New Favorite Place

Last weekend was the last one before school started for our kids so we took them on our only trip this summer. We kept meaning to do fun things all summer long and they just never happened. So this was our last chance.

We had heard about Sand Hollow State Park from people in town. They said it had sandy beaches and was so nice. I was not sold on it. When I think of sandy beaches I picture Malibu, and I knew thew was no Malibu in Southern Utah!

Still it was close by, only 30 min away, and it had campsites with showers. Sold!

We left on friday and got camp all set up, it was actually a super nice site. covered picnic tables, bbq and nice clean bathrooms (real ones) and of course the aforementioned showers! It was duskish by the time all the tents were set up and so we thought we would just drive down to the beach to check it out.

Sand, actual sandy beaches! soft with no rocks or bushes in the water. Clear water with ripples in the sand! It was soooo nice! And the best part was it was so shallow. You could literally go out 50 feet and the water was only about a foot deep, at a hundred feet it was still only waist deep. This meant the little kids had plenty of area to play with out the risk of deep waters!

Sean, Zariah, Emily and Ian out about 100 feet

Andrew and Lincoln about 50 feet out.

Still out there, having to drag the raft far!

Did I mention the Sand was red! but still soft beach like sand!

Chillin in the shade at lunchtime! The kids had so much fun! they played all Saturday dawn to dusk and then we went night swimming in a different part of the lake where there was cliff diving, no shallow parts there so all the little kids were put into rafts and pushed around the deep water while the older kids jumped off the rocks!
They slept so good that night and everyone was sad when Sunday morning came and we had to pack up camp and head beack to reality.
But now we know. Sandy beaches perfect for the family. And luckily the normal 100 degree weather was mild for us and it was only in the 90's and cooled off at night to a chilly 75!

Best Day Ever!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year!
Today is the first day of school!

The days of summer are officially over and the daily routine has come back again.

Early mornings and quiet days are here again!

Each year on the first day of school we take pictures. The kids hold up their fingers to show what grade they are going into. It has been a fun tradition to have.

Here is what they looked like this morning:

I can't beleive How fast they have grown. Only 1 in elementary school, that is practically insane to me! It won't be long and they will all be grown and gone!

For now, though, I can just enjoy each day as it comes.

So being the first day of school, I get to get up early and take them to school and then go out to breakfast with my friend. Maybe today will be filled with lounging around or busy with chores that have been put off for 3 months. Either way it is good to get back into the routine of the school year!

Green? I thought it was pink!

My brother-in-law moved his family clear across the country to

Washington DC a couple of years ago.

We were all very sad about the move because we knew it would mean we would not be able to visit eachother very often. His wonderful wife decided a fun way to help her 2 year girls (twins)remember all the family was to do a 20 questions game.

It was a simple thing that helped them remember everyone. Each Sunday we would get a new question e-mail.

Now I know you are wondering how this is going to link in with my favorite things theme, here it is.

The question was simple. Whats your favorite color?

Here is what I wrote her:

Easy, Pink! I love pink, my laptop is pink, my zune is pink, my external hardrive is pink, my bedroom would have a pink cherry blossom theme if Sean (my husband) would let me!

As I think back to when I was growing up I always wanted pink things... I however never got them! My sister got the pink blanket, the pink dress, even the 4 foot tall pink panther was hers!!! It wasn't fair. I was always in green!!!

In fact when I was just 3 I remember having a green birthday party! I shared a birthday with my grandfather and we were celebrating it at their house, I remember being asked what kind of cake and ice cream I wanted.

Mint chip, and green cake too!! The grown ups argued that it would be too hard and since it was a double party to see what grandpa wanted. He picked me up and said it had to be green! Everthing, balloons, streamers, plates, everything green.

So thinking back on it, maybe that was the point in which my mom starting giving me green things, putting me in green dresses, having a green comforter on my bed...

maybe it's all my fault I never got pink.

Who knew that at the age of 3 you really can get what ya wish for!

I wish I had known how binding that wish was going to be!!

Crafting... and getting paid to do it!!

Me and my best friend, Cyndie, are inseperable, much to the dismay of our husbands. Dinners several times a week, helping each other clean when company is coming, paint when we are sick of how a room looks, we hang out all the time. Even our kids are always playing together, babysitting for each other. It's super nice. So when she bought a childrens consignment store last summer our lives got considerably busier! Between remodeling, reorganizing, and trying to understand all the ins and out of small business ownership we had very little time for anything else. Until recently, now that things have settled we have started creating. Which is much more fun than doing the books!!

Here are some of the things I make and stock in the store. I always knew crafting was fun, I just never imagined I could get paid so well for it!

Okay we both make the tutus, we spend an entire night making them (and ignoring our husbands) and they just fly off the shelves! This is Cyndies niece Lexi. Isn't she adorable!!

These are a recent addition. I make these myself, Cyndie has yet learned to crochet. I also have bigger ones with open eyes for older kids (and some adults) Stinking cute!

