It's rocket launch day today!

the elementary school our kids go to has a rocket club. I think it all started with the last principal, who retired a year or two ago. the principal now was the vice principal for a while, but he is retiring this year, so who knows if they will have it next year.
anyways. it was rocket day today. Bens last year. here he is ready to push the button after the count down.



this is maggie plugging her ears - it is a bit noisy when 5 rockets go off at once. but not too noisy.


this is Ben with his blasted off rocket. it is called a sky writer. kind of funny since it looks like a pencil.
and the girls enjoying the shade. hot day today.



Jack finishing his popsicle and waiting to launch his rocket.

Maggie enjoying a cold one!

Jack with his blasted off one. it was a bit breezy up high. A few went into trees, and neighbors yards. good times.

so, in keeping with thursday 13, I will give you 13 things I am doing this week, or have done this week:

1. had my last seminary class. must get attendance in by tomorrow. must do it.

2. booked my flight to NYC! so excited. gotta pull out a map, and see where we are going and what we must see! Kayli- any Chicago area must see stuff? we will be there for a day or so too!

3. started knitting a boy hat a while ago. I will finish it this week. or I will try anyways. almost too hot to knit. we shall see.

4. last night I watched The Lake House. pretty good movie. a few things I was confused with- they were conversing through letters, then there were scenes where they were in different locations on split screen, but just talking to each other. that was weird. but cute show.

5. will get my room back to the clean state it was a while back. just a bit of stuff around that really shouldn't be there. I will deal with that today.

6. made fresh guacamole. yum. maybe I'll have some of that after I clean my room. a nice reward.

7. I scrapped while I watched the movie last night. that was nice. haven't done that in a while. I'll try and post a couple on 2peas.

8. I will turn off the game cube and send my kids outside. much to their dismay. I am the mom, and I can do that.

9. I went to Womens conference at BYU many years ago, and that is one thing that I took notes of- something to the effect that you are the mom, you can turn off the tv. so true. but it is easier to let them watch, know what I mean?

10. I wasn't originally supposed to babysit tomorrow, but the dad took an extra shift, so I get the girls tomorrow, and I am okay with that, because that means I can have a bit more money to spend in New York, or where ever I want- maybe Target, or Joannes, or Kohls. hmm. any more shifts he needs to take?

11.I think I will try to hit a few garage sales this weekend. I picked up a little basic sewing machine, that I think Sadie will be getting for Christmas, last weekend. I still need to pull it out, but I am pretty sure it is new in the box. I love finding stuff like that for Christmas and birthday presents, and I am glad that my kids are the type that don't really care if it is new in the package stuff.

12. Maggie is loving her swimming lessons. today they jumped off the edge, while holding our hands. and she kept saying again, again. she didn't like getting her face dunked in the water though.

13. my flowers in the pots are doing well, I have remembered to water them daily. I think I might even go out and get a few more. I need to get some tomato plants too. love toasted tomato sandwiches with tomatoes right from the garden. yumm.

happy day.

the girls had their first swimming lesson this morning. Sadie was up with the dawn, she was so excited. I think she is in a level higher than she should be, but I wanted her in the same time as I had to go in with Maggie. we shall see how she does. so far so good. they both loved it.

in front of our house is a tree that blossoms with the most beautiful pink flowers. I wanted to get a picture last year, but before I could, a big wind came and blew them all away. so I took Maggie out, and htis is one of them. crazy kissy lips!
this picture is for Kayli. I did make a bag, a while ago. with some fabric I got at an old peoples lodge big sale for a cheap price, and I love it. it is so funky. I use it for a purse, and it fits lots of stuff. I still need to sew a button on it so I can shut it, and not lose all that stuff that is crammed in there!

the other day I was eating some cucumbers, and just wondered what the deal was with putting them on your eyes, so I tried it, and it felt very cool, and relaxing. I would recommend it! so, of course Maggie had to try too. what a crazy girl. she is so funny.

so, here she is posing in front of the tree,
and the next picture is her on our front steps by the bleeding heart bush we have going on there. I made the mistake of pulling one of the flowers off to tell the kids the story, which I couldn't really remember, except that it has slippers and a dagger at the end, so now Maggie has to pull a flower off each time we walk past it. poor plant will have no flowers soon. We had better start using the back door more.




and because I am not so good with computers, and accidentally down loaded it twice, you all get to see that picture again. lucky you.

tonight is my last seminary class. wow. I have a few kids who are so very close to passing, I really hope they have lessons to hand in to me tonight, as Friday is the deadline, and that would be sad for them not to pass when they are so close. the Bishopric is putting on a BBQ for the seminary kids- the early morning ones too, then we are going to have an auction with the seminary bucks they have earned for coming, and learning scrupture mastery and doing their lessons. some of the kids have a lot of money. should be good!

