Been meaning to blog about this for a few days now, but didn't have the heart.
You know how you think to yourself, when something crappy happens, that one of these days "I am going to laugh about this?" Well, I am still not laughing, but it is getting less painful.

I took all the kids with me running errands. That is always fun. I had to go to several places, and they were restless and loud and goofy. Needless to say, I had a headache in about 17 minutes. I completed said errands, and we headed home to browse the cupboards for something quick to throw together for dinner.

It was then that I remembered that I needed to pick up Jayden's grind rail (some skateboard thing) at Walmart. My mother-in-law had me order it for his birthday online, and they delivered it to the store, which incidentally I would not do again, it took forever to ship, and I stood back in the pick-up area for 20 minutes, and finally...I paged someone MYSELF on their stupid loudspeaker system, in fact I paged a MANAGER. (the four months I worked at Walmart paid off, if only for the knowledge of the PAGER system)

Anyhooo, I am getting off topic here.

So we go to pick up the grind rail. I take Jayden with me, and leave the other vermin with Sam at home.

We pull into the parking lot, which is full on a Saturday night (go figure) and I see a parking spot, and I signal, you know--to lay claim on it, and start turning in the aisle. Well, out of NOWHERE comes this pole...and dang if I don't nail it, and skim it alllll the way down the side of the Suburban. It makes this huge loud metal to metal scraping noise, and my heart is pounding more than my head now, and everyone within a twenty mile radius is looking at us.

What do you do?

I park in that $4000.00 parking stall, get out, try to slam the mangled door and head into the store. I can feel the burning heat of embarrassment on my cheeks.

I say to Jayden "Man, everyone is looking at us."
And he says "Correction. Everyone is looking at YOU, I was just the passenger."
Touche.
And yet, it is HIS grind-rail that caused this. Right??
Sigh.
Well, at least I solved the problem of trying to distinguish my blue suburban from the other million blue suburbans in Mormonville, USA. Mine is the one with the custom yellow pin-stripes.

Bad day, eh?

Au contraire, mon freire!

My week gets worse. That next morning, Jayden goes out bright and early to try the grind rail. Slams his head on the sidewalk first run, and gets a concussion, and various bleeding scrapes. Great. So I am watching him, and shining a flash-light in his eyes every five minutes to make sure he isn't going to puke on my new couch, patch up the scrapes, and Mikayla comes in bawling.

She too has smacked her head. Now, she at least manages to produce an impressive purple, pulsing hematoma. It looked like half of a super ball on the back of her head. So now I am watching her too.

I am not kidding, it wasn't 30 minutes later, Shianne comes it. She is holding her head too, but not crying, so she is either a whole lot tougher than the other two nimrods, or she has something else going on entirely.

She managed to get a whole strip of FLY PAPER wrapped around her head, and tangled up in her long hair. It had fly carcasses on it and everything. How do you get that out, you ask? I am not sure. The insanely sticky gummy crap is still in her hair. I figure in a couple of days she will just have some cool dreadlocks. I would have time to work some Un-Du in there, or goo-gone, or something except for the fact that today....

...three of my kids have the FLU, and things are jetting out of both ends...and I AM BUSY!! But, I am grateful for the fact that we have five bathrooms in this house, cause they are all getting some good use, let me tell you.

And it's only Wednesday.

I bet you wish you were me.

finished book two, new moon

It was just as fabulous as book one.

Between these two Stephenie Meyer books, which were around 500 pages each, and then the new Harry Potter book, I have read over 1700 pages in the past week.

I can smell the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink all the way upstairs.

plugging an awesome book.

Twilight.
By Stephenie Meyer

I started this book on loan from my friend Laura at about 12:30 last night. I so COULD NOT put this book down. I finally finished it at about 5:30 this morning. Sigh....
I slept for a few hours, my sleep punctuated by visions of hot vampire love. (LOVE! I said, the books were written for teenagers, so it's all clean)
I highly recommend this book.
And the best part, it is the first in a series! Like a heroin addict, I must have the other two books.
NOW! (ahem, Laura...)
Go find them. You will not be disappointed.
Then shoot me an e-mail and we will talk.

867-5309

Yesterday, I got up and went walking with the walking group again.

I was feeling like I could get a jump on my day when I came back and the whole rest of the house was asleep, so I tip-toed around my sleeping darlings and gathered up some laundry. Man! I am a front-runner for Mother of the Year I am sure. I was even so efficient, I threw in the very shorts that I went walking in that morning.

