Favorite Things Package Has Arrived!

Yeah! It was so fun participating in the "3 Favorite Things" gift exchange. My exchange partner was Michelle who is a very talented and busy woman from Layton Utah (how's the move going?). She's also ultra-crafty. She hodge podged a school box with music paper, ribbon, and a very cute picture. She really ejoys Mary Englebreit and sent me a cute little box with a Mary Englebreit design (I love Mary Englebreit also and almost sent out an old Home Companion magazine I have but thought "what if she doesn't like that style?--Ha! I just might send you out a copy now anyway). She also made the cutest cards out of pictures of pretty tulips, a home made apron, hair band, and bracelets (the hair band and bracelets my kids grabbed up so fast that they have been wearing them the past two days). Here's a picture of my stash of Michelle's favorite things.

* notice the loss of the hair band and bracelets, my girls took them before I could even take a picture.

Michelle it was fun getting to know a little more about you!

SPT Picture TIMEZ!!

Hi, this is bucky's husband stepping in for a guest blog entry. How exciting!

When I first heard of this week's SPT challenge, I had several ideas for a picture fly through my brain but then the reality of a late tuesday evening began to set in. So I had to settle for a past picture that I took of my wonderful, charming wife not too long ago on a visit to the old Fort Story Lighthouse.

I'm a stereotypical guy when it comes to describing things, so let me iterate my thoughts as briefly as I can with bullet points:

(My first impressions)

We're pretty high up, I hope this thing doesn't tip over!

Does she know that pose is really dorky?

Oh wait! She's gonna get after me for that one... uh redo!
Does she know that pose is really dorky?

She know how COOL that pose looks?

It's really hot! How does she keep looking so cool?

The only thing I like about France are the french fries

(Me guessing at what she's thinking)

Where's the Beef?

Ta daaa! Here's your new lighthouse!!

Walk like an egyptian!

Here we are! We made it to the top

(My feelings after the initial impressions have passed)

Bucky is a lot of fun, look at her face and pose. It's as if she's saying "what's next?"

She has such a beautiful happy smile, one of the things that I found most attractive about her (even with the Ugly Betty braces which she still had when I met her)

How does she get such a darker tan than I do?!?!

Boy did I get lucky! She had no idea who/what she was marrying! heheheh :-D

Well, that's all I've got. Hope you enjoy it!

SPT--What are your "True Colors"?

What are your true colors?

Ok anyone who knows me knows I LOVE color. Hello when I went to England for the Summer my big find was a pair of red jeans? I know, it's a little, odd--but hey so am I so what ever. I really thought that I would be putting red down today, but I took a good look at all my pictures and the color I saw most of in my house (I might add on the things that I hand painted) tends to be of the green variety. I do love green, I just didn't realize that I gravitate towards it as much as I do.

In Tulsa the budget was tight so the dresser in back, which I found by the trash can was promptly painted green and used as our entertainment center, notice other green accents.

I loved my place in Provo. Look at the blind I painted green and in the right corner a thrift store find I painted green--oh and green filing boxes.

Ok the armoire is what you get a tiny glimpse of and I painted that a mixture of green colors as I ran out of my trusty green paint and started mixing in my various shades of green acrylic paint into the green latex paint I had. On a side note that was L's favorite bird/friend for the two years we had him--sadly a neighbor girl opened our window when the bird was out of his cage and he flew away :( We like to think he is in the lush, green amazon living the good life with his other bird friends :)

Rehoboth Beach

Wednesdy I woke up with an idea to keep the girls home from school and take Abel to Rehoboth Beach in Sussex, Delaware. When Derek and I were first married we came out to DC for internships and we went to this beach. Lately however our beach trips have been more "in depth" meaning we rent beach houses at Fort Story and spend a day at Busch Gardens in near by Williamsburg as well. So I haven't been on a simple all day beach trip for a while. And I definitely haven't attempted to do it on my own. So I had some reservations about this plan. However Derek's sister Farina was so excited when I told her my plan that her excitement lead me to really believe that a 3 hour drive to Delaware, 3 hours at the beach, and 3 hour drive home was worth the trouble of keeping the kids home from school. It was especially wonderful as my brother Abel is visiting from Missouri, so a trip to the ocean is a real treat.

