One of these days.....

...I will have all of my pictures scrap booked. No wait, I won't! I take way too many photos.

Here is one page down, few few hundred thousand to go.

This is Emma on Pier 39 in San Francisco. I made a photo book with my favorite photos from our summer vacation, so I didn't think I needed to do more with them. Today I was messing with a template and a kit that I downloaded and ended up using this picture from our trip. Now it has begun. I will need to scrap a bunch of the photos.

Maybe tonight I will work on a couple more pages, that will keep me from sewing on my quilting projects.

I already finished a great book. (It was the Dead End Job Series by Elaine Viets: Dying to Call You) That was the first thing I did to avoid sewing and now I am digi-scrapping. What is this world coming to? It is funny, I love shopping for fabric, I love putting the colors together and deciding on a design and I even like cutting out the pieces. The truth is, the only thing I don't like about quilting is the sewing!!! It must have something to do will trying to line up all those darn little pieces.

I finished my table topper for Christmas (I just need to get it quilted but I won't do that until November). It isn't half as cute as I had hoped. The colors were a bit blah so I had to put the red on the outside leaving a large white area in the center. This is where my hurricane or charger with a candle and pine cones will go. What ever my center piece is, it should distract from the light square. This is it before I started sewing it. I will say that it is better in person.

I am now sewing on Happy Jack. The easy part is almost done. After I get it all put together I will have to applique. That has me worried. I have never done it before and don't know if my machine even has what I need to do it this time. I am thinking I will beg Maggie's mother in law to do it for me ;) If all goes well this will be hanging somewhere in my house before Halloween. (Don't hold your breath)

Life...Sometimes it Gets Busy

This week was suppose to be a relaxing week since last week was a bit hectic. Well it is shaping up to be busy too. I realize that what is busy to me isn't busy to others.

Monday will be spent bowling and celebrating Megan and Matthew's birthday. I am planning to work Tuesday and Wednesday so that I have more money for the weekend. (more on that in a second) Emma also has her Hip Hop dance class that night. Thursday is quilt group. It meets for about four hours at the church. Friday I leave for my "girl's night" with my best friend Maggie. We will be enjoying good food and shopping. That is why I need more money, there is never enough money.

Maggie and I were suppose to go shopping for fabric in preparation for Thursday, but with work, I'm not sure if we are going to make it. She might have to go alone. I love shopping for fabric. I really want to go....whine....we'll have to see if we can squeeze it in somewhere.

I am excited to go to quilt group. It might help me get back into the swing of things. I have one month to do two quilts, if I want them in time for Halloween. I don't know when else I will have a chance to work on them.

Here is the last quilt top that I made. (the colors in the top photo are more acurate. The background is a pretty muted yellow, not a bright lemon yellow)I still haven't gotten it quilted because I am spending all of my money on other things. I also have real issues with completing projects.

.....makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires will come to you ...

Today one of my dreams came true. I am going to be an annual passport holder to Disneyland.

(It's the little things that make me happy.)

Paul was asked to visit the production plant in Southern California at the end of September so we decided to make a family weekend out of it at. He will leave on Thursday and do what he needs to do, then the kids and I will fly down on Saturday. We already had a trip planned with our friends in November. I had been counting down the days. Now I get to go twice this year, and earlier than expected!!!

The annual pass is the only way to go if you will be going to the park more that twice in a year. That means we will get to see the Halloween decorations again and be back for the Christmas decorations. I am THRILLED.

There are so many things to love about Disneyland. It is the sights, the smells and the sounds. It is like my world is in technicolor when I am in the park. There are thrills and laughter, and photo ops galore. I can't get over the characters. I love them, I stalk them. It was always a life long dream of mine to work as a character at Disneyland. (Too bad that the only character I could play now is the Fairy Godmother. Kidding!)

In honor of my love of Disney I decided to be Cruella for Halloween.

Sadly enough,I know that the day is quickly approaching that the kids will be bored with Disneyland. They will want the bigger more exciting rides. This might be the last year that they are as excited as I am to be going twice and more than likely three times in a year. But as for now...

I'm going to have an annual pass!

I'm going to have an annual pass!

I'm going to have an annual pass!

