First Zipper(s)

Looking back at September, it's been a busy month. We've had ups, downs, ins and outs. We've celebrated birthdays and successfully transitioned back to school, begun flag-football practices and experienced head lice. Remodeling our church building began on Sunday, and someone cut Diana's "curlies." Many of these things we hope to remember, and others we hope fade to the dark recesses of our memories.

At the beginning of the month, I decided I needed a new wallet. When I was booted from the house yesterday at naptime for a realtor, I went to the fabric store. Grumpily booted. Very grumpily booted. I bought 2 zippers and 1/8th of a yard of some very cute batik quilted fabric. This morning when stress called my name at 3:00 a.m., I got up to spend a little creative energy.

The biggest accomplishment I made was placing my first 2 zippers! I've always been scared of them, but our teacher at Relief Society showed how to quickly put them in, and I thought I should try it out. The first one took 30 minutes or so, but the second was much quicker. I tried copying my worn out wallet. It is just the right size for a few essential cards, a little cash, and a separate coin pocket. I ended up with a slightly smaller version, and all in all I am pleased with it.

It is, however, slightly too small for daily use of my frequently used cards, so I will be re-attempting soon--(I have leftover fabric & the desire to try again). In the mean time, I have 3 girls who will probably fight over it and find lots of things smaller than a health insurance card to place inside.

First USB drive for my children

Last night I tried desperately to send Bryn's first emailed assignment to her teacher. She is in second grade.

The assignment was "All About Me." You could label 10 photos on poster board. Or, you could make a PowerPoint presentation with 10 slides, labeling your photos there. In the computer lab last year, Bryn was introduced to PowerPoint, and she has played around with it a little bit at home. It was no surprise she chose PowerPoint. The slide pictured above is her "Title Page."

For some reason, I could not send the presentation. Perhaps the PowerPoint file was too large? Who knows? Each of the 3 emails I sent without the attachment worked, each of my 3 attempts with the attachment did not.

This morning I made a run to the store for a USB drive. The only other one that we own is Nathan's for work.

She did a great job putting it together. I felt two things:
1) Grateful for my education (I learned PowerPoint in college)
2) How quickly will I be running out of answers?

Peachy

"Ye shall know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:16

Tonight for Family home evening we worked on a project I've wanted to do for a LONG time, canning peaches.
We began at 7:15 pm with 6 eager participants, around 25 lbs of peaches and 14 empty jars.

Peeling off stickers


Smile for the camera


Blanching part 1


Blanching part 2


Focused on the camera


Focused on their work


We ended at 10:00pm with 2 tired parents, 13 sealed quarts of peaches, and about 5 lbs of peaches left over. (Only one did not seal)! A success!



Thanks to my canning gurus for teaching me your tricks! You know who you are & we love the fruits of your labors.

Nine

What happened 9 years ago changed our lives forever!

We had a great day together. His celebration started early with cornflakes, blueberries and yogurt for breakfast and ended late with vanilla cake and Bluebell's "Birthday Cake" ice cream. He also asked for Chili and Cornbread, and his sisters set the table to give him a break.

Only a few photos . . . .

Great tunnels for his new RC car to go through.

While putting away dishes in the kitchen he said, "Birthdays are so fun!"
His plan for his birthday money: "Buy a Nerf gun."
His favorite part of the day: "Opening presents!"
We love you, Andrew!

Hillsboro Branch

Today was another speaking assignment for Nathan, this time a branch in Hillsboro. Once again, I forgot the camera. The most notable thing about the trip is that many of the members traveled almost as long as we did to get there. No one lived closer than 15 minutes to the church, and many lived 30 minutes to an hour drive. They came from towns called Clifton, Hubbard, Whitney, Walnut Springs, Meridian, and "towards Cleburne." Someone said their boundaries included two counties. There were about 50 people in the Sacrament meeting (too many to count, but more than last time). I love having Sacrament meeting in a room with folding chairs, even though they are more entertaining to climb in and through than a church bench. Not, me, Diana.

Sometimes I've thought that I've had to drive a long way to church. The stake center is 30 minutes from my house, but from their homes, nearly 2 hours.

They had a potluck lunch afterwards, which was a nice way to end before our drive home. The Chapel doubled as the "multipurpose" room for the lunch. I brought apples and bread. As I was cutting the apples, a man told me to throw my peels into his bucket to give to his goats when he got home. "How many?" I had to ask.
"Six," was his answer.

I was flattered when a lady I didn't know saw me picking up Diana from nursery. "You are having your second?" she asked.
"No, no . . this is my fifth," I replied.
"You don't look that old!"

I liked meeting the R. S. president. Her husband is also a member of the high council, so he was off speaking somewhere else--a 2 hour drive away. She sat next to Caitlin and snuggled with her during Sacrament meeting . . the air conditioning was a little too chilly for both of them.

In the R.S. announcements, they talked about an upcoming Enrichment in which they will teach how to make your own laundry soap. I asked for more details, and gave my email address so she would send me the "recipe." Must try it, at least once. She said she spends $12 a year on laundry soap. It could be a big $ saver. So fun to see new things and meet interesting people--and I enjoyed being with Nathan for more of our Sunday than normal.

