rest stop

We are finally home after a fun-filled week in Utah and a 12 hour drive home.  

Last night we hit a rest stop on the way home and we were all taken with how beautiful the sky was so our quick little potty break turned into an impromptu photo shoot.

beth, who?

I don't know who this Beth Udall person is but she seems to need some sort of shout out (see comments from previous post)

Love ya Beth!

Sorry I didn't include you!

I love you just as much as I love Wendy!

In all seriousness Beth, I was only concerned about Wendy laughing - I have to see her on a weekly basis - you? I don't see near as often and I'm totally ok with you laughing behind my back.

And to my other readers...I do know Beth - she is a friend that used to live in California before she abandoned us for Utah. She owns Blackberry Paper - visit the site and buy stuff from her so she'll forgive me :)

for my friend wendy

NO LAUGHING!

Thanks for hanging out with us today. It wouldn't be a trip to the BYU Bookstore without you guys there.

i think i have finally recovered

I ended up getting to bed at 4am after Harry Potter and have had many a late night since then. I think last night was my low point - major headache and not feeling so hot but after some Tylenol, a great neck massage and a good nights sleep I am finally feeling like I have recovered from the middle of the night festivities.

We had a great time waiting in line for Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Hogwarts crew.  We ended up having 31 (or was it 32) of us in line to see the movie with a few other party crashers that came to hang out in line with us but left around 9:30ish because they didn't want to do the midnight movie.

Here's a shot of some of the teens that went.  What a great group of kids.  I love that my kids have good friends to hang out with.

You can see more pictures from the night here.

We loved the movie.  I wish they would have included more from the book but I knew going into it that things would be missing.  The sets were amazing (they always are)  I loved the humor in this movie - it was good to see Harry laugh a little.

numbers and etsy - does it get better?

New site that I found that I think I'm in love with.

and we're off

too see the Chosen One, the boy who lived, the wizard we all love - Harry Potter.  I'm guessing we'll be home in about 12 hours (man, that seems like a long night) and then after a hopefully long nap I'll be back to post pictures of the festivities.

my little dobby

Because we have Harry Potter on the brain in our house I thought I'd share this picture of Luke as Dobby, the house elf.  Luke, along with 2 friends from church were the winners of the costume contest at Borders for the midnight release party for the last HP book.

This was a last minute costume.  All my other kids had Hogwarts robes, etc and I just figured Luke wouldn't care - oh so wrong.  To avoid a total melt down we had to come up with something quick and this is what the mom brain pulled out.  Rip up a pillow case, add lots of socks and band-aids on the fingers and we were good to go.  Why do the last minute ideas sometimes turn out to be the best?  I love this costume and the adorable boy wearing it.

buying 28 (revised - 31) tickets today

Tuesday night will be a party as we wait in line for the midnight release - so, so excited!

she's off again

First Girls Camp now another trip with more trips to follow. Megan always seems to have a busy Summer vacation schedule.  This week she is off at BYU enjoying Especially for Youth.  

She looks so alert and happy in this 5 am photo taken right before we headed out for LAX on Monday.  

There have been a few texts back and forth and a brief phone conversation tonight to let us know that she is having a lot of fun and enjoying every minute of it - we knew she would.

A big thanks to Grandma Wood for delivering sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, hangers and a bunch of treats and goodies to Megan and her friend Kenzie - they sure appreciate it.

em owes me $2

I met her at Old Navy - love her!  

I met her only because of Emily.  

I saw her while shopping with my girls - they know who she is and encouraged me to go say hi. Not wanting to come off as the stalker I really am I said no way.  Emily then pulled my parental move and said, "I'll give you a dollar"  Yes, I bribe my kids occasionally - judge me if you must. I then pulled a kid move and replied, "two dollars" and Emily agreed.

