bloominmemories

Cruisin'

I'm in house, trying to decide the best place to start designing the July Autoship pages.  Bryan and the boys were out in the yard working.  In the house came two of the cutest boys you've seen ...

"Mom can you help us get some soap so we can clean our Jeep?"

They were just so cute cleaning it together and I started feeling bad.  The Jeep doesn't work.  We've bought new batteries and it still doesn't work.  I started thinking how much fun it would be to surprise them with one they could actually drive.  I went to the Toys 'R Us site and they didn't have on the I liked, so I tried Craigslist.  We were in luck!  A cute jeep had been listed today!  For a good price, too!

We decided to surprise the kids & go look at it.  They were sure we were going to Toys 'R Us & were disappointed when we told them we weren't.  That helped with the surprise.  (it actually makes me wonder if we didn't fall for an elaborate plan to get a new Jeep, oh well!)

When we pulled up to the home of the jeep it was in front.  Riley jumped out and ran up to owner and said "We want to borrow your Jeep!".  It was in good shape (and worked), so we did more than borrow it. 

Magnet Board Class

What a fun night!  It was great to see those of you who came to the class or stopped by to say hi and pick up your kits!

The class went well ... in spite of the cramped quarters.  We'll know next time that room is too small & host the class elsewhere (we have a couple of options).  We are considering offering more classes since it seems a lot of you would like that.  Maybe the three frames??? Just a thought.  Let me know what you are thinking.

Grandson of Rambow

The other night, while on his way to sleep over at my parents, Riley proudly announced:

"Grandpa's nick-name is Rambo!"

None of us had heard him say that before.  He's never seen Rambo.  We have no clue where he came up with that for my dad (I think grandpa secretly likes it!).  A couple of days ago, Bryan ran across this movie: Son of Rambow.  The trailer is hilarious! The music nostalgic!  Now I'll have to see if the movie's as good.  However, we affectionately think this movie should be called "GRANDson of Rambow"

Beautiful Boy ... Design Inspiration

Maybe it's because it's close to Mother's Day, but as I've been designing layouts for Shyloh the last two days, this song has been going through my head.  You'll see it's influence in the layouts I've designed!

Riley loves it when I sing this to him and will ask for it!  His favorite part?  "Close your eyes, have no fear.  The monster's gone, he's on the run and your mommy's here."

Play

 "It is a happy talent to know how to play"  Emerson

The 4 Frickets had us over to dinner last night.  We had a marvelous time playing and enjoying each other's company.

 

The luckiest mom

I can't believe I'm putting this picture up, but how can I not when my sweet husband and sons took the time to make my breakfast? 

(I guess you won't have to guess how cute I look in the morning now you'll know ... I'm not cute!)

 

I'd like to say that I'm the luckiest mom!

Look at these two beautiful boys (I've always told them they are beautiful).  Are they perfect? No. Am I a perfect mom? NO!  All I know is that I know my Heavenly Father sent me the two boys that were right for me.  They are mine.  I just hope that I will always be worthy of them.

Last Soccer Game of the season

 

It finally felt like spring and it's the last game of the season!  Neal has definitely improved over the last year.  He is running better and will "battle" over the ball with the other players.

We are lucky to have family members who like to come watch him play.  In fact, three of the cutest boys kept yelling: "Go, Neal!"

Mother's Day Breakfast

This morning I went to lunch with Bryan's Grandma, mom, sister, aunts and cousins.  They started this tradition three years ago, and it's the first year that I haven't been teaching a wood letter class the day before Mother's Day and was able to join them.  It's a great tradition.  We had so much fun spending time together!  I'm really lucky to have so many friends that are also my family.

(My Sister-in-law wants everyone to know that she sent me the picture.  I just didn't check my other email so I didn't know it)

To the dump, dump, dump!

Today we went on a field trip to the dump (aka the land fill).  We learned what a difference recycling makes, that cats make it to the dump because we leave our trash can lids open, there are an endless number of seagulls and garbage doesn't smell ... it's the grease that smells.

It was fun hanging with Neal & getting to know his friends more!

My adorable assistant

What a fun day I had yesterday!  Neal came on Good Things Utah with me and I got to demonstrate with Angie (it's been a couple of months).  Didn't Neal do great job!?

When we were finished with our segment, do you know what he said?  "You didn't let me talk!  You and that girl did all the talking!"  I'm not sure what he wanted to say, but whatever it was we didn't let him say it.  I'll have to bring him on again.

I thought he would want to stay around and get his picture taken with the girls, but he didn't.  He did, however, want to hang out with Roxanne, one of the show's producers.  Roxanne is really fun and totally cool.  She had a Lego Karl Malone figure, pictures of her friends with the cast of High School Musical and a Wildcats stuffed animal.  She loaded him with schwag ... the Snow Buddies DVD and a High School musical book.  He thinks he is the stuff.