Here are some of my pages from our last trip that we took in October.

And So it Begins

The first day of school. A brand new school year. There is such a mixture of emotions. I am thrilled and heartbroken all at the same time. It is exhilarating, exciting, nerve racking, and a little sad. How can you not shed a tear when sending your kids off into the big unknown?

They were so excited this morning and oh so cute! Both of them were wide awake right on time. There was no “mom, can’t I just sleep a little longer?” Both were up and eating and then doing stuff in record time.

I love all of the traditions that go along with the first day of school. I love doing their hair that morning (most days I am not allowed), snapping the tags off of the new clothes, and most of all, the Father’s Blessings.

Last night Paul was able to give both kids, and their mom, beautiful blessings. Emma was told that it was going to be a wonderful year. (What a relief that was to me since 5th was my worst year.) Andrew was told that he would become an even better reader and be able to learn all the things that will be taught to him.

I was given the greatest gift of all. I was told that my children were in good hands, and that they would be very well taken care of at school. I was also promised that they would be returned home to me safely ever single day this year. What a comfort that was to hear. It has filled my heart with joy. I know that my kids are safe. I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking of it.

It's going to be a great year!

Decisions Decisions

According to the Halloween countdown we are only 74 day and 4 hours away from Halloween.

The kids are saying that they will be the devil and an angel. I will let you guess who is who.

I have been planning on being an American Indian for a while now but the costume that I want isn't in stock. I am still on the look out though. The costumes below are my top two choices. I am hoping that the indian becomes available. If not, it's a pirate's life for me!

Success again!

I have been dreaming of fresh veggies from the garden ever since last year, but there is always the concern that the stuff just won't grow. This year I planted bell peppers (yellow, green and purple), tomatoes, string beans (green, yellow and burgundy), sugar peas, zucchini, yellow squash and without my knowledge a PUMPKIN PLANT! So far it has been a great success.

I love making this

From this

After baking I went out to the garden and gather all of these beauties.

I made Mignonne's Citrus Chicken for dinner with the zucchini and yellow squash. It was fab! Now if I could get my tomatoes to turn red we would really be cookin'.

Here are a few more pictures of the things from my garden.

Aren't those pumpkins precious?

I guess I suck at blogging

Geez, how do you sum up a year on one post? You don't!

We are preparing for the kids to start school in just two weeks. Can you believe it? Just two weeks. Guess what I have been doing. That is correct, more back to school shopping. Woot!

The kids are leaving for grandma's house tonight so that I can work and they can play at Cherry Hill and with their cousins. While they are gone I am going to inventory everything that I have gotten for them . They are done no matter what, but I would like to see how bad I was this year.

Emma will be going to 5th grade (how is that possible?) and Andrew will be in 2nd.

Last year we requested that Emma have a fun and creative teacher and that Andrew be given anyone besides Mrs. Hays. A little over a week ago we got their class assignments in the mail. Guess what? Andrew got Mrs. Hays.

We had been there, done that. The endless packets of busy work and the Nazi like approach to handwriting was just too much. I however, like to think that everything happens for a reason. We were going to let it go, or at lease wait until we could see the complete class list.

We got the push we needed to act though before the class list was published. While Emma was at piano we got a warning from her teacher. It was cut and dry, "Get him out. Get him out now!" She told us that she had destroyed her little boy and that it took years before he was able to enjoy school again.

Andrew is now in Miss. Connell's class with a ton of kids from our ward. I am hoping it will be a great year. Emma is in Mrs. Johnson's class. She was excited to get her as a teacher and has a few classmates that she is thrilled about.

I sold my first craft!

I placed a purse up on Etsy today with zero expectations. Well after asking a simple question on Two Peas in a Bucket a lovely Pea bought it to give as a birthday gift. I am so excited. I realize now that I need to charge more for shipping, oh well live and learn. With the cost of the packaging and shipping I probably hardly made any money but it sure was a confidence booster. I am so excited to have a store. I named it Designs By Mignonne. I figured that way it wouldn't matter what I made. I hope at some point I sell again. LOL!

This is for my Little Buddy!

