere from 1 to 3 swats. Many of you may be thinking that this is the craziest thing you have ever heard. Others may be wondering how I know that routine so well. To much of your surprise I have to admit that I was the recipient of swats on 2 different occasions. This story is hilarious.

I was in the 5th grade; there was a popular group of girls in the 6th grade that I was so desperately trying to be friends with; Cristy Jones and Miranda Baxter were the ring leaders. In retrospect I wonder why I wanted to be their friend so bad. For those of you who knew them understand why. Anyways, one of them brought this risque Christmas card to school. They wanted to make copies to distribute. They knew someone would be stupid enough to use the school copier to make copies, and I happened to be that willing stupid one that made the copies. I snuck into the copy room closet during recess, shut the door, and made copies with Naomi Thomas. I remember shaking so bad I hardly could work the copier; I knew I shouldn't be doing it. I'm sure we have all had stages where you would do anything to be cool; this was my moment. I made 10 copies and immediately started to distribute the cards. Of course I got caught. I was pulled out of P.E. and sent to the principal's office. This was an act that earned me 2 swats. I'm still not sure if I got swats because the card said "damn" and "ass", or if it was because I wasn't supposed to use the copy machine. Who really knows! I was shocked and terrified! What freaked me out the most was the fact that I thought this would go on my "school record". I was certain I wouldn't have a fighting chance to get into BYU because of this! I took my swats though and never used the copy machine again.

Well, my grandma found one of the original copies of the card a few days ago and sent it to me in the mail. I haven't been able to stop laughing my head off! If that's as bad as my kids ever do I will be thrilled! Enjoy the card. Watch your mail this Christmas season. If you are all lucky you will receive your own copy. I will just be smart enough to make the copies at Kinkos and avoid the swats!!


(Money is scarce Times are hard... Here's your damned old Christmas Card)

(I'm writing this not to remind yea! That inflation has taken away the things I held most essential. My workshop, my reindeer, my sleigh. Now I'm making my rounds on a donkey. He's old, he's crippled, he's slow. So if I don't see you on Christmas, You'll know I'm out on my ass in the snow!!)