“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. But when life hands you a LOAD OF CRAP, don’t make anything. Trust me on this one”

“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. But when life hands you a LOAD OF CRAP, don’t make anything. Trust me on this one”

My friend at work gave me a card this week that said the quote listed above. I died laughing and after the week I had had, I needed the laugh! I guess it is those bad weeks that make you appreciate the good ones, right? But sometimes I can really do WITHOUT the loads of crap! So, I will focus on the good things that happened this week.

Kayla Rocks

This week she won one doubles match and lost one. I would also like to add how AMAZING our experience was when she got her patriarchal blessing last Sunday. I can honestly say that some of my most profound spiritual experiences are when I have gone with my children to get their blessings!

(High School tennis team picture)

Iowa Weather

Sure- I could complain and go on and on about how much it SUCKED that it actually snowed yesterday! Or how we had 45 mile an hour winds. Or how nasty the weather was when Bob and Tyler did the Young Men Service project delivered compost to an Elderly Living Facility. Or how the tennis meets were cancelled so the kids wouldn’t blow away or turn into frozen statues. Or how I did my hair this week but by the time I actually got in to school I looked like Medusa.

(Alayna played out for hours in the warm weather)

But instead, I will focus on the fact the first part of the week was GORGEOUS! We planted onions, potatoes, and asparagus. My beautiful tulips bloomed although they shut up supertight when it snowed. Frankly I’m surprised they survived.

Prom

Marisa was specially chosen for an honors orchestra to participate in on May 14. The geek said yes to her conductor because she figured no one would ever ask her to prom. Well, in the past 2 weeks I have had 2 different boys contact me to arrange ways to ask her to prom. So, I had to tell her that my “Mother’s Gut” says she shouldn’t do the orchestra and I emailed her conductor to say she couldn’t go. She was confused. Anyway, she got asked today by David and I took a picture of the adorable way he asked. She was ECSTATIC and tried her dress on within seconds of reading it. Then she and Kayla made a basket of plastic eggs and cut up the words “I’d be HOPPY to go with you to prom” and put the slips in the eggs. Awww!

Other News

*Our friends came over again to watch “Megamind” and play dress up!

*Tyler was set apart as the 2^nd counselor in the Deacon’s Quorum Presidency.

*My end tables came in!

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.

April 10, 2011

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.

(Bern Williams)

Hallelujah! The weather has been gorgeous this week!! We have been outside walking, running, playing at the park, gardening, etc. We are LOVING feeling the actual warmth of the sun on our skin. I was so excited to be outside I forgot to take many pictures this week. We started our garden, cut down some bushes, etc. It has just felt like heaven. I almost ran out of the house this morning singing “Oh what a beautiful morning” but I refrained.

(Beautiful thunderstorm, but my pic doesn’t do it justice!)

Odds and Ends

~Bob played in the Stake Men’s Basketball Tournament yesterday, but they lost both games. Apparently the guys they play each year keep getting younger and younger…

~Marisa and Kayla had State Solo and Ensemble yesterday. Marisa did a solo and received a division 1 (the highest you can get) and a duet with a friend that also received a division 1! Kayla was part of a woodwind ensemble but we don’t have her score yet.

~Alayna had some friends over to play dress up this week.

~Kayla won her tennis meet this week! Whoo hoo!!

~Tonight Kayla will be receiving her patriarchal blessing. We are so excited for her and this big step she has been preparing for!

That’s it for this week. I will try to be better at pics and info next week.

SpongeBob and a Bonsai Tree

SpongeBob

Alayna has been obsessed with drawing lately and her biggest theme has been SpongeBob. She has covered my fridge with her different pictures. She says she might want to be an artist when she grows up!

Early Anniversary

My surprise anniversary gift accidentally arrived early this week. Bob got me a beautiful indoor Bonsai Tree called a “Dwarf Hawaiian Umbrella Tree”. Not only did he get something so thoughtful that represents our summer plans, but also to match my new décor and go on my new end table(yes, that’s what he said)! I just love it and it’s a PERFECT gift!!

