This afternoon Madison came down the stairs with her purse and a little backpack and announced she was running away. She hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so I asked her, “Don’t you want to have some lunch first?” She decided that would be OK, and while I fixed her a chicken pattie, we talked a little bit about why she was running away. Apparently Morgan was being mean to her. I thought by the time she finished lunch, she would have forgotten all about her plans, but as soon as she finished eating, she went out the door and started walking up the sidewalk. She didn’t even say goodbye! (At least not to me. I think she made sure Alex and Morgan knew she was going so they would feel bad).
And she kept walking.
By the time she got around the corner at the end of the cul-de-sac, I thought maybe I ought to go pick her up. I got in the car and drove after her. When I got around the corner, she was walking back down the street to come home. I rolled down the window and asked her if she didn’t think it would be much more fun to go get some ice cream than to run away, and she agreed. She got in and said with a pouty face, “I stubbed my toe twice and it really hurt! I need a band-aid.” She had forgotten to put shoes on before running away. When we got home, she hugged me really tight and repeated over and over several times with a tearful expression, “I don’t want to run away! I don’t want to run away!”
I’m so glad! We’ll keep you, little one.
Madison’s turning six this weekend and until now, she has never had a “friend” birthday party. We always celebrate with family, but this year, we decided it was high time she had a real birthday bash. Many of you know I don’t love birthday parties….so I put it off until almost the last minute. She wanted something simple–a late night. However, between a trip to Wyoming and several other evening commitments, there just wasn’t a good night. So, I talked her into the Wizard of Oz theme instead. It ended up being kind of fun. We had a yellow brick road going up the sidewalk (I think it stayed in place until after the last guest arrived….then it blew across the yard. Duct tape doesn’t work too well on cement). We made tissue paper poppies to line the yellow brick road, and had green balloons at the doorway to the “Emerald City.” We played Twister, Pin the Wart on the Witch’s Nose, a Wizard of Oz version of Duck, Duck, Goose–we called it Asleep, Asleep, Awake–and Musical Chairs turned Hot Potato . (We realized we didn’t have enough chairs for Musical Chairs and improvised at the last minute using a wand kind of like Good Witch Glenda’s as the hot potato). We served green lunch on green plates and used green cups and silverware and ended up with green cupcakes for dessert–the Emerald City, you know. I think the kids had fun. Hopefully it wasn’t too boring. We burned through the games in no time and ended up having 30 minutes left until time to take the kids home. Wizard of Oz DVD to the rescue! The boys were indispensable as my assistants, even though I know they would have rather been far, far away.
Happy Birthday Madison! You are special.
I did a crazy thing today. I had a dental appointment to get a tooth filled, and I asked if the dentist thought it would be too bad if I didn’t have novacaine–I’d already refused the gas, as usual, the headphones and remote, as usual. All the things they do to try and make your visit a happy one tend to only make me more miserable. Face it, I don’t watch much TV anyway, especially during the daytime, and it’s just more annoying than anything to try to find something to watch while having the drill buzzing around your mouth. So I opt for simple, non-gassed-up irritation rather than utter confusion. The novacaine, however, I have never done without. But, as I thought about my plans for the day and how much I hate the feeling of a deadened mouth, I began to wonder if a few momentary sharp pains might not be easier to take than a full afternoon of discomfort. (This coming from the girl who has never, not once, delivered a baby without an epidural–get it to me as quickly as possible!)
Well, the dentist said it shouldn’t be too bad….just a twinge or two probably. So, I decided to brave it. The first twinge was not so bad. The second was okay. By the time we hit the third, I was rethinking my decision, and on the fourth and fifth (when he had already said the third was the last one) I really wondered if it was too late to ask for the shot! But then, he was done drilling, he filled the tooth, and I was on my way, feeling practically no effect whatsoever. Would I do it again? I don’t know if I’d be brave enough, but I have to say, my afternoon was much more pleasant than I had expected it to be. No drooling, no fat-face feeling, no tenderness from the shot….perfect recovery! It may have been almost worth it.
We have been growing an amazing patch of weeds this summer. They are flourishing despite the lack of rain or nourishment of any kind. I struggle with the lack of beauty in our yard, but I know it will come eventually. However, the other day, I noticed a few bright spots poking up in the midst of all the ugly weeds:
OKAY–so I know these are just weeds, too, but I love them! They made my day.
We’ve been spending a lot of time indoors the last couple of weeks, and so this afternoon, I decided to take the kids to the Children’s Discovery Garden at Thanksgiving Point. As we first walked in, we weren’t sure that it was worth staying, but then we “discovered” a few fun spots. On the list of favorites:
The bear cave:
Everyone enjoyed climbing all over the big bear and crawling through the tunnel in his cave.
