I'm back...







guess who came to visit me? my sis! down from georgia for a little bit with her new boyfriend, they came up to see me. we had a birthday party for dave and invited my cousins that deb and i grew up. lots of fun. so of course my sis and i had to pose for pics. carson took these of us. oh--and that's paul, her 10 year younger boyfriend. so nice. i liked him a lot.

in other news dave and i went to see "traitor" last night. wow. that movie was awesome. so edge of your seat. and don cheadle. well, he's got to be one of my fave actors. he always is so good in everything he does. and everyone else in that movie was fantastic. just one of those movies that makes you think. my favorite kind.

and i cut my hair. if the pics didn't give it away. time for a change for me. i needed to get back to my roots--no pun intended. i was getting tired of the whole hair do routine. so on a whim i went and got it cut off. i'm liking it. i'm really a short hair kind of girl. suits my personality to a T. having it longer for 3 years was fun and different. but my spunk needed to come out again. i'm so needing some spunk back in my life. hopin' this haircut will give me the jumpstart...L

happy sabbath. a few cards i did with some stamping up products.

and a big happy birthday to david who turns 48 today! i love you...L

music--it's a big part of my life. i can't even imagine what life would have been like to have had itunes and an ipod as part of my life growing up. i would have loved it. but a lot of today centered around music for me. today i was feeling grumpy and needed to clean my house and work on a scrapbook for my sister. so i turned the music up loud and was listening to it all day. i remember brianne asking me what i did to handle stress. i told her one thing that i do and that works is i go sit outside with my ipod and listen to my favorite songs. it always helps.

my girls went to the first dance of the year. it was the coolest thing. i had to write it down before i forgot. it started this week when carson bought her ticket for the dance. she told me that a boy had asked her to the dance. actually he had his friend ask for him. and when carson told him no she heard the boy go back and tell him that she had said no. then carson said that she heard the boy tell his friend "go back and beg her!" how cute. my baby being asked to a dance. it's so weird to see my next generation of girls becoming young women.

so taylor and carson both went to the dance. each of them brought friends home from school and it was so funny to see the difference between my girls. carson and kylie choosing their outfits and curling their hair and putting on makeup and getting ready. taylor and isla sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching spongebob until aproximately 10 minutes left to go. no hair fixing, application of makeup or changing of clothes. so wildly opposing those two girls of mine.

then on the way to the dance taylor and her friend were talking about how they would love it if they played all '80's music at the dance. i told them if they had gone to my dances thats what they would have heard. it was funny because kerry and i had been talking about music and old shows from our youth today. so taylor mentions how she would have loved to be an "adolescent" in the '80's. what a crack up.

well carson and kylie didn't have their dance tickets so i walked to the school with them to make sure they could get in. music is blaring and i watch my girls go in with nary a look behind. i wanted to sneak in so bad. first--to just jump into that music and let it carry me away with the rhythm and to dance and enjoy life. second--i wanted to watch my girls--to see how they enjoyed themselves and see life from their angle. their were a few other parents there and i could hear them telling their kids to have fun. i'm sure this was the first dance for some parents too. when i left i turned the music up loud in the car and listened to the b-52's and talking heads. and i swear i was about to OD on the nostalgia. remember "pretty in pink" and that scene with molly ringwald and annie potts where she has her old prom dress on and is reliving her prom? i swear that is what i felt like.

when i picked them up they all had had a great time. carson got asked to dance by a boy she likes. and her and her friends went over and danced with a boy that was not dancing with anyone. and taylor. well, taylor. a boy asked her if she went to this school and she told him no that she just came to the dance for fun. she's starting to scare me with how much she is like me.

i was so glad that they had had such a good time. it made me happy. happy for youth and sweetness and innocence and simpler times. ahhh--whoever said youth is wasted on the young was right...L

a small post. a few thank you's. a small announcement. and a generator.

