WALL-E

Our real estate agent, John Toner, has a customer appreciation every year. This year he decided to rent the movie theater for his past clients to see WALL-E. The girls and I came back from girl's camp early to see it with the rest of our family. It was really fun. One of the best parts is when Mr. Incredible shows up. It is pretty funny. He gives out door prizes, and Nathan won the first one. I took a few pictures.

Girl's Camp 2008

Warning: long post with accompanying pictures.

Yesterday, I headed up to Blue Knob, for girl's camp. It was so fun to be there with my girls for the last day. When I got there, I stopped in the mess hall to check in. Just a few minutes after I got there, Kerrie came running. She called out my name, and ran into my arms, and started crying. It was quite the welcome. I asked her why she was crying, and she said she was just really happy to see me. It warmed my heart. Amanda came in after Kerrie, and walked up with a little smile on her face and gave me a hug. Notice the responses cooling with each child. I walked with Kerrie and Amanda to find Ashley. She was in playing war with one of the YCL's. I got stopped on the way down, so my other girls ran ahead to inform Ash that I was here. I would like to say she came running, but nope. She couldn't be bothered. She finally did give me a hug, then right back to her game.

Kerrie had a wonderful time her first year, and was really sad to have it end. I am blocking out memories of the drama we had convincing her to go. I knew she would love it. Amanda did really well on her 10 mile hike. The girls and leaders on that hike with her, were so kind. When the other girls got almost to the end of the hike, they went back for Amanda who was behind them, so she could walk into camp with them. No one asked them to do it, they just did it on their own, which says a lot about these girls. I wish I could have thanked everyone of them, so they would know how much this meant to Amanda, and to me. Ashley loved every minute of it. Probably the most telling sign of how successful the camp was, is that my girls are exhausted. They have been sleeping for hours.

For me, the best part came last night. I sat around a camp fire as night fell, and listened to these wonderful girls share their hearts. They are good and kind and have such a beautiful light about them. There was such a peaceful feeling there, and I loved every minute of it. I have to say a huge thank you to the leaders that put this together for them. What a monumental task, but I hope they know how much they are a part of shaping the lives of my daughters. I could not do it without your help.



We left this morning at 6 am, to get back for a free showing of WALL-E (another post to come about that.) As we were driving down the mountain, the sun was so beautiful coming up, and there was this amazing fog, that I had to pull over and take pictures. There was also this really cool bridge, so I snapped a shot of that. The pictures do not do the scene justice, and I am not a grand photographer, but I had to try.

Thanks Bishop

Last Saturday I went to the new member get together for my ward. I am on the activities committee, and I was asked to take care of the food for this little gathering. I always enjoy these little parties. They are pretty relaxed and I enjoy meeting the people that have moved into our ward. With many member's in our ward very interested in electronic toys, the topic turned to tv's. Little did I know it would be beneficial to me. I got a HDTV for mother's day. James did not want to get HD programming, because he was worried it would cost too much. I was okay with that, just happy to get the new tv. Bishop pointed out to me that HD programming should not cost anything more, maybe just a new top box. So, James called Verizon yesterday to see about getting a new box. Turns out, the box we have is an HD box, and they simply had to enter in the HD code, and we have HD programming. No extra cost. I was pretty excited.

A big thank you to Bishop for pointing this out. Who knows how long we would have gone without it for absolutely no reason. We are now enjoying the world of high definition, and it is quite fun.

Half Gone Away

Our home is feeling a little empty this week. I have sent half of my children to girls camp. I am completely excited for them, but man do I miss my girls. I hope they are having a wonderful time.

Getting them ready for girls camp was quite the job. I spent four hours on helping them pack alone. This does not include the amount of time I spent shopping for all of the required products. However, as one very good friend pointed out, that is only 1 hr 15 min. per girl. When I look at it that way, it does not seem so unreasonable. Of course James' response to my complaining about the work was, why didn't you make them do it. I love him, but he can be clueless sometimes.

When we got to the church, I had a hard time leaving them there. It took me about twenty minutes to leave. Then I started worrying. Did I forget anything they are going to need? Are they going to be warm enough? Is Kerrie going to be afraid? Is Kerrie going to have a good experience her first year? Is Amanda going to survive a 10 mile hike. Will Amanda be able to set up the tent?...and on and on. I think the worrying will continue the rest of the week. I guess I am a little psycho that way. James says I'm overprotective. My mom always has little quotes for things. I suppose she would quote Le Grande Richards. I am going to write it here, to make myself feel better.