ITS DONE

Well, it took almost 5 weeks, but the house is DONE. We literally cleaned and organized every square inch of this place. The right side of the shed is stuffed with garage sale stuff. The storage room took all week. I SHOULD have taken a before picture because you would never believe the difference, But I will include the after picture. It is an incredible relief to have it all done. Now I get to start on some other projects I’ve been waiting to do.

Well, not much else happened this week. Marisa bought some beautiful spring flowers for us, my tulips broke through the ground, and Marisa and I went for a 5K practice before our run this month. The weather has been gorgeous and we are thrilled Spring is on its way! Only 36 days left of school!!!!

*Pics I forgot to add from last week

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away

My new vinyl arrived that I put downstairs. It got me to thinking about what moments in my life have taken my breath away. I guess I thought I would share my top 5 so it can go in my blog book just for fun.

1. The greatest decision I ever made was to marry my best friend! This month is our 18^th anniversary and I am more and more in love with him every day.

2. My very 1^st baby! Marisa’s arrival was an amazing and beautiful experience. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

3. Although it took 53 brutal hours, I was so happy to have Kayla join our family. Such a beautiful, sweet, and tiny baby.

4. The arrival of my only son. This time the epidural actually worked and I was able to assist in the delivery. An amazing and memorable experience.

5. The arrival of our last baby. Although she was a very sick baby, we were so thrilled to add her to our growing, eternal family.

This is only 5. I feel blessed to have had so many experiences in my 40 years that have truly taken my breath away!

Kidnapping and Happy Birthday Kayla!!

Happy 15^th Birthday to Kayla!!!

Kayla turned 15 yesterday! I am always reminded of the 53 hours it took to bring her sweet spirit into the world. She had kind of a tough week and was even home sick one day. But I think yesterday, the actual birthday, was a success! She requested Pizza Ranch for lunch which was fun to go to as a family.

Then, her friends planned this HUGE surprise party! They came over in masks, stormed our house, and kidnapped Kayla. She let out this blood curdling scream and they attacked her with cans of silly string, put a hood over her head, handcuffed her hands, and literally carried her off to their car. They took her to laser tag, played games, and even made her a cake! Im so thrilled she has great friends here. The only bad thing is that we forgot to tell poor Alayna that they would be coming to kidnap Kayla. After the kidnapped Kayla, I looked back and saw poor Alayna who looked like she just had a heart attack! She literally thought we were being attacked! Note to self: Next time give Alayna a heads up!

White chocolate raspberry cinnamon rolls

The raspberry rolls were a huge success!! They are so yummy! However, I am reminded why I don’t normally make things from scratch. Its way too much work and it makes such a mess. But so yummy!

Misc Stuff

~Marisa received her personal progress award today!

~Bob finally went to the doctor and we found out he has walking pneumonia!

~Tyler received an “Outstanding Soloist” award at the Coe College Jazz Summit!

~ Tyler had a HUGE show choir week! On Wednesday I was the show choir mom for their performance at Excelsior. Brought back so many memories of the dance studio: missing costumes and shoes, hair issues, late kids, etc. On Thursday I helped chaperone their elementary tours. Then yesterday, they performed at 2 different shows for the show choir show case. He did such an awesome job!!!

(Tyler is on far right doing solo)

~We got chalked and they put BBQ sauce on Marisa’s car.

~Girls started tennis team this week. It was way too cold to be playing outside but they did anyway.

7 Wonders of the World according to Tyler

1. League of Legends

2. Sitting

3. Spicy Doritos

4. Making noodles and eggs

5. Eating

6. Riding his bike

7. Show choir

7 Wonders of the World according to Alayna

1. Playing Webkinz

2. Food

3. Exercising

4. Watching TV

5. Wii

6. Riding her bike

7. Bowling

Dancing in the Rain and Bowling like Superman

Dancing in the Rain and Bowling like Superman

March 20, 2011

It is amazing how much crap junk one home can accumulate in one year!