i don't remember if i posted monday--i think i did. it was a great day. my uti hell was over and i finished cleaning and organizing my scrap/sewing room. (which i moved to my bedroom). then monday afternoon it was all down hill. oh, i tried to keep my positive attitude going but due to forces beyond my control i could not keep it together. i cried, i couldn't sleep, i cried some more. and before you know it i was in a hole i didn't want to crawl out of. frankly--i didn't even know how.

and that's where the thank you's come in. i can honestly say that for the most part of my life, my close familial relationships have been hard, stressful and difficult. they haven't been all horrific--i have had some good, fun moments too. but the scales are outweighed for sure. but one thing i have always had is good friends to help me through. and for me as a woman--those are critical. hell, for all women. especially if you're a stay at home mom i think. you don't get out of the house every day and associate with adults. you're basically at home doing the same thing day in and day out. cleaning, cooking, laundry, more cleaning. more laundry. and even though i love it and wouldn't change it, yeah--it has its frustrating moments.

anyway--as i was going through hell week here, furiously emailing back and forth with kerry, she sent me the link to her blog post. care bears blog post . it made me laugh. it made me cry. it made my day.oh hell--it made my whole week! and i wanted to say thank you to her. and shanna. and erin. and everyone else that helps me. even if they are just sending a funny email cough*coughkaelenecough*cough. so thanks to all my friends. the new, the old. and everyone in between.

so my small announcement is that i have decided to become a photographer. one that takes pictures for other people. for money. i have been trying to decide what i could/should do now that all the kiddoes are in school. and stampin' up was one thing i started. and i love that. i haven't really tackled it head on yet. just a little here and there. and i want to still do that. but that's a business that takes time to build to make any money at it. and with this economy and the housing market and the fact that my husband is a builder; a little extra money would do some good. i have thought about doing this before but doubt and fear crept in and i pushed that thought aside.

and then i was at my cousin's house this week scrapping with his wife brenda, and as i was leaving i noticed their new family pictures. and i knew who had taken them and i told her how beautiful they were. and she said to me "lisa, i've seen your pictures of your girls. they are just as beautiful as this. you could do this if you wanted to." and that little comment started smoldering in me and the flame hasn't burned out yet. i have all the equipment. i would need very little to get this going. all i'm investing is my time. and i remembered a quote at the SU convention. fear is the crusher of dreams. so i thought. hey--what have i got to lose. absolutely nothing. i talked with shanna and my husband and they were very encouraging. so look forward to some new developments, hopefully i can get a website, some business cards and some appointments.

so i lied. this wasn't a small post. and we're off to cali tomorrow to see dave's sister and have a much needed mini vacay for our family. and since i didn't want to wake up dave since he'll be driving, i just grabbed his laptop and the only pic i could upload was one i took of his generator. and dayum, that generator never looked so good. have a great labor day weekend everyone--my mesa ho's scrappin', my hick mississipi and kentucky sisters, my son who started school and is happily awaiting his girlfriends arrival on saturday and brianne and jeff who are off to NEW YORK CITY!!

i love you all...L

and david--i love you the most!

my first digital layout. i can't believe i did it. it was so fun too. the best part? all the stuff i used was freebies. and no clean up! that was actually the best part.
2peas future rock star digital kit, jessica sprague grunge frame.

still working on cleaning up the scrap area and it's coming along fine. i'm at least 1/2 way there. but it's a good day today. i started my healthy living/lose weight plan today. i have the formula for maintaining your weight without exercising. you take your weight (or desired weight) and times it by 10 then add your weight. so if 135 is your desired weight it goes like this. 135x10=1350+135=1485. and i plan on writing down everything i eat for the day. so far so good!

so my challenge for you this week is to start something you have been putting off. reading a book, starting an exercise program, learning a new skill. whatever. the older i get the more i realize that you can let life pass you by or you can challenge yourself to accomplish your goals. and with half of my life over i am determined to make the most of what i have left in this life. so have fun this week and do something for yourself...L

we interrupt the organizing and cleaning of my scrap/sewing area to bring you the cute photos of my baby jumping rope. and me playing around with photoshop while i should be cleaning/organizing because i have told myself no more projects until it's all cleaned up.

