be-lated wishes

so after all the birthday stuff the blogger moms have been doing lately, (which i will blog about later), i was thinking to myself today, "why didn't ever make a list of what i love about patsy when it was her birthday earlier this month?" seriously, i'm so dumb, she's one of my best friends in the world, i adore her like no other and it seems totally appropriate that i would docment what exactly it is that i love about her but for some reason i did not. so, even though this is late, like, uh, seventeen days late to be exactly, i figure it's better late than never right ? so here goes...ten things i LOVE about my friend patsy...

1. patsy is the best mom - seriously - she's the best mom. i know this is true because she has the best kids, they are all so friendly and happy and willing to help. we used to be neighbors years ago and rich and i actually talked about what great parents patsy and brett are are and things we do to have a home more like theirs. i still try to emulate her as a mother, i want to be just like her when i grow up.

2. patsy is always sending great notes and good mail. years ago when allie sung at a baptism, patsy sent her a note thanking her for helping her feel the spirit and encouraging her to keep singing. allie was so touched and still has this note in her scriptures. i was so inspired that now i write a note to anyone who touches me with an awesome lesson, or musical number, or whatever. good friend and good mail queen for sure. 3. patsy's house feels like home even if you don't live there. i've always loved going to her house, any kind of a visit ends up being longer than i planned because her home is so inviting. there is a wonderful spirit there and it makes me want to stay for hours - and sometimes i do. 4. all of patsy's kitchen chairs are mis-match different colors and styles. it says so much about her personality and i LOVE this about her - and her cute kitchen.

5. she has always wanted to have a sugar bowl like in arthur, some day we're going to make that happen.

6. patsy organized a cupcake swap and gave me a plate of cupcakes even though i flaked out and forgot all about it! the most amazing treat i've ever had in my whole life was her copy cat hostess cupcakes. oh...my....goodness. love in the form of chocolate they were.

7. patsy is a volunteer - a real child advocate, all because she loves children. part of how i've gotten to know her so well is through volunteering. i've never met anyone as passionate about the real reason we volunteer than patsy. she's a great example of what an involved parent should be.8. one of her goals this year is to be creative every day - i love that creativity is this important to her... and she totally is! she has done some of the cutest projects!9. she has a sand collection from beaches all over the place and displays it in bottles. i love this about her.

10. i'm saving the best for last: my number one favorite thing about patsy is that she is so down to earth. a long time ago when we were neighbors and i was first married to rich, i got sort of swept up in the pretending game - you know trying to be the best mom, the best volunteer, the best cook, the best scrapbooker, etc. patsy was the first person who told me that women should be teammates instead of competators. that really stuck with me and i've tried to embrace that philosophy ever since. she gave me permission in a way to be myself and not to pretend that life is fantastic 100% of the time and not to care necessarily what everyone else is thinking. there's not a fake bone (or boob) in her whole body and this is a gift to me and to everyone around her.

so, seventeen days late, but here it is anyway. i love you patsy girl! you are a gift and i cherish your love and friendship! :)

shade - spt

the past several years now i've gotten up early, really really, early, thrown on a hat and driven down town to sit in the dark for a few hours to save our family a spot on the "shady" side of the street for the annual pioneer day parade. in the past i've taken a book because it's kind of a lonely three or four hours waiting until it's "legal" to actually save a spot (there's definitely something wrong with the system, but whatever). this seems like an extreme thing to do just for a shady spot, but since all the spaces are full by 4:30am or so, i must not be the only one who doesn't like sitting in the blaring sun.

this year began what i hope is a long tradition of girlfriends saving spots in the wee hours of the morning. kristy and i met a 3:30 AM to save our spots together and she made the whole experience managable, and FUN. we drank crystal light energy drinks to stay awake, listened to ABBA on her ipod, chatted about everything, froze somewhere around 5am and counted down the minutes to when the local einstein's bagels opened up so we could get some food! (mental note: next year bring snacks!) breakfast was so yummy, if you've never had a breakfast bagel from einstein's you definitely should. i was cold enough that it seemed like a good excuse to get a tall steamed milk with vanilla - one of my favorite treats - once it's cooled off slightly, ouch!later on after 7am came and went and our spot was secure, we still stood around chatting for another twenty minutes, apparently four hours isn't enough time to talk about everything you want to talk about. i love kristy, she makes everything fun with her happy attitude and funny stories, we always have plenty to laugh about! i hope we are saving spots every year for a long time. and it was worth it! we had great seats that ended up being in the shade about half the time! so what extreme measures would you go to enjoy the shade?

