I Hate Parties but I love My Little Girl!

Last year Emma started asking why she couldn’t have a "friend" birthday party. We told her she could when she turned eight. Well her 8th birthday is right around the corner. Sigh…

We were going to have a party at the Build a Bear Workshop. We thought she could pick four friends, build a bear, open gifts and be done. The store doesn’t open until September 15th and won’t be ready for parties until after her birthday. So we scratched that idea.

We decided to have a girl party in our backyard (we won’t even talk about how much work our yard needs) Emma wanted a princess party, not a Disney Princess party, just a princess party. Do you know how hard it is to find generic princess stuff? It is very difficult indeed.

I had found some cute pink girly Lisa Frank things and plain pink plates, napkins and cups at the dollar store. When I showed them to her I could tell it was not what she had planned on. I hated to spend tons of money on fancy paper goods that would end up in the garbage. I was back to square one.

I searched the internet and finally found everything I think we need to make Emma’s party the one she has always wanted. $100 later we will have a tiara piñata, a crown that you get to put glitter glue and jewels on, a balloon relay race with a prize in the balloons, organza gift bags with beads, glass slippers, stickers, eraser, pencil, lip gloss or body glitter in them, princess loot bags to put the piñata candy in, a centerpiece, banner and mylar balloon to pull the plain pink and princess theme together. I hope she loves it.

The trick now is getting the invite list narrowed down. Each and every day she has new people that she wants to invite. A lot of these kids I don’t know. I don’t know where they live or how to get their invitations to them. I am worried about hurting some girls’ feelings. I am worried that there won’t be enough kids that show up. I want this to be a perfect day for her. I think I should start praying now for good weather and a good turnout.

The First Day of Kindergarten

Kindergarten, my baby has started kindergarten.

I had wondered all summer long how I would react to Andrew’s first day of school. Before school started went to meet his teacher, I was fine. We went to the one on one kindergarten evaluation, I still felt fine. Then it came, the actual first day. He was so excited. He got dressed early and could hardly wait to go. I was still fine, actually excited about having a few hours to myself. We got in the car. I started driving toward the school. Then I saw the huge school bus with a handful of tiny little heads. They were barely able to see out the window and that is when it hit me. The tears came; there was nothing I could do to hold them in. He is still so little, and yet so excited to be testing his wings.

I couldn’t help it. I passed judgment on those moms that put their child on the bus for the first day of school. How could they not be there to make sure their child knew where to go? When I got to Grovecrest I was humbled. Those moms are brilliant. They put their child on the bus, and then raced to school in their car so that they could get pictures of their kids arriving at the school and getting off the bus. Duh! Why didn’t anyone tell me?

Once we got to the school Andrew headed right to the line. He was done with pictures and pretty much done with mom and dad. He did give me a big huge courtesy hug and some kisses before they headed into the school.

I went back when school was out to make sure that he knew where to look for Emma and which bus to get on. When he saw me he came running, he was so excited to see me! He still loved and needed his mommy! He met up with Emma and they gave each other the biggest hug ever. It was so cute. They really do love each other. They both got on the bus. I raced home and met them at the corner when they got off of the bus. It was a great day.

My Latest Crafting Obsession

Over the long weekend I finished my second quilt. It is one I will leave out as a decoration for Autumn/Halloween. This one went faster because I used 9.5 inch squares instead of 6 inch. I would guess it is about the size of a full sized bed. It still has a lot of the strings on it. I need to wash it at least once more. It was a lot of fun but I really rushed to get it done. My shoulders ache from the cutting and clipping. I think the next one will take me more than three days.

Emma wants me to make her one, since the first one (the pink and green one) that she thought was for her turned out so small. We got the butterflies and hot pink fabric for her. She practiced sewing this weekend and is trying to decide if she wants to make it all by herself!
I have decided to wait on the kids clothes quilt. I want to make a girl one and a boy one, so they match a little better. I don’t think I have enough stuff yet to do them as large as I would like. I will just have to be patient.

