happy labor day everyone. enjoy. i'll leave you with a little sumpin' sumpin'...L

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQdhMSEqhfg

sorry--couldn't get a link up!

just a few things i have been working on. i finished all the girls skirts last week. haley and anna wears theirs all the time. next up is a skirt and an apron for me. i got 2 vintage apron patterns on ebay last week and can't wait to try one.

i have been working on layouts too. took some really fun pics last week and i am scrapping them. the one with carson and the scenic route sticker--when i was with beth at SE i saw that and just had to have it! in fact i was already through paying and made beth get it for me! so here it is beth. and also the new scenic route paper i bought. yeah--it's not pink! LOL

i hope everyone has a good week and makes a treat for their family. i am planning on making some regular rice krispies today and also a won-ton chicken salad tonight for dinner. eat, craft and be happy...L

today was one of those days that was just sweet. a very happy day. sorry kerry--don't be a tuesday hater. for kerry, tuesday is the new monday. she never has good tuesdays. so she will have to live the day through me. i was awaiting david's arrival home today from taking dallas up to Utah to get settled in, and went uptown to do a few errands. i had a bowl of roasted tomato soup at wildflower bread company and then strolled through the mall. i stopped in at barnes and noble and bought a few inspirational magazines.



i bought the people magazine because it said it had the latest fall fashions and i was curious to see what was going to be "hot" this fall and look for things that i could sew. then as i was walking out of the mall i was thinking of something i could make my kids for a treat when they came home. i thought of rice krispie squares because they are easy and good. and then i remembered this killer recipe i have for rice krispie sandwiches and stopped off at the store to buy some cereal and butterscotch chips. and since i have been reading a lot of "crafty blogs," including blogs that involve sewing and cooking, i was determined to take pictures of some of the steps of creating. so the first thing you need to make rice krispie squares are these:


and of course you need a cute apron (i got this in savannah this summer)


and then you will get these little morsels of yum:



now the funny thing is that i am not one of those moms that has a batch of warm cookies right out of the oven ready for their kids when they get home from school. so this was fun to do and my girls were so excited to see them and eat them. and it got me thinking of how much of what makes life good is the little things. just the tiny little expressions of love that we can give out daily to those around us. and how much it means to people. to see that people care about them.

OK--enough of the sappiness. last night when i couldn't sleep (big shock there) i finished a couple of layouts.




and if you look closely beth you will see i have used PINK! in my layout! so very proud of myself. and now i am going to bed. cuz it's bizness time. but i will leave you with the recipe for rice krispie sandwiches...L

Rice Krispie Sandwiches

Melt one 6 oz. package of butterscotch chips with 1/2 cup peanut butter over low heat, stirring until chips are melted. Stir melted chips into 4 cups of rice krispies and press 1/2 the mixture into an 8" square pan. chill it. then, in a double boiler, stir one 6 oz. package of chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of water until chocolate melts. spread over chilled krispies, top off with reserved krispies--chill and cut into tiny squares.

can't sleep again. so i thought i would let you know about humiliation week. at the school of lisa. it all started thursday when i went down to mesa. i met beth at the scrapbook store and we were following each other around looking at all sorts of stuff. i was looking for paper holders. i found one and put it in my basket. the basket i got after beth told me i needed one. right before i started dropping all my items. anyway--beth is looking at something right behind me and i spot a different paper holder/organizer. i grab it and say very loudly "whatcha think of this one versus the other one i grabbed?" and turn around to see it is not beth right behind me but someone i don't know. and she looks stunned. so i go and find beth and tell her what happened. a little snicker. then about a nanosecond later i manage to topple all the books of the shelf onto the floor. much laughter from the other side of the wall. i asked beth if she even needed to ask whom had done that. she didn't. so i manage to leave the store without further excitement. and a shout out to beth for pointing out some killer halloween scrapbook paper and challenging me to a layout duel! ha ha

after the store i go to meet some friends for a birthday lunch. we had just sat down and were getting our water when the waitress knocks my glass over and water goes everywhere--me, the present for my friend, my feet and nicole. well, it was a hot day and it was only water. and i had a good time seeing friends that i don't get to see very often. and a killer shrimp taco!

