The Pretty Purple Nightgown

You all know what I'm talking about...one of those articles of clothing that you just can't bear to give away not matter how worn or small or whatever it may be. What makes it so hard to part with? The memories or how you feel when you wear it or is it just sooo comfy?
I was reminded of one of those this last week. When Samantha was little, probably almost two years old, our friends' daughter, Jaycee, had a little purple nightgown that was not so much of a nightgown now but a shirt because she had grown way out of it, and it was just getting too small for her. Her mom and dad, Scott and Marsha told her she couldn't wear it anymore, and with many tears, she gave it to Samantha to wear. After a few years, the same scenario happened, so with lots and lots of tears we gave it to some friends that had a little girl about two years old.
I had forgotten all about it until I was talking to my friend, Stefnie, on the phone while hurrying to finish doing the much dreaded and long put off task of cleaning out the kids' drawers before they got home and saw what I had gotten rid of and then beg to keep this or that article of clothing no matter how small or holey or stained it was. We were talking and commiserating about that when she mentioned it was time for Kyla to get rid of the purple nightgown we had given her because it was now more of a shirt than a nightgown on her.
It brought a smile to my face to think about that little purple nightgown and how much Samantha had loved it and how she could never remember which way her underwear should go on so quite often we would catch a glimpse of Sam's little bum with her underwear very obviously on backwards. Remember that, Jeanette?
By the way, I didn't get Tyler's drawers done before he got home from school so had to listen to "Mom, please can I keep it, I won't even wear it, I just want to keep it?". I guess I should have hurried faster!

Tyler's Wrestling

Tyler took first place in his wrestling tournament today for the third week in a row! (One was a three-way tie.) It was a bittersweet day for me. This was the last time I will be able to see him wrestle this year. The next one is state in Nephi, which we won't be able to make. Some good friends of ours want Tyler to be able to go so they will be taking him up with them. I feel awful knowing I won't be there to cheer him on, congratulate him when he wins and hug him if he looses. At the first tournament this year, someone told me that wrestling gets in your blood and you learn to love it. I have never liked wrestling so I did not give it a moments thought but I have to admit, there is something that comes over you when your child is out on that mat one-on-one giving his all, with everyone cheering him on. It will be nice to have our Saturday mornings and Wednesday and Friday evenings back, but I can't wait to see how he does next year!

This first video was taken the Saturday before last and Tyler lost by two points to him then beat him by one point this last week.

Color Country Clogging

Today, Samantha's clogging group, the Color Country Cloggers, performed at the America Onstage competition in St. George. It was fun to see her perform and watch some of the other groups clog, also. She loves to be up on stage so she was really excited about today, that and she received a little medal for participating.
We only have a video feature on our camera, not a actual video camera so it was difficult to get a good video but check her out, I think she is the cutest clogger there is!

Spring Break Fun

What a fun spring break! The kids have been out of school since Thursday. It has been great! we have been to parks, walked the trail up the canyon, watched movies, played with friends, taken a trip to St. George and found some great deals on a few summer clothes for the older kids, done a few craft projects, hunted for Easter eggs, and colored Easter eggs.
When they are in school, I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed. Between the time they get home at 4:00 and when they go to bed at 8:00 we have three sets of homework, at least 20 minutes of reading, three sets of spelling words, three sets of sight words, violin practice and the various lessons, scouts, activity days and practices and occasional doctor/orthodontist appointments that they might need to be taken to, along with dinner and baths. It is all part of the job that I love to do and am grateful that I can do it but it is nice to take a break from it all and just have fun.
Here are a few of the pictures that I took today of the egg hunt and egg coloring. Tyler opted out of going to the egg hunt in favor of participating in his wrestling tournament, then Joe got volunteered to run a table at the tournament so the only pictures I took were after the egg hunt.
See the cool baskets we made out of yarn and elmers glue?

Getting creative with those eggs.

The best way to loose a small child

What is the best way to loose your little sister? Dig a hole! Last summer, with a little help from friends, Tyler dug and dug and dug a hole in the sandbox until-at last!-it was deep enough for him to stand in and barely see the top of his head. He was quite proud of himself until Joe, while he was tilling the garden, decided to fill it in with the tiller. Tyler was quite upset and started a new hole. Now it is warm enough to occasionally to play in the sandbox, he will go and dig.
Today when we went outside to play, Brenna and Braelynn joined him in the hole. Good thing the hole wasn't much deeper!

