Tanner's 1st Birthday!

My little brother's baby boy turned 1 yesterday!  We had a little party for him and his mommy at my mom's house...

At first, he didn't like us too much...

(we hadn't seen him for a few weeks, I think he forgot who we were!)

But then, after having mommy right next to him, and getting to open presents, he was all smiles!

Playing with the toys was even better...

And then we had cake, and I must say, with three family birthdays in two weeks, I'm sick of making cake, of eating cake, and of pretty much all things sugar.  I don't know how you do it, Kerstin!  Well, no, I do...you have a passion for it and create your own personal masterpieces and probably don't eat much of it anyway, whereas I just kinda like it once in a while and steal all my ideas online and have to eat it, too.  :)

Thankfully, the next birthday (besides my step-mom's tomorrow, but I doubt we'll go to any festivities for that one) isn't until Paul's, in a little over two months, so I think we're safe...maybe I'll like cake again by then!

Anywho, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TANNER!

My Mama

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you haven't yet entered my giveaway, PLEASE do so (the deadline is Friday the 13th!).  It's easy and fun and even if you don't particularly care if you win, it'd really make my day.  Go HERE to discover how!

BUT NOW ON TO MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS...

Today is my mom's birthday.  She is awesome.  See if you can tell from the pictures and captions what theme I picked out this year...

cake I made...

Cake and her present...

Opening her gifts (a horse wind chime, horse deck of cards, and some horse figurines)

Trying to decide where to cut so he doesn't get hurt...

If you can't figure the theme out by now, you don't deserve to know.  :) 

Anywho, since today we're celebrating her life, I thought I'd reminisce a little and tell a few of my favorite memories/qualities of my mom...

(1) When we were little, there was a summer when she read Where the Red Fern Grows to us every day out in our yard.  Once we finished it, we got to rent the movie from the library.  This is one of my favorite childhood memories!

(2) Mom has a playful side that, once in a while, she indulges. One summer when everyone else was gone and it was just her and me at home (we worked together at Alcoa while everyone else got to go to the Nauvoo Temple open house...), she told me to get in the car and we'd follow a rainbow to dinner.  Which is exactly what we did, as the rainbow led us to Ruby Tuesdays. 

(3) When we were kids, Mom always made time for herself.  She was a good wife and mother, but she was her own person, too.  She took correspondence courses for children's writing and veterinary assistance something-or-other, learned how to decorate cakes, did a little woodworking in which she and my dad built all of our household bookshelves, pressed flowers into beautiful collages, and more.  Once we were all in school, she worked at the school as a special education paraprofessional, chaired the town Halloween party, and volunteered with the STPS (our PTA).  Even now she has taught herself amazing computer skills that have earned her promotions at work, and she's ALWAYS giving money, advice, and support to her children, even when they don't deserve it.  She is always trying to better herself and better the world around her.  This is perhaps my favorite thing about her and the one thing I most want to achieve in my own life!

(4) I cannot help but love John Denver music, because of her.  Also, chocolate, horses, and 90s TV.  A lot of my tastes have been molded by hers, which I suppose is natural, but it's still really cool to think about!

(5) My mom is an honest person.  She doesn't pretend to be anything she isn't and she is a person of her word.  That sort of integrity and the level of self-confidence it takes to live a truly honest life aren't easy to come by these days, and it's set a great example for me and my siblings.  I'm still working on that myself, but I aspire to it.

For these reasons and more, I love my mother.  And I'm glad she was born so that I could be, too!  Happy birthday, Mom!  Hope it was a great one!

DUNES!

Just a reminder, become a follower of this blog and leave a comment for my previous post to be entered in my 200th POST GIVEAWAY! No, really. It's free and I really want you to. Pretty please with sugar on top?


ANYWHO...

For Charissa's 26th birthday, she decided she really wanted to go to the Indiana Dunes...and since Cerene now lives 7 minutes from the beach, we couldn't NOT oblige her!  We were supposed to go on Saturday, but it rained (shocker), so we went Monday instead.  It was a BLAST, especially since Caida hadn't ever been to the beach.  We gave her a proper introduction to Mt. Baldy, a favorite family vacation spot when we were children, including...

...climbing the actual dune...

...sitting on the shoreline and letting the waves hit you as you kick against them...

...playing various water games...

...building sand castles (she particularly LOVED doing this!)...

...the feeling of eating sand with your picnic lunch...

...burying some or all of your body in various sand sculptures...

...chasing seagulls...

...and being so tuckered out from playing you fall asleep within MINUTES of getting in the car!

 

All in all, it was a pretty successful excursion!

200th Post GIVEAWAY!

Okay, folks! It's time for the 200th POST GIVEAWAY! I'm going to make this SUPER easy on everyone. All you have to do to qualify for the ABSOLUTELY FREE giveaway is:

(1) Become a follower of this blog, if you haven't already. (There's a button on the right.)