I love the idea of a sturdy denim picnic blanket so I chose some Americana fabric to use with the denim that we have. I want to make it with the blue stars, deep red (it shows up pinkish in the photo, it isn’t. It is more of a burgundy) and denim on top with solid denim on the back. I am excited to get started, but it might be a little while before I finish it. It will not be on display and picnic season is coming to a close soon.

3rd Grade

Today was the first day of school. I think we were all pretty anxious. We were all awake and out of bed before the alarm went off. That never happens.

Last night I got all of Emma's clothes ready for her to wear. She wanted to wear her soft comfy dress. I got it all steamed, polished her shoes and packed as much of her lunch as I could. I wrote her name on the inside of her lunch box and on the boxes of her markers, crayons and colored pencils. We were set.

She allowed me to drive her to school even though I think she wanted to get on the bus as it went past our house. We took the pictures out front like we have done every other year. She was excited and nervous. She looked adorable. We dropped her off and there she went, into a sea of other kids all looking lost and yet still excited.

I can't believe that my baby is in the 3rd grade! Where does time go? I pray and hope that this is one of Emma's best school years, that she will make a lot of friends, and lover her teacher.

The Lagoon Miracle

The journaling reads:

Andrew was upset that he wasn't tall enough to go on a ride called the Rocket. He threw a fit when my mom and Emma decided to go on it. He got so worked up (and it was *hot*) that he started to get too warm and was turning really red.

When they were done with the ride my mom went and sat on the edge of a planter box in the shade and I went to get some Icee’s. When I got back my mom said that Andrew had been bitten by something and showed me a big welt on his arm. We soothed it by putting the cold drink on his arm and all was well.

We decided to ride on the bumper cars. While we were getting in the cars just a few minutes later he said "I feel like I got another bite on my shoulder" I looked and there was a wasp on the inside of his shirt! I about crapped my pants. I was trying to turn his shirt inside out and get it off of him without getting a bite myself. I got it out and it went up hi neck and started walking up his head. I flicked it off of him and got us in the car before I told him he had a wasp bite. He was really brave but sad and in pain.

We told him that he could play one of the midway games to help him feel better. There was a table full of holes that he had to get a ball in. 95% were white then there were a couple of blue and green ones and right in the center a red hole. He said that he wanted the big orange snake. We told him “you know you won’t win right?” Right after we said that he threw his third ball. It went right in the red center hole! He won the jumbo prize. He got his 20 ft long orange snake!
He was so proud carrying that huge thing out of the park.

More pages made with templates

This is really helping me get stuff done. I love it. I have a whole folder of new ones that I can't wait to use.

Cousins

I am loving the templates that designers are making these days. How cute is this page?!? I thought I was going to loose it while I was putting in the last shadow, but Paul came to the rescue and was able to save it. I was so happy. I had customized all of the colors and I knew it would never look the same if I had to start over.

To Cut or Not to Cut

That is the question!

I got my hair cut really short almost a year ago. While I liked it I didn't feel as feminine with it short. It was cute for a minute, but it would need to be trimmed way too often to make it stay cute. Moral to my story……it is way to hard to maintain.

I have been growing out this past year with visions of sexy, long, flowing hair. In reality I get long, heavy stringy hair.

It is always in a pony tail. Not very sexy. Paul does like it when it is longer, but always loves it when it is short too.

I found a photo that I love. I had decided to let it grow one more year, but dang I love this photo. I have found with as heavy as my hair is, the longer it gets the flatter it lays. What's a girl to do?

Swimming Lessons

I had to do another page. I feel like I am on a roll! Maybe I have broken through the creative block that I have had. I sure hope so. There are a lot of photos that I need to scrap.

How cute are they?!?

This is a page that I just did of Emma and her teacher Jeremy. This was taken on the last day of her swimming lessons. I just love this photo. They both look so happy.

Happy Campers!

Here are the last two pages. I took the easy way out and stuck the rest of the photos all on two pages. It works for me!

Shhh don't tell, I scraplifted this layout!