I mustered up enough courage to say stupidly, "I think you are so talented", "I'm really not stalking you" and some other mumble jumble and that was it UNTIL we left Old Navy and went to Target.  As we are walking in the girls kept commenting "there she is" (she too was going to Target) I gave the kids the evil eye and begged them not to look at her - my undercover stalker persona was really going to be blown.  I thought we were in the clear until I hear her say "you are a stalker, aren't you?"  Oh man!

Then being the incredibly nice person that she is she had a conversation with me (her stalker) about her weekend plans (her best friends wedding up north), our 4th of July plans and some photography jive.  She really couldn't be nicer.  Now I'll have to stalk her more - maybe I can make it up north for the wedding.

back from camp

Derek, Megan and Emily got back on Saturday from a 4 day fun-filled, no sleep, giggle fest with 24 other girls and 7 other leaders.  Not sure Derek was doing much giggling (do boys giggle?) but he and the girls all had a lot of fun.

Girls Camp this year was just our Ward (our local congregation) as opposed to Stake Girls Camp (with a stake covering a bigger geographical area)  This is the first time we have had Ward Girls Camp and I think it was a big success.  I believe the plan is to alternate each year between Stake and Ward.

The group left Wed morning and headed off to the beach in Santa Barbara for some tent camping and lots of outdoor fun.  Everyone looks so rested and clean is this picture - I guarantee you they did not come home the same way.

This is our great group of girls and leaders that went.  Hats off to all the leaders that did a ton of work to pull off a successful camp.  I am so glad that Megan and Emily have leaders that genuinely love them and care for them.   

An interesting fact about this group - the first two rows are all Beehives.  Beehives is the name given to all the 12 & 13 yr old girls in our Young Womens organization. Did you count them? Yes, we had 18 Beehives in attendance compared to the 8 total Mia Maids (14-15 yr olds) and Laurels (16-17 yr olds).  I am sure the abundance of 12 & 13 yr olds made for a lively camp :)

Since the camp was at the beach the theme was Life is Swell  - get it? a wave or a swell - not sure if some of my land locked readers understand the lingo :)  Just kidding of course, I know only highly intelligent readers frequent this blog.  Swell standing for Stick With Essential Life Long - the essentials being prayer, scripture reading, sacrament (as well as many other essentials that help us build and strengthen our testimonies).

The girls had a lot of great devotionals, scripture reading time, testimony meeting and more. They also had lot of fun activities planned that helped them build stronger friendships with all the girls and leaders.  

They went on a great evening hike to watch the sunset over the beach.  The hike was hard. According to Emily she has hiked enough to last her a lifetime :)  Although hard I think the girls have a better understanding of how even though things may be hard there are lessons to learn and rewards to be had when accomplishing something that may be difficult.

They also went horseback riding and had lots of fun doing that.

Kayaking was another fun activity that allowed the girls to get up close and personal with dolphins and sea lions

Even though I now have a laundry room full of stinky, dirty laundry and a family that is still a bit tired from all the activities I am glad that they all got to go.  It was a great experience for Derek to be their with our girls and I think they loved having Dad there.  I'm glad that my girls have good friends that share the same values and are constantly trying to make good choices.

Thanks to Emily for the above pictures.

creative love

How is this for a creative teachers gift...

I also think this would be adorable in a kids room or an art studio or even hanging in a family room with your family's initial.  Found at Delightful Distractions.

over at the other blog, again

So I seem to be favoring my party blog today.  For whatever reason my personal, family posts have had a party type theme to them and so I have posted at Little Ant.  And since I am way too lazy to post the same thing twice (come on people do you really expect me to do that much, it's Summer after all) you'll have to go here to see the latest news about my little brother.  

Congrats Ryan - we are all proud of you and the boys now feel like they have moved up on the my family is cool meter because their uncle has a cool job.

16 years

A tribute to my perfect husband can be found HERE.