Easy Cheesey! And so cute!

These me and Cyndie do together. Jewelry was our first hand made endeavor. We make all kinds and have done a lot of craft fairs, but nothing sells better than these baby bracelets. Can never keep enough in stock.

These rag purses are all me too. They sell okay, but mostly my kids love to give them away for birthday presents! They make great Sunday bags! Put everything you need in it to keep little ones busy during church. Am I a commercial or what?! I love this stuff though!

Fun head wraps, sell just as well in summer as winter...weird!

Car Seat Canopies! Everyone in Utah has these! They keep strangers from touching your baby, shade them in the summer warm them in the winter!

Baby wipe clutch! Travel size wipe case that is as individual as the mom.

Most people can make these items, they are all pretty easy. But since they are all so reasonably priced we sell a lot of product. Its been a great way to support my crafting habit!! And I am always on the look out for something cute and new that I can make.

Here's our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/search.php?q=watch+me+grow&init=quick&tas=search_preload&search_first_focus#!/watchmegrowboutique

Wrestling

Singlets

Head Gear

Shoes

Warm ups

Camp

Away Duals and Tournaments

Sweat. Frustration. Exhaustion. Triumph...sometimes!

So now the season is over. Wrestling season, that is. This is the time of the year when I can take a deep breath and prepare for next year. You wouldn't think it would be a hard time for a mom but watching your son spend those grueling minutes on the mat can really drain you. So I thought I would show you a snippet of what it can feel like. Supporting my son in his goals is one of my favorite things to do... even if I hate every second of the actual fight!

http://www.screencast.com/t/riwuTs1U

Vacations

I heart vacations!!

They are definitly a favorite thing for me!

Hotels, new places to see, museums, zoos, getting lost driving in cirlces.

All fun and exciting for me.

We didn't take a lot of vacations when I was young so we try to take as many as we can now that I have my own family. This particular vactation was supposed to be a "15 year" 1 week getaway for my husband and me. The previous year we had taken the kids to Disneyland and decided that we would extend just our tickets to year passes and go for the big 15. The kids were upset knowing they would not be returning. But it was soon forgotten in all the fun of the vacation and when our anniversary rolled around I made plans for all 5 kids to stay at a friends house and we were going away for the first time without them.

1 week of beaches, hotels and Disneyland! The happiest place on earth!!

The night before we were going to leave I talked with my husband, I just couldn't go have all that fun without the kids. So we bought tickets and decided to surprise them. The next morning I sent them off to school so I would have time to pack. We made the rounds at the different schools picking each of them up and getting the most opposite responses we could have imagined.

"Mom, you can't be serious,

I have a test to take today! I can't go!!"

was our favorite. Each one of them thought of something else they had to do! It was insanity! did they really not want to spend a week in California??

At Disneyland!!

We actually had to make one of them go. But after we left they all adjusted to the idea.

{Note to self: your kids don't like surprises!!}

So in the spirit of our module's assignment this week I created this video of our

15th wedding anniversary.

Hope you like it!

http://animoto.com/play/Toztm7QFTbvpPdVWNsyz8Q

Hiking brings out the best in kids!!

So one of my very favorite things is when all my kids get along.

I have 5 children. Andrew is 16, Brooke is 14, Anna is 12, Emily is 11, and Ian is 9. We are often with my friend Cyndie's family She has 4 children, Fantasia is 15, Zariah is 9, Audrina is 7 and little Lincoln just turned 15 months old. I will probably mention them often since I love them like they were mine too!

They all love each other, but man can they fight, and when the fighting stops,which is a rarety, the silence becomes one of my favorite things. Special things have to happen in just the right order for all bickering to cease. One event that can align all the mystical stars is hiking.

Even though school is not out quite yet, and spring has yet fully appear we decided to go hikimg. There is a place about 35 min south of our town called Red Cliffs. We have lived here for 16 years and never heard about this beautiful place. I saw some pictures and decided we had to check it out. True to form there was fighting while we packed the car, bickering during the drive, smart remarks as we disembark from the car. Rolling of eyes as we grabbed our backpacks and water bottles and tears as one of them realize they don't have water shoes... and then the miracle happened.

We started hiking on a trail and I could hear it. Laughs, chit chat, and playful racing off the main trail and back again. Even our little crier has stopped and is searching for lizards on the trail. It is the one time they help each other, carrying smaller ones and holding each others hands across the stream. Noone fights, pushes each other, or yells they hate me. it is truely a magical time.

For hours we hiked and played in the water, We saw lizards, flowers, and even some anasazi ruins that were thousands of years old. And then on the drive home, everyone was so tired they slept. Heaven on earth!

Wordle

So I fiddled around with Wordle. Not sure where we are supposed to post it so I am just putting it here for now. Interesting program, could be a lot of fun to play around with.

My kids are gonna love playing with this program!!

hhttp://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3650006/Snow_in_May