find joy in the journey

pool party

Conner's ode to summer vacation . . .

and in case you missed last tuesday's episode of Yo Gabba Gabba with special musical guest, the Aquabats, here you go.

And would you believe me if I said that Scott and I have been to an Aquabats concert?  No, not when we were dating or in college . . . . just 3 years ago.  It was pretty wild.  I'm sure that after watching this video that isn't too hard to imagine.  Scott's love of the Aquabats started in college - he went to a concert then with his brothers.  And now every once in a while he pulls out their CD's for some happy head-bobbin' in the car.  The kids think it's hilarious.

And about Yo Gabba Gabba . . . at first that show totally freaked me out.  I thought, who in the world came up with this, and how did it end up on Nick Jr.  It is a bit bizarre, and not surprisingly the kids love it, and the songs are getting stuck in my head.  So if you're also a parent out there scratching your head, I found this behind the scenes video that helped answer some of my questions.

what do you do in the summertime?

on a hot, 90 degree day we do this

and treat ourselves with this

The end of summer is upon us and I'm having a hard time letting go!  Yes, I'll be happy to get the kids in school and have a little more quiet during the day.  But I'll miss the {cough} sunny days, trips to the park and the pool, and the freedom of doing whatever.  We have had a great summer and from the beginning we decided to make the most of it.  During a FHE in June we had the boys each tell us two things they wanted to do during the summer and we added that to our own list and the things that were already on the calendar.  Remember Stacy J's idea?  Ours wasn't as cute - just post-it notes stuck to a dry erase board on the fridge, but it got the job done.

Here's our summer fun list for 2007:

• visit grammer Valerie and papa Dennis
• visit grammer Teresa and papa Dan
• go to the library
• swimming
• picnic in the park
• Chuck E. Cheese's
• bowling
• camping
• the zoo
• play tennis
• go to the beach

We didn't quite get to tennis and the beach (sad for me), but I guess the beach will still be there when we find time.

I hope you have had a wonderful, memorable, fun-filled summer too!

school of life

So what do you do when your kids grow up and leave the house and get married . . . Do I hand them volumes and volumes of scrapbooks that I have painstakenly created over the last 20 years? How do I say good-bye to that? Will they really appreciate it? Will they keep it safe? And what about my empty shelves - do I really want to turn to my scrapbook shelf and see a dark, blank space?  Emptiness where happy memories and tales of diaper blow-outs in Las Vegas used to reside? This is something that I had been contemplating for a while. Then last year I came across Stacy Julian's book called, "The Big Picture" and as I turned to page 108 it was like a light came shining down from heaven.  Here's the idea . . .

She creates an album for her children that summarizes each year of their life in school. She calls it the "School of Life" album. There's room for a school portrait, pictures from school that year, personality & family pics, and a pocket page for some of that stuff (cards, notes, school papers, drawings) that accumulates. The format is simple, it's the same every year, minimal embellishments, totally doable.  I totally ate it up and said, I'm definitely doing this. 

Then I got a hold of Cathy Zielske's book this spring, "Clean and Simple Scrapbooking - The Sequel" and on page 120 she took Stacy J's idea (giving her the credit) and translated it into her ultra clean & simple style.  It looked awesome.  So I decided to be a big fat copier (I take no shame in that label) and started albums for Payton and Conner this last weekend.  Here's what Cathy did.  And here's my ridiculously similar version.

layout 1:  school portrait & pictures from school throughout the year (including first and last day of school)

layout 2: packed with personality pictures, activities, and family

layout 3: on the left hand page I put one photo for halloween, christmas, birthday, and our christmas card picture. On the right hand page I made a pocket for misc. papers.

Supplies used:  cardstock, 1 sheet of patterned paper per year, brads, a report card tag, journaling spots, and titles I created on my computer.

It's so simple and I love the way it turned out. I think the key to making this work from year to year is drastically limiting the number of embellishments you include. I had to keep telling myself over and over again, keep it simple.