For every worry under the sun, there is a remedy or there is none. If there's a remedy hurry and find it. If there is none never mind it.

I think that is how it goes. Nope, that did not help a whole lot. I'm still worrying. So I guess I had better get busy and find something to take my mind off the worry.

Done - Mostly

Here is the new fridge, in and already in use. They delivered it this morning at about 8:30 am.



I had to take a picture of a clean and organized fridge, because it will probably only be this way today.



This is the freezer drawer. I really like this design. It looks very empty right now. All the food is not in it yet. I have an extra fridge in my garage. My next project is to move the food from the garage into the house.



This is the new floor, almost done. Actually, the floor is completely in, and I love it. We just have to put the trim back on. We got new trim, as the old was pretty beat up. So that project will have to wait until James can do it. Probably after our trip.

Beautiful Disaster

My kitchen is in pieces right now. James helped me move the old refrigerator out of the kitchen in anticipation of our new refrigerator. It is coming on Saturday. I am a little excited about this. I decided that since we were getting a new one, it would be a good time to redo the floor. The previous owner, in order to sale the house, put sticky squares on top of linoleum, and after time they started to slip. So, it looked really ugly. I pulled up the corner where the fridge was, and there was water damage underneath. That is our old fridge's fault, it has been leaking, which is why we are getting a new one. Luckily there is no rotten wood, it is just starting to mold. So, I killed the mold with bleach, and I am scrubbing it off. As soon as it dries, I can put down the new floor. I did not get anything fancy (tile) just some linoleum, but anything will be better than what it was.

Oh, and much to my surprise, the previous owners had two layers of sticky tile over the original linoleum. We had to pull up all three layers. James was watching me do it, and took pity on me, and stayed home long enough to pull all the flooring up. Thank you James, that would have been a really hard job for me. It took muscles, and a good back. The muscles I probably could have done, but it would have really hurt my back. When I started this whole project I promised I would do it without him, as he is crazy busy right now. It was really sweet of him to help me. He also got Nicolaas involved, because he has a scout requirement that asks him to use two tools to make a home repair. Thanks Nic for your help.

My house looks like a bomb exploded all the stuff from the kitchen into adjoining rooms. My fridge is in the breakfast nook. My stove is where my fridge used to be. The food from our pantry is all over the dining room, and all the counter tops have stuff on them. It is driving me a little crazy, but I know it will get better.

Thanks Jeffy

I got this from Jeffy's blog, and thought it would be fun.

Here are some questions you can do. You have to use one word answers.

1. Where is your mobile phone? missing
2. Relationship? mother
3. Your hair? thick
4. Work? yuck
5. Your sister(s)? friend
6. Your favorite thing? books
7. Your dream last night? cleaning
8. Your favorite drink? smoothie
9. Your dream car? new
10. The room you're in? family
11. Your shoes? crocs
12. Your fears? snakes
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? grandma
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? family
15. What are you not good at? cleaning
16. Muffin? blueberry
17. Wish list item? couch
18. Where you grew up? Arizona
19. The last thing you did? clean
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. What are you not wearing? shoes
22. Your pet? bongo
23. Your computer? old
24. Your life? family
25. Your mood? good
26. Missing? parents
27. What are you thinking about? cleaning
28. Your car? beast
29. Your kitchen? dirty
30. Your summer? fun
31. Your favorite color? purple
32. Last time you laughed? today
33. Last time you cried? Sunday
34. School? out
35. Love? James

Thanks for reading. Now you try it on your blog.

A Good Laugh

Every once in a while I get an email that really makes me laugh. Here is one I got today of actual classified ads that made me laugh. Enjoy.

FREE PUPPIES
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor's dog.

FREE PUPPIES.
Mother, AKC German Shepherd.
Father, Super Dog . . able to leap tall fences in a single bound.

FOUND DIRTY WHITE DOG.
Looks like a rat. Been out a while.
Better be a big reward.
GEORGIA PEACHES. California grown - 89 cents lb.

JOINING NUDIST COLONY!
Must sell washer and dryer $300.


FOR SALE BY OWNER.
Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, 45 volumes. Excellent condition.
$1,000 or best offer.. No longer needed, Got married last month.
Wife knows everything.

