my trip in a nutshell

(in no particular order, whatsoever.)

got a hair cut. not a major one, a bit shorter, but kind of the same.


me and my folks at the Washington Monument.
The Vietnam war memorial. It was so hot the day we went to DC, I think I was starting to melt. I was drippy, and so, so hot.

When we were walking towards the white house, a helicopter flew in, landed on the lawn of the white house, we waited around for a bit, then it took off. exciting, no? I have no clue who was in it, or where they were going, but it was a good time.

on the drive home, we saw the town where Corner Gas is set. this is my dad and I peeking in the window of Ruby's Cafe. fun. they don't film the show inside there- it was mostly empty. but something fun in the middle of nowhere, Saskatchewan.

Somewhere in some state- I think it might have been Ohio- but don't quote me on that- someone drove past us and pointed at the tire- our tire was going flat- so we had a bit of a pit stop to get that repaired.

These pictures are all from Kirtland. I was trying to tell Cory about them, and what all happened there, but my memory is short, and I could only guess. I know that it was really great, and great things happened there, and I would love to go there with my kids so they could see those things and feel the special spirit that is in those places.

me and my sis, on the long drive home.

much shopping was done, yummy food eaten, sights seen, laughing, and talking.

I am glad to be home, and I think my bathrooms are glad I am home, so that they could be clean again. good times.

Travel 13

1. I am now in Ohio. I have been in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virgina, Washington DC, and that might be all.. so far!

2. We stopped at a cute antique store. I will show you what I would have bought if I had the money, and the room- when I get home.

3. the cars are packed to the top, but we are stopping at the Eddie Bauer warehouse in a few short hours. so we will make room, if we must.

4. Lightning bugs are so fun! I wish we had them in Canada. I wonder if I caught some in a jar if they would make it home. then they could multiply and prosper up there, and we could be so cool.

5. Chipotle. yum.

6. Target. love you.

7. Joann. you have such cute fabric. it is hard to control myself.

8. Kohls. nice.

9. I have found so many cute t shirts for my boys. I won't have to buy shirts for a long, long time.

10. maybe I shouldn't say cute. cool. cool shirts for my boys. that's better.

11. hotels- some are nicer than others. I think you know what I mean.

12. we drove through some major lightning. scary. but we made it.

13. alright, the fam is waiting, we need to get to Eddie Bauer. NOW!

I am here!

so, I made it- I didn't get plane sick- yay!
I have spent a bunch of money,
and got some super cute stuff for the girls.
and some cool shirts for the boys.
and some shoes that I know Jack will love-
I just hope they fit, because I won't be able to return them!

Kirtland was amazing.

I called home today, and Maggie said hi, then asked if I wanted to talk to Sadie.
Sounds like they have been having a ton of fun with dad,
going to movies, playing the computer and gamecube on Sunday,
I don't think they miss me too much yet.

coming up is more shopping, more sights to see, and lots of packing and filling up cars to get my sister home! fun stuff!

pig will and pig won't

does anyone else love Richard Scarry books like I do? thought I would take my 13 things idea from him. will and won't.

1. I will miss reading stories to the kids at bedtime. I am currently going through a huge Richard Scarry book- collection of tons of stories. so fun. Cory generally just sends the kids to bed and tells them to read to themselves.


2. I won't miss telling the kids to turn out their lights and go to sleep- over and over after I read. good luck Cory!


3. I really hope I won't get plane sick. I have only flown 3 times before, and the only time I got sick was when I was pregnant, so here is hoping.


4. I hope I will be able to sleep on the plane. what was I thinking? my plane leaves at 12:20 tomorrow morning. crazy.

5. I will be tired tomorrow. I am sure of it. I love my sleep.

6. I think I won't be able to sleep in the Toronto airport during my 3 hour layover at 6 in the morning- their time, which is really 4 my time. yowsa. what was I thinking?

