College Day....my way

So I got a text last night from a woman I recently met asking if I had a SUU t-shirt laying around that her daughter could wear to "College Day" today since she'll be attending there this fall.  I told her I didn't have one but I thought I might be able to find one. I made three phone calls to people that I know have gone to SUU and I found a hoodie for her to borrow.  I excitedly texted back that I was on my way to pick up a hoodie.  But...the girl felt like it would be too hot to wear a hoodie.  The woman was very appreciate and apologetic   No worries.  I told the woman that we should make one.  She laughed and thought I was kidding.

I wasn't.  I texted her last night just before 11:00 P.M. telling her that the shirt was done.  She told me that I was crazy and that she would meet me at a park.  After arriving there, we both giggled admitting we felt like we were doing some drug deal rather than passing off an SUU t-shirt.  She was grateful and liked it.  Awhile later I got a text saying that her husband wanted to pay me to make him a custom shirt.  Too funny.

So....how did I do it?  How can you have absolutely a one of a kind shirt, shorts, whatever you want item?

1.  Butcher paper.  It is awesome!!  Find a picture or font of something on the computer and trace the picture onto the dull side of the butcher paper.  I found a font I liked at  www.fontspace.com  and then drew out the rest after designing it.

2.  Cut it out using tiny pointed scissors.  I use my "burn" scissors from seventeen years ago.  I'd check into the hospital again just to get some more of them.  Well, not really.  But they are great!

3.  Place the shiny side down on to your fabric and iron it.  Just press down lightly so that you are moving the iron around.  Go over it a few times just to make sure you have a great seal.

4.  Insert a flat piece of cardboard under the area that you'll be painting.  Brush on fabric paint.  Do two coats.

5.  Remove paper as soon as two minutes after painting.  There you go.  Finished.  And that's how you do "College Day" my way.  Makes me want the same t-shirt.  Maybe.  :)

(The shirt from start to finish took just over two hours.)

Elder Christofferson

Elder Christofferson and his wife visited the Mexico Guadalajara and Mexico Guadalajara East missions today.  C got to shake his hand along with every other two hundred and ninety nine missionaries.  Here is C's mission in front of the Guadalajara LDS temple.  C is handsomely holding up the back row.  That's my boy!

MY fireplace

I've been in one of those projecting moods lately.  Seriously.  Like big projects, not just sweeping out the pantry.  This time....I pried off the tile around the fireplace, pulled off the "rock" wallpaper and put Airstone synthetic rocks up instead and framed in the window.  I LOVE it!!  Makes me so happy.

I saw the Airstone at Lowe's a few months ago.  I noticed that you could do the cuts with a hack saw.  That's right!  A saw that costs less than ten dollars and would save me a couple thousand dollars on manual labor.  I got busy in my work area (aka kitchen) and built me something that I am proud of.  Now my sister-in-law won't ask me if I have linoleum on my walls next time she comes over!

I would totally recommend this project. Fireplace rock.  Check.

Here's a picture I found from last year of the fireplace.  Gag.

Here is the new one.  Here is MY fireplace.

I have a dream...to be a mother

When I was in sixth grade I entered the annual Reflections contest.  I'm right brained with not a brain cell in the left and I liked to draw, so it was a given.  That year my life revolved around getting my own violin, watching/dreaming about David Acor and Jeff Barton practice basketball with my dad's freshmen team, dealing with vulgar rumors, friends and other students that were bullies, and trying to do my hair perfect like Jennifer Guymon.  

The theme for the Reflections contest that year was...  "I have a dream...."  

I don't remember if it took me a long time to decide what I would draw, but when I did, it was time to get to work.  My dream was to be a mother.  Oh sure, I wanted to go to college and be a third grade teacher just like Mrs. Jackson someday, where I could teach cursive, times tables, do amazing bulletin boards and read "James and the Giant Peach" in a plethora of voices to my students.  But, I had a great mother who taught me about being a mother and never complained about her full time job she had chosen rather than using her degree she had gotten.. 