I put the load in the dryer a bit later, and heard the ever-so-familiar "clunk-clunk-clunk" of something in a pocket that shouldn't be there. I checked all of Shayne's shorts. He is my rock collector, and that is what the clunk sounded like. I am a master of the clunks. I can tell in the other room what the object is. "Oooh, mama's got some change...sounds like a quarter, and two nickels..." Shayne's pockets were clean. Whoa, I was way off! I kept digging, until I came reluctantly to my own gym shorts, and pulled out my cell phone. Freshly bleached and oxy-cleaned.

So later that evening, we took a trip to the big city--to THE MALL. To replace the cell phones. Now, the amazing part here, is that this all happened in a timely manner. Normally, with Wadley luck, the whole washing of the phone thing would have happened the day after I got a new cell phone. Our contract goes two years, and it just so happened that the two years are NOW, and I was due for a new phone. SO TAKE THAT, FATE!

While at the mall. With all the kids. We walked around a bit. With all the kids. Everything has changed, of course since I used to go there quite a bit as a teen. And yet, oddly enough, THE CLOTHES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME!

It was like I never left.
They are bringing the 80's back.

I had heard this, and knew this in the back of my head, but to see it...was weird.

I was sort-of excited to see the leggings and long shirts, thinking I could finally wear something besides the horrible combo of low-rise pants, and too-short shirts. I have had such a frustrating past few years tugging and pulling as to not expose to the world my fluffy muffin-top that spills out over my pants where my waist used to be.

Then I got a good look at the leggings and long shirts of today. Leggings, okay. Tight, capri length, (no stir-ups yet). Check. Long shirts...um...also skin tight, and form fitting. Those ain't no 80's shirts. And they certainly aren't going to do a whole lot for hiding the flab-belt I have.

So yet again, it's a skinny girls world. Crap.

And I had to laugh too, cause I guess they brought back the whole turn-your-polo-shirt-collar-up thing too. I painfully remember that. I remember my grandma always folding it down for me, when she saw me with it up. And my aunts, and strangers on the street. I remember begging my mom to please, please just turn your collar up, you are wearing a polo shirt already, and just make it be cool. And I remember her telling me she thought it looked stupid that way, and mom's don't have to be cool.

It does look stupid.

And I had to physically step away from the teenagers with their collars up, cause I just wanted to go over and fold their collars down for them. It was like a compulsive reflex that I couldn't control. Like when you see a crooked picture in a strangers house, and you just want to FIX IT.

I guess I have become my mother. But with a new cell phone.

been editing.

I found this gem.
You can crack any cheeky jokes you want, I know I have been laughing my butt off at it....<----(har har)
Then, I just discovered FILTERS in photo-shop.
Shush! I know it takes me a long time to figure stuff out, like the time I realized my oven was self-cleaning, and I didn't have to erode my skin, nor gas myself cleaning it with toxic foam sprays.
Or when I started buying paper lunch sacks, instead of washing out stinky lunchboxes every single day.
Or that they had cheese. Pre-sliced!
Sometimes I don't notice these things, okay? Sometimes I am not aware that there is a life-changing substitute for one of my everyday tasks.
So here is a photo from Maui, SOOC (straight out of camera)

And the same photo with a cooling filter:

a warming filter:

and for that "natural" cheap hotel wall art look, a violet filter:

Photoshop is amazing. And addicting.
So, which shot do you like the best?
(Besides Brendan's fanny)

why all kids should share the same birthday

Said Mikayla, pointing to Shianne's birthday stash:

"Mom, this is the bestest day for Shy-shy, but I am so sad. Mostly cause I want all of those things."

randomness.

(1) This week is mardi gras at our house.

Jayden, our oldest had his 11th birthday (on the 27th) while we were in Maui. What other eleven-year-old blew his candles out with white sands and palm trees in the background?
Spoiled.

Then tomorrow, the twins turn eight.
We are all going to be in a costco-cake sugar induced comas.

(2) I bought a blender.

Sam wanted something to mix up his awful smelling protein shakes. That was the beginning. Now I have a freezer full of frozen berries, and vanilla yogurt.
This is good though:

Shaunte's Smoothie
1 ripe nectarine
2 heaping tablespoons vanilla yogurt
1 cup crushed ice
1 packet French Vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast
1/4 t. almond extract
1/4 c. (or so) milk

Blend well. Add milk to be able to drink it down. Yummy breakfast goodness. Or whenever you deserve a treat.

(3) I got all the laundry done. Knocking on wood.

(4) Working on stuff for HSN, airing August 9th. My stuff, not me.

