Favorte Memories Captured Today

IL DIVO
"THE BOYS" were on the special espisode of AMERICAN IDOL GIVES BACK last night. Here is a download for my fellow loyal divas who might want to watch their performance of "Somewhere" again. Way to go IL DIVO, you done us Divas proud!!!!


Paris Good Mail



She got it! I was so happy to hear that my shoe obsessed friend, (www.shoeobsessedone.blogspot.com) had received her "Paris Good Mail". I was so excited to put that together for her and to hear that it had arrived just in time, as she leaves this weekend for France! Once again shoe obsessed one, have a great time kissing (amongst other things) in Paris! (Try on a pair of shoes for me!) AND BTW, the #7 item on my Paris Happy List I didn't expect to be shared with EVERYONE on your blog!!! Although anyone that knows me well, knows I'm TOTALLY KIDDING and that I like a little humor expressed now and then. Another dear friend informed me just this past week that she is going away for two weeks this summer to the city I love. I think some more "Paris Good Mail" is in store!

Favorite Memories Captured Today

Speaking of Earth Day, we recently found out that Emma, was not only chosen as the 3rd grade winner at her elementary school in the 2007 Arbor Day/Earth Day poster contest but was the city wide winner for all Third grades. There will be a special celebration hosted by the city where she will be recognized and honored with a tree planted in her name. Way to go Emmsie!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This week's SPT challenge has given me an opportunity to analyze where am I on the green spectrum. Do we recycle? Yes, to a certain degree we do. We put our recycle items in our trusty green recycle can on Wednesday mornings to be whisked away by the garbage man. We could always recycle more though and follow the example of my dear friend, Miss Nancy from CA. the "recycling queen". Our elementary school is encouraging recycling by having a collection bin where kids can bring used plastic shopping bags to the school so that they can be recycled. What a great idea. Do we reuse Ziploc bags? Depends on what has been in the bag but not usually. Do I carpool? NO, unless you count some carpooling with dance friends. How do I feel about "gently used" items? It honestly depends on where they have come from. Sorry to say, but I'm a little bit of a germ freak. I did go to a Kid to Kid once with a friend as she was looking for a Halloween costume and I found this adorable sweater for B. Olivia for like $3 or $4 dollars. I loved that sweater, which of course she has now outgrown. (I posted some pic's of her in it.) Do I utilize libraries? Yes, but not as often as we buy books. Thrift stores? Only at Halloween time when I'm looking for costumes. Its really the old smell of those places that gets to me. However, I have several friends who seem to find really cool stuff at the D.I. which makes me think I need to frequent them a little more often, possibly with a pair of nose plugs and a bottle of hand sanitizer in tow! (Kidding of course)

Swimwear -

I'm not sure trying on swimsuits would land on my happy list BUT I am excited about the latest swimwear line from modbeclothing.com. SO CUTE! I finally got my swimsuit that I purchased from a Modbe party that I attended last month. I've posted a few styles. They have great mix and match combos, they are stylish yet modest and help with those problematic areas of your body!

Memories Captured Today

Good food day.

Okay, I get just a little excited about food. I'm quite passionate about the stuff and am so thankful that a daily intake of it is required to stay alive. I'll eat practically anything, which my family will attest to. I was pleasantly surprised by my family this morning with breakfast in bed. On the menu were homemade crepes of different varieties... Sour cream filled with sprinkled cinnamon, powdered sugar and syrup. Others with orange marmalade and different jellies, as well as a crab filled one with mango chipolte sauce and a dash of Parmesan. Okay, HELLO! Can we say YUMMY and even more delicious since I didn't have to make them. I'm a little nuts about crepes, perhaps because they are so French and remind me of the city I love so much or possibly because of the many times we've had them up at Scofield for breakfast when we've camped with our camping buddies. Miss Trish is a master at making them! Besides these reasons, they are the ultimate versatile food. Depending on what you fill them with, they can be used for any occasion... breakfast (brunch), lunch, dinner or dessert. Nothing beats the warm, nutella filled crepes made on the street corners of Paris but my goodness this morning's experience was a close second. What a glorious way to be awakened.

We happened to have another one of my favorite foods for Sunday dinner, lettuce wraps! I love those darn things. The ones you can get at PF Changs or Chili's are fab but I have to admit the ones my mother in law and I have created are just as good. We like to load ours, unlike the picture, with marinated chicken, shredded carrots, green onions, maifun rice sticks, water chestnuts, slivered almonds etc. The soy ginger sesame sauce we use is to die for. Boy, was my tummy happy today!

Drama- This little gadget caused quite the drama at our house this weekend. Who would of thought it could cause me a near heart attack or cause Dad to want to run to the doctor to get snipped. Let me explain. Kyleigh, for the past two weeks has been involved with the "Get Fit, Move It" program at school. Each participating 5th grade student has been given a pedometer to wear to track how many steps are taken each day, all in an effort to get the students more conscious about staying physically active. There are classroom contests and awards given for the most steps etc. so its a big deal to these kids. She wears the thing ALL THE TIME, had accumulated close to 35,000 steps for just this week, and has been awarded thus far as being a trailblazer. I was over at the ward house on Saturday being "churchified" again by helping to decorate for the Stake Talent Showcase being held that evening. I get a call on my cell and immediately knew that something was terribly wrong, or so it seemed, at home. Kyleigh is on the other line HYSTERICAL, (which really isn't like her to be quite THAT emotional) trying to tell me through her sobs what had happened. Since I can barely make out a word she is saying I'm freaked out imagining that something awful has happened to one of the other kids. After some composure was attained I was enlightened as to the minor crisis (of course MAJOR to her) that had unfolded. Somehow our littlest one had managed, even as Kyleigh was wearing the pedometer, to push just the right button and reset the whole darn device back to the original starting point...ZERO. Kyleigh was devastated that not only two weeks worth of work was lost but also certain she would be in major trouble with her teacher come Monday. Poor dad was left to deal with the emotional meltdown (You gotta feel for the guy as there is only so much drama and estrogen a guy can handle in a houseful of girls, hence his reason for wanting a future doctor visit to prevent any chance of MORE estrogen coming into the family.) However, once they figured out that they could trick the device into thinking that steps were being taken, order and calm was once again restored to the household. I will not soon forget though the continuous clicking sound heard over the weekend as the two of them took turns shaking the heck out the pedometer to get it back to its 34,000 + number. They are at 13,000 ...only 21,000 shakes to go.....Oh, the drama, you gotta love it!

