Waiting on Pins and Needles

I think we are ready. The new clothes and shoes have been purchased.

Emma somehow always ends up with more. We got some great deals this year. Several of the shirts were bought at TJ Maxx in South Dakota for $3. 

Andrew got his fair share.

We had sworn that we would only buy one pair of shoes this year. This is the pair Emma picked. They are women's shoes. She can no longer fit into girls tennis shoes. 

We stumbled on a great sale at the Crocs store while in Park City and ended up getting them a couple of pairs each to wear while it is still hot. 

I happen to love these.

 After much persuasion Andrew gave up the white shoes he had picked out and went with dark ones. Whew! 

Yes, the uglier the color, the cheaper the shoe. He loves them (as you can see he has already worn them even though he wasn't suppose to) and that's all that matter. (Must convince myself that matching isn't really that important!)

These are more red than purple. Dang flash.

We got their hair cut yesterday so they would be all pretty and polished.

Too bad green gel isn't allowed at school.

Emma just needed a trim. She is growing out her hair again. She did beg for highlights. I am thinking of giving in and doing it for her birthday. 

The drawers are packed with new socks and if I get my butt in gear and fold laundry they will have a drawer full of clean underwear.

Once again I had to buy women's. The girls' largest socks were too small.

This is a first. I have nothing else to say.

We all got our blessings on Monday for Family Home Evening. I love that part of Back to School the most. They were both blessed with health and strength and told to be good friends and to call on the Holy Ghost often. This year has many great challenges for both as they learn new things and try new activities. It was a special night and I am thankful for a husband that hold the Priesthood. Today I am having visions of a quiet house, grocery shopping alone and cleaning the day away. Tomorrow I will be a blubbery mess. I always get a little sad sending them off the first day. 

Project 365

Just some more layouts. I will hopefully be prepared when they announce the dates for the next "Need Some Incentive" so I can earn the next Hodge Podge kit. 

Weighing my Options

Edited to Add:
(Holy Cow! I don't know weather I should laugh or cry. I went upstairs to pack up the costume and Emma asked "Is that for you? No offense, but how is that going to fit?" All of a sudden the light bulb flickered on above my head. I put the costume on Emma. Guess what. If fits her just like the chick in the picture? Do they use hobbit's as models? I feel so much better about myself now, I think. Anyway I am trying to convince her that she should be Sally Swashbuckler. It looked adorable on her. Maybe we have a solution to the problem!)

Today I received this costume that I had ordered for Halloween. (Yes I am already counting down the days) It was my second on my list last year, my first choice option was an Indian maiden, but then I went a whole other direction and dressed up as Cruella.

Let’s start with the fact that the costume that arrived today is one size fits most. I am apparently, just barely, a most. It goes on, but it ain’t pretty. The fabric is cheap. No surprise there, it’s a costume.

The britches are made from a thin velvety material. They are stripped. They are tight. I have a bubble butt. See the problem? Also the slits go up a lot higher than it shows in the picture above. It isn't as modest as I hoped. Some slits go up almost mid-thigh. Even if I were thinner, er I mean it fit better, I don't think I would feel comfortable wearing it to the kids' school.

The shirt is very short (leaving said bubble butt exposed) and the elastic in the sleeve makes my arms feel like a linked sausage. The vest is one big scrap of fabric. They couldn’t even bother with armholes. You just have to place the two long strips over your shoulder. How convenient!

The vest is made from a flimsy moleskin fabric that clings to my velvety, stripped ass like it’s a giant flannel board. Since my sides are left exposed because of the over the shoulder “vest” you can clearly see that my too short shirt and elastic waist pants don’t meet. Hmmm. Muffin top anyone?

I could make parts of it work but it cost $40. Do I want to try to use the bits and pieces or do I start over and go back to square one? I hate shipping stuff back. That cost money so really I wouldn’t even get my $40 back.

My other option is to not eat until October 31 and see if I can get it to look presentable. I don’t think I like that option. I guess I am back to square one.

I have to admit, I’m disappointed. I’m no Sally Swashbuckler.

This is plan B. I am hopeful that I could put the shirt up on my shoulders making it 100% modest and appropriate for class parties. The downer is it costs twice as much money and I don't know for sure if I would be a large or extra large. I hate to order both and have to spend even more to ship it back. Maybe I should just wait for costumes to hit the stores like most people do. Hmm. There's an idea.

hOoRaY fOr MuD DaY!

David and Nancy were kind enough to drop by a flash drive with all the pictures from the week before last on it. I posted some pictures that they emailed from their time in Salt Lake but didn't get to post any of the ones from mud day, until now. The kids had so much fun and here are some pictures to prove it. 

Before:

During:

After:

Doesn't that just make you want to go and take a shower? 

Friday and Saturday

I unintentionally tried something new with the pictures. I'm curious to see how this goes. I'm not uploading again though so stick with me through this experiment. Wow it is all sorts of jacked up! Sorry. I will make sure this doesn't happen again. Good luck making sense of any of my cations.  

Friday the kids got to meet their teacher. They are both very happy with who they got and for the most part who is in their class. Here is Andrew with his teacher. It is his first time having a boy teacher. I think they are going to get along great.