Finished!

It's done! 9:30 am Friday, Sept 18th!


More than once I asked Nathan why I didn't just BUY a cute apron instead. He assured me that I was learning useful skills and that the first time we do ANYTHING it isn't easy.

I guess I have been doing a lot of the same things over and over again,
Wake up
Lunches
Kids to school
Home again for housework or
Shopping
Lunch
Nap
Kids home from school
Dinner
Flag football/scouts/or Enrichment
Scripture study
Crash into bed
Repeat
and getting out of my comfort zone was uncomfortable.

It was not easy. The ties were particularly tricky. Sewing with black fabric is a little bit like knitting with black yarn . . . it's hard to see exactly what you are doing, and I don't have the right marking tools.
I learned a lot:
what "understitching" is
how to use interfacing
my very first V-neckline
why marking your fabric can save you a LOT of time

I bought a seam guide, (If you don't have one yet--spend $1.50 and get one--it's the best sewing money I've spent in recent memory).

I got through this apron with a lot of help from a friend in my ward who was making one, too. She's great and answered many questions and let me look at her apron a handful of times until I understood how the pieces fit together.

I am keeping the pattern, but think this one will last me a long time. In the meantime, I can't wait to use it at dinner! Now, what is for dinner?

Remember when you see this photo that I today I am 24 weeks pregnant!

When BBQ is the answer

If a realtor called at 4:00p.m. and wanted you to be out of your house from 5:30 to 6:30 pm what would you do?

You'd clean like mad until 5:15, and then go out to dinner.

True story
Our family
Tonight
Clem Mikeska's Famous BBQ
Delish.

Click on the link above if you want to see mugs of the famous people they've served. My favorite part was that they had a table at the back big enough for all of us, without moving chairs or putting 2 tables together. That, and the brisket.

We will treat any visitor to our home a meal at Clem's.
After all, BBQ is a TX tradition.

Cinnamon Chips

Have you tried?

After paying $6 for a loaf of Cinnamon Chip Bread last weekend, I determined to make my own. I'd never heard of "Cinnamon chips" before, but when I looked them up online, I discovered that Hershey's makes them. This morning when I found them at my grocery store in our small town, I nearly jumped up and down in the aisle. (There is one grocery store in my town besides Walmart. OK, one chain, two locations).

I added them to my regular bread recipe and WOW--what a treat!
I have to figure out when the best time is to add them to my dough, it was quite sticky and quite melty . . . will be putting them in the freezer before the next attempt. Can't wait to try them in an oatmeal cookie, too! From my kitchen to yours--ENJOY!

Hangin' around

One of the best toys in our house is Nathan's pull-up bar. It's good for a little tension release anytime. For almost anyone. 5 out of 6 of us use it.
Guess who doesn't?

Family Fun Day: San Antonio

Saturday was family fun day. We left the house at 7:00am to drive to San Antonio.
The first stop was the temple, and my session was supposed to start at 9:30a.m. I missed it by a few minutes, but they had lots of "standby" people, so I did something else instead. Nathan and kids played outside, and checked out the LDS Distribution book store in the parking lot while they waited an hour for me.

When I came out, we went back in the bookstore to make a few purchases and set off to find a good picnic spot. We found a picnic table at Barbara Bush Middle School where we enjoyed sandwiches we brought from home. The weather was delightful and after Barbara B, we found a deserted park at which to play until it was Nathan's turn for the temple at 2:00pm.

San Antonio parks don't really have grass. It's weeds, dirt, and rocks. The oak trees are lovely, but grass doesn't seem to grow there in public places. We were fine without it--we played Frisbee, Nathan chase the kids, and swung on the swings. The park had 6 swings, so all of us were swinging at the same time.

While Nathan was in the temple, we checked out the "Deseret Book" type bookstore--not DB, but you know the kind of store, right? Great Harvest Bread Store (next door) was our next stop where I spent over $11 on two loaves of bread. We asked to see their wheat grinder, and since we were the only customers at the time, the worker agreed to let us. They have a separate room at the back, the size of a large bathroom with a grinder and bags of wheat. They grind 50 lb bags at a time.

We had a reservation for a hotel for Saturday evening, but couldn't check in until 3 pm. While driving, I saw a sign for the "Library" and followed it. The high school library at Ronald Reagan H.S. doubles as a public library branch, so we went in for nearly an hour. (Can you tell that TX is a Republican state?) The kids watched a video on the computer, looked at some books, and we enjoyed our air conditioned afternoon.

We left there after 3 and went to check in to the hotel, then back to pick up Nathan. Once we got him, back down the hill to the hotel, where we planned to swim. It began to rain as we unloaded our things but stopped by the time we were ready to swim. We had the pool to ourselves almost the whole time. We knew it was time to get out when the chattering teeth couldn't be stopped.

We chose this hotel for its proximity to the temple, and it has kitchenettes--so we cooked dinner. I brought the rice steamer (thanks, mom--it cooked while we swam) and we made taco salad. Quick, easy and delicious.

