Nights in Rodanthe

My husband is awesome. Yesterday Gilbert woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to lehi to pick up cousin Palmer so he could go to Boise with Gilbert and the kids. I thought it was so nice of him, and Palmer was beyond excited to go see his dad (Mike). What makes this amazing is that Gilbert doesn't even bat an eye about driving 5 1/2 hours with 4 kids in the car. This is not an easy thing since in the truck Preston has to sit in front which leaves the only place for Logan to sit is between Paris and Palmer in their car-seats. you may be thinking "poor squished Logan" to which I reply "No, poor Paris and Palmer" Logan has been banished to the back of the van for almost a year because he just can't ride in the car without bugging people. I was worried about gilbert's sanity. gilbert got the truck packed and was grumpy all the while. Maybe someday he'll understand why I plan out the whole paking-the-car-and-kids deal to eliminate some of the stress. Anyway, he made it to Boise safe and sound but did express his frustration with Logan who, even while Paris was sleeping, kept making faces at her and bugging her.
In the mean-time I was trying to figure out what to do with my day. I have a test to take on monday that I'm procrastinating studying for (even writing this blog is an excuse not to study). So I called up BFF Jeanne and we went to the VERY first showing of 'Nights in Rodanthe' and 2:10 in the afternoon. I can't remember the last time I watched a movie so early. So here's the deal. I've been a fan of Nicholas Sparks ever since Linda Harris forced me to read "The Notebook" I just love his writing and have all his books. But it's been a few years since I read this one. Jeanne, on the otherhand, does not read Nicholas Sparks. The movie was great, but I had forgotten about Sparks' style and some certain events that happen in most of his books. Without giving too much away, Jeanne was not too happy with me for choosing this movie. Okay, she still ,liked it, we were just surprised. Anyway, a good watch if you don't mind soaking your shirt with tears. (everyone needs a good cry now and then, right!?)

I finished off my night by catching up on the Grey's premier online, and enjoyed NOT having to put kids to bed. Today I get to go to the general women's broadcast in SLC at the conf. center. My first time! I really should study before then since I have all this time without kids....Hmmm, we'll see.

Mashed Potato Thursday

I thought since it's been a while since I blogged I might as well let ya'll know what we've been up to. Well, not much. Last weekend Gilbert had planned to take the kids to Boise and give me some time to study (and play.) Unfortunately Paris and Logan came down with a stomach bug and were throwing up on friday so their plans were cancelled. I still managed to sneak away to Scrapbook Expo with my friend Margie. We had a fun time AND got to eat Cafe Rio. YUM! Saturday the kids seemed okay and Gilbert felt bad that he ruined my weekend (it wasn't his fault the kids got sick!) and insisted that I go play with my BFF Jeanne. He's the best! We went to SLC to this barn sale where I picked up the steal of a century: a beautiful full size 4-poster bed painted creamy yellow that matched Paris' room perfectly- for only $75. I even called Gilbert to ask permission. I told you he's the best. While we were gone he took the kids, now feeling much better, fishing at Utah lake. It was a nice weekend.
Sunday after church we took a family day trip to Strawberry Resevoir to watch the Kokone (sp?) salmon swim up river to spawn. It's amazing! there's a "milking" station there where the fish are guided into by way of an electric fence. The kids loved it, the weather was perfect, I took a million pictures. (I'll get them on soon) It was great.
Paris has been living up to her reputation this week. She coerced her friend Chantel into smearing shampoo all over themselves. Uuuugh! What am I going to do with this girl!? Later that night she took a brand new box of cheerios and dumped them on the trampoline. Yes Melanie, I know, I did want her. ;o)
Gilbert is hoping to make the trip to Boise tomorrow since the kids will be out of school. WooHoo! We'll see if it happens. the whole shop deal is still up in the air. Can we just be done with this already!?