Good Things Utah - Teacher Gifts

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  Neal and I demonstrated this cute candy bar wrapper using Heidi Swapp & SEI papers, Fancy Pants stamps, Bazzill flowers & a Heidi Swapp brad.  We had intended to demonstrate the gift card holder (to the right), but we ran out of time.

To view video, click here.

To make your own, here are the step-by-step instructions: Download 2008_05_06_teacher_gifts.pdf

Quote download:  Download a_teacher.pdf

During the segment, we talked about my June Autoship club (see layout at left) and A Page 4 All Seasons.  If you are interested in purchasing this layout and my other projects, please click here.

Guess what?  I'll be on GTU May 20 demonstrating a Bo Bunny Grade mini album designed with the BG Recess line!  Have a great day! 

Teacher Gifts (video)

GTU tomorrow and Basic Grey today!

I'll be on Good Things Utah tomorrow, May 6.  The program airs locally on channel 4 from 10 am - 11 pm.  Since it's Teacher Appreciation Week and close to the end of the school year (for those of us on a traditional schedule), I'll be demonstrating some simple teacher gifts.  I've even talked my 1st grade son into helping me demonstrate.

If you are unable to watch it live, I'll post the video tomorrow afternoon after it posts to their website.

If you read the blog in March, you know that myself, Tamara, Mandi and Shyloh competed in a Decor Off against Roberts, Making Memories, CK Media and WON! 

(Here we are with the winning chair)

Basic Grey generously donated products from their just released Sulty line to use on our chair.  Basic Grey is sending out their May Newsletter today and is featuring our chair!  WOO HOO! 

To thank them, I think I'll only design with their products for the entire week.  WINK!  You'd have to twist my arm!  (Actually, I have a few projects to finish and I was already planning on using their lines)

FYI: If you love the project to the left (watch video) and want one for yourself, we'll be offering kits at www.apage4allseasons.com in the next month or two.  Do you want one for a girl? 

We can do that, too!  Keep in touch!

Penne Pasta Salad

I got the recipe for this delicious salad from my husband's cousin.  We had it at the shower yesterday.  Everyone wanted the recipe.  I thought you might like it, too!

ENJOY!

 

May Shower

This is our cute friend Cami.  She is our backdoor neighbor.  Their family has been so good to us.  When Neal was born hanging on our back fence was a sign that read: "Welcome Home, Neal!  Love your older sisters and brother"  Cami and her younger sister would come over and hold him so I could take a nap.  My boys really think of them as their older siblings.  The girls introduce me as their big sister.  Their mom is my good friend.  We are lucky to have them as neighbors.

(this is the front page of the preschool scrapbook Cami made Neal)

Cami is getting married at the end of the month.  I am so excited for her!  I can't believe she is getting married!  She was 12 when we moved in and just starting Middle School.  I can still remember talking with her about her concerns about school.

Well, I couldn't let anyone else throw her a shower.  As Cami is not a glitz and glamour girl, we held a simple open house.  It was well attended.  Congrats, Cute Girl!

Little Lost Ducklings

Every year this mommy duck uses our neighbor's yard to give birth  (she likes their pool cover).  When the ducklings are old enough, she makes the trek out of their yard, down the street, to the canal.

Today while she was making the quest to the canal, the ducklings fell in to the storm drain at the bottom of the street.  Animal Control came and "fished" them out of the drain.  Because we were all watching, the mom left her babies.  The babies ended up in our yard with the mom flying over our house quacking.  Animal Control asked the onlookers (Riley and I included) to go home because the mom was scared and they didn't want her to abandon them for good.  Riley and I were able to watch from inside as the babies were reunited with their mom in the safety our neighbors backyard.  They are gone now.  I hope they made it to the canal!

Happy May Day?

So, it's May 1st.  The first day of May, 6 weeks since the first day of Spring.  This is what we have enjoyed all day long ... SNOW!? What!?  Are you serious?  It was 80 degrees on Tuesday (two days ago).  I guess this is just part of the fun of the unpredictable Utah weather.

And the winner is ...

Kris (inkielady) send an email & let me know which set you'd like!

It was only 5 minutes ...

I looked at my emails for only 5 minutes ... I swear!  This is what my imaginative boy did to kill time!  When I came in the room, he proudly proclaimed "Look Mom, it's a spider web!"  (What you can't see is that he has the ribbon wrapped all through the TV room as well) 

The big day ...

Long ago, I gave up on the idea that the world should revolve around me on my birthday.  Maybe it was not wanting to take my birthday off and use a cherished "vacation day", attending college courses or maybe it's that money was tight and I'd rather not have presents and be able to pay the bills.  Who knows!? 

All I know is this birthday was really fun ... I felt like I was a kid again.  It started with the party and my special surprise from Carey last night and continued with the phone calls and other acts of kindness from family and friends.