digital brushes by ali edwards. grunge frame by jessica sprague.

happy sabbath...L

a picture heavy post. beware.

brianne and jeff's new apartment. so cute. the apartment and the couple. only thing missing? MY GRANDCHILD!

their cute bedroom. where my grandchild could be conceived. hopefully soon.

the horrors--brianne's true feelings about alcohol are shown here. hee hee
well, not really. we went hiking up the hill right behind the salt lake city capitol and there is a cool park where they have a "this is the place" marker. not really the place where brigham young said "this is the place" but it was really pretty. and on the way back down to the car brianne was picking up all the trash and of course i had to get this photo!

this was my roomate and friend nancy from the SU convention. she was/is wonderful and we had a great time. the funny thing is that she told her friends (the group from florida that i was in) that if i was weird she was not staying in the room with me--and i had given david her name in case she was a serial killer. needless to say we roomed together!! she was no serial killer but i give her credit for staying with me even after she found out that i was/as weird! LOL


these are some cards i made for a friends birthday and the simple layout i made with my photo collage. SU paper and a gold frame i've hoarded for ages.
another card i made with mostly SU products for my friend Erin.


and peaches!!! they got canned yesterday. Erin wanted to learn how to can peaches so we did this yesterday. i hope they turned out because i'm still sick--i guess brianne told me that the medicine i'm taking cures the UTI but makes you sick. nice trade-off. and speaking of brianne--when i called her when i first suspected i had the dreaded UTI i was asking her what her symptoms had been. she is asking me questions and asks "have you had sex?" um, since before you were born missy! oh--it just made me laugh. and then cry cuz obviously i am lacking grandchildren because my child doesn't know that you can get children from sex. so brianne--sex leads to children and horrible UTI's!! now go forth and multiply...mom

ok. i got some projects done this week. the first is a card i made for my new stamping up buddies from florida. hopefully they will get them this week. i made these cards with SU carousel notes, 1" double-stitched ribbon and flight of the butterfly stamp. i also added some bling-bling glitter. then i made a layout of haley with some more stamping up elements. i used their summer kit which came with pp, cs, stickers, etc. i added the QK tangerine font and used my photoshop skills to print out the "right now" at the top. that is one of ali edwards digital words that i bought at designer digitals. so fun to finally figure out how to make use out of the fun digital stuff that is out there. i was inspired by one of karla dudley's layout over on her blog create something today.

then i had volunteered to make art aprons for haley's class. i had some leftover material and just cut out some aprons and sewed them together. that was fun to do and i can't wait for the kids to get to use their aprons and make art! haley keeps thinking they are all hers and now has decided that for her birthday everyone should have an apron and make art. i think that is a great idea.

i am also suffering from a UTI. big time. it has really kicked my butt and i am hoping to get better soon. i bought a case of peaches at bashas and i need to can those!! oh kerry--wish you were here since you wanted to learn to can. but i will post it here on my blog so you can see.

later...L

sorry for the small pic!

so the other day shanna and kerry and i were talking via email and shanna mentioned something about fashion. and i love fashion. i like to look at magazines, blogs and catalogs. i love to know what is "in" and what the trends are and just like seeing what colors are "hot." so i have decided to throw in some fashion in my blog once in a while. i also want to throw in some sewing, cooking and craft stuff. i've let my blog get stale and uninteresting. and i want to "kick it up a notch!" <------feel free to kill me for that cliché! ha

so first up is fashion and we have here a tolani scarf as found on pink mascara one of my fave online stores to look at fashion. now mind you i don't buy anything from there as we're on a budget freeze here at the ubnoske household. i haven't ever bought anything from there. but it's fun to look! and besides everyone knows that target will have a knock off that you can buy a lot cheaper! and that is a cute one on jessica alba. and look at her long bead necklace and cute skinny jeans. and gotta love that hat!