7. I will shop, shop, shop.

8. I will hit Target, and Kohlsand the Cracker Barrel, and many other places, too numerous to name.

9. I hope I won't run out of money.

10. I will eat as much of a Chipotles burrito as I can. probably about half. those things are big. and so, so good.

11. I won't miss getting the kids up and ready for school in the morning.

12. I will love that when I get back, there will be no school, and we can all sleep in!

13. I will try and update my blog a bit while I am gone, but I for sure will take a ton of pictures and share it all when I get back!

shredded

my ward has a little exercise group going on. well, there are 3 of us that go, but we will be the three fittest ladies around!

we have been doing this video-

with Jillian-

one of the trainers on the biggest loser. she is tough, but good.

I have been checking Walmart everytime I go, to see if I can get my hands on this, so I can do it more than once a week-

because I think to be effective you need to do it for 30 consecutive days.

I think.

anyways, last night, I headed to the big W with the kids, to get Jack some shoes, and you have to walk by the electronics, and there she was.

so I got her.

so, after my vacation, give me 30 days-

okay, maybe 34 or more, because I am taking Sundays off,

and maybe I will be shredded.

just maybe.

so much to do, so little time!

now that I am leaving later this week, there are so many things I need to get done!

I need to kiss these little cheeks over and over, and get my fill. ten whole days without being able to kiss them will be so hard for me to do!

I need to do a lot of laundry. and I mean a lot.

and a bit of cleaning. just a little bit.

and I really need to find the bag I picked up at a garage sale a few weeks ago that I thought would be perfect for my carry on bag. but I have no idea where it got to.

is anyone elses house a lot like the bermuda triangle?

because mine sure is!

look...

look what I did!

so proud.

I finished it yesterday.

after far, far too many months of working,

(and not working)

on it, it is done.

and he likes it.

and I noticed a lot of little yarn ends that need trimmed.

but it is done.

yay!

13...

I was trying hard to think of what 13 things I could write today, and I came up with- thirteen reasons my kids are unlucky they have us as parents

1. their mom makes them brush their teeth before they go to school. (someday, I think Ben will thank me for this instead of groaning every time)

2. I think we owe back pay on allowance for at least a year.

3. I like to take pictures. and I bring my camera along with us lots of times when we go out. but they are lucky they have a dad who won't pull over when I find the perfect spot for a picture. bums.

4. they think we are the only family in the civilized world that doesn't have a wii. and there are no plans to be getting one anytime soon.

5. they can't play the computer on weekdays.

6. they aren't supposed to watch tv on weekdays either. but now that the tv is downstairs, I am sure they watch it when they shouldn't be.

7.they have jobs they are supposed to do everyday. one boy sets and clears the table, one cleans up the livingroom, and one helps with dishes. poor kids.

8. their parents are thinking they need to get doing regular Saturday jobs. poor souls.

9. their mom is deserting them for a whole 10 days. and leaving them with thier dad- who I don't think will let them get away with watching that tv downstairs like I do, but then again, it will just be him and the kids, so maybe they will get away with alot more!

10. even on the coldest days their mom won't drive them to school. poor, poor kids. - the school is just across the street and down a few houses.

11. their mom won't let them wear the same outfit to school 2 days in a row- or at least she tries to get them to change, and she really gets mad when a certain middle boy wears the same socks for a few days in a row. so gross.

12. their mom likes to shop at thrift stores and garage sales, so a lot of their clothes and stuff are second hand- but really, I don't think any of them mind- and I love that about them all!

13. and the last reason they are unlucky we are their parents, is I think we must live off the toothfairy's grid, because she always has a hard time making it to our house.- but she always finds it eventually!

hot and cold

My parents are leaving on their leg of our big journey today.
The next time I see them will be at the arrivals door at the Cleveland airport. I really hope they are there to meet me. and that my plane is on time. and all goes well.
and while we are struggling to get to 15 measly degrees here lately, my sister is complaining of melting at 40 degrees where she is. oh, I can't wait for a bit of heat.
but 30 degrees is plenty.
maybe it will cool off a bit before I get there.
just maybe.

sweet

so, I finished up the teacher gifts for the kids to give their teachers on the last day of school. It isn't for another 2 weeks, but since I'll be away, I need to make sure these things are ready to go!




