If I Could Turn Back Time- Installment 1

This is a brief recap of some our highlights from last August through October. Hopefully there will be more installments.

August 2007
Last year we went to Lagoon again right before the kids started school. Emma and I rode Wicked, their newest coaster. Unfortunately Andrew wasn’t quite tall enough. Grandma Renee quickly volunteered to stay off of the ride with Andrew. I had never seen anything that went so straight up and then right back down before. I wasn’t sure how I felt about going on, but it was so quick that I barely even knew what had happened.

We got soaked on the Rattlesnake Rapids. Anyone who knows me, knows that this is NOT a good thing. I can’t stand to walk around in wet clothes. I don’t know how the kids stand it. They would get wet in the fountain, dry off and go back for more. We rode just about everything else we could and then went on our merry way.

The kids started back to school, Emma in fourth and Andrew in first. They were all about Transformers and Littlest Pet Shop. I continued to work at Old Navy and also with my friends Julia and Gary making popcorn balls.

September 2007

I was asked to go into the American Fork Canyon to take fall pictures of my friend Gail and her family. We all decided to go and try to get some of us as well. The kids had been playing hard all day and looked at little…rough, but we all matched. It was still beautiful though and we got some great shots for our friends and some decent ones of us.

Emma turned nine and we celebrated by going to the Nicklecade (pass the hand sanitizer please. Ick!) with the Gardner’s and Chili’s with my family. We then came home for ice cream cake and present opening.

October 2007

The beginning of October marked a milestone for me. I had worked for five years at three different Old Navy stores. I was given a plaque, pin and a watch to celebrate my anniversary. It had been my goal to stick with the job, through good times and bad, for five years. I fulfilled my goal even though it got really bad towards the end and I wanted desperately to tell them to take their job and shove it. I am so proud of myself for staying. It has been almost a year since I left and I don't miss working there at all!

October is my favorite month. I love Halloween more than any other holiday and take it pretty seriously. We decided to go to Disneyland so that I could see the Halloween decorations. It was great. Between the park photographers, Emma and myself we probably have over 1,000 photos from the trip. My favorite thing was the characters in their costumes. Due to the crowds we didn’t get many photos with them, but we did end up with a few.

Like I said before, it was very crowded which was disappointing. We had five days in the park so we got to do almost everything we wanted (we gave up waiting for Fantasmic) but it was still hard to wait so long in lines. We have always gone in the off season so dealing with crowds was a first for us.

The last time we went Emma was tall enough to go on some rides (Indiana Jones and the Mickey Coaster) that Andrew wasn’t able to go on. This time he was just barely tall enough to go on Indiana Jones. He was so excited to see the big snake but it was having technical difficulties and thus closed the whole week. He was able to go on the Mickey Coaster though.

We all went on the Hollywood Tower of Terror for the first time and LOVED it, well all except Paul. We were able to ride in the Wheel House of the Mark Twain paddle boat where the captain let the kids blow the whistle.

The last night we were there we had waited about an hour for Fantasmic before we decided to leave. On our way out of the park we all got cotton candy. We went back to our room and went to bed in preparation for the long drive home. Sometime in the middle of the night the lights went on and I awoke to Andrew puking in the hotel sink. He was up, sick as a dog, all night long. Every hour on the hour he would get up and be sick. We found a Target and bought a trash can, garbage bags, pull-ups, and sanitizing wipes for the 10 hour drive home. He only got sick a few times in the car. It was a nightmare. I felt so sorry for him. Andrew still can not look at cotton candy without feeling queasy.

The week before Halloween was filled with activities such as a church party (we got to do a trial run on their costumes and make-up. They looked GREAT!), trips to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin shaped pizza and their classroom party and parade. They had to wear different costumes to school since make-up was banned. Andrew wore his dinosaur from the year before and we had Emma dress as a cowgirl.

Halloween night was fantastic. The kids and I went around the neighborhood while Paul stayed behind to hand out candy for those willing to brave our driveway. The weather was great and the kids scored tons of candy. Emma and daddy even went to the Hills of Horror right before we called it a night.

It's Carnival Time!

Today was the annual fall carnival at Grovecrest Elementary. My friends Rees and Kari were in charge and they did a wonderful job. It was an old west theme with a fishing booth, face painting, tractor rides, branding booth (Relax, they only stamped the kids!), gold digging and so many other fun booths I can’t even name them all. It was fabulous and the kids had the best time. Oh! There was also a jail. Emma got put in it about five times and Andrew said he was put in three times.

The PTA had asked people to donate for a bake sale so I spent all morning making cute treats. I made flower shaped rice crispy treats with bubble gum centers, chocolate chip cookies and M&M cookies.

I showed up at the school around 1:45pm to see if they needed any help and ended up setting up some tables, chairs and canopy’s. I also got to run the bake sale with my friend Carrie Ann. We had so many donations! There was just about every cookie and snack that you could imagine. I didn’t get home until after 7:00pm and there was still a ton of work to do when we left. I felt bad for taking off but I was exhausted and my back and feet were hurting.

I had brought my camera with plans to take a lot of pictures of the kids and activities but we were just busy enough the whole time that we couldn’t get away. I can’t wait to hear how much the carnival rose for the school. It looked like it was a huge success.

Here are some photos of my treats and the pictures that I did get at the carnival.

Some of my Favorites

These are some of my favorite pictures from our trip. I would love to get one blown up, maybe on canvas, but I have no where to put it. (pout) For now they will live on my computer and on these pages. They are simple, yes. But they are done.

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.