Mothers Day

Today, in honor of Mother's Day, Lewis woke up at 4:15 a.m. and decided he was "all done nite nite." Now if we were home we would have just ignored him but we were in Flagstaff visiting my parents and he was out of that port-a-crib faster than you could put him back in. After fighting it for 2 hours we gave up and turned on cartoons. Then my mom got up and made cinnamon rolls, from a can, which we cooked too long and burnt on the bottom.

Where were the men? Why didn't me and my mom get breakfast in bed? Hmmmm, no good answers there.

Then it was scramble to get ready for church--I went with wet hair--and wrestle with Lewis who was on some super charged batteries with no signs of slowing.

My favorite part of the day was in Relief Society I got to hear the Dear Mom song. Linda Seaman wrote it 24 years ago and we sang it for our mothers in church way back then--I was 15 and can still remember all the words! It is my favorite and I admit I got teary eyed when the Young Women came in and sang it.

After church it was get back to my parent's house, pack up, clean up and get ready to head back to the 103 heat.

I did get some lovely cards, candy and lotion from my children and lots of loves and kisses. The potted plants we got at church had to stay in Flagstaff because they would have died on the ride back home and my mom can plant them in her front yard to enjoy forever and not just for a couple of weeks.

We had Sizzler for lunch and then I packed up all 4 kids and headed home. (Brad is on week 5 of living in Flagstaff, working for Phil and finishing the last of the hope chests due next Sunday.)

So, it was leave Flag by 3, home by 5:45 (we stopped to wish Auntie Lynette happy mothers day), unpack, clean up, and go to bed!!! Everyone was in bed by 8 p.m. Oh, glorious bedtime! So, not a top 10 Mothers Day but I can always hope for my eggs benedict in bed when Brad comes home on Saturday. Hint Hint!

80's Prom Pictures

As a nod to those who are going to prom or have recently been to prom, I thought I'd show you some super sweet prom pictures. These are the real deal baby!!!! Enjoy Brad and Kammy at prom 1987. Yes, this is the picture which my children said "Who is in that picture with Kammy?" Brad looks totally different--no hair and a beard but not Kammy, she is just different hairstyle, same everything else--3 kids later, I might add!Mine are classic. I went both Jr and Sr year with my boyfriend Marc Monroe.

For Jr. year we ladies all took a picture without the boys because most of the girls were on blind dates. We just called up our friends from St. Johns and asked them to round up a bunch of friends and come on over for Prom. It was the best ever.
Of these friends, there are 5 Returned Missionaries and 5 Temple Marriages and 1 lawyer--go Wendy! I'm not sure how many college graduates, me and Wendy for sure but I don't know about the rest. Noelle was the only one who wasn't a member of the church and the only one who I have lost touch with.

We had some rocking dresses, I'm not sure if this was the dress but one year my mom bought Wendy's dress for 15 dollars at a Gunne Sax/Jessica McClintock outlet store and I believe the gloves she bought cost more than the dress. Dianna's dress, can you say POOOOF? Mine was a lovely yellow, it still hangs in my closet at my parents house. Enjoy memory lane...Oh, and 1986 not 1987.

Toothfairy iPod

We are very lucky in our family. Grammy knows the Toothfairy personally and therefore we get a bigger score if we wait for Grammy to visit before we put our teeth under our pillow. We have also saved our teeth and taken them to Grammy and Paps and it works just as well. When Grammy tells the Toothfairy her grandchildren have lost a tooth, Ms. Fairy ups her donation to $20 a tooth. Sweet!

Helen has been hoarding her Toothfairy money for quite some time. She just couldn't decide what she wanted to buy. (Mary has $5 left because she has never met a Little Pet Shop she couldn't live without.) So the other day Helen had an idea, could she buy herself an iPod with her Toothfairy money? After getting the parental go-ahead, the big decision as to what color to buy became our only obstacle. After 2 days of narrowing her choices, she decided she liked the orange one the best. You have to order that color from the Apple store but they do include free engraving on the back of the iPod. Helen had hers inscribed with "Thank You Toothfairy!" Mommy loves the Toothfairy as much as Helen and is so Happy Helen took it upon herself to buy her own iPod! Helen was quick to have Daddy download Taylor Swift so she could enjoy her tunes while she does her chores.

Summer has arrived, check out our forecast!

Hope Chest

In our Stake, the Stake President has promised all Young Women who complete 5 tasks a hope chest. The tasks are:
4 years of Seminary completed
6 years of girls camp completed
Earning Young Woman Medallion
Be Temple worthy when you graduate
something else

President Hayes found out Brad has lots of tools and had a little extra time on his hands and asked if he could help with the project. Brad was happy to comply. President Hayes had already made one hope chest and gave Brad the specs on how he did it and gave him the wood to use to create the chests. Brad had some tables to build for my parents before he started on the chests so he went to Flagstaff to work on the tables at our friend Phil's workshop. Phil builds cabinets for a living so he got the wood for the tables much cheaper than Brad could and he had tons of tools which Brad gladly went to use. While he was there he told Phil about the hope chests and Phil told him they could make them better than that, they could do raised panel sides and really make them extra special. Brad was all in for that! Brad always likes to make things just a little better if he can.