I scraplifted someone's layout and started scrapping my camping pictures. I haven't done any pages for so long, it felt good to see something finished. I am going to continue the same basic layout for the rest of the pictures. Keeping it simple will give me a better chance of getting it done!

Camping at Timpooneke

Wednesday night Paul and I rode up to Timpooneke with Roland while the kids rode with grandma and grandpa. We secured two campsites for our weekend adventure. It was beautiful up there. There were so many types of summer wild flowers. It was great for me to be out in the fresh air. We saw a cute little bunny and got to run around and get out some energy. We set up the tents and left back for home excited for the weekend ahead.

Friday I spent most of the day preparing for our trip. Paul got home a little after 4:00pm and packed up the car. When we got to our site Roland already had the dutch oven dinner going. We set up camp and then I started my blackberry cobbler. Dinner was delicious. We had country ribs, veggies, potato salad, watermelon, and green salad. After dinner we had pineapple upside down cake that Roland made in a dutch oven and some birthday cake for David. My cobbler never got cooked through.

After dinner the kids had a blast exploring the forest. They found a mini waterfall and trails that led all around our camp. They managed to get pretty wet and muddy. Emma got into some stinging nettle. It made a rash on her leg but we iced it down and she survived.

As it got later, we built a fire, sat round visiting with one another and grandma told stories. We roasted marshmallows and made smores. Around 10:00pm it was time was to go to bed. We went and brushed our teeth and the water spigot and took turns using the outhouse.

We got settled down in the tent and only had to go to use the bathroom a few time throughout the night! Andrew got us up at least three times saying he had to go potty. We made him go outside the tent twice. There weren’t enough blankets so Paul and I shared. Each time I would adjust a burst of cold air would get into the blankets. I adjust a lot! He made me promise we would never share blanket again.

Morning came quickly after our last trip to the bathroom. I sat there feeling a bit cold watching the tent get brighter and brighter. I had just warmed myself up and fallen back to sleep when a drop of dew landed right on my forehead. I was awake again. Ugg! We had thought about staying over another night, but after almost no sleep we packed up and went home.

I bake my cobbler in the oven when we got home. It was alright, I won’t be making it again. I did some laundry and we took a nap. I think we will continue to be once a year campers, at least until we get sleeping bags and can get some better rest.

A new addition

I have so many emotions right now that I don’t even know where to begin. My brother called yesterday and asked if we could take his St. Bernard. He has only had her a few weeks, but with all their other dogs, she was just too much for them. Paul and I talked about it and decided to give it a try. We had met her before and thought she was pretty cool. They also said that they would help us find homes for our cat.

Well they found a home for one cat, but not the one that we really wanted to get rid of. Today we waited for the call to meet them and loaded Cossette into a box. We tried taping it but we only got a couple of blocks before she broke through the tape. She was doing the funny cat in a car meow, but was behaving rather well. She made her way up to my lap while I was driving and sat with me for a while. She was so sweet. She knew something was going on. She kept pressing her face on my hand and arm. I could tell she was marking me.

It reminded me of our move with her from St. George up to Pleasant Grove. I thought she would tear the kids up into pieces, but she just slept most of the way. She couldn’t have been better for the long drive.

I feel like I have betrayed her. I know that she wasn’t as happy here as she could have been if we didn’t have the other cats, but she was mine. We took her with the plans of keeping her and loving her forever. It breaks my heart to know that we gave up on her. It kills me to know that we still have Phantom here when I don’t like him at all.

We got to Cal Ranch where we were meeting to pick up Sophie. Cossette was sitting with the kids when we got there. She let me pick her right up and she went nicely into the cat carrier my mom had brought. They wanted to go into the store; I just wanted to get out of the situation. We went in a bought a crate. It is huge. With it in the back of the car Sophie had to ride in the front. She didn’t sit, she kept standing and turning. It is hard to drive when you can’t see out the back of the car and there is a huge dog trying to get in your lap.