8:43, i love you

Today was a good day when I opened my eyes, looked at the clock and saw those glorious numbers...8:43 am - three cheers for Summer!  No more 5:30 am alarms so that we can make sure Megan gets up for seminary.  No more everyone up at 6:30 am for the hectic morning schedule of getting ready for school.  I highly doubt we'll be sleeping in like we did today but today was joyous anyway.  

another note to self

I also want to do this (in my backyard)  Maybe we would get some Summer visitors.

note to self

I want to do this somewhere in my house - dining room maybe.

i think i like this

I'm not sure, but I think I like this bedding.  I definitely love the creative spin.  I don't think I would put it in a master bedroom but I can see it in my boys bedroom or maybe even a fun, off beat guest room.

To see more pictures of this unique bedding click HERE.

7 day challenge

For those of you interested in emergency preparedness you need to go visit the girls over at Food Storage Made Easy and sign up for their 7 Day Challenge.  They want to help us all get ready for an unseen emergency by helping us get our preparation taken care of now through the summer months and then seeing how we can handle a 7 day emergency challenge in the Fall.  I think it sounds like a fun challenge.

To get more info and to sign up go here.  By signing up you get a chance to win a wheat grinder. referring people gives you more chances of winning so use my name as the person that referred you and then spread the word to your friends and family

awwwww

I find this terribly cute and romantic

mary had a little lamb

Nathan performed in the 4th and 5th grade musical program last week.  There was some major recorder playing going on.

The solo of Mary Had a Little Lamb was particularly fierce.  We're proud of you Nathan!

in no particular order

Still no camera cord - where did we pack it?!?!  However, Derek found our card reader (or something like that - I have no idea what things are called) so we now have pictures.  Let's all shout Yippee!

I'm not even going to attempt to post things in order so sit back and enjoy the random postings that will be going on for the next while.

Let's start with this great shot...

This picture is from our old house where the boys had bunk beds.  For whatever reason the boys didn't like sleeping on the top bunk so they always ended up together on the bottom bunk. I can't imagine that it was ever very comfortable.  Would you want to sleep with your little brothers stinky foot on your mouth and nose?

Since moving we have separated their bunk bed into two twin beds.  They are both thrilled to be in their own bed and now that I think about it they hardly ever come into our bed in the middle of the night to sleep with us - hallelujah!  I bet they were sleeping with us because they were getting tired of feet in the mouth.

a private concert

Enjoying the evening...Derek and Dave (a friend from church) playing guitar and singing Jason Mraz songs while I sit upstairs and enjoy the music.  Life is good!

where oh where has my little cord gone?

Missing: one camera cord, needed to download months worth of family memories.

Last seen: hiding out in a box at our old house.

Reward if found:  seeing the last few months of our life in pictures on this blog - exciting, I know.

happy birthday

to our cute clothes wearing

music loving

beautiful, kind, funny, smart, spiritual, friendly, trust-worthy, loving daughter

(I could go on but really who wants to keep hearing how wonderful you are?!?!)

Happy 15th Birthday!

soft map

Maybe it's because we just moved into a new house but I keep finding new and different house accessories/furniture/etc. that I would love to put in our home.  Here is my latest find...

It is a Soft Map Blanket.  They are dupioni silk quilts that can be custom designed with a map of your town, the city you grew up in, where you met your spouse, where your baby was born, etc. What a cherished heirloom this would become.  

You can find these beautiful quilts at Haptic Lab.  I'm off to add this to my wish list.

our little "angel"

Our family was able to go the Angels game last night thanks to some tickets Derek scored from Oakley.  We hadn't been to a game in a while so the kids were excited.  When I picked up the boys from school Luke serenaded us with Take Me Out To The Ballgame over and over and over and over...  He seemed to be obsessing about the song and wanted to keep "practicing" it. Little did we know the song would bring us plenty of laughs later in the evening.

Conversation between me and Luke at the game...

Luke:  "So Mom, buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks."

Mom:  "How about some cotton candy?"

Luke:  "That's a better idea, I don't even know what Cracker Jacks are."

