If I were a Spice girl...

I don't think I would be sporty spice.

Yesterday was Chad's birthday. All he ever really wants for his birthday is to go snowboarding. We haven't been since before Lucy was around. I really didn't want to go. I think my mortality was getting in the way. But i really wanted Chad to be able to go and so we did... but only thanks to my mom for babysitting my 3 kids ALL day. Thanks mom!


Yeah I know... those jeans are outta here! right? Ok there's lipgloss in my back pocket not helping the situation, and 2 pairs of long johns stuffed in there, but still. (thank goodness for stretchy denim!)

Ok so hopefully you will never again have to see this many pictures of myself in a row! Why so many? Well the thing is, I was bored. Yeah I get bored on car rides. Chad had enough of me taking his picture while he drove and Jamie was asleep so...









I mounted the camera on the dash and let my toes do the picture taking! Not always in focus and also not always a picture of me but hey atleast Jamie got to be entertained by my weirdness while he pretended to sleep. Thats right he was pretending.

Dear Jamie... in order to make pretending believable, one must not nose snicker at the goofy girl in the front seat! Also Jamie, I would like to add that you yourself are a little weird. Did you really think I wasn't going to take your picture whilst you fashioned my hat? But thanks for doing that because this is an awesome picture.


And just when you think there isn't a single other interesting thing to take a photo of along comes a jolly bush all decked out in Christmas garb... in the middle of the highway... for all travelers to enjoy, but you gotta be fast to get a piture of this thing because at 80 mph its there and gone in a flash.


Did you know there's a bell you can ring at Arby's if you feel the food was good and you got great service? And did you also know that if you ring that bell the employees have to hoot and holler! I didn't know. Those Arby's people are a riot! Great job ringing the bell Jamie.


I hope you know what your looking for in this town cuz man oh man there's alot of choices to choose from!


This is the after picture. After the fun. I have a before picture but... well, it just Chad's board... its a little obscene. Not blog people friendly. So stick with the after pics.

See the guy in the hat? That's Chad. He's awesome. If I could warp back into time when this photo was taken I think i might just put the camera down, run and jump up on him wrapping my legs around his waist causing us to tumble backward into the snow laughing while he cursed me... Jamie's cool too but I just kinda have a thing for Chad so I thought I'd point him out for ya.


See jamie... I told you i got a picture of that.


This is us... i sure wish my spare tire was better at centering the photos! It did the best it could seeing as how it is just a spare tire and all! See how there's snow caked on our boards?? A sure sign of tearing up the mountain.


I did end up having tons of fun... so glad we went. I had a hard time at first like I figured i would. I forgot ok... its not like riding a bike! And I knew I forgot. Have you ever taken a ride on a thing called a lift? Yeah it's scary! Getting on isnt so bad, you stand there and it pretty much scoops you on, but getting off is a whole nother story! It doesn't stop to casually let you off in style, no... it keeps going and your just have to launch yourself off down a little slope hoping your loose foot won't slipslide its way into disastersville!

First trip on the lift of the season goes a little something like this...

me setting the scene - (double seater lift, 3 in our group, me wearing my twilight shirt and hot pink sunglasses, another group of 3 behind us, a mom and 2 little girls)

LG1 (little girl #1): psst psst psst, shirt
LG2: snicker snicker think so...
Mom: hey can LG1 ride with you?
Me: me??
Mom: yeah, are you alone?
Me: ummmmm... (thinking hard) uuuhhh... i guess so, but I can't promise I won't biff it hard getting off the lift.
Mom: Oh that's ok she's really good.

20 minutes later (it was a really long line) Board the lift.

Me: Oops, I should probably be on the other side of you.
Lg1: It's ok.
Me: I'm sorry in advance if I crash on my way off this thing making you fall.
LG1: It's ok I already crashed getting off once today.
Me: What? your mom said you were really good! What's your name?
LG1: Karen. Do you like Twilight?
Me: Yeah. Have you read them?
Karen: I just finished the second book.
Me: How old are you?
Karen: 12
Me: (staring in disbelief)
Karen: I know I don't look 12, I'm really short. My sister is 8 and we're the same size. How old are you?
Me: 31
Karen: Are you sure? (snickering in disbelief)
Me: Uhhh... it's the hot pink glasses and the twilight shirt throwing you off. Oh I think we're going to get along just fine!

Note: Anyone who mistakes me for a youngster is my new BFF!

I suppose I should tell you how it all "went down". The lady in front of us had apparently never been on a snowboard in her life. So not surprisingly she wiped out... and did they stop the lift while she was clearing out??? NO they didn't... which is why i ran smack into her! I was all set to have the perfect landing, and i would have too if it weren't for what's her name.

Like I said... we had tons of fun! I finally did remember how to do it after about the second run down the mountain.

Chad was so good to me... he packed all my stuff up for me while I did nothing... he even helped me get my boots off. (I have difficult boots to get off ok?)


