what I am loving today

1. I love that many of the times after Maggie uses the potty she sings- I'm a big kid now. so funny.

2. I love that some people across the street are having a garage sale today. I am just waiting for them to move their vehicle out of the driveway signalling that they are open, and I am so there!

3. I love tht there is an apartment building that we pass on our way to the library that has a ton of whirlygigs and flower pots in their front- everytime I pass it just makes me smile. it is so over the top!

4. I love using this bag when I shop- it says environmentally friendly person. I like to think that I am one of those. and on the other side of the bag it says- this bag is green. when it is so black. fun. love it.

5. I love that all of my seminary class are going to pass this year! as long as one boy does 2 more lessons, and one girl does 3, but I am pretty sure they will do them. yay.

6. I love that in three weeks, and a few hours I will be off on a great adventure. I don't love that I am leaving in the middle of the night, and have a three hour layover in the early morning hours, but I think it will all be good.

7. I love that I get to go to Kirtland, as part of that adventure, and see soem church history. so fun.

8. I love fudgsicles. so yummy.

9. I love sunny days.

10. I love that later today I am going to attempt to make something new, that I think will be so fun, and if they work out, I will do a show and tell. and I think they are going to be great!

11. I love that I found someone's blog that looks so familiar to me, and I am trying hard to figure out how I know her. I am thinking from Ricks days, but not sure. fun.

12. I love that on Tuesday night, all the women in Edmonton stakes were invited to go and listen to Sis. Allred of the General Relief Society presidency. it was so fun to see so many people there, and she was a great speaker.

13. I love that I went and got groceries this morning, and now my fridge is full of cherries, and strawberries, and apples, and grapefruits, and all sorts of good foods. but I am not sure what we are having for supper. would fruit salad be okay?!?

question

How much in Canadian dollars is 1, 500,000,000 pounds?, because I just got an email saying that I won that much!

how exciting.

wonky

I had a goal to try and finish the top for Ben's quilt on Saturday. but my eyes were going wonky with all that red and orange, so I had to stop, and a good thing I hadn't sewn all the squares together, because Cory informed me he wants to put double beds in Ben and Jacks rooms- for all the guests that come this way!
great.
now I have a whole lot more squares to sew.
good times!

yesterday

I have a friend who is a photographer. I am just a wannabe photographer, but she is a real true to life one.
so this friend of mine called me yesterday morning, wanting to take pictures of Maggie. well, who am I to refuse some pictures by a real photographer. so we went. then later that day, I wanted to take Sadie out, and try my hand at it, so I called her, just to see if she would be interested in some shots of Sadie.

and she was, so we went out, and while she took some pictures of Sadie, I took more of Maggie. so much fun. If you want to see her work, and some of Maggie, go here and got to enter site, then to portfolio, then to terrific kids, and you will see Maggie in there. she does some good work.


I had Maggie stand in this window sill. she was a bit nervous. funny girl.

and the day before I went to see my new little nephew again, and gave him the sweater. and just in time for those few rainy days we had. cute little fellow.

This one is a bit fuzzy, but I still like it.

He's such a sweetie. gotta go!

randomness

1. so, all day yesterday I kept having thoughts of things I need to write on my blog. I should know by now that I need to write these things down right away, because right about now, my mind is blank!

2. I will share this rug I have been crocheting. that 2 hour long American Idol helped it along nicely. It is made out of old shirts. so fun. I am making it to go in front of my washer and dryer. so, it needs to be really long. I love the bright colors in it! I might need to raid my kids drawers for more shirts! I think I got rid of some bright green ones a while ago. pity. those would look so great in this rug! but cutting those shirts up takes a while.

3. well, the basement is great. I need to go down there with my camera, and take you on a tour! we still need 2 more book shelves- the 4 we have down there already are pretty full. I knew we had a lot of books, but I am actually quite surprised.

4. although the baseboards are not on the walls, because I believe you must put door frames up first, they are at least finally not in the middle of my livingroom floor any more. yay!
5. here is one of the squares for Ben's quilt. it is a wonky log cabin-y square. so fun to sew all crazy like that. and cutting the squares so they are off a bit, so it is not all even. so liberating!

