I'm losing it

OK, so have any of you been really really bored because your kids have been sick for over a week, and you're getting weird from being housebound with no social interraction, and thought to yourself, "Gee, I really wish my Finnish grandparents could teach me how to disco dance"? Yes?

Well, this is your lucky day!

Oh Fudge.

According to German superstition, if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says, spring will come early.

Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous groundhog, indeed saw his shadow Monday morning, predicting that this already long winter will last for six more weeks. The annual ritual takes place on Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney, a borough of about 6,100 residents some 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Cursed.

The Year of the Ox

Happy Chinese New Year guys! I am a 1975 'year of the rabbit' who feels very optomistic about this new year.

So, here's a fun little craft I did after church today for the awesome ladies Jessica and I visit teach. I mixed a few ideas I found on Martha and Lorie's blog. Lorie, btw, has the most informative fun blog, with easy craft and recipe ideas.... I highly recommend it. http://bedifferentactnormal.blogspot.com/

Using the Chinese takeout template found on Lorie's blog, I made three little containers with red ribbon handles and a Chinese zodiac symbol on the front that was downloaded from the Internet. Easy.






Next, using the "felt fortune cookie" pattern found on Martha's blog, I made fabric fortune cookies. Unfortunately, I didn't have felt, so I used some cute Chinese patterned fabric, and double sided fusible webbing. It worked just fine. Each fabric fortune cookie was stuffed with a quote from the January VT message and a yummy chocolate Ferraro Rocher and voila! Perfect for tomorrow.

Isn't Scott a fabulous hand model?

Date Night

I felt inspired after reading this post: http://tylernewz.blogspot.com/2009/01/good-mom-fail.html written by Rachel, to make some changes.

Like many of you, I have more than the average 2.5 children and have a hard time making sure they each get enough one on one. Do I feel guilty sometimes.... absolutely. Should I work harder at making myself available.... yes.

Well, last night was one of those perfect nights when, through no planning of my own, 3 of the kids and Scott had somewhere fun to go all night. So, Sophia and I were left to bond! We decided to have a ladies night out and went into the "city" to see a movie. First we bought some junk food to sneak into the theatre.... raisonettes, Poki sticks, capri suns and dried mango pieces. I know, weird. (and no, Candice, I didn't eat any of the mangoes and break out in the dreaded beard and mustache hives). I was tempted though.

"Bedtime Stories" was so funny! Sophie kept laughing and saying, "This is a super blast!!!"

We ended the night with some mediocre sushi and fell asleep together in the big bed. It was heaven.

Gift Idea

If I can get my ducks in a row, I'm going to make these for my kids for Valentine's Day with a bag of chocolates inside. Of course, a little more masculine for the boys... I don't know, maybe black and grey felt with bloody skulls or something equally as cute.

This is one of the many delightful felt crafts Martha has on her website. It looks pretty easy and felt is so fun to work with. No finishing the edges! Plus, the seams are on the outside, so if your kids are particular about that, these won't have any bumps to bother their toes!

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/felt-slippers?backto=true

TIP: Run a few lines of hot glue on the bottom to make them less slippery.

Happy Sewing!!!

Thankful Thursday

I'll try to keep this short and sweet:

I am thankful for nostril raspberries. My little Sophia puts her nose to my cheek and blows air. The toot noise cracks her up and while it's a dangerous little game, the belly laugh is worth it. BUT- Once anything comes out, I'm putting the kibosh on it.

I'm thankful for Relief Society. I love the examples the sisters set for me and the opportunity I have to serve them. We've been talking about unity for the last month on and off, and I've never seen a greater example than our ward. It's awesome.

I'm thankful for the best mortgage broker in the world. We're refinancing and got locked in at a 4.875. Oh yeah! Marty is honest and a great guy all around. He's located in Lexington, KY but licensed in other states as well, including Tennessee and Florida. http://www.mymortgagepro.net/index.html

I'm also thankful for naps.

Not so Wordless Wednesday

I found this picture in my Kodak gallery and had to post it. Why?... look at it! Silly little kids. They're all making faces except for Sophia. That was her face for the first 3 years of her life. She was a "frustrated" baby.

2004

Jealous of the Rhyme and the Rhyme Routine

Rev Lowery's Inauguration Prayer

“When brown can stick around”“When yellow can be mellow”“When the red man can be the head man”"And when white will embrace what is right"

I guess I could be more mellow.

Should I be offended by this, or continue to giggle because I think he ran out of rhymes? In his defense, "yellow" is a very hard word to rhyme with. (fellow, jello, Othello ) That's it.