next stop is this little salon/boutique that i love in mesa. they always have cheap, fabulous skirts. so i find a few and go try them on. i am on my second skirt and i go to unzip it and the zipper pull breaks off. great. so i try to unzip the skirt. no way. i try to put the zipper pull back on. not happening. i again try to budge the zipper down.nope. finally poke my head out to tell the salesgirl my little problem. she comes over and tries to fix it and budge the zipper. nuh-uh. then she asks me if i have tried to pull it over my head. i just look at her and wonder if she has glanced at my upper body and then proceed to tell her i will try. needless to say that it is 113 degrees outside and have you ever tried on clothes when everything imaginable is melting? including me? so i am almost laughing to myself about trying to get this skirt off over my head. i have had a mammogram. i would have rather had had another one than attempting this maneuver. so i manage to get it over my ta ta's and it gets stuck right under my arm pits. lovely. now not only do i have a skirt stuck on me but everything from the waist down is blowing in the wind. so i suck everything in with all the energy i can muster and here we are, back where we started from. i stick my head out again and tell the girl that it just isn't happening. we both try to get the zipper pull on and try to force the zipper down. but no. this is where the jaws of life come in. yep, i had to be cut out of the skirt. which i decided not to buy.

now if you think that the story of accident prone/clumsy/humiliation stops there, wait. there's more. today is the day i drive the carpool. i drive wed. and fri. so i go to pick up haley from preschool. she has to be signed in and out. i am gathering all her stuff and one of her teachers comes out and asks if i have gotten everything. i have only met her once since i don't drive everyday. anyway i tell her i have gotten everything and we proceed to walk out together. she then asks me if i have signed haley out. i tell her that i did. then she asks me if i am haley's grandma. i say no, i'm her mom. then comes the mortified look and profuse apologies. i tell her it's no big deal. i mean i do have a daughter that will be 24 in a few weeks and haley is not even in kindergarten. still she felt bad. but it was funny. so funny i forgot to laugh! LOL

anyway--that is my week in a nutshell. good times. and i am starting to feel better. starting to feel like the old me again. ready to scrap and ready to start sewing. so look for some new projects from me. and a challenge from beth to use red in a layout. and no circles (since every paper i picked out in the scrapbook store had circles on it!) well, here's to good friends, a great husband and kids and zippers that work...lisa

i can't sleep. i tried to lay down and couldn't do it. dallas and his friend gage just left tonight to go to mesa. they're leaving tomorrow for rocky point. then dallas will come back on saturday and leave with david for college on sunday. i feel like he just got back from italy. how could he already be leaving again. you have kids for what, the first eighteen years or so and then they leave. and it's supposed to be like that. it's how life works. and most of the time i am fine with that. but not tonight. tonight i just want to have all my kids be with me and laugh and play and hang out and remember all the funny times we have had and what we still have ahead of us. and it makes me sad. you take care of them for a while and just when they are old enough to take care of themselves and become more like a friend--poof--they're gone.

but i am lucky--lucky to have such great kids. LUCKY! i count my blessings everyday. not one of my children have caused me that much trouble. of course they are kids--they fight, they complain about helping and sometimes drive me a little crazy--but for the most part they are so GOOD. really and truly. so i won't complain (much!) when they grow up and leave. after all i have been lucky to have a daughter graduate from college and marry in the temple. and a son that has served a full time mission and is heading off to college. so i will try to focus on the joy that that brings me and not the sadness. i will tell you that as a mom whom has grown children and young ones--it goes by pretty fast. so try to make the most of each moment that you have with your own children...L

these are my girls as they headed out to school this week. so far so good! they all seem to be liking being back at school so far. probably not as much as momma does though. Taylor is in her 2nd year of middle school, 7th grade. Carson is in her last year of elementary school, 5th grade. Anna is in 2nd grade and haley is in Pre-K three days a week. I'm in a carpool this year so i only have to drive 2 times a week. love that.

not much else to say except i have been keeping busy. i tried to upload a pic of the wedding to no avail. the files are just too big. i will have to work on finding a way.

i do have to end with a funny anna story as brianne threatened me that i better blog about this. i cut dallas' hair the other day and anna came in and asked why didn't i give him the haircut i gave dad (mohawk, last summer). dallas said that he didn't want his hair like that and anna said why not? dad did it. then i said--well dad is a crazy man and anna looked at me and said--well, you married him. that's right--i said. then anna asked me--so you like crazy men? well anna--it sure looks like it! ha ha

peace out everyone...L

so i have been busy! I started cleaning out my scrap area this week and came across some old photos that i had. the ones of haley fishing. these are around 2 years old. and when i found them i had a need to scrap them. i mean that is my baby right there--the one with the dang cute pigtails and the one whom is perfectly content sitting there fishing. that brought back some good memories. makes me sad that the baby days are over. my girls are sad too. they keep asking for a baby. i tell them that i passed the torch over to brianne. hint, hint!

not much else going on here but counting the days until school starts. only 5 more days! it's crazy to think that summer is over and fall is right around the corner. and dallas will be leaving for school soon too and i don't know what will happen after he leaves and i am left to entertain my girls all by myself again!! ok--david is here too so it's not like it's really all me. but still, we will miss dallas when he goes and i know no one wants to say goodbye all over again. too sad for me to think about.

and wedding pictures will be forthcoming because brianne is sending me the cd with the photographers pics soon. i think she said there were 1,000 images! so excited! so for all of you wanting to see pictures you will soon enough! later...L

yes, i'm back. sort of. i took a little break. from everything. no blogging, no scrapping, no sewing, no anything really. i was just tired and worn out. i still am a little but i started coming back today.

so let's see--what has happened since i have been away. my daughter got married! yay! it was a beautiful day. brianne and jeff looked so happy and i think everything went well. then they went on a cruise to the caribbean. after the wedding i went to Georgia and stayed a week with my sister. we went to savannah, antiquing, eating, watched fireworks on the 4th and then i came home with my neice paityn whom stayed two weeks with us. my girls loved having her and while she was down we went to the grand canyon, the mall and did some fun stuff. it was nice to have her here.

pictures are of my new bedding, the last layout i did (over a month ago), my neice, a man playing the sax in savannah, and the grand canyon.

yesterday carson turned 11. and that was how many girls came over for an all day/all night party. lots of fun. for her. ha ha

so today i got busy and got a lot of things taken care of that were taking over and i have finally started cleaning and organizing my scrap room.

and somewhere in there i read the last harry potter book. amazing. wonderful. i loved it. so if you were wondering why i wasn't around, there you go...L

yes--i am still alive. barely. buried beneath a mountain of pink and green ribbon. been working on wedding invitations and a guest book and a whole lot of other stuff. i would post a few pictures but i can't find them on my computer. finally got photoshop on my mac and now do not know what the heck i am doing! i downloaded some pictures last night and i can't find them. i hate relearning things.

i did have a fun time this weekend scrapping with my friends. it was something i needed and it really made a difference. a nice break. so thanks girls. especially a big old shout out to shanna for breaking my eardrums! what's that? did you say something hooker?

anyway, speaking of breaks, david needed one too and took taylor and carson to cali with him. this leads up to my chuckle of the day. so dave calls me this morning to tell me that he is taking the girls swimming. later this afternoon he calls me to tell me that taylor forgot her top (or bottom) to her swimsuit and she was in tears so they went to buy her a new swimsuit. at the mall. they look in a million stores--nothing. so finally they are in this one store and taylor finds one she likes (oh yeah--it's not only that they couldn't find a suit--taylor is extremely picky about her clothes!) taylor tells david that the bathing suit is a little expensive. david thinks that this probably means around $50. david tells me "it was kind of expensive". how much? so i start guessing how much. $130. for a 12 year olds bathing suit. so i ask--what store was it? "some boutique i guess." what swimsuit was it? what brand? um yeah--juicy couture! so i say--have you heard of TARGET? um, hello! i think the best part was that he had to spend the whole day in the mall with 2 tweens shopping. welcome to my world my friend!!

so the moral of this story. don't send a man to do a woman's job. and if you're going to buy juicy couture then please let it be on sale or for your wife...L

so this is the layout i made for the one little word challenge. which was to use the word stop. as i made this layout i was thinking to myself, you know--i do have other children! {ha} time to start spreading the love around. and i have some cute pictures so there is no excuse. of course my excuse is that haley is my baby and so stinkin' cute! but that all might be changing. during primary class sunday haley and her bff amy were chatting up and touching each other and my co-teacher leaned over and told them to keep their hands to theirselves and listen to the speaker--we were in opening exercises. well, it kept going on so i leaned over to haley and gave her a look and touched her arm and told her to knock it off--at which point she looks right at me and says "keep your hands to yourself." smartie pants...L

bloody hell! that is my scrap area. somebody help me!kerry you are needed here! come on--get in the car, get out of the heat and the no ac and get me organized! i know you want to!! hey--i'll even buy you a mickey d's coke! this is what happens every couple of weeks--i mean months! i scrap like a mad woman and walk away. but hey--i forget to put away and clean up until i am no longer able to find a clean area to scrap in. sometimes i have so avoided putting stuff away i have been forced to scrap on the floor--the horror!

