And So It Begins . . .

Summer has finally arrived. And I'm not talking about finally having non-Arctic temperatures. I'm talking about kids home all day, alternating between trying to play on the computer all day and kill each other. You must have a plan. We have one full week under our belts and so far so good. I only thought about them going back to school 5, maybe 6 times this week. OK, maybe it was more, but I'm sure I shouldn't admit that.

Our summer plan is for every day to have some work and then every day we have something fun. One of our fun things has been to read The Twits by Roald Dahl together. It's one of my favorites. By reading 10 pages a night together, we have finished it in about a week. And then, thanks to the Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes book, we had a good plan to make a Mr. Twit for dinner.



If you haven't read the book (and you need to), Mr. Twit was a "foul and smelly old man" whose face was not only "covered with thick hair, the stuff even sprouted in revolting tufts out of his nostrils and ear-holes." The best part of his horrible beard was all the food that got stuck there that he saved for later snacks. Mrs. Twit was also horrid and they amuse themselves by playing horrible tricks on each other and tormenting small animals until they finally get taught a lesson. I won't reveal more than that because seriously, you need to read it.

So here's the point of the post--a picture of our Mr. Twit who was fun to make and even more fun to eat. Now for something to do for the other 73 days of summer . . .

A Mormon Mom's Dilemma

Modest Prom Dress. This is the dilemma. And while there are shops and web sites now to help with this dilemma, price is also a factor for us. I don't want to spend a small fortune, and I want my daughter to have a beautiful, modest dress. I don't think that's too much to ask for. I am not exaggerating when I say this could be the catalyst for a short stay in a mental facility.

So we were in England a few weeks ago and I asked my daughter if she wanted me to look in London for a dress. She said yes and gave me 3 criteria: long, with sleeves, and easy to match. So I found a BEAUTIFUL dress for a great price . . . that matched only one of the criteria. Why did I ignore the other 2? you may ask. Did I mention how utterly pretty and shimmery it is? And I apparently had an over-inflated estimation of my skills in being able to fix it. So I bought it.







And now I am paying the price. I spent the better part of two days going to every fabric store in Provo and the Salt Lake area trying to find matching fabric. No go. She finally agreed I could take the chiffon scarf things that hung down the back of the dress to use for sleeves. Spent another afternoon taking in seams to try and fit her skinny little self. Totally messed it up and nearly had a heart attack until I figured out what I had done and was able to fix it. I think I will need a spa day when this is finished to recover.

I have bugged my sewing friends for ideas. Jeny has sent sketches. Gayle has inspected and offered ideas. And Sarah (http://jaynsarah.blogspot.com/), has spent lots of time helping us with her creative genius. Tomorrow is Project Sleeves.



This is a rough idea of what I'm working on. (Does it look skinnier? I've taken it in twice and have to do it again.) Wish me luck. I need new thread and possibly some more chiffon to add another layer under the sleeves for coverage. And in the middle of this insanity, I am making her an Easter dress. Did I mention I have an over-inflated opinion of my capabilities? sigh . . .

Here's the top so far:



And then, just for fun, here is a picture of my new sewing box, which I LOVE.



I'll post more tomorrow unless I'm in a padded room somewhere whispering to myself.

Sometimes We Make a Big Mess

Here's the castle we made for Brenton's Medieval Days project. He and Glenn built it the night before Glenn left for China (thank you, thank you!) and Brenton finished up by mixing drywall plaster and sand (in my kitchen--hence the MESS) and covering the castle. I stepped in with my glue gun to help with the grass and we chopped the head off a dinosaur for the Loch Ness monster. One of those projects when you breathe a HUGE sigh of relief to see it finished and not be ugly.

In Case You're Wondering

If you're wondering why there's a shirt in my freezer, it's because it has gum on it. I read somewhere that if you are so cursed, put the offending item in the freezer and the gum will peel right off. So I did that but it's been a few weeks and I haven't gotten around to peeling it off yet.

So indicative of my life.

For Those of Us Who Don't Get to Go to the Caribbean this Winter

I've been feeling a little sorry for myself that I am not going on a cruise or a vacation to somewhere warm and balmy. Although some warm and balmy spots (Haiti) are probably a little less fortunate than here. OK, so no more feeling sorry for myself. I have a home that is still standing, a family that is intact, and I can brush my teeth every morning and have a hot bath. Life's not so bad. And today is National Pie Day. Just so you know.