The kids have been staying at my mom’s since Monday. Since they weren’t around I sent an email to Emma with the link to my blog so that she could see all the clothes. Last night while I was saying good night to the kids on the phone Andrew asked if I would send him an email with a picture of all of his clothes. So here it is little buddy!

I miss you both. Have fun with Grandma and be good. I hope to see you very soon.

Love You Both, Mommy

Oops I did it Again!

Once again I have gotten too many school clothes for Emma. Two outfits are actually left from last year because she had so much and it got cold so fast she couldn’t wear everything. In my defense I don’t think anything was over $13 most was between $5 and $10. That is one of the benefits of working retail; you can be there right when something is marked down. I hope that she likes everything! Now all that is left is a backpack and socks.

Grandma Fern turns 89 on Friday the 13th

We had the opportunity to go and spend about 30 minutes with grandma on her birthday. Usually Joi or David and Nancy take care of grandma and we don’t spend a lot of time with her. Joi and her family were enjoying a trip to Palmyra, New York and David and Nancy have been on their mission in Hong Kong for about six weeks so we were asked to go visit with her. I had wanted to go to Orem to get a pair of shoes so it worked out perfectly. I hated to go empty handed so I decided to make cupcakes. I also printed a picture of grandma with David and Nancy on the day they left for Hong Kong and put it in a clear frame that will stick on her fridge. I know that she doesn’t need anything so this seemed like a good idea.

When we got there she looked really surprised to see the cupcakes and candles. We got to sing to her and watch her blow out the candle that Andrew missed. See had a genuine smile on her face the whole time we were there. It felt really good to do that for her. We are going to try to make the effort to go and see her once a month. I really can’t image how lonely she must get. I figure it is the least we can do.

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden, so That's Just What I Did!

It started with two tomato plants, a jalapeño and a sweet pepper. Then came the seed packets. I got yellow squash and zucchini. Those started to grow and the next thing I knew I was starting a garden. I planted all of my little babies out in the yard. The ground wasn’t even really prepared for a garden so my hopes were minimal. The plants seemed to be doing alright so while I was at Wal Mart I thought “a few more things might be fun.” I found out that the seed packets were on sale for ten cents!

I bought green onions, two types of water melons, radishes, sweet corn, green beans and yellow beans. I started the seeds in little cups on the back porch. The radishes were the first to sprout. The two beans were next. I saw a few little green onions and then the rest started coming. By this time I knew that my “garden area” wasn’t even close to being large enough.

I didn’t even plant the corn. I knew that it would get way too big. I lost quite a few of my plants once they were in the ground. I was down to half of my beans and only three squash and three zucchini. I also lost some of my green onions. They were so tiny. I felt like I was planting hairs. The tomatoes are doing well but my peppers are struggling.

Tonight was the big payoff. I have been caring for, watering and weeding my babies since May. Tonight we all enjoyed the first fruit of our labors. We had a fresh zucchini straight from our garden to put into Mignonne’s Citrus Chicken. Even the kids were excited to taste it and said it wasn’t bad.

In the next day or two we should be able to get our next zucchini. There are a lot of blossoms, but not all look like they are going to produce veggies. This has me confused. The yellow squash seems to be a little behind but the blooms are starting. The plants are getting gigantic. Those six plants have almost taken over my whole garden area.

The beans are doing well, some have had blossoms but I am still waiting for signs of the veggies.

I have at least 6-10 tomatoes in the works and tons of little yellow flowers. We have the potential to have tomatoes coming out of our ears.

I have 2-3 green onions that are looking really good. I won’t be able to have a whole bunch of onions but I will take what I can get.

The radishes are growing like crazy. How does one know when to pick a radish? I haven’t the first clue!

I have several watermelon plants but one seems to be much larger than all of the rest. I am not sure if I am going to let it continue since I know that it will get really large and it seems like it is a little late in the season.

My jalapeño plant has hardly grown at all (it is only 6-8 inches tall) but it has two of the cutest little peppers I have ever seen growing on it. One is almost an inch long and the other is just teeny tiny.

The green pepper is the one that has me the most worried. I see the start of one pepper but that is it. The flowers don’t seem to do much. They just whither away and don’t grow into veggies.