one place that i absolutely love now is urban outfitters. a really cool store that you can get fun stuff that is on the less expensive side. i saw a cute hat there that would look great with that scarf. and don't be afraid to wear things cuz you are a mom now or older or anything else. i'm 45 and still fearless in my wardrobe. do i make mistakes? hell yeah. but i have fun too. and my two teenagers come and steal from my closet on a regular basis.

so my challenge to you today is to find something online or in a catalog that you wouldn't normally wear but love anyway. then go and buy it. if you have the money go for it--or find a cheaper version at ross, target, etc. or put it on a christmas or birthday wish list. but have fun. you only live once...L

fair warning. a disjointed, stream-of-consciousness post ahead.

first off this. a sweet blog post from my oldest daughter that i love more than anything. http://jeffbrianne.blogspot.com/ she makes me glad that i chose to be a mother.

also, my son left saturday after spending a glorious week with us. another reason to be happy to have chosen to be a mom. i got spoiled rotten by having dallas help the girls with their homework, clean the house, do the dishes and everything else. plus he got his grades from school and they were straight a's again. what a joy. plus i got to talk to his girlfriend which was nice. she seems like a lovely girl and i'm happy that dallas has found someone whom he is happy with.

then dave got me the bigshotz for our anniversary! this is the new stamping up diecut machine that stamping up came out with at convention. what a treat. i can't wait to start using it. there are so many cool things to do with it and new diecuts from stamping up that will be so fun.

i made that the gift bag from a regular white bag and put some patterned paper on it and used one of the make-n-takes from convention to decorate it. that sock monkey stamp is pretty cool and made that gift for anna's friend even sweeter.

i tried finding some of the pics i took with my phone from convention to upload but i am the worst at remembering where i put things on my computer! anyway i wanted to show some of my new friends that i met and how much fun we had together. and to let them all know that right now i am drinking a double cranberry on the rocks! suebee ordered one of those for me at the bar while we were awaiting a card swap and i think they got a big kick out of it! i know i did. anyway--a shout out to my florida friends!

and also, my sister-in-law has a blog! http://littlebeachdesigns.blogspot.com/
it's just getting started but she has some cool things that she is starting to sell. she makes things out of vintage wallpaper and other antique finds. she lives in eugene oregon and we love to go visit. although it's rare. but i miss seeing her and her husband and their sweet daughter katherine and wish we lived closer. ok, twist my arm i'll move to oregon! ha

well, this post really has no point other than to say hey. and have a good week...L

so i have been watching the 2008 olympics since it started. even the opening ceremonies--awesome! i remember watching the olympics every four years as a child and how fun it was sitting around as a family watching people who have dedicated their lives to this one moment in time. fascinating. the talent, the skill, the dedication, the muscles. amazing. but i haven't watched the olympics for a few years now. oh i watched here and there, but not the entire thing.

this year has been different. anna and carson wanted to watch it from the beginning and so we all started watching it and have been hooked. it's completely fantastic. i love it. watching the US men's swim relay team win in like 1/800 of a second. watching the US beach volleyball girls keep winning. and the gymnastics. what can i say. the girls and i were watching the men's gymnastics and every other second it was "ohhh, ahhh, can you believe that? ohhh, ahhh." until dave finally said "at least the girls beach volleyball is on next!" ha

so here's a video of the men's victory in the swimming relay. it's so good. such an "olympic moment!" a must see thing. over and over.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0811_hd_swb_hl_l0194

have a great week...L

whew...where to start. I'm back. what a whirlwind of a few weeks. i don't know where to start first so i guess i will start at the beginning. Got to utah on saturday where my son picked me up. so good to see dallas. he amazes me. he's so focused and on track with his life it warms a momma's heart. and i found out he reads my blog. so i won't swear today. ha ha. although he needs to post because he's a wise acre like his momma but he's actually funny. LOL

i stayed with brianne and jeff who were in the process of moving. they took me to dinner at cafe rio and it was good. i ate my whole salad that brianne talked me into getting. i got to sleep with brianne in her nice bed while we kicked jeff to the curb, well actually he got the couch. i went to church with them on sunday and they had a really nice ward. full of young 'uns like themselves. i made a point to mention in sunday school that i was needing grandchildren! i'm all about the subtle!

