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.