No excuse

I really have no excuse. Not even gonna try to make one up. I guess it's just life....(Life: the thing that everyone can handle, but me).

I'll try and do better. Really, I will.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.....

Veronica hasn't been blogging much as of late because.......



(I really don't have a good excuse reason. Could you just make something up for me? I can't wait to read what you come up with!)

You Finish It

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but....."

You Finish It

"Good fences make...."

You finish It

"Hell hath no fury like....."

You Finish It

When I was in elementary school I read a book full of popular cliches, only they had different/crazy endings.
For example: "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" ended up being "People in glass houses shouldn't.....undress."

I wish I could remember the name of the book, but it's been twenty three years a LONG time. So I've decided to throw a cliche or saying out into the blogging world every friday and let you finish them.

Let's start with:

"He who lives by the sword......."

Leave your ending in the comments.

P.S. I need a laugh. So, if you make me laugh out loud, I might just send you a prize!

I Might Be A Redneck

I'll admit it. I love the rodeo. What's not to love?


The sights,sounds(smells)and pretty much the overall feeling there is such a vivid memory from my childhood. I love watching the skydivers jump into the stadium. I always get chills when the last guy comes in with the huge American Flag.
When I was really little my Dad was one of those skydivers. Then in later years, he was the pilot of the plane that dropped the "jumpers". I remember going up in the plane with him one year. They took the back door off the plane to make the exit easier. We circled around then dropped the jumpers. Once they were safely on the ground we would swoop down and fly REALLY low over the stadium and tip the wing to say hello. (My Dad made me bring an empty wonder bread bag with me just in case. But I never threw up.)

The rodeo was always a "family thing" for us. I don't think we ever went to the rodeo without salt-water taffy and coke. And although we weren't drinkers, in my mind I can still hear the guy yelling "Ice, cold beer!" as he climbed the bleachers.

This year my parents invited us all (13 adults and 16 kids) to relive the good ol' days and join them at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo. Not everyone took them up on it. Only the smart ones. And It.was.awesome. The stadium is surrounded by huge trees and you can see the mountains in the not-so-distant distance. It was so much fun to share my childhood memories with my own kids. They had a great time. We cheered and hollered for the riders. We laughed like crazy people at the rodeo clown. And we ate things we probably shouldn't have...like licorice and popcorn and candy and navajo tacos. Oh, and there was also cotton candy. Lots of cotton candy.
Who doesn't love cotton candy?

(Sadly, I forgot to bring the salt water taffy. I guess I'll just have to go again!)

"Charmed, I'm sure."

Remember these charm necklaces? I do. They were all the rage back in the early 80's. You would buy the plastic chain and then buy the individual charms. I vividly remember the "baby bottle", "tennis racket" and "whistle" charms. At my elementary school the teacher finally had to ban the kids from wearing them because they became a disctraction during class.(photo courtesy of Flickr)

Now that we're all grown up, plastic just ain't gonna cut it. We had to find a way more expensive more suitable substitute.
There are so many cute charms available, but they can get pretty expensive.

How about you? Have you seen these charm necklaces around town? Is this a bandwagon you could jump on? Have you already jumped? What's your favorite place to find charms? Do tell....

Love

Seventeen years ago today....I realized that I love you.

Don't Cry for Me Argentina

Last week we had a "Girl's Night" at my parents house. My sister served a mission in Argentina and she and her former mission companion (now honorary sister) agreed to cook us dinner. Argentine Style! (Here we have: sister #3, sister #4, sister #1, me, "missionary" sister #5, "missionary companion"/honorary sister #6, Mom. FYI: I didn't number them to choose favorites, it's by birth-order. I love you all equally!)

We had some YUMMY stuff! Empanadas with beef, hard boiled egg and onion inside. (these were my favorite!)
They even let us help (a little).

Here's what was on the menu: Empanadas, Milanese de Pollo (Chicken Milanesa), Tortilla de papa (like a frittata with swiss chard), Ensalada Rusa (Russian Salad *huh?* apparently very popular in Argentina) and for dessert.....
Bizcochuelo. This is a sponge cake that was topped with Dulce de Leche. Creamy caramelized goodness!

Thanks Sis! Let's do it again!

Happy 4th!

The Wall

My husband and sons spent 2 days building a wall.
It.was.huge.
It's for an activity at "Zion's Camp" (a church camp for 16-18yr old boys).
They say it's supposed to teach team work.
You see, there's no physical way to get up the front of the wall without help.

It also helps if you are a monkey.

And you have to freak your mom out by doing tricks once you get to the top.

Did I mention it is HUGE?