well brianne and i went to the coolest fabric store in the state of utah i'm sure. holy heck it was incredible. i bought some fabric and a cute quilt kit to make. we also went to ikea and got some stuff for brianne and jeff's new place--which is soooo cute! cute stuff at ikea. loved it. plus i also went to the provo temple with dallas, jeff and brianne. that was a nice thing.

then lets move right ahead to the part where brianne tried to kill me. oh yeah. brianne was determined to have me tube down the provo river. anyone else do this? anyone else almost killed? anyone else call it the river of death?? i almost died on the first RAPID! that came up--right under the bridge. then we lost jeff. first we saw his shoes, then his tube, then nothing. so we waited and finally found jeff making his way down the rapid river barefoot. oh--i almost forgot. this "river" is made up of melted snow from the mountain. so to say that the river is cold is like saying a rabid dog is a smidgen dangerous. holy hell--that river felt like i was floating on ice cubes! so after we found jeff, he and dallas decided to go back to the car. i, of course could not let brianne down and decided to keep on tubing. needless to say i made it alive, although not without a few bumps, bruises and slashes. but it was beautiful scenery the entire time and we saw a train wind it's way past us. i told brianne i would do it again. i never said how many years though!!

so while i was up there enjoying my children dave decided that he wanted to come too so he drove up with the girls and we spent some good, quality time with all of our kids. i loved it. then on wednesday they dropped me off at SLC to attend my stamping up convention. OH MY GOSH! that was so much fun. i met a whole new group of friends from florida--hello starfish stampers! we had a blast. convention was so cool. hopefully you have been getting my emails about all the cool new stuff being offered from stamping up. they have partnered with sizzix and are offering a bigshotz that cuts over 50 materials. vinyl, plastic, chipboard..you name it. totally cool. i learned stuff to help my business, did make-n-takes and got some really cool stamp sets. and i now have a business site up http://www.lisa_ubnoske@stamping up.net
everyone can visit my site and soon they will have online ordering available that you can access from my website!

so fast forward to today and all my kids have been in school for a week. ALL MY KIDS. it's so different. quiet. i almost miss them. almost. ha ha they are all doing well and loving their teachers. we have started a routine (yeah--me having a routine!) where they do their homework before dinner. dad makes dinner, kids help clean up. so things are going well. dallas is coming home saturday for a week which will be so fun.

dave and i celebrated our 14th anniversary on wednesday. we had a good time. i love my husband. he does so many things for me and i appreciate them all.

i think this update about covers everything and i will start updating my blog on a regular basis. i want to start having some challenges and fun things on my blog. have a great weekend everyone...L
and thanks to kerry for passing on a great tip on making a photo collage. it worked!

this is my girl. carson. today is her birthday. she's 12. the things i love about her: she's kind. she helps out. A LOT. she is an example to her sisters. she's bubbly, social and outgoing. she has a natural flair for the dramatic. she loves clothes, jewelry and is the family hairstylist. she is sweet and funny. she puts on plays and musicals for the family. she loves her mexican food. she has a zillion friends and still has her original bff from pre-school. she is the peacemaker. she is starting middle school in a week. best of all she is a great daughter and sister.

i'm taking off for utah tomorrow. everyone have a great weekend and peace out...L

sammy and jonas. this is my niece samantha and her husband jonas. sam is expecting a boy in september. her and jonas have travelled from georgia while they are out of school to do some touring around the western states. they got here on friday and have been hanging out with me and the girls.

it's been so fun to see them both. this is my first time to meet jonas. he's wonderful. he's from germany and his parents plan on flying out in October to visit and see their new grandchild. this will be the first grandchild in my family. i have the two oldest children in the family and let me just express my frustration with brianne and dallas right here: I SO SHOULD BE THE ONE TO HAVE THE FIRST GRANDCHILD! i have been robbed by my younger sister.

