Connor and his slingshot

connor built this with Kirk for the science fair, he's got he aim down really well if even I can catch it!

EFY here comes my son! (good luck!)

OK I spent the day doing laundry and helping Matt pack for his week in Provo! I am so excited for him to go have fun, meet new people, have amazing experiences, and GET OUT OF HERE! That doesn't make me a bad mom right? I hope he has the right clothes, I hope he doesn't text GA the whole time, I hope he eats enough and I hope he finds college campus amazing and it inspires him to spend the next 3 years trying to get back there!

Creepy

Creepy guy who doesn't live in our neighborhood somehow got in our pool area and asked Elle for a hug while I was in the bathroom! Luckily she said no and ran over next to her brothers! YUCK!!!

In loving tribute to...

I put these on facebook but they were so darn funny I had to post here as well. While driving home through Florida you see a lot of memorials. Mostly they look to be Civil war or other war type memorials. Guys on horses with swords, that kind of thing. I would love to stop at each one, but no one else would love to add a extra 2 hours to our drive. This one however I was lucky enough to get to see. We stopped for gas and I debated maybe 2 minutes about running across the street, and I am so glad I did! This is a nice gated memorial, with a tall American flag as you can see. So I'm expecting the usual, but no, it's not the usual. Here is the inscription incase you can't read it;
" ERECTED IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF THE ROLE THE NORTH AMERICAN POSSUM. A MAGNIFICENT SURVIVOR OF THE MARSUPIAL FAMILY PRE-DATING THE AGES OF THE MASTADON AND THE DINOSAUR. HAS PLAYED IN FURNISHING BOTH FOOD AN DFUR TOO THE EARLY SETTLERS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. THEIR PRESENCE HERE HAS PROVIDED A SOURCE OF NUTRITIOUS AND FLAVORFUL FOOD IN NORMAL TIMES AND HAS BEEN IMPORTANT AID TO HUMAN SURVIVAL IN TIMES OF DISTRESS AND CRITICAL NEED."
Is it just me or is that awesome? If I had to erect a memorial for all the food I found delicious and nutritious I would have a lot of monuments. Or do you think the monument is up so all the parents in this very small town while feeding their kids possums can say "now you eat every bite because it is delicious and nutritious! We know thats true because it's on the monument, do you need to go read it again?"

Last day of school

Well it's the last day of school for us. Aj of course has strep throat so he's missing his elementary school graduation today. I'm bummed for him, he's too sick to care. His poor empty yearbook won't get signed, someone else will eat the pizza I paid for :) Oh well. Elle got glasses, just in time for the last day of school. Of course! I won't make the mistake of not going to a 1 hour glasses shop ever again! Matt is taking his last very important final, I'm so nervous for him! Then he's off to EFY Provo on Saturday!

Although Beckys salsa will always be my favorite to make and eat, this one is now a very close 2nd. It seriously surprised me, I thought the red was tomatoes but it's red peppers and it's pretty chuncky. But the citrus is amazing! I also find eating it with lime tostitos is FREAKING AMAZING. Of course I was on the beach and hungry... I'll make it tonight and see if I love it as much :)

Miami Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1 can corn
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1/2 c. finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c. finely chopped red onion
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1 ripe avocado

Dressing
1 orange
1 lime
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. salt

Grate peel from orange and lime; place peel in bowl, squeeze juice from orange and lime into bowl. Add oil, hot pepper sauce and salt, stir to combine, mix with salsa and let sit refrigerated for 30 minutes before eating. Just before serving slice avocado and add to mixture.

My new diet

I'm on a new diet plan. It's only my 2nd day so I can't tell if it's made a difference. Plus someone, we won't name names, took the battery out of my scale to put in their red dot scope on their sniper rifle... but my pants are still a little tight, so I'm guessing no dramatic change. What diet is it you ask? It's called Invisalign. Thats right I'm in braces again. With the normal braces it hurts to eat for awhile but you can eat as long as you don't mind smiling at someone with salad in your teeth. With the invisalign, it looks like i'm wearing bleaching trays all the time. the bonus is I can take them out, but it is so hard to get them off I've actually broken a nail, and there is a several teeth with this white dot of whatever that sticks out. That tends to seriously rub my cheeks when the trays aren't in. So I'm making dinner and I got to take a bite but I can't. You cn't eat or drink anything with them in, except for water. I know it doesn't seem difficult to just take them out and eat, but it's been a pain so far. Mt teeth aren't awful but the tooth I had in the middle of my upper pallet has been trying to go back there for years. It's caused the bottom tooth to move so far forward I had a oral surgeon mention I'm on my way to needing gum grafts. Uh no thanks!! Thus my super cool new teeth gear. I must mention my awesome friend Celeste just got braces on her top teeth last week. It's kinda fun to be doing this together! Although she mostly complains that mine are clear and hers aren't, I still think we're in this together!

