Palm Springs

This last week the kids and I took a trip to Palm Springs with a couple of friends. (I know, I know, it's totally hot there too!)  The kids were all awesome the whole way to and from in the car. Couldn't ask for better. Spent time in the hotel pool, at Ruby's Diner (where they have the MOST AMAZING sweet potato fries I've ever had), and then spent all of Tuesday at Knott's Soak City water park. J was a little timid at first, but by the end of the day was fearless on all the huge water slides. His favorite thing was to lay in an inner tube going down the lazy river... he is his mother's child.  lol. He also loved the wave pool.  Of course I was in the water and wasn't going to carry my camera around all day, but here are some images I pulled from online: This was like an enormous climber/splash zone, with sprays and waterfalls raining down on you everywhere... J in the morning was terrified of the big bucket - - (see that on top?) dumping on him... It would slowly fill up and then dump HUGE amounts of water when it was full... however by the end of the day J was begging to go over there to the "dump fing". Fun.

This was our favorite slide of the day... but oh, what a HIKE! There were two- and four-person tubes (and since I was riding with the kiddos, guess who had to haul that thing up the million and two staircases? ME. It was crazy steep at the top and then you hit this funnel that sloshes you back and forth... so crazy, you feel like you're going to fall out every time!

And this, my friends, is the Tidal Wave Tower that I was too chicken to go on... A did it once, but I think it freaked her out a little... but M went down THREE times. Wow, it was scary just watching her. Seven stories high. Insane in the membrane.

I had major shin splints (?) the next day from all the climbing up hills/stairs! Quite the workout, actually. The next day we took a tram up the San Jacinto mountains and hiked around. This tram rose like 8500 feet and is apparently the second largest in the world... who knew? We took our lunch and hiked a couple of miles, let the kids climb on rocks and explore caves. So fun! Oh, and did I mention it was like 70 degrees up there? Bliss.

Summer.

We're already half done, woohoo! What we've done so far: Picked up Aunt Cheryl and crew from the airport and spent the weekend in Safford with them and this cutie, AKA my great nephew Trenton!

Got new pillow covers made for my couch (so cute! Love how they coordinate with my lamp AND my yellow chevron pillows too) (with zippers, thanks to Cheryl)

and a valance made for my kitchen window. LOVE how it turned out. Yes Deirdre, I know I still need to iron it.

Other home improvement projects that first week of summer break included getting 90% of my kitchen painted, (HOORAY!!! Thanks to Lisa for coming over in the middle of the night and picking up a roller!) And, my dutiful husband got our new outdoor fans installed on the patio in time for J's birthday party. They are lovely. And Hunter brand, thank you very much Nate.

Though you may not be able to tell much from this picture, what this is is a finished and painted cabinet in our downstairs bath, Hallelujah. I'll have to find the "before" pics and show you those, so you truly appreciate this:

We spent J's birthday entertaining all of his friends and my girlfriends with a roarin' good time of a dinosaur party. More details on that in a different post. We then started our 8-week marathon of swim lessons, synchronized swimming, and swim team. Here are M and J waiting for A's class to finish:

I have read countless books sitting out in the heat waiting for kiddos every morning, and several evenings baking at various pools during meets. J is a good sport too:

M has been doing very well, and J has already moved up two levels since starting.

We've also hit the library multiple times to check out countless books and movies, and attend all of their free events/shows.

Here's A helping out the magician with one of his tricks. Still can't figure out how he did that one. Or any of them, for that matter.

The kids have also gotten to hang out with their cousins a bit, both at the children's museum and Grandma's house and Bass Pro Shop, and swimming at our house, etc etc. We tie-dyed shirts with Robyn and crew. Here's A's creation (I call it her "Ironman" shirt)

Dinosaurs ROAR

J turned FIVE on June 1st and we celebrated by having a big dinosaur party! There was lots of swimming:

And a super fun relay game, complete with dino feet:

Plenty of Finny to have fun with:

A fun dinosaur fossil craft:

lots of balloons, and dinosaur decorations on the walls (okay I can't believe I didn't take pics of all of that! Oh well. We also did a "dinosaur excavation" where I froze mini dinos inside water-filled balloons, and then peeled off the balloons. Each kid got their own egg to smash and find the dino inside. And the pièce de résistance of the party was this awesome dinosaur cake that my friend Kathy Walser made. Turned out awesome!

Clutter be gone!

Recently I have been trying to get organized and learn how to live with less clutter. I'm not a hoarder, nor am I a slob, but there are lots of corners and counters and piles of clutter in my house (and garage!)  (and computer hard drive!)  that 1)I'm used to SEEING and therefore don't acknowledge it and 2)have lots of homeless items where I don't know where to put them away, therefore they are "out".  And of course 3)  unfinished projects in varying stages of completion/design.