I wonder what he thought he was singing about all day.  A few times during his singing "practice" he would sing "buy me some peanuts and Apple Jacks"  I know he knows what those are.

Another conversation/comment from Luke as we were leaving the stadium after the 7th inning stretch (we knew we were going to leave early so kids could get in bed - we also knew we had to stay for Take Me Out To The Ballgame or Luke would have imploded)

Luke to Nathan after hearing some lady sing "the song" he had practiced all day:  "that lady stoled my career"

I guess Luke had been planning on singing his song at the game and was disappointed that his career dreams were crushed by some lady that was not nearly as good as he would have been :)

yes, please

I would like one of these.  

I love when people take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.  This keyboard is beautiful!

just look away derek

So I believe I have mentioned my sordid past before - Greenpeace, love of whales, etc.  Derek tries to ignore my Save the Whales past but I love to bring it up constantly to remind him that he married such a radical (yea, right)

Well, now he gets to hear about it even more often because of my new love...Whale Wars.

The show is about a crew of whale lovin' crazies sailing the Antarctic Ocean in search of Japanese whalers.  Once the whalers are found the Sea Shepherd crew totally messes with the Japanese crews and my Free Willy insides bubble over with giddyness.  Honestly, I love watching the chaos - stink bombs, trash talking, men overboard, and more.  

If you want to have some idea of how crazy some of these folks are look no further then the Captain of the ship.  He is one of the co-founders of Greenpeace but after so many years was voted out with a vote of 10 to 1, his vote being the dissenting vote.  If Greenpeace thinks you are too radical you  must be in the running for the mayor of crazy town.

All craziness aside, I do love that they are saving the whales.  Derek on the other hand...I'm guessing he is indifferent.  His comment to me, "When can we watch a show called Cow Wars?"

a feast for the eyes

I love the look and feel of this movie - you know what I mean? The sets, colors, cinematography - it reminds me of Penelope.

Adding this to my list of movies to see.

birthday boy

Happy 10th birthday Nate!  We love you a ton and are so glad that you are a part of our family.

whistle while you work

We have an endless list of things to get done in the house and that is what keeps us busy these days.  

The biggest project is painting the whole house.  It is slow going considering it seems to be taking two coats of primer to get good coverage over the dark existing paint.  I'm hoping it will only take one coat of color but we'll have to wait and see since we haven't even gotten to that part.  I'm hoping to write a blog post in a couple weeks that says we're done painting but at the rate we're going it may be Christmas before it all gets done.

Derek's favorite new toy in the house is this beauty....

The existing water heater was rusty and leaking and needed to be replaced so we installed a tankless water heater.  The size difference is amazing - I love not having the big old cylinder water heater.  We are excited about not running out of hot water (which has already happened once while the old heater was still in) and we are anxious to see if it effects our gas bill much since it is not constantly heating up water.

The other new home gadget we are loving is this...
a keyless garage door entry.  No more keys going missing because they have been "misplaced" by Megan.  No more stress when I realize that I am still 15 minutes from home and my girls are being dropped off after an activity and have no way to get into the house.  No more calling Derek at work to ask him to come home because I've locked myself out of the house.  No worries when we are half way to Utah and we think we left the iron on but our neighbors have no way to get into our house to check.  

Beyond painting and new home gadgets we still have unpacking to do (some of it can't be done until painting is done)  We need to replace some light fixtures and see if we can't get overhead lights in the kids rooms.  There are no lights in 4 of the 5 bedrooms and it makes me crazy.  The kids are relying on little desk lamps that don't really provide much light.  We'd like to replace the carpet but have to see what the cost for that would be - we're hoping  it can be worked into our budget but if not we'll be on hold with it.

I better stop the blogging and get back to painting.  The updates here may be sporadic as we try to get everything done.  I have been taking pictures of the process and plan to post pictures here if I can ever find the camera cord needed to download pictures - oh the joys have living in boxes!

a personal thank you

Dear Brenda,

You are far too kind and thoughtful.  I can't begin to tell you how much I love the housewarming gift.  You could not have given me anything better.  I love, love, love it!