So after Brad spent a week in Flagstaff making the tables for my parents and working for Phil, he went back the next week to keep working for Phil and make the hope chests. Phil could use the part time help and Brad can use the cash and then after hours he can work on his own projects using all of Phil's cool tools!! It's a match made in heaven except for me left to deal with the 4 children on my own down here while Brad is up in Flag. Here is the first hope chest completed and given over to Pres. Hayes for presentation to the first YW to accomplish the goals. They have a mirror etched with the Mesa Temple which they put on the inside of the lid and Brad said it really looked fantastic.
President Hayes said he wished Brad would have stayed for the presentation so he could have seen the girls reaction. It was priceless. Everyone was thrilled and now Brad only has to finish 6 more before Seminary Graduation on May 17. Brad is on his way back to Flag to keep working for Phil and finish the hope chests. We are going on week 4 of this arrangement and I will be glad when Brad isn't a weekend daddy although we are grateful that Phil was able to give him some part time work! Thanks Phil.

Teacher Appreciation

We have had some great teachers this year and I just learned how to Mod Podge big letters so I decided to do a letter for all of the kids teachers to show them how much we appreciate all they have done for us this year. I think they turned out great for my 1st, 2nd and 3rd try at this new craft. It was Mrs. Szaszfai's birthday on Friday so we took them to school then even though Teacher Appreciation week isn't until next week.

I almost forgot to get pictures of them before we took them in to the teachers so sorry for the parking lot photography! The teachers loved them and I loved the tag on the letters it reads:

Little Grass Hut

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?' Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.

The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

(I think my Hut is burning, just waiting on the miracle!)

Dry Cheeky

My sweet handsome prince sometimes wakes up in the mornings or from a nap with really super red dry cheeks. It is mostly only on his left cheek but can be on both, although the left is always worse. Sometimes the red dry patches make their way all over his body and it looks almost like chicken pox but bigger patches. The Dr. has told us it is excema and we need to put cortisone on it to keep him from scratching it and making it worse and keep lotion on it at all times. He has scratched it before until it bled and left terrible claw marks all down his cheek! So we have cortisone all over the house, in all the bathrooms, our room, the boys room, in my purse, the diaper bag, wherever because you never know when he is going to flare up.

Sometimes Lewy takes it upon himself to apply the ointment himself. He has skills!!! He can use a whole tube in one sitting. Once he even used a whole tube of A&D ointment he found on his changing table, yeah, that stuff comes out of clothes and carpet real easy!!! So if he is over at your house, lock up your lotions and potions and beware of long periods of silence.

Stolen Bikes

We have had 2 bikes stolen from our garage. It's a sad day. Brad noticed Helen's bike was missing last week and we have been searching for it and have our neighbors on the look out for it. She is so upset. We can't figure out when it was taken out of our garage.

Then on Friday, Brad was getting ready for the Daddy Daughter Camp out and was going to take his and Mary's bikes and let the girls share when he noticed his bike was missing too! His was hanging on the wall and I guess we just didn't notice it was gone when we noticed Helen's was gone. The thing is, we never leave our garage up unless we are home and going in and out. I am really vigilant about it not being up when I am home alone with the kids and they come in through the garage after school but immediately close it behind them. I just can't figure out when someone could have grabbed the bikes. Helen's was down on the ground but they had to wade through some bags of dirt and fertilizer and Brad's golf clubs and other debris to get to Brad's bike on the wall. And Mary's bike which is exactly the same as Helen's only yellow not silver wasn't touched and neither was my bike and Griffin's bike. It's a mystery!

Brad is especially bummed because his bike was from when we first got married and were rich and he could afford a $2,000 bike. Now we are kid poor and if we had $2,000 we would get the girls braces not Brad a bike. So, it is a day of mourning at our house but we will live see another day and hopefully be able to replace Helen's bike when Brad gets a job! Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Nerd Day

It's nerd day, I didn't have any white shoes with black socks for the girls like when they were in kindergarten but I think I did ok. Griffin, well, boys are a little harder for me to nerd up. I think we look nerdy enough to pass!

Notice anything different about Griffin? He is "Almost Bald" so he won't get so hot walking home from school. He He He

Crazy Hair Day

It's spirit week at school and day 1 was Crazy Hair Day. I got the idea's for the girl's hair here and boy were they excited to try them out. I think they turned out pretty good and trying to stick Griffin's hair up made me realize how much he needs a haircut! Enjoy the crazyness!