(5) Both sad and excited that school starts up again in three weeks.
Went shopping and got all the school supplies the kids need. Bought a few clothes, still need a bunch of stuff. Been thinking about all the things I wanted to do with the kids this summer, and how many things we haven't scratched off the list...in fact, we were always going to sit down together and MAKE THE LIST. Sigh.
Not excited to make lunches and get up early and do homework and support fundraisers and attend parent teacher conferences and generally live our lives on a schedule imposed by school bells.
But.
The children will be gone for six hours.
Every.
Single.
Weekday.

I could drink a smoothie to that.

Blog-tag.

I was tagged by Laura.
And apparently nominated for "Rockin' Blogger" whatever that is. I had to copy and paste the little tag thingie up there.

Here goes the question answering part.
1. your entire family has gone away for the weekend. the house is all yours. what are the first three things you do? Oooo gosh. That sounds FABULOUS after the family vacation I just survived. I would probably pick up the house a little, make a batch of carmel popcorn, and settle into a book. Oh wait, I would take my bra off first thing, and ceremonially throw it across the room, but that probably goes without saying, right?
2. your bankbook is looking healthy, you have a four-day weekend ahead. what sounds good? Check flights, see what looks good and fairly close, and take off.
3. what do you do while waiting in the doctors office? Thumb through magazines, and sometimes if I see a good recipe or some layout inspiration, I discreetly tear it out of the magazine. Yep. I am that guy.
4. would you rather spend an afternoon alone in a book store, a mall, napping in the hammock? Do I have money? Then the mall.
5. you have an unexpected 48 hour stay in the hospital. you're coherent and not in pain. how do you spend the time? reading? channel Surfing? laptop surfing? calling your friends to come visit? ringing for a nurse every five minutes? sleeping? Wow. Well, I dunno. If I am coherent and not in pain, why am I in the hospital? I think I would check myself out.
6. you have a nine hour trans-continental flight. get excited about finishing a hot novel? watch the in-flight movies? become best friends with the stranger seated next to you? take three valium and sleep the time away? I would commit suicide. I have a six hour flight max...that is all I can take. I get claustrophobic.
7. you have a seven hour layover in chicago o'hare airport. do you wear down your cellphone battery calling friends? read a book? people watch? shop every store in the airport? take a taxi and see the city? I would catch another flight and get out of there! (Remember Sam works for Delta)
8. what do you do when you're bored stiff? Eat. Surf the net while eating.
9. work first, play later? OR play while you can, the work will still be there when you get home? Work first, play later. Sam is the opposite, it has been a real thorn in our marriage.
10. list three times that you are easily bored. Church. Watching any kind of sports, especially golf. Sams family parties. Heh.

So now I am supposed to tag five people.

So if you are reading this...yes! YOU! Consider yourself tagged. Copy and paste the questions, and the little tag thingie and go post!

back.

You know how when someone goes on vacation, and you ask them "How was your trip?" And they go on and on about how wonderful it was.....and how much fun they had....and how you neeeeed to go there too.

Don't get me wrong. It beats the crud out of being home, and engaging myself in the stimulating SAHM mom life of laundry and home-cooked meals, but it really wasn't my favorite vacation.

Maybe we should have seen it coming. You know when you are reading a novel, and you sense the foreshadowing of a tragedy- the author uses some out of place detail or text, that eventually ties back into the plot later?

Well, the vacation started with my Mom stepping into a big, sticky, sun-warmed glob of green Extra gum, and spent the whole ride up to the airport digging it out of the bottom of her shoes. We were laughing, anxiously checking off things we may have forgotten to pack, and fresh with excitement!

That was right before my Mom had her wallet ripped off while on the airplane. Her money and drivers' license and debit card. Gone.

Then the vacation turned into this:

Brendan got the flu, we think. He carried around a much used vomit bucket that we aptly named "Ralphie." Then, lucky for us, two more kids got car-sick on one of the lovely, winding and narrow roads that Maui is famous for. The kind carved out of sheer cliffed lava-rock mountains by the minions of Satan. Terrible for driving a car on, and almost torturous when driven while crammed into a mini-van. Nine people, all trying to see out the tinted windows, and subsiding on airline peanuts. "Ralphie" got to spend a lot of quality time with each of the gurgling children.
And this:

Because sometimes Coppertone Water-Babies SPF 50 Total Sun Eclipse For Melting White Folks Sunblock just isn't enough.
By the way, she is fine now. We didn't have to leave her in the leprosy unit. But we are all itching that drive-you-insane-and-cannot-sleep post-burn itch. And the flakes. In the scalp. That make you look like a walking infomercial for Dandruff shampoo.