Before I worked, I always spent spring break cleaning and organizing the whole house. The past couple of year that I have worked, I have saved the spring cleaning for summer and actually relaxed over my spring break (usually doing a puzzle). Not sure what happened to me this year. Somehow my brain and OCD kicked in to hyper drive and there was no turning back.

I went through almost every inch of this home and cleaned and scrubbed and organized. I also threw out quite a bit of stuff and we cleared the whole right side of the shed for garage sale items (which is growing by leaps and bounds). Again, the idea is to simplify.

Every room is done except the storage room (which I was bummed about not being able to finish). But everything else looks really nice. Now I need to find a good way to enforce it to stay this way! The kids helped quite a bit. I think they liked having some input on where things go and how we would fix things up. They actually got pretty excited about it.

I don’t have a “decorator’s” bone in my whole body.

Anyone who knows me knows I can organize like nobody’s business. However, interior decorating is, um…a huge weakness of mine. This year I decided I would try anyway. I’m always up for a challenge right? I figure with my brain and Kayla’s amazing gift with decorating, we might just be able to do it.

(New decorative floral silk pillows)

So, my brain (which never seems to sleep) went to work on tons of ideas to redecorate and update our home. Kayla and I had so much fun doing this together and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. I will show some pics.

(New kitchen table decor)

(New flat screen monitor to replace huge old monitor)

I love vinyl lettering!!! This (and candles) have become my new love. We arranged this (see pic) and put up the lettering yesterday. Our other lettering should be here Monday. It says, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s a about learning to dance in the rain”. I love that and it seems so fitting with our family and the current thunderstorm outside.

I also put up a new inspirational poster in the exercise room that says “Persistence: Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."- Mark Twain

Tyler can bowl like Superman

Every Spring Break we try to do something fun as a family. This year we chose bowling. We had so much fun! Our 2^nd game, we did a crazy game where we did all sorts of things like : bowled left-handed, granny style, backwards granny, zigzag off the bumpers, using the smallest ball we could find, using the heaviest, etc. One time, when we were doing the smallest ball, Tyler took his steps, made a huge swing backwards, and literally went flying down the lane with his one arm forward and still attached to the ball. He looked like Superman and he was completely face down by the time he finished. We couldn’t stop laughing. THAT’S when I should have taken the picture, right??

(Bob Bowling)

(Tyler Bowling)

(Alayna Bowling)

(He actually asked me if he had “bling” and a “grill” if he would look cool)

We also went to Pancheros- one of our favorite places to eat.

(With burritos as big as your face)

(Chips and Salsa Girl!)

Raspberry white chocolate cinnamon rolls sound like a bite of heaven

Every once in a while, I feel domestic. It doesn’t happen often, so when I get that urge I have to jump on it. I have been gearing myself up for trying to make homemade raspberry white chocolate cinnamon rolls. I was 1^st introduced to these when some sweet ladies brought them to my brothers as a taste test to sell at the new movie theater/café. Man was I glad I was there to help “test” them out. I will let you know how mine turnout- wish me luck!

I’m getting old…

I used to be able to run like the energizer bunny with no problems at all. This week, I strained a muscle in my shoulder, yanked a tendon in my arm, and pulled a muscle in my back (all while trying to move heavy stuff). For a few days, I looked like a hunched over, one-armed lady with a crazed look in her eyes.

Hey- where did everything go?

We realized today that Spring Break is over! Where did it go?? I also completely missed St. Patrick’s’ Day- where did that go? We are heading into another busy month. The girls start HS tennis tomorrow (if the rain lets up) and Marisa starts in the pit orchestra for the musical “Oklahoma” this year. Tyler has several show choir performances as well as the elementary tour this week. I am COUNTING DOWN the days until summer and praying I will get a new job for next year. Only time I will tell. Until then, I just plan to dance in the rain….

(It was FINALLY warm enough to go outside!)

(Tyler and Alayna made for me)