We got home and let her out in the back yard. She sniffed all around and then we gave her a quick bath. We let her dry off outside and then decided we would take her in. She wanted to explore. I knew that she would, but I wasn’t *ready* for it. I could smell her. I saw her hair that she was shedding. I can’t believe that I gave up a small cat for a St. Bernard. What have I done?

We tried going for a walk. The kids were on their bikes so that Sophie and I could go faster. We got to the top of the little hill and Andrew took off down it. He didn’t have his feet on the pedals. I watched helpless and he picked up speed. Emma was in front of him; she dropped her scooter and stuck out her arms to intercept him as he raced towards her full speed. I was running as fast as I could but there was no way I could have done anything. Andrew crashed into Emma and they both went down.

Emma was fine but Andrew skinned his knee. He didn’t want to ride his bike ever again. He said he couldn’t walk. I couldn’t pick him up and carry him home like I would have wanted because I had a dog to worry about. Do I have enough energy and love to give to kids and a dog?

We got home and put a bandage on Andrew’s knee. I wanted to get Sophie used to our home so she could be more relaxed. She was in for a bit but she was eating the cat’s food, following me around, and going in all the bedrooms. I just don’t think I can handle this.

I called my mom to see if they had gotten home. No, they were still driving around with Cossette in a cat carrier in their car! I was horrified. I can’t believe they would leave her like that for hours. It hurts my heart. I would have driven her out to their house on my own if I had known that they were going to spend so much time with her stuck in a carrier. I have been bawling ever since. I just hate the thought of her in the back of their truck wondering why I did that to her.

Sophie is stuck outside, laying there probably wondering why everyone is ignoring her. I just don’t know what to do. I wish I could go back in time and never agree to this. I wish I knew yesterday just how crappy I would feel today. I went from a very small, almost no maintenance cat to a super sized high maintenance dog. What the hell do I do?

**************The Next Day*************

This is sooo not working
This is the email that I sent to Paul early this morning after Sophie came back home. He had opened the gate to take out the garbage cans and she ran away. He had to wake me up to tell me she was gone. I went out and called for her. I went in and called my mommy to see if I should call and tell Michael. While I was on the phone I saw her down the street. I called her name and she came back. She is now safely put away in our back yard again.

Sophie doesn’t seem as relaxed this morning. I don't know if it because of all the birdies in the morning, or what but she is walking around and just wont settle down. It is almost like she is looking for a way out. I am giving her too much credit? I really thought she would be tired after her morning run. She was panting pretty hard when I found her.I just don't know what to tell Michael. How long do we let this go? You know what it feels like? It reminds me of when the Alton's had that dog tied to their porch. I know it is better because she can walk around, but I remember them yelling ABBY! I hate to have our kids hear us yelling even more than we already do, you know what I mean? I hate that I can't get in and out of my back door or gate for that matter without yelling NO! I should be able to walk around my house and property when and how I want.I haven't seen any sign of the cats. I thought if I saw them in the field and I could try to get them to come to the front door, but no luck. I am worried about them. This is soooo not good.

After crying for 48 hours, waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea, and missing work Wednesday night due to stress and my anxiety Paul and I made the decision that we couldn’t keep Sophie. I was so worried about her getting out of our gate while we were camping, worried about the cats not having a chance to come home and eat before we left, and just overall sick about the whole situation, that I decided that I needed to suck up my fears and drive her up to the shelter in Bountiful. I had not driven past Draper since we have lived here. I was nervous but knew that it was the only way to make myself feel better.

After talking to Michael about our decision I took a quick shower, loader her and the kids up and off we went. I made it without any problems. I filled out the paper work and we left. I felt bad doing it, but knew that it was the only choice I had. I have so much stress about things that I can’t control, that when there is something I can do to protect myself, I must do it. I didn’t know that all my financial concerns, all of my concerns with my parenting/work and concerns about Paul’s job security would fester and come out in the shape of a dog. She was the straw that broke this camel’s back. I just couldn’t have the stress at this time. It was making me sick.

What Could be Better than Back to School Shopping?