Well off we went to Rehoboth. It was a gorgeous drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Annapolis to the Maryland East Shore and Delaware. Delaware is beautiful in that it is a string of little old towns that have been there since before America was a country probably and inbetween is lush farm land. It was a drive that seemed more pleasant than endless (even with me taking a 1/2 hr. detour by accident).

We made it to the beach and my girls just jumped right in not afraid of anything--cold water, murky ocean, strange sea things washing up on the shore--Nothing. They love it.

Here's L with her first find of the day a Jellyfish, if you can't see it. X is in back running through the washed up waves.

Here's Abel body surfing. The water was just cold enough to shock you at first, but the waves were really strong that day so we spent a good hour body surfing and jumping over crashing waves. The scariest thing happened when X was caught in a strong under current, I saw her fall over and almost get swept under a wave just peaking. Luckily Farina saved the day and grabbed her.
Here they are a couple of moments after her sweet Auntie Farina pulled her out of the water.

Well after getting our fill of water we spent the rest of the afternoon shoreside making castles, and walls, and burying each other in the ground.

Here's a little Mermaid that has been washed ashore and is taking a nap in the warm summer sun.

Here's another Mermaid that thinks the sand is cold and ticklish.

Abel was so fascinated with the sea gulls. Usually I give those birds the "mean stare" because they always seem to get into your food when you're not looking. However this day the beach was so empty and all the birds were congregating right behind Abel watching him eat his chex mix. So Abel, being the little trouble maker that he is, decided to "train" the birds. He had them eating out of his hand quite literally by the time we left. People were even taking his picture it was a sight to see. He'd hold his hand up in the air and the birds would hover in one place in the air. Then perhaps the most courageous of the birds would speedily swoop down and take the food out of Abel's hand. It was cool.

Abel had my camera and took most of the pictures while we were there. So it was fun to see what he took pictures of. At first I thought he took this picture for the old buildings or the Menonites that are standing there. Then I saw Penny Lane and realized that he loves the Beatles and I bet he took it for that sign alone. I'll have to ask him.

The beach was so fun! X was asking to go the next day and S was so excited that she announced it at school the next day (in which she received a little lecture from her teacher about not going to beach on a school day---I told S that I'd write her a note to explain the situation--gosh!).

Here is a picture of us crossing the bridge back into the city, back to traffic, congestion, and the hustle and bustle. Man I'm ready to go back to the beach!

Enjoying Abel

My brother came out to visit on Memorial Day and I was determined to become a better tour guide of my new home. Since he flew in to BWI on Memorial Day, I planned our day's activities up there. First we went to Crystal Grottoes. It boasts that it is the only public cavern in Maryland. We've been on a cavern tour in Virginia and unlike the many Va. tours, this one was nice because the owners operate it themselves. Just the day before we went their nine year old daughter took her first group of tourists through the cavern!

Here's S making a leaf boat to float down the river right next to the cavern place.
And below X throwing a flower to watch float down the river.

Derek is thoroughly enjoying his game of Yu-Gi-Oh against Abel, as seen by the giddy faces of these Nintendo clad guys.
Next off to Nutter's Ice Cream Parlor in Sharpsburg, Md. to enjoy this banana split. It was $4.75. It has 1 banana, 3 flavors of ice cream (2 scoops of each flavor-strawberry cheesecake, mint chocolate chip, and cherry nut fudge), whipped cream, nuts, 3 different toppings (butterscotch, chocolate, and blueberry) and two cherries. We had no idea when we ordered the banana split that we'd be getting enough ice cream to feed a village, but we were definitely NOT complaining!

Contrary to the face Abel is making he really did enjoyed his "Pocono Paws" Ice cream. Tell me what is a Pocono--any help here?

Here is my favorite Memorial Day photo. X decided to take a little solo stroll through Antietnam National Cemetary. It had such a special feeling the moment you walked in. It was quiet, peaceful, and had a nice cool breeze skimming over us. It gave me the moment to reflect upon the reality of how many people have died trying to protect freedoms here in America. My heart was filled as I reflected upon the reality of it.

Well that is really the most brief recap, however I just can't seem to sit at the computer for a second lately. Anywho.....

We are enjoying our time with Abel.
He definitely brings his own Abel style to the mix where ever he goes. We have gone on many more adventures, since he's gotten here, but I am a little behind so I'll have to write more later.

Blog Cloud

afraid appreciate asked better birthday blue bright bring church class craft derek family fantastic favorite friends fun girls happy hawaiian hugs hula informed kids kiss laugh life likes lives lost love month moved mumble oh picture really reasons ring school since sooo surprised swim talking teacher things today turned year

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This was fun to do, thanks to Elizabeth's suggestion.