Found this blog today and now I'm inspired again to try and get to a state where I can "be" organized instead of "get" organized.  http://declutteryourhomes.blogspot.com/  I've only skimmed a few posts but this one totally hit home for me. This is the main reason I have such a hard time giving gifts... (and receiving them!)  because I want so badly for gifts to be useful and simplifying, rather than clutter/something new to take care of, learn to use, find a place for, dust, etc.

Here's the post in its entirety - a must read!

Gift Giving Shouldn’t Add Clutter/Junk To Our Homes!

Do you buy a gift just for the sake of giving a gift, because it is expected (or you think it is expected)? Several years ago I quit buying gifts just because someone was having a birthday or because it was Mother’s Day or Father’s Day! Don’t get me wrong…I love buying gifts for people! BUT…I realized that so many gifts add to people’s clutter! We all have faced the dilemma “I don’t like this, but it was a gift so I have to keep it”. I don’t feel that way anymore. I have been in many homes that are so cluttered and it is all things given to them by loved ones! I had a woman tell me one day “I bought this item because I liked it. After that everyone thought I wanted to collect things like that so I am constantly being given gifts. I don’t even like it anymore but I don’t know what to do!” Another woman told me “I like recipe books and so every birthday or holiday, my family buys me more. I have so many and I can NEVER use all the books I have!” I didn’t count but I bet this woman had over 100 recipe books!

Not only are we adding to clutter in people’s homes, but we are wasting our money! Have you ever thought about that? Every time you give a gift that adds to junk/clutter in someone’s home or life, you have WASTED your money!

This holiday season make a commitment to NOT do that! Be wise with your spending/giving. Put thought into your gift. ONLY GIVE A GIFT IF IT IS WANTED OR NEEDED.

Now that brings up another problem…children always think they want this or that. Don’t add to the children’s clutter either. If they do want new toys, help them make room for the new ones by going through and donating or throwing away some of the old ones. One toy out for every new one that is in.

So what should you do with Birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc? Take your loved one to lunch, spend some time together. That is always so much better than a gift. Does this make you feel guilty? I announced to my sisters and parents what I would be doing. There were no objections. For my children (they are all grown), I give them money so they can buy what they will love. For Christmas I still give gifts but I have them complete a questionnaire so I know the things that are important to them.

Has this been a hard change for me? Sometimes. There are times I am in a store and I throw something in the cart because so and so will like it. Usually, I come to my senses and put it back, realizing that once again, I am falling into the clutter trap. Am I glad I made these changes? YES! Holidays and birthdays are so much less stressful and I know the gifts I give are loved and meaningful.

So my challenge to you is…change your gift giving habits! Make every penny you spend count and don’t add to other’s clutter!

April showers bring May HEAT

Another month has flown by.