This is very "Meet the Parents"! Do you remember Ben Stiller/Greg Focker's Prayer"? He doesn't know what to say so he launches into a tortured prayer that segues, to his own horror, into lyrics from "Godspell,"

"We thank You for the smörgåsbord You have so aptly laid at our table this day, and each day, by day, day by day, by day, three things we pray, to love Thee more dearly, to see Thee more clearly, to follow Thee more nearly, day, by day, by day. Amen. "

(disclaimer- The above mentioned edited version comes on tv all the time)

My Day in History

For the sake of my posterity, I couldn't let this day go by without recording what I was doing on this, historic inauguration day.

MORNING: Let's see, I woke up and went to the bathroom, washed and brushed. Then I made a lovely breakfast of cider, hash browns, eggs and toast. The kids enjoyed every bite, except for Spencer. He told me he doesn't like hash browns and reminded me that he'd already told me that. We said our family prayer (check the New Years Resolution box #1) and we said farewell to Oliver as he ran out the door with no regrets. Then it took forever for Spencer and Grace to do whatever it is they do upstairs... make beds, wash faces, meditate, chant, pick their noses, whatever. Grace unloaded the dishwasher while Spencer had the mother of all fits about wearing his "dorky coat" to school. I reminded him that he left his "cool coat" at school on Thursday and only had himself to blame. This went back and forth for about 10 minutes until I sent him over the edge by demanding he wear his hat as well.

AFTERNOON: I made a spreadsheet for the illegal co-op I belong to and bandaged Scott's shoulder. (He had outpatient surgery yesterday and had a huge tumor cut out) Then I left to kidnap Jackie Lindsey, drop off the spreadsheet and pick up our (shhh). After dropping off our (shhh) we went to pick up my sewing machine... come to mama baby. We window shopped at Joanne Fabrics Superstore and after driving all over the place came home. Scott took Sophie and I out to lunch (I had 1/2 a fried green tomato sandwich, yum) and now we're back.

Who knows what tonight holds for me and my family, but I do know, because it's inauguration day, I'll remember this for the rest of my life. While I don't support the republican or democratic parties, I do like happy...I'm glad some people are pleased that Obama's president, and I'm bummed that others are so very sad. I'm glad that I only ate half of my fried green tomato sandwich, but I'm bummed that I ate too much of my chocolate cobbler and ice cream. I'm glad that I just got my Martha in the mail, but bummed that my Cottage Living has gone out of business. In life there's the yin and the yang, but one thing's for sure.... I won't lose weight by closing my eyes and wishing really hard. I'm bummed about that the most.

Happy historic Inauguration Day?

Felt Fortune Cookies

I found this adorable felt Valentine craft on Martha's website and am smitten. All you need is felt, ribbon, craft glue, floral wire and whatever you want to fill them with. I'm totally doing this for class parties and Visiting Teaching next month! Oh yeah.

There is no sewing involved, so if you can cut and glue, you're golden. Here's the link with instructions:

http://www.marthastewart.com/goodthings/felt-fortune-cookie?backto=true

ps. A lady commented she used craft sheet foam instead of felt and they turned out even better.

ABC, Easy as 1,2,3....

I recently received a Pottery Barn Kids mailer and saw this very cute lamp with rosettes. I think it cost about a zillion dollars.

Years ago I made almost the exact same lamp and shade for around 10 bucks, so I'd like to share this very easy project with you, my fellow bloggers... and Martha if she's checking.

SUPPLIES:

lamp and shade

fake flowers (dollar tree)

hot glue gun

acrylic paint and brush

1.Find an old ugly lamp in your attic or purchase one at a cheap store, ie. Goodwill, flea market, thrift store... or Walmart "dry heave".

2.Paint the base white, or whatever color you want with simple acrylic paint. Let dry.

3.Then cut the stems off the fake flowers and attach the blooms, base down all over the shade with a hot glue gun. (Be careful not to burn yourselves.)

4. Replace the shade and plug it in!

5. Stand back, admire, and throw the dollars you saved into the air, while laughing and spinning hysterically.

Word To Your Mother

I HAVE to get this printed on a t-shirt. What do you think?

(thanks Mindi!)

http://wordtoyourmother-mindi.blogspot.com/

Thankful Thursday

It's been a great morning.

First of all, coming down from my high yesterday, when I had good friends over on and off, I figured today would be a bit of a let down.... but oh no!

Yesterday my girlfriend Cathy showed me a lovely book of patterns her mother-in-law gave her for Christmas. It's an Amy Butler binder with 25 different projects and they all looked pretty simple but delightfully fun. So, I thought, "Hmmm, that's something else I need to save up for!", right?

