Maybe...

Maybe I don't need to be rich, famous, have fancy things and a huge house, or any of the stuff that most of us secretly wish for.

Maybe being me is okay.

Because it means I get to buy $1 watercolors from Walmart, fill some sparkly shaky cups up with water, and then I get to watch masterpieces being created right before my eyes.



I get to see the intense thought process that goes into creating a work of art.

Oh, those eyelashes.



I get to watch beauty creating beauty.



I see bystanders who appreciate art being created in front of them, even if they don't want to create themselves. They just want to snack and watch.



Maybe seeing the annoyance of an artist at having a camera in their face, maybe that's more entertaining than watching the latest TV show. It's certainly cuter.

Yes, definitely cuter. Even the "really... you're doing this now? I'm a little busy." look.

I get to appreciate the sheer amount of color that comes into your life when you have children. And I don't just mean the amazing variety of shades that Crayola has managed to come up with.

Maybe having a mess to clean up is okay, because of what and who created that mess.

Maybe I need to remember that more.

Yes, I definitely need to remember that more.

Teetering

Do you ever feel like you're teetering on the edge of something, unsure of whether to jump or not? The edge of greatness, edge of madness... the edge of something. That's where I feel like we are right now. Teetering. We're at the end of the school and joy school year, the end of ballet until August, the beginning of summer, the beginning of not having to do almost anything all week... I think that might be the scariest of all. Which is cuh-razy, since I love my sleep. Anyways...

I can't really say *why* exactly I'm feeling like this, it's probably just spring fever or the likes, but I still feel like it's time to take the leap.

I just need to figure out what that is.

I have a ton of things I want to do, or try to do, but the thought of starting to try them is giving me anxiety, because I'm kind of a chicken like that. For instance, I have a sewing machine, but the only thing I've made on it were tutus. Which turned out really cute, but if you think I've tried anything since them... no. Too chicken. I'd love to learn to make things, but I intimidate myself out of things so well.

So how do I get over these things? I probably just need to dive in head first and so on. But I am sooo not a good diver. Ugh. Sorry, I'm rambling all over the place.

And on another ramble.

We have been lucky lucky lucky enough to be getting a new Temple built that's two hours away. It's beautiful. Beeeautiful. They had an open house for it and my mum flew in so we got to go as a family and the kids got to see the inside of the Temple. P told me the Temple was NOT orange and blue like he thought it would be, but it is white and has lots of sparkles, and that he felt very happy when he was inside of it. Exact words: "mum, I was mad before I went in the temple, but then when I got i...nside, I wasn't mad anymore! It made me feel happy!" Be still my heart... J was most interested in the baptismal font, he said that it looked hot and that he wanted to go swimming in it. M was interested in the art, and really loved the celestial room. All in all, it was a beautiful, happy day. And of course I forgot the memory card for my camera, so this is from my mum's Blackberry.

Spring!

What have we been up to since I slacked off blogging...

Easter? Check! Photos of it? Not really! We went to an easter hunt put on by the station, it was awesome. P found the winning egg, the chocolate bunny in the winning basket he got melted in about 2 minutes, we did sack races, ate yummy food, got suntanned... and I left my camera at home for all of it. I stole Jessie's 40D and took photos on it, but I let her take it home and forgot to steal her memory card first. hahah! Must. Remember. And I have only a few photos from Easter Sunday because SOMEONE {cough, little miss M} woke up earlier than anyone else and decided to do the easter egg hunt around the house all by herself. And then woke up her brothers to give them their easter baskets that she'd found on her joyously alone hunt. Yep, by the time we woke up to the giggles and thumps, 50% of the candy had been eaten and all three were rapidly approaching a 8:30AM chocolate high. We made them stay in their rooms while we re-hid the eggs, so the boys still got to find eggs, but oh man. I wasn't very happy. It's funny now...

Sleepovers? Check! M has had her first, second and third sleepovers, all with her bestie Willow. The two of them... crackheads, that's all I can think of. I think this photo sums it up better than any words.