Thursday's thirteen

1. pretty sad when one can't remember ones password to log into her blog.

2. set my timer for 42 minutes this morning and cleaned my kitchen real good. it smells lysol fresh in there. aaahhh.

3. I bought some flowers at the store yesterday to plant into planters. why you ask? I ask that too. I will give it a try. this year I will water them. but first I need to plant them. FYI I am a plant killer. I am trying to change.

4. I like my digital camera, I really do, but I miss the days of taking the pictures, and printing them off, and what you see is what you get. I am trying to get those wedding pictures done and given to the couple, but my oh my, editing them is not so fun. if I knew what I was doing in photoshop I think I would enjoy it more. must spend some time reading, and understanding the manual. or maybe take a class somewhere. I learn much better when I am shown how to do things. me and manuals= not so good together.

5. so, I finished sewing the girls curtains. right now I am trying to bleach then a bit to soften the colors. I think I saw that done on someones blog. so far it's not making much of a difference, but I don't really know what I am doing.

6. sitting and watching Jed play soccer last night I thought I was going to freeze. I had long johns on. I mean really! long johns, and wrapped up in a blanket, and I was still cold. but this morning I heard it is snowing in Calgary, so I guess I should be happy.

7. book club tonight, and I am about half done the book. I guess I will be doing a bit of reading today!

8. I made some rolls last night- with the recipe from this blog. they were yummy. I think I might have to try a few other recipes from there. yum-o!

9. If you need a very good blog to read, go here. I laugh so hard. she is a good writer- tells some great stories, and her recipes are pretty good too.

10. have I told you about the snails? I am not sure if I have. well, in brief, Jed got two snails for the fish tank a while ago, and they laid eggs, and we had a ton of baby snails, and now there are tree babies left, as well as the two big ones, and now there are more eggs. hmm. I wonder if I can find a recipe for escargot? just kidding. yuck.

11. I was thinking that I really should try to stop eating sugar so much- cut down a lot, but maybe not today- that leftover icecream cake in the freezer is calling to me. maybe tomorrow I will try to have no sweets. maybe.

12. so, monday was a holiday, and monday is usually our garbage day, but usually on holidays you skip and move to the next day, so we didn't put our garbage out, and kind of laughed at the people that did, but really, it was garbage day, so now we have lots of stinky garbage in our can at the back. yuck. the joke was on us. ha ha.

13. so, I was asked to watch a pilot for a sitcom, and I figured they would want my opinion on it, and when the called to ask me about it, they asked like a million questions about one of the commercials that was on. wow. that was weird. then they asked about 5 questions about the show. hmm. it wasn't an exceptionally good show anyways. good for a few laughs I guess. Jed said it should be a real show, and he would watch it. so there, opinion guys. my seven year old liked it.

ah, the great outdoors.

camping.
wow.
good times.
so glad we had that trailer-
with a heater.
even cooked microwave popcorn.
that is how camping should be!
this picture is the girls in the top bunk.
we thought we would get them both to sleep up there together, because cory was having a little Settlers party on the table that night, with a couple of the guys. it didn't really work, ( the girls sleeping in the bunk together) but fun for them to hang out up there!
We went thursday night, Friday was an okay day, a bit chilly- sweaters required, but Saturday- oh my.
very very cold. so grateful for that heated camper on that day, let me tell you! Sunday was beautiful, so we came home. haha. of course. but while cory packed the trailer up I took the kids to the beach. it was nice. no one else there, I even took my sweater off a couple of times. the kids caught leeches, snails, and ladybugs. well, the boys did. good times.

right off our campsight was a path down to the lake. Maggie could not get enough of throwing rocks in the water. I heard that request from her so many times. frow wocks in wata?

then the girls on a log by the lake where we went to throw rocks in the water.

glad we came home on Sunday, so I could spend all day today doing laundry!
I did get some onions planted in my little garden. the kids will appreciate that! haha. we went and got some new window coverings for our new windows! man. costly stuff for some fabric with tabs. Cory said I can sew some if they don't look homemade. hmm. I'll see what I can do. tomorrow- curtains for the girls room. yay.