(2) Comment on this post, telling me which handmade flower/fairy doll you'd like. (Men, you can get one for your wife, sister, niece, or daughter!)

The deadline is Friday the 13th 'til 11:59 pm. I'll post the winner at midnight. I'll ship it myself anywhere in the world, so don't be shy! Have fun!

Here are the dolls up for grabs...just leave the number of the doll you'd like in your comment!

Happy posting!

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

#7:

#8:

#9:

#10:

A "Tough Beef" Moment

Gordon B. Hinckley is credited with this quote, although one site I found said he was quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones:

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

I LOVE this quote because while it still captures the optimism and gratitude that President Hinckley became known for, it acknowledges the very HUMAN moments that make up most of our days, and recognizes that just because we're Latter-day Saints doesn't mean we have to pretend that our lives are perfect or that we're always happy, every moment of every day. Yes, we can still be grateful and hopeful in even our darkest moments, but I feel validated somehow when I read this quote and realize that those "tough beef" moments DO still happen, and not just to me.

I've been having a LOT of those moments lately. I suppose I should have expected it, since we had a few months of relative calm...but still. Those moments never cease to surprise or overwhelm me. And mostly it's all the "stuff" of life that you can't plan for--identity theft, health issues, external family things that you can't help but be affected by, learning to find that "high degree of mutual toleration" with your very human spouse and your even more human self, big companies practically screwing over the little guy...and no one to fight your battles for you. Add to that my own battles with depression and job hunting, and it's been a very stressful summer. But as much as I'm grateful for those brief, beautiful vistas and the occasional "thrill" of the ride, which I DO experience now and again, I'm doubly grateful for those moments when I can share my mundane life with someone else and when they can share their troubles with me. I appreciate more and more the honesty of close friends who clue me in to the fact that EVERYONE struggles, NO ONE has the perfect marriage or the perfect life, and, in essence, I'm not a horrible person for being unhappy sometimes. All of this is part of the human experience we signed up for, and maybe someday it'll all be worth it. That's the human tie that binds us.

A Day in the Life of a Common Housewife

A Day in the Life of a Common Housewife

by Celeste Fernandez

It begins with a list of the many to-dos
For each moment of the day that I don’t want to lose,
Spending moments with heaven just after waking,
Then packing hubby’s lunch and doing some baking,
Dishes, laundry, sweeping and mopping,
Planning out meals and then going out shopping,
Gardening, daydreaming, and if I’m real lucky, napping
Then improving my talents, like music and scrapping…
Paying the bills and walking the dog,
Redesigning a room, catching up on the blog,
Freaking out over budget and looking for work,
Spending time with loved ones so I don’t go berserk,
Yearning for children with each child that I see,
Then getting distracted (oh, you know me!)…
Squeezing in exercise when I’m feeling good…
(Which, admittedly, isn't as oft as I should).
This is but a glimpse into my everyday…
But would I really have it any other way?

(Okay, that last line may or may not be true…I can’t decide.) :)

Caida, the Dancer...

So, I bought a tutu/leotard/tiara/shoes for my niece, and finally got to give them to her--and take a few pictures, too!

This one is SO her:

Thanks for playing with me, Caida!

Charissa's Birthday

My little sister turned twenty-six today! Crazy how old we're all getting, huh? :) To celebrate, we ventured with some good friends and family to the Tippecanoe Battlefield, then came back to her apartment for cake and ice cream and, of course, presents. When Mom got home from work, she took us all to dinner, and then we went to our friends' house to watch the latest Psych. The best is yet to come, of course, as we travel to the DUNES on Saturday to play in the waves!!!


As for pictures, my camera/SD card decided to pick today of all days to stop working, so all I have until the data recovery software runs its course (then HOPEFULLY I'll be able to gather a few more before reformatting the card!) are a few pictures of the sand castle cake I made for Charissa:

I'm kinda proud of it. I'd be MORE proud of it if it had been my own idea instead of me stealing it from here. Also, in transporting it from my apartment to hers (only about a 50-foot distance), I managed to drop three of the ice cream cone towers on the floor. At least the dog was happy. :)

Pictures I took that I can't yet show you: opening her present (her very own Diefenbaker), hanging out at the Battlefield, and friends eating cake. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we'll be able to save these files. But if not, it was still a wonderful memory!

Christmas in July

I FINALLY got to throw a little party for Christmas in July this year...it was a small, intimate crowd of my sister and two of my oldest and dearest friends. Not only did we make a few fun holiday crafts and decorate sugar cookies, but mostly it was wonderful because I got to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a REALLY long time! If only anyone had taken me up on the Christmas karaoke...now THAT would've been a party! ;)


Anywho, here are some pics from the big night:

DECORATING SUGAR COOKIES:

POINSETTIA DOLLS (LOOK CLOSELY!):

MAKING CHRISTMAS PLACEMATS:

It was a really fun night for me, and it gave me some great ideas about things to try next year! And YOU'RE invited! :)

Karma

"Let's see how YOU like it in there, buddy!"