Things I miss about 2009

1.Warm weather (Hyatt Huntington Beach)

2. Jim and Pam's Wedding

3. Diet Pomegranate 7-Up - why is it released only during the holidays?

4. Le Grande Orange in Phoenix - yum

5. 11:00 a.m. church

6. DJ Dance Parties under the stars - we've gotta do it again this summer!

7. Taking a break in the shade with my sisters by Tom Sawyer's famous fence right on the Mississippi River

8. Having a one year old - she's growing up too darn fast!

9. Watching our friends and family and neighborhood rally around my kids as they worked so hard to earn money to buy Kalli a new bike after hers was stolen after only 2 days.

10. Being one year younger...bring on the anti-wrinkle cream!

Did I miss anything?

Thanksgiving by amr

Tangled and True is one of my favorite (and first) blogs to follow - so how excited was I when she decided to feature her readers' Thanksgiving ideas? Check out my guest post on her blog today. Thanks Brittany - and a happy holiday to everyone!

Tonight

I'm thinking of cozying up to a piping hot bowl of this.

Right Around the Corner

In between making signs and cheering on B this weekend, the kids and I went to the library to stock up on Halloween goodies. You know - library goodies like books, dvds, and cds. Our library has a check out policy of three weeks so going early insured us a nice selection that will last us well into October. Many of our favorite story characters (the Berenstein Bears, Clifford, even Charlie and Lola) have a sweet Halloween story to share. So be sure to add the library to your "to do" list this week in order to not miss out on some spooky bedtime stories that will add to the Halloween spirit at your house this year.

One more thing

If I was going to give these as a little treat to my friends or neighbors, wouldn't I be so clever if I wrapped some twine around the jar and attached one of these sweet little wooden spoons on sale here?

Spotted at bryc3

Trying to decide which is funnier: this video or watching my kids watch this video.

Buzzin'

Just ticking down our summertime fun list as the summer days are quickly ticking down themselves. We went to a Bees game with a big group of neighbors and friends and just had a ball....err a bat. Yep, that's the bat the Ella won in the raffle. Can you tell she's thrilled? As my kids would say, "Good Times."

Can you guess...

...what these four hunnies are doing so vigorously to the
contents of this jar?

Who is that?

Things got a little crazy at my friend Christina's 40th birthday party last night...I turned around and this guy was table dancing.

Guess where Kalli and I are today?

I'm blogging this from the Apple store. iPhotos to come later...
*Update: check out my flickr for pics

High for 3 Seconds

My animated niece Lily does a biting impression of this stand-up routine. Seriously, take 3 minutes and enjoy.

Are you nutty or sweet?

Home again and so excited to unpack my bags and bags of groceries. Yep, you guessed it. Bags and bags of Trader Joe's made the 10 hour road trip back home and straight into my empty cupboards. We'll be eating high on the hog for at least the next few weeks. This reminds me, if you haven't seen the silly TJ tribute video, you can find it here.

The Rain Rain Went Away...

...and left us with an evening to play! And it was a perfect evening for a chilly spring walk. The rain and snow finally stopped and we zoomed outside to enjoy just a peek of the sunshine. We hadn't seen her for days. The fresh air, juicy worms, and good company made for a perfect evening.

Necessary Tools

I'm thinking a late night run to Ikea (Do you know how many years I waited to say that? Literally years and years and years. Hallelujah!) might be order to make our Saturday afternoon project complete. Seriously, at $3.99 how can I go wrong with these sweet little woodland animals?

Rain / Snow Go Away

*Image via odeedoh

I only have to look outside for a cruel reminder that my days of sending the kids outside for some playtime fun are still a distant longing. Since we'll be spending a good portion of this weekend inside keeping cozy and listening to church leaders at our semi-annual General Conference, I figured some indoor activities were a'callin. Last Sunday I made some homemade playdough as a teaching aid for the primary children and it was a huge hit. We'll be adding to our color assortment this weekend and breaking out the cookie cutters for Saturday afternoon. If you'd like to join along, here's the best recipe I've found.

1 C. Flour
¼ C. Salt
2 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Water
1 Tbsp. Oil
2 Tbsp. Food Coloring (paste works best but you can use any kind)

Mix ingredients in order listed preceding. Use heavy skillet pan on medium heat( may need to be turned down lower to keep from scorching). Stir well until it sticks together (does get really lumpy at first but don't give up). Turn out on pastry board or sheet and knead. Make into small balls and add different coloring to each ball. Store in tight container.

Wordy Wednesday

*Image of Bla Bla dolls since this is just a bunch of bla bla bla

Not one BIG thing...just lots of little things to remember (and share.)

1.I've declared today "stay in pjs day" for Josie and I. With blustering cold temps outside we need a reason to stay indoors and recover from a swift and busy holiday weekend. You can bet my number one jammie girl Ella will quickly follow suit the minute she gets home from school.

2.We've enjoyed lots of family visits this month. B took his Dad and brother skiing last weekend and this weekend we enjoyed the desert with my parents in St. George. Doesn't get any better.

3.After a week of presidential program preparing, valentine box making, science fair experimenting, and parent teacher conferencing; I just might be as smart as a 5th grader.

4.I've crowned Pat Benetar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" best family road trip song. We jammed so hard we were bouncing the car right up and down I-15. (Though we did take the liberty to sing it Roberts' style with a few modified lyrics courtesy of Max.)

Well you're the real tough cookie with the long history
Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me
Thats o.k., lets see how you do it
SHABA LABA DING DONG, lets get down to it!
Hit me with your best shot...

5.For my anniversary dinner, I enjoyed Chef Thomas Keller's famous "last meal" choice of Poulet Roti - roast chicken. This got me thinking...what would I choose for my last meal? What would you choose for yours?

6.I love collecting silly questions and springing them at random on Bryce. It gives me a chance to find out interesting things about him and the way his mind works and the things he's thinking about that I might have otherwise missed out on. Yesterday's question: "What reality show would you want to go on?" Can you guess his answer?

7.If you take a scroll down my blog, you'll notice many bit and pieces of robin's egg blue (tiffany blue, Martha blue, it has lot of different names). Perhaps that is why I've found myself drooling at so many pictures on this recently discovered blog.

8.If Josie could spend an entire day with just one person (other than me of course:) without a doubt, it would be her Grandpa Smiley.

9.Check out my valentine jars on Tangled and True and Petit Elephant. Pretty cool, huh?

10.I've been thinking I should paint my fingernails bright pink, red, or orange. Do you know how long its been since I've worn a fingernail color other than nude or clear? I'm sure it would only last a day, but I've just got a hankering...

Temporary Smooch

I wish I had found these sooner! How cute would it be to send your kids to their Valentine parties with these plastered right on their cheek?