Thursday 13

1. We are getting new windows put in our house right now! yay. they are nice. our house smells like caulking. not nice.

2.we are going camping- which is a good thing since our house smells like caulking.

3.we are borrowing our friends trailer- yay. sad that we couldn't find ourselves a fabulous one, but lucky that they offered to let us use theirs! I am hoping Cory will get hooked and want our own really bad. hmm. we shall see.

4. when I dropped the babysitee off at playschool this afternoon, one of the moms was saying she heard someone else saying that they heard it is supposed to snow on Monday. what?

5. my best friends sisters boyfriends brothers girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who saw Ferris pass out at 31 flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious. ( my number 4 reminded me of that. had to write it in.)

6.got my passport a couple of days ago. I am good to go to NYC! and Virginia, and Chicago- and maybe a stop in DC. now I just have to fork over the big bucks and book a flight, and beg someone to watch my kids. hee hee.

7. I took Jed to soccer last night- one of these times I'll take some pictures- he loves it! anyways, yesterday was hot, so we went there with a blanket to sit on, and hats to keep the sun out of our eyes, - well, here when there are hot days, we have thunderstorms at night, so saw a few flashes, heard some thunder, then a big wind started blowing, and it was by the new part of town, so lots of dirt to blow around, then it started raining, then it stopped , and the sun came out, and they played through it all. funny.

8. the misquitos are insane around here. everywhere. yuck. so it was nice when the wind and rain came, they went away, but when the sun came out, they were back.

9. I printed off a bunch of the wedding pictures to put in an album for the couple, and I am really not impressed. they look off. the color, or something. I am hoping it was where I got it developed and not me, but it could be me. not good.

10. the window guys were out for lunch, but they are back now, so it will be noisy, I hope Maggie will sleep through it.

11. Sadie wants to invite her kindergarten teacher over for lunch. is that and okay thing? or weird? I am not sure. we just live across the street from the school, so she could just run over. I don't know what to do. any advice?
could be fun to plan a little fancy lunch. maybe if I invited a couple of other girls and their moms? what do you think?

12. well it was hot today, but now I see the clouds coming in. maybe another thunderstorm. that would be fun camping in! we have like no rain gear. maybe now is the time!

13. well, I guess I should get packing. hope I don't forget anything important. chocolate and marshmallows. check. we are good to go!

as promised-

here is Ben's newspaper article he wrote for mothers day. such a funny guy. it is mostly true- except the part about the ambulance. I just drove him. and I don't think i was nervous. and I wasn't really babysitting- just watching some kids- without pay, so that doesn't really count, right? and it wasn't really that serious- they just bandaged it up.and he neglected to mention that the principal was so incredibly helpful- carried Ben to the van, then followed us to the hospital, then stayed with us, and carried him to the house. such a great guy. we were sad when he retired the next year. or maybe it was that year. I have a very bad memory. my favorite part is the picture- the doctor saying that Ben is going to miss some school and me saying- why me? so funny. I love school, I love the break from children I get when they are gone! them being home throws me off. anyways, other than all that stuff, it is all true!

so, our little tent trailer had a leak in the roof, and over the winter a lot of water got in, so it is not so nice inside, but after scrubbing it out yesterday, I think it is somewhat useable- though as I remind Cory all the time it sleeps 6, and we are 7- so, we have been looking for a larger camper, and kind of in a rush, since we are hoping to go camping this weekend- for the last 3 years a bunch of families in the ward have gone camping together on the May long weekend. anyways, the point of my story is that Cory was making some phone calls last night, and someone called him, not really knowing how he got Cory's number, and Cory has no idea either, he doesn't think he was one of the people he called- I think it is destiny calling. haha. anyways, that got me thinking about back when I did phone calls for Fabricland- they call all their members and tell them about upcoming sales, and being that I am a stay at home mom and welcome any extra income, I did it- for a measly $0.25 per call, but hey, money is money, and without fail, those evenings after making the calls I would always get a couple calls back saying- someone was calling here- oohhhh. that drives me crazy. I can see calling if my number was on your call display a few times, but I am sure I only called once a day. get an answering machine. sheesh. anyways. had to vent. thanks .

anyways, apparently it is supposed to rain this weekend, so now I get to decide whether or not we should go. great. no fun if it does rain, but those weather men aren't always right. right?