I think that even with just the one zucchini and the excitement of the kids watching the plants grow and mature, our efforts have been very worth while. The scary thing is I am out of room and have three types of pumpkins that need to be planted ASAP if I want to have them in time for Halloween. Where should I put them? How much lawn should we sacrifice for our garden? Only time will tell.

Beads Beads and More Beads

Jill Conder came to church wearing the cutest necklace from Buckle. I asked if I could borrow it so that I could copy the pattern. I made two necklaces following the pattern. One is pinks and greens the other is blues and blacks. I really like them.

My Baby Boy is Six

Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem that long ago that I was told I would be delivering that very night. I remember driving to the hospital holding Emma crying, wondering what I had done. Why was I going to be sharing my love? I didn't think that I wanted to have another child. It wasn't fair to her. It was too late at that point. (I will blame a lot of my feelings on pregnancy hormones.) I had my amnio and found out my big boy wasn't ready to be born. His lungs weren't ready. I was then scheduled for a c-section two weeks later. What a roller coaster. To think you are going to have a baby one night and then find out that he will be delivered via c-section two weeks later. Wow!

I will never forget the first time I looked at him (without being under the influence of drugs and pain meds) Heavenly Father flipped a love switch. I knew right away that I liked him. I liked him a lot. That hasn't changed. Even though Andrew has been a huge challenge and has earned his nickname Turd Boy, I have always had a very special bond with him. He still likes to snuggle in the mornings and always has a hug for me. He is very special to me. I am so glad that I have had him in my life for the past six years. I can't wait for all of the years to come.

To celebrate we went to dinner at IHOP with my parents. We then went to David and Nancy's clubhouse for cake and ice cream.......the cake....what can we say about the cake?

Andrew had seen a kitty litter cake on Good Things Utah. They made it for Halloween. He said he wanted one for his birthday. I let it slide. I figured he would forget about it. Boy was I wrong. That is the only cake that he wanted for his birthday. What's a mom to do? I made the cake. His poor dad couldn't even eat a bit. It actually tasted pretty good.

Andrew was given transformers, games and cars for his birthday. He got more than he needed, that's for sure. What can I say. It is fun to spoil my baby.

Easter 2007

Easter Has Come and Gone

The Easter festivities started on Saturday the 7th. We were invited to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. This is the first year that we participated. They had three homes where they hid the eggs. One home was for little kids to four year olds. The second house was for five through seven year olds and the last house was for eight to eleven year olds. It was hard having the kids split up but we managed. I got to run back and forth in my high heeled sandals. I was wishing I had on my flip flops!

Everything was hidden in the back yards. There was candy thrown all over the lawn. Each child was able to get as much candy as they wanted but only 12 eggs. Each house had a large gold egg hidden as well. If you found it you won a prize. Early in the hunt Chandler Anderson found a shinny gold egg. We were all very excited for him. The other kids stopped looking for the gold egg. The host had told a few of the moms where she had hidden the gold egg and then realized that Chandler didn’t have the right egg. She was worried that one of the moms would tell their kid where to find it. At this point Ira Jack, our backdoor neighbor who had gotten to the hunt late, was reduced to tears. He didn’t know where his dad was, there weren’t any eggs left and he was very sad. Bart Coon, the primary president’s husband, started helping Ira find eggs. He had some kids give theirs to him. He still looked so sad. I whispered to Bart the location of the gold egg. He helped Ira find it. It made him so happy.

Of course both of my kids were bummed that they didn’t find the gold egg. They had a good time anyway. After the hunt was over donuts and juice was served. I was able to visit with some adults. I am really glad that we went and participated this year.

Sunday morning we woke up to rain. How is the Easter Bunny supposed to leave baskets in the rain? I didn’t know what to do. Luckily I had made up the baskets the night before. I went to the garage, got the baskets and hid them around the house. As we were getting ready for church the rain stopped. Nobody had found any of the baskets yet so the plan was to leave church and put them around the yard. Well right before we left as Andrew was getting his shoes on, he spotted Emma’s basket. It was all downhill from there. He took off trying to locate his own basket and ended up finding Paul and mine while he was at it. We snapped a couple of photos and then went off to church. We left after Sacrament and took some more pictures at home. We gathered everything up and headed to my mom and dads home.