Now could you get the blasted thing out of my front yard before one of the neighbor kids climbs up there and falls off? (I have homeowners insurance, but it's not THAT good.)

Heavy Breathing

One morning last week I awoke to the sound of heavy breathing. My husband had already left for work, and I didn't have my glasses on. (I'm pretty much blind without corrective lenses.) I wasn't worried because every night my two littlest ask if they can sleep in my room. And every night I say no. Nearly every morning I wake up and find that during the night one (or both) of them have made their way quietly into my room and set up camp in the lazy boy.


So I took a picture and crawled back into bed.

Take a look...

This is my new nephew.

Can't you just smell that heavenly new baby smell?

This is what I'm doing right now

Yes, I'm bleaching my teeth. It was free with my "new patient exam and xrays". Of course I had to let them fill all my cavities first. So twelve fillings and a wad of cash later (not too bad thanks to insurance) here I am.

It kinda burns. Is it supposed to burn?

What if....

What if you took your kids to Maverick for an Icee?
What if you secured the plastic domed lids to the cups and very carefully dispensed the Wild Cherry (even though they whined for the Coke flavor)?
What if you placed the long red straw into the hole in the top and handed it to the four year old with a warning: "Don't spill it!"
What if he didn't spill it?
What if, instead, he promptly BLEW INTO THE STRAW AS HARD AS HE COULD!!! Then looked up at you with that "What-the-heck-just-happened" look on his face as Wild Cherry slush dripped off his face, his shirt, and his hands?

What would you do?

Getting Creative (or maybe it's just O.C.D.)

My niece called me today to ask me a question about the digital scrapbook program that we both have. It got me thinking. I like to organize things. I like things to be neat and tidy. You might call me a "container-aholic".
I also like to control things. (But that's a conversation for me and some poor therapist down the road, because I live in a house with 6 other people and there are very few things that I can control.)
I work on the computer. Alot. I'm a little obsessive about my computer files and the way they are organized, but I'd never really thought about my desktop. Have you? What does yours look like? Is it a favorite photo? A pre-fab that came with your PC? A blank blue screen?
Tonight after talking with my niece, I was inspired to get creative and find a way to wrangle in and organize all those pesky icons on my desktop.

Here's what I came up with:

Note to self:

Favorite white shorts
+
2 small children
+
Lagoon Amusement Park
=
NOT a good combo!

V is for....

Vanessa! (...and Veronica too.)

Last weekend I was able to visit with the lovely and talented Vanessa! We were both headed to Plain City for various events and it was too much of a coincidence to let it slip by! She came all this way for her daughters dance competition and my son had baseball games less than 2 blocks from there. (My 6 year old took this picture of us!)
Next time Vanessa is up this way, we are going to meet up with another Vennesa (my sister) and we are SO going to the Burger Bar!

Which was featured on this show:

Burger, fries, shakes and their original fry sauce....ooooh and a lime ricky!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful:

For good friends who call to say hello, just because they were thinking about you.

That I get to work with awesome people.

That my husband still has a job and that even though we have to totally re-do our benefits, that we still have them.

For 70-80 weather. Ahhhhhhh! It's heaven! (Enjoy it while it lasts.)

For a husband who tries, though he's not always successful, to understand and even decipher my many moods.

For a preschool teacher who wrestled 48 kids at pre-school graduation last night and came out a hero! (Half-way through the wiggly, wriggly, whiney program, she reminded us that she usually only has to do this with 12 of them at a time! She's a saint...you still couldn't pay me enough!)

For the power of prayer.

For the healing powers (whether real or imagined) of homemade chicken noodle soup & hearty homemade wheat bread.

Cool Rider

She who succeeds in gaining the master of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life. -Frances E. Willard

Saturday Tiburon rode in the Cycle Salt Lake, Century 2009. Their stopping point for lunch was in the neighborhood, so I dropped in to say hello!


"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew--and live through it."--Doug Bradbury

Tiburon and her cycling partner Chad, arrived after a 36 mile journey and they didn't even look winded! We chatted while they ate lunch.


And then they were off to finish their 72 mile ride.

In June Tib will be headed to California for a JDRF 100 Mile fundraising ride. Go here if you'd like to support her.

And in the immortal words of Mark Twain:
"Get a bicycle. You will certainly not regret it, if you live."

Kindle

I think I need this!
Anyone out there already have one? Is it really worth the $359/$489 pricetag? Please contribute to my Kindle fund tell me what you know about them.

Friends in Real Life!

