Totally into...

a new book called "The Hunger Games" - ack. I can hardly concentrate this morning on anything else, because I can't wait to get back to it. I find myself walking around this morning finding everything just so... civilized.  Who else has read it?????

Happy Father's Day

I know, I'm many days late, but this post has been in my head for a couple of weeks now. Can I just say I LOVE the men in my life?

#1 - My dad is the most knowledgeable person I know, whom I call almost weekly with a new question about something wrong with my car, a request for a new wooden project I want him to build, or asking for help for one thing or another. He's the BEST. I'm sure most of my friends have seen his handiwork in one aspect or another of my house - whether it be a wooden bowl, shelves in my pantry, my FHE magnet board, M's cute nightstand, faucets that he helped me install, plants that he helped me plant, awesome game board frames hung in my loft, or my ENTIRE craft room.  Let me tell you, Dad, they are all jealous!  I feel like I can accomplish SO many more things when he's around - nothing is impossible! I really, really miss him coming up to visit every 2 weeks - darn that Gila Valley temple being built...! His hands are strong, his driving is slow, his snores are loud, his heart is big, his tear ducts are loose, and he's honestly the best Papa ever! Thanks for always being a great example to me. Love you dad!

#2 - My second dad, Poppy los Carlos. He's a pretty smart cookie himself, who is either teaching me something, making me laugh, (or at least making me roll my eyes). It warms my heart to see him interact with my kids. Every time my girls learn some new joke or trick they can't WAIT to try it out on Poppy. He is generous, thoughtful, and willing to bend over backwards most times to accommodate his kids and grandkids. He has a great relationship with each of his kids, he loves gadgets and toys, he loves a good meal, he is a good teacher, he tends to overcook things on his barbecue (but he makes the BEST PRIME RIB I've ever tasted), he yodles, he's funny, he goes on bike rides with his kids, he always comments on blogs and Facebook posts, he's got a great memory and a spectacular knowledge of the scriptures, and we love him. Thanks for being our poppy, Poppy!

#3 - My one and only, hubby dearest. He works himself into exhaustion every day between running around with his basketball buddies in the wee hours of the morning, working all day solving other people's problems and making his bosses look good, serving diligently in his calling, and finally coming home to get attacked by our kids and to do my bidding. He is smart, and tries to be everything and everywhere for everybody. He's an entrepreneur at heart who never has time to build his idea because of all of the previous. He loves the Drudge Report, he's always snacking on trail mix, he loves lounge clothes (who doesn't?), he eats Granny Smith apples all day long, he loves to negotiate and score a good deal, he's always looking for an excuse to buy our kids pizza because he wants some too, his hands are permanently attached to his Blackberry with him emailing somebody, about something, he's clever and funny (though A said yesterday that MY jokes were better, haha!), he loves food so hot it makes him sweat, he only complains sometimes when he has to fold clothes on his side of the bed at night, his haircut is always shorter than his wife would like, he's as cute now as the day we got married (except for the too-short-hair thing), he makes pancakes for our kids every Saturday while Mommy sleeps, and he's by far everyone's favorite person in the house.  This week his project is to buy himself a new car, that meets all the requirements that his fickle wife wants. Wish him luck.  Love you babe -

Yum.

/I'm so making these the next time I have a dessert. Not a huge fan of the too-big-and-too-thick piece of chocolate that never melts enough on a smore. This is GENIUS.

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/06/23/smores-on-a-stick-from-todays-creative-blog

Soy un perdidor ...

You know, people always talk about how the "last" ten pounds are harder to lose than the "first" - - well, I'm not even close to that "last" ten pounds yet, but I'm way beyond the "first" and all I can say is YEAH, THEY ARE RIGHT. Sheesh.  Kind of like the difference between using a belt sander versus a q-tip to try to remove coats of paint....

Cupcakes.

Putting it out to the universe - does anyone have one of these cupcake stands I can borrow next week? Or something similar? Looking for several - - !

Coming out of the fog, random thoughts

Well, it HAD been about six months, so I guess it was time for me to get an ugly sore throat again. This one didn't quite knock me out as much they usually do, but it sure has put a cramp in my style the last few days. A Z-pack is getting me back to normal today, thank goodness, because my house is a SIGHT and seriously needs some attention!  Anybody want to come fold and put away the four loads of laundry on my bed? Come on, I know you just can't wait to come clean all my bathrooms.....