Hotel Snob

I admit it, I am a complete snob when it comes to hotels. I really like staying in fancy hotels. So, when my girls decided they wanted a trip for their birthday present, I hunted up this very fancy hotel in Williamsburg. I know this is a very silly thing to be a snob about. I mean who really cares where they sleep? Apparently I do. Here are some pictures from our fun stay in Williamsburg, VA. We stayed at the Manor House.

Goodbye Elementary School

Last night Kelsie said goodbye to elementary school. It was a lovely night, and I did not cry which is unusual for me. I think it is because I was trying to take video and pictures at the same time, that I was focused on that and not the fact that my baby was graduating. Believe me, the emotions are there now. She looked so grown up. I always feel like I am feeding my kids to the horrible monster that is middle school. Middle school was not an easy experience for me, and it has not been for all of my girls so far. I guess I am excited for Kelsie, with a little dread thrown in. I am sure she will thrive, and grow up there, but man, I hate those growing pains. Also, in about eight months, she will be in young womens. I will not have a single girl in primary. Strange, but I am excited for those experiences for her.

Here are some pictures of Kelsie's very fun night. After the graduation, we met up with James and went to Cosi's for dinner. I am glad we did this, so James could be a part of this very fun night.

Me, Trying to Be Mendy & Cami

After watching Cami do Ashley's hair last week, I decided to give it a try with Kelsie for her graduation tonight. I can see all sorts of flighty hair strands that aren't in the curls right, but for my first time, I think it will do.

8th Grade Recognition & Ortho

This morning we went to the 8th grade recognition. Ashley received a leadership award. Here are some pictures of her receiving this award.




Then a little later, I took Nathan to get his expanding retainer. Here are a few pictures right before they put it in. I could not get pictures after, because I really couldn't see it once it was in. He handled it really well. I was very worried because when he got the mold, he complained and was very loud. He survived, and is now at the beginning of a very long process to a handsome mouth.

Feeling Nostalgic

I am feeling a bit nostalgic tonight. Granted I have been ill for the last two days, so that may have something to do with it. Or maybe it is that I feel so crazy busy all the time, that I wish for a more simple time. I took Kelsie out today to buy a dress for her 5th grade graduation, which is tomorrow. I meant to do it earlier, but it just never worked out. So, I went today feeling very yucky. I feel bad that she had to deal with a mom that was not quite up to the excitement of this event. I wanted to make it fun and exciting for her. Luckily, Kelsie is always so great about everything, and she took it in stride. We found a darling dress and sandals. Then she picked out some very bright fingernail polish. She will look very cute. James has to work tomorrow, so he will miss it. I will take video and pictures so he can see it later.

She has had a great year. I must say that the 5th grade team at her school does a great job at making this year very fun. They went on some very fun field trips. They also did the simulated congressional hearings. Kelsie did such a great job.

I am amazed that my last daughter is leaving elementary school. She is such a ray of sunshine in our family. I love seeing her cute smile. These pictures are of her participating in the simulated congressional hearings.

8th Grade Graduation Dance

It is so hard to believe that our little girl is graduating from middle school and moving up to high school. Ashley and I have had such a fun time getting ready for this. On Wednesday we hit the mall to find the perfect dress. It took a while, but we found it. Then today, I pulled her out of school early to start the primping process. Scarlett did her makeup, and she did an amazing job. Thank you Scarlett. Then on to Cami's house for her hair. Cami trimmed off the split ends, then started a very lengthy process of putting pin curls in her hair. It only took about an hour, but Ashley looked amazing at the end of it. Thank you Cami, we owe you big time. I hope you enjoy the pictures from this fun night. The food tables were amazing, especially the tree made out of fruit. It was all very delicious.

Concert & Bulldog Restaurant

There has been a ton of stuff going on at our house, and I am very behind blogging about it all. I will be playing catch up a bit, but I wanted to do two posts today. This week has been very exciting. It started with Tuesday, when the girls had their end of the year strings concert. They did a wonderful job, and we really enjoyed this concert. It is neat to see them improving.

The other pictures on the video are from this morning. We went to the Bulldog Restaurant. This is something they do with the 8th graders at Ashley's school that is just a wonderful experience for the kids, and for us. The students prepared the food, and we really enjoyed it.