May the fourth

be with you.

(get it?)

May

April showers bring May flowers!

and some happy little girls!

Sunday evening

a rousing game of Settlers of Catan.

with a cool dude,

a grumpy guy,

a cute little girl,

a bored boy,

a handsome man,

and a pretty girl.

does it get any better than this?

(he wasn't really grumpy,

and the other one wasn't bored,

but it looked like it, didn't it!)

dotty

way back when,

so long ago,

I started a quilt.

a nine patch quilt- using some of my polka dot fabrics.

well,

recently I finished it.

and I convinced Maggie to come have a little tea party on it-

(for the sake of getting a couple of pictures of the quilt!)

her little polka dot tea set fit in nicely!

now, onto the next few unfinished projects!

my girls

so, this is one of my pictures,

of my two sweet, silly girls.

and the little bit of editing I can do on the mac.
someday, hopefully someday soon,

I will have my pc fixed up, and my photoshop set up,

then I can learn some real photo editing,

and maybe get them to look like my friend's pictures.

(but I 'm not holding my breath!)

oh, and the whole staying away from sugar thing-

so very hard.

I will do better next week.

really.

sweet

so, I think I am going to be serious about laying off sugar for a while.

I am going to try hard.

one day at a time-

If I can do it today, I can do it tomorrow too.

(but I am going to allow myself desserts on Sundays)

so, guess what I keep thinking about now.

yep, candy.

yum.

I can do this.

I think.

how lucky I am

how lucky I am to have a friend who wanted to go take pictures with me, to practice for her, and she taught me some new stuff!how lucky I am that she can take fantastic pictures!

(maybe I will show some I took that day- but they are not near as gorgeous!)
how lucky am I that I have such cute girls,

who were willing to come and be models,

for the price of a slurpee!
so super lucky,

that's for sure!

punch

so, you know that game that kids play when you're driving-

silver punch buggy, no returnies (so they can't punch you back)

and then proceed to punch a sibling in the arm.

you know the one?

well, somewhere my kids picked up a new one.

whenever you see a PT Cruiser-

you say- PT Cruiser, punch a loser, no returnies,

(oh, and you have to call the colour too, or it doesn't count)

(this is not my favorite one- as I am trying so very hard to get my kids to talk nicer to each other, and this is not helping in any way whatsoever. calling each other losers should not be allowed. even in a game. - but it happens a lot. but I am trying . I think maybe soap in the mouth should make a comeback. but it's hard to put soap in the mouth of a kid that is bigger than you. just saying.)

so, onto the point of my story-

Maggie was looking out the window the other day, and calls to me-

what are those cars that the roof can go on and off?

and I say- it's a convertible.

so she comes running to me and says-

silver convertible. no returnies,

and punches me.

nice.

very nice.

spring

the dresses arrived in the mail the Tuesday after Easter,

so we will call them spring dresses!

since it has been a bit cold,

when I saw the sun, I had the girls get dressed up, and off we went.

it was still a bit chilly.

(why do we live here where it is so cold most of the year?

I am not too sure.)

I tried to get a few jumping pictures- I thought this was hilarious!
good times around here!

typical

so, because I packed away all the winter stuff,

- it was warm, the snow was gone, I was hoping that winter was actually over,

it was inevitable-
the cold came back.

and it brought the wind with it.

we had one night of high wind, and the power went out.

candles were lit

(it was kind of fun)

then the power came back on.

and the wind kept blowing.

for days.

but today- no wind,

and the sun is shining again.

hallelujah!

good for business

I love a good advertisement.

a funny commercial- on tv, or radio- love it.

(it makes me wonder what those companies with the lam-o adds were thinking.)

I mean really. is that the best you can come up with?

some people are just so clever.

so, when I saw this in my mail box, I had to smile-
very creative.

love it.

and I think I need to call.

they are holding my great body ransom.

and I want it back!

white trash

this year was like a white trash easter egg hunt

yep, we have an old toilet in our back yard.