The mazes:
Morgan wanted to go in by herself. I waited and waited for her to come out. I finally decided to go in after her. I kept calling her name, but no answer. She finally ran up behind me and was so relieved to find me. She’d been wandering around and couldn’t find her way out. I asked her if she heard me calling her, and she said yes. When I asked why she didn’t yell back at me, she said, “I tried, but I was just too scared!” Good thing it was basically a miniature maze!
Noah’s Ark and wading pool:
We tried not to get wet, but one of the sprays got Madison really good! At least she was cool, I guess. It was great to get some fresh air and sunshine! And the drinks and shakes afterward were especially refreshing!
Also, a big thanks goes out to Caroline for the amazing pictures! Some Moms remember to take their cameras with them on fun outings!
I have had a charm pack of Moda’s Flutterby line sitting in my cupboard for several weeks now. In the spirit of one of my new idols, Crazy Mom Quilts, I decided to do something out of the ordinary for me–utter randomness! Honestly–I didn’t even look through the fabrics at all, except to split them up and arrange them for this photo:
After the photo, I separated the charm pack into six piles (again, didn’t even look at them individually), and cut three 1 1/2″ strips from each square. I then cut 2 inches off each 1 1/2″ x 5″ strip.
To perpetuate the random theme, I jumbled both piles up,
and chain-sewed the pieces back together several times–trying not to even think about color combinations except to make sure that two like colors never touched each other (can this still be counted as random)? It was fun to discover the fabrics as I went along–sort of my own little mystery quilt, I guess. I had intended for this to be a table runner, but I think it is evolving into a small quilt. Here is what I have so far:
I’ve been playing a lot with the arrangement. I’m going to put them on a brown background–we’ll see how the finished product ends up looking–a mystery all around. Sometimes it’s fun to just create without a lot of thought. I’ve been doing a lot of heavy duty brainwork lately (Click here to find out why) and it was lovely just to relax and sew!
What do you think???
As previously announced, I’ve been a little crazy with the quilt shop lately. But, we’re making progress! Yesterday I met with a sales rep from Moda Fabric to place an order–we looked at hundreds (maybe over a thousand) options–and that’s only one company! (Thanks Natilie for sitting in on the 4-hour meeting and helping me narrow things down. You’re a saint!) Anyway–more meetings next week. I have to say, I still LOVE fabric. I love the way it looks and feels, and I’m telling you, there are such fun and wonderful things out there. So much fun to be able to be involved with something you love!
Dallin left yesterday for a hiking adventure with the Scout troop. They’re up in the Uintah’s. I guess they went to a base camp yesterday, then today they were going to pack in to a lake–luckily the hike is only three miles. His pack seemed so heavy! I don’t know what we could have taken out though. We’ll see how he does. The other kids are managing to keep themselves busy amidst all my craziness. They get bored at times, but generally play together very well.
Morgan just got a new “girl bike” because all she had was one of Dallin’s old ones. She claimed there was “no way she could ever ride that boy bike to one of her friends’ houses.” Barry helped her look online, and they found exactly what she was looking for–the “Daisy Diva.” Powder Blue (we’re not into pink anymore) with daisies, streamers on the handlebars, and a little white basket on the front. She worked for a couple of weeks doing tons of jobs to earn money. When the bike arrived, she had made only $28. We had a great family home evening lesson on the Parable of the Bicycle from Steve Robinson’s book Believing Christ–about the atonement–and Barry took her $28 and paid for the rest.
Barry has been busy organizing and practicing for the company golf tournament at Thanksgiving Point. It took place yesterday and today. Then we have the company party out at Thanskgiving Point tomorrow and he gets to work late Saturday night for his quarterly update.
Are you tired yet? We do still have time to occasionally just sit and stare at the TV or sit down to dinner together. I also enjoyed a fun getaway to St. George on Tuesday to see Le Miserables at the Tuacahn theater. Good company and good show. Even survived the 108 degree heat (at 8:30 at night!) Luckily we were in the shade until the sun went down!
Sending out Birthday wishes to my Dad….You are amazing and I love you!!!! Hope you have a great day.
I’m here to apologize about the lengthy lag-time in my posting. Here is a little clue as to how I’ve been spending my days:
I have been sititng at the computer for hours at a time researching fabric and all that goes with it. Barry’s Mom and I are getting ready to open a quilt shop called Just Sew in Highland–an idea that is both exciting and scary all at the same time. Projected opening date…Labor Day Weekend. Sew much to do, Sew little time!