Emma got the teacher that she wanted and I have to say that I like her a lot too. She isn't 6'4" with a pony tail but she is super caring and loves Disney. I know Emma is thrilled about being in 6th grade and is excited about the new opportunities she has ahead of her this year.

Saturday morning was spent packing and moving out large pieces of furniture to storage. After lunch we headed down to BYU. Paul bought a book he needed for class and the kids and I got candy! There are always so many pretty flowers on campus. This time was no exception. I wanted a nice picture of the kids but of course one of the was goofing around in each picture I took. Here is Andrew looking a little fruity.

Emma's not looking at me. She's checking out what her silly brother is doing.

Now they are both being nutters. I gave up on them and started shooting some pictures of Y's on the way back to the car.

Here is one of the many Y's that were flying outside the Wilk.

Here is the most famous of their Y's.

Hey, let's combine them!

After we were done at BYU we ran some errands until the candy wore off and we were ready for dinner. We decided to try something new. Iggy's is a sports bar. I hate eating at places with televisions but I knew that this was the scene going in so I was okay with it. 

There were pretty stained glass windows and cool sports themes art. The kids loved the Orem Owlz sign made completely out of baseballs.

The food was really good. I got Sausalito chicken (chicken, peppers, onions, artichoke hearts and pine nuts. YUM!) with rice and mashed potatoes. Paul has issues with me eating rice and potatoes at the same meal but I think they taste great together. I didn't love their potatoes though. They were just okay.

My new favorite dessert is deep fried cheesecake. It is sooo good. Their was heavenly. Paul took a lot of pictures of me enjoying my sinful, decedent, butt spreading dessert. They also told us the kid's meals come with a sundae. What they didn't tell us is it is huge! The kids eyes about popped out of their heads when they brought them to our table. We give Iggy's two thumbs up. As we were leaving Andrew said "We've found another restaurant." (It's hard for us all to agree 

on a place)

Summer Storms

In case you haven't heard I love the summer storms that we get here in Utah. The last two days have been great. We've had rain, thunder and lightening. As I was walking out of Kohl's I noticed a bright, beautiful, double rainbow. Here are some of my pictures that I took. I know they aren't great, and a lot are very similar, but they help me to remember how beautiful it really was.

Number Eight

I was tagged by Mary a day or two ago. I will be honest, I considered not doing this, but then I got bored. Thank you Mary for thinking of me! I feel honored.

Eight things I did Yesterday:

1. Showered twice
2. Packed up the ice chest
3. Went to the canyon for dinner
4. Dropped two cheddar brats on the ground.
5. Fed one dropped brat to my son.
6. Packed a couple boxes. (This one was Mary’s but I did it too so I’m leaving it)
7. Photographed a bat
8. Hugged a Chihuahua


Eight Favorite Shows (This is tough because they cancel all my favorite shows. Samantha Who? and Lipstick Jungle are two that come to mind)

1. So You Think You Can Dance... But, I'm not that thrilled with the winner this year. (Once again Mary’s answer but I feel the same way so I am leaving it) I do LOVE the show. I am so stoked that it is on this fall also but Kayla should have won. I don't care that her personality wasn't the best her dancing was. So there.
2. The Bachelor/ Bachelorette
3. The Amazing Race
4. Survivor
5. Dancing With the Stars
6. America’s Next Top Model (Unlike Mary I own it!)
7. E! News Weekend
8. Days of Our Lives


Eight Favorite Restaurants

1. Zupas- I going to have the try two combo. Caribbean salad with Hawaiian chicken panini. Thanks!
2. Rubio’s- Chicken enchilada’s, with black beans and rice. I would like it with the chips on the side, thanks.
3. Texas Roadhouse (Mmm, the Steak. Mmmm, the rolls. Mmm the loaded mashed potatoes.)
4. Café Rio- Chicken burrito with black beans and rice, mild salsa (I can handle the heat, I swear I can, but the mild has the best flavor) Smother that for me. Thank you!
5. Taco Amigo-Since trying to lose weight I have started ordering a chicken enchilada instead of the meat and bean burrito. I still have to have the fries. (Have I mentioned I think they sprinkle crack on their fries?)
6. Red Iguana- May I have the tacos de carne asada with a pina colada? Gracias.
7. PF Changs-Lettuce Wraps and Mongolian Beef with steamed rice. Thank you.
8. Noodles- Japanese Pan Noodles please with grilled chicken breast, may I sub the mushrooms for more carrots? Awesome, thanks!


Eight Things I look Forward To: Oh there are so many to choose from

1. School starting
2. Lunches with girlfriends
3. Lunchtime alone with Paul
4. Getting my quilts quilted
5. Disneyland in September
6. The color of autumn leaves popping up on the side of the mountain.
7. Halloween
8. Quiet time around the house and running errands alone because the kids will be in school. Did I mention I was looking forward to school starting?

Eight People I Tag... Eeek that’s hard. If you read this and want to play please do!

1. Emily
2. Becca
3. Rees
4. Michelle
5. Angela
6. Wendy
7. Kris
8. Cindy