since i finally learned how to get some more photoshop skills (due in part to a lot of sleepless nights) i used them right here on these photos. aren't they a cute couple? sam looks beautiful. and i remember the day she was born. time flies by.

happy sabbath to all...L

oh it's been a crappy week here for me. i'm not going into it but let's just say PMS had a little to do with it as well.

but on to happier things...i'm grateful for my friends. friends who listen and cheer me up and try to make me feel better. friends that are always there for me. you all know who you are. and i love you. because even when you feel you are all alone--you have friends that make you feel that you aren't alone.
so kerry sort of dared me to do a layout yesterday. she showed me a cute layout on karla's blog and told me i should do it. of course i told her no. but late last night when i couldn't sleep i looked at karla's layout and decided to go for it. the reason? the other day haley and i were in my room and i was holding her on my lap. it was almost time for bed and i started talking to her about starting kindergarten and tears came to my eyes. for 3 years it has been just haley and i. all the other kids were in school and so haley and i just did everything together. she was always perfect and there wasn't a reason to not take her with me. so i told her i would be sad to see her go off and leave me. but she is so ready for school and i know she's going to love it.

so kerry, thanks for inspiring me to do something creative. and i even hand journaled! i hope everyone has a great weekend...L

she gives new meaning to the words "skinny jeans." dammit. why couldn't i have had that body when i was 13? oh no, i had to have the baby fat that stayed until college. then came back with a vengance after 6 kids and old age.

taylor is one of a kind that is for sure. she is a vegetarian. although i have tried to tell her that hot cheetos and ramen noodles are not a food group. she loves the beatles. she has a turtle named crush. she loves johnny depp and wants to see all of his movies. she loves to read and will read a book a day. she is into bracelets. she was the only girl at camp to hit the bull's eye and nailed the heart of a fake deer, because in real life she wouldn't hurt any animal. although she is deathly afraid of spiders and will scream for me or dave to come and kill the tiniest speck of a spider. she thinks cleaning her room is a form of child torture. although she isn't a child anymore. nope. she is going into the 8th grade and growing up way too fast...

this little peanut here--haley rose? how could you ever get mad at that face? but i tell ya the little one has been mighty vocal lately.and non-stop talking. i mean non-stop. even other people comment on it! i think i may be getting a mini-brie on my hands! here are a few of her latest doings/sayings.

so we have been at pinetop for a week. i just got home yesterday. i went to put her to bed the other night and taylor had been on the top bunk drawing and reading. so i had to clean up all her stuff to let haley lay down and sleep there. then haley proceeds to tell me that "taylor has been eating skittles and drinking soda at night. but don't tell her that i said it cuz she'll get soooo mad at me. just tell her you knowed it yourself." ha

then one night i sat all the kids down to eat dinner. i asked who wanted to say the blessing on the food. both carson and haley said they would. i told carson she could say it. at which point haley starts in (this had been going on all day) with the whining and loud voice that she wants to say it. finally carson gives in and says that haley can say the prayer. haley then lifts her head up and orders me to help her say it. so while i am telling her to say thanks for the food and all i tell haley to ask God to help us to not be cranky. uttter silence. i finally open my eyes to peek at her and she was defiantly looking at me with extreme dislike in her eyes. then i repeated to her to say help us not to be cranky again. at which point she lets out this big disgruntled hmmph. then she says it. it was all i could do not to laugh. oh right, i did laugh. at which point she then told me to stop laughing.

so yesterday i came home with taylor and carson. dave wanted someone to stay with him and haley and anna said they would. dave told them he would get them a toy and take them to the movies and the go-carts. we ate lunch together and then i kissed them all goodbye and me and the big girls took off for home. not a half-hour later i get a phone call from dave asking me what should he do--the girls had been in the bathroom at lowe's for 10 minutes and hadn't come out. um, stick your head in the door and call their names.