6. Cory thinks that there should be other colors in the quilt, since Ben's walls are a redish-orange, but I am sticking with red and orange.

7. I found the quilt top I am going to make for Jack's bed, and he approves. now I just need to finish Ben's first. so many ideas, so little time- or more likely too much time spent on the computer!


8. this is Mags, and her baby that she has named Matthew. he is sleeping on the rug. silly baby.

9.big plans to head over to my sisters and take some more pictures of her baby. so sweet. and I really want to try the sweater on him! hope it fits.

10. it is chillier today- it rained all day yesterday. perfect weather for a cozy sweater for a baby.

11.book club tonight. the book was Joy Luck Club. interesting. not one I probably would have read on my own, but isn't that the whole point of book club?

12. the lady who is hosting tonight lives in a town a bit away, so I was talking to one girl last night about who would go from here, that we should car pool in, and one name was mentioned, and she said she wasn't sure if she would come, since she probably didn't read it, because it wan't her type of book. I just chuckled. isn't that the whole point of book club? and you never know, I say. maybe that's your type, you just don't know because you have never tried it.

13. try it, you'll like it- or so yo gabba gabba says. what? you don't watch treehouse tv? well, try it, you'll like it!

it's true!

yep- finally.

and all it took was a trip to a friends house, where they had no diapers- so she had to use the potty,

then I knew she could do it, so her diaper gig was up!

the first day we had 2 accidents, the next day, none, then yesterday, one.

She is doing so good.

and I am so happy!

happy campers?

so, our trip started out with a bang!
after having issues with the water tanks in our trailer, we kind of decided not to go, then, late Friday morning we thought, heck, let's go anyways, so we quickly packed all the stuff in, and headed out.

first stop- a gas station in town to fill the trailer tanks up with propane. no propane. okay.

so we head on out. and stop at a gas station in a small town to use their facilities, and get propane there. that's where it all happened. something went wrong with Cory's thinking, his foot was where it shouldn't have been, and bang! blood everywhere.
so, we went to the nice little hospital. where he sat, and got a few stitches.
while the kids and I ate the popcicles that were in the freezer of the trailer!

but he was okay, so we kept on going, and had a good weekend. it was the best weather we have ever had on a May long weekend- we have gone to this place for about 3 years now. it is usually very cold. not so this time!


it just wouldn't be camping without those archie comics.
and Cory took it easy. poor guy.

had some beach time. isn't she cute.

and of course threw many rocks into the water.

good times were had by all.

yesterday

1. had to go shopping in the morning for our camping trip. I got the hot dogs and the shtuf for smores, (I absolutely adore Sadie's little lists she writes all the time!) but I did forget the miny cereal boxes. sadly I was looking at the word miny- knowing that wasn't right, but could not think of the right way to spell it. Ben helped me out. it's mini. in case any of you have the same problem as I do!

2. the David Thompson Brigade was passing through our town yesterday.

so all the boys got to go on field trips to the big event in the afternoon. Jed actually came home sick before lunch, but miraculously felt better, so Maggie and I took him to the field trip place.

and I am so very glad we did.

3. we got to make butter in baby food jars by shaking up whipping cream and then eat it on crackers. yum.

4. got to go on rides on horse drawn carts.

5. got to pump water, then have races carrying the buckets.

6. three legged races, and tug of wars, and egg on the spoon races, and all sorts of fun old games like that.

7. got to do laundry on wash boards. gee- getting them to just put it in the washer and turn it on doesn't seem so bad now, does it!

8. the got to cook bannock on a fire, and have homemade icecream. yummy.

9. then I thought Sadie should experience it all, so we all went back after school, but some of the things were shut down.

10. so Sadie and Jed got to saw some wood.

11. and we got to be there when all the canoes came rowing down the river. such a fun thing. a bunch of people are re-enacting the trip David Thompson took- he was an early explorer. they are canoeing from rocky mountain house to somewhere in Ontario. I think the end date is sometime in July. wow!

12. then Sadie and I got to go see the local high school's production of Beauty and the Beast. it's not my favorite Disney show, but it was well done, and Sadie loved it!

