Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

We stayed locally here again this year.  
It rained most of the weekend (until Monday), so we spent a lot of time watching "How It's Made" on Netflex.  

And because of the rain, I started reorganizing my house.

Here is a picture of my "sunscreen" shelf.  I'm ready for summer.

On Friday, I went to Costco.   (FYI:  My kids love sushi and before any holiday weekend, I run to Costco and buy a ton of their sushi that they can eat to their heart's content all three days.  It is just another of my, "trying to create a memory moment" for my kids around holidays.)  I also got a pile of stuff for my husband's office and a bunch of "summer is coming" supplies for my house.  Part of that was a new bag of plastic cups.  Because of the rain, we broke them out and built towers with them in our basement.


 On Memorial Day, we woke up bright and early and headed up the canyon for our first (of hopefully many) canyon trips of the year.

On a side note, being from Boulder, CO, I always ran the Bolder Boulder every Memorial Day.  Every year, I say, "I'll fly home with the kids and have us all run in the Bolder Boulder."  And every year, May is a crazy month with end of the year school projects, scout stuff, dance stuff, work stuff, etc., and we never do.  This year, because once again, I was not in Boulder on Memorial Day, I spent several minutes just thinking about home.  As I always say, "I love, adore my life here in Utah but Boulder, CO (specifically Boulder) will always be home."  

Back to the canyon excursion . . . I told all of my kids they had to wear long pants.  This is what Toothsome #4 came up with. . .
 We built a fire and then spent most of the time skipping rocks on on the side of the river.  
 They all got their shoes and socks soaking wet, so we dried everything out by the fire.  
 After meeting friends at Moochies for lunch, we headed over to the Gilgal Garden.  This has been on my "to do" list for over 10 years and I was glad to finally make it there.  If you don't know exactly where to go, it is hard to find, but once there, it is worth it.  It is a little gem in downtown Salt Lake.  You can read about it's history here.







I also finished Dickens' "The Old Curiosity Shop" (a tragic, moving read) and started "The Once and Future King" by T H White  and "Barnaby Rudge" (another Dickens).  My current Dickens' favorite is Nicholas Nickleby.  

All and all a successful, Memorial weekend.  



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Forsythia!

Many years ago, when my husband and I were brand-new home owners, I called a local nursery and asked when was the right time to put pre-emergent down on our grass.  I remember the lady saying, "Do you know what a forsythia is?"  I said, "Yes" (which I actually didn't but I knew I could find out from someone else and I didn't want to sound too stupid on the phone with her.)  And she said, "When the forsythia is blooming, you should put pre-emergent down."

I have never forgotten this rule or the fact that I didn't know what forsythia was and so every Spring, when the forsythia is blooming, I holler out whenever I see it, "Forsythia!"  My kids (my oldest was about 2 when I started doing this) all join in with me whenever we see a forsythia bush.  Because as a mom, I was often in the car with my kids and their friends, their friends started picking up on this and joined in.  So now, over 10 years later, the people in my car burst out into shouts of "forsythia!" all Spring long.  Even the "cool" pre teen boys in my car this Spring all hollered it.  It was so great.  

Well, this week, I finally planted a forsythia bush of our own.  I hope it takes.  It is in a spot that I have had trouble with in the past but I am hoping with all of the good vibes we send that plant in general, it will grow and thrive there.  I just can't wait until next Spring, when we can look out our window and all shout, "Forsythia!" to our own forsythia bush in our own yard.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Some pictures from this week--ballet and other things

  Yesterday was dance picture day at my daughter's dance studio.   Our studio is doing "Sleeping Beauty" and it is an absolutely stunning ballet program.  My oldest daughter needed to have her hair in a certain type of braid.  A picture was sent and after practicing all weekend, I thought I had it right.  I didn't.  We showed up at the studio and I realized right away I had her hair wrong.  This, on top of a series of other poorly timed events earlier in the day was close to the last straw for me. Thankfully, the mom of one of the other girls, sensed my mental state and said, "Don't worry.  I can fix it."  And, she did happily, while I watched.  I now get what I did wrong.

Below, is Toothsome #4 in her skunk costume, minus the hat.  (And unintentionally, the mom who redid my daughter's hair.)  


 Toothsome #2 her in beautiful costume

 And her very fancy hair


And because of this ridiculous heat we are having in Utah and my refusal to run the air conditioning until June, my Rhodes rolls turned into a square piece of bread.  They were still awesome with honey butter.  
 Today, I get to read aloud to my daughter's 4th grade class.  I am reading a chapter from this wonderful book.  If you have a reluctant 4th grade reader, I highly recommend this series.  His, "Papa Married a Mormon" is also excellent.
 And, this morning, I got a taste of what next year holds for me.  Toothsome #1 starts junior high and they start later than the elementary kids.  He was home with me today in the morning to go an orthodontics appointment (his braces come off permanently next month!) and he and Toothsome #4 played like crazy.  This was, "I can't see you" game.  The laughter made my morning.  


Finally, this Spring I pass this row of beautiful purple flowers when I drive my kids to school.  It adds such beauty to my drive.  (I wish I knew what they were, so if anyone knows, leave a comment).  



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I'm now a PTA mom and other photos from my life

Several months ago, I was nominated, called and appointed (per PTA bylaws) to be the Legislative VP in my kid's school's PTA.  

There is always a training in Provo, UT at my alma mater, Brigham Young University, for the incoming PTA board.  I don't mind training meetings but I do mind useless training meetings.  There was a little bit of both that day.   I did have fun even during the "useless" parts and I met a great lady who spelled out for me my job requirements.  (I also got a lot of Nicholas Nickelby read that day too.) 

It was a hot day in Utah and I wore clothes representing that.  But I forgot how cold air-conditioned things can be and by 10:00 am, I had to run to the bookstore (I have great memories of that bookstore as a student) and purchased a sweatshirt.  My requirement to the girl who helped me was, "I need something on-sale, with a zipper in size small."  I'm holding my arm weird to show the cute "Brigham Young University" down the sleeve.  Ignore my awkward claw hand.  

And since I was gone all day, and had to have my kids do some babysitting for me, I purchased these very cool, BYU pillowcases for my kids.  Go Cougars! 


I also picked up a lot free stuff at the various booths.  These pink brains were the favorite item.  And, I loved the Parents Empowered booth in general.  Great stuff.


In a snarky moment, I snapped a picture of this and emailed it to my husband  I think it is an apron.   Really?    

In December, Dentist Husband gave me the greatest gift of all--housecleaners.  They come once a month and the day before they come becomes for me, the worst day of the month, meaning I spend all day frantically picking up the house so they can clean it for me.  That is today and while I was cleaning, I got a little camera phone happy and took some pictures for my blog.  

This made me laugh when I first saw it and had to buy it.  It is actually a Homer Simpson quote.  

My friend Tiffany, makes and sells these as well as other things in her etsy shop.  

Like most Mormon woman, I appreciated what Elder Uchtdorf had to say in his  Forget Me Not talk.  I found her lovebox a beautiful way to remind me of it.  

 It is now hat season in our house.  This pile of hats sits by my front door, for my kids to put on when they go outside to play.  I think some people would have some pretty box to store them in.  I have yet to find or figure out something I like.  I am willing to take suggestions.  For now, they sit on this antique chair.  
 I'm also loving Clinque's Chubby stick.  

And finally, my friend April makes these very comfortable, reversable and cute headbands.  I had her make them in my daughter's dance school's colors and we gave them to all of the girls in her class.  


So that is my life these days.  Good stuff.