sun - SPT

ok, ok, i know i haven't finished may's spt theme yet, the truth is, i can't think of anything to do for "something borrowed", or "something blue" and since i'm so behind, i'm just skipping ahead to july's theme which is the five elements of summer: sun, water, shade, grass and ice cream. i'll start with "sun"...

if i could go back in time and re-do some of the stupid things i've done, (and believe me the list is long) somewhere towards the top of my list would be tanning. i cringe when i think of the many hours spend purposely smothering my skin in oil and laying out for no other reason than to fry myself like a piece of bacon. yikes! what was i thinking? i'm not sure what changed my mind about the sun, maybe it was my first sunspot or being more educated about how harmful the sunrays can really be. ok, i'm lying, it's wrinkles - i don't want wrinkles - there, i said it! shallow but true, so ever since i was about twenty or so i have been a major sunscreen fanatic - if i'm ever caught in any kind of sun without it, i feel like the wicked witch of the east in water. i can just feel the wrinkles and sunspots jumping out of my skin and it makes me a little crazy. i wear sunscreen EVERY DAY, all year long no matter the weather, and most days i apply more than once.i'm always looking for the latest and greatest sunscreen, i have a hard time walking past the display at target, an even harder time not choosing a new one to try. this photo is just a small sampling of the many different kinds currently in our swim bag.as far as i'm concerned the invention of "mist" sunscreen is right up there with TIVO on the awesome invention scale. i mean who wants to have greasy hands for the rest of the day, especially when you have four kids to lather up? yuck. so i have tried them ALL - for real, all of them. my favorite has been the same for years now, BULL FROG no rub spray. it's no doubt the most expensive but it's worth it, since our family started using it we haven't sunburned even once. it's good stuff, i highly recommend it.

so my advice is simple: love the skin you're in and some day, it will love you back. soak in the summer sun, but put on some sunscreen first!

something old - SPT

...well...something that's getting old anyway....there's a toddler in my bed. it has been a very long time since there was a toddler in my bed. what to do? i can't say that i'm very excited about this latest development. lately ethan's bedtime routine has been so great, we read, we rock, he goes to sleep, the end. but the last several nights in a row, right at about 4 am, he wakes up and cries and will only go back to sleep if he is in my bed. of course i know i should be strong and put up some sort of "i'm the mom and you're the toddler" fight, in fact, this would be my advice to anyone else suffering the same dilemma, but at 4 am, i'm still feeling the effects of the ambien i took at midnight. and even if i weren't who wants to argue with a two year old that early in the morning - we're both cranky and it's a no-win situation.so...we do what every other sleep-deprived mother does in this situation. we head to my bed where he sleeps, tossing and turning and kicking my kidneys, and i get to sleep too...sort of.

something new SPT

this week i'm starting a something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue theme. why? well, one because i missed lelly's spt of these things and....i need to shake things up a bit around here. so here we go...today's post is "something new".

spencer has always wanted to play the violin, ever since kindergarten. a classmate of his brought her tiny violin to class and played some notes for everyone and since then he has been hooked. he's convinced that the violin is the instrament for him. so, i told him that if he would take a few years of piano first, just to get down some basic note reading and training then we could switch to the violin at some point. so, it's official, he's switched. he's had two lessons so far and is constantly squeaking out 'twinkle twinkle little star' but there's a smile on his face while he does it. we'll see if it ends up being something he does forever a long time, i have a feeling he will. i love spencer's passion, he's very all or nothing kind of kid. he has wanted to play the violin for a long time, and never gave up on the idea, and now, here he is.

kung fu crazy

patsy inspired me to get on it already and take my kids to see kung fu panda like i've been meaning to now for months! i ended up tending jason and leah's kids today so i called up april and asked if she was up for cousin's day at the movies? apey is alaways up for an adventure. and so we were off with nine kids, five of them, under the age of six and two crazy moms trying to control the lot of them! mom, i need popcorn, mom, i need to go potty, and ethan, what a pill! it's a good thing that the movie was so great, we laughed and laughed. it was very jack black who we are all fans of so that made it excell in it's awesomeness! it has a cute message too and we have already been searching the interenet for the movie's dialogue so we can repeat the catch phrases correctly in our house. i told the kids to strike their best kung fu pose, but whatever.this is as good as it gets in stiffling hot summer heat right? i appreciate that april is always game for whatever crazy scheme i've got cookin'. two against ten, are we crazy? yes we are, but we always have so much fun. love this girl! a good time was had by all, that's all that's important. the big kids were very helpful. on the way out of the elevator a lady chuckled when i announced, "does everyone have their little person's hand?" she probably thought i was a mom who had more than she can handle. she's probably right, but it sure is fun!