Thank you for thinking of me - you made my day!

I can't wait to get the walls painted so that I can find a place of honor for my fantastic "B"

Many, many thanks!

Denise

what a great way to capture your family

check it out!

house warming gift

As if buying me a house wasn't enough my sweet husband just bought me this.  I have been eyeing it since December but was sure I would only enjoy it's beauty through the computer screen.

Thanks Derek - I absolutely love it.  Now if I could just decide on a paint color and get the house painted I might actually have a place to hang the gift when it gets here.

finally!

We signed paperwork for the house today (well, technically yesterday since it's about 1:40am)  All I can say is finally!

this makes me happy

really? you've got to be kidding

Oh how I wish I was kidding when I say that we have yet to sign loan documents.  This whole process has been beyond frustrating.  The hold up with the bank has me pulling my hair out (and yes, it's attractive)

We are still crossing our fingers that we might be in our new home by Friday but we thought we'd be in it last week.

wild thing

October release date - can't wait!

april fools ideas

Not really feeling the Aprils Fools spirit even if it is one of my favorite days.  

For those of you that are getting into it and looking for ideas take a look at our Fools Feast from last year.

You can find lots of great ideas at Family Fun if you need more ideas.

quick update

Still no house - we no longer own our home of 12+ years (said with tears flowing) and we don't have a new house to move into as of yet (said with much bitterness and anger towards the bank) We should have been moving into the new home this week but an appraisal issue has us in limbo and has me in a state of nearly constant panic attacks.  

To help take my mind off of all the house garbage I have become a bread making maniac.  We have enjoyed nearly daily loaves of whole wheat goodness.  I have found relief in the bread making process.  Last night I even made home made hamburger buns.  Yes, you heard me - homemade hamburger buns, I'm feeling very Amish :)

I've also spent some time reading to try and help me not think about my homeless state.  I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  I found it very interesting.

Well there you have it...my incredibly upbeat post - yeah, right.  

Say a prayer for us that this all gets resolved soon, really soon!

in case you were wondering...(although I know you're not)

I am not a fan of mortgages, loans or banks at the moment.  

I am so never moving again after this.

a little iphone fun

Our nephew Brian (along with a friend) created a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch - Awesome Ball.  You can check it out on their site awesomeball.com.

It seems that Apple is running an app contest and you can help Brian win.  Here is the info from Brians blog...

As some of you know, a friend of mine and I have entered an iPhone App contest.  We finished writing our app, Awesome Ball, and it is now available for download on the App Store.  We think it turned out really well and we have plans to continue to add features even after the contest is over.

Awesome Ball lets you bounce a ball around in a 3-D space and lets you customize the ball with different built-in ball types. You can even customize the ball and walls with your own pictures. We think you will enjoy it! Here it is on the App Store:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=308174381&mt=8

We need your help to win the contest, though. The winner is determined by having the most iPhones and iPod touches download and use our app during the next two weeks (by April 5th). And hey, you get a fun little iPhone app for free!

How you can help us the most:

1. Download Awesome Ball from the App Store
2. Join our Facebook group (invite all your friends!)
3. Make a blog post* linking to www.awesomeball.com
4. Leave a good review on the App Store. Good reviews can help a lot!
5. Tell all of your iPhone/iPod touch friends to do the same!

* If this doesn’t fit with how your blog goes, I wouldn’t be offended at all if you don’t!

 

Thanks for your help! And I hope you enjoy Awesome Ball!

So go and check it out and then help spread the word.  Good Luck Brian!

love this..

the final countdown

We are just over a week out from closing escrow on both houses.  We continue to pack and pack.  Yesterday Derek and I - with some help from the kids, very minimal help :) got more of the garage packed, most of the kitchen packed plus some closets taken care of.  