We almost lost Brendan and Shianne. Yep. For real. They almost drown. All of a sudden, from the beach we could see Shianne struggling, being pulled out deeper than she could reach with her feet, and Sam ran, and I ran, down the beach, and into the water. She was sputtering, and Brendan was trying so hard to help her, him going under too. Sam reached them first, and they climbed up him like he was driftwood, and he went under. "Help me!" Brendan was screaming, and the terror...the terror in both of their eyes, and probably Sam's too, although he was underneath the water, holding the kids up over his head like the statue of liberty. So, I made Shianne come to me, me--who can't swim, to take the weight off of Sam, and somehow, we all reached the sand. Shaken up, and humbled by the sea.

How quickly things can change in an instant.

Then there was the time that our van got broken into, the thief somehow got in without showing any signs of anything? Gone was my Dad's wallet- with all of his money, credit cards and identification. Gone were all of our snorkel masks and fins. Gone were my Dad ridiculously hideous plaid lounging pants! (which incidentally makes me think of when the Grinch sneaks back into Cindy-Lou-Who's house, after he raided everything to steal the candy cane from her fist while she slept.)All gone. And apparently, the locals know NEVER to rent a vehicle, because rental car theft is such a huge problem. Who knew? I guess us, now. Hang Loose.

So my parents were paupers in Maui. I thought maybe that could be another one of those foreshadowing things, where one day, I will be taking care of them, when they are old(er) and senile(er). Heh.

Even the kids said, "next time let's just go on vacation back to Denver."
Hmmm....Denver? Hawaii? Oooookay. I see the comparison. Hey, at least they are being honest.

Don't get me wrong, it was a breathtakingly beautiful place. There were some good times. The kids will treasure the time they spent with their penniless grandparents. Heh.

I just wanted to get the honest-ness out here, before I permanently record it as being the most fabulous summer vacation WE HAVE EVER HAD. In the scrapbook. So the kids can fondly REMEMBER later how much fun it was.
The brainwashing....so good at the brain-washing!

There was this:

And this:

And this:

And when I get over the jet-lag and sleep deprivation of the time changes I am sure I will remember the vacation as being wonderful. At the very least memorable.

Y'all be good while I'm gone.
Aloha!

some trade-show layouts

Just a quick post, sharing some of the new stuff from Karen Foster Design. This is debuting, well, right now...at CHA. Some fun stuff, I really liked working with all the new lines this time.
Except the Bird Hunting line (not shown). Dead birds really aren't my thing. But it is a really good Dead Bird line, if you have dead bird pictures kicking around dying to be scrapbooked...<----really bad humor, so with that...I am off to take a nap.

papaya puree medium

Was the color of Prism cardstock I used to match the paint for this room.
HA! So handy to have a cardstock swatchbook. Sometimes scrapbooking comes in handy in other areas of my life.

Yesterday I painted the bathroom, took a quick run to Ikea for the photo frames, Costco for the enlargements, Wal-mart for the shower curtain and now I have a happy, bright, very bright bathroom.

Very bright. Did I mention bright?

Sam wants to know who else has an orange bathroom. Anyone?

The funny part about the bathroom, is that I had that poster of "The Doors of Puerto Rico" in the cupboard since our trip there. I carefully hand-carried it home, so it wouldn't get bent or mangled. I sort-of forgot about it, and then yesterday I realized that it might look good in the bright bathroom. Well, as luck would have it, it is a weird size for framing. No mats would fit it either.

So I took that thing to the sewing machine. I stitched the perimeter of the poster to the backside of the paper that came in the frame. I don't know that anyone would know the difference. Zig-zag stitched right in there. Go look.

Anyway, the bathroom needs a few more odds and ends.

Like maybe a decorative basket full of sun-glasses.

curses.

I bought these rechargeable batteries at Walmart, and inside the package there was this coupon for ten free prints when you upload them online and pick them up at the store. So I saved it. Cause, hey...ten free prints.

I used to get all my prints at Walmart. That was before Costco moved in, with the churros, and the cheaper prints, and the girls working in the photo lab who are actually nice.

No offense to Walmart, and Walmart photo lab workers, but really, I felt like everytime I dealt with the folks at my store, it was a battle of wills. They would somehow lose the order, print it wrong, or make me sign a photographers release form. And it seems like they always have a chip on their shoulder, like they are working a menial minimum-wage job or something. Also there were a couple of times that I got alllll the way home, and looked at the photos, and they were another family. Or someones pet. Argh.

Costco was an answer to my infrequent prayers.