I have a new goal for January. It is to write down every day things that have made me happy. Here are some things from my list so far:

*yummy food
*the weekend
*not using credit cards for my shopping
*delicious nap with a fuzzy blanket and the cat
*loyal friends
*no sugar
*rain boots for shovelling slush
*dependable children
*plowing snow this morning without crashing

And I'm pretty sure my Boston Cream Pie that I'm going to make will make the list as well. I've only done this for 3 days and my outlook on January is better already.

So to wrap it up, here are 2 happy quotes:



"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world." Robert Louis Stevenson




"I have two choices. I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be sad. I choose to be happy." Marjorie Pay Hinckley

So for today, I will choose to be happy and hope that it rubs off on the rest of the world. And if any of you are going on vacation to the Caribbean, I hope you bring me some vanilla. Because then I will be even more happy. The End.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Even though this is one of my new favorite books, I am not writing about the book. I am also not writing about pie. What I am writing about is niceness. Specifically, I am writing about nice people at the bottom of the pie of humanity.

I've been thinking lately about what makes really nice people. It is a mystery to me since deep down, I am not very nice. I like to pretend that I am and I keep trying to be nicer, but at my core, I am selfish and mean. So one of the hallmarks of a nice person, to me, is that when they talk to you, they like to talk about you. (This is why I like my nice friends.) First, they ask about all my children--and here's a secret: Doting on my children is something I simply can't resist. And nice people ask about things I'm interested in. They also ask lots of questions. Sometimes I play a game to see if I can steer the conversation topic to them so I'm not just talking about me the whole time. It's hard to do. And usually I'm quite happy talking about me. But that is because I am not very nice. There are other things, too, that nice people do--but this is the one I've been thinking about.

Believe it or not, I am trying to be a nice person. I have it on good authority that it's possible to change your very nature, which is good, since the one I came with is pretty self-centered. Luckily, I seem to have an inordinate number of nice friends to learn from. Some of them might even know how to make pie, which would be nice of them to bring me. It's just a thought.

And a Little Tutu

Project #2 has been Kendyl's tutu. I'm not especially impressed with it--I saw a tutu I was trying to copy and apparently in my mind my abilities are far greater than what they actually are. But it's done and it's just for dress up so hopefully she'll be happy.

On to Project #3.

Not a Moment Too Soon

Apparently the Jedi Robe will be arriving in the nick of time.

The Jedi Robe Master

Don't die of shock that I'm actually posting something again. I can't even explain the busy summer and apparently fall and wow, it's December already. I have something to share now, so maybe I'll make a habit of this again.

One of Garreth's current obsessions is Star Wars. He spent the summer running with the pack of neighbor boys, all of whom were brandishing their light sabers and wearing coats or bathrobes because they were Jedi's. Now my child usually wants to be the bad guy, but apparently his light saber is green which is the Jedi color so he had to settle for being a good guy this time. And it dawns on me. I could make a Jedi robe. How cool would that be? I have this awesome dark green fabric that I bought on sale one day and I vaguely remember buying a costume robe pattern too.

So I go in search of the pattern--only to discover that it's an adult size pattern. Why I thought I would need an adult sized Jedi robe, I don't know. Anyway--I tried to use it as a guideline to make a smaller size robe (with the help of another variety of robe pattern that actually was the right size) and it turned out mostly okay. The sleeves are a bit odd, but since it's supposed to be a big and drapey, hopefully it won't matter much.

Now here's the best part of the story. I bought him a new light saber (not a top of the line model, but a one-step-up-from-what-he-currently-has model) to go with the robe. Weeks later while we are at ShopKo looking for church shoes for Brenton, he disappears and I find him in the toy aisle lovingly fingering the exact light saber that I already bought him. I can't wait for Christmas morning.

I'm finding more joy in Christmas this year than I ever have before and I think it's because I've invested more of myself in my gift giving this year. I'm reminded of a quote my good friend told me, "To be a good gift giver, you simply have to be a good listener." This friend also told me to give more of myself in my presents. So that's my new goal--to be a better giver and to invest of myself. And ultimately that's what the Master Gift Giver does. He, whose birth we celebrate, listens and knows us, and his gifts are perfect. I am ever grateful for His birth, His life, and His everlasting gifts to us. Merry Christmas.

