Mother's day...

began with breakfast in my room...it weas intended to be breakfast in BED, but I am the morning person, ben is not, so after lying in bed for an hour thinking of all the stuff I had to do, I got up to get ready for church. Ben & the kids made waffles from scratch, and topped them with strawberries and whipped cream (my fave breakfast!!), and put m&m's on the side, with a goblet of grapefruit juice. Quite a treat. After church, we went to Johnny Carino's, YUMMMM!!! Can't wait to go there again! Then it was home to nap and relax....(no, they are NOT the same here on a Sunday afternoon!) Christian cleaned the kitchen for me, and the little girls made mother's day cards and crafts. Here are a few shots of the kids that day...aren't they sweet?!?!? How wonderful it is to be a mother!!

You can view a slideshow here.

Loser but a Winner...

well, thank you SOOOO much to all of you who voted for us to win a backyard adventure. I tried my best, but alas, was not the TOP winner.

The contest began with 20 women competing in an inflatable obstacle course. We went 2 at a time, and out of 20, the top 4 fastest times advanced. After urdling our body through a small hole, we climbed up a 6 foot "rock wall", jumped down 6 feet on the other side, squeezed under a 6-inch gap while pushing inflated plastic out of the way, run through a small winding tunner. climb a 12-foot rock wall, and slide down a huge slide. I was #6 or 7, so not quite fast enough that day! The top 4 then went on to a small basketball court, where they had to shoot hoops while wearing oven mitts. From there, the top 2 had a tug-of-war that determined the final winner, so the contest operators narrowed it down in a hurry!

Ben brought the camera, but he is not as crazy of a picture-taker as I, and we got one shot with "big Buddha"...a famous local news personality. I am in that crowd of girls there, with a pony tail. (the short one, lol)



Aside from not winning the large playground, all contestants were given a birthday party at this fun place...valued at over $200...we can bring in 15 children, and they give them pizza and everything! so...that wil be fun whenever we decide to use it.

so, thank you again for all of the support - it was a great experience to get the kids up at 5am and root for mom....we needed some more family bonding time!. it did get to be a long day, as evidenced late that afternoon when emme began a question with "remember yesterday, when we did that backyard adventure thing...?" I had to remind her, "No, honey, that was today".

trying this confounded thing.

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Please VOTE for these darling girls!!

I have entered into an online contest...viewers of this morning news show/radio station submit a vote, and the MOTHER of the family with the most votes takes part in a "Mommy Olympics" in an effort to win a $7,000 BACKYARD ADVENTURE! Our kids left their swing set behind in Minnesota, and have patiently waited 2 years for a yard and their own space to play again. I would love for them to have this treat!

You can see details here - http://www.971zht.com/pages/backyard_adventures/ , then please choose #63. It does take some time to browse through every entrant, but if you would like to see them all just to be SURE you should vote for us, we understand!

The contest ends this Friday at noon, so there's no time to lose! You can not re-vote from the same computer account, but you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to click and secure your choice. It is fast, I promise!

thank you SO much..we will keep you updated on the progress!

Birthday Details

Under the Sea party!!!

We had a much-belated birthday party for Victoria today...after our zillion excuses, we missed her December 14th *true* birthday with Christmas, moving, out-of-state guests, Easter, strep throat...la la la...so we decided NOW is the time!!

Our good friends, the Dutsons, came yesterday with their 4 helpful boys, and together with Christian, Gabe and Luke, decorated everything with an obvious ocean theme! Streamers and ribbons in blues and greens squiggled from the ceiling like waves, a net in the corner held goggles and beach items, with shiny fish spinning around it. The table was covered in a blue vinyl ocean and had fish-y items to welcome the girls. Genuine sea shells dotted the entire room, from the buffet table by the window, to a chandelier set around a floor lamp and lending a seaside air to the nearby tropical rice paper umbrella. A beach towel on each chair made you think we had all just come in from the pool. 2 of our young friends stay over the night before, and the 5 boys handed out leis to the girls who came through the door...making them feel very special, and a little embarrassed!! The "Island" cake included Polly Pocket posing as a mermaid, and carefully placed fish and umbrellas thanks to Emme's help! The front door was decorated just for Victoria, and the boys also made some "grass" skirting to line under the bar and be a backdrop for the "Happy Birthday" banner we borrowed from some other friends!(Thank you, Daisy!) She loaned us several of the decorating items and leis from a luau held at her house last year.

The party continued with the Funky Chicken dance, limbo, Musical beach towels, and a little of the Macarena! The girls popped inflated balloons which held a prize of a small sparkly ring, and they then played hide and seek with their gift so that Victoria had to earn those presents! She had pre-packaged small cellophane bags with a sea shell necklace, pencil, and starfish sucker for each guest. They were happy to leave holding their goody bag, and a Small "wave" bottle...made with a water bottle, and dyed-blue water and vegetable oil with ocean confetti floating and bobbing around in bubbles!

hmmm...

Why do you think people are rude? how good does a child need to be to be considered "well-behaved"? This might change your perspective...

http://alpharettamoms.blogspot.com/2007/04/who-are-you.html

Weather?

Here was Emme 2 days ago...in our backyard.

and THIS is what we woke up to today!!!

brrrrr...our high today is 42, the average for this day of the year is 65! i LOVE average!

Emme's handiwork.