But I had a coupon.

And I needed to go to Walmart anyway, so I uploaded, the computer went offline, I uploaded again...ordered. And now, I can't find the @$%# coupon.

All this for a savings of $1.90. Sometimes, if I weren't myself, I would be so mad at myself that I would write mean things about me on this blog.

hello Maui.

Looks like we are heading out on a little trip.
Taking the kids. Like idiots.

Not enough time for me to lose weight or anything. Sigh.
They still wear Mu-mu's, don't they?

what i did saturday and incidentally ruined my sunday.

Since we have traveled a bit in the last year or two, I have come to realize how lucky we are to live right next to such beautiful mountains. It is funny how you take for granted the things that make your "home" unique. We have friends that live close to the beach in California, and rarely go. We think they are crazy!

I think that is just how it is, that you know those things are always there, and living that close, you don't think often of how cool it really is. And maybe that whole last paragraph was just a rambling sleep-deprived mess. (We'll get to that one later.) Anyway, Saturday we took the Jeeps up to Mary Ellen Gulch, up American Fork Canyon. The trail is only accessible via off-road vehicles, and it really is beautiful.

Wild trees, wildlife, wild-flowers, wild kids....


It takes it all out of you, the whole jeeping thing. Plum tuckers you right out.


So needless to say, we were all exhausted. Sam had to work graveyards that night, so we busted home, and sent him off, and the kids and I fully planned (well, mom fully planned...) on going to bed early, at least by ten. And another half-hour would pass, and another, and another...until finally it was midnight.

All the kids haphazardly tossed around my bedroom in sleeping bags, giggling until we all fell asleep.

Just when I hit that good deep sleep, I hear Jayden asking Brendan what was wrong. And Brendan, very quietly sobbing into his pillow.

I am ashamed to admit. But I was so stinking tired that I was mad! Mad that every single night I get woken up for something. Just. One. Night. I would like to sleep!! I don't do well tired. So I get up, and check it out. Well, he has an earache. A bad one, and the poor thing has been suffering for two hours trying to sleep it off. Yes, if you are doing the math, it is about 2:30 am. So I give him some Advil, and we wait it out, all the while him writhing in pain...

Finally I can see that I have nothing to help him, so we load up, and haul over to the emergency room. After the traditional hour and a half wait, we get hooked up with antibiotics and...get this...Lortab. For my nine year old. I feel like quite the heel then, when the doctor assures me that he is in a whole lot of pain. The infection was horrible. The doctor was quacky, and I could go on and on about the emergency room doctors we have here, but that is a whole 'nother post. Brendan takes the meds and zonks on the way home. So now I have 70 pounds of dead weight to haul into the house. That was fun.

Poor kid slept until 1:30. He is feeling better. But, I, on the other hand, feel like the walking dead. I am going to bed early tonight.

Even if I have to drug the children. I will let you know how that goes.

A-HA!

Takin' you back to the 80's.

from this month's glamour magazine

And I quote: (cause I think the scan is too crappy and small to read)
*edited to add, if you click on the image, it magically enlarges to full size, but here is the text anyway...*

"FANNY PACKS. Your votes are in: Trends may come and go, but the fanny pack, like scrunchies, and exposed thongs, will always be a DON'T."


Ah. Crap.

just not cool.

This is how ridiculous I look when I am trying to be cool.

Pointing out that the sunglasses are Dolce and Gabbana. And um, yeah...we found them. I generally stock up on my glasses at the Dollar Tree. But, I thought these would spruce up the fanny pack ensemble. No?

Yeah, I don't think so either. And the worst part, is when I wear them, I have "My Humps" running through my head all day.

They treat me really nicely,
They buy me all these icees.
Dolce and Gabbana,
Fendi and then Donna
Karan, they be sharin
All their money got me wearin

Plus I look like a fly. But they are awesome for going jeeping. They keep all the dust out. Much like my mom's blue-blockers, or those disposable sunglasses they give you when you get your eyes dilated.

a new era

Here I am posting, the next day after a post...

What is up with that?