My picture had to be fabulous.  In sixth grade eyes of course.  It needed texture which was par for the course even at that age.  I dug out some wallpaper sample books and cut out some for the walls of my dream house, then some velvety wallpaper for the carpet.  I drew my perfect looking self draped in pearls reading to my beautiful daughters with that gorgeous Jennifer Guymon hair.  I had a dream all right.  Ya, totally a dream.  Ha

I found this picture a few months ago and have been waiting to blog about it for awhile.  Many years and seven kids later, it makes me smile.  Although the world makes the job of being a mother not so glamorous, I've never known anything but.  I think I do live a glamorous life!  I am happy.  I have a husband that loves me.  I have beautiful children.  I continue to get more comfortable with myself all the time.  When I really look at the picture, I live that dream I dreamed all those years ago.  Oh, it's definitely not perfection around here, but it's a feeling of joy, an attitude of gratitude, and doing my best like I have always watched my own mother do. 

I have had a wonderful day.  A day full of meals by the boys, gifts and notes, a date by D, leading the primary children while singing Mother's Day songs, feeling beautiful, talking to my missionary, getting our annual Mother's Day pictures, and so humbled to have been given this dream I dreamed about when I was twelve years old. 

And now for our pictures.  They make me SO HAPPY!!!

I love you Mom.  Thanks for being the woman that you are, that you have always been and the woman that I
hope to be.  I have been so blessed.

Volleyball Senior Night

So, how was Senior Night at the volleyball game?  I wouldn't know.  I wasn't ever told about it.  D and I walked into the gym last night about thirty seconds after the game started.  The gym was full and loud, streamers and balloons everywhere, and then it hit me.  It was Senior Night and we hadn't ever heard about it.

I was ticked!  I was hurt.  I felt like we looked like the loser parents by not walking in with him.  I sat there getting more worked up until I just had to leave.  If he didn't want me there and no other parents thought about sending out texts or emails or anything, I wanted no part of it.  I walked home and pouted for awhile wondering why.

Later last night, one of A's teammates dropped off his posters from the game.  I was happy with that.  This might be the only proof other than his yearbook that he played volleyball all four years of high school, and he's good!

S turns 5

After S woke up and had found her birthday presents which included a fake American Girl doll from the boys and a bike that actually fits her, she headed back up to her bed.  Next thing we knew, we could hear her saying, "I'm waiting."  Cute little girl was wanting breakfast in bed just like everyone else gets.  So, B volunteered to make breakfast.  It included ramen noodles, water and sour patch watermelon candies.  She was thrilled.  And I just ran with the whole idea of it being her birthday.  :)

I snapped a few pictures of her as a five year old.  I don't know how we ever got to this point.  There were so many days where I wondered if I was going to make it to the next hour when the girls were both babies.  Seriously.  It's always faster when looking back I guess.  I love her beautiful hazel eyes.

Then it was party time.  Her first birthday party ever.  It was a mermaid party.  The only mermaid around was the one G did on her cake which was pretty funny in itself.  (The kids all ask G to do their cakes for them.  Makes me happy.)  The kids swam and then looked for a bazillion seashells I bought at Walmart that J had hidden in the sand all around the fire pit.  Like fifteen hundred pounds of new sand that we put in yesterday.  The kids thought it was great each time they discovered another shell.  

S was happy and said that she had a good day.  I'm sure it was a good day seeing how her future husband came to the party.  We've heard about him for weeks.  She talks about marrying Easton and a couple weeks ago she ran out of preschool all happy saying she had kissed him three times that day.  He's the guy on the right.  We are so in trouble.  

S, I find myself looking at you all the time.  Trying to see if I see myself in you.  Trying to grasp the fact that I actually have daughters after all those years of only boys.  Wondering how I just recently did my last kindergarten registration.  Trying to imagine what you'll look like as a teenager, as a new bride and as a mother around my age.  You make me happy.  You bring me so much joy.  I love you S!  Happy Birthday.

Two wheels

This morning the kids headed out to the cul-de-sac to ride their scooters.  little g quickly ran back to grab his bike after not riding for a couple of years.  Literally.  He really hadn't learned to ride it and we didn't have a functioning bike that was his size.  J took him out and helped him, where he quickly picked it up and was riding laps around the circle.  S then ran in saying that she too wanted her bike.  She brought it through the house and I asked her if she wanted to have dad take the training wheels off.  She thought for a second and then nodded her head with a smile.  D took off the wheels, she hopped on and was doing laps around the circle without any help!!  Who does that?  She had us giggling and laughing at how she didn't need any help, how she was steering, riding without watching and starting without running down a hill.  She was pretty happy.

It was a beautiful day and I caught some sort of picture of each of the five littles out riding.