He Aint Heavy . . .

he's my brother.

There's No Place Like Home

Half my family is in China. OK, technically it's only a third. And while I'm used to my husband being gone on business trips, I am not used to my daughter being gone for 11 days. It's disconcerting. It's like a part of me is missing all the time. Anyway--that's beside the point. The real point is that you would think with less family here, I would have more time to blog. Sadly, this has not been the case. With her gone and my son on a scout camp, all the weeding, watering and lawn mowing was left to me today. I'm very tired. But apparently, also in need of some self-expression since I'm finally sitting down to add something new.

I just finished reading Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons last week. Very touching little book. It's about a little girl who is orphaned and the road she travels to find safety and love. One of my favorite quotes from the book is:

"I open the door to my house and look around for somebody to squeeze. And she is there each day in the kitchen and that is something when you consider she does not have to be there but she is there so I can squeeze her and be glad."

When our first daughter was born, our budget would not balance based on just my husband's income. But we both believed strongly in me being home so I quit my job and we reduced our outgoings to match our incoming. We have had to do without some things over the years, but we have never looked back.

The quote sums up just one of the reasons why I am home--so that when my little kids come home from school or from playing or from wherever they've been roaming, they'll have someone waiting for them. And while I could be somewhere else, I want to be there for squeezing and for listening and for feeding and loving. I know it's a hard thing sometimes for a family to do, and I know that sometimes there truly is no other choice. But for us, it's been a decision we have never once regretted, no matter the trips we couldn't take or the cars we couldn't drive or the houses we couldn't live in. I would never trade any of that for being able to squeeze my children when they come home and have them be glad I'm there.

The Extravaganza!

Our school has one main fundraiser all year--the spring Extravaganza (carnival). As part of the festivities, the 5th graders are asked to each donate a cake for the cake auction and cake walk. How long have I known that my son would be a 5th grader this year and that we would need a cake? A long time. But we've been on vacation. My brain is still on vacation. This has totally tapped my creative capacities for a long while. And they weren't even my ideas! At any rate, they're done and I think they turned out pretty fun. We had a good time working together on them.









You're welcome to come bid on cakes or buy a snow cone or have a little dinner tonight with hundreds or sugar-high, summer-anxious hyper kids tonight at Rock Canyon school between 4:30 and 7:30. I can't wait!

Happy 16th!

We hit 16 years last week! Who'd have thought we'd make it this far?

Things I Don't Get

To steal a title from my good friend at jetsetcarina.blogspot.com, I don't get:

Dogs.

Seriously. They drool.



They're needy.



I also don't get this, but that's not the dog's fault.



But this I seriously don't get. I watched a guy jogging with his dog this morning, stop while the dog pooped, then pick up the poop in a plastic sack and continue to jog with the bag of poop. Now, I'm all for removing your canine feces from innocent grass, but jog with poop? Are you kidding me?

All Earth Day

Is it just me or is "green" simply a code word for "really expensive"??

Assorted Snacks

My favorite appetizer at Bombay House is the Assorted Snacks. So here is an assortment of random thoughts for Monday.



After waking up to 8 inches of snow in our yard Thursday morning (yes, this is mid-April), it was more than a pleasant thing to jump in the car and head south for Spring Break. I think I may have been laughing hysterically at the time. I've so had enough of winter.

So after two flat tires, the back door of our car breaking so you couldn't shut it, the car battery going flat, and backtracking to get the tires fixed, we finally made it to Toquerville, Utah, which is just outside of Zion's National Park. And we found sun! We were originally going to camp in Capitol Reef, but when their forecast called for snow too, you could've lost a limb had you gotten in the way of my frenzy to make a new plan.

Now the first sun of the season is always dangerous for me. It feels so absolutely heavenly to sit in it and drink it up and I never truly believe that I need sunscreen. The secret to sunburns, I've found, is to never sunburn your entire body at once. So this weekend I worked on my arms; my legs shall be next. And I declare a pox upon the people with actual pigment in their skins who can sit in the sun for no longer than 5 minutes and come away with a healthy glow. I've got a glow, all right, but I swear you can see it throbbing right before your very eyes.

