distracted

how did i miss these? i was sorting recent photos into their proper folders and found these beauties! i can't believe i missed them, they cracked me up so hard when i first took them i remember being excited to get them posted. i guess i got distracted, which you know, happens frequently in my world, and i'm now getting them up. so these are obviously back when patsy broke her ankle. we took a ride out to our favorite store - archivers, to get her out of the house. ethan thought it was so awesome pushing her around the store, it was totally his job and he would get a little touchy if i tried to help steer, which in a store with that many shelves of little things, sometimes got kind of interesting. but patsy didn't mind, she kept him totally busy having him help push her, she is one of his favorite people because she's always so fun.

the only thing he liked better than pushing her was riding in it himself.

funny kid.

spoiled rotten

My dear sweet friend Patsy is spoiling me rotten! Earlier this week when I was being a terrible blogger, I received this good mail package from Patsy that totally made my day! I especially loved the mints wrapped in cute paper, how fun is that?! And let me just plug those peppermint candy kisses right now, if you haven't tried them, you must. Of course the best part of any good mail is the great note telling you what a great friend you are and how much you are loved. And you believe it too because why would someone take the time to put together such a great good mail pkg if they didn't love you? Of couse they love you! I put the note up on my desk to remind me that I am loved and it was the big pick me up in the middle of an exhausting day that I totally needed. So, before I even have time to write out a thank you note, I get MORE good mail from Patsy today!I squealed when I opened the envelope because I have been coveting these good mail labels made by Jill and Patsy sent them to me in my favorite color!So great! The biggest blessing of all this blog stuff has been my friendship with Patsy, I just adore this girl! The point in blogging about this is to encourage some good mail from my readers, it just makes you and the person you send it to, feel so good, how can it not? Now I have TWO really nice notes from Patsy sitting on my desk reminding me that I am loved, and spoiled rotten.

the chocolate is in!

Yes, yes, I'm still alive! Blogging took a back seat to the chaos this week, luckily I have a few minutes this evening to try to get caught up. Thursday morning started with the some of the best bed head I have ever seen courtesy of Spencer! He and Taylor are obsessed lately with growing their hair out a little, ok, a lot, it's driving me crazy but I'm trying to pick my battles. Spencer went to bed with wet hair Wednesday night and woke up to this! Even wetting it didn't calm it down enough, I told him those are the breaks when you grow your hair too long! Unfortunately it didn't seem to detour him too much. Ethan was off to Ann's to play while Patsy and I sorted the Sally Foster order that came to school today...Luckily, we got some of our favorite sixth grade girls to help us out and Patsy and I were done with enough time to grab some Firehouse salads for lunch. We forgot to take a picture, we were in a huge hurry, next time. I really am blessed to have the opportunity to volunteer, it makes my life crazy some days, but it's worth it, I love being at my kids' schools and feeling like I contribute. Allie's school especially feels like home to me and I'm going to be sad to leave it at the end of this year.

bitter sweet

Although as mothers we are particularly proud of our missionary sons, sending them away from home for two years is a bitter sweet experience. Today was Brian's farewell and let me just say, that I didn't cry that much at my own brothers' farewells (sorry, love you guys). It was a very emotional day, and also a very spiritual one. During Brian's talk the spirit was so strong and I was grateful for the rejuvenation to my soul. I just kept thinking of Patsy and if I were her, how I would be feeling (proud and sad) and then Brian said, as he started to cry, "I just can't talk and look at my mom". He is such an awesome kid, seriously, a total ham, he is going to have the best time and other missionaries are going to wish for him as a companion becuase he will make the work fun! I can't wait to see some of the pictures he sends home, he is also a wonderful photographer.People in Chile will feel of his love and spirit and testimony and be drawn to his message of the truthfulness of the gospel. Afterwards, Patsy's house was hopping with sooo many well-wishers, which doesn't surprise me because I'm sure Brian has an army of friends who love him, he's just that kind of person that everyone wants to call friend. These were only some of the shoes piled by the door...I had my camera out so I could help Patsy take pictures, I knew she would be too overwhelmed. I had to take pictures of these to DIE for brownies made my Linda the caterer who everyone loves.Is there a better dessert than brownies? Lovely, gooey brownies and it didn't hurt that they were three inches thick, oh my chocolate goodness! My second favorite treat are lemon bars, these were the best I've ever tasted and I will be asking Patsy for the recipe as soon as her life calms down. It's hard to imagine that I had any room left over for a sandwich and salad, but I stuffed it all in and it was worth it. YUM! At the end, Patsy hugged me and told me she loved me, I was so touched. We have known each other for years, but this last little while we have grown so close and I value her friendship so much. I will be thinking about her on Wednesday around 11am while they're taking Brian to the MTC. Bitter sweet.

the warm fuzzies

Yesterday started this time of year for Patsy and I, and we spent the entire school day together trying to get everything off and running smoothly. The SF girl who came to do the kick off assembly for us (thank goodness we don' t have to be in charge of that, sheesh) asked us how long we had been doing SF? We laughed because it's definitely been a while. We decided this was our fifth year in a row of doing it! Really, if you're going to do a volutneer project, this is the one to do, Lauri does it for her school too so Patsy and Lauri and I get to hang out at all the SF meetings during the year. They sponsor a yummy lunch, tons of freebees, it may be the only volunteer job that has tangible benefits I swear! (I mean besides the warm fuzzy feeling that you're doing something good, that's of course a benefit) So, the kick off was yesterday which means I spent all of General Conference stapling and putting labels on packets, no brainer kind of work, but it's all passed out and we can take a deep breath until orders start coming in. The BEST (even better than the warm fuzzies) part of volunteer work, are the relationships you foster with other moms along the way, seriously, Patsy is one of my closest friends and the fact that we volunteer on so many of the same commities is a great excuse to have to hang out together. We had a GREAT lunch at Chipotle with even better conversation. If you haven't checked out Patsy's blog, you definitely should, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I check it every day. I love to know what's goin' on over at Paty's house! She makes me, and you, feel so great, like you are a normal mom with normal challenges and isn't that a breath of fresh air from all the pretending that goes on? And her little guy, Trent is worth reading about, that kid's adventures even make Rich laugh! I just love her to pieces! Now I have to go so I can work on editing her photoshoot from Sunday! PS I have a catalogue if you would like to support our school! :)