(hopefully not for long)

and yep, there was an egg in it.

and Jack went for it.

nice

really nice.

the week in review

(love Maggie's dirty chocolate eating face!)

so, last week was spring break.

we did a lot of staying up late,

and sleeping in (of course!)

and not really much else.

Cory did turn my clock ahead an hour, for April fools. I thought it was weird that the girls weren't up yet, and figured it out a while later. he's such a funny guy.

I bought the girls easter dresses on etsy, but they didn't get here on time,

but last years dresses, that were a bit too big then, fit just right this year.

but it didn't really matter since we stayed at home, and watched conference on the computer.

hopefully their dresses will be here by next Sunday.

I think we will just call them spring dresses this year!

now the kids are back in school. phew!

and seminary is on again. bright and early.

(only 35 more classes. but who's counting? oh, me, for sure!)

and I need to go have a long visit with my treadmill.

darn those delicious chocolate easter candies!

happy easter!

(hat from my etsy shop)

(photo by teresa vickery)

help

I just finished reading the Help today.it was one of those books you can't wait to finish - to see how it ends,

but you never want it to end.

great book.

I highly recommend it.

now what should I read?

crazy

during the week-

when I was feeling a bit crazy,

I took a few of my kids to the store with me.

they were fooling around in the cart, of course,

and making me nuts,

which is generally why I try to avoid going to the store with more than just Maggie,

so anyways,

me, at the store, with more than one kid = crazy.

Maggie is climbing out of the cart, almost falling on her head-

and Jed is trying to help her, and she is getting mad at him,

and he says - I am just saving your life.

and she says- no, you are ruining my life.

and this is right when we were passing another lady shopping.

her and I had a little laugh.

silly kids.

if

while seeing a whole bunch of geese flying by a couple of days ago, I had a thought.if I were a goose, I would head south with the first group that left at the first sign of cold weather, and not come back until it was much warmer here.

that is for sure.

I thought spring was here,

but it was just kidding. teasing us a bit.

maybe it will come back soon,

but I am not crossing my fingers.

but I really am itching to wear my flipflops. and not freeze my toes.

now

I am at the library right now,
on the computer, surrounded by teenagers on facebook,
because our computer might have a virus,
so we are avoiding it,
hoping it will go away,
but will probably have to buckle down and pay the bucks and get it de-bugged.
man, it is hard for me to stay off the computer.
I miss it when it is not available.
I have so much I should be doing,
that it is probably a good thing to be off of it for a while.

alright, I should go home, and make supper.
but I might have to come back here tomorrow,
to catch up on whatever I might miss in the computer world.
which , you know,
is pretty serious stuff.
thank goodness for libraries with internet.

it can only mean one thing-

leprechaun gold left under the pillows-lucky charms, and green milk
Jack making a funny pin-
- it must be Saint Patrick's day!

hope it's lucky!

why?

why is she so happy by those big, stinky feet?

a mystery, for sure

my favorite part of the day

when Maggie finally gets out of bed and wants to cuddle on the couch.man, my baby is getting so big.

waaaah!

5

my sweet little maggie turned 5 today.

and instead of a party with friends, we convinced her to do a family bowling party.

and party we did!

all day long she kept saying she should get her way because it is her birthday!

indeed.

5 years. wow.

we went out to take some pictures with some balloons.

I got a few,

and then she had to go pee.

so we hurried home.

and had her choice for supper,

and yummy ice cream cake.

happy birthday sweet girl!

turn it down!

so, here's the scene:

Jed is playing a game on the computer, with music accompanying him.

I am cooking something at the stove.

the phone rings.

Jed says to me, before he answers it- "mom, turn it down."

and I say- "turn down what?"-(since he is the one with the noise going on)

and then I laughed, and laughed.

okay, it doesn't seem so funny now when I write it down,

but at the time it was pretty funny.

I guess you had to be there.

off the hook

I have been wanting hooks in my bathroom for a while now.

once upon a time we had some, but they were not attached properly, and fell off,

and towels were always being hung over our bannister that is just outside of the bathroom door.

driving me crazy.

so, I was in Home Depot looking for something.