Last year Emma told me she would like to get some new clothes for school. This is coming for my daughter who runs away screaming when I ask her to try something on. I was so excited. We went right before school so we were only able to find a few things at Kohl’s. There weren’t a whole lot of choices.

With this being Andrew’s first year of school I knew they would both need or should I say want some new things. This year I was ready, I was going to start early. I didn’t want there to be only a few things to choose from so as I saw things going on sale I would grab them. I had a pretty good stash put away.

My mom went to Kohl’s and found some more great deals and got a huge bag of clothes for the kids. She also found some things at the Meier and Frank sale. I happened to be at the mall last week and Children’s Place was having their monster sale. Everything that was on Clearance was an additional 50% off. So I got a few more things. Well last night at Old Navy we had a huge clearance event with an additional 50% off of our clearance as well. With my 20% employee discount on top of that, well the deals were too good to pass up. What does all this mean? My kids have WAY TOO MANY CLOTHES…… again!

This morning Andrew woke me up much earlier that I would have liked. After I started a load of laundry I decided to add my bargains from last night to the other stuff that had been collected over the past month. We put together outfits for him. You would have thought it was Christmas. OK so he wasn't Christmas excited, but pretty close. He was so happy to see all his new clothes. “Can I wear them now?” he would ask. I told him no, except for two pairs of comfy shorts that are for around the house, they need to be kept for back to school. He is the daughter I have always wanted!

Warren is the bad guy

What do you do when your husband’s boss is an asshole? I wish I knew. He is just lucky that I don’t work there. I would not be able to hold my tongue the way Paul does. I am afraid he and I would have each other killed in less than 24 hours if we spent more than twenty minutes under the same roof. I would not be able to stand his condescending attitude, his talking behind peoples backs or his ignorance.

It is looking more and more like there is a chance that the company will be moving to Atlanta. While I am exastatic at the possibility of leaving Utah, I can’t even begin to image moving across the country to work for a putz. He has no respect for Paul, our family or for our time.

He needs to be taught a lesson, but as for now we have to be polite and gracious because he holds our fate in his hands. Thanks to him there will be no more raises, there will be no getting ahead financially and there will be no feeling of job security. Paul is worried that if he stands up for himself that he will be let go like Sam was. We must tread lightly...... it sure would be a shame if he were to find a large pile of steaming poo on the hood of his car wouldn't it?

More Swimming

Today at the swimming lessons I was prepared for anything. I came in my suit, camera in hand and had a frozen bottle of water. I was much cooler than the day before. I was walking around taking pictures of Emma, hoping my legs were getting the sun that they so desperately need, when I realized I couldn’t see Andrew, anywhere.

The pool is very full of little wet heads. They were everywhere I looked. I walked back to the shallow end where the preschool class meets and still didn’t see him. He had a substitute teacher, so I didn’t even know what teacher to look for. I walked around and around and he was no where to be seen. I even risked embarrassment for myself and others by yelling for him in the men’s room. There were only five minutes of class left and the kids started coming back to the shallow water. There he was, as happy as could be.

I don’t know how I missed him. I still don’t know which wet head was his but he is alive and well.

Emma did great. She is no longer the only girl in her class. The new girl isn’t as good in the water as the others, so it slows them down a bit. There were only four kids today so they still got plenty of time with the teacher. They are practicing front and back crawl, side breathing and chicken, airplane, soldier back floats. I hope Emma gets really good and enjoys swimming as much as I do.

The Swimming Lessons

Today I watched the kids at their swimming lessons. I thought I might die from the heat. It was over 100. That is just toooo dang hot to bet sitting in the sun watching others play in the cool water. I sure better get some tan legs out of this deal.

They did a great job. Emma's teacher is adorable, if she were a few years older she would be twitterpated. He had his arms wrapped around here while she was one her back. He was showing her how to do the back stroke. I am taking my camera with me next time. They will make perfect blackmail photos on prom night!

Andrew looked like he was having a ton of fun. He wasn't afraid at all to blow bubbles, kick like crazy and catch "fish".