Memories Captured Today

This has been project deadline week at our house. Both Kyleigh and I had huge projects due this week, and of course due on the same day. This, along with everything else to do, left no time for blog entries but now that I have my life back, for the time being, I thought I'd post a few highlights from the last few days.

Self Portrait Tuesday- It is my first time participating in the SPT Challenge and I must say I didn't follow the rules too well. Instead of spending the money on myself, I gave it to my golf loving husband who went and purchased a set of Junior Golf Clubs so that he can start teaching the three older girls how to golf. They had a great time tonight hitting buckets of golf balls at the driving range, warming up for their first golf game tomorrow. It was well worth giving up the money to see the girl's excitement!

"Feeling churchified" - I'm adding the word "churchified" to my vocabulary and happy list. My project this week was yes, another church one. My friend asked me last night if I was feeling "churchified" yet as she has seen me in recent weeks go from one huge church project to the next. I quite like that new made up word and in response to my friend's question, "YES, I am feeling quite "churchified!"
Attending the 5th grade State Fair at the Elementary School- Kyleigh did a great job on her state fair project. She chose the state of Virginia to do her research report on. The assignment requirements also included a presentation board, 3-D Model, and costume. She dressed as Martha Washington since George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens is of course located in Virginia. Her model depicted Arlington National Cemetery, the Eternal Flame and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


Book Signing- I had the privilege of hearing Mike Ramsdell, the LDS author of "The train to Potevka" speak yesterday. It was awesome! I was able to talk to him after and get a copy of his book signed. He said that Hollywood has approached him to make a movie out of his book. Spielberg could possibly be directing it with either Tom Hanks or Russell Crowe playing the role of him. Way cool!
Lunch with girlfriends- One of my favorite things to do is go out to lunch! Two of my girlfriends and I were able to eat at the Art Garden today. I love the atmosphere of that quaint place. It's like eating in a little European cafe.

Happy List from Easter Weekend

***********HAPPY LIST FROM EASTER WEEKEND*************

Swinging in the front yard tree swing with Brie Olivia*The great turnout that we had for the Ward Easter Egg Hunt and Breakfast that I was in charge of*Easter sandals* New salad and potato recipe I tried for Sunday Easter dinner (YUM!)*Uncle Ryan here visiting from D.C.*Seeing my niece Brittney here from Ohio* Tennis at the park*Easter baskets* Easter-egging (equivalent to toilet papering -just only with plastic eggs filled with candy) our neighbor late Saturday night*Waking up Easter morning and finding that they had in turn Easter-egged our house, only their eggs were filled with money (what great neighbors!)*Photo shoots*Decorating Easter cookies with the girls*Playing croquet*Celebrating 14 wonderful years of marriage to my luv*Remembering Jesus through our special traditional Easter Family Home Evening*

Favorite Things

Since I haven't taken the time to post in awhile here is my compiled list of favorite memories from the past two weeks....

Finishing two really good books "THE TRAIN TO POTEVKA" is about an American (LDS) Spy in Russia. His story of survival, faith and love was a thrill to read. Loved it! He is coming to speak to our Stake in a few weeks and I can’t wait to hear him. I also finished a novel by Rachel Ann Nunes, WINTER FIRE. We have invited her to come to our Stake Young Women’s Camp Kickoff Fireside this summer and talk about her book “Daughter of a King”. That book goes along so well with our theme for Stake YW’s Rough-Out Camp.

Our weekend get-away. Being at the Villa up at Zermatt this past weekend and swimming with the family, shooting some hoops, playing tennis, relaxing, reading, napping, listening to conference, watching the movie "THE HOLIDAY" and of course visiting the European Bakery and gelato shop on more than one occasion.

Public Speaking Survival The relief I felt when my 8 minute instruction I had to present in ward council was over with. One must feel my state of intimidation when 95% of the people in the room are twice my age and have a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom!

Ballet Kyleigh and Emma dancing in the ballet production of “Anastasia"

Collecting eggs for the upcoming Ward Easter Egg Hunt and Breakfast.

The school Book Fair The Spring Book Fair was held at the school this past week. As chairman, I am able to indulge in my love affair with children’s books. Every book fair has a theme and this time it was “RACE TO READ”. I love any theme oriented event so I had a great time getting into the theme of things. Even though race car driving is not up my alley I was able to enlist the help of a dear neighbor who is a fanatic of the sport. He has a whole room in his basement dedicated to his race car collectibles. He let me wear his new race car jacket and borrow some of his car racing memorabilia. That along with other décor and prizes helped to get the school kids excited about coming to the book fair. My favorite moment though was watching the teachers drive the remote control car to win book coupons. Hilarious!

Sweet and Spicy Tuna.

I must say I've enjoyed my latest food discovery several times the last few weeks. This stuff is delicious!!

Late night movie watching. Since it is Spring Break, the girls and I were able to stay up late last night and watch the four hour newest version of Charlotte Bronte’s classic, Jane Eyre. Loved it!