Another week gone...

Another week has come and gone, and what do I have to show for it??? Well, I spent a couple of days sewing again... (till 4 in the morning before I sent the girls off to camp). While out making last minute purchases for stuff to send the girls to Young Women's camp with, and Sariah really got into making things for the secret sister stuff. Sariah saw this cute Princess fabric and asked if I could make them each a pair of pj/shorts for camp. I went ahead and got the fabric, there was just over 5 yd's on the bolt so I bought it all, and lucky for me... it was on sale for $1.00 a yd. yippee! So, I began the sewing adventure Monday afternoon, and the girls left at 6 am tuesday morning.

I made the mistake or whatever of opening the door to have the vacuum salesman come in for a free carpet cleaning demonstration. monday evening, and lost several hours of sewing time while the guy showed us what my old (breaking down vacuum) was NOT cleaning out of my carpets!!! UGH!!!!! I am now the proud owner of a Kirby, and I do like it a lot... but not what we had -planned at this time at all!!!!! Liam (and the girls) LOVED the bubbles and the floor cleaning part of it!

Other than that, we had good friends come into town househunting. We have known D since He and Bill were classmates back at West Point many years ago. We spent time visiting when Germany was both of our first duty stations. Then we were lucky enough to be visiting Bills parents the summer he and H got married in the D.C. temple and were able to attend their marriage, then go up to CN for the reception (and waterskiing). They moved into a Ward in Germany with my best freinds for the past couple of years and now are ending up in Huntsville. Other than they found a house to buy in another ward... we are looking forward to getting to know their family when they move in the next couple of weeks.

We have missed the girls while they've been gone at camp, are hoping they are all have fun and having a wonderful experience. It is Sariah's first year. We picked up a freind yesterday to spend a couple of days with the girls while her mom is at camp with our sisters. I've enjoyed some more tomatoes from my garden and have a squash ready to eat - Yummy!

That is our update for now... the girls want me to take them to the pool, so... like Dana, I have to make the ultimate sacrifice and go out in public with my white/glow in the dark -mosquito bitten legs - in a bathing suit, to chase Liam around so he doesn't drown, so the girls can have some summer fun! Anyone want to come play????

19 years ago today...

At about this time 19 years ago, I was in Washington D.C. at the temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Preparing to kneel across the alter and look into the eyes of my sweetheart, and then look into the mirrors as our image went on forever into eternity...

I don't know how I got so lucky to have Bill come into my life. I can't imagine my life without him by my side. I look forward to many many more years together, and eternity of togetherness.

Tonight my sweetheart is taking me to the Temple (in Birmingham this time), and we will have the oportunity to kneel across the alter as we do temple work tonight. We will certainly be thinking back to that very special day 19 years ago with sweet rememberance.

I love you sweetheart, forever! Thankyou for taking me to the temple to be sealed for time and all Eternity.

Float like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee!

My garden is growing like gangbusters... I started my garden a bit late, but it is showing great promise. I have had a few tomatoes ripen so far, and they were very tasty. I have tons of green tomatoes that I don't know what I will ever do with them all when they ripen at the same time!!! The beans are growing and the vines are sretching all over the place. I have begun some 'organic' methods of keeping my vines reaching upward. I have thee tall trees in the back against the fence and there are a lot of dry branches, so I've been using them to stake up my garden plants. It might look a bit funny with all these branches sticking up out of my garden, but I am using what I have available and it seems to be helping. The corn is just about to send up tassels, and there are tons of flowers on my zucchine, squash and cucmbers, and a few small little squash beginning to grow. I'm a bit afraid of all the flowers and vines on the pumpkins... they are going to take over my yard, not to mention the garden!!! We certainly wont' have any need to go to a pumpkin patch this year! We may begin to chare admission to the neighborhood to come to our little pumpkin patch...

Yesterday I was out checking on the garden and the bees were busy pollinating and buzzing about... and eventually I began to feel my finger throb and looked at it and it was swollen and bruised. I guess I got stung by a bee. It was my first bee sting ever. I didn't see or feel a bee in my hand, but somehow... I managed to get stung on the inside of my little finger. It is still a bit swollen, and and it feels tight when I bend my finger. Sariah stepped on a bee earlier in the week, and it is still quite swollen and tender, and it is itching like crazy... does anyone have any suggestions? Of course it's friday, and now I'm sure I won't be able to get it seen until monday, if it is still bothering her then.

We have had a busy couple of weeks, and the three older girls are getting ready for grils camp. They will be going next week. It is Sariah's first year at camp, and Probably Rebekah's last year. I won't have three girls at camp again until it is Sariah, Hannah and Marissa. I hope they all have a wonderful experience... I loved girls camp when I was a youth.

I Will Sew No More Forever!!!!!

Just kidding... but I've had about all the sewing I can stand/handle for a little while! I still haven't figured out all the fun parts of my new sewing machine... but me and sewing machine tension are not the best of friends. I don't know why, but I can be sewing along just fine.. I change stitch which is all supposed to be pre-set in the machine... and the tension is all messed up and I have to unpick more than what I don't. It is very frustrating, and I never made it to bed last night and I really didn't have very much to do... but it literally took ALL NIGHT long!!! o.k., so Liam got up twice, and seeing lights on downstairs... thought he had to fully wake up and come down to investigate! Amanda gave up around 1 a.m. and went to bed. Rebekah left us around 11 p.m. but she had to get up early today and go to work.

Anyway, Bill and the girls are leaving this afternoon, so I HAD to get the clothing finished!!! Amanda and I finally finished all of it around 10 a.m. Now if I can get the girls to model the clothes for me to take a picture or two!!!

We have also been doing a little dresser switch-a-roo at our house. We bought a couple of dressers from someone who moved from our ward, and so I've been trying to get the kids dressers cleaned out (clothes that don't fit, or winter clothes) and then switch dressers from one room to another...

I also had a fantastic FIND this week. Driving kids too and fro in the neighborhood this past week, I noticed someone putting out a little tykes playground set. eventually after driving past it on sat a couple of times (but only parts of it were out), then noticing it still sitting out on Sunday as we drove past the street... On Monday we drove past it and it had a for sale sign on it. I made Amanda (my resident chauffer) stop the van and go up to the door and ask how much. She came back to the car and I could hardly believe it! The family really only wanted it to go away, but didn't want to throw it away in the trash... the mom had told her son if he'd haul it out front, she'd give him the money for it. They sold it to me for $20.00!!!!! Sure it is sun faded, but my goodness, it is a $200-$300.00 PLAYGOUND!!!! Liam and the other kids (mine as well as neighborhood kids) are LOVING it!

The other happenings this week have been that Hannah has been going to softball camp, and really enjoying it. Today they were working on learning to 'slide' into base. They got to do a slip and slide with dish soap to help make it even more slippery... they had fun but Hannah was Freezing and she took a long hot shower when she got home. (the water must have been cold, because it is blazing hot outside here in AL!)
Liam was sitting on the potty yesterday, and by chance went pee-pee on the potty! yippeee, perhaps he'll figure out what it is really for now! He LOVES to sit on the potty, but has never actually gone on the potty before. This morning he was wearing training underwear, and I noticed him straining a little, and ran him to the bathroom and he got something in the potty, then he flushed it happily. Of course just after that he pee-pee'd in his pants and on the floor in the front hallway! Oh well... one step forward two steps back.