well i get a call another half-hour later from dave saying "you knew what you were doing by leaving the little ones didn't you?" who me? wha happened? he then proceeds to tell me that the reason they took so long in the bathroom was that haley had to poop and anna had to help wipe her and there wasn't any toilet paper. then after that crisis was solved and they washed their hands there wasn't any paper towels. then when they were done there haley informed her daddy that she couldn't sit in the theatre seat at the movie or she would get swallowed up. and of course she talks--ALL THE TIME! this is when he asked me if i knew what i was doing.

anyway--you can't really get mad or irritated at that face. it's almost impossible. and in less than a month she will be a kindergartener. you know what that means? time for a grandbaby...L

Happy fifth of July! I've been up at pinetop for almost a week. It's been heaven! It has rained everyday and been around 60 degrees! Awwww, heaven indeed! At least the fireworks weren't rained out! They were in showlow and lasted an hour. I don't know what was better--watching the fireworks or listening to haley and anna. Haley's descriptions of the fireworks included: sparkly, worms, pixie dust, rain pops, sprinkles. Anna broke into song singing America the beautiful. Haley started singing dreams come true. Carson and I laughed the entire time. But the best part is when we all oohed and ahhed together. Or when Haley and anna both said wow at the same time! And I didn't have to hear that stupid "proud to be an American" song once!!

I read in a magazine the other day that one of the best ways to spend your money was on a family vacation. Amen. Some of my best memories are from our vacations. Right now we are having a great time! I love my girls. We have played UNO, watched movies, bar-b-qued, got manicures, painted, crafted and shopped. All in 60 degree weather! Did I mention the weather? It's awesome!

Be back home sometime this week, peace out...l

Carson: haley, will you do something for me?

Haley: i can't, i'm texting. (calculator in hand)

well i am doing better! i think everyone goes through some down times. i have lots to be thankful for. i have a great husband and children. i have a good life and live in a wonderful place. i have great health and i'm not homeless.

of course i always have my kids to make me laugh. first up is brianne. she called me the other day to tell me that she was at a church party and while trying to throw a water balloon at jeff she missed and hit one of the crankiest girls in her ward--along with her newborn baby. brie said the girl just glared at her and everyone was looking right at brianne. of course as she is telling me this i just crack up laughing. because hey--that's what moms are good for. laughing at their kids mistakes!

then yesterday i took the girls to the mall. the older girls went off looking and i took haley and anna to the play center. while we were there anna asked if she could go look in the perfume store. it was right next to us so i told her she could. i saw her looking at all the bottles. she came back and told me she found 2 perfumes that she wanted. i asked her what they were. sex in the city and love16 she replied. i said--i can tell you right now you aren't getting sex in the city. she then asked what sex in the city tasted like. i almost laughed but i told her that it was a SMELL, not a taste. then she asked if she could have love16 and i asked her how old she was. 8 year old girls don't get love 16 until they are 16! quite funny. that girl comes up with some doozys!

then yesterday we took the girls swimming. carson's best friend was down from mesa visiting. they were all seeing who could hold their breath the longest under water. mckenzie and taylor were both holding their noses and carson asked them why they were doing that. so we don't get water up our noses they said. carson said--but you can breathe with your nose underwater. of course taylor had to give her a physics lesson. then carson said--i'll prove it to you. she went under. she came back up and said--i'm sorry. oh my gosh. i was listening to the whole thing and just dying. later on while we were having a good laugh about it at dinner (that whole awesome mom thing again!) taylor said--that must have been a blonde moment.

i don't know what i would do without my kids around to liven things up. it's so fun to see them grow and change and learn. dave and i went to pinetop a few weekends ago and i took my sewing machine with me. i made that baby quilt above--my first one with batting and everything. then i made the girls skirts they are wearing. they loved them. and they were fun to make. we stopped in strawberry where they were having a quilt show and both girls got "tattoos." haley got the butterfly face and anna got a glitter one on her arm that i can't find the pic for. they were so cute and loved them. my parents went up too and we really had a nice time. i hadn't been to pinetop forever. beautiful up there!

