Saturday Makes Six

Bouquets of flowers that is.

Friday

Saturday
I've run out of vases :)

Friday Five

Remember me? Probably not, but I'm back. I'm not even going to comment on how long it's been since I blogged. Dang. I just did. Well, rather than giving an update of my life over the past forever, I'm doing a Friday Five. Because it's Friday. So there.

Five Things That Came Home From Work With Ben This Week

Monday


Tuesday

Wednesday


Thursday

Friday
Well, I don't EXPECT anything today, but it wouldn't be a Friday Five if I only had Four.
Then it would be a Friday Four.
Which is really what it is, I suppose, since nothing has come home from work with Ben today because Ben hasn't come home from work. And whether or not he brings me MORE flowers today (which I don't expect, but possibly anticipate), I still love that man with every fiber of my being. He's the best.
And if you feel like I'm bragging, you're probably right. Deal with it.

Friday Five

Dear Charlotte,

5 Things I Have Listed in My Etsy Shop This Week (click on the picture if you want to see more pictures of something):

Summer Nights Necklace
Young Women's Value Bracelet

Go Green Necklace (Okay, so I sold it to my sister...)

Enchanted Earrings

South Pacific Necklace

Friday Five

Dear Charlotte,

Holy Cheeseball Batman, it's Friday already?!

5 Books That Have (Possibly) Changed My Outlook on Life:

1 - The Book of Mormon
2 - tuesdays with Morrie
3 - The View From Saturday
4 - The Ordinary Princess
5 - Inherit the Wind

Friday Five

Dear Charlotte,

I've decided to start adding some kind of list of five to my blog every Friday. Okay, it might not happen every Friday, but I'll try...

So, in honor of Mother's Day, this week's Friday Five is:

5 Reasons I Love Being a Mom

1 - How could you not love those sweet faces in the post below this?
2 - Watching my kids learn new things is so exciting!
3 - All the hugs and kisses I can steal.
4 - The sound of children's laughter often fills my home.
5 - The joy and excitement they have in the simple things of life help me to remember what is important and makes me so happy!

Kids...

Dear Charlotte,

They might be naughty, but they sure are cute!

4 Things

Mel tagged me, so here I go:

4 Things I Did 10 Years Ago
1 - That would put us at 1998, right? So no one is allowed to laugh, but at this time that year, I had just finished my sophomore year...of high school. Hey, I said no laughing!

2 - I went on my first date.

3 - I wore ugly clothes

4 - This is probably when I decided not to be a shallow person

4 Things I Did 5 Years Ago
1 - We moved into our first 2 bedroom apartment

2 - Maddie was born! (Yes, I did that)

3 - I finished my college courses (with only an internship left, which I finished the next semester)

4 - I met a true bff

4 Things I Did Yesterday
1 - Somehow survived the most out-of-control primary I've ever witnessed!

2 - Endured screaming from a normally under control Maddie when she didn't get the pen she wanted. (Yes, this was during Sacrament Meeting. And yes, I took her out. If you ask Missy, it was probably all my fault.)

3 - Visited a sick friend

4 - Had breakfast for dinner (now that I think about it, what a very fitting dinner to have on fast Sunday - Break-Fast! Okay, the bad jokes are done now.)

4 Shows I Love to Watch
Um, I don't really watch much TV, so here are the top 4 shows that get watched out our house:

1 - American Idol

2 - Toss-up between Super Why and DragonTales

3 - Curious George

4 - Clifford (yes, the Big Red Dog)

4 Things I Love to Do
1 - Dance

2 - Make jewelry/Scrapbook

3 - Make cookies or other treats (and eat them, of course!)

4 - Visit with family and friends

Let's see, I tag Katie, Amanda, Crystal, and Liz - You're it!

Sparkles and Bananas

Last night the play was....unusual. To start, we didn't start. Until half an hour late. Missy had sparklies, a LOT of sparklies. And she was loving it! She kept offering them to everyone, but I think it was just so she could rub the excess on herself. She was, in all aspects of the phrase, too good to be true! The banana scheme, not so much. I practice stealing Juniors gun and returning it to his holster without him noticing all night, so I thought it would be easy. But I wasn't banking on him sitting so close to the side of the chair! I couldn't squeeze the banana in - and then he noticed and then I missed my lines because I was so preoccupied with the banana! It turned out funny, but not as planned. We had some interesting mistakes, but nothing major. Closing night tonight, and boy will the pranks be flying!