Happy Mother's Day!

I asked Cory to take some pictures of me with the kids, because- according to a poem Jack wrote for me for mothers day, I am a scrapbooking freak- hmm. he nailed that one.
anyways back to the pictures- well, this is one of the better ones. Jed being goofy. the rest are okay, Sadie not smiling. well, Maggie, Ben and I look cute. Jack, he's looking a little buck toothed!






found this little note on the counter made with pretzel letters. sweet.

an awesome magnet picture and frame thing for my fridge.
too cute. that's Jed's sweet little head. funny, huh?


On Friday when I was off taking pictures, MAggie was at a friends house for the afternoon. after she got home - after school, I guess she was a little worn out. and Cory, knowing I am the scrapbooking freak - took pictures. he's a good man. too funny. her sound asleep on the table with her cute derriere in the air.


Ben wrote a funny story for me- I will try to scan it and share with you tomorrow. but for now, my book is calling.

wow

I tried so many times to get on this blog to update it, but something was going on, that I couldn't get on, but this time I tried and it worked, so here it is!

I was so excited the other day to vacuum my bedroom, and all I had to move was an empty laundry basket. wow. that was nice!

if now I could get the rest of the house in that condition.

that would be super nice.

took pictures of the wedding.

it was scary, and fun, and good.

it was very sunny though, and there were shadows. gotta work with that.

learned a lot.

here's one.

good times.

well, we have a bit of sibling rivalry happening here.

Ben and Jed have clashed for a long time.

a morning last week, they were at it, neither of them letting it drop,

till Ben had reached his breaking point and threw a cup at Jed.

it was just a plastic cup, but the force it was flying at cut Jed's head and cut it open nicely.

Cory managed to come home, and spent the morning in the emergency with him while he got stitches.

such fun . I really don't know what to do about these boys.

yep. crazy stuff.

crazy.

and a couple more fun ones.

I have lots of editing to do.

wish I knew photoshop better.

Happy National Scrapbook day!

and what a day it is! check out this! what a great surprise!
I had such fun with that page!
and if you haven't been to two peas- let me guide you there-
I was chosen by a sweet garden girl- Amy Grendell to be highlighted in the user gallery!
and if you can't find me- I will help you out- look here.
that was fun!
I am secretly hoping I might make it to a scrapbook store today, but it is not looking too good, maybe I can scrap some tonight.
that would be fun too.
MAggie is napping, so I am going to nap too, then we will catch up with the rest of the fam at an activity at the church.
stayed up too late watching handsome Denzell Washington in Deja vu. I had to ask too many questions, but once I figured it out, it was a good show.

thirteen for thursday

1. I was reading on someones blog and they said they were having a laundrypalooza that day at their house. I think I could use that term for what is going on here- all laundry all day! sounds fun, huh?
not really.

2.Sadies kindergarten class is having a special lady spa day on may 11- for mothers day- sounds so good- manicures, massages, hairdos- wow. sadly that is the afternoon of the wedding I get to be the photographer for- so I have to miss it. my sister Jill is kind of happy about that- because she gets to be Sadie's special lady for the day. wah.

3. this saturday is national scrapbook day. I think you all should check out 2peas in a bucket that day. ;)

4. I think after I finish this post I will pull out the sewing machine and sew a bag. yep, I think so.

5. so, I am hoping to barbecue stuff for supper tonight- chances are good that it will be raining then. it is so grey and humid out there- right at supper time, I am sure it will start.

6. Cory has been busy putting up insulation down in the basement. One small step for the basement reno, one large leap for ... hmm. for what, I don't know.