Dress-up

I remember Veronica and Samantha, especially Samantha, dressing up when they were little but I don't remember it happening this early, though I might be mistaken. Brenna and Braelynn just love to dress up. Probably because they see Samantha and her friends playing dress-up and she has occasionally dressed them up whenever they were willing. Whenever the closet that has the dress-ups in it is left open they come out holding them up saying "me, celaella (Cinderella)". They will stay dressed up until I make them change, either to eat, nap or go somewhere.

They can even point out and say Cinderella, Bell and Sleeping Beauty in books. Here are a few of their creations

Chocolate Wows

Veronica is at the age where she likes to bake things by herself. She has always loved to help in the kitchen but last summer she discovered that if she made it herself, she doesn't have to wait until I have time to help her. So she has been experimenting with recipes she has found here and there and she really is good at it.
Last Tuesday, though, was the once a year buy-one-get-one-free book fair. The one time a year that we let the kids pick out a book to buy (the library and bookmobile is free!). Tyler and Samantha think it is fun to go and buy a book to keep for themselves, but for Veronica, it is a very special treat. She loves to read so much that it takes a long time for her to narrow it down to THE book that she wants.
Tuesday she had about a half an hour after school until her parent-teacher conference so the plan was that she would pick out her book while I dropped the rest of the kids off at the babysitters then we would meet at the book fair. When I got there she ran up to me with the book she wanted-a cookbook! Good Housekeeping Favorite Recipes Cookies! 249 pages of cookie, brownie, cheesecake, etc., etc., recipes-with pictures.
Normally this would not be a big deal but over the last year I have managed to loose about 50 pounds with about 20 left. Everyone knows that the last twenty are the hardest to loose, especially when you love chocolate as much as I do!
I have to credit my parents for letting me experiment as much as I wanted to in the kitchen growing up which led to me already knowing how to cook when I got out on my own and really want to let my kids do the same.
Her creation on Saturday was Chocolate Wows. Wow, were they good! We found out why they are called Wows. Joe had the camera at Tyler's Wrestling tournament that I opted out of going to this week in an effort for Veronica and Samantha to have some time at home this weekend so I didn't get very good pictures of her making them. By the time they got home we had given away all but four, two for Tyler and two for Joe so that we would stop being tempted by them, so we didn't get a picture of the finished product, either. Here are a few I took before the old camera started acting up, though.
Tyler, by the way is doing awesome in wrestling, taking second in his meet last week and third yesterday!

Lovin' it!

I used to be a scrapbooker. I don't really profess to be all that good at it, I didn't really take the time or money to make it fancy with all the embellishments and everything, that and I think the focus needs to be on the pictures and the story behind the picture instead of the page itself. But it was something that I enjoyed doing. I like feeling crafty and it was fun to write down the fun and cute things that the kids said or did.


The reason I said used to be a scrapbooker is because I had not touched it for about two years. With five kids, two of which were newborns at the time and now with two toddlers, it is just not feasible (or enjoyable!) to drag all of my stuff out and do anything creative. My sister Brenda had introduced me to digital scrapbooking almost a year ago and I did a few pages then got distracted and hadn't done anything since. That was until a few weeks ago when the kids pulled out their scrapbooks and spent about an hour going through and remembering and reminiscing. There were so many things that I had forgot about and would never had remembered if they weren't there. We all had so much fun I decided that no matter what, I had to start writing and preserving those memories again.


So, with some help from Joe's brother Dave installing a new program and teaching me a few new tricks I am scrapbooking again! I still miss the traditional paper scrapbooking and plan to make a few pages here and there (the more momentous or special occasions). Digital scrapbooking is a fun way to catch up on all the pages I need to do, and believe me, I have a LOT!


One warning, though, the crafty bug has kind of hit me. I think all that time off has caught up to me. I tried my hand a making hair bows (Matti, I think I need your help!) , Made a few blankets, done primitive stitching etc, and so if you plan on stopping by unannounced, my usually fairly clean and orderly home may not be so orderly!