Coolest birthday party ever? Check! I'll save those photos for later. Adam=coolest kid in the class. We got to hold snakes, touch a live rattlesnake, touch a gila monster {google that if you don't know what it is}, I actually held a boa constrictor, we held chickens, {attempted to} hold turkeys, mice... super cool. We also went on the longest nature walk ever. Ever. I'm surprised we didn't lose anyone on it.

See old-new friends? Check! Ashley and her boys came to town and we got to play for a bit. I loved seeing J and Owen play. They're less than 6 hours apart in age, and right now they're about the exact same in everything. I know I keep saying it, but I'm gunning for them to be roomies in college or at the MTC. I wonder if you can put in requests for these things... Also got to see Amber and Brian. That was fun! Amber was the first friend I made here in Sierra Vista, and even though they moved back to the Promised Land {Utah}, we've kept in touch. No photos of that either, I forgot my camera yet again.

J and Owen hugging (so. CUTE.)

The almost-birthday twins.

The clan. (M has a musketeer mask on her head. Yeah... I don't know.)

Lost a dog? Check. Macey either got out or someone got her out. No idea how, because we're pretty sure she couldn't fit through our gate... This makes me horrible, but... I don't really miss her. She was nutso. The kids were a bit upset, but she knocked them down a lot, so they aren't as devastated as they would be if The Great Snoring One disappeared. That would be Molly, the one snoring away next to me now. I lub Molly, we've had her since we moved here in 2006 and she's the best dog in all of Sierra Vista {sorry Laurel. Molly totally rocks the socks off of Ziggy. I know you're crushed.}

Bless her cotton socks...

Got a new dog? Psych! Nope. Molly's loving being able to be with us all by herself.

Aaaaand.... that's all I remember. Or have photographic proof of...

Questions You Always Wanted to Know

Saw this on sweet Laurel's blog, and M is off to school and the boys aren't up yet, so why not!




1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:45. I sleep as much as I possibly can before I have to get the girl child up and ready.

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds. Duh.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Valentines Day. Really liked it too!

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Hmm... probably Psych. I have a thing for Guster.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
I don't usually eat breakfast. {I know. bad habit. trying to get better at that}

6. What is your middle name?
Anne

7. What food do you dislike?
Tofu. It's just gross.

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?
Hmmm... probably Train's Save Me, San Fransisco. Or else Michael Buble's "Crazy Love". {how's that for a random pairing?}

9. What kind of car do you drive?
Toyota Sienna

10. Favorite sandwich?
Hm. Depends on the day, but sometimes all you need is a PB&J sandwich.

11. What characteristic do you despise?
Ignorance

12. Favorite item of clothing?
My ratty old blue Roots hoodie.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Right now it's Kenya. Ask me next week and it'll be completely different.

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Roots. They're super comfortable and they last forever and a day.

15. where would you retire?
Nowhere. I see us getting one of those huge RVs and just putting around the country.

16. What was your most memorable birthday?
Hm. I really can't say, I've had some great birthdays. I guess my 21st, mum took me on a trip to London and Scotland, just the two of us.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
Anything other than baseball. I just can't get into it.

18. Furthest place you are sending this?
Uh... this is the world wide web, right? So... the furthest it chooses to go, I suppose.

19. Person you expect to send it back first?
You can't really send it back. You can repost it, I guess.

20. When is your birthday?
October 5th

21. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night owl.

22. What is your shoe size?
Anywhere from 10 to 11, depending on the shoe. {darn pregnancies, blah. i used to be a 9.5, i'm not even kidding}

23. Pets?
We have Molly and Macey right now, but Macey is hopefully going to a new home soon.

24. Any new and exciting news you 'd like to share with us?
Nope. lol

25. What did you want to be when you were little?
A professional horseback rider

26. How are you today?
Pretty good. Only today and tomorrow and it's the weekend!

27. What is your favorite candy?
Swedish Fish or a Crispy Crunch. Yum yum yum.

28. What is your favorite flower?
Gerbera daisies? I don't really have a favorite, it's fun to get ANY kind.

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
July 11th. We'll be on our trip by then, with almost 3 WEEKS with CJ with us, not working!