We started out April sleeping through general conference... really need to grab that Ensign that just came and spend some time with it.  Nonnie and Papa came up to spend the weekend with us, so we moved our big TV downstairs so we could all fit on the new couch and watch... well, the TV is still downstairs — which I kind of like, kind of don't — and now it makes me more than EVER want to get our built-ins done! Anybody have a referral of a great cabinet guy for me?  (As if I could afford that right now) 
Easter was relatively low-key. By the time we had our own FHE about Easter, and I had done an Easter thing/lesson with the activity day girls, and we had ANOTHER FHE Easter lesson/egg hunt with all the Carter family, and then a neighborhood brunch/egg hunt, there was no way that the Easter bunny was coming to visit our house and bring a lot more stuff. All he left was marbles for the kids, and everybody was happy.
The next week was DADDY'S BIRTHDAY, which was fun. Birthday dinner with the in-laws included the biggest slab of prime rib I've ever seen on Nick's plate, wow. We went to Rustler's Roost by South Mountain, which is super full of ambiance and has a spectacular view and a live band and a slide for the kids. It was a fun place to take the kids.  We got up the next morning and went out for breakfast, Daddy went to his first-ever Lowe's workshop, we hit the library for an event... then basically went home and collapsed for the rest of the day. It was cold and windy and rainy and so nice.  Daddy finally went and got himself an Iphone, too.
J and I went to a sample Let's Play Music class the next week... I am SO excited about this program and the teacher, I think it will be just right for J come August. I wish I would have done this with the girls, they might have a better sense of rhythm if I had!  Alas, it was never in the cards when we lived in SoPho.
J and I have been hitting the gym 3-4 times a week, he doesn't mind the kids' room and I don't mind even if he watches TV in there for an hour since we don't have cable at home. I'm addicted to several of the classes and am loving the sweating and sore muscles, even though I haven't noticed any difference yet after 6 weeks... maybe because I'm also addicted to things like Nutella and trail mix. Oh, and QT Coke Zeros.  Having the TV downstairs means I'm not running at all anymore on the treadmill, which also needs to change.
Thanks to a couple of culture passes we hit the science center. Forgot how much I liked that place. Kids had a blast. Pictures forthcoming. I'm going to attempt to print pictures I took on my phone... I swear, if they turn out good enough I might consider getting rid of my big camera, since I NEVER use it anymore.
A has graduated to level 3 in gymnastics, which means I have to start paying for another hour per week. Sheesh. She's doing very well and is so flexible it's amazing... Both my girls are close to splits again, but haven't gotten there yet.  This gym hardly ever works on splits like our old gym did... weird. ??  
We are all signed up for 8 weeks of swim lessons, swim team, and synchro for this summer. Ugh. Need to find some great books to read to kill two hours at the pool every day!  I was surprised M even wanted to do swim team again, because last year at Stapley was no fun, so I'm happy she's trying again. We're at a different pool this summer.  A wanted nothing to do with swim team, so she's going to do synchro, which I'm sure she'll be much better at this year because she's been in gymnastics.  J did gymnastics for a while, but I decided it was a little expensive for playtime.
Idol... oh, who cares anymore. It's no fun to have to try and watch it live, since we don't have a DVR and it's not on hulu, but I'm not terribly upset if/when I miss it. I swear I'm going to boycott it in years to come if they make yet ANOTHER country singer win. Skylar? Smurfette?  Gag me.
More finds on Craigs' List:  a hall tree/coat rack thing for the laundry room, a new kitchen table and chairs, and a swing set!  Now I have three things to repaint:  our old kitchen table, so I can sell it, the coat rack, and a nightstand for M's room that I bought a year and a half ago. Yep.  Refinishing furniture scares me though! Who wants to help me/come do it for me?
Home improvement projects this month have included staining the new swing set and getting the pool ready.  We desperately need to start our big remodel job, but have to figure out how to win the lottery first. to afford it.
The kids spend hours outside every day playing on our the swing set. Definitely a good buy!
Next on the to-do list is to get our stinkin' upstairs A/C fixed. Called the repair guy last week and he supposedly "fixed" it, by repairing a small freon leak, but it's already not working again and our lines outside are frozen. Grrr.... I've been waiting all day for them today and conveniently they're not answering their phone.  In the meantime, we're all sleeping downstairs!
Also on the subject on unbearable summer heat... we're finally getting our sunscreens installed next week - - - HOORAY! I'm sure this will make a huge difference in the temperature of our home, not to mention how it's just going to make it look "finished" - which I've been waiting for since we painted the exterior!
Time to call the A/C people again, and for lunch. Peace out.

Sigh.

It's almost 11pm. I stayed up late tonight because maybe, MAYBE if I go to bed now I might stay asleep all night. I so wish I could blow tomorrow off, go play volleyball with friends, take J to the park, go get a pedicure... darn all these things on my to-do list! Instead I will be figuring out swim team/lessons and signing up first thing in the morning, coaxing the girls to practice piano, boxing up a sign a customer ordered, driving kids to the bus, hitting an RPM class at the gym, going to the post office to mail said sign, coming home to finish another vinyl job, starting on invitations to our big activity day "T"ea party in 2 1/2 weeks, figuring out how to e-sign all our refinance docs, inserting meals, laundry and dishes at some point in my day, calling the sunscreen company to get the ball rolling on that project, straightening out an insurance thing with my doctor, getting to the bank at some point, gathering up some cans to pay for all my fines at the library, picking up the girls from the bus, taking them to piano lessons, doing an exchange at the Verizon store, making muffins with J, picking the girls up, convincing one of the girls to do FHE, and putting everybody to bed at a decent time. Wish me luck.

Holy Cow, March,

where is this year going? The gorgeous weather of spring is fading fast, my air conditioning is on and I'm feeling the laziness accompanied with summer heat coming on as well... ugh.

So March:

Dentist appointments for all three kids showed we were free of cavities AGAIN - woohoo! We must be doing something right around here, at least...

Orthodontist appointments showed that A needs three more teeth pulled, great. Thanks a lot again, Nonnie, for our inheritance of your tiny mouth, and thanks Daddy, for our inheritance of your huge teeth. This will be happening in May.

Spring Break took the girls to gymnastics camp... partly because I've decided I do NOT want to travel on Spring and Fall breaks anymore. Staycations it is! Why would I leave Arizona on the two of the most perfect-weather weeks of the year? The girls went all week and loved it, and Mommy was able to get a lot of vinyl projects done.

Slight car problem during Spring Break as well... thank goodness for good friends who came to rescue me, saving me from a towing bill to the repair shop. Sparky is feeling much better now, but I'm knocking on wood every day that he keeps running okay. I feel like there's some major fix looming on the horizon... 160K miles, he's starting to show his age. Speaking of Sparky, he seriously needs an oil change today.