My Late Self Portrait

I was so happy to read the SPT for the week but I wasn't able to post Tuesday.

Above is a fantastic picture of my Ring. I kept trying to take a nice picture myself but it turned out blurry everytime, so I looked it up and found my ring online.
I have a Hawaiian Designed ring and I love it. I lost my original ring 6 years ago and I cried all night and had a gut wrentching feeling everytime I thought about my "lost" ring. So about 3 years after I lost it Derek surprised me with this ring. He tried to get a Hawaiian fern leaf design like my original one, but they don't make that design anymore. He was such a sweetie for taking the time to order and surprise me with a new ring. I treasure this one more than my last and I have vowed NEVER to loose this one!!

A Little Update, A Lot of Pictures

I have been so busy the past two weeks. Since my girls don't know too many kids at their school I decided to sponsor an after school Hawaiian Hula Club. There are 15 little girls total who signed up for the class. So I recruited my sister in law and her friend to help out. We usually warm up together then split the class. One group practices dances with me and the other does a craft with Hanna and Sarah--my helpers (the crafts will be used later for a luau we are throwing for the parents) and then we switch. It's been very fun and very rewarding. Such a bright spot in our lives. Here are my Hula girls holding up their posters they made for the Luau.



This thursday we are making surf boards out of large cardboard boxes, they'll be using them for the "Hawaiian Hula Ride" Song from Lilo and Stitch--I hope it turns out!

On a side note I was going through my memory card and found all these pictures that I've NEVER downloaded. They are really great ones that we've taken since we moved here. I must of seriously been in the dumps to not appreciate these pictures. So here is a little picture binge.

We drove Derek's sister back to college in Virginia and stopped by Endless Caverns on our way back.


By the end of the tour X was a little "caverned" out.

I thought the buildings on top of Endless Caverns looked like a Hobbit Village.

Here's us striking a pose outside the Jefferson Memorial.

We had a fantastic time at the Swedish Embassy. It is really modern and clean on the inside. They have water displayed in very unusual ways. Here are the girls behind a glass wall waterfall.

X has just spotted a polar bear through her binoculars in a special activities room at the Swedish Embassy.

The purpose of the display at the embassy was to raise awareness of global warming. They had the children write about the display and they hung them up for all to see. Here is L pointing to her's and holding her special pin from the Embassy.

For L's birthday her teacher invited me to her class to read a story. L got to wear a crown all day and sit in the teacher's "special" chair for reading time. It was so much fun! Look how young her teacher is! She is such a fun woman.

We were cleaning the backyard and got the airblower out. Here is a classic "airblower" picture.

I was driving down the street (camera in my bag) and spotted this guy. He walks around the neighborhood each morning in the funkiest, brightest tight spandex pants. It's so awesome. Well come to find out he's Questionmark Man from the Infomercials. I don't know if anyone knows what I'm talking about, but he lives close by and even drives a question mark car. Crrrazy!

A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven

Isn't it funny how something like sewing sparks a glimmer of understanding in the sometimes confusing business of life? How matching up cut out pieces of fabric, pinning them together, and slowly stitching them perfectly, so they meet right where they are supposed to, somehow brings a sense of clarity to something other than sewing--such as real life.

The past few months I have felt like I've been piecing together this mega-complicated garment. With seams and darts and gathers and zippers and pockets, and weird hem lines, you get my point.

Let me clarify. Derek and I left Tulsa in January to move to DC. The decision to move here was actually harder than we thought it would be. We fasted and prayed and felt very certain that DC was the place we were compelled to move to. Derek had a job offer and things seemed to fall into place, we felt reassured that our decision was the right one.

Well God had another purpose, other than to match the pieces of our life up perfectly. Derek's job was put on hold as the Department he was going to work for went through a hiring freeze. We found ourselves unemployed and wondering what had gone wrong.

Were we not faithful enough? Were we too involved in our own thoughts to listen to God's will? Were we supposed to figure this one out on our own? What was the purpose of having our family move, uproot our children from their schools, and basically try to start life over with no prospects other than to "go back to the cutting board"?

We were so sure we had "read the instructions", that we did everything necessary to succeed. So how did this strategy that was carefully planned out fail. What did we do?