Back in the blonde

I've wondered frequently through the years what I would have looked like if I never started high lighting my hair. After all my sister is gorgeous with her brown hair. The real problem is, I don't have brown hair I have DARK ash blonde, very ashy. Not the same. But I have a friend in beauty school and she talked me into the dark streaks with only some dark blonde highlights. I lived with it for about 6 weeks. I like a few pictures I got with it but in the end... I hated how I felt. I felt old and boring. So I'm back in blonde and sooo happy to have my mojo back, yah baby! Sad that something so superficial can make or break my confidence. But now I can say I tried.

Compulsive reading

I was sitting at the table with Elle eating cereal and I noticed she was reading the Bisquick box that was there on the table. She was reading the fried chicken recipe on the side of the box. I'm sure it wasn't overly interesting but it's something I would do. I'm a compulsive reader and I read EVERYTHING. I was teased for reading some stuff in my friends car at a stop light because it was there and I couldn't help it. So I got excited that she was reading the Bisquick box because just maybe she will love reading as much as me!

89,90,91,92....

So I have to check if Matt is asleep most nights and not talking on the phone under his pillow where i won't notice. So the other night I was standing outside his door and I was counting to 100 to see if he was just being quiet because he heard me or if he was asleep. For some reason 100 has always been my thats long enough number. So as I was standing there counting to 100, I remembered when I used to stand outside his door when he was a baby or toddler counting to 100 to see if he was sleeping so i could go back to bed. Funny how somethings never seem to change, or they changed but now they are back...

Running Woes

I ran at the gym today since it was the only way to run with my awesome running buddy, it's probably been a year since I've run on the dreadmill. Anyway Since it was so late in the day I just showered there but I forgot a change of shoes, it's always something with me. But the rest of the day I was so busy I just stayed in my running shoes, and several times a hour I would realize I had all my toes curled under and tight for absolutely no reason, I guess I know why I keep losing toenails, ouch! Is this genetic? Does anyone else curl their toes in their shoes? Maybe I should buy those toe socks, you know where each toes has it's only little place... maybe that would stop me...
I did wear my super cool new 10k teeshirt, it's only the 2nd cute teeshirt I've gotten. I've had some real ugly ones, that I can't seem to throw away. As if in time they will be cute. No they will never be cute.
movie quote, "creme brulee can never be jelly" ) how do you spell that?)

Temple Cultural celebration

This weekend was a wonderful, exhausting roller coaster. We had the final rehearsals for the our temple rededication celebration on Friday night at the civic center and the actual show on Sat night, so the day was filled with rehearsals. I was there in my "manager" job from 2:00 till 1am. Our kids were there at about 3:30 till midnight. My boys song didn't even get onstage until 10:45. It was a hot stuffy mess. They complained some but for what they had to do deal with I think they were amazing. the group of 175 kids I was in charge of had to sit in rows in the wing of the balcony area, so we had to keep all those kids quiet so the audience wouldn't hear us instead of the show, not easy. My boys were in a room on the lower level meant for 600 but that had 800 and almost no air conditioning. Saturday morning I got up and ran a 10k for a cause called water for the world, which was silly of me since I didn't get to sleep till 2 and I haven't run that far in about 6 months. However I had a great time and I was very proud of my body! Sat we got to the civic center again around 1, but it was all worth it when the Prophet arrived at 7. What a wonderful experience it was to see him and hear him talk about our area and pronounce a blessing on us. He then sat in the audience with his daughter and Elder Packer. They sat in chairs in front the of the 2nd section of the audience in front of the aisle while Kirk, Aj and Elle sat in chairs at the back of the aisle, so right in front of the prophet which was so cool! He waved and Aj and Elle :) can you beat that? I was thrilled. Connor and Matt sang and advanced for the prophet but didn't get to see him other than on the screen which I am so sad about. Connor was so disappointed. I just keep telling him that maybe you didn't see him but he saw you, and he was there in the room with you. Sometimes that what we get, the witness we want isn't always visual. So now I am getting the family dressed to go to our stake center to watch the prophet on screen in one of the rooms I stood with my kids and dedicate our temple after 2 long years! I can hardly wait!