We headed downtown to the Riverwalk. We scored a $3 parking spot and began our long walk to the Riverwalk. We took the boat tour and enjoyed learning more about the history & architecture of the Riverwalk. Two children thanked us for taking them on the boat--they really enjoyed it. (So did the others, too).We got back to our hotel room at 10pm, it was a late night and we are all tired.


My favorite part of the Riverwalk is a large mosaic that was constructed in the 1940's (I think) by one artist. It only has 11 colors, and 9 are naturally colored stones. It is HUGE and beautiful. It is a must see if you go to San Antonio--I looked for a photo of it online, but gave up after 30 minutes of searching. This copied photo of the tour boat will have to suffice.

We drove home this morning--we made better time today, leaving at 8:45 and home at 10:45. Diana slept almost the whole way home. A great labor day weekend getaway, and we have Nathan home tomorrow, too!

Fabric Ribbon

Last Saturday I went to a baby shower. When I woke up, I realized I didn't have any ribbon in the house. So I made this ribbon with leftover fabric from my pajamas. It was an idea I took from reading a sewing blog, MADE. So cute, used up something I already had at home, took about 3 minutes, and saved me a trip to the store for ribbon. What more could I want?

It's OK to scream

At some point in my college career, I remember writing a list of things I'd learned so far. I don't remember the whole list, but I do remember (years later) chuckling as I read:

"Sometimes, it's OK to scream."

I can't remember the incident that sparked such brilliant writing, but it is quite true.

Tonight I was in the kitchen making dinner and I opened the cupboard in front of my face to get something out of it.

I nearly screamed then, because I saw a flash of something, but it moved so quickly I couldn't find it. I thought something had fallen on the counter, so I looked there, too, but nothing was in sight, and I was holding Diana. OK . . . perhaps I was wrong . . . quietly I went about my business--trying to forget that I was pretty sure something moved out of the cupboard.

A few minutes later, when I closed the cupboard door, a lizard fell on top of my stove. I think when I opened the door, he scurried out onto the front of the door, so that when it was open, I couldn't see him. As I closed it, he knew he was busted and tried to scurry once again to safety, but fell to the stovetop.

Thankfully, he landed between the two covered pots I was using for cooking, (not sure what dinner would have been without his landing away from the food. Although, at least I'd know where he was if he ruined my dinner).
I screamed once, and again when he ran to the counter. I called Andrew "Lizard Catcher" into the room, and asked him to get it. He couldn't find the lizard on the counter . . . and neither could I. In my defense, the counter is cleaner today than it's been in months, see below*******
Finally he reappeared on the counter
(I screamed again, and so did Diana)
and then he ran to temporary safety, this time behind the stove . . . . We watched carefully and I had Andrew stay in the room much longer than he wanted to so he'd be ready to catch him if my fine reptile friend showed up again.

Questions:
1) How did he get into the cupboard in the first place?
2) From Andrew: "Do you think the lizards have a breeding place in our house?"
3) Why do lizards bother me so much? This one was not more than 3 inches long at the most--but they really give me the creepy crawlies.
4) I can honestly say I do my very best to stay out of all lizards' way, why can't he stay out of my kitchen?
5) How are you supposed to cook with lizards falling onto your stovetop?
6) Where is he now?
7) When am I going to find him again?
8) Will either of my lizard catchers be available then?
9) Why do guys think lizards are so cool?

Of course I called Nathan and asked him to come home as soon as possible, (it was after 5pm anyway) and when he got home, I broke into tears when I asked him #5.

We have at least one lizard on the loose, but we will catch him . . . I just hope I don't have to do it alone. The last lizard I had to take care of ran to the back door, so I quickly let him outside, thanking my lucky stars it wasn't more complicated. Hopefully this one is his relative and knows where the back door is.

*****Two realtors have shown our house in the past 36 hours. They are the first ones to do so . . . they are not going to have them come everyday, but it adds considerable stress to my life to get a phone call like this:
"Hi, I have a realtor who'd like to show your house in 20 minutes, is that OK?"
The side blessing to the realtor stress, however, is that I am keeping my house tidier than normal. Who knows? The next one to walk in the door could be my new landlord.

My conclusions: It is OK to scream, sometimes. And there are no lizards in my heaven, at least those who violate my personal space, which includes my kitchen. And someday I will laugh about tonight--but not tonight.

P.S. I did laugh tonight, too.

Sunshine

When Caitlin hums me a song and wants me to guess what it is, it is always "You are my Sunshine."
She is my sunshine, and is 5 years old.
She enjoyed the chance to pick the menu for her birthday, from sunup to sundown. We talked to grandparents on both sides for their well wishes, and at her request had apple pie instead of birthday cake.
The most interesting gift she asked for this year was for "12 pieces of chocolate." Diana kindly filled that request, and is hoping she will get a piece.
During the school year, she and I enjoy a few minutes of story time together on my bed while Diana naps. I will miss that special time next year when she goes to school. She is a joyful companion to me--she'd rather be home than anywhere else.
Last week when I talked about her being my friend, she seemed confused by the idea that a mom could be a friend. Hopefully that will make more sense as time passes--what a great gift she is to me!