Once we got there I mixed up the funeral potatoes, made deviled eggs and a fruit salad. I also brought the rolls and a cake. I feel like I spent a good amount of time in the kitchen. We had turkey and stuffing, ham, roast, scalloped potatoes, funeral potatoes, rolls, fruit salad, green salad, pasta salad, corn and roasted carrots. There were also three types of pie for dessert as well as a poppy seed cake and banana pudding. We ate until we thought we would burst. Then we had a spiritual thought from my dad and Paul and I had the kids open the resurrection eggs. After that we did another Easter Egg Hunt. It was CRAZY! I have never seen so many eggs and candies in all of my life. There were so many eggs that we couldn’t find places to put them all. We threw bowls of candy in the lawn. The kids came out smallest to tallest with a five second delay in-between. It was a mad dash for the candy. One egg that Lowell found even had $10 in it. The kids had to get an extra grocery bags to hold everything because their baskets were overflowing. It was all over and done with pretty quickly. The kids went inside and surveyed their goods. They had bubble tape and bubble blow. There were boiled eggs and filled eggs. They had Play-Doh and Tootsie Roll banks. I bet they had more candy than they did after Halloween. It was nuts.

We were glad to have spent the day with so many family members. I think it made it more fun and special. We had 20 people. Renee and Bruce, Becky and Charles, Rodger, Jennifer, Brandon and Talon, Paul, myself, Emma and Andrew, Michael, Jennifer, Abby, Lowell, and Cora and Nick, Angelee and baby Josh.

April 6th 2007 Ben and Andrea Sealed for Time and All Eternity

Friday April 6th was Ben and Andrea’s wedding. It was a beautiful spring day, just gorgeous. Paul and I left Andrew with Grandma Nancy and headed up to Salt Lake. We arrived and the first family we saw was Joanie and Landon. He had gotten so big! Then we got to see baby Josh. He is so cute and has beautiful blue eyes.

We went inside where I got to say hello to my aunt and uncle and grandma and grandpa. We stayed in the lobby for a little while. It was so crowded. There were over 60 weddings happening that day. We then decided it was time for us to go into the temple. After we got into our stockings we waited in a waiting room for what seemed like a long time. Then we went into the sealing room. It was beautiful. We waited again for a while and then Benjamin and his bride entered into the room.

The sealing was very sweet, but seemed to go too quickly. We then went out to the beautiful temple grounds and waited for the bride and groom to emerge. Once they did we took some group pictures on the steps of the temple. It is such an amazing building. By this time we were getting hungry so my dad, Paul, Nick, Angelee and I went across the street to a food court. We got our snack and then went back and waited for Emma and Andrew to arrive.

Nancy was kind enough to check them out of school and drive them all the way up to Salt Lake. Once the kids came we got them dressed up and went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for lunch. The food was so weird. I am very glad that we ate before.

Once we were done eating we stayed in the lobby where we spent time a lot of my mom’s cousins. It was nice to see them and to be able to show off the kids. Paul left to go home and study for a test and the kids and I stayed behind to visit some more. We then all went up to my parents house for some more family time. It was nice to see my grandma. It had been almost a year since I saw her last. I feel sad to think that these visits are going to come to an end one of these days. I got to play with Landon. Andrew decided that he like that baby. It was a great day with really nice, quality family time. I wish we could all be together more often.

Just another example of my obsession for crafts

Well I used to bead in high school. It was fun but as with all the other crafts that I take up I enjoyed buying supllies more than I enjoyed using them! I bought a shell necklace while we were in Puerto Vallarta that Andrew recently broke. I decided I would fix it and it all went down hill from there. I have started making beaded necklaces again. Above are a few examples. I have also been making placemat purses. I will have to post those another time.

Trying to get back into this!

I can't believe that I have neglected my poor little blog for more that six months.

The party came and went. We had fun but could have used more activities.

Autumn and Halloween were filled with activities from pumpkin patches to haunted train rides and field trips to pumpkin carving. The weather for trick-or-treating was chilly but good. The kids got tons of treats.

Thanksgiving was held at my parents. It was good. We saw Becky and Charles for the first time in years. He was on his best behavior.

