Monday

We had a nice 3 day weekend. The kids had no school Friday and Aaron took the day off. It was cloudy on Saturday, perfect weather to take some pictures outside. The kids and I headed to Freestone Park in Gilbert. We made a deal that if they let me take some pictures, I would let them play at the park and take them to Sonic for a drink afterwards. They were patient with me:)

Braden made his 1st shot of the season at his basketball game on Saturday. He got the rebound, dribbled down and made a jump shot from the corner. A kid stole the ball from him early in the game so that fired him up.

We had 4 kids move from our ward this week. We have a fairly small ward (25 or so) so when we lose people, it's always hard. 2 of Paige's girl friends moved and now she's the only one in her Primary class. Speaking of Primary, I held a Primary Board meeting at my house last night. I prepared a teaching workshop and the only people that showed up were my counselors :( It's discouraging at times...

Anyway, enjoy some pictures and have a good Monday

weekend

These pictures sum up our weekend...Braden's basketball game, enjoying each other and the awesome weather before the heat sets in.

Wednesday

This is what Paige said last night as we were watching DWTS, "Mom, we need to get matching t-shirts that have Luke Skywalker and Cheryl on them and they say 'We love dancing with the stars and these are our favorite dancers." Cheryl Burke is her favorite girl dancer and as I mentioned before, she thinks Derek Hough looks like Luke Skywalker. She's funny, our little Paigey...
Here's a few pictures from Braden's 1st Pinewood Derby. His car won the ribbon for the most colorful and I would have to agree with that. He's enjoying Scouts and playing Basketball this spring. The pictures I took of his game on Sat. didn't turn out :( so I'll try again this week.Between ear infections, colds and teething, Heston has had a hard time the last couple of months. He was only saying a few words, very needy and unhappy. He's finally healthy and a much happier kid. He's talking more and his attention span has improved. He loves his cars and trucks...nothing makes me happier than stepping on a Matchbox car in my barefeet :) He hops in his wagon and Paige will pull him around, he's spoiled I tell ya.

Enjoy your day!

soap box Friday

Dancing with the Stars this week...what did you think? Steve Gutenberg was eliminated this week. I was cracking up watching his partner Anna. Was it just me or did she look like she was being tortured every time he opened his mouth? Speaking of opening their mouths, this is really starting to get on my nerves. Between DWTS and American Idol, I really wish these people would take the constructive criticism and walk off the stage. I catch myself shouting at the TV while I'm watching, "The judges aren't voting for you, the public is. We vote for your singing (or dancing), not how well you argue with the judges." Between holding up their fingers with numbers (yes we know which number to call, it's right underneath you) and talking far too much...it drives me crazy. I'll step off my soapbox and keep watching :)

Kristy Yamaguchi and Mark are so dang good, no one can touch them. It's almost boring because they are that good. I've said it before but I have to say it again, Julianne and Derek are the best choreographers on that show, hands down. Being a great dancer is one thing but being a good choreographer is another. They work with their partners strengths and are always creative.

We are staying busy with spring activities, school stuff and enjoying this nice spring weather before the heat sets in. 'The calm before the storm' I always say...

Conference activity

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1920&Itemid=405

Just wanted to share a cute little General Conference activity packet that you can put together for your kids and they can complete while watching Conference. This website, Sugardoodle. net, has been a lifesaver to me in my calling and for FHE.

Enjoy!

our weekend

We had a fun Easter weekend. Aaron hasn't had to travel in a month, it has been so nice to have him home!

Our neighbors Martel and Ardie Adams put on a neighborhood BBQ and Rodeo every year at their house. They have a corral and a huge backyard right in the middle of Chandler, it's really cool. The kids look forward to it every year.

Paige wore her favorite purple horse shirt and her new hat. I swear she would wear that shirt everyday if I let her...

Last night

Last night, the girls performed on DWTS. All I can say is that I really want a girl to win this year. They did really well last night. Here's my 2 cents:

Pricilla Presley- I was not expecting too much from her but she was elegant and did a great job.
Marlee- she was so inspirational...great job!
Shannon- She's good. Lucky for her, she has Derek for a partner. I'm telling you...he and Julianne can choreograph like no one else on that show.
Marissa- The Broadway Hairspray girl- she was happy and having so much fun.
Monica- Poor Monica. That girl can play some serious tennis but bless her heart, she can't dance. I feel bad, maybe she can get better...

My pick for this year is...

Kristy Yamguchi. And since Sabrina and Mark got shafted last year, I would like to see him win, too.That's all for now!

Paige has a crush on Derek Hough. She says he looks like Luke Skywalker...I always had a thing for Han Solo but that's just me :)

DWTS is back

The guys danced last night and the girls dance tonight. Here are my thoughts:

Jason Taylor- He's my favorite of the guys. I was surprised at how well he did. Mario did well too.
Adam Corolla might be the dark horse this year. He's got a fan base and he's got Julianne as his partner. Penn Jilette was fun to watch. He's not the best dancer but he was having fun and not taking himself too seriously, I liked that.

The girls are on tonight. I can't wait to see how Kristy Yamaguchi and Monica Seles dance. They both have a competitive drive and most likely an awesome work ethic...it'll be interesting! I'm kind of hoping a girl wins this year!

buried treasure

Our old computer was having some problems. I thought some of my earliest digital pictures were long gone. Last week, I fired the old thing up just to make sure and guess what?!

I found my pictures!

It was really like finding a buried treasure. Pictures that I had completely forgotten about are now found. I also found some priceless pictures I took of the kids with my Grandpa and some from his 80th birthday...it made my week!

So I thought I would share a couple. I know I've said this before but dang! Paige and Heston look so much alike!