I think that's it. Any more and you'll probably fall asleep. I'm excited today....GREY'S ANATOMY 2-hour Season Premier! (I love my smut TV)

My First Fish

On Saturday we ventured out to the lake again to give fishing another try. I''ve been several times, and Gilbert always promises fish but I had never caught one. That was until Saturday. I kept teasing Gilbert that nobody wakes up in the middle of the night to go fishing. We wole up at 5:30am, but since it was still dark I consider it nighttime. We picked up Gilbert's cousin Dave and his girlfriend Brooke and headed up Provo Canyon to Deer Creek Resevoir. Within Minutes on the lake Brooke had a bite. A little while later she caught another one. I was beginning to think that the luck was all with her and that I was going to come up with an empty hook again when all of a sudden her and I caught fish at the same time. I finally caught a fish and I have a picture to prove it. (You can kinda' see my haircut, for those that were curious) I named my fish "brownie" because it was a brown trout. All the other fish that were caught were rainbows. You can tell it's a brown because of the spots. We had a great time. That was the only fish I got but it was still worth it. I don't know if Gilbert would say the same...







I am here to tell you that it is not negligence that causes one to get a hook in their finger. I escaped with a few battle wounds too, none as bad as Gilbert's though. Even the most careful fishermen get hooks in every once-in-a-while. The reason is the really ticked off fish that come out of the water with a hook in their mouth and gasping for air. They are thrashing like a bugger and their super slippery and not easy to hold onto. I was holding mine (before the pic) and all of a sudden it flipped out of my hand. The hook went right through the top few layers of skin on my pointer finger. It just left a little cut, the fish and hook landed on the bottom of the boat. Gilbert wasn't so lucky. His fish was on the lower hook and when it flipped the top hook went right into his thumb. He tried to push it through but it hurt too bad. So he decided to have Dave try and pull it out that didn't help either. Here is what resulted:

My husband, in InstaCare, with anesthetic so the Doc could pull it out. My poor husband, he sure adds a bit of excitement to every outing. Hey, at least we always have good stories to tell!

Another Hair Cut

We did it again! After only a couple months since her very first haircut, Paris got another one. And this time it's dramatic. I took the boys in for a cut and saw a picture of this girl that reminded me of Paris and I knew that Paris needed her cut. So with a little bribery I got her up in that chair and we cut off about 5" of hair. I felt a little guilty since I didn't ask Gilbert first, but I knew Paris would look adorable so I didn't give him a chance to say NO. When I did tell him (over the phone) he wasn't too happy with me. But once he saw her, he loved it. And just last night after he laid her in bed he told me that she looked just like the little girl he always dreamed he would have. :o) Isn't that the cutest!? Well, how about some pictures?

Here's my girl with her goofy smile! What a cheeseburger. When I tell her to relax she makes a mad face. Out of the two I'd rather have this one.

These pictures were taken the morning after her haircut after I'd blown it dry to straighten it. I can also put a little gel in it when it's wet and it still curls up. Too cute! Let me know what you think.

FatQuarterShop.com

I have to say that today started out a little crappy. There was one problem after another and things just weren't going well. I guess that's what Monday's are all about. Anyway, my day has taken a turn for the better. Shortly after 1pm I received a call from Fat Quarter Shop. For those of you who aren't quilter's let me tell you about this site. It's the best! They have everything you need: tons of fabric and lots of patterns. And the thing is, it's easy to find. They may not be the biggest online quilt store, but they're definately one of the biggest and easiest to use. I love 'em. Since school started CrazyOldLadies has slowed down a bit and decided to focus on marketing. Last week I sent out 22 free patterns along with a letter to different shops around the U.S. inviting them to look at our patterns. Today it all paid off. As I said, Fat Quarter Shop called and placed a HUGE order. I can hardly stand it. This silly little at home business that Margie and I created....well this is just one more thing to prove that we are in out right mind. Not to put it all on this one shop, but it definately spells SUCCESS when you're on Fatquartershop.com. WOO HOO!