Yes, I have continued to work out every day, (I have to! We're in the middle of fitness challenge! Hello!) but my intensity has sure gone down the last couple of days. Hopefully I will be back up to speed (literally) tomorrow. After doing a P90x workout on Monday, my arms are almost back to normal. MAN, they were hurting yesterday, and I could hardly lift my sewing machine, let alone J. Need to do those DVDs more often, methinks!

Started (and mostly finished) my bandana tablecloth last night - turns out I'm a REALLY slow sewer compared to Jackie. It's red, white, blue and cute! I love how casual it is, and how it fits my table so well, but the green chairs next to it look ghastly! Oh well. Now if I can ever get around to ironing it...

The girls have their first official swim meet tomorrow! I'm excited to watch how they do. A will be one of the oldest in her age group competing, so I have high hopes for her. And I'm hoping M can start swimming straight so she doesn't run into her opponents!

I'm in the middle of the first Percy Jackson book, and loving it - seeing the movie first was definitely a good idea, except now I have an image of Percy being much older than the 12-year-old he is in the book.

I love free activities for my kiddos. The girls are taking a free art class through the city every Monday, it's taught by an art student and they're having a good time playing around with charcoal and conté and learning about space, lines, etc. Since J & I sit in the sidelines during the class too, we're all learning a bit!  A is also taking a free "cub club" class at the pool for the next month; they practice different strokes and play games - yesterday they played "Sharks and Minnows".  Today we went to a puppet show at the library - I always love the summer activities they have going on!

Okay, time to stop procrastinating dinner, since it's after 6 now - peace out

Mini Me

I think I've mentioned how much my 8-year-old acts like me - her reading habit is exactly like mine, and she'll ignore all else and stay up 'til all hours of the night when engrossed in a book. We picked up the forms for the library's Summer Reading Program I think Tuesday or Wednesday this week.  Even when I insisted that each book had to be at least 50 pages - - by Thursday afternoon each of my girls (M was spurred on by A, even though she's not nearly as fast of a reader) had read and recorded their THIRTY books in order to earn all their prizes. Darn the library for being closed on Friday, but we DID visit today and picked up quite the haul!  This year we'll have to be sure and actually USE those free D-backs tickets...

Another way A is like me is her love for organizing things. She keeps taking over other areas of the house, say J's closet, or the corner of my bedroom, or the top shelf of the linen closet..... to create her "clubs" where everything (art supplies, mainly) is lined up and sorted by color. She even draws "maps" of her spaces that detail where everything is supposed to go. I've wished a hundred times that she would apply this love of keeping things clean and orderly to her ROOM, but hey...maybe someday.

Again, today, I saw A being my little mimic. I mean, I knew she was the budding artist in the house and all, but get this - She took it upon herself to create a wall of "art" in her room this week, and now she wants to sell her pictures! There were dozens of colored pencil pictures she'd drawn and taped up on the wall, with this accompanying sign... 

She also taped a little clear envelope on the wall to hold all the money that she's planning on earning.  So cute - I think her mom's habit of hocking stuff on Ebay and to her friends has rubbed off on her!  She was bugging me all evening tonight to get the pictures Daddy took of all her masterpieces up on her blog so she can sell them!  So, without further ado, here's a sampling of what's available, if you want an original by A!  (These are the post-it notes otherwise known as "little ones")   Sorry, Daddy already bought the best ones...and I think she was in such a hurry to get several done that this isn't her best or neatest work -  but I'm sure if you have a request she would be more than happy to create a custom piece for you and actually take her time!  She came in a while ago talking about her newest piece, in progress, entitled "Make it Ripe" with images of strawberries on it.....

I will make her blog public, at least for the moment, so you can go visit.  I'm also half-tempted to set up a paypal address for her - I've got a feeling she's going to need it eventually!  I love my girl!    http://www.creativityally.blogspot.com/   You'll notice a couple of other posts she's written on there, along with all of her most favorite recent songs on her playlist. Enjoy!