Today I woke up with a phone call, breakfast and "simplify" plaque (we try!) from Tamara.  Then I received a fun surprise (bundtletts from Nothing Bundt Cakes) from Shyloh and flowers from my friend Natasha ~ I can't wait to plant them when it's warm! 

Bryan came home early and we all went to see "U23D" It was awesome!  I chose Red Robin for dinner and had my favorite menu item, the Teriyaki Chicken Burger (it has pineapple on it!).  YUMMY!  Because Dad Packer started chemo today, we went to their house and I was surprised with this gorgeous Amber necklace (see left).  It's a family heirloom from Bryan's great grandfather's sister.  She didn't have any children of her own and gave some of her jewelry to Bryan's grandma who gave some to my mother-in-law.  As she and my father-in-law are "a lover of all things Amber and antique" (as was stated in my card) they gave it to me.  It is over 100 years old.  But more important than that is the fact that I was thought of enough to share it with.

My last wonderful surprise was a visit from my parents who were out serving in their mission and stopped by on their way home.  Another deposit has been made into the "basement account".  I am blessed to have the parents I have that are willing to serve all they come in contact with.  It was nice to have a day where I was reminded of my many blessings!

What a Nice Surprise ...

Since Dad Packer is having another round of chemo this week, on his birthday, we got together tonight to have a delicious dinner and fun time with the fam.  (you need to check out the chemo cupcake ~ as my mother-in-law says: it's green in the face and it has that grin and bear-it smile) 

"Mom's chocolate cake"  (Doesn't this look delicious?)

Every year growing up, Dad Packer looked forward to eating his "Mom's chocolate cake".

As we daughters-in-law are prone to do, my mother-in-law switched the recipe up a little, combining Grandma Packer's icing with Grandma Voorhees' cake.  I was treated to my first taste of it tonight.  How I've been a part of this family for 13 years and never had it, I'm not sure, but I haven't.  Mom Packer says it's been a while since she made it.  I guess so (wink).

When we got home, I was delighted to find a surprise of my own:

My sweet friend, Carey, & her family had left on my counter, this adorable (and delicious!) giant cupcake, my favorite drink and treat!  I also get our traditional gift for each other:  dinner on Thursday!  I am grateful to have such a good friend!

Spaghetti Dinner & Auction

I've hinted at and eluded to our Spaghetti Dinner and Auction a few times over the last couple of weeks.  Tonight was the night.  It feels like we've been planning this dinner for a year ... and, we have.  We were put in as a presidency (leadership council) a year ago and have been planning this night since.  The girls were a great help.  They did everything we asked them to do including coming 2 hours early to set up and staying late (on a Saturday) to clean up. 

We bought this yummy loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread for $20.  The boys enjoyed it so much I found crumbs of it on the kitchen floor for days.

As is tradition, a pie tin full of whipped cream was up for auction.  The purchaser can choose anyone in attendance at the party to throw the pie at.  This year, our friend Lena paid to throw it at her husband, Donny.  As you can see, there are no hard feelings.

The dinner was delicious, everything was warm, every seat was taken and people were generous at the auction!

The Gateway and the Clark Planetarium

Tonight we rode Trax downtown to see the Human Body (or Who-man as Riley says) at the Clark Planetarium at the Gateway with Bryan's family.  The movie was awesome and there are a lot of fun and free exhibits for the kids to explore.  The kids favorite exhibits were Newton's Daydream, Marscape, Moonscape and the channel 2 Weather Station.

After the movie, we walked to the Olympic Legacy Plaza on our way to Ben & Jerry's.  The kids had so much fun watching the water and were really tempted to run through it despite the slight chill in the air.  I walked to the other side of the fountain and took some pics of our group.  Inspiration hit me.  The lighting was great, the setting was perfect, so while the rest of the group went into the Apple store, the boys and I had an impromptu photo shoot.  The pics turned out great.  As we were leaving the plaza, the fountain show turned on.  It was beautiful as always.  It was a fun, relaxing night with our family.

Here are some of my favorite pics:

Centerpieces

Tonight for Young Women we made our centerpieces for the upcoming Spaghetti Dinner and Auction.  While reading the current issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, I ran across an article about a mother/daughter crop night.  Online they had instructions and patterns for this fun paper flower bouquet:

I brought a bunch of Basic Grey Blush papers, downloaded patterns from CK, and this is what our girls came up with:

Way to go A Page 4 All Seasons!

Scrapbook USA was such a huge success!  There was a lot of work that went into getting ready for the show, mostly by Shyloh, Missy, Heidi, Heather, and Shyloh's brother, mom & dad.

Today it was time to celebrate!  We went and had pedicures.  It's so much fun working with friends.  We truly enjoy our time together and it's nice to spend time not thinking about designing.  Check back tomorrow for a pic.  I need to get it from Tamara (I forgot my camera). 

Can you guess which toes are mine?