Ta-da!

I did it! I did a WHOLE crafty project by MYSELF! And it turned out GREAT! I have been thinking about re-arranging our bedroom for a while, and when I walked into our room this week, I was shocked to see it had NOT been re-arranged -so I decided to do it!


Josh had to work 10 hours on Friday AND Saturday (and today he is home with a cold!) so I had time and excitement to do it. I might just be crafty some more (let's see, shelves in the shed, re-paint the guest bedroom, hehehhe). The CUTE quilt is coming is 3 to 5 shipping days. And we need new (matching) nightstands. But here is the before pic:





And the after pic! Yah for my blue wall!!!





Ellie and I also had fun playing with Kellie and the girls this week. Here is a cute picture of lunch.

Funny

Here is a cute bumper sticker I saw the other day (what did we DO without cameras in our cell phones? obviously, missed a lot of great blogging moments) - I really liked it because I am such a math person myself.




And here is a copy of the other painting I loved from the UMFA Monet exhibit (which is now sold out). It is called Pine Trees by Segantini.


I am going to go get a picture of my neighbor Bugs canning peaches for the first time - so look for that this afternoon!

Lounging

Check out this CUTE new lounging outfit I found while out with my seester Heather today - it is totally me! If you can't see - the bottoms have kitchen appliances and cooking words all over them. So cute!!!



And where would we be without a cute picture of Emma and Ellie playing together. Ellie LOVES to push Emma in her stroller (good thing Emma is strapped in tight). On the way to the mall, Ellie would laugh and point at Emma and Emma would giggle back and that would make Ellie laugh - it was exceedingly cute.



There is BAD news on the baby prison. (A baby prison = playpen). Emma was taking a nap today and Ellie looked tired. So we put her in the little playpen (see below) and about 15 minutes later, Ellie comes out all cheery and says "I all done nap - I wake up!" AH - she escaped!! Well, that was our last bastion of security. Oh well. Did she climb over the wall?


Josh might not have to work ALL weekend - so we are happy to for that. And - friends - do NOT forget that ALL Hershey's chips are on sale at Albertson's this week for 70 cents a BAG when you buy 10 (even the Reese's Peanut Butter ones!)

Albino preying mantis

I haven't posted in a while, because my mouth has been really ouchy. It is getting better.

Today I got up and went down to ride my bike and right there on my bike was this albino preying mantis! I carefully took him/her outside to a rose bush. Then we are out with our friends this afternoon and there he was again! So I moved him again. I hope he/she lives.

I finished another puzzle and Bugs and Kellie helped start another one! (with a LOT of pink)- come on over and help!

Then we had naps and Emma, Adelade and Marie came to play. Kellie stopped by and there was a dog (Toby) in my backyard -I felt to grown up - kids on the swings, a sort-of-fence and a dog!

Did I mention our neighbor put up a cedar fence around the house next door in an attempt to make it more sell-able. AND we didn't have to pay for our side!?!?! YAH! Well that is us. I made yummy rolls with butter in them for dinner - let's eat!

Chokecherry syrup

Today Josh and I made syrup from the chokecherries we picked (gathered?) in Montana. We got about 3.5 pints from 10 quart bags of berries. Wow - we are going to have pancakes tomorrow and see how it tastes (of course anything with four cups of sugar in it can't be all THAT bad!).

Josh went off to test more stuff tonight. Apparently there are so many companies wanting Dugway to test their equipment (before the military will accept/buy more of it) that they are going to start doing night testing again in March.

Ellie and I took her dollie for a walk around the block. Cute! And here is a picture of one of my roses - the bushes finally got adjusted and are growing WONDERFUL smelling flowers.

My whole life long

My whole life I have wanted for my top teeth to not stick out so much.

Today my wish on it's way to being fulfilled!

I got my top braces!!! (well, most of them)



And here is how my bottom teeth are lining up - literally!


And the BEST news is that is that in 21 days (3 weeks if you are not counting) I get my GREEN expander out - YAH!!!!!!!!!!! Then I will get the rest of the top braces (on the back teeth - joy). I might have to have a party. What should the theme be? "Free at last?" or maybe "No more green crap in my mouth?" Ideas?

Constitution Day

I am sure you all remembered that yesterday was Constitution Day. The Founding Fathers (55 of them) signed the Constiution for the United States of America on Sept. 17, 1787.

Every school in the USA that gets federal money (Pell grants, Stafford loans, etc). has to have a celebration of this day. The whole time (five+ years) I taught at Stevens Henager College, I was in charge of the festivities. So they called me up and asked if I would like to do it again ( a short program about the day). They paid my mileage so Ellie and I went up to Logan.

The canyon to Logan is LOVELY with fall leaves! So pretty - here is a not so good photo of how great it really looked.

We did the morning program and then went off to play with our friends! This is me in action:

(We did go get some new shoes - so cute!) Arrin -it was great to catch up with you, and as always, you looked fabulous. Lori and Audrey - thanks for driving to SDL with us! Audrey - Ellie was SO happy to play with you and looks forward to seeing you again. Lori - can on! We are planning another trip to finish catching up! Here are our cute girls playing pom poms.

Did the evening program and headed home. We stopped for Arby's in Brigham City and Ellie ate an entire sandwich by herself! Then we watched some signing time on the way home. I was so tired from all the driving I went to bed at 9:40 p.m.! Yah! Josh got home about 3 a.m. so we are having lunch together today.

Plums, peaches, pears and grapes!

My new-found friend Luz has my DREAM backyard. In town, fenced, 12+ fruit trees, almost an acre AND the biggest grapevine I have ever seen.

