Life lessons

I learned some new things over the weekend....

#1-I struggle with patience & Baylee was single handedly sent here to help me master it. We had kids quilt retreat on Friday, after only a few tears, Baylee completed a whole quilt. Her interpretation of 1/4 inch seam & straight line is completely opposite of mine. I had to keep saying in my head, & only occasionally out loud, that it was OK, it was HER quilt, & she is after all 9!! Anyway, the end result was wonderful, don't you think?





Thanks to all my wonderful family for their efforts, this is a great family tradition & I love them all!! Eleven girls & eleven quilts, all in one day!!


#2 a. I am blessed with the greatest family....for cousins that you can stay up late talking with (thanks April, it was so much fun), for sisters-in-laws who are a huge support, for a Mom that lets the grandkids destroy her house in their quest for the latest project, for Natalee's visit & the inspiration for all of the projects, & for the birth of new family members....congrats, Mike & Becky on baby Milo!
b. I am blessed with the greatest friends...my friend Judy & her family passed through town & we spent some time visiting. It is so nice to have people in your life that are comfortable to be around.

#3-The lids on cans are sharp, maybe even sharper than a knife. (If you are queasy, don't look at the rest of this post) Yep, you guessed it.....6 stitches!!



Note to self, and anyone else who wants to make a note, don't try to take the lid off of a can that the can opener didn't go all the way around. #3 is a lesson that was painful to both my hand & my wallet.

Marathon of fun...

and NO, I am not talking the actual marathon...I know you'll be shocked to find out that I will not be running it this year. (Notice I followed marathon with the word fun, so clearly not the same thing at all!)
This past weekend we had another spontaneous visit from my friend Shanda and her family. In keeping with every other visit they make to St. George, we filled every waking moment with activity. We saw Mama Mia...
Which has been described, very accurately, as being "cheesy fun for a girls night out", we would have completely lost the guys at the scene where the bachelor party danced around in scuba gear. However, I must say that I abba-soulutely loved it and if I were a little less inhibited, I would have been dancing through the aisles....in 70's attire no less.

The guys played golf & swam & then we all went to The Dark Knight...


not a movie that would typically interest me but turned out to be pretty darn good. Leave the little ones at home because it is dark & Heath Ledger's joker is just plain scary!!

That night, we went out to Tuachan & saw Les Miserables..


a great show & a fabulous story but we were all miserable because it was three hours long & we were so hot our feet had swollen to the size of watermelons. Shanda's son, Ryan went so far as to say that it was torture. I liked it though & once again realized that I would LOVE, love, love to be able to sing. And to sing well.
Our husbands get along, our kids love to be together & we enjoy doing the same things....you can't ask for more than that...Thanks Hammar family for a fun weekend!!

We're all in this together....

After intense auditions, endless rehearsals, and 24 shows, High School Musical wrapped this past weekend. Tanner never complained of the long and late hours, never grumbled when he had to miss out on fun things because of rehearsals and always carried on, even when he was dog tired.
I think he has found his passion, I am so grateful that he has a safe & awesome environment to pursue it in.
The cast was amazing, not only in talent but also in the way they included Tanner in all of their after show get togethers, most of the kids were either in late High School or College, and he has formed some great friendships. One time during the show when Tanner & I were having a teenage moment & he had texted to a member of the cast that "he hated his mom" (yeah...it happens), the cast member texted him back & said "don't say that, your mom does everything for you!" Thank you, thank you!!! (Incidently, his phone was taken away & he has since changed his opinion of me...this is the reason I verify text messages & have passwords on the computer)
There was a boy in the cast that had cerebral palsy (another of the many reasons I love St. George Musical Theater) he has a hard time walking & talking. On closing night, the director asked him to say the prayer before they went on stage, Tanner said that even though they could barely understand what he was saying, everyone was touched by his efforts & started crying.
There is no way I could have manufactured these experiences and I am so glad that Tanner was able to be a part of it!!!

Scrap-4-Less

I am off to Pahrump to spend the weekend with my funny friends. Since some of us missed out on the semi-annual scrapbook weekend in the spring, we thought we should hold one of our own.
I am sure of a 3 things:

1. That I will laugh... ALOT.

2. That I will be sleep deprived when I come home.

3. That I will weigh 10 lbs. more then when I left.

Yes, this is what I live for. (OK, not ALL that I live for, but it sure makes the rest of living FUN)!!

I'm melting....

I feel bad for the horses that live near my home, standing in their pens, suffering (it seems).
My kids can hardly cross the road without smelling of sweat.
Running is just plain gross.
The air conditioners are on overdrive.
Walking across a parking lot makes me feel as if I will spontaneously combust.
The trees & flowers are DYING for a drink of rain water.
It. is. Hot.
In the winter, when everyone seems to be complaining of the cold....THIS is what
I try to remind them of....this feeling of "UGH, tell me again why I live here!"