I think these 3 layouts do a great job of summarizing the year for my kids.  And this way they'll be leaving home with 2 albums instead of 12.

A note to my mom:  yes, I am taking good care of the childhood albums I snatched from home years ago.  But please stop me the next time I try to take decorative scissors to my childhood photos.  I know, I know it was 1992 and that's what was in style, and I was a stubborn 12-year old who thought she knew everything.  I take full blame.  Thanks for all the memories.

call me a grobanite

because I have now been to two Josh Groban concerts, I own all of his albums, a piano song book, and now an official Awake tour t-shirt.

it was . . . . amazing.  And wonderful.  And glorious.  I think I had a smile plastered across my face for a solid hour and a half.  (And I think Scott considers this money well spent - happy wife, happy . . . .)

Our seats were grrreat.  But as great as they were I can't help feeling a tinge of jealousy for the seats at the end of our row.  At one point in the concert Josh appeared in the stands and walked all the way down, across the floor, and back to the stage.  If I was about 15 seats over to the right I would have been touching Josh Groban.  Chills just thinking about it.

(it's fuzzy, but you get the general idea)

For the drive up we were in Scott's truck, which has a broken CD player.  But for me the idea of driving to the Josh Groban concert without listening to his CD was just . . . unthinkable.  Taking the van on our date was out of the question for Scott.  So we got a little creative.  I held a big ol' CD player (my b-day gift from 1997) in my lap connected to a car power adapter.  Pretty smooth looking, I am sure.

(also fuzzy - I put the camera on the dash board and set the automatic timer)

And that Awake tour t-shirt I know you're dying to see . . .

Like I said, this is a good month.

over the top

Last night we took the family to dinner at a nearby restaurant that was new to us.  The kids behaved.  The food was good.  And, oh my, the desserts were heavenly.  A chocolate mousse torte and almond biscotti cake left both Scott and I saying "wow."  We will definitely be going back for dessert at the very least.

So we gave each of the kids a little sliver of chocolate cake on their own plates.  Apparently Conner scarfed his down -- I was too wrapped up in the euphoria of a rockin' dessert to notice, until . . . . he starts nudging my arm and in an almost panic tone says, "hey, hey--, hey, let's arm wrestle."  What???!!  I finally snap out of it and ask him.  What do you want to arm wrestle for? 

"The cake."

Once he had cleaned his plate and noticed the quickly disappearing cake on my own, he decided it was time for quick, desperate measures.  Scott and I laughed the rest of the night every time we thought about this exchange.  And even as I'm typing I'm can barely hold it together.  What makes this so funny and random is that we don't ever arm-wrestle or even talk about arm-wrestling.  Maybe he woke up late one night and watched Over the Top on TBS.  Who knows.

So as you can see this place gets a thumbs up from Scott, me, Anna (who ate more french fries than I thought could fit into a little almost-2 year old body), Payton (who also ate very well), and . . . . Conner.

(if you are local and want to know what place I'm talking about, e-mail me)

four things

there are things I should be doing right now, but I've been tagged and I love a good reason to procrastinate.

Jobs I've had

1. newspaper route with my dad and Sam
2. one summer (actually just 3 days) spent stuffing envelopes at city hall.
3. receptionist in the English Composition Office at BYU
4. receptionist at a distributor of golf cart parts

Getaways - I'd like to do

1. a bed and breakfast on the coast, just Scott and I
2. an Alaska cruise
3. explore NYC with someone who knows what to see and where to go
4. Seattle with a stopover in Forks, WA

Movies I put on repeat

1. Phantom of the Opera
2. Napoleon Dynamite
3. Moulin Rouge
4. hopefully Twilight someday =)

Guilty pleasures

1. milkshakes in the drive-thru
2. lip gloss -- I think I have 5 different kinds in my make-up bag right now
3. making cookies and eating 2 or 3 from each cookie sheet
4. shopping online

