Fun day with Mommy

As we are preparing for leaving for our Family Reunion this week, today was the day to venture to the stores to get our last needed items. We decided to make a day out of it, and I was surprised at just how well my boys did being dragged from store to store in 100 degree heat.

Our first stop was Cabela's to look a life jacket for JoJo. They were sold out but they boys had a blast looking at the stuffed animals and the aquariums with the huge cat fish. Joseph said his favorite was the Polar Bear, and Thurston loved the fish with the "glass water" and the squirrels.

Our next stop was the Mall, I was hoping to find a sporting goods store. While I was unsuccessful at that, I did manage to find a Pretzle shop, the Disney store, and most dangerous, Mrs. Fields cookie shop. The boys got a cupcake cookie with frosting and a Mater ring (Cars). Of course I indulged with a couple of Walnut chocolate chip cookies. ahhhh. I'm officially out of the nauseated stage of pregnancy and into the "hey, I smell food!" stage. watch out!

They enjoyed the escalators as much as a ride at a theme park. On our last trip down there was an elderly couple behinds us that kept cracking up at them. At the bottom, Joseph said in a very loud voice "Mommy, I love you!". Yes! Finally they say something loud that makes me happy. The couple smiled and laughed and there were others around that looked at him and smiled. It was a happy Mommy moment.

The last stop was uneventful at Target. I'm a little sad that I came home and realized I forgot to visit the $1 section! (Probably for the best). At the end Joseph told me that it had been a perfect fun day. Ahhh. Now I'm pooped!

Tea Party for the Boys

The other day Joseph informed me that boys could go to tea parties. He saw it on Barney.

Then he kept asking me if he could have one. Naturally, how could I resist?

We had some friends over and I decided it would be the perfect day. Now, what to wear? Do they dress up like girls? Get in Sunday clothes? The obvious answer: Super Hero Tea Party!

They were adorable and had a lot of fun.

Those who know me know I jump at a chance to dress up myself. I was wearing my tiara from my wedding, but it didn't make it into the shot.

I taught them basic etiquette, we'll see if any of it stuck! We had fun nonetheless!

Art with the Boys

Our friends asked me if I wanted an art Easel, and I said 'Duh, yeah'. It's awesome. It's a lot better than the cheap plastic one that I got that broke on the first use. It has one side that is chalk board and the other is a marker board with a paper roll on top. The boys finally got to try it out today. The first pictures are the boys art pieces for the library for the Family reading program. This is Joseph, he named it "Super Joseph and side kick Thurston" Sooo cute! Thurston's is named "Super Thurston"

While they played, I got some work done. Here is the cover of my next Project. I am doing the illustrations for a friend.

I have tons more photos and it takes forever to upload, so I am posting a link to my Drop-Shots account. They include Father's day and a recent picnic, and my cat and his catnip addiction.

http://www.dropshots.com/charleyface

This is why we forget what it's like to be Pregnant

I was very excited to get pregnant, but I have to admit that pregnancy sucks. Especially this one. I always boasted that I never really was sick with my pregnancies before and was just a little tired. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut so I don't have to eat so many of my words. On top of the complete exhaustion, nausea I now have Hypoglycemia due to the pregnancy. I guess if you are going to be diagnosed with something, it should be the one that tells you you need to eat 6-8 meals a day, keep snacks and juice packs on hand all the time and to keep it light on the exercise. The only thing that poses a problem is when I feel like barfing when I see food. We've faced some difficult trials lately. I found a lump in my breast and caused a little worry. We have an awesome hospital here that has a very good breast care center. I was in and out with the ultrasound and consultation with the DR in an hour. Things are ok and they think it is just normal tissue reacting a little different to the prego hormones. Plus I have a protruding rib that makes it seem worse than it was. I got over that in time for all of us to get sick. At the height of all this, we found out that Preston's cousins baby was airlifted to Primary children's with SBS (shaken baby syndrome). Little Morgan fought for 4 days before passing. She was only 4 months old, and now her parents not only have to deal with the loss of their child, but the investigation with the babysitter. It has really affected us and Preston's family. It is amazing how it has brought us together. Here is her obituary: http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=103949805737&h=GYzWA&u=0hDp-&ref=nf It makes me slow down and hold my children closer. Life is precious and I am grateful for the gospel and the perspective it gives us.