We went back to the good old "cutting board" and worked hard to back track and start fresh. We very slowly and more meticulously cut out our pieces of job prospects and made sure we were not making silly mistakes. The process was arduous and we felt like it would never end.

All this time faith was under question. I knew we did the right thing, but there was something we needed to do over, something we needed to learn.

I can only speak for myself, but I know I felt like somehow I had gotten this whole pattern to life wrong. Somewhere I failed, I had definitely misinterpreted the directions and what was left was a jumbled mess.

Slowly I had to either loose myself in other things to get my mind out of this dark despair, or face this moment in time through reading my scriptures and pondering in my mind all the aspects that made up "Us" as a family; taking into consideration everything we were doing and where we were going.

My disposition changed and I could no longer log onto the computer and look at all the joys in people's lives with out feeling the emptyness in my own. I couldn't let that feeling consume me, not for my own sake, my husband's sake, and not for my children's sake. So I avoided it as much as I could.

My thoughts changed as I read a verse in Mosiah 8:20

" O how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people; yea, and how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!"

I felt more like I was wallowing than actually seeking wisdom and more like I was whining than desiring to live through this with a perspective of faith in the Lord. So day by day I decided to work on how I thought about things.

Long story short, our set backs (or life lessons) took 3 months longer to work out and fit together. Yet I know this grand masterpiece we are sewing has a more perfect fit than it did at the beginning. The process of ripping the seams, examining mistakes, having patience to learn to have greater faith has paid off in more ways than one.

How miraculous is the Lord! He suffered through my trial of faith, I was completely blind and before things worked out so seamlessly and perfectly my understanding grew and my desire to do more for my Heavenly Father increased. I have been strengthen. I no longer sew at a methodical selfish pace, but realize that life is more about learning and desiring to do better. In the end the course of completing this final sewing masterpiece has changed and the result will be more majestic than I even imagined.

What Does "Kung-Fu-Ability" Mean? I Don't Know But It's Provocative.

Are you clothes savvy? or clothes shy? My $100 Virtual Tax Refund.

Whoa! First of all this certainly was a doozy of an assignment. I am such a cheap-skate that I have surprised myself with this little challenge. I mean I like looking at people who dress nice and imagine myself dressing nice, but somehow my laziness has creeped into my desire to actually obtain nice clothing. Therefore I own two pairs of jeans three polo shirts and some really, really awful t-shirts, and everything I own was either from wal-mart, target, or the thrift store. So I made a pact with myself, for SPT I wanted to make myself go to the mall and find something for $100. Test my skills of shopping without guilt.

I must have some sort of illness because as soon as I walked into the mall I felt confused and dizzy. Which store? The teeny bopper boutiques or the department stores or do I make a B line back to target? Well I decided to let my feet carry me, so I ended up at the first department store I saw, Macy's. When inside I felt more confused. However I went to the first dresses I saw and pulled out my size and thought, "cute I'll get this done on my first try." WRONG! I was in the jr's section and the cute dress in my size couldn't even be pulled past my chest! After tugging that thing off of me I dragged my sorry self to the Ladies section. Ahh... much better. So here I was feeling good, but still I was so confused I just grabbed the first thing that looked appealing and tried it on. Apparently when I am shopping "guilt-free" the following will most likely happen:


1. I feel confused and without a purpose when my brain is not on "find a great deal" mode.
2. Confusion turns to sillyness as I decided to try out the "kung-fu-ability" of found outfits.
3. NEVER try on dresses in the jr's section one will only leave feeling fat and in need of some chocolate to pick them up.
4. I love color but somehow I always pick up black and white combo's (is this a scar from my dorkestra orchestra days?).
5. Try on the first thing I see cause, with mall clothes they'll most likely look decent and if you just wear what the manequins have on then your set.
6. If I did shop at the mall I'd start looking like Cruella De Ville with all the black and white clothes I'd end up buying!

I'm Trying the SPT

Challenge:
In your Easter Bonnet with all the frills upon it

challenge by Lelly

WHERE IS MY BONNET?

I can't think of anytime in my childhood/adolescence/adult life where I was decked out with a bonnet or frills. I remember my Mom coaxing me to wear makeup when I was a teenager. And I can also remember thinking that if I brushed my hair super good for Prom that I would look quite polished.