I took in the fireworks last night, which I gotta say, were AWESOME! My little one-horse town has grown, and dumped some serious cash into the pyrotechnics piggy bank. Every year they get better and better. Makes me that much more willing to ignore the pot-holes, and constant trains that rumble through allll niiight looong blowing their ear piercing whistles. Whoa, off-track, aren't I? (no pun intended)

Anyway, the fireworks. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I took some really great firework photos two years ago with my Canon 20d. And as you know, I recently purchased a little point and shoot- a Canon Power Shot, the A710is, to be precise. And it has a plethora(<---reference to Three Amigos) of automatic functions, one of which happens to be a "fireworks" mode. So, I thought I would give that bad boy a shot. (again, no pun intended)

Remembering that two years ago, when I pert-near missed the whole fireworks show, what with futzing around with my aperture and exposure, the cable release and tripod, I was a little hesitant about just lifting the camera up, and pressing a button. Granted it took some skillz to time it, I pressed the button when I hear the Boom! of the cannon, and hoped that the exposure was long enough to catch the sparkle of the firework. But really, that was it. Just pushing a button, folks.

It seemed like cheating. Especially when the photos came back, sans tripod,and dare I say...better than the 20d? These are unedited and straight from the camera. I am pretty impressed here.



And the best part, was Jayden reminding me that the camera has a video record mode. And I filmed the whole Grand Finale! Yes, I can have fireworks now, all year long. And if I am technically savvy enough, I will link it here, for you all too.

I am wondering then, when photography stops becoming an art. When any average Joe can pick up a point and shoot and produce professional looking photos? Where it doesn't matter if you have the right "eye" for the shot, cause you can just crop it later. That it is not a problem if the picture is horribly underexposed, or that there is a tree limb shooting out of your child's head, cause you can just photoshop it all better. It's a different world we live in. Bittersweet.

I remember poring through the pages of National Geographic and marveling at the photography there. Still in the days of film, when it was all a little dark-room tweaking, fabulous equipment, and raw talent. I am sad that era has passed.

But...it is secretly nice to be able to just push a button.

Happy 4th of July!

And for my Canadian friends, Happy belated Canada Day! And to the rest of my international friends, you will need to leave a comment, and educate me on your celebrations. I did not do well in whatever class was supposed to teach me those things.

But do you like my shirt?

Taking the Jeeps up the mountain for a picnic. I made potato salad, coleslaw and barbecued beef brisket. I know my kids will want nothing to do with any of that, so I am bringing a Costco sized bag of Doritos, and five multi-vitamins. Cause I am concerned about their nutrition like that.

Then later, the big fireworks show. I got some really great firework photos two years ago, and I just keep re-using those suckers, which makes it nice for me to just lay back and enjoy the show, without my camera.

Hope everyone has a safe holiday!

why.

Well, hey.

So here is how my week is starting out. I am in the middle of "project laundry room organization" and as you know, we have that new IKEA, and I bought a system that I think is really going to work for us. There is a deep bin for each of my kids, that slide into a rail system to keep it all neat.

I bought- let me see if this will link:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/rooms/laundry/11468/

Anyway, I am sure you will all be asking me to post pictures, and I will, when the thing gets done. And maybe, if you are lucky, I will also pose with my fanny pack. Won't that be a stunning visual delight? Stayed tuned for that.

So back to my crappy Monday.

All weekend long, I busted heinie getting my laundry back to a managable task. And dang! if I wasn't *almost* caught up. I mean, really caught up. Bedding and everything. Towels. All that stuff. Busted hump here. Alllll weekend long.

So Monday, I wake up to Mikayla tapping me in the forehead.
(Whispering..)"Mommy, are you waked up?"
"Mommy, I pee-pee'd in my bed."
And really, that would have been enough to make me not want to get out of bed, cause you know, the laundry WAS CAUGHT UP EIGHT HOURS AGO. But no, not only did she pee the bed (which included her bedspread, blanket, sheets, and several stuffed animals.)

BUT HER SISTER DID TOO.

Yee-haw.

This week is our hometown celebration.

There are family oriented activities the whole week long.

Thursday night is the first night of the Rodeo, which boasts itself to be the "World Famous" Lehi Round-up Rodeo. So I am sure you have heard of it, right?

Thursday night, at 6, there is a stock parade that winds through town, where pretty much anyone owning a horse, hat, and dinner-plate sized belt buckle can ride their horse downtown.

Someone a few years back thought it would make them more popular to throw tootsie rolls at the crowd as they trotted by. So now, a good majority of the horse riders throw some type of candy.

The kids love it, me, not so much.

Maybe it is because I find myself constantly scanning the road "Mikayla, DO NOT pick the laffy taffy out of that steaming turd!" Horses. Horse poop. Candy.
Brilliant!

The best part of the whole poop parade is the street sweeper, that cleans all the turds up. My kids are fascinated! And really, I think it is the only time the city is able to justify the expense of what that thing must have cost to purchase.

Then the World Famous rodeo begins. It runs for three nights. We can hear it, all three nights from our front porch.
"....Lehi, Utah, are you ready for the buuuuull riiiiides?!!"