So my next random thought regards something funny. I must declare in my most Uncle Albertish voice that, I love to laugh. And this is one of the funniest things I've seen. And it does not get less funny to me the more times I watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJWhw-i8CUo

Happy Monday. And if someone wants to share how I can actually post the link for this, that would be great. I think my brain is sunburned too.

Happy Monday

Spring According to Me

Here are my rules for Spring:

Spring is for flowers.
Spring is for planning the garden and dreaming of children weeding it all summer long. :)
Spring is for warm weather after a terribly long, cold, long, long, long winter.



Spring is for remembering my grandpa and for going with him to pick up sweet little widow ladies for church on Easter.
Spring is for drinking in the sun.
Spring is for picnics.
OK, spring can be for rain. Flowers need rain.
Spring is for walks in the rain with my husband who should have had webbed feet.

Spring is NOT for sneezing.



Spring is for our annual Easter egg hunts.
Spring is for remembering the real reason for Easter.
Spring is for my grandma's amazing Easter dinners.
Spring is for children.

Spring is NOT for last minute snowstorms and thermal underwear. That is just wrong.



Spring is for the short sleeves and capris that have been hiding all winter.
Spring is for walking outside and for listening to birds singing in the morning.
Spring is watching the kids on the rope swing and riding up and down the street on their bikes in small teeming masses.
Spring is energy.



"Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent." (Jean Kerr in Finishing Touches) Good-bye winter.

Spring is hope.

Walter Wonk

The 5 year old went on a field trip last week and came home very excited about it. I had no idea what he was talking about. I could understand "Walter" and that they had been somewhere, but it wasn't until I got the weekly newsletter from his class, that it all became clear. They had been to the BYU Museum of Fine Art to see the Walter Wick exhibition. We cannot convince him that his name is Walter Wick. He insists on calling him Walter Wonk.

For those of you who don't know Walter Wick, he is the owner of the clever brain that makes the I Spy books. He also does optical illusion photos. For the record, I don't like optical illusions. They hurt my clever brain. Or not so clever as the case may be.



So for FHE last night, we decided to go to the museum as a family and let him be our guide. I have never seen a child so excited. He took us downstairs

and very loudly and animatedly (is that a word?) showed us all the pictures and how you need to look for the little peg-head man in each one. The exhibit is brilliant. It's at the MOFA till August 1 and is well worth the visit. It's colorful, it's clever, it's captivating, it rocks. Kids absolutely love it and OK, I quite enjoyed it myself.

But for as great as the actual exhibit is, by far the best thing about our trip was a little boy getting to be in charge and getting to share with us something he had learned and experienced apart from us. That doesn't happen often enough for the little caboose--he often feels left behind because he's too young to go where the big kids go. Thank you, Walter Wonk, for a magical evening.

Baby Steps

I finally finished my apron. I've seen these pretty frilly things for sale and figured I could make one if I just had a pattern. I found this cute pattern at www.mariemadelinestudio.com/chicsisters and it was pretty simple. There were a few tricky parts but I finally got through them and am very pleased with it. I'm thinking I'll have to make myself a few more before I'm done.

I've been reading some books set maybe 50 years ago on various farms. One of the characters mentions putting on her apron to do some work at about the same time I had finished my apron. I'm quite sure her apron was not a frilly thing. It called to mind again how blessed I feel to have not only the necessities of life, but some luxuries as well. I felt like making a pretty apron, so I bought the pattern, found some fun fabric and I made it. I wasn't struggling to make a living, I didn't have to save up for months to buy the fabric, and I didn't have to work from sunrise to sundown harvesting anything. By all accounts, I live a very easy life. If anything, I spend too much time dealing with excesses--I make trips to DI to empty our house of clutter, I exercise because I've eaten too much . . .

I hope that the next time I feel that I need something new or I that I need a little break from my spoiled life, that I will take a minute to think about those who have less. That I will appreciate the bounty of my rich life and express gratitude. That I will look beyond myself and my selfish desires. I often hesitate to help because I don't feel capable of solving world hunger, or of righting a great wrong. And while I may not be able to help someone on the other side of the world, I do know of a friend who is ill. Surely I can offer something small--something that will show that I am thinking of someone other than myself. Something that maybe only I can give--or maybe it's something that anyone can give and I will be the one lucky enough to actually do it.

And maybe I will wear my apron while I do it. I can't become too selfless all at once or no one will recognize me.