13. then we got home late, to find all the boys up watching a movie on tv, while Dad was out fixing the trailer so it could be ready to go out camping. but I got them off to bed saying they had better not be grumpy in the morning! and they did pretty good today!

flash back

to Sunday.
what a day. my two boys that are in cubs made these candy flower pots. unfortunately Maggie got to one of them during the week, and this is what I got. sweet, none the less.


I got this cute card from Sadie! she thinks I am awesome!
so fun.

field trip!

Headed out to the winspear today to hear the orchestra of the animals with a whole lot of grade threes.
good times.
sort of made me sad that I don't play the oboe anymore.
I played it in the junior high band!

a star it is!

after a long grueling day, learning first aid with Ben-
we are both certified now, so that was all good
Cory came and picked us up,

and we headed to IKEA to get some hot dogs for our more picky children.
this is Maggie walking back to the car, holding tight to her pop.
Then we headed to Fatburger. nice name for a place, huh?
it was good. there Jack, Cory and I got a hamburger. just as good as homemade. so not really worth the big bucks, but a fun place to try out.
then we headed to Wendy's to finish off with Frosty's. we like to spread the wealth around. good times.

then, we got to go see my new little nephew.
so I guess I need to stitch a little star on the sweater just for him.
so sweet. glad he finally came!

now what?

I had big plans last night.

to finish this over a year long project, and see it on my handsome boy- I am sure it will be one of those pieces of clothing that he wants to wear every day. your kids do that too, right? want to wear the same pants/shirt/sweater/socks, day after day after day, until you have to pry it off of their bodies and get it to the washing machine, stat? tell me they do.

anyways, that is how wonderfully fabulous this sweater was going to be.

I joined up the shoulders just like the book said. and it worked! amazing. then I got the sleeves ready to be attached. but wait. they are a bit small. they don't reach all the way across where I believe they should reach. I mean, I have sewn a bit, knitted a littler bit, but I think I know how sleeves should be, and these aren't as they should be.

so, what do I do now? so close, yet so far away.

kind of like my basement! (haha)

I hear rumors that I might have furniture down there this weekend!

if it does happen like 'they' say it will, I will share pictures next week!

here's hoping!

meanwhile, until I get this sweater figured out, it will be shoved to the back of my drawer of projects. poor little sweater.

not quite..

so, I didn't quite get thirteen projects done, but I will share with you what I did do this last week!

1. finally put my 9 be's into the frame my father-in-law made, put a hanger on the back and hung it up. It feels very good to have that up, and is a great reminder to my family.

2. I bought a composter, put it together- mostly by myself, and have started putting our kitchen scraps into it. I love that some of our garbage can turn into something that will be so good to help more good things grow.

3. okay, this isn't really something I did, but I will share. I stopped at Walmart yesterday, looking for something that I couldn't find. sadly. but then I saw these boxes of honey nut cheerios for $2. I thought that was a good price, so I picked up 4 of them. then when I was going through the check out they rang in at $1. what? awesome. sadly, I had to go home right then because we were having the missionaries over for supper, and I had to make it still. so anyways, I got to go back later in the evening and picked up 5 more boxes. love seeing them lined up in my new food storage room! breakfast for a couple of weeks,anyways!

4. put some binding on this quilt that some relief society sisters made to give to the yw who are moving up.

6. luckily I had made a whole lot of binding when I was finishing up this plaid quilt, and had enough left over for the yw quilt! 2 for 1! love it.

7. and that is about all I did this last week.- well, for big projects anyways. I mean, there is always the laundry, and cleaning and dishes, and all that- that I did, of course!

8. Cory got 4 bookshelves put up on our 'library' wall, and we need to head back to IKEA to get 2 more. the boys don't think we have enough books to fill up even one of them, but I think we have enough for at least two! haha.

9. I get to take a first aid course on Saturday. should be good. I guess being that my house is always full of kids, I should know what to do if something should happen. the last time I took first aid was at Ricks. I remember when we had to watch a slide show of different accidents and cuts and stuff, and this cute guy fainted. so funny.