(a filter for our fridge, I think)

and I thought I would go down the hook aisle-

and there I found this-

a brown board with four black hooks.

beautiful.
but it was a bit scratched up-

which didn't really bother me, since I wanted a white board anyways, and was going to take it home and paint it white,

but I thought maybe I could get a discount because it was banged up.

(is that wrong?)

it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

so I did,

and ended up getting $5 off!

sweet.

brought it home, painted, and distressed it a bit

and here it is- hung properly on my wall.

and towels are still hung on my bannister.

all

the

time.

sheesh.

dilemma

while heading out to our local extra foods,

where they are building a dollarama right next door,

I said-"dollarama!"

(I am so excited for it to come!)

and Maggie said-

"I can never remember if it is diarrea, or dollarama."

oh my,

I had a good laugh over that.

silly girl

can $1 buy happiness?

when it is in the form of a heart shaped sandwich cutter-

I say YES!

silly

on the way from the post office to the library this morning (they are very close to each other, so usually when we go to one, we also go to the other)

Maggie told me to walk on one path while she took the other (through the parking lot) and I said "okay, boss."

and she said- "I'm not the boss, you're the boss. I'm just a little kid"

and I said, "okay, little kid."

and she said "I'm not a little kid, I'm Maggie."

I was getting all confused by my bossy little kid named Maggie.

silly thing.

outside

so, I sucked it up-

and took the kids out skating.

they wanted to go on Friday, but I weasled my way out of it, and promised them I would take them Saturday.

but darn it, Saturday came, and I had promised.

so, be gathered up skates, helmets, sticks, and headed out-
it took a while to get everyone laced up-

I can never tie them as tight as they should be. it's a hard job!

I even got skates on myself, and got on the ice for about 5 minutes, until my feet hurt so bad, I had to take them off.
I remember that happening last time I went skating- last year- or maybe the year before, but I thought these were different skates. I really should mark them, so I know not to take those ones again the next time I go out- in a year, or two!
Maggie did quite well. she did more of a walk than a glide, and kept calling to Sadie to "skate with me!"

the kids lasted way longer than I did outside. I went and sat in the van to warm up near the end.

I think we should just make a rink in our back yard, then I can just send them out there!

but our back yard really isn't that big, and there is a big fire pit in the middle-

oh, that would be fun in the evening- doing tiny loops around a bonfire!

I will add that to the to do list.

maybe next year!

yum!

it was one of my seminary kids birthday today,

so I made cupcakes,

and the birthday girl never even came.
oh well, more for us!

(they were red velvet, with pink cream cheese frosting, and were mighty delicious.)

- the cake that maggie is eating the batter of in the above picture is not actually the cupcake batter, but rather the batter from a cake I made for valentines day. yum.

and a member of the bishopric came to visit, and he brought muffins,

and we were playing olympic games- and I had candy for the prizes.

what a great way to start the day!

lately-

what have we been up to around here?

well, not much is happening, yet we are keeping busy.

some of us finally went sledding. (it was super fun until Maggie got run over at the bottom of the hill!)

still knitting like crazy.

some visitors are here for a couple of days!

(a visitor that loves to organize, and has done great work in her time here! so sweet.)

and she inspired me to do some scrapbooking! - it has been way too long! so fun.

basketball games and practices at least 3-4 days a week,

a kub kar rally, that my boys proudly came in last place-

well. maybe not too proudly, but we sweeten the inevitable with a large slurpee.

Cory rejoiced that it was his last kub kar, because being that our boys are always last, it is obviously not his forte.

-but next year it will be trucks. (maybe by the last truck Jed ever does, Cory will have it all figured out!)

and that is what we have been up to lately. not much, but a bunch.

valentines day is coming!

I punched out a bunch of circles from my scrap pile, and sewed them together into a few garlands, then looped them on my dining room light.

I like it.

Cory- well, he puts up with it!
Maggie and I grated some crayons onto waxed paper, then ironed it, and cut them into hearts, and they are now hanging in our dining room window!
even the horse is getting into the valentine spirit.

not by her choice, I am sure.