30. What is your full name?
Eee. This creeps me out a bit too much to put out on the internet.

31. What are you listening to right now?
P asking to watch Playhouse Disney, and J slurping the last of his cereal.

32. What was the last thing you ate?
A bagel

33. Do you wish on stars?
Not anymore.

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Cerulean or Unmellow Yellow {that one is just for the name.}

35. How is the weather right now?
It's a gorgeous spring day!

36. What is your natural hair color?
Depends on the season. Summer-light brown. Winter-medium brown.

37. Favorite soft drink?
Cokecokecokecokecokecokecokecokecoke. Coke.

38. Favorite restaurant?
Olive Garden or My Big Fat Greek Restaurant

39. Favorite color of nail polish?
Dark purple or dark blue. Once I get used to spring being here, it'll be light pink. lol

40. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Oh man, I was the perfect child of the 80s, loved Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Popples, My Little Pony...

41. Summer or winter?
Summer as done in the east.

42. Hugs or kisses?
Depends... who's giving them?

43. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Chocolate

44. Coffee or tea?
If it's herbal, I'll take the tea. If it's not... I'll have water please.

45.. Do you want your friends to email you back
Of course

46. When was the last time you cried
Last night. I was reading www.laylagrace.org

47. What is under your bed?
Nothing. lol!

48. What did you do last night?
Watched Human Target and House Hunters with CJ

49. What are you afraid of?
A lot of stuff. Spiders being the biggest thing.

50. Salty or sweet?
Salty, salty and salty.

51. How many keys on your key ring?
Which set am I carrying? One has only the van key, the other has about 5 keys I think.

52. How many years at your current job?
5?

53. Favorite day of the week?
Thursday or Friday. We have nothing on those days.

54. How many towns have you lived in?
Oh man. 12 I think?

55. Do you make friends easily?
Sometimes. Not as easily as in high school or college.

56. How many people will you send this to?
However many check the blog.

57. How many will respond?
My guess is none. hahahaha!

Forgotten Memos

So I realized, in my slackiness that is my blogging abilities, I've not really mentioned many day to day things that have gone or been going on. So, for the record or just because, here they are.

M lost her first tooth on February 20th. Sigh. Yes, my firstborn is officially a big girl now. That sucker hung on forever and no matter how much CJ tried to bribe M to let him take it out she wouldn't fall for it. Mum was visiting and that morning we were selling Girl Scout cookies so we had to get up earlier than we usually do on a Saturday, and M called me as I was getting her clothes ready, and there was the tooth, just sitting in her hand. The funny thing is the tooth that fell out was the first tooth that came through when she was a baby, and mum was there when that happened too! She wanted to save the tooth and bring it to show and tell on Friday, and she did it, and then... we lost it at the park right after school. No joke. So she drew the tooth fairy a picture of what happened, and the tooth fairy was very understanding and left her $3.

Valentines Day was lovely, CJ got me beautiful roses and some presents, and then surprised me with a babysitter for the kids and he took me to dinner and a movie. Dinner was good and the movie was great. We saw Valentines Day, and I loved it. Even CJ admitted it was funnier than he thought it would be. I'm all for shmoopy movies though, I'm a sucker for them!

Our new Temple is opening soon!! I'm excited to go to the open house. You can bring children to the open house... right?

Some friends and I threw a surprise baby shower for a sweet friend last week and made oreo pops. WAY easier than cake pops, lemme tell you. And then she had the baby three days later, and we got to see her on their way home. Oh heavens... what a little doll.

J has graduated out of speech therapy!! Yep... just 7 months into it, and he caught on so quickly and just excelled through it, and they retested him, and he even tested above in some areas now! So proud of him, it's just amazing how different he is now.

P is really starting to participate in Joy School now, which is really nice, I won't lie. He's a smart kid, but just never really participated in lessons both at Joy School and in Primary. But now he's coloring so much more and actually is drawing people now! He's never really cared for coloring, but it's amazing how detailed he can get. It still looks like scribbles, til he tells you what everything is and then you get it.

M is getting ready for her spring ballet recital, and already has one of her costumes. Not gonna lie, I totally get giddy whenever I see it. It's hanging in the coat closet with strict instructions from Miss Hilda for nobody to touch even the bag that it's zipped up tight in. Her second costume comes in April, I can't wait to see it. May 22nd, here we come!