anyway--any takers on coming up to cool weather and organizing me? maddy? beth? if kerry poops out? now you know i ain't askin' michelle or shanna--'nuff said! but actually i was able to scrap amidst all that the other night and work on a layout for the OLW challenge and should have it up tomorrow! wish me luck!

in some good news though i have gotten brianne's and jeff's wedding invites done and ordered. so everyone say a little prayer that they come back beautiful--cuz i had some nightmares last night about them and it wasn't pretty. ha ha but don't tell my daughter that cuz then she might have a few nightmares herself!

sending some cooler weather your way...L

the rest of the album...L

baby album i did for a friend...L

what's a post w/o pictures? i love the detail of haley's polished worn fingernails. what are a girl's nails w/o some chipped polish?

well,i have been busy, busy, busy. wedding details, son home, school ending, and the list goes on. i have been working on teacher's gifts, brianne and jeff's wedding invite and guest book and doing lots of other things that i can't remember at the moment. but i got a fun day yesterday. david took me to scottsdale and took me shopping. got me lots of fun things for the wedding. i was on cloud 9. i even got jewelry! so i am set for the wedding. can't wait--i am so excited.

other fun things going on here. dallas cooking. yes--my son that only knew how to nuke some nachos and pour a bowl of cereal is now cooking for us. and cleaning up. my son. so for all you moms of small boys--there is hope! he made us lasagne the other night with homemade bechamel sauce. he. made. bechamel. sauce. from scratch! so yummy! i finished it off for lunch today. it is really neat the italian things he has made for us. just simple ingredients. none of this 12 page recipe with about a bazillion ingredients. just a few fresh and simple recipes that are super yummy.

happy sabbath tomorrow...L

so these are a couple of layouts i did. the one of haley i did a few weeks ago. just took a pic of it today. the other one is one i did for the one little word challenge. fun stuff there!

anyway--a few random things today. one is conversations that have taken place lately at our home. taylor and i were exchanging some sarcastic-ness and she ended it by telling me "to put that in your juice box and suck it!" wow--amazing! i was impressed!! then haley the other day was sitting on the potty doing here bizness and kept on dropping little #2's into the pot. she kept watching after every single deposit. when she was finally done she looked up at me and said "that's a family of poop." well said.

my next conversation was with anna yesterday. she informed me that a girl at school got to watch a pg-13 movie--the pirates of the caribbean. she asked if she could watch it. i said no--she was too young. then she asked why did the other girl get to watch it--i explained that i can't make the rules for other families--only my own and the rule is no seven year old of mine can watch a pg-13 movie. so then later that evening anna tells me that it is going to be pajama day at school. and they are going to get to watch a movie. she then tells me that the movie they are going to watch is pirates of the caribbean--dead man's chest. i tell her that i highly doubt that that is the movie they are going to see. anna says that yes--that is the movie they are going to watch. then she thinks a minute and asks me if i am going to ask her teacher if what she has just told me is true. i tell her that i will ask her teacher. then anna informs me that she was only joking and that they are really watching "1,000 links under the sea!" i love that girl. she makes me smile...L

well as you can see--new banner and template! go me! trust me--i been a wantin' to change this thing forever!!! so i finally plunged in and got it done! just a simple little blog title. my first! plus links are now all at the bottom. all of this done with a severe head cold! look for more changes when i get time (insert laughter here) and feel better.

lisa out...

here is my cute little family! with daddy taking the photo! love the fact that jeff is in there too since really i consider him a part of my family now!

parent teacher conferences today. all went well. all are doing extremely great in school. i love that. one funny thing though. anna's teacher asked me if i knew that carson had done a page of anna's homework. tried to write like anna but you know momma's and teacher's can't be fooled like that. anyway--i guess carson had been helping anna with her homework one night and anna had been frustrated and had finally fallen asleep. so carson did it for her! the true protective sis/mother hen. how sweet is that?