Little Blessings

And so it goes, the kids are sick. I have to share a really cool story about Logan. Last sunday after we got home from PC he complained of his ear hurting. I gave him Ibuprofen and that seemed to help. The next day his ear hurt him all day, but since it was Labor Day I was holding out for our real doctor. I continued giving him Ibuprofen at regular intervals to relieve his discomfort. That night he came to me with what looked like an infected splinter on his hand. I knew I needed to lance it, clean it, and put medicine on it so that it would heal but he was very scared of the needle (who could blame him, right!?) Anyway, after trying to convince him that it wouldn't hurt and that this is what he needed to make it get better, we decided to say a prayer so that he wouldn't be so scared. As I was finishing the prayer I felt impressed to bless his ear as well. I had already planned on keeping him home tues. so we could visit the Doctor's office. As it was, his ear never bothered him again. I am so grateful for the little blessing in life. All too often I trudge through the bothers of life thinking "these are lessons to learn from." But this time I learned a lesson that nothing is too small that we can't ask for help. I've been sharing our little miracle story with anyone and everyone that would listen. Last night Paris was up during the night with her nasty cold and she was rubbing her ear. I asked her if her ear hurt and she said "yes, will you say a prayer about my ear Mommy?" Even she understands the power of prayer. So we said a prayer and we're waiting. I'm trying not to be greedy with my blessings, but I do have faith.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I thought i would write a little re-cap of my awesome weekend vacation to Park City with my wonderful husband. A few weeks ago I decided to plan a mini-vacation away for my birthday. Lucky for Gilbert, he got to come along. I wouldn't have been able to do anything though if it wasn't for my awesome sister, Allison that just happened to move out here a couple weeks ago. She was brave enough to agree to watching our three rascals for a couple days. She brought along her friend Linda to give her a little sanity while she was here. Anyway, we headed up to Park City on friday and stayed at one of the Marriott hotels in PC. I just love it there. Saturday we hit the outlets for their labor day weekend sidewalk sale. thanks to a couple coupons I picked up last week we made a good haul for the kids winter school clothes. I just love shopping with Gilbert up there. He's so good at it! Which I have to say is a talent I helped him develop since we've been married. :o) After our quick shopping trip (we were there less than 2 hours) we skipped over to Red Rock Brewery for a little lunch. uuuh, no beer! I had yummy potato-bacon soup w/ sourdough bread. Mmmmm! Then you'll never guess what we did. This is totally unheard of once you have kids. We went back to the hotel and took a nap. Can you believe it? and for 2 hours. I'll tell you, it was so nice not having little people pulling your eyelids up and asking if you're asleep. Or screaming from downstairs that someone is hitting/kicking/punching/bothering them. After our little snooze we headed into downtown. There was a mustang car show that day so we got to peek at a few nice hot rods while we strolled in and out of shops looking for a belt that I wouldn't have to take a loan out for. We stopped into a BBQ place for dinner. Oh Yum! Both of us only ate about 1/2 our food because there was so much. But it was sooooo good. I ordered brisket, Gilbert, pulled pork. Afterward we hiked back up to our truck and drove down to a nicer spot to catch the chair-lift up the mountain. It was so beautiful. I was particularly amazed since I've never been skiing or on a lift. It wasn't too scary, especially once we found the safety bar...ON OUR WAY BACK DOWN! had to laugh about that one. Anyway, once on land again we hopped over to listen to a local band play and just relax. Have I mentioned how nice it is not having several kids scrambling all over the place? Well, it is. We woke up sunday morning and started our drive back. We took the long way through Midway, UT then cut across to the Alpine Loop. We stopped at Cascade Springs for a little walk and threw berries into the ponds and watched the brown trout fight for them. Only to spit them out once they realized what they were. Back on the road again, and heading for home. But boy were we exhausted. Crazy how a little vacation can wear you out. The kids were happy to see us, and Allison and Linda were still alive. We had a wonderful weekend...I'm already planning the next one! My advice to all: Just Do It! Even if it's only a little town a few miles away, taking that time for a break is well worth it.