Baptisms

I have C's girlfriend here with us for a week.  We get along great and she is so easy to get along with.  (And for those of you that might feel like I put a lot of pressure on her....I don't.  We had that conversation just after he left on his mission.)  Anyway, I suggested we go to the temple together this morning.  I called the temple to see how to do Baptisms without going with a group.  I was told that I needed to bring my own names.  I wondered how in the world we would pull this off with me not having any names sitting around.  I quickly called a couple people in my ward that are Family History Specialists.   A sweet lady in my ward named Miho, said that she had some family names.  I told her that I couldn't use her family names and that she had done the work and would want to do them herself.  She told me that I could have one name.  I humbly accepted her offer and raced over to pick up the name in about half an hour.  When I got there, she was ready with one of her grandparent's sister's name.  She told me how to pronounce the name with it being Japanese and I was off.

As we pulled up to the temple, I pointed out to AP my favorite parking spot and how I like to just sit there some times looking up at Angel Moroni.  We walked in and were led to the Baptistry.  As we approached the font I was overcome with emotion at the beauty and feelings I had there in the temple.  After changing my clothes, I sat in my little locker stall so grateful for the opportunity to be there.  Grateful for AP and the kind of woman that she is and that she had a recommend, so humbled and grateful for Miho and how she trusted me with one of her family names, grateful for the ordinance of baptism and what it must mean to people who have experienced that later in their years, grateful for my son C who is currently serving an LDS mission, grateful for the Atonement and what I've learned in the last few months, so grateful.  Then I plead with the Lord to be with Miho as she had trusted me with her family name and that she would be at peace, praying that that dear sister would embrace her work being done today and that she would fully embrace Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer in her life.  I thought of my own son just having taught and then baptized Jorge and his wife Erendira down in Mexico and the changes he had seen in their lives by having the gospel and the Atonement. I prayed for them that they might continue to progress in the gospel and never take their baptisms for granted.  I wept and wept as my heart was so full.  

I wiped my face clean and then we went to do our baptisms.  It was beautiful in every way.  I thought about how it was different this time.  How I am gaining a true understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Humbled to be there and how I can teach my children to not ever take their baptismal covenants for granted.  

I left so happy and so grateful.  It was neat sharing such a neat and intimate experience with AP.  Afterwards I took her to a Mexican grocery store that I love so that she could get a little taste of Mexico.  We walked out of there with lots of produce, freshly made tortillas, tortilla chips, salsa, all the fixings for Pork tacos, Horchata and Piña water.  

Such a good day with a good friend, my favorite place in the world, and one perfect name.

Gonna go buy more panties

I was making B lunch today when she called me down to whisper something in my ear.  With a huge grin, I thought this is what she said,  "I didn't go potty in my panties at school today".  I looked at her  while nodding and told her good.  Her smile remained on her cute face but there was a look of confusion as she said, "Mom, I said I didn't wear any panties to school today."

Shocked, I asked her, "You didn't wear any panties today?  You never wore any panties at school today?  At all?"

With her huge brown eyes and her cute toothless grin she said, "No, see!" while lifting the front of her skirt up to prove it.  I think I gasped and then giggled and giggled at the thought of my little kindergartner out to recess without any panties in a skirt.

We quickly found some panties and had the talk about needing to wear them at all times.  So what exactly did she do at recess?  She played red light, green light.  Woo!  Could have been so bad.

It's fun around here I tell ya.  Gonna go buy more panties!

Surprising Jane

This is my good friend Jane.  Love her to death even though she up and left me here all alone in this desert.  It was fun surprising her today as I knocked on her door.  Made me happy.

The Book of Mormon tower

Isn't this tower beautiful?

The first time I ever saw it was when I was four years old.  Our family had been driving for many hours back to visit my grandparents.  It was the landmark along with the long dirt road and the wooden fences that let me know we were almost "there".  What truly makes this tower beautiful is the fact that when I saw it, I could not believe that my grandma lived by a tower I had heard about in the Book of Mormon.  I just thought it was awesome that it was still there after King Benjamin had stood atop and talked to his people all those years ago.

As it turned out, I grew up on that same dirt road and drove past my beloved "Book of Mormon tower" thousands of times.  As I drove by it today with a friend, I pointed it out and then quickly pulled over to snap a picture.

All these years later I know that it is just a tower and that King Benjamin really didn't teach his people there. In fact, I don't have a clue what it even is or what it was ever used for.  But today, it's beautiful not only for the memory of when I was four years old, but the fact that I would instantly think of the Book of Mormon when seeing it at that young age.  That tells me that I had good primary teachers and good parents that have taught me to love the Book of Mormon from a very young age.