Friday night, and Saturday morning we have a parade. There are floats, and bands, and miscellaneous sequined-clad "Royalty." Rodeo royalty in lime green wranglers and pearl button shirts to match. Our city, and adjoining city royalties in flowing gowns and hairspray crusted bouffants. All waving that elbow-elbow, wrist-wrist patented parade wave. I think I feel the worst for "Miss Onion Days." Not the best title to win.

Today is a sort-of fair in the park. The kids love it! We are heading out here in a minute to take it all in. And possibly see everyone we went to high school with toting their kids around too. We will eat cotton candy, and hot-dogs sold by local baseball teams. The Future Farmers of America from the high school will have a petting zoo for the kids, and maybe pony rides...you know, to train the next generation for the poop parade.

You gotta love small towns.

I stayed up last night until 4, finishing up my Karen Foster stuff, so I could bring it to their office today. 48 layout and projects. I kicked butt, and I am tired. I am sleeping in til noon tomorrow, and I don't even care what the neighbors think.

We had to get up early today cause we took the kids and the fanny pack to another amusement park today.

Sam and I were sitting there, people watching, while the kids took Mikayla on a bunch of kiddie rides, and yes--we were waiting for our near-vomit spewing stomachs to settle. Anyway, we were people watching, and noticing how much cooler we were than like 90 percent of the whole park. We notice it a lot, when we are out in public, how no one is cool like us, we still have "it." And we are in our mid-thirties, folks.

Then I remembered the fanny pack. That I was wearing it. By choice. Again.

Maybe not so cool.

And I appreciate the links to cooler alternatives, but you gotta know how handy this thing is. It has not one, but TWO water insulated bottle holders on the sides, and two zippered pouches.

I am like a camel. A cool, handy camel. No?

photo shoots

Sometimes I work of product lines that I have to do photo shoots for. I bribe the kids with some candy or a trip to the dollar store, and they are usually pretty willing to pose for my off-the-wall shots.

Without saying what the line is that I am working on...(betcha can't guess, wink)

I ended up with some pretty cool pics of my girls.



I did another shoot of the boys, I will have to share those another day. They were dressed more *ahem* masculine. I don't think any of my bribes would be worth them prancing around in tights and sequined tu-tu's at this stage in their pre-teen lives...

Of course they were a little younger, but it was of their own free will and choice. But really, who can resist dancing when the Fantasia soundtrack is playing?

Cannot.
Wait.
Until they start dating. Tee-hee!

face anomaly

So, it's that time of year, here in Utah when the mosquitoes are out in full force.

I woke up yesterday morning, and had a big red dot on my face. (No photos will accompany this post, you can thank me later)
Is it a pimple? Is it a bite?

I am a picker by nature, and had to restrain myself all day. "Just wait" I told myself. And I had to avoid mirrors as to not pick at it.

The day progressed, and when I talked to people, their eyes kept gradually shifting to the dot.

"Oh please...." I thought, "don't let it be festering, or oozing, or WHITE!! Please, please don't let me be walking around with a huge white zit."

But, thankfully it was just a huge red dot. It kinda hurt.

This morning I woke up, and it was gone. Weird.

In other news...I am frantically scrapping. I have 13 themes to create layouts or projects for. They ask that we create 4 projects per theme...so, if I am doing the story-problem correctly, that is 52 projects. I am starting on my fourth theme today. I will keep you posted.

A quick photo shoot

Some of my favorites of my beautiful sister who is expecting twins in a few weeks. Sick, isn't it? To look this good being pregnant?

And get this...I told her not to worry, because I can photo-shop her stretch marks out for her, and she said:
"Oh, I don't have any."

Sick.

loving my job

I got a trade show box today.

A whole box of brand new, never-before seen product for me to design projects with. A whole box that roughly translates into the next couple of weekends (at least) being holed up in the studio, with 80's music, and my 64 ounce insulated caffeine barrel. Yessssssssssss!

If you don't hear from me by the 6th of July (my deadline) send in some medics. With glue-dots.

If you are a retailer, start planning now. Karen Foster has soooo outdone themselves this time. There is not a single line this show that isn't darling. I don't think I can leak any info yet, but DANG if they aren't coming out with a certain item that is something I never knew I always wanted.

The certain thing is awesome!

Trade shows are a semi-annual reminder of how much I love my job.
See you on the 6th...

Thanks GUYS!

One of my favorite photos. Shianne (who is now 7 3/4) with her Daddy, ignoring the smell of freshly played basketball sweat, and just hanging on his every word.