daisy toes

is there anything better than getting a pedicure? seriously, maybe a vacation to hawaii but a pedicure is definitely a luxury that i could get used to. so when jenny suggested a sister-in-law day out to celebrate ann's thirtieth birthday, pedicures just seemed like the way to go - good job jenny! we all agreed that we need to have one of those fabulous massage chairs in our houses - i swear it gave me the best back rub and that was almost as nice as having my feet rubbed. it was fun to chat with each other and try to chat with the cute vietnamese people working on our feet but only a couple of them spoke english very well. a fun time and cute toes were had by all. i'm in love those little flowers they paint on at the end, it just makes me so happy to have daisy toes. i think we found a new tradition to celebrate our birthdays! happy birthday annie! we love you!

everybody cut...everybody cut...

last night i took allie to see a local production of the play footloose. the play was ok, not the best performance i've seen at that theater, but it was fun enough to get my toes tapping for sure. on the way home, allie and i stopped and bought the movie because the play sort of left me wanting more. more kevin bacon that is, it's just not the same without him i decided.footloose was absolutely one of my favorites growing up, i probably wore that old vhs tape out watching it over and over. i also had a tape of the sound track, my first tape ever to be exact and i wore that out too. and man, who wasn't in love with kevin bacon after that cutting loose in the warehouse scene where he just dances his little hiney off?! i remember thinking lots of times as a teenager that i just needed some kind of awesome get away place like that to dance off the pressures and crap of being a teenager. not to mention his jeans....oh man, almost as nice a steve perry baby! as we watched it today, i remembered how much i wanted a pair of red boots like ariel'sand how i wished that my senior prom had been as fun as theirs - no one danced at mine, how lame!and how much i love the kid who played willard (chris penn - yes sean's brother) and the scene where ren teaches him how to dance. he steals the show and did in the play last night too. i did read that the movie makers, who can't leave a classic alone, are doing footloose again with this cutie boy. that should be a fun time, i would be lying if i said i didn't think zac efron could look good in the dancing maniac scene. there's just something about him, such a cutie.it was strange to see kevin bacon so young, it made me feel kind of old, but only for a minute, until i got up and danced to the footloose song. then i just felt, really old because it kind of hurt a little bit. nice stroll down memory lane though.

a day of favorite things

we are so lucky that stacie's parents and lots of family still live here in utah because it brings her into town at least once a year. and when she comes in, we ALWAYS eat at the happy sumo - YUMO, my favorite place so no complaints here! it was a fun lunch with a lot of laughs and then i felt so sad to hug her good bye. who can help me find a job for kerby here in utah? stacie, we officially want you back! while we were gone to lunch, all of our girls and their younger sibblings were tended at patsy' house. everyone seemed to have a fun time, ethan was soaked with trent from the sprinklers and thought it was just hillarious. why don't i have a photo of this? later patsy came over with trent to visit and they brought me this fantastic express good mail. daisies! my favorite! and not to mention my love for mason jars of all sizes - why do i love these so much? -thanks guys, you made my day! :) later on when i got home and no one was bothering me, i ate one of my favorite treats, one i have a hard time NOT picking up when ever i go to the gateway because they're just so good. rocky mountain chocolate factory has the best dipped apples and the best kind they do is the apple pie. a layer of caramel, then a layer of white chococlate, then layer of cinnamon and sugar, oh man, this is heaven. what can be better than a day of favorite things? faovrite friends, favorite food, favorite flowers, favorite treat, i guess today was a good day!

favorite fourth moments

fourth of july weekend highlights:

*our home town children's parade on the third, wagon decoration and sweat provided by jake "the boy". - thanks jake!* bbq and fireworks at kristy's house

* holding kristy's neightbor's newborn baby (and stealing a few shots of him) during the whole parade and to get my fix * kristy's tiny picnic table sized just right for little hineys

*janae's gorgeous flag cake that was tasted even yummier than it looked!

* poor lexi's getting tortured by the camera (in allie's hands) the whole time!* alone time with my feet up while rich took the kids to see wall-e* cousins at mom and dad's all playing so well together and looking so cute* a surprise twenty minute lunch break appearance by leah who has been working so much lately that we've been missing her *allie's patriotic nail art * mom and dad's for all that glorious food, my mom makes the best potoato salad ever! *the little kids being entertained by a bug * the big kids being entertained by uncle brandon's new blackberry * allie's glow in the dark "earings" * do-them-yourself fireworks in the driveway while everyone oooos and aaaaahs!happy fourth of july everyone!