7. he is planning on going out tonight to help a friend of his build a house. scary- Cory building. at least the guy knows what he is doing. he can teach Cory a thing or two!

8. Cory got hooked on the Settlers of Catan craze. not really a craze I guess, but nonetheless, he is hooked. a good game, fun, challenging. not too hard, but sadly I have not won, the whole 3 times I have played it. I might never play it again. but come on over, and Cory would love to play with you!

9. debating whether or not to commit myself to yet another challenge- stacy Julians spring into action challenge. good stuff in there. eating healthier, more exercise. I love the one day free to eat what you want- that is something I would need. hmm. check it out. tell me what you think. a good thing, no doubt!

10. just have to say- chocolate. so good. whoever invented that, or discovered it, or perfected it- pure genius. love it.

11.found my bag of no-name oreos half gone and got mad. those darn kids- getting into the treats all the time- so Cory figured he better get them while he could, and finished them off. then the next day I commented to the kids about it, and they said Grandma gave them some when she was here watching them, while I was off getting my passport. oh, well if Grandma said you could. okay.

12. alright, gotta catch up on some smallville episodes- the kids have watched a few on nights when I was out, so I am going to put that on and pull out the machine- and make a bag.

13. but, I will still be listening for that washer and dryer to quit, so I can reload them, and keep them going- party on!

the challenge

well, the organization challenge
is over today.
I chose my sad, sorry, messy bedroom
that was in serious need of some cleaning and organizing.
as you can see by the before pictures.







I would like to present to you my newly painted, organized and clean bedroom.
I hope to eventually get a real bed with a headboard, and nice matching dressers and bedside tables, but for now, here it is.



and also my ensuite bathroom that has a fresh coat of paint. I really love the colors- the bedroom is a shade darker than the bathroom.

okay, for the challenge I need to answer some questions-

1.the hardest part of the challenge for me was dealing with all the stuff. I overcame that by dealing with a little bit at a time. all at once would be way too overwhelming, which really is why nothing was getting done.

2. a big problem with my bedroom and the mess is that it is laundry central. that needed to change big time to help me be organized. I sorted, folded and stored in my room. baskets of clothes around- clean and folded, and put back in baskets rather than being put away, then no one knowing which baskets are clean and which are dirty- yep, a real problem. so, a new habit that I am getting into is putting the clothes away right after they are folded, and sorting them down by the washer- less mess in the room. the basement is in a state of renovation- that is why a lot of the stuff was up there, so when the laundry room is really done, that is where it will all happen! yay, not in my room.

3. I sorted through my clothes, passed some on to my sisters, some donated to charity, the sleeping bags that were in a huge pile were put away properly in the garage, and stuff put in their proper places elsewhere in the house.

4. when I walk in my room now it is such a nice, relaxing place, open and airy and clean. I really really want to keep it that way. to know that it can be easily maintained now, and if I clean it up every day it won't get to that horrible state again!

5. keeping my room clean and organized will give me a nice place to retreat to for peace, where I can really relax, and not stress from the mess! this is a necessary thing in anyones life- and I was missing out for a while!

thanks for the challenge to get me in gear! love my room! yay!

what a day

went downtown this morning- before the kids were even up

had to go get a passport.

I don't know who's big idea this was-

a passport to get into the states. rediculous.

anyways,

since I have some big plans in store to visit the states I had to get one.

so I stood in line for about an hour,

then got a number and had to sit for about 3 more hours waiting for my number to be called,

then I was done in 5 minutes.

good thing I took a book with me

too bad I finished it in the second hour.

but at least- in 3-4 weeks, I should be good to go with my hot little passport in hand, for my trip -now in July- to Virginia, NYC, and now my trip includes a wedding in Chicago. I don't know the people getting married, but hey, it's a wedding in Chicago. I am game.

swim club starts tonight.

the dropping off and picking up. fun stuff. Ben is the only one who wants to join this year. I will have to see if I can convince the other boys.

soccer for Jed starts tomorrow.

usually my kids are in nothing. - except 2 of them in piano, which they walk to.

and they have informed me they will not be taking lessons next year.

I like not driving around everywhere.

but that is over- for a while.

and lest you think I scrapbook no more, here is a page I did, with a cute picture of my cute girls, by my friend Shellie.