Another child's book, or level one reading adventure

I had this idea for a kids book the other day and ran the idea over with Preston. Of course, his genius took off with it and soon we had collaberated a pretty good idea. Ok, so I had the title and basic idea and some pictures and he came up with the rest. I will refrain from too much detail as this is a public blog and I am not that stupid. The basic plot involves a little girl, some teeth and detectives. That's about it. So Working thru some drafts, I am having a hard time deciding on what to do. I can do a 15-20 page short story, or go into more detail and explore the little girls detective abilities and short comings and have a pretty compelling story. This would be targeted to the beginer readers (1'st-2nd possible 3rd grade) levels. I would still include some drawings in the book. It would be comparable to the Geronimo Stilton books. I think this girl has potential to investigate many things. This could be fun and a fun way for Joseph to start reading. I'm not focused on doing this for money, so I am just excited to put it together. If money comes I will not complain, but I am excited to see that there are alternative ways to self publish with out spending a fortune, and giving me the oportunity to put it into book form that doesn't involve me manuevering a stapler.

Catching up

So I have been lazy and have not updated my blog in a while... getting used to my new calling at church, organizing groups and activities etc etc. So here are some photos to show you what we have been up to!

We enjoyed Rootbeer floats: My Hair went dark and my bangs came out after a long weel deserved 14 year absence:

We visited Nana and Champa Thomson and got to sleep on the sofa bed:

My cat likes to sit on his rear and look outside:

Joseph was in desperate need of new sunday clothes, so I went to Other Mothers and found this suit and the shoes for only $12!!

I thought it would be fun/ a good idea to make my own rug. I grabbed some cheap bath rugs from walmart and decided to make a patern and sew them together. (this is for my art room). It was not as fun as I thought, esp when I saw a rug I liked at IKEA for only $12. oh well. It's made and I think it's cool.

My flower garden is coming in great. My Iris' were beautiful, and my Lilies have taken off this year! They are over 4ft tall!!

It seems like there was something else.... oh yeah, I got pregnant! (This is good)!;) We are due in February!

This is why we are told to keep a journal

So I was organizing my stuff the other day and came across a pile of journals. I received my first journal on the day I was baptised by my primary teacher. From that point until I met Preston I kept a pretty decent record of my day to day life. I slowly switched it from the mundane day to day stuff to my thoughts, feelings, growth and different experiences etc etc. I figured people would be more interested in my deep thoughts rather than what I wore that day. (described in detail my 7th- 8th grade years). I pulled out my first journal and thought I would share my very first entry. Spelling, grammar, punctuation have not been changed. There are as they are. These are for my posterity. March 29, 1988: " Today I got baptized and confermed I was so excited. But I knew I was a member of the Chirch of Jesus Christ when I got baptized and confermed. When I got confermed I got the gift of the Holy Ghost. I am so glad I am baptized and a member of the chirch." here's another fun one: March 31, 1988 "tonight me and Heather are haveing a slumber party. we are going to tell funny jokes and sean (scene) from a movie! and we will have fun tonight. good night." January 17, 1989 "To day I went to school and we had a sub. she was nice. tommorrow is my teachers birthday. good night." Ok, last one for now, this ones full of goodies: June 8th 1992 "It's been over a years since I've written in here, I used other things to whrite on though. well today we went to the library. Davin got his first library card. well i'm twelve now, Julies already married to Brad - Julie ann richardson (richardson was scratched out here) peterson. also Scott joined the army. i'm in Young Womens, and I can shave my legs. i'm going to the 7th grade, my second year in Jr high! YEA! 6th grade already passed! "WHew!" It went by soooo fast! too! another thing, I'm not going to be a 'featishior' ( I have no idea what I wrote here and these are the words I could pick out), i'm going to be an author! I've written 'a house full!' Wiskers' and writing "there's an alien in my back yard!" I learned to write in caligraphy (I attempted here to write in caligraphy). it's better with a caligraphy pen. i have a bunch of catching up to do - I hate Ricardo, now i 'love' someone else. mega cute. I think he likes me too. not. we had family home evening. it was fun" So what we have learned is that I was excited to be baptized and confermed, had a slumber party, was once excited about shaving my legs and that my family at least once had family home evening. For all who are interested, I still have the 'Wiskers" book I wrote and illustrated. My kids love it. And I am a dork.