That was the busiest I've ever seen it! We had miles and miles of bumper to bumper traffic. Seriously... it took us an hour to get from the mountain back to Flagstaff! But it's okay because how else would I have been able to take millions of pictures of the lovely landscape surrounding me? It was getting dark so if we were moving at all, these would have been super blurry. I can't believe you're still reading this!




So who's volunteering to watch my kids so I can go again? Any takers?? They're really sweet... (when they're asleep)

Collect the moments one by one

Never did get those Christmas cards out. We did however manage to get out and take some photos.


That was no easy task i assure you.

Note to self: Bring treats next time. I don't know why but Christmas photos are the hardest for me to get. Let just say that on picture day, all the kids (myself included) get put on the top of the "naughty list"! I bribed them with lunch where ever they chose (which we all know is risky business!) and a webkins...

Main problem child...

spitting Lucy? Really? There you go acting like a two year old again! Lucky for you, you really are two. And really cute. The cute thing helps you out alot.

I'm always in awe of Natty. I'm thankful for Natty's dimples.

And I am also thankful that Jason's Deli has complimentary ice cream. I am just not a McDonald's kind of girl.

But most of all I am thankful for... you guessed it, my Xanadu!


Love you girls!

Words To Live By

"It's never too late to be who you might have been." George Eliot

All season long I've been hearing Lucy's sweet voice belting out her rendition of what Santa says!

"Ho Ho Ho, who wants Christmas!"

Babe, I ask myself that every single day!! Kidding. Sort of.

I love Christmas...but I could definitely do with out the stress and expectations!



Anne Taintor says it best as usual!

Up on the house top...( ready to jump off)

Red Alert!- For anyone that read this post prior to seeing this red alert, I must tell you that this post was not as it was intended! That's right! After spending hours trying to post this last night (my computer was running S-L-O-W) it crapped out on me all together. Re-boot you say? It wouldn't even do that! Seriously I had to stretch my big toe over to the power strip and flip the switch. Probably didn't help that I was alone and I really don't know what to do in these serious times, however my last resort was not responded to very well by the computer at all! So I bagged it and went to bed. I mean it was 1:30 am after all! Ook I wish I knew how to turn my red alert red... oh well. BTW- I couldn't believe I already had 4 comments when I awoke this morning! Stoked and embarrassed all at the same time! Gotta love that!

I have been a blog slacker... this I know! But today marks the end of hours and hours of This:


Which for me is cause to celebrate! I suppose Chad can celebrate a little too... but wow of all the classes Chad has taken this physics class takes the cake! I know I've mentioned to more than a few how terribly hard physics looks (I say looks only because I have obviously never taken it... and hope to never have to take it.) But the man hours Chad put in doing his homework for which there were apparently no answers... ??? Don't ask me... HUGE!

So Chad, Welcome back to our family... we missed you terribly, I look forward to getting to know you all over again. Love ya babe.

So I've be a slack-blog-yokel lately...

I can't help it... Christmas is too hard for me. I have never been good at it. The word that best describes me + Christmas is utter discombobulation. Here is some of the things I haven't done yet this year...

• Made my Christmas cards... Wendy, has it been 2 or 3 years I've been meaning to do that one card??

• Taken family photos... or even just the kids photos!

• Watched a Christmas movie... cartoon or otherwise.

• Made yummy treats to hand out to cool people that I love. Of course I did make some gingersnaps but I ate almost all of them myself! (almost refers to the few I gave to Lori and Katie, but only because of coincidental timing on their part)

• Taken a sleigh ride...I actually never have done this but I think I should some day...

• Begged Chad to hang Christmas lights, why bother this late in the game.

So I'm lame-o. We finally let the kids decorate the tree. It was them or no one. I fell asleep on the couch while they had the time of their lives lavishly place ornament in large clusters on the tree leaving plenty of room on the bottom and top for nothingness... But I'm okay with it because when I woke up it was all done and life was good!

And so far Lucy has only broken 2 ornaments this year! Which I made that sounds all good and nice and stuff but it's actually a real bummer because one of them is a family favorite "Teddytone tunes". It's a hallmark ornament that plays Christmas music while you turn the crank on the side, meanwhile the teddies on top toot their horn and drum their drum and crash their symbols... teddy horn player lost his arm yesterday, but that wasn't enough... poor guy lost his head today. Well I guess I should have helped out by putting some up high. But on the other hand she only broke it because she loves it so much that she has been carrying it around nonstop!

And besides...


No one can stay mad at that very long. I mean really...

Fish... Not Gold

Who here still thinks a xanadu is a chair? Line up for your spankin!

We had to tear down the swing set in our backyard. It was one of those wood ones that the Arizona sun beats to a splintery death. Don't worry though, we didn't jump the gun or anything... this thing needed some V8. It was leaning something fierce off to one side. Come to find out it was holding up one of our trees... oopsies!

But when I saw this I had to laugh...