Yeah I'd say I'm not so much the prim and proper type (shout out to my favorite British Matriarch Hyacinth Bucket (Bouquet!):

as I am the girly girl with stains and dirt in my finger nails (gross I know!):

Strangely this little task makes me realize that for me the Easter holiday was less about looking prim and proper as it was a time to get together with family, eat, and laugh. And as a kid I did most of my laughing as I was rolling down a hill or getting really messy--a girl can't wear a bonnet with that type of action going on can they? I look at my little girls and realize that a tradition I am passing on to them is to enjoy life, don't worry about getting messy or looking perfect. Have some fun--if you fall down get back up and try with all your might to not let the scrapes get you down.

Holy Cow I'm Blogging! It Has To Be Some One's Birthday!

Wow it has really been a LONG time since I even checked my blog. My oh my, we've been busy, things are a changing, and well families need more attention. So when I get more time on my hands then I'll be posting more regularly. Anywho... it's L's birthday. She just turned six today. I can't believe how much she has grown in the last year. She is less shy, not so afraid of playing with kids she doesn't know too well, etc. Out of the blue she came home two days in a row with these little flowers. They were from winning some running contests they were doing in class. I've always known she likes to run since the time she was two, I was 7 months pregnant and she ran down Center from about 200 West to 500 West before I could grab her. Phew..I'm tired and achey just thinking about that. I am amazed at all the talents that I've seemed to overlook and that are becoming more pronounced in her. L's teacher told me to bring in her favorite book to read when I bring treats for her birthday. It was fun to read a book to her class and see all the little kids she sees everyday. Her teacher had the class write a list of reasons they like her. That was a treat for me to see the kids excited to say nice things about her.

So now is my chance to say 10 things I like, no LOVE about L!
10. L loves animals, her enthusiasm for birds, cats, and fish is so cute to witness.
9. L's a glamor girl. Anything that sparkles, has pink, bows, frills and curls she likes it!


8. She is a climber and I've been calling her my monkey since the time she could crawl.
7. Her shyness has actually helped L's and I relationship to be more close. She's leaned on me in many social situations, it's weird for me to see her cut some ties and branch out on her own.
6. She is very loyal to her friends, the places she lives, her pets. Every time we've moved she has asked to move back to our previous home for a good month. Oh and she asks to play with all the friends that we no longer live by for about the same amount of time.
5. she's got the BEST laugh.
4. She's a sweet sister and often rubs X's tummy to help her go to sleep.
3. She is obsessed with love. She likes to sneak up on her uncle and his girlfriend when they kiss and then come and tell us about it. She likes hugs and kisses.
2. She is the quietest in our family and we REALLY appreciate that!
1. She is so caring--yesterday was her Aunt's birthday and L wrapped up her favorite toy and gave it to her for her birthday. Her Auntie was a little choked up unwrapping it as she knew it was L's favorite.

Love you Lots L!

My Little Birthday Girl!

Here is Aunty Em and X at the Zoo yesterday. We had such a great time, except for when X fell and scraped her hand on broken bamboo shoots.

Here's a little diddy for X on her b-day (since church was cancelled because of crazy snowfall!).

This month is such a special one. It's birthday time for you. We'd really like to celebrate Your happy day with you. Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho, Here's something we can do. We'll sing a song that we all know, Happy Birthday to YOU!

For X's birthday I decided to make her a dress (a copy of one I saw at Target). Have a looksy.

That ribbon is part of a vintage ribbon stash my Mother-in-Law has. She graciously let me use it for her birthday dress.

Here is my top ten reasons why I Love My Chubbsy Wubbsy sooo MUCH!

1. I love her pudgy little hands, feet and those chubby, chubby cheeks!

2. I love her curly hair (she's our little Shirley Temple).

3. I love all of her facial expressions, she's our goofy goober.

4. She is a gentle giant--not many three year olds are as tall as her, but she couldn't hurt a fly even if she wanted to.

5. She has never been a fussy baby--quite easy to manage.

6. She loves Rainbow Bright and I love to hear her sing, "Rainbow Bright, see the shining light..."

7. When she says prayer she has a mumblely wisper--all you can understand is "Heavenly Father" then mumble, mumble, mumble, "Amen". We hold in our laughs every time.

8. She is very easy to please. Give her a My Little Pony to play with and your set.

9. She gives the best bear hugs.

10. She loves to swim and intrigued the girls swim teacher by swimming laps with the swim team on "Bring a friend Friday".

Happy 3rd Birthday Baby Girl!