Grateful for my very own "Book of Mormon tower".

Captain America and Celia

You can imagine the horror when I found out the kids had lice last week.  But what made it even worse was when I buzzed little g's head knowing Crazy Hair Day was in just eight days.  I mean, I have a reputation to keep up.

little g didn't even want his hair done.  He must have remembered the pain and agony of other years as we try to get all the hair glue and paint out afterwards.  It's all fun and games until school is over.  haha  The boys were in disbelief that one of them would shun the thought of not going all out on Crazy Hair Day.

little g conceded when I thought of doing a Captain America shield on his buzzed head.  He ended up thinking it was awesome.

Then there was B.  My first girl for Crazy Hair Day.  Wow, that's where the reputation fell off a cliff.  I've never done more than two braids in a head before.  Try doing several braids, running wires through them and then painting them.  I had so clearly NOT estimated the time I would need on her hair.  I was going to mold those little purple snakes and put googly eyes on each one of them.  Instead, I slapped a paintbrush through her hair in a few seconds after spending two hours braiding it and we raced to the school.  I wasn't quite sure all of that effort was worth two and a half hours of kindergarten.

After picking up the kids today, they both exclaimed that they had the coolest hair in their classes/school.  So, I have to remind myself that it's to make the kids mom happy, not to keep up a reputation.  Another year done.  And mental note to self--never, I mean never do Celia braids again.  Ugly!  (Celia from Monsters Inc.)

Uninvited guests

You know, it's really ironic that my April fools joke to the kids dealt with bugs.  Because just three days later I found the plague in little g's hair.  I'm talking lice.  Then I looked at S's hair and discovered eggs.  I ran and got the phone and called my mom, and cried.  We had dealt with this eight years ago when I was pregnant with little g, so I knew what was in store.  I was completely overwhelmed.  The house would have to be torn to shreds, loads and loads of laundry done, things bagged for weeks, hours spent going through hair, shampoos bought, possible haircuts, etc.  And the thought, the thought of getting my hair checked.  That was a huge worry since eight years ago D tried looking through my hair while watching ESPN.  Doesn't really work you know?  I hung up the phone, wiped away my tears knowing that they wouldn't help rid me of the problem, called the kids down for a meeting and got to work.  G and J went around the house and tore apart all eight beds and dropped down every ounce of bedding to the tile in a huge pile for me to wash.  They then gathered all blankets from around the house and added them to the pile.  They bagged up decorative pillows, play pillows, and stuffed animals and threw them out in the garage for the next few weeks.  I told them that they were in charge of laundry and that they needed to have the washer going for the rest of the night while I went through hair.

D got home and found me out back on the couch going through S's hair.  I told him the situation and he quickly headed to CVS to buy lice killing shampoo and came back with an arm full of products for which I was very grateful.  I continued to go through hair with a pair of tweezers in hand, eyes peeled, ready to remove any bug or egg I might have seen.  I found myself laughing and smiling.  I could still remain happy and find joy in my life despite having what could so easily have thrown me into a frenzy.  I spent a few hours that night going through hair removing our uninvited guests.  While laundry was still being done and after I had gone through everyone's hair, I did haircuts on the four boys.  I washed the children's hair in the kitchen sink where I could make sure it was done properly.  The big boys ran around the house spraying the furniture with lice killing spray.  The laundry continued to run.

I texted a friend saying that I wouldn't be over the next day for my so desperately needed hair appointment.  She asked what was up knowing I needed that appointment and things just kept falling through every time I thought I was going to get my hair done.  I told her that I had discovered lice in the kids hair.  After validating  the situation, she offered to come look at my hair.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so grateful.  My mom had offered to come down the following day to help me and go through my hair.  But I feel like I'm the needy child so I didn't want to need my mom.  I wanted to be able to do this without my mom.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could go through something difficult without her.  I knew right away that I was given this blessing and tender mercy.  My friend would be over at nine in the morning.

