Precious Moments

I fell asleep with Olivia in my arms and well it's rare that it's ever captured. Thank you to Alia for capturing this moment. The reason for the flower is because I wanted to look pretty for Rocky when he got home and well we fell asleep waiting.

Olivia's Note

I picked the girls up from school Thursday and Olivia proceeds to tell me that her friend Austin is moving and will be going to a different school. So she needed to write him a note. I told her that we could do it that evening after her homework and chores were completed.

So after dinner we sat on the couch together and she got her notebook and pen. She asked if I could help her spell and I told her that she does a fine job on her own and if she really got stuck I would help her. So she proceeded to write her letter. The cute thing is because she doesn't know how to spell everything she was talking and sounding out the words as she was writing. Below are her writing skills.

Now for the letter.....

Even though it fringes on Olivia's privacy, I had to make a copy of it to put in her binder. I keep a folder for each of the girls of special things throughout their years. Something I plan to give to them when they get older. Anyways, if you are wondering what the lette says, I'll translate.

Austin, I will miss you so much. You were my best friend but even that Ann was my friend. Then she drew a heart but wrote whoops sorry in it. Than it says wait, good job! Signed Olivia. Then below that she writes a house was on fire. To the left of that it says whoops it's not.

She is a funny little girl and she makes me smile. She gave her letter to Austin Friday along with a big hug.

Surprise

So the girls and I went over to Summers one weekend to work on year end stuff for the restaurant and to hang out. Summer, the sweetheart that she is, had a surprise for me. Something she has had for a while but we just haven't had the chance to get together so she could give it to me. So this is me waiting patiently with my eyes closed.

This is me surprised.

She made me a scrapbook (with the help of Hayden & Shasta) of my bridal shower. It was so funny to look through the pictures.

Thank you Summer for everything!!! You are so thoughtful and kind to me, what an amazing friend!

I'm Ready for Summer

This is why I can't wait until the warm weather comes. Than I get to see all the beautiful flowers that bloom in my gardens each year. This isn't even half of them. I just love to look at all the beautiful colors and shapes. Smell the wonderful fragrances. I can't wait until it starts warming up.

My favorite, the stargazer Lily.

Old School

I just had to post this family picture. It's so funny to see how we used to dress or do our hair back in the days. Love it, Love you family!!!

Why I LOVE my Husband (Reason #3)

So I won't go into too much detail because I'm a little exhausted but I wanted to post this tonight. My husband has been in Salt Lake City on some business for the past couple days and I miss him terribly. I am feeling a little down tonight because of some very bad news we received. I won't go into the details but it made me a little emotional. It might be because I miss my husband too that I was a little more sensitive than usual.

Anyhow, even with the miles between us he still makes me feel secure. He assured me everything will be alright and as soon as he got home he would hold me. He told me we would make it through together, we always have. He said to stay strong and we'll figure something out. It was very comforting to hear those words and to feel a little bit of peace knowing that I wasn't going through this alone.

One of the many reasons why I love my husband is because he is so positive and can make me feel better about the struggles we have coming.

Olivia's Day

Here is her award

Daddy wishes he could have been there. He had every intention to be, but work called him to Salt Lake City on an emergency. He wants to make it up and see if the school will let him do a special daddy-daughter lunch.

Olivia decided she wanted Subway, turkey on white with no cheese, lettuce (she called it salad) and olives with a little mayo. Oh and cool ranch doritos and a coke. So that's what I brought her. Plus some chocolate chip and sugar cookies.

Olivia with her award and Grandma brought her a little special gift (2 books).

Olivia had such a big crowd there to celebrate with her. She is so loved.

Mom and Doug, Me and Grandma

And let's not forget little Lilli bug!

Student of the Week

Olivia came home yesterday from school and handed me this. She was chosen P.E. student of the week. This award is not just for her class or her grade. This is out of EVERY student at her elementary school. The Student of the Week is chosen for outstanding citizenship, outstanding academic progress, or marked improvement in either behavior or academic progress. Congratulations Olivia! You are AWESOME!

We are going to meet her for lunch tomorrow at her school. She gets to sit at the "Honor Table" and can invite her parents or whom ever she wants to lunch, so that's what she gets. She wants a sandwich from subway for lunch. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them tomorrow.

Carpet Cleaning

Well here is a little of what my living room looks like. Posted just for you Chels. In November one of my projects was to get the carpets cleaned. I was lucky because a friend let me borrow their bissel carpet cleaner so I didn't have to rent one. I removed all the furniture and started away. It took at least two days for each room because I wanted to be thorough. I only did two rooms. I'm glad it's not something that has to be done very often because it was a lot of work. I'm still not finished. I really need to do our hallways and some of the bedrooms. This a project still in progress. I promise Di I'll get your carpet cleaner back to you...one of these days.

If you are wondering about the walls...that was a project I took on about two years ago. It took me about four days to complete them. I started out with a sponge roller and that didn't work so well so I ended up having to sponge by hand. But it was worth it because I love the look. It's adds nice texture and depth to the walls. It also goes really well with all my decor. At least I think so.

Rocky's Livingroom

I've been meaning to post this for a couple months but just haven't gotten around to it. So I have a free Saturdy morning and thought I would take advantage of doing some posts on our blog.

So in the beginning of November of 2008 I took on this project of painting our living room. Well actually Rocky's living room. I call it his room because I have the other family room which I get to decorate and do what I want with. So this is his room to do what he wants with. I asked him if he wanted me to paint it and he was okay with that. So we decided on a color together. It's kind of an avocado green. The actually color is River Bank in Behr paints. Following are steps throughout the painting process. It's really hard to tell the actually color from these pictures but it really does look nice in person.

The finished look with all of Rocky's things in the room. Remember I said this was his room and to do with it what he wants. There are a few things that I had influences on but not much.

I changed the entertainment system from being against one wall and put it kiddy corner. It created more walk through area and gave the illusion of the room being bigger.

The few green life (plants) in the room is my idea. He think my room looks like a forest with all the plants. But I just like the look of life.

Where I hung his pictures (Clint Eastwood and his Elk) took some finagaling (sp?) but he didn't have much wall hanging space.

I still need to finish the curtains for the doors that go to the patio which I will make with colors that coordinate with the room.

AND Rocky still has a few things he wants to hang up in his room. Where? I'm sure any empty spot will do for him. For some reason he likes to have every wall covered. Oh well, gotta love him.

Talking about holes in the walls Matthew Alba, well this man doesn't have any problems with hanging any and everything up. It would probably drive you crazy. *wink*wink*

From left to right these are the walls.



I know there is no real theme to this space other than it is a reflection of my husband, chaotic, spontaneous, all over the place, manly, his. What else can I say. I love him even though he won't let me decorate his room.

Children are Priceless

I saw this post on a friends blog and had to post it.

Here is something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the break down of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice. The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!*

Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match..

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price! Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren. It's the best investment you'll ever make.

To all my step-children, my nieces and nephews, I love you so much! Your worth every penny and more!

Pointsettia Bowl

Rocky and I went to San Diego to spend time with family and friends during the holidays AND to see BSU play in the Pointsettia Bowl.

We ran into some friends (Kate & her girls...Asia & Aunu) while we were there at the game. So I had to get a picture in the helmet with them. I tried to capture the F15's that flew over in the opening of the bowl but this is the best I could do. They were just too fast.