(I don't know how many times I tell all my kids that we only draw on paper. really. if I had a dime for every time, I think I would have a whole pile of dimes!)
that little stinker- Maggie.

and look what Sadie got at school!

my boys! haha.

(they are the Jonas Brothers, for those poor people who don't know who they are. I suggest you get out more!)
and of course Valentines day calls for heart shaped sugar cookies. so delish.

and those sweet little heart sprinkles!

love!
this is what my kids handed out at school this year.

simple, easy. yet so sweet!

dreamy

so, you know when you have a dream, and in it you are thinking is pretty fun, and even right when you wake up, you think that was a great dream,

and then you start thinking about it, and it makes absolutely no sense?-

yeah,

well, I had one of those last night.

it involved these handsome fellows.

and I was their mother- maybe for reals, maybe for a tv show-

which is what it was in my dream.

we were filming an episode in a grocery store- weird, right?

and it just got weirder from there.

and I will leave it at that, because the rest is all a blur, and makes no sense-

you know how dreams get.

I am still waiting for my dream- the one like Stephenie Meyer had that brought about Twilight, and fame and fortune.

yeah, right.

keep dreaming!

a jam

so the kids are off of school for two days-

teacher convention.

so, we are also off of seminary for two days.

I always have to bring that up, because it is such a major part of my day-

a very early start to it, and to not have it, and to be able to wake up later is a treat.

I had to go to the dentist today- one of my teeth broke last week.

I headed out with plenty of time to get there,

then there was a huge traffic jam on the highway.

I was thinking there must be a serious accident ahead,

and watched the minutes tick by as I inched my way along with all the other semis on the road,

and even pulled out my crocheting I had stashed in my purse, in case I had to wait at the dentists.

turns out there was a truck pulled over- it looked to me like it was unloading something, but I am not sure,

so everyone had to move from three lanes to one,

and I was a half an hour late. sheesh.

I hate being late!

and then I was in the dentist chair for about 5 minutes.

crazy stuff.

this weekend should be fun.

included in the plans are a sleepover for the girls,

a dance for Ben,

skiing for all of us,

watching some cousins for a night and a day,

cleaning the girls room. again.

lots of laundry.

a trip to the library ( and the post office)

dinner on Sunday with family.

good times.

books.

one of my sisters often asks me what books I have been reading lately,

so I thought I would share some of the latest, and my thoughts on them.

The Sugar Queen. I read about this on someones blog, and put it on hold at the library. I got a call last week, it was my turn to read it.

the title grabbed me. I love sugar.

the chapter titles had me too. first chapter- everlasting gobstoppers.

other chapters- lemon drops, candy hearts, you get the drift!

before I even got into the book, I was thinking this would be my choice for book club- when it is my turn. how fun. bowls of candy on the table! love it.

the story was okay. but when thinking book club- there were a few sexual references, a few swears, but an interesting read. I might still do it for book club, who knows.

(and I am not sure when it is my turn, and I might have found something better by then.)

A Vintage Affair-

loaned to me my my sweet sister in law.

cute book.

can't recall any bad parts. (but I do have a bad memory)

a fun read.
Twenties Girl-

cute. written by Sophie Kinsella, so the f-bomb is dropped many times- I think that is common in her books. (don't say I didn't warn you)

it is a very fun story. She is a great writer. too bad you can't buy an edited version of some books.

really- why throw that word in ? is it necessary?

I think not.

The Declaration-

this is our book club book for February-

book club is on Thursday. I just got the book yesterday,

but I am sure it will not be a problem finishing it.

I am only on chapter 4, but so far it is a very interesting book.

it is about a time in the future when a cure for diseases and dying has been found, so people can live forever, so the earth is becoming too crowded. they make a law that you can't have kids, but people can opt out of living forever, and have one child,

otherwise, the extra children are called surplusses, and are taken to an orphanage - of sorts, and raised to be useful- they have no rights- this is written from the point of view of a surplus girl. very interesting.

alright, go, read,

and share any good books you have read lately with me!