My fun neighbor Muriel and I went (with our four girls) and picked peaches, plum, pears and grapes. It was AWEOME! Here we are on the way home. Josh is at work. I finished the pumpkin patch on my current puzzle.

Update

We decided not to follow up on the Oklahoma thing. It sounded fishy and was a LOT of money. Other things are more important now. Thanks for your support! Do NOT worry - we're fine. I LOVE being home with Ellie and Josh is so wonderful. Something good will happen. We are glad you are our friends.

Another lead

So we got a phone call yesterday about an adoption lead. There is an agency in Utah that is facilitating an adoption in Oklahoma. The birthmom had a 3 year old girl and a 4 month old boy that she wants to place together. Apparently these situations are harder to place (older kid and a baby). Ellie would be 10 months younger than the girl. We are thinking about it. It is a LOT of money (private agency). Ideas? Birth order disruption?

Playdate

Ellie was invited to her first playdate this afternoon. Here is her picture as she went off:

Murial - you are a FABULOUS neighbor! I had an entire hour and a half to myself! I literally sat on the sofa and looked out the window for the first hour - all by myself!!! Heavenly!

Canning and being lazy

Ellie and I had a lovely time at Auntie Heather's. Ellie and Emma are so cute together - they really do entertain each other so well! While in the Provo area, I got some tomatoes.
From this:










So Tuesday I spent all day canning 35 quarts of tomatoes and freezing another 8 quarts because I just couldn't stand to can anymore and I was almost out of jars.

To this!










Today Ellie and I did a few errands, came home and put on our comfy clothes - we're staying home and being lazy! I plan (see how weird I am to PLAN being lazy?!?!) to make cookies, take a nap, watch a new 'Vicar of Dibley video (she gets MARRIED!) that I found at the SLC library and maybe scrapbooking. Maybe I will pay bills too. Hey -don't mock me! I am working on doing less.

Ellie announced at breakfast: "I miss daddy. I want him hold me." So we called Josh and left a cute message and he called us later. We do miss him lots and can't wait for him to get home.

OK, I also bought three boxes of apple (early Jonathons - my FAVORITE for applesauce) and will work on canning those over the next few days. Anyone have jars they don't want?

Selling the sexy car

Yes, we sold our sexy Mercury Cougar yesterday. Here is a good-bye pic of our 'date night' car.

It is going to a teenage boy (ehehe - we think he will enjoy it a lot) related to Josh's bro-in-law.

Friday we went to Logan and had lots of fun with the plunkos and their parents. And I got to go shopping by myself!! I went to the kitchen store and they had candy molds on sale (ok, they were pretty stupid molds, but please - they will be filled with CANDY soon!) at the amazing price of 10 for $1!! So of course I got a few - and they had sucker molds - so of course I had to get sucker sticks so we can make suckers!

We dropped the car off at its new home and went to Maddox's for dinner (yum!). Josh and Ellie slept on the way home.

Saturday we all slept in and it was GREAT! (we LOVE the room-darkening blind in Ellie's room - AWESOME!). Josh mowed the lawn and we are just lazing around. Washed and waxed the cars. Tomorrow Josh flies out to Washington state for the week for some training on laser software.

He is going to get to see his BFF-cousin Lance - so they are looking forward to some male bonding time. Ellie and I are going to play with Emma, Heather and Jason for a bit - yah!

Wednesday update

It is amazing how long each day is when you start it at 5:15 a.m.!

Here is a picture of my poor toe - after stubbing the bed last night. Ouch!











Kellie, Phoebe, Tawna and I went dry pack canning this evening - quite fun. Thanks girls! Here is a pic of us in our outfits.










My toe hurts, my neck is stiff, my right arm feels like it is going to fall off when I write/type/etc. Oh yah, and I went to the orthodontist to get my back wires clipped off and he RE-EXPANDED my top mouth- OUCH! Apparently it is going to shrink when they take it off, so they make it even bigger so the shrinkage leaves your mouth right where they want it to be. So I am going to bed! Tomorrow is Thursday!

Montana part 2

We fed the ducks at the park where Josh proposed to me. Here is the bench where were we were sitting when I realized he had a ring box in his pocket and he was going to propose.














Here is the rose garden where he proposed the first time (I ran away when he did). Josh didn't want to re-enact the second proposal and acceptance, so you can just imagine. (I ran away because I was nervous and couldn't believe someone so wonderful was asking me to marry him!)













On the way home, it rained and snowed. Our van was nice and comfy. Check out the outside temperature!






















On Tuesday, I canned the bushel of peaches (that was waiting in the basement and they were PERFECT!) and some pears. Cleaned, did the wash, etc. Nice to be home. Last night, on my way to bed I stubbed by foot on the trunk and now I can't walk straight - poor little foot!

Montana

We went to Montana for the long weekend to see Josh's folks. It was very nice - cold and so green! Thursday we drove up. The DVD player in the car is GREAT!

Friday we did a bit of shopping (remember, no sales tax in Montana!) and I got some new jeans and a sweater (did I mention it was cold there and 95 degrees when I was packing?) Josh relaxed a bit.

Saturday Marcil and I went to pick chokecherries - it was pretty easy. I now have some chokecherries in my fridge - anyone have a good recipe? And then we went to the park, fed the ducks and played.

Grandma bought LOTS of bread and Ellie thought it was great fun to feed some to the geese, and then have a bite for herself.

That evening, Josh and grandma and Ellie and I went back to the park to finish off the bread (two big bags).

Home

Thanks for not robbing our house. It is AWESOME to be home and COLD!! It was 34 degrees and snowing as we drove home. I LOVE it! Tomorrow I will post all our pics. Ladies - remember canning on Wednesday - call me if you still want to go! (Kellie, Kate, etc.)