Spring Break also took J to Grandma's house for two days for his "G&G Inn" time. Our house was EERILY quiet while he was gone, and I found myself distraught and super lonely without my boy/sidekick. We were so glad to welcome him home!

I joined a gym in the middle of March, and have been going almost daily to classes, getting back in the habit. Now that I'm exercising my knee has loosened up and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it was. Go figure.

The kids returned to school the next week, thank goodness. I spent a lot of time creating new vinyl and signs for a boutique... since I was almost out of inventory. Now I'm pretty stocked up again. Small (sometimes VERY small) custom orders keep trickling in, giving me pocket money each week.

Thanks to Grandma watching J I was able to see the Hunger Games movie on opening day with some friends.. Loved it. Getting ready to re-read Catching Fire and MockingJay now.

Spring boutique came and went, and it went about how I thought it would...lol. I sold about what I expected, so I can't complain. I need to put some time and effort into finding just the right boutique shows to get into... haven't found just the right place yet to feature our stuff.

Craigs List has become my new addiction since I scored an awesome sectional couch for our downstairs living room for CHEAP. Now I have hope that I can find deals for the rest of my house, and have been scouring every day for just the right pieces. I've finally sold all of the random things I had laying around here "to sell" and can move on now. Oh, how I love upgrading my furniture! Next on the list: new kitchen table/chairs. Wish me luck.

Activity Days has been going a little better since I've been putting more time and effort into it... we had a whole music lesson with the girls where we learned all about the different elements to a song, different kind of notes, time signatures, etc. Each of the girls took turns leading us to sing a hymn of their choice and we played a music matching game. Pretty good. Last Friday we had an Easter lesson, talked about the last week of Jesus' life, and planted seeds in egg shells. I'm crossing my fingers that the stuff actually grows, lol.

We went to the Easter pageant on one of the first nights it showed when Nonnie and Papa were in town. My kids enjoyed every bit of it. I need to go even earlier next year to try and get better seats, though... A was constantly complaining that she couldn't see everything.

Kids are doing well. J is the happiest kid I know and so fun. He plays with bouncy balls and marbles and sings a lot, though he only knows a few words to a few primary songs. When he hears a slow song come on, whether a church song or not, he does this whole interpretive dance thing and sways around with his arms up, eyes closed, permagrin attached. It's hilarious. He's definitely a jokester lately. Daily he tells us something to be immediately followed by "I'm just kidding!" or "I'm serious. I'm not lying."

M is the most helpful kid around, and generally so pleasant! She is more than willing to dig in and help around the house... on Saturday she helped paint AND got in the pool and scrubbed the sides with the brush. I never never have to ask her to make her bed, or get dressed or ready for school, etc. Her interest in the piano has waned, and we're doing well to get her to play through each of her assigned songs once a day. Because of that, she hasn't improved as quickly as I would have hoped. She is looking forward to swim team this summer, and is still enjoying gymnastics.

I've been struggling with A lately, not only with the eating thing but with her just generally being defiant. She has to get reminded over and over again to do her chores, and she tends to act so burdened. Seems like every time I ask her to do something she hides out somewhere and starts reading a book, or playing on my phone, or something... I'm the nag and this horrible person who doesn't want her to have ice cream every night because she barely eats lunch or dinner, and won't buy her gum, and I hate it. I don't think she's eating much more than pretzels every day for lunch, since she almost always brings home her sandwich from school untouched. She's doing quite well in gymnastics and is moving up to level 3 as of today. She's already saying she doesn't want to do swim team this year, yet she wants me to keep paying for gymnastics, piano, and also wants to do private violin lessons this summer. Grrr.... I'm at a loss as to how to deal with her. She's plowing through 3-5 books a week, doing fine in school, but a lot of times I feel like she only does the minimum of whatever it is to get by... just to be able to do what she wants. Shoves her stuff under her bed and calls it "cleaning her room" etc. She and her sister are NOT getting along at all lately, the screaming has become ridiculous, but I don't know what consequences to apply.

Between work, basketball and scouts, we barely see N. Seems like when he's home he's too tired to do much. I've all but given up cooking dinner because the kids (I take that back, 2 of my kids) won't touch it anyway, and N's not home to eat it. So, I throw kid-food at the kids (or have them make their own) and call it done most days.

House is ... coming along. We're coming up on one year over here in Mesa. We have a LONG way to go, but the difference is night and day from when we moved in. A lot of paint and TLC goes a long way. To-do list includes finishing cutting in the paint upstairs, painting bathrooms, getting quotes on built-ins for downstairs living room, painting a hall tree I bought for the laundry room, SUN SCREENS (tax return??) , living room furniture, and hopefully a pool decking re-do (SRP bonus??) but we'll see how much of that happens this year. Hopefully at least 2-3 things on that list.

Now I've missed my class at the gym today because I don't have any workout clothes clean. Looks like it's a laundry day!