have a great week everyone...L

ahhh, a new post. i wanted to update tomorrow. i have a lot of pics and some cute projects that i want to post. but that will be later. some things happened today that i need to put down in writing. so to speak.

so for the last few days, weeks, whatever, i have been in some weird kind of "mid-life crisis" sort of thing. wondering if the path i am on is right for me, if i should be doing something else, if i should go back to school or get a job when haley starts kindergarten. all these different feeling and worries. how i'm not talented enough or good enough to do something. i'm sure everyone goes through these times. i'm not the only one. but i haven't gone through feeling like this for a long time.

anyway--i told dave, as best i could, what i was feeling like and he said "you already have a job--you're a mom". and it felt kind of cliche. sort of like, yeah, yeah--i've heard it all before. i know how important it is but maybe if you've never done anything else you wonder if that is all you can or should do.

so fast forward to today. feeling miserable. mainly physical. i did have a slight fever--i took my temp. anyway--i got a call from brianne today. she was not having a good day. some things happened to upset her and so i listened and told her how i felt and that everything was fine, or going to be okay, and offered advice on how to deal with her problem.

then later today another girl problem with carson. some tears and feeling bad. i talked to her and let her know that we would work it out. find solutions. everything would be ok.

later on i got a call from brianne--telling me she was feeling better and thanking me for listening to her and helping her. then before carson went to bed she came in and gave me a hug. thanking me for helping her and listening and telling me she wouldn't know what she would do without me.

it wasn't until i was writing an email to kerry that i realized the importance of everything. the importance of me having a non-emotional personality that allows me to listen to my girls calmly and without getting emotional myself to help them out. not
that i don't get emotional too--trust me i do. but for the most part i can listen rationally and dissect myself from the problem.

and it made me feel better. not that my girls went through troubles, but that i was able to help. that i did something right. and i won't get paid for it or get an award or be well known. no one really will ever know about it but my kids. and that's ok. i can live with that. and the fact that motherhood is the job that suits me best...L

forigve me for i have sinned. it's been a week since my last post. i can't even tell what i've been doing for the last week. it's a blur. i remember going to dinner to wish kerry a bon voyage to kentucky. and since then i have been in this weird funk. i'm even crying for hell's sake! i don't cry. well, maybe twice a year. but i have been just funky--and not in a hip fashion-y way. no, just a funky mood. so many things going on and changing. the economy sucks. and we are trying to figure out how to move on and find other things to do. my kids last week of school is friday. i need to sew two dresses by thursday. taxes aren't done. i need to make teachers gifts. i need to scrap. and laundry is about to hit me full force tomorrow.

and right now i need to sleep so i can start accomplishing some things...L

i have lost track of time. no idea where i am, what i've been doing or anything else really. all i know is haley calls me "nudie pants" and then laughs hysterically! it's pretty funny. she watches spongebob whenever its on so maybe it came from there. she can quote the tivoed episodes! her and anna imitate patrick and sponge bob all the time. haley even tells me things about squidward and mr. crab--like they're our neighbors. and haley is definitely a one show kind of girl. she would only watch finding nemo when she was 2. she watched only that for one full year. i think i memorized every line. i'm so glad it was that and not little pony or sky dancers. lol

not much going on except i have another friend leaving me on thursday. to go live in kentucky. my 2nd friend in a year to move far, far away. oh the heartbreak. i'm going to miss you kerry. from the moment kerry and i met we bonded. we had lots in common. and we broke into the scrapbook convention. you're not really friends until you commit a crime together! LOL she taught me about ribbon and metal on layouts. and how many colors to use and pp. she was brilliant!!! somehow her love of chiffon never grew on me! ha ha (you gotta be a bazzill girl to get that one!) so i'm going to miss her. mwah! kaelene--that's a kiss! ha ha

i have been crafty a little. i made these cards for mother's day and never posted them. my SIL gave me these old vintage playing cards and i've used a few but decided i wanted to use them on cards. i need more now--i really like them. i have scrapped a few pages--will post those later. and hopefully i got some good pics from memorial day.

later gator...L