Skip to this morning: Well, couple of months ago Scott found in the deep dark recesses of his office, an old $50 Barnes & Noble gift card he received as a rep in Kentucky like 4 years ago. We thought it was surely expired, but when I tentatively tried to use it this morning online, it totally worked!! I was able to get not just one, but two Amy Butler pattern books for $49.10. Yippee!!!!

I am thankful for free stuff?

Why doesn't Martha have pattern books yet? I'll ask her next time we play Scrabble.

New Year's Resolutions

In church yesterday, one of our lovely young women spoke about goals. She quoted her mother, "Goals not written are only wishes" and it struck a cord with me. I've been thinking about my 2009 resolutions since the first, but hadn't written them down yet. -Partly because I didn't make it a priority and mostly because making them a priority would mean having to start working on them. BUT, we had our FHE (Family Home Evening) after church and we all, even Sophia, made a few goals to post where we could see them. Family goals were made as well.

So, I'm hoping that posting here, where the whole world (my 5 blogging friends) will see them, will provide some extra motivation...

1. Read the RS lesson ahead of time.... not during Sunday School.

2. Lose 10 lbs and keep it off this year.

3. Daily personal scripture study, even just one verse.

4. Learn Korean for reals.

5. Get better at making clothes.

6. Get the kids to the library every 2 weeks.

7. Attend the temple once a quarter. (I know I'm lame!)

8. Finally make some more visuals for Nursery singing time.

9. Write in my journal aka blog, more regularly.

I'm officially starting tomorrow.... oh wait, I'm busy tomorrow, Wed then.

Do you want to share some of yours?

A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day.

By the time the kids were on the bus, with their little bellies full of pancakes, things were on the upswing. I was able to clean, pick up milk, drop off milk, do calisthenics, shower, arrange an afternoon play date, eat three healthy meals(kosher dogs), feed four healthy kids, pick up kids at school, see the orthodontist, drop off broken sewing machine, shop at Costco and visit the library+ have kids in bed at a reasonable hour.... except Oliver. AND I only said, "Stop screaming or I'm going to freak out" like 4 times. Magic.

Cuckoo

Man Wants Kidney Back in Divorce

"Dr. Richard Batista acknowledges that the kidney for transplant was a gift made willingly to his wife. But, in light of her allegedly beginning an affair 2 years after the kidney transplant and ultimately filing for divorce, the man wants the kidney back. In a CBS News interview, 49 year old Batista portrayed himself as a devastated husband and father of 3 seeking justice after being mistreated by his wife.

Theatrics and divorce manipulations aside, perhaps the man who wants a kidney back could use a refresher on the constituents of the Hippocratic Oath which would preclude his fellow surgeons from removing his wife's kidney to return it to him. In its traditional form, the oath requires a doctor to refrain from doing any harm to patients.Medical ethicists agree with legal experts on this one.

It is illegal for a human organ to be exchanged for anything of value. The man who wants a kidney back and who has gone on national television to state his case might be expected to know this, given that he is a member of the medical profession."

Hooray for DOLLYWOOD!

Yippee, we're allowed to jump on the hotel beds! We love vacation!!!

Is that little Sophia and Grace way up there?

We surprised the kids with a "spontaneous" mini vacation to Dollywood. It was so much fun, I highly recommend this theme park to anyone east of the Mississippi! It's a manageable size park and has a nice mixture of shows, rides and you sure do learn a lot about mountain livin'. ie, how to make yer own candles and metalworks.

The Dolly Express. FYI, if you do visit Dollywood and ride the train through the foothills of the smokies, DON'T ride in the car directly behind the engine. I'm just saying. http://dollywood.com/

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Christmas came and went without much fuss. The kids did as they were told and did not come down a minute before 7:30! Sophia found the Christmas pickle and then we opened presents. It was a very relaxing day together at home. My parents and sister's family were over for a couple hours and the kids pretty much played Wii for the rest of the day. Heavenly Father has blessed us with a very good year and we are grateful for all that we have and enjoy!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve = messy kitchen! Is that Spencer cleaning the floor?

Uploading tunes with Dad

The weather outside is frightful! How many coats does it take to stay warm in Tennessee???

Our first year of outdoor Christmas lights in our new house! So pretty.

Sophia and Grace had a blast decorating sugar cookies, all by themselves. Scott was so proud.... that I didn't micromanage the whole scene! Line upon line.

Oh Clara!

Our lovely Grace was given the opportunity to play the part of Clara in our local school of ballet's Christmas presentation of the Nutcracker. She did a beautiful job and thoroughly enjoyed learning and spending time with the other ballerinas! Chelsea is the BEST ballet teacher and friend. Grace will never forget her experience!!!