People continually asked if I'm excited about the move.  I am but am so tired from all the work that its hard to show too much excitement.  I think most of the excitement will come when we are settled into the new house and I have had a nap (or two)

our new house

I am excited that my mom will be coming in to help with the move as well as some projects in the new house.  You all saw how much she did when we put our house up for sale.  It will be helpful to have her here.

Don't expect much in the way of posts for the next few weeks but I will try to resume some schedule of posting once we are in the new house.

movin' on up

movin' on up, to the top.  To that deluxe apartment in the sky-y-y.  

Are those even the words?  If you are younger than late 30's would you even know the reference?

We are in the midst of packing, packing and more packing.  At times it all seems to be moving along well and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but some days I can't even imagine how we are going to get everything done. 

We are about 2 weeks out from the big day and most of the house is packed up...the attic is packed up as is most of the garage (minus the rafters and Derek's tool bench)  We packed up a lot of the house when we listed it so basically what is left is stuff we need until the last day we are here.  I have some closets to do and the kitchen plus plenty of cleaning - bathrooms, appliances, inside cabinets and drawers, floors, etc.  We need to get some yard work done and odd jobs here and there.  I'm anxious for it to all be over.

now i know why derek is always laughing at me after the dentist

a must have with the new move

I just found this handy new tool over at Design Mom and now I must have it before we move.

Hanging pictures, etc. on the walls causes a bit of stress at our home.  Derek dislikes hanging things for me because he thinks I'm a bit psychotic when it comes to things being straight, at the right height, etc.  I'm really not that worried about it - I just eyeball things when I hang them.  He is the one with issues - using rulers, levels, etc. he just wants to blame it on me (we see through your thin curtain of deceit Derek - no one thinks I'm psychotic)

Anyway there is no need to point fingers any longer.  Head over to The Hang 'em Awl and check out their short video on how these miracle workers get the job done and then tell me if you don't want them too.

a lesson for us all to learn

I watched this little video with Nathan the other day and was touched by the message. I hope that I can instill in my children the importance of being kind and serving others. Actually, it's a lesson we can all benefit from.

new music i'm loving

I found out about Cubworld yesterday from my niece Mandi's blog. Mandi's husband Nick has been playing some shows with Jake Kongaika who is the voice of Cubworld. Ever since I read Mandi's post yesterday I have spent an extreme amount of time on YouTube, iTunes and Sellaband listening to Cubworld. Yes, I realize I should be packing but listening to good music while relaxing in a chair seems so much more fun - less productive, but fun!

I have emailed some friends that I knew would really love this music and all the reviews back have been great - so far everyone that's heard Cubworld loves the cool, mellow sound. I plan to get the word out to even more folks so that others can hear Jake.

I'd encourage anyone reading this to check out the video and then head over to iTunes or YouTube to hear some more. We bought Cubworld's album off iTunes last night and I can't wait to get it on my iPod and the rest of the families iPods - my teenagers will love this music!

If you like what you hear get the message out to others - it's a great way to support newer artists.

Now if I can just convince Nick to convince Jake that they need to do an Orange County show we'll be set. Here's to hoping Cubworld will come share their music here in the OC.

Enjoy the tunes!

blogger protocol

So tell me this...what do you do when you see a friends blog on the blog roll of someone's blog and when you click on the link you find out it is private?  Do you email the friend/acquaintance to ask if you can visit their blog or do you assume that if they wanted you to read their blog they would have already invited you?  I'm perplexed.  

It feels a bit forward to ask to be included especially since the insecure voices in my head are screaming, "Denise, they probably don't like you and don't want you nosing in on their business." On the other hand maybe they haven't invited me because their insecure voices (assuming they have them) are saying "Denise probably doesn't care to read about what is going on with your family and life."  For the record...I love reading peoples blogs - I think it helps folks feel closer and more in touch (in a impersonal world wide web sort of way - confusing, I know)  

So if you like me at all (even just a little bit) I'd love to be invited to read your blogs.