Apparently we still have swings! (The kids rigged this little number up) I can't believe none of the neighbors have complained about swings hanging from a tree in out front yard! I'm sure we will get a notice from the HOA soon enough. But when we do rest assured I'm calling to complain about creepy neighbor mans garbage cans permanently parked on the front side of his house. I get a prime view while kickin back on my porch swing... oh the scent is so unlovely! Apparently he's something pretty special... well that's his story anyway! No Christmas treats for him this year... which is not to say that I've ever given him goodies because, well... he IS Mr. creepy neighbor man, kinda goes without saying doesn't it?

I found this funny. Kassidy is persistent. This will never end that is one thing that is for sure! As I've mentioned before we are not down with the pet scene around here (ok I'm using we very loosely concidering it's mostly me... not Chad, but he kinda vowed to be on my side so I'm pretty much holding him to that one on this particular issue!)(Oh and also the spider issue, I'm never going soft on that you can be sure!) where were we... oh yeah so Kassidy wants a pet really really bad! How do you get what you want for Christmas... make your list very short...


She won a goldfish at my parents wards fall festival and it lived at least an hour before it died. Apparently she didn't like that too much. So not a goldfish... got it.

Natalie also wrote Santa a letter.


Glad to hear she still likes suprises! I know I do. Like the sweet little treasures I find while cleaning. Natalie likes to write notes and they sure are fun to find. Here's one she wrote to Lucy. Not that Lucy can read or anything!


And this song she wrote. I didn't know it was a song, she had to tell me. But was I right about Natalie or what? She reads about the Savior... she writes about the Savior... she's a good good girl.


I haven't had time to do a photoshoot of Lucy in "The Little Goddess Dress" I made her so I thought I would just post this one little sneak peak... It is so cute, I really love it. And it was pretty easy, oh and I learned some things while making it too so that's always awesome!

Lu's Bloomin Bloomers

Here I am a day late and a dollar short once again... All my posts start with yesterday. Yesterday this, yesterday that... oh well

Yesterday didn't go anything like I thought I would. First of all... BRRRRR!!! It was freezing all day! I was thinkin -where's my scarf and mittens. Truly I am a wimpy when it comes to coldness. Where did the warmth of the previous day go? Needless to say I hid in the house all day! Well except that one part where I had to go get something for Chad to eat...at the store... Um Hello Bashas, I'd like to file a complaint... yes my hair looks stupid enough without the help of your fierce downdraft as I enter and exit the store! Even on a good day I walk through that thing and my hair is never the same again! So I walk in and get BLASTED with air. Hairs going everywhich way. People kept looking at me funny.. my hair I'm sure... or so I thought till I remembered I was sporting my famed *Twilight* shirt. Ooh I saw you -little 15 year old girl- giving me the evil eye... "He's not yours! Us old ladies need a little Edward in our lives too!"

Oh yeah Lucy...


We played in the window for a while. Why not?


I'm on to you... I know what your thinking. Those are some CUTE little bloomers! fo sho. Where the heck??


I made them, obviously. Ok, so lately I have been feeling so lonely in my sewing endevors! Is this a lost art? Am I the last of em? People People, we've got to turn this around!


I have an idea... let me know what you think or if you're interested at all! I was thinking that maybe I (we?) could do 1 project per month, blogwise anyway (me...well, I do a little more) One Friday per month after the kids go to bed of course... simple things especially to start.


Just an idea...


It snowed today! Not snow but leaves... I was driving to pick my kids up from school and all the trees were dropping leaves right before my eyes! Surely this happens every year but I don't know that I ever noticed it before! It may be the closest we ever get to snowing, but man it sure was pretty to watch those golden leaves fluttering to the ground.


I finally got my piles and piles of material that I ordered. It is really beautiful fabric. Actually last night I stayed up till 2am finishing a dress for Lu. It is so cute. "The little goddess dress" by Tina Givens! BTW- there's more to sewing than Butterick and Simplicity! If you like to sew check out quilthome.com. They have really awesome fabrics and some cute little patterns too. I get almost all my stuff there. Flat rate shipping what more do you want? 40% off coupons? Well... no. You have to go to Joann's for that but I have a serious dislike for Joann's so I'm sticking with quilthome. I love it!

Dear Camera, I Love You Truly

I've been meaning to post this blog for a week now but all you kind folks have been keeping me super busy with photoshoot after photoshoot. Which I am thankful for because I LOVE photography. Truly happy to do it. However all free things must come to an end. I have decided that I need to charge a small (teeny really) fee for doing these as they take many hours of my time....probably because I'm working on a dinosaur of a computer.

Jill: Well chad, it wouldn't take as long if I had a faster computer!

Chad: Well Jill, you better start charging people so you can afford one!

Okey-dokey then.

We'll just call it donating to Jill's computer fund. So don't stop calling me k, I really need one... oh yeah and also I love doing it.

Yesterdays crazy rush photoshoot with the "K" kiddos!