10. oh, I forgot about this. the sweater for my new neice, or nephew is now done. so he or she can come now. really. I am sure it's mom is more than ready. I think if it is a boy, I will stich a little star on it, and if it is a girl, a little heart.

11. I was worried that it might be to warm for a little baby to be wearing around now, but then I was reminded that we live in Canada, and it is still cold, and I think the little baby might need a cozy sweater to keep it warm on these cold, 5 degree spring days.

12. although I did hear that it is supposed to be 20 degrees on Tuesday. hurry up tuesday, and sun. I am ready for you.

13. I was reading the instructions again for how to finish the sweater I am knitting for Jack, and I think I get it now. so that will be my next project to finish. I was thinking I would give it to him for Christmas, but it has taken me so long to finish, that I don't think it will fit him for long, and I had better give it to him as soon as it is done!

today.

the food is in the new food storage room. there is way more room down there than there was upstairs, so now we need more food! I did just stop at Costco yesterday and got a few more packs of ketchup. very essential to the food storage!

really need to get working on those 13 projects I wanted to have done by Thursday.

the basement is even closer to being done- just the family room carpet left. so close. so very close.

seminary tonight. only 4 more classes. I need to get bugging a couple of the kids to get some work done and handed in. I would love them all to pass this year- and I think it just might be possible.

it's pinkalicious!

so, I stopped in the library quickly yesterday, and this book caught my eye. I knew the girls would love it.
Then, after we read it, we HAD to make these.

read it, and you'll understand!
so yummy!
and pink.

but we didn't turn pink.
I guess we need to eat some more!

guess what day it is?

why, it's thursday, of course.
and we all know what that means around here!
thirteen things! lets go!

1. I thought it would be fun to grab the latest quilt creation, the girls and the camera and do a little photo shoot- ala tara whitney. It had rained, then stopped, it was close to bedtime, getting dark, got a couple shots. this one was my fave.

2. I guess my pay it forward was not too successful. I might try it again in a few months. yes, you do need to have a blog to participate, and I guess it needs to be one people can access ;).

3. there is another quilt-a-long starting over at crazymomquilts. I am debating whether or not to join in on this round. hmmm.


4. Cory came home yesterday not feeling good, had a little nap, then I put him to work! this is a picture of where we used to have our food storage. and other stuff. in my large closet upstairs. this is after we took a bunch of food out. the new room is almost ready, just needs one more set of shelves put up. I might attempt that today, we shall see.


5. this is Ben and his science fair project. good times. It was so interesting to see all the things the kids did, and some that were done so well, and some well- not so much effort put into them. some of the more memorable- one girl tested water proof mascara- but her presentation was all in french, so I couldn't understand it. the pictures were interesting though! the fudge one was pretty cool. a few that tested the different absorbancy of paper towels, and a few of which batteries last the longest. apparently energizer is the kind to buy!

6. well, spring has come. we had beautiful weather, now it has been raining for 2 days. the Deacons are supposed to be going on a canoeing trip this weekend. hope it stops raining.


7. I missed taking a picture of the boys room how it was with all three of them in it, dressers everywhere. Cory started moving stuff out when I was not home. so, this is the room they were in after all the dressers and mattresses are out. this is the aftermath. there were two big dressers where all this stuff is. I went through it, cleaned it up, vacuumed, and the bunk bed has been moved down to Jed's new room.

8. slowly I am seeing some progress. this is good. someday soon my house will be all in order. maybe. maybe not.

9. no new baby neice or nephew yet. but any day now, I am sure. but I am still not done the sweater for him or her. I have some good knitting time scheduled for tonight during survivor and the office!

10. is it a really bad thing when a kid you are babysitting refuses to use your bathroom all day, and keeps saying she will use the bathroom at mommy's house?

11. but she never did have an accident- yesterday, at least. we will see how today goes.

12. wow, it's May already! crazy. there is a group of us here who go camping on the may long weekend every year- and all I can say is I am soooo happy that we have a camper with a heater.

13. okay, I have been very lazy for a while, so I am going to commit right here, that next thursday I will report back here with thirteen projects that will be finished. Do you think I can do it? I hope so! I am off to start right now!