As it approached nine o'clock that night, we had no beds for anyone to sleep in.  I called my neighbor Gail and asked her if I could do some laundry.  I raced back and forth to her house until midnight doing five loads of wash down there.  At 10:30 we got the little kids to bed on a clean mattress cover and a blanket from out in the garage.  Everyone was in bed, or on a bed, by 11:30, except for me.  I continued to do laundry until 3:30 that morning and then slept on the leather couch since my hair hadn't been checked.  I found myself praying a prayer of gratitude.  I was so grateful that I had been able to smile and even giggle that evening, I was grateful for my children's help, I was grateful for D's help, I was grateful for my neighbor and that I was able to do some laundry down there, I was grateful for my friend that would be over in a few hours, I was grateful for all that I had learned in the last six weeks regarding my Heavenly Father's love for me, grateful, SO grateful that I hadn't discovered this while going through my anxiety.  I was so full of gratitude.  I had been so productive and had accomplished so much more that evening than I ever thought I could have.

I didn't waste any time once I woke up Friday morning, and called the carpet cleaners I've used for ten years and begged them to fit me in that day so that I could have any and every possible bug and egg burned to death and then sucked up and out of here.  They were here in the next hour.

The next few days were filled with the same routine.  I did over thirty five loads of laundry, I spent hours each day going through hair, my friend came over three days to check my hair, I washed, I sprayed, I prayed.  I continued to be grateful, recognizing the Lord's love for me.  And I knew, I knew my parents had been praying for me.

Grateful I've gotten rid of the uninvited guests!

*And for the record....we do not go through this every year according to one source.  Let's get our stories straight!  haha

**And...haha....do you know how hard it was to buzz little g's head?  Hard in the sense knowing that Crazy Hair Day was just a week away.  I've got a reputation to keep and now I've got to get really creative.

My fire pit

Several months ago I saw this fire pit area on Pinterest.  I quickly pinned it hoping that I might someday implement it into my yard when the swing set was gone.

The more I looked at it, the more I had to have it!!  But...I had to do it myself.  Just because I could.  And...I'm like that.  :)  I ended up showing it to my mom and then got thinking aloud.  If I were to truly do it myself, I wouldn't be able to do all of those cuts on the bricks if I really wanted it a half circle.  So, we started looking through hundreds of fire pits on Houzz.  Then one got me giddy actually.  I could have straight lines and my bricks.  Sold!!

I may be about the most spontaneous person you'll ever meet.  The next morning we leveled the ground, over the course of the next few days, I purchased over six hundred blocks, loaded up my suburban several times and had three pallets delivered.  The kids helped me bring them all out back by either carrying them or loading them onto the dolly and dragging them through the rocks.  I stacked and stacked and glued and glued.  (liquid nails for masonry and brick)  Until....I had my very own fire pit and bench that can seat my entire family and room for many more.  The kids and I are happy and we love what we did together.  I wanted a real fire pit where we can cook s'mores, dutch oven potatoes, and pancakes on the griddle.  I'm thinking a cook out is in the near future.  :)

I had the old cement border ripped out, new paver borders put in, and the lawn extended four feet.  I put in three garden boxes, moved some huge rocks I dug out years ago, used a pick and dug twenty seven holes, went to Star Nursery several times, planted twenty seven plants and bushes, hooked up over fifty drippers and I'm happy to say that my back yard is ME!!  It is finished and I am so happy.  Happy, happy, happy.  I even like having a swing set in the back yard now that I chopped it all to heck and made it just two swings and new stain on it.  I cleaned out the bike area and moved the basketball hoop over to the corner so that it is out of the way and you never look into the sun when shooting.

April fools bugs

I found some awesome zip lock bags with flies and cockroaches on them.  I've had them hidden for two months now only pull them out to trick the kids today.  S saw them and had a disgusted look on her face.  Once I let her in on the secret she helped make B a lunch to take to her once we picked her up from Kindergarten.  B screamed when she opened her lunch box and then giggled and giggled when I acted like I didn't know they weren't real.  Then there was little g.......

Many afternoons little g will come in from getting off the bus and ask me if I will make him a peanut butter sandwich.  I thought I'd "surprise" him today and have one ready.  He walked in and I told him that I had made a sandwich for him.  His eyes lit up and he was so excited that I would do that for him.  J handed him the bagged sandwich and little g set it on the counter so that he could put his backpack away.  J pointed the bug out to him and little g let out the scaredest scream you've ever heard.  He wiped his hands back and forth as to wiping a bug off of him.  He then ran over to a bench and sobbed for many minutes.  He couldn't wouldn't talk for awhile.  He refused to eat the sandwich once I let him in on the joke.  It wasn't funny to him.  I seriously felt SO bad!  He's informed me that he doesn't like April 1st.  Or sandwiches.  Poor little guy.

Did you have any tricks up your sleeves, or bug zip locks tucked away for months to use today?