Happy Fathers Day tomorrow!

To my own Dad, who never let me feel or see limits to my dreams.

To my husband, who became a Dad when I became a Mom, and provides me with humor and support while we awkwardly blunder our way along the path of parenthood.

To all the Dads and Grand-dads out there, who truly make a difference in our lives.

in honor of summer

Yeah, it's duct tape.

Weekend Trip

We got home last night from Denver, Colorado.

We were originally planning on heading back up to the cabin in Idaho, to stay with my family for a weekend. When my sister called from the cabin and said one morning they woke up to snow on the ground, I was out.

We would be sleeping in a tent there, and I am not a pioneer.

So, since we had arranged work off, we started looking online for destinations that would be quick. Sam found Elitch Gardens in Denver, and that was that. They also had a Children's museum, which was a bonus for the kids. They love those things, and I think I would have too, if they would have had them when I was a kid. For parents, however, they should have a friendly bartender, with a fully stocked bar. Lucky for me, I like to follow the children around and take pictures or I would have joined the herd of mom's and dad's on the top mezzanine contemplating throwing themselves to the cement below.


Elitch Gardens was funner than I thought it would be. I haven't been to an amusement park since embarrassingly, 1995. I distinctly remember then, that the tides had changed and no longer could I go on every stomach churning thrill ride. I wonder if as an adult your chemical balance changes somehow, so you can't tolerate fun in concentrated doses?

I expected this time to be the stroller mom, watching everyone go on all the rides, but this time, to my utter amazement, I handled them.

The park was pretty empty when we got there, so we were able to walk onto a bunch of rides. So here we were standing in front of "The Tower of Terror" and all of the kids but Shayne, my seven year old, chickened out. So I left Jayden with the stroller, and said I would try it out. Me, Shayne and Sam.

We strapped in, and they started taking us up. And up. Aaaaand Uuuuuup.

And Holy Crap. We got to the top, and THEN is when it dawned on me, that they were going to unhook us and let us free-fall to the ground....

Just before we started to fall, I said "Sam, I don't think I can do this."

And then we dropped.

And I heard this high-pitched carnal scream that sounded like what you would expect to hear when someones vital organs are clawing out of the body for survival purposes.

It was me.

So I want you all to comment and tell me how brave I was. Or how stupid. Cause that was pretty impressive for a stay-at-home Mom who gets nervous in a traffic round-a-bout.

I am not going to go on and on about our adventures, cause really, nothing is more boring than someone else's travel-log. But I will say there were some good times had by all, and there may have been some hard-core rebel hotel bed jumping contests...

Bringing function back.

I am going to buy a fanny pack.

If I can find one, I am thinking I probably need to hit a thrift store, since I am well aware that they stopped making those things, oh, say about the time WHAM! broke up.

You just can't beat the 80's out of me.

My hair is a little too poofy sometimes, and those wide-leg pants made me feel uncomfortable. Not to mention the listening to the 80's music, which is still the best.

I need a fanny pack. I have needed one for a while. When I go walking with the walking group, it could hold my cell phone, water, and heart meds. And unlike a purse or bag, my hands are free to pump weights...yeah, that's it....pumping weights....(oreatingdonutstokeepmystrengthup)

And now, we are making plans to go to an amusement park, and I am thinking that is would be perfect for my little camera, and cell phone and whatever. Maybe heart meds. And then I would have two free hands to wrangle kids with, or shove people out of line.

So, yeah, I am going to be that lady. With the fanny pack. Don't judge me. You know you want one too.

I hope they make them in XL.

Take THAT chucky.

"Mom, this doll is kinda freaky without hair, can we throw her away?"

And we did. Quickly. And in the outside garbage can where she couldn't crawl out later in the night. (((shudder)))

I never worry when I am stranded without paper on a toilet at home.

I know it is only a matter of about 43 seconds before one of the kids notices that I am absent, and might be (gasp) alone...and will come running to find me.

One of the only comforting perks of being a mom to a bunch of kids, no butt-ring from the toilet seat.

Look out Draper!

Guess where I am going today?

IKEA!!!!!!!!!! OUR BRAND SPANKIN' NEW IKEA THAT IS ABOUT 15 MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE AND YES I AM SHOUTING CAUSE IT OPENED WHILE WE WERE IN IDAHO AND MY IKEA HAS BEEN OPENED FOR OVER A WEEK AND HAS NOT MET ME YET!

So, I am hitting the bank, and loading up the suburban, and maybe a trailer, so I can fill my house with affordable snap together furniture and Swedish trinkets.