We had a busy weekend of baseball games. We won some and lost some. We saw a few clouds and a lot of sun. Who knew Pocatello Idaho could be so nice in the spring.
One of the highlights of the WHOLE trip was getting the chance to meet one of my blogging buddies, Angie from Leaping Through Life! We discovered that we have a lot in common after reading each others blogs for several months. Back in March I posted pictures of a baseball game we played in St. George. Turns out we were playing her sons team! I wrote about a 14 yr old with a beard and she KNOWS him! (Says he's a really great kid!)
The fact that we were at the very same ball park and didn't get to meet was just crazy and we weren't about to let it happen again!
We texted back and forth all weekend. Then her son's team made it to the championships so after our games we stopped by to say hello. It was SO fun to meet her! (I am a little jealous that she can look so good after spending two full days at the ball park. But I won't hold it against her.) She is funny and witty and awesome! She also has some mad photog skills. Check out her photos here. This is why I LOVE blogging. I have made (and met) so many wonderful women that I would have never had the chance to know! I would definitely count blogging as a blessing in my life.

Happy Mother's Day!

I won! I won!

Back in April I entered a drawing at Light Refreshments Served. They were having Beauty Week where Lisa was posting all kinds of great tips from Michelle at Cultures Salon. I really enjoyed learning all the tricks and tips from Michelle. At the end of the week they chose 6 winners and I was one of them!!! Here's what I won:
Série Expert Shampoo & Conditioner.
Not only did they email me to find out where to send my prize, but she asked me all sorts of questions about my hair so they would be sure to give me the correct formula! Talk about service!
Over the course of our emails we discovered that I live fairly close to where they are located, so Michelle invited me to come to the Salon for a complimentary Deep Conditioning Treatment and while I was there I could pick up my prize. I scheduled an appointment and last week I got the Royal Treatment from Michelle. She is wonderful! She deep conditioned my hair, washed and styled it and somewhere in there she did an extra conditioner that I didn't understand, but when she was done I had silky soft hair! I have to admit that my very favorite part was the scalp massage that she does while she washes your hair. I tried really hard not to drool on myself while I sat in her chair (I think that's another reason they put the nice black cape over your clothing).
All in all it was a wonderful, relaxing start to what would have otherwise been just another day. So, thanks Michelle! I really enjoyed my visit! And thanks Lisa, and the folks at Light Refreshments Served for having such awesome giveaways!
If you want to visit Michelle at Cultures you can click here. They offer a wide variety of Salon and Spa services in a peaceful, relaxing environement. I'd say it's worth stopping by just for the head massage!

The View

You probably thought I was going to talk about that smutty, gossipy, everyone-talks-at-once daytime talk show. Nope.

This is the view from my back window. I love it.

Jungle Gym

Is it any wonder that this kid has so many bumps and bruises?

I'm Running Away

I'm taking off.
It was either this or the Funny Farm.

I'll see you when I get back.

I'm still here. But my sanity is not.

I've had several nice comments and emails from friends in the blogosphere (and in real life) asking if I have fallen off the face of the earth.
Not really, but if I don't find my way through this mountain of work you may have to form a search party.
Did someone say Party? That sounds like fun. But there's no time to party because it's the end of the month.

I'm a WAHM (Work at home Mom). Last year I started a small business doing various computer related tasks for other small businesses. I've always looked for something that I could do from home so I am still available to my children. This job/company just sort of "happened". But I am so grateful. I love what I do. I love helping people. I love setting my own schedule. And I love working because it keeps my brain from turning to mush.

That being said, the end of each month never fails to bog me down. There are many tasks and responsibilities that just HAVE to be done at the end of the month and there aren't enough hours in the day (or night, for that matter!).

Something has to give. Unfortunately it usually ends up being my blog. So if you don't see me around, just check your calendar. If the month is coming to a close then I am probably holed up in my office working like a mad woman!
But, rest assured that I am still reading YOUR blog. You make me laugh. You help me relax. You give my tired brain something different to think about.

So thank you for your comments and thank you for missing me!
I assure you, I am still here. I'm afraid that somewhere along the way my sanity seems to have disappeared. But don't worry. I'll be back at the beginning of next month. With or without my sanity!

Wet Paint!

We've lived in our home for just a little over 10 years. KJ built our home (and many of the homes around ours) and I love it! We went through hundreds of house plans before we finally found our dream home. Then we redesigned several areas of that plan to fit our specific needs. We love our neighborhood and the surrounding areas and are very happy here.
But after 10 years and with 5 kids it was in desperate need of a paint job! So KJ busted out the spackle and went to work.


I'm really happy that he's painting. I'm NOT so happy that he used our bed sheet for a drop cloth.

We have several areas to paint (family room, hallway, kitchen...and whatever else strikes my fancy), so I'll keep you posted!