The first week of December Paul and I had a fantastic little trip to Chicago. We got along really well. I loved the city, everything about it. We did some site seeing, shopping and we saw Wicked. It was the best musical that we have ever been to. I was able to see some beluga whales at the Shedd aquarium and we went to the top of the Hancock building. I hope that we get to go again. It was freezing while we were there so going in the spring would be nice.

Christmas Eve was also at my parents. We did the gift exchange, which I am convinced is a waste of money, but I got a great gift, a George Foreman grilling machine. My brother got the shaft, However, I am sure my mom made it right. She always does.

We had a great Christmas. My parents came for part of the morning and then later we went to David and Nancy's for our traditional fondue dinner. I think that everyone got what they wanted from Santa.

Not too long after Christmas we found out that this was the last year that Emma will be believing in Santa. It is a bit of a relief and yet a sad thing at the same time. I don't think that she was willing to ask questions before Christmas and risk not getting her gifts. When she asked after Christmas if Santa was real I told her "yes, he is sitting right over there" and pointed to Paul. Her face lit up and she got so excited. I told her I was Mrs. Claus. She was giggling so much. Then she started asking about all of the things I had put in her stocking. She kept saying "so you got that?" I explained that she had to keep the secret from her brother and cousins. She agreed.

After Christmas Paul and I had the chance to go to the temple and do the work for an old boyfriend of mine that had passed eleven years earlier. It was such a need experience. I knew during the baptism that we had done the right thing.

New Year's Eve was fun. We had sea food again. I think that this will become a fun family tradition. I know I like it. My uncle and brother put on quite the illegal fireworks show. My dad had warned the neighbors so at midnight the phone rang and my aunt heard a voice on the answering machine saying it was the sheriff, there had been complaints and that he would come over in the morning to talk about the fine. She didn't know that the voice was really my parents home teacher playing a joke. She was freaking out.

There has been a lot of drama at work because I took a personal leave for the holidays. This resulted in me not going back to work until mid-January. It was nice having the extra time off, but I realized that we need my income to survive. I ended up writing a letter to the general manager stating all of the things that I had felt that Justin had done. Some of it was really serious. We had a meeting, all three of us and talked about everything face to face. It was a bit awkward. I think that a lot of hurtful things were said but the work environment has become a lot better since. I am sure there are still feelings that are hurt but I think it was for the best. I have now been working my max amount of availability and I am tired. Very tired and burnt out. I am waiting for my first check over $200 for the this year.

We had a good Valentine's Day. We did our traditional heart shaped pizza and all of the fixins. The table was decorated adorably and we had balloons and flowers from Paul. I got to help in Emma's class at school. We made "Love Bugs" It was a pixie stix with heart shaped wings, googley eyes, antennas and stickers.

For Presidents Day weekend we went for an overnighter to Moab. What a fun place! We loved it. The weather was perfect, in the 50's. We were able to hike in long sleeves. We got there in the afternoon and started going to each of the famous landmarks in Arches National Park. The kids did great hiking around and loved touching the formations. We took a lot of pictures and stayed until it was almost dark. After it was dark we went into town all grubby and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Then we ran across the street and got the kids an ice cream. We went back to the Motel 8 and got cleaned up. Our room was soooo hot. We couldn't get it to cool down. We didn't have the best rest so we got up at a good time in the morning, had breakfast and hit the shops in town. We got the kids some little souvenirs and I got a Christmas tree ornament. We went back to the park and stayed again until is was almost dark and then made our way home.

For St. Patrick's day we went to BYU and I discovered the wonder of the Creamery's Ice Cream. It is the best! I can't stop thinking about Sparkle, my favorite flavor. We spent some time in the Bean museum again. We went home and had a green dinner. We had green chicken (creamy pesto chicken) green rolls, green grapes and it was all eaten on a really cute, very green, table.

Tomorrow is April. The trees have blossoms, the daffodils are up, we moved the lawn for the first time and tulips will be everywhere in just a matter of days. The thing I find hard to believe is that my baby will turn six in just 11 days. Where does time go? I love him so much. He can be a challenge but he is oh so worth it. Even though he is getting all grown up he still wants to snuggle with his momma every morning.

That is the last six months in a nut shell.