Opening Night Run-down

We had opening night last night for our stake play. It was a lot of fun and actually turned out pretty well, all things considered! Our dress rehearsal the night before was quite rough. But last night people were actually laughing and seemed to enjoy it, so it couldn't have been that bad. But Oy Vey! In one scene we had two missed entrances, which totally threw me off, so then I ran off stage WAY early and had to, quite obviously, re-enter to continue a conversation that never should have ended. Yikes! Joel (Junior) got a little pistol-happy and decided to shoot our already dead prop man to death, not to mention everything else in sight. He seems to think he is the star attraction. I'm thinking tonight I might try to replace that pistol with a banana when he isn't looking. Really. I'm going for it. Oh yes, and the director has a crush on my hubby. Really.

Of Shirts, Ambulances and Late Nights Out

Turtle has a shirt that reads "My Parents are Exhausted" and I think we should permanently attach it to his body. We Are! With everything we've got going on lately, we can hardly get a snore in edgewise. We've signed up for a city-sponsored program called Slim Down Sandy (or more affectionately known by our friends Scott and Missy as Fess Up Fatty, Trim Down Tubby and Lose It Lardo). This has added the time-consuming tasks of eating healthier, exercising and a weekly family walk to our schedules. We enjoy it, but it does take time - in fact, last Monday I forgot I was supposed to babysit the neighbor's kids because we were out on our family walk. Yikes!

In addition, we've been rehearsing for our Stake Play - Phantom of the Op'ry - which we're supposed to perform next week and, as a cast, we've not yet run through it from beginning to end. I think that will happen a total of ONCE before we begin performing. This calls for a lot of late nights out in order to rehearse, and today I can feel that it is taking its toll on my body. Regardless of how late we stay up, Ben still has to get up for work at 5:30 and the kids still wake up around 6:30, so there's no sleeping in!

And what of the ambulances in the title, you may ask? Well, last night we were a half hour late for rehearsal because we couldn't get out of the parking lot of our condo. An ambulance, a fire truck and two police cars were blocking us in. So, like all good neighbors, we stood and stared as they took care of business. Ben had heard a loud pop a few moments earlier and was wondering if it were a gunshot. A life-flight copter landed on the street next to the condos, and then a man in a stretcher was brought out and rolled down to it. This morning we found out that a man and a woman were cleaning a condo that had been foreclosed. The woman found two rifles under a bed and as she was moving them, one went off and shot the man in the stomach. She called 911 and I already told you what happened next. We could see the woman and she was frantic. The man was flown to the U of U Hospital, and later pronounced dead. I feel horrid for that woman and the man's family. My heart goes out to them and I am praying for them. I would take exhausted over that any day. Any Day.

Book Plug - A Curse Dark As Gold

Her first novel. Brilliant! I needn't say more. Go read it. Now.

Cooking With Style

I just received a beautiful new apron in the mail. I bought it from a fabulous Etsy seller whose shop is at perdoozy.etsy.com She's a joy to work with, so check out her awesome aprons. Even Rachael Ray's assistants wear these! I just love 'em and I'm excited to have gotten mine today!

Book Plug - The View From Saturday

Might I just say that I love this book! I first read it about 4 years ago and it has become one of my comfort reads. I'm glad it won the Newberry in it's year. This is the kind of literature I want my kids reading. I just reread it over the last couple of days. The book, by EL Konigsburg, is written from several points of view. Each of 4 children have returned from some kind of journey and have found something they didn't know they were missing - kindness. Together they choose to help their parapelegic sixth grade teacher "stand on her own two feet." And they become a team. Just. Like. That. The plotting of the book is pure genius. This is the kind of book that can add something to your life. I gain new insight and make new connections every time I read it. And it's enjoyable, too! I don't really want to give it all away, so go read it yourself. Indeed, it will not disappoint. Indeed.

Guess What I Got for Christmas...

Who knew my husband was so incredibly awesome?! He got me a MacBook laptop for Christmas - the laptop I've been wanting for YEARS! I couldn't believe it! He also gave me a gift card for Arbonne, compliments of Missy and Scott - woohoo! I hope everyone is having a very merry Christmas!