CJ's big 3-0 is coming up! May 27th... dum dum duuuuummmmmm. Oh, you bet I'll be rubbing it in. He was meeeeeean when it was my 30th, he's getting it right back. Not sure how we'll celebrate it, but it'll be fun.

The reunion!!! I'm getting so excited for summer, ferrizzle. We're going to drive it and just take our time and camp out, so it's going to be fun! SAM AND MANDY, here is your forewarning. We will be seeing you and stopping and harassing you and so now you will be happy and giddy until we come. M'kay? :) When we get to Salt Lake/Provo area we'll stay in a hotel for a night or two so that we look presentable for seeing any friends who want to hang out while we're there (lemme know!). Then it's on to Wyoming and Yellowstone, and then off to NorCal for about 10 days. Anyone who will be there in mid to late July, let me know (Karin?). Such fun!!!

Need to get the kids swimming. (Jessie...... oh Jessie....)

Okay, I really can't think of anything else right now, but I'm sure I forgot something. Because I have no memory left at all. Oh... but my bracket is looking ama-za-zing right now, I love the first round!!

Ghost Hunting (lots of photos again)

So bad. Over a month since a post, what a rotten blogger I am. But at least I have photos!

It's finally spring here so this past weekend we decided to take the kids ghost hunting. In the middle of the day. That way nobody {read: me} gets too scared. It was a lot of fun, no ghosts and we're not really sure one of the buildings we found is actually the ghost house we were looking for, but we got to throw rocks in the San Pedro, see a marker for where the Mormon Battalion fought its only fight {against bulls} , and play pooh sticks on a bridge {P won} . Oh... and got some fun photos out of it!

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

"Heeeyyyy!!! That says Mormon! I'M Mormon!!!!"

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

Yes. J is carrying a bone. GROSS, right? Well, tell him and his dad that. They found it on our trek to the first ghostie housie, all sun bleached and blah, and thought it was super cool. Yucky thing stayed with us the whole rest of the day. And to make it worse, CJ told the kids it was a witch's bone. Um, ew.
Big, fat, icky ew.

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

Love. Love him. Right here, Cards hat and all.

From Ghost hunting

Looks like a sweet father-son moment, right? Until you realize he's throwing pebbles/rocks by me and splashing me. Nice. Wait, no, not really.

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

Don't worry, he didn't drop him. Both this time or the time he did it holding J upside down.

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

From Ghost hunting

Blast Off

WARNING: A huge, massive amount of photos ahead. You've been warned.

Oh what fun it is to be... in southern Arizona? Well, yeah, sometimes. We might not have an Olive Garden {yet! it's already being built though, booyah} or a Michael's, but we know how to have fun!

CJ got P a rocket for Christmas, so this Saturday before we had the thrill of doing our grocery shopping {that's right, we. we all go. on a Saturday. certifiably craaazy!} we went to our park and shot off the rocket. It was pretty cool, unless you ask J. CJ let him push the launch button and J did NOT like what happened. But all in all, it was really fun. I just wish we'd had more engines so we could have shot it off more than three times.




{wiggly waggly tooth is still in place. dentist wouldn't yank it for me last week, boo.}

J trying to help by bringing the starter to CJ



poor buggy, so scared!!

so he sat with me instead. love.

I know, the shirt is short on her. But she grows constantly, I swear! It's hard to find shirts that are long enough in the shirt and not too long in the sleeves.





We also got to go on a trip to Yuma to watch CJ play in a football tournament. It was pretty fun, we got to stay at a nice hotel and eat at Olive Garden for dinner. Mmm. His team did well, they came in 4th out of 12. Not bad! We brought a bunch of Girl Scout cookies for M to sell and we actually sold about 40 boxes there, and we just found out she's reached her goal of selling 200 cookies already! Yay!! {but we're still selling cookies if you need them. seriously. we have a bunch of girls in the troop now so we need to sell a LOT more cookies.} Back to football. Lots of fun for the most part, but once the playoffs started and the sun went down, it got cold and fast. The kids were done with the day and we still had a 5 hour drive home. It wasn't fun and it wasn't pretty but we made it home in one piece, hallelujah. Some photos from the day: