Sewing Doesn't Bring Out the Best In Me...

My mom is an excellent seamstress. She used to make wedding dresses, she's reupholstered boat seats and trailer cushions, and could/can sew pretty much anything. I wish I would have learned more from her growing up. I am not a sewer. Every once in a while I attempt, thinking it will be an easy project, and then things never turn out as expected. I never have a pattern or a plan, I just slap things together and hope it works. And something always goes wrong.
I also get consumed in my projects, ignoring my household duties and my family....my personal hygeine....just to get done whatever I'm doing. Well, I decided to make this baby blanket as a gift for someone. It's pretty cute, from a distance. But if you look closely you'll see my crooked lines and many other signs of impatience and lack of sewing skills. I can't decide if I want to give it as a gift because it's kind of embarrassing how many mistakes are in it, or if I should still give it and just hope they appreciate the love and effort that went into it, or if I should keep it for myself (hoping someday I'll have a girl) because so much blood, sweat and tears (the tears are literal, blood almost) went into it, it's hard to part with. All I can say is thank goodness for seam rippers or I would have just burned the dang thing.
So I finished the blanket yesterday. At about 7 pm I decided to get ready for the day. Jeff was being a good husband, making dinner for us on the bbq. He said dinner was ready but I wasn't ready yet. Long story short, the dinner burned. Jeff was frustrated that I didn't come out on time and was venting. I was frustrated that he was so frustrated because I was still emotional from the sewing. I spent the rest of the night not talking to Jeff and being testy. Then later that night, one little thing (which was really nothing) set me off and I stormed off to the freezing cold back porch crying. Jeff came out with Hudson a few minutes later to say sorry (which they didn't really need to do, they were just being nice). Hudson was trying to give me kisses. Since it was so cold, Jeff was trying to tell Hudson I just needed to be alone and to come in the house, but Hudson said "Carry her in the house, Daddy. It's cold out here." Jeff had him scratch my back and give me hugs and tried to get him to come in again, but Hudson wouldn't leave me and kept telling Jeff to carry me in the house. It was so sweet, I love my little boy. And my big boy. I'm sorry I was so awful, guys! I love you!

So here is the blanket that caused so much emotional havoc:

The little squares have raw edges so they will hopefully get frayed in the wash. Do you think I should wash it before I give it as a gift? I kind of want to see the outcome. Or should I even give it at all? Is that terrible for me to even think about keeping it?

Lone Peak 2000 Graduates

It seems like a 10 year reunion might be in the works for next year. Or at least some people are hoping it will be. I've often thought about whether or not I would want to go to my high school reunions and my answer has usually been "no". But I think I've changed my mind and would probably go. I can't believe it's been so long.
This is going around on Facebook, but thought I'd post it here just in case you don't have a Facebook account.

Click HERE to check it out.

CAN

This video is so inspiring to me on so many different levels. It comes to me at a time when I am trying to start running. Right now I'm doing 2 miles a day. I'll definitely be thinking about the Hoyt's on my next workout.
I want to be a better mom. I know that way too often I put on a DVD or give Hudson something to keep him "entertained" so I can get things done or have my own time. How great of a mom would I be if I put half the devotion into being a parent as this dad does?
And I want to be a better person. So many times I don't do things because I think I'm incapable, or not skilled enough, or will fail if I try. How many opportunities are passing me by because I'm too nervous, or afraid, or shy?
I love the strength both of these men have.

Daily Monsters

I found this cool website. Things like this really make me want to get back into art, but it's so overwhelming to know where to start. Anyway, check out some monsters. Here's one example:

String Cheese

At WalMart tonight we had to grab some string cheese. There was an older couple there practically fencing off the string cheese section pondering the varieties of string cheese. Jeff was impatient and wanted to just quickly cut in and grab our cheese and get out of there. I told him to just wait a second, they'd be done soon. We waited about 10 seconds before Jeff had to cut in to grab our cheese. Then we kind of glanced back at the couple to see if our decision would persuade theirs. As we walked down the isle we kept glancing back to see if they would choose the best: Cache Valley string cheese. Nope. They were still deciding.
After a few more minutes of shopping Jeff looked back at the couple one more time before we turned the corner. They hadn't budged and were still hovered around the string cheese section.
On the drive home I asked "I wonder what cheese they chose?" Jeff replied, "I don't know but we would have been standing there 10 minutes if you would have made me wait for them! You should blog about that."
I laughed, "The only reason I would blog about that is because you said 'You should blog about that'."
Then he said something like, "Seriously, who takes 10 minutes to pick out cheese?"

I know this probably isn't very funny to most of you, but I just had to blog it at Jeff's "request". I think it's funny what he finds "blog worthy".

And I really do love Cache Valley cheese.

Lime Ricki

I have never found so many cute and affordable swim suits in one location. LOVE THEM! I could order at least 4 or 5 if I only had that much $$$. These ones are my favorites. Decisions decisions. The one above is temporarily sold out.
I was almost tempted to keep this lil' find to myself, but I decided to be nice and share because I love ya'll.
Click HERE to see 'em all!



Oh, and since I'm going to work my butt off (or even better, my belly), I'm going to look HOT in one of these this summer! hee hee.

Candy Land

Last night I wanted to do something as a family besides watching tv or a movie. I wanted to do a puzzle! Only, we didn't own a puzzle, so we drove down to WalMart just to buy one. After looking at the small selection of puzzles, I decided we needed to go into the puzzle business because there just aren't any cool ones.
Jeff went around the corner and found Candy Land and we decided that would be fun for Hudson, plus he really needs to learn his colors. Aren't 3 year olds supposed to know their colors by now? So we ended up getting the retro version of Candy Land and a $3 1000 pc. puzzle of barns.
It was fun playing as a family. Hudson drew the Queen Frostine card right off the bat and won the first game. He drew it again the second game and Jeff's competitiveness got the best of him and made Hudson draw another card and put Queen Frostine back in the middle. He wasn't going to let his 3 year old beat him twice in a row (actually he just wanted to make the game last longer.)! Well, cheaters never prosper and I ended up winning the second game (although Hudson should have. Aren't we awful parents?). LOL. It was so fun to see Hudson catch on pretty quickly and he had so much fun with it and keeps asking to play it again.
I loved Candy Land as a kid. It's a classic.

I Love My Man

I've been telling Jeff for a while now that I want him to clean the tub.

Just once.

So he knows the torture I go through every time I have to pull out the toothbrush and the most toxic chemicals known to man and try to scrub out the orange and black mold that festers inside of those stupid little jet hole things only to get less than impressive results. I just wanted him to feel my agony so he would more fully appreciate my labors. I didn't think he would actually do it.

The other day when I was feeling sick, Jeff told me to go soak in the tub to which I replied, "I can't...it's disgusting." "Oh yeah," he said.

He disappeared for a while and later came to me all smiles and said that he had scrubbed the tub and to come and look! I looked. I held back the perfectionist in me and was just grateful that he had tried so hard. Then he told me that he had used the dish scrubber brush to clean it with. Again, I used restraint and just had to laugh at his ingenuity.

Then last night I asked him to get the clothes out of the drier. He also ended up putting a new load in the washer, which I retrieved today. I found all sorts of colors in there that I wouldn't have put together, but it helped me get one more load of laundry done and the colors didn't really matter.

And as I've been typing this, Jeff has been getting Hudson in his jammies and brushing his teeth, getting him ready for bed. He also made dinner tonight after he came home from a long days work to a still pretty messy house, a wife in cut off sweats with hairy legs, undone hair, and a flabby belly. And this guy still tells me I'm hot and he loves me. He does so much for me and I don't know what I'd do without him. He may not do household chores perfectly or the way I would do them, but he does them. And I sure enjoyed soaking in that "almost" clean tub. It was perfect to me.

I am one lucky girl.

Thanks, babe. I love you. You're the best.

Easter Weekend Continued...

The Easter Bunny had to find Hudson out in the desert and make a secret stop just for him.
He sure got spoiled!

Hudson and Gabriela lovin' each other. They are really close little cousins. They love playing with each other. I wish the picture turned out better.

Daddy and Hudson just chillin' by the fire.

We did a lot of 4-wheeling and geocaching. That was a lot of fun and Hudson loved finding "treasures". That kid could ride 4-wheelers all day. (Don't worry, he wears a helmet when we go, just not in this picture.)

Yup. He's all boy. He loves football.

So we were camped by this sheep herders camp. Most of the sheep had just been sheared. They drove them by our camp a few times. The kids loved seeing the "cowboy" on his horse, his dogs, and the hundreds of sheep go by. Right after this picture, one of the sheep got a broken leg right next to our camp. The guy just tried to make it stand up a couple of times, then just left it. All the women in our camp were boo-hoo-ing about the injustice of it all, so eventually, they got one of the men to get it loaded in the back of a truck and took it back to the sheep herders camp so they could "take care of it" and we wouldn't have to have a suffering sheep in our camp. (We are thinking the sheep herder probably would have shot it right there, but our whole camp with all the little kids were watching. Talk about a traumatic Easter!)

Chasing bubbles.

That's it! Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

P.S. People were getting sick with puking and diarreah in camp. I started to not feel well on the last day. Luckily, we headed home before I had to deal with the worst of it. And also luckily, it was only one of those 24 hour bug kind of things. Just a memorable note of the trip. I knew you all wanted to know.

Easter Weekend

It's been Jeff's family tradition to go camping in the desert for Easter since he was a kid. It wasn't really my ideal way of spending Easter at first, but I guess we're carrying on the tradition and I'm growing to like it more and more each year.
This year we went out by the Sand Dunes by Delta. The weather was pretty glum most of the time, but if we had our coats on, we were still able to get out and play most of the time and we always had a big fire going.
I have about a million pictures to post. I am so bad at picking out a select few...Hudson is just too cute to edit! So, I'll do it in a couple of posts. They will kind of be out of order, but I guess no one will really know but me.

Hudson with his stash.

All the little kids lined up waiting to start the Easter egg hunt.

I thought this was cute of Hudson's little hand reaching through the tree to get a "jack pot" of candy.

Hudson had so much fun playing in the dirt with all his little cousins.

Donuts.....

Hot Chocolate....

Marshmallows....Yum! Camping is the life!

Paint, Paint, and more Paint

I have painted twice within the last couple of weeks. I am trying to get out of my decorating rut and color rut. So I decided to go for blue. This wall was originally red. Then I painted it the blue on the right, but it didn't turn out like I expected, so I painted again this darker, grayer blue on the left. I'm still not sure about it, but I like it a ton more from what it used to be and I'm glad for the change. Plus I don't really have a choice. Jeff would kill me if I wanted to paint it again! :)

Now I need to find some decor that will give me some pops of color. Everything is brown and blue! I'm thinking rusty oranges, or lime and/or mossy greens? I don't know! Help!

I found these table runners and Burlington and I'm planning on making them into valences for my kitchen. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to do it... we'll see how they turn out.

I guess I need to post an after picture of it all done, but I don't have it decorated like I want, and that could take a while! It will probably be a work in progress forever, but when I feel like it's getting closer, I might post a pic or two!

Articles of Faith 1 & 2

Hudson earned a donut for memorizing the first 2 Articles of Faith! He picked one that had green frosting and chocolate drizzled on the top! I am so impressed with this kids memorizing skills!

Dorothy Hancock Walker

Easter, April 2006

Jeff's grandma passed away today so I just wanted to post a few pictures of her.
We love her and will miss her!

Hudson with his Great Grandma Walker (and Great Grandpa, below) at the Walker Family Reunion, June 2006

Jeff and Hudson at Grandma and Grandpa's gingerbread house making party, December 2006

Hudson with Great Grandma, 4th of July 2007