Dallas has been accepted at UVSC and MCC. now to decide if he wants to enroll in summer or fall. the mom in me wants fall!! but i want what's best for him. he is working and dave thinks he should work this summer and save but we will call the school tomorrow and see what he needs to do and when he would have to register, etc. i knew this would happen--he'd get home just to leave again. the sad thing though is david. he finally has a man around to back him up with his fun women jokes and tv watching and eating habits, etc. so fun for him to take dallas to work and get to hang around--he's loving it and doesn't want it to end. when dallas leaves it is back to all estrogen again!

dallas is having such a positive influence around our family and others. so outgoing and personable to everyone. love it! he truly came home a man. tonight we went into the high council meeting so he could give another report and meet everyone. so awesome--so inspiring. i tell you--this parenting thing is hard work. sure there are lots of fun times and perks--but really--lots of hard work goes into trying to raise a child to do what's right. to be a productive, hard working, generous, kind adult. lucky me--i got two so far! only 4 more to go.

i think david and dallas are going to mesa this weekend. so i am going to catch up on my sewing. got some skirts to sew and maybe some scrapping thrown in...L

what a weekend. there are no words for how i have felt the past 3 days. euphoric is a good one. just to recap a little. if i don't write it down i will forget. we were late getting to the airport! his plane got in early and we hit major phoenix traffic including an accident on the freeway. i remained pretty calm though! he was already at the baggage claim and i got to see him before he saw me. he is so skinny!! i thought he would have gained weight but he rode his bike everyday. he looked exactly the same. he said haley was the only one that looked the same to him--everyone else looked different.

then we went to wait for brianne and jeff. they flew in about an hour and a half after him. what a fun time to see brie and her brother!! then we left and stopped at red robin and had a very late dinner and then went home--it was after midnight and my son had now been up at least a good 24 hours.

the next day we just all kind of hung out. at 5 p.m. we went to the stake president's office so dallas could get released as a missionary and waited and waited and waited. i guess there had been a mix up about him being there to release dallas. fortunately his counselor came in and saved the day. we all went in to his office where he had dallas tell a little about his mission and some of the experiences he had. then he had him stand up and asked me to come forward. then he told dallas that he had the authority from the first presidency to release him from an honorable mission. all up until this time i had not cried or been emotional. but the counselor got tears in his eyes when he was saying this and i just lost it. i was crying and an emotional wreck! then he had me take his name tag off and it was official. my son is not a missionary anymore. dallas told me later that when i took the tag off it felt as if his heart fell. i am sure for him that all he has known for the last two years is being a missionary and then that is taken away. but i was so proud of him! my heart was so full of love and pride and joy. then the counselor had him bear his testimony in italian and i lost it again. i wish i could freeze that moment in my head. so joyful and happy.

then mother's day! what a fun treat. best mother's day in history for sure. brianne made me chocolate waffles for breakfast. they let me sleep in and i was a wee late for church!! brianne came in and helped me teach my primary class and jeff scored me a cherry cheesecake dessert from the YW! then we went home and i opened gifts and then took a nap. and then right before lunch jeff took me and the family into the office and played a cd for me. one that he had made using a video and recording each child's reason why they loved me as a mother. at the end there was a picture of all of them with a happy mother's day. it made me cry again!! i wish i knew how to load it on here--i would. so sweet! what a day having all my kids here and future son-in-law! then we ate and rushed jeff and brianne to the airport.

now all i have to do is get ready for a wedding!!! simple! ha ha
i hope all of you had a great mother's day!!! love...L

We went on a spur of the moment picnic last sunday. a place where we go every once in a while. big trees, swings, grassy area, right in front of a big mountain. this time i brought my camera. it was a beautiful day and the girls played tag and the dogs sniffed out every corner. i loved it. a day that makes me thankful for being a mom and having great kids.

the big day is tomorrow. picking up dallas at the airport and then hanging around until brianne and jeff fly in from utah. all my kids together for mother's day. i haven't had that for at least 2 years. so excited. when i think about seeing dallas i start to cry. hopefully i will be cried out before he actually gets in.

i was thinking about being a mom today and what it means. it isn't my whole life--but it is one of the biggest parts of my life. there's the mom part/the wife part/the me part. trying to balance those three is huge. life is huge. sometimes i feel like i am being swallowed whole by it all. but i love it. love the challenges, the rewards, the ups and downs. one of my biggest fears in life is routine. having everything the same all the time. that's why i don't do fly lady, that's why i like to move, that's why i hate making plans--cuz something better might come along. but being a mom--absolutely nothing routine about it. yeah, there's laundry, school, homework and cooking and cleaning. that can certainly get routine. but the kiss on the forehead, the back rubs, the staying up late and talking, the shopping, the drawings, the giggle fests and the knock-knock jokes, ice cream nights, dancing to music, and all the other unexpected little things. those make it all worth it.

happy mother's day, a little early, to all...L