I can't leave little Heston out, here's a picture I took this week of him. He's almost 19 months old and in Nursery now.

some Easter humor

1984 flashback

I just realized that I haven't blogged about Project Runway in a while. Are you still watching?! I'm so happy that Rami and Jillian are in the finals. I'm sad that this show is ending but we'll have Dancing with the Stars back.

I went into Braden's classroom to get some homework and Miss Bledsoe handed me this book. I said out loud, "Oh my gosh, I'm having a serious flashback!" Does anyone else when you see this?

I am such a nerd to take a picture of this but I thought it might be fun to take a trip down memory lane.

my dollar store find

I made this little book for Allison, she was one of my Achievement day girls and she's babysitting the kids tonight. I called her yesterday ( short notice) and not only did she say yes but she said, "I'd love to." How adorable is that?! She's a sweetheart.

I got this little 6x6 album at the dollar store last summer. I just used some paper from my stash, stamped a few of the pages so she could journal, tied on some ribbon and that's it! I used my Cricut (Base Camp) to cut out her name. The little dot on the "i" I've had in my stash for a while, it worked out great.

Just wanted to share this with you in case you're looking for a gift idea or want to make one for yourself. I'm always on the lookout for fun, easy and fast projects. I've been on a crafty roll the past 2 days...Aaron's home from China so he can help with the kids. yeah!

layout for today

Just wanted to share a layout I did today. It's nice to sit down (even for just 10 minutes) and do something creative. Enjoy your weekend!

Grandpa

My Grandpa passed away on February 16th. He was 84 and he was having heart problems for the past few years. He died very peacefully at home. Grandma asked Braden to speak at the funeral and he did a great job...Pa would have loved it!
He was a great man and I'm going to miss him.
http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?article-Robert-Gray%20=&page_label=news_obituaries&id=19848-Robert-Gray&widget=push&instance=1st_left&open=&

Valentine's Day projects

Hi there-
Just wanted to share a little accordian album I put together for Valentine's day. I'm going to include the little notes and Valentine's from the kids on the back. Just a fun little happy project...

Last week for Family Home Evening, we put together some "Love Sacks" for each person in our family. We've been writing notes and kind things this week to each other and putting them in each other's sacks. A simple thing that I think will become a new Valentine tradition for us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love you Aaron :)

Friday

I haven't added pictures of us to the ol'blog lately, thought I would do that today. Braden is at the stage where he
tries to be cool and makes a face in every picture. He takes his role as the big brother seriously, he's a huge help to me. Little Heston is growing up fast. His new nickname is Bamm-Bamm. Instead of a club, it's a plastic lightsaber. He'll hand you a lightsaber, then he'll grab his and start making the sound effects. He doesn't say much but I'm sure he'll make up for it down the road. He still likes to cuddle with me, I love that.
Then there's our little Paigey, right there in the middle to shake things up. She gets as excited about doing crafts as I do. She comes up with some pretty cool ideas! Ok, mommy brag session is over.

I wish I could share some of this nice sunshine with you. This is the best I can do, enjoy your day!

President Hinckley

Like many of you, I'm going to miss this man. What a great example he was to so many people.

I bawled my eyes out the first time I saw this picture and it was the first image that came to my mind when I heard the news of his passing. He will be missed...

the blues

It's Thursday and time for a recap of last night's Project Runway! Who doesn't love denim?! I was so excited about this challenge I could hardly stand it. I was ready for them to create some cool pieces and they didn't disappoint.

Chris' dress was ok. I really like his personality. My favorite part of the show was when Christian was whining and he said, "Give him a bottle and send him to bed." So true...

Rami puts together some really classy pieces. I loved the detail of the zippers and the button detail on this dress. I really liked it. I know he was running out of time but it made me really sad to see him design this great dress and then use a hot glue gun to attach the buttons.

Victorya's dress didn't have the "wow" factor and therefore she was eliminated.

This dress is my favorite of the night. Sweet P has done it again. It was looking "hippy, dippy" as Tim Gunn called it and then she cut the dress short and it looks awesome! Great job!

Jillian has some good ideas and she's still my favorite but last night, she kind of bombed. I liked the idea of the little red tabs on the shoulder but it just didn't turn out. She did the coat last week and then again this week...I'm just glad she didn't get the boot. Next is Ricky's dress. Cute dress. I was starting to lose interest in Ricky but with this dress he has redeemed himself. Christian designed jeans and a jacket. He is such a diva but he's talented. You can't tell in the picture but these jeans that he designed were cool and original.

Happy Thursday!

FYI

The new season of Trading Spaces with Paige Davis will be on Saturday at 10 pm on TLC!

don't sweat it

Back in 1998, I picked up a book that continues to open my eyes and is one of my all-time favorites.

This little book is just full of good stuff and it reminds me that I need to take a deep breath and to not "sweat the small stuff".

This last week, I was thinking back to when Aaron was in graduate school and I was working full time at NuSkin and Braden was just a baby. We didn't do day care so Aaron and I juggled Braden back and forth between our schedules, we never saw each other...it was the toughest year of my life thus far. I would read this chapter to keep some perspective in my life. I just wanted to share it with you...maybe it will help you as much as it has helped me.

Be Happy Where You Are

Sadly, many of us continually postpone our happiness-indefinitely. It's not that we consciously set out to do so, but that we keep convincing ourselves, "Someday I'll be happy." We tell ourselves we'll be happy when our bills are paid, when we get out of school, get our first job, a promotion. We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough- we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. And on and on and on!

Meanwhile, life keeps moving forward. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than RIGHT NOW. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D'Souza. He said:

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness, Happiness is the way.