Emme has been busy with the digital camera...there were also some shots of the floor, the sky, and an extreme close up of her finger, but these were the best ones. She asks to use the camera daily, and it can keep her occupied for 45 minutes, so YAHOO for endless film!! The final pic is of luke's bucket of airsoft bb's. there was also one of his new "rifle", but you would not have recognized it as such.

SCORE!

HOORAY!!

Soccer matches have started, full force, and I have DIGITAL PROOF!

Can you believe the BACKGROUND?!?!? This was taken looking toward the south. Our house is to the west.

This photo was taken looking toward Salt Lake Valley's copper mines.

Go, Christian, Go!

















1 on 4. He likes it that way.







Getting a little worn out now...

NOT a little boy anymore!!

Refreshment against a beautiful Utah sky!

And, Gabe had to make his mark today too, with some photography....

















Wish you were here!!!

Victoria & Emme photo shoot

Easter!!!

We had friends visit over Easter weekend, and they brought beautiful daisies!

WOOHOO!

on Sunday, we woke to a beautiful morning, with a sunny reminder that HE IS RISEN!!! which was very sweet, becuase some of our kids had been fighting the flu all night! Of course, it was not enough to keep them from an easter basket hunt before church, and I took pictures, but they look so haggard, i am embarassed to put them up here!! Looking on the bright side, though, emme and I had done some preparing during the week, so I can include clips of our cute little favors we used for our big dinner.







Then, the evening before, the girls painted some eggs, so of course we displayed them as well. Emme LOVES polka dots - so you may notice her handiwork here!






and a couple of post-church photos of the ones who felt up to it...

Gabriel, 13

Victoria, 9.

Fine Dining.

Oh, yeah. It is done. well, there are about 9 boxes tucked in the corner of the room, for no reason other than i am tired of the decision-making procees of "where should this go?" But one day soon, I will get the gumption to get it ALL done!!! meanwhile, here is a peek. i would LOVE to have you come over and enjoy it with me!!

it has begun!

i am writing a book!

the topic of the book is hospitality, even if you think that is not "you".

the title...this took me awhile, and I kept asking God to give me a clever and catchy one...well, I was praying for someone one day. someone in my life with a "woe is me" mentality, and as I prayed for him, I asked God to please turn his woes into...

THEN IT CAME TO ME!

WHOAS!

and I knew - that is it!

Turn Your Woes into WHOAS !

You Can be a Queen of Hospitality

So, forthcoming is a SURVEY that I am hoping you and all of your friends will fill out...I need to do some research on where women are today...

how strong is their desire to invite others into their homes with a welcoming smile?

How far from reality does that seem to most people?

Even in my social-life laden area of Salt Lake City, a lot of women seem to feel handicapped in the area of making their homes a haven that draws others.

Last Tuesday, I had a magazine salesman come to my door. He was a boisterous young man from Loo-zanna, new oh-lins, in fact. and he "wasn't gonna lah tuh me"...he was there to better himself, and get off the streets, away from drugs and gangs, and was now in a program promoting a better way of life for these young kids that often find themselves caught up on the opposite side of the law as young as age 9. My heart went out to him. I did NOT want any magazines. everything I need to know I can ask a friend or mom, or find on the web. BUT, we talked for a bit, and I said I would think about it if he would agree to come back for dinner. The burden on my mind that day was "does he know Jesus?" What if he didn't? What if this was his last day on earth? I wanted to be able to say I did what I could! so...off he went with the knowledge that we were eating at 6:30.

I did not expect him to come back. My husband was less than thrilled...wondering if I valued my life or that of my family at ALL..inviting a complete stranger inside! well, I DID text my hubby, and said "Please be home by 6:30. we may have company for dinner." He did not picture this.

And so, the young Timothy O'Neal sat, enrapturing our older boys, for 2 hours at the dining room table. He spoke of experiences on the "street"...drive-by shootings, an uninvolved father, exposure to drugs before reaching his teens...all with no bitterness, though. Just a sparkle in his eye and the determination to "bettuh hisself". He said his brother is a Baptist minister, and best friends with Kirk Franklin. the brother had given Timothy the warning..."do what you do for God. if it's not for God, it makes no difference to anybody". I asked him if he was raised to love Jesus..."Oh, yes ma'am. My Grammaw said if we don't goes tuh church, then we ain'ts got no respec'. And you GOTS tuh have respec' fur God. So we had tuh have respec'!" I am not sure if that meant he loved Jesus with his whole heart or not, but I stressed how important that was, and he nodded in confirmation that he'd been TOLD! We also heard he was first cousins to Shaquille O'Neal. Others have since doubted the validity of this statement, but that is okay, we enjoyed our evening. And, it made an impression on our sons. Before he left, we did order some magazines, and we prayed with him, and he seemed very touched by that. So i thought to myself, "job well done".

All that to say...it was a simple pasta-salad-bread meal, nothing out of the ordinary for us. I did not light candles, I did not take out china, I did not even put a slice of lemon in the water. I invited him into to my post-dinner-prep messy kitchen, with a welcome smile, and he in turn gave me a fresh perspective on how people outside of "my circle" live. My desire is for all of us to be at that place, where sharing our lives is a blessing to us, just for sharing.

***your comments are welcome on this subject!!!! To comment, you do not need a password...you just need to list your status as "anonymous", then it will go through with no problem. if you include your name in the comment field, that would be awesome, but please don't feel obligated. thank you!!!

Ha! want your ride "mommed" ??

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFE3B0Rje0