On Sunday, Sadies tooth came out. she put it under her pillow that night, and the toothfairy never took it. so she tried again last night. the tooth is still there. That toothfairy had better get her act together tonight. Sadly, that toothfairy usually takes a few nights to get around to taking the teeth in this house. she must be a very busy lady!

horses

so, I was walking around extra foods today, periodically chatting with an older lady about the items we happened to be looking at together, and I was looking for hotdogs, and she grabbed a thing of bologna, and told me that that kind was the best, because it has no salt in it, and tastes the best, but it never says what is in it, and she thinks it must be horse meat because it tastes so good.

I had to chuckle as I walked away.

random stuff

1. the shift button on the right of my keyboard doesn't always work. sometimes I choose to not use capital letters, and sometimes it just happens. just thought i should share that.

2. last few weeks of school= mad rush of field trips. good times. need to check the calendar each morning, to see who needs a swim suit, who needs extra waterbottles, and hats. so much fun!

3. I like school. I like my kids going to school. the break I get is so nice. so I am not too keen on summer vacation- kids around all day to drive each other- and me crazy. not so fun.
but I cannot wait to sleep in- every day. so nice.

4. I do want to get my kids into swimming lessons. we haven't done them for far too long, but sadly there is a shortage of teachers around just now at our pool. Calling to see about any lessons available is on my to do list today.

5. I love lists. I love crossing things off of my lists. on my list for today are the bathrooms, mopping floors, working more on Ben's quilt, planting my onions. fun stuff like that.

6. I have nothing I really NEED to do today. that is so nice. no one to babysit. no where I have to go. just little things. Well, cleaning the house is a big thing, but you know what I mean!

7. I haven't scrapbooked in forever. a really, really long time. I was going through some of my scrapbooking stuff, and putting some into a giveaway pile, and letting my kids craft with some of it. i think I would like to do some scrapbooking soon. maybe some inspiration will hit me soon. but maybe not.

8. I am kind of liking the quilting thing lately. so many ideas, so many quilts I want to make. for what? not sure. for who? some for my two boys, of course- and their new rooms, but just some other quilts for fun. But I am determined to finish Ben's first, then get Jack's going, then I can move on. good times.

9. I am not a big traveller, and I am having a couple of concerns regarding my trip. I want to bring my big camera- but not necessarily my big camera bag. I also want to bring a small purse, but also have room for a book to read, and maybe a small knitting, or crocheting project for the travelling time. I am not sure what to do. I did see a big cute bag at a store, but didn't buy it. maybe I should have. it would have held all that and more. maybe I should go back and see if it is still there. maybe I should just use what I have. oh, the dilemmas.

10. weeds. I hate them. I am not a big gardener, or even a small gardener, by any means. I have no idea how to make my front flowerbed look good. except I know those darn weeds don't belong. So, my boys have been testing my nerves lately- driving me crazy. I don't know if they are being any worse than usual, but what they do is bugging me more than usual, so today I decided whenever I have to talk to them about their behaviour they will get a five minute job- believe me, it adds up quick. so I think many of those weeds will get taken care of soon. by those rotten boys. in five minute time slots.

11. I bought a couple more frames yesterday. for my photo wall. in the basement I want a wall with a whold lot of pictures on it. now, picking the pictures to go in the frames is not so easy. but I have a few picked out. now I just need to get them printed off, and hung up. that could take a while.

12. alright, I really should tackle those bathrooms, and get my floors mopped, so then I can move on to the fun stuff, like watching Dora with Maggie.

13. pretty random stuff, huh?

the difference

so, this is a picture I took.

that same day, we went out with my friend who is a real photographer. this is what she came up with. good stuff.

would it be wrong to have a wall full of pictures of Sadie?

seeing her work really makes me want to learn more on photoshop.

it makes a difference!

but my picture isn't too bad, right?

there is some potential, I think.

stuff

so, we went out garage saleing quite a bit this past weekend. good times. except when you are at one, and your child grabs on to a certain little toy, and you say no, and tell them to put it back, because you really don't want another little toy like that in your house, and the kind garage sale host says, oh, she can just have that.
and you say thanks.
yah, thanks a lot.
from your get rid of stuff, to mine.
good times.