Places I've lived

1. Gustine, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. Beaverton, OR
4. here

Places I've been on holidays

1. my grandma Margaret's little apartment in Salt Lake City, UT for Christmas 1988-ish.  She was serving a Family History Mission for the Church.
2. a cabin in Pine Crest, CA for Christmas 1985-ish.
3. my grandparent's house in Mt. Pleasant, UT for the 4th of July 1998
4. a beach house in Gualala, CA for Christmas 1999

Favorite foods

1. creamsicles and fudgesicles
2. grilled kabobs - steak, sausage, mushrooms, pineapple . .
3. smoothies
4. fresh fruit - pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, anything sweet & juicy

First kiss location

• first kiss ever - March 1997, I was 17, outside Stover Hall (dorms at BYU), after Preference (girls ask guys dance) and a movie out on the lawn, my first boyfriend, and my roommate took a picture of me 10 seconds after I walked back into the room to capture forever in time my cheesy grin.
• first kiss with Scott - July 5, 1998, Kiwanis Park in Provo, about 10:30pm . . . he had blindfolded me and driven me in his car somewhere (I was clueless), then he made me sit in the car while he set-up a blanket and candles and we had brownie sundaes, followed by lighting off some gigantic sparklers (seriously, like 3 feet long), and ended the evening with some fireworks all our own. =)

And now I tag . . . . everyone!  If you 're looking for something to post, here's your answer. 

doodles

recently inspired by Shannon's art binder, and my mom's little walk down memory lane . . . .

Payton drew me the cutest clown today.  (For anyone familiar with Baby Newton -- this is the clown made with all the shapes . . . "I know my shapes, oh yes I do").  Lately, his art has centered around hearts, pictures of our house, and stick Paytons so this was a fun treat.

Last week Conner was immersed in his workbook at the dinner table, Payton & Anna watching tv, me . . . on the computer.  I opened the door to find this note lying on the floor:

translation:  Mommy, Payton's watching a movie and I can't concentrate.  Life is so hard when you're 6.

the good life

I told you this was going to be a good month . . . .

1.  Got to read Eclipse.  Woo-hoo!

2.  Booked plane tickets and hotel for a family trip.  Yee-ha!

3.  Found a secret stash of candy!  Starburst, jelly beans, and hershey's nuggets (toffee & almond).  Literally squealed in excitement and went running to show Scott.  Sweee-eet! 

4.  Received my 3rd package of Heidi Swapp products compliments of Big Picture Scrapbooking & A Year to Remember.  ghost clocks, chipboard clocks, foam stamp set, and more!

5.  Someone sent me flowers. =)

6.  Went to a Josh Groban concert!!!

7.  Spent a weekend scrapbooking at the beach with friends.

exhale . . .

finished

it's here

Showed up at my local book shop at precisely 9am to pick up this beauty.

LOVE these visuals.

The music I listen to on a daily basis.  Although, song #1 here is on a major sugar high (operating at double time).  And they left out two of my favorites -- DOA by Foo Fighters, and Sound of Pulling Heaven Down by Blue October.

Watched Stephenie on GMA this morning.

Stephenie Meyer talks about Eclipse.

And can you even imagine a Twilight movie?!  She's got some great actor picks.

Joined a group on facebook called, "Because I read Twilight I have unrealistic expectations in men." 

Can I just tell you that this is shaping up to be a dang good month?  It is.

go beavers

Tonight we went to a Beavers baseball game, compliments of Scott's employer.  It was a big employee appreciation type event with a hamburger dinner, goodie bags for the kids, peanuts and licorice to munch on during the game, Conner & Payton both came home with foul balls (one found in the eating area, and another given to us to by someone sitting nearby), and just a great time spent as a family in the outdoors (even though it hit 92 today, we didn't feel it at all in our shaded seats). 

the girls and the boys

eating dinner on the sidelines, our view, goodies awaiting us

and a cute girl enjoying the game.