CRaSH!

Well, I guess it was bound to happen - but yesterday the other shoe finally dropped and my computer crashed. Apparently with my teenagers using it and my own online use we were infected with a nasty virus which then corrupted all my files. YIKES! Now, just so you know, I am not the MOST technical kind of gal. You see, when I worked at Novell and other high tech companies, I always worked for one of the "top dogs". This meant that when I called Tech Support, they were always "johnny on the spot" to come and fix it because of who my boss was. This also meant that I really never had to figure anything out for myself. Back then I thought it was nifty. Now - - not so nifty! Jade has been kind enough to loan me her laptop so that I can do a few things. Bless her!

I was supposed to have the computer back by tonight, however we have not heard a peep from the guy who is working on it. This does not bode well. Either it is REALLY, REALLY bad, or he is just taking his time. I am hoping for the latter option.

In any event you will probably not be hearing from me for a while -- not only because of the computer issue, but because I am lucky enough to be going to Hawaii for a few days with Mark!!Truth be told, I feel kind of greedy since this is the 3rd time in two years that we have gone (all work related). This time we are going to the big island of Hawaii, so that will be fun since the last two times we went to Maui. I plan on finding myself a comfy beach chair and reading uninterrupted for the entire time!

The kids are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Harris in Reno along with their cousins who live down there and I am sure they will have a fabulous time as well.

So check back in a while and I will share my vacay pics with you!

TaGGeD!

My 18 year old daughter Jade just started blogging and on only her 3rd post has already TaGGed me! Agghhh!! I am usually horrible at things like this, but for you, Jade, here goes:

10 Years Ago I was:

1. Working full time with "only" 4 kids

2. Living in a different town

3. Had a "lunch hour" every day

4. Ran 4 miles every day

5. Dreaming of what it would be like to have my "dream job" of being a full time mom


5 Things on my To Do List Today:

1. Go visiting teaching

2. Laundry

3. Make dinner for family & parents

4. Pick green beans from garden

5. More Laundry


5 Snacks I Enjoy:

1. Popcorn w/ M&Ms in it

2. Junior Mints

3. Fresh Pineapple

4. Chips & Salsa

5. Red Licorice


5 Things I Would do if I were a Millionaire:

1. Pay off my house

2. Take my family on a fun vacation

3. Take all my sisters & Mom on a cool trip to New York to see some plays, eat some good food and just have lots of fun together

4. Go to Paris France and shop, shop, shop (shoes, shoes & more shoes)

5. Invest so we have enough to live comfortably


5 Places I have Lived:

1. Pleasant Grove, UT

2. American Fork, UT

3. Phoenix, AZ

4. Lehi, UT

5. Saratoga Springs, UT


5 Jobs I Have Had:

1. Snack Stand Worker @ the Baseball Park

2. Lifeguard @ water park

3. Paralegal

4. Executive Assistant

5. Dream Job - Mom


I Tag:

Joy, Doreen, Kristin, Sherri & Karalee

(More) Trash to Treasure

For those of you who have read my previous post about the potting bench , you know that I have a thing for turning junk into something cute. I am always looking at things and thinking to myself "how else can that be used" or "what else could I do with that besides what it was intended for?" Kind of a sickness I have, if you will.

My Mom and my sister both have these cool old bikes parked by their front porches. I absolutely love them. They decorate them for each season and they always look soo cute. I have been secretly (or not so secretly) coveting them for sometime now. I know, I know it says in the Bible "Thou Shalt Not Covet". But, does that really apply to old bikes?

I have been "on the hunt" for one of these bikes, looking on KSL.com, eyeballing every yard sale we pass on a Saturday, telling all my friends, and asking my husband if we can go to the dump to look for one. This last request he adamantly refuses to entertain.

You see my sister, Julie was taking some things to the dump when lo and behold there was a man unloading a jewel of a bike from his truck. She asked if she could have it and he was only too happy to give it to her. He thought she was crazy, but he gave it to her. Her husband was not so pleased. His response? "Honey, you are supposed to LEAVE things at the dump, not BRING things HOME!" But, since he is such a great guy he let her keep it anyway. (I think he didn't want to take the chance of making another dump run - - who knows what she would have brought home the next time?!?)

Which brings me to the point of this post. The other day I stopped in at a bike store in town because they had a spinning bike outside and I have been looking for one to keep me in shape over the winter. I chatted with the guy about it while trying to contain my two supervisors who were trying to ride every bike in the store.

Then I asked him if he ever got any old bikes just dropped off at his store. He gave me a weird look and then said "well yeah, I have some out back, you can look at them if you'd like to." After digging through a pile (literally a pile) of bikes he came to a really cool one. I asked how much he wanted for it and he said $20. Personally, I think he was anxious to get rid of me and the supervisors, but whatever I'll take it!

He then looked at my car (Honda Accord) and said "did you want to come back later and pick it up with a truck?" I laughed and said no, "We're just going to put it in the trunk of my car." He gave me the "you're wacky on the junk" look and wheeled it over to the car. I giggled and thought to myself - - dude, if you only knew the crazy things I have had in the back of this Honda, you would be AMAZED at what will fit back there. But that's a post for another day.

I was so excited I had to call Mark and tell him. This is how our conversation went:

Me: Hey honey, guess what?! I FOUND AN OLD BIKE AND IT ONLY COST $20!!

Loving Husband: WHAT? You paid $20 for an old beater bike?! What in the world are you going to do with it?

Me: Decorate it cute and put it on our porch.

Loving Husband: Oh, no. That thing is NOT going in our yard. It will just junk it up. It will totally look like junk. No way! That is not going in our yard.

Me: (Giggling uncontrollably) Honey, remember on Christmas Vacation when Clark Griswold is in the forest getting the Christmas tree and Russ says to him "I don't think that thing will fit in our yard Dad." and Clark says "It's not going in our yard Russ, it's going in our Living Room!"

Loving Husband: Yeah, so, what about it?

Me: Well, it's not going in our yard, it's going on our porch.

Loving Husband: Oh yeah, you are one funny girl. We'll see about that.

Me: Just hold your judgement until I get done with it OK? Remember the potting bench?

Loving Husband: Grudgingly agrees - mumbles something incoherent and changes the subject.

I rest my case.


Here is a close up of the bike. I really didn't do much to it. I bought a basket at a craft store, painted it black (is there any other color?), put it on with some zip-ties (greatest invention ever!) and put some flowers in it. I still need to fix the tires - I just love the white-walls! And I think the fenders are cool too.

When I asked the guy how told he thought it was, he said about 40 years old. My teenagers thought that should qualify it as an antique. I then pointed out to them that that was as old as I was. My next sentence was "you better run, and run fast NOW!" Oh yeah, everyone's a comedian at my house!

First Day of School

Last week was the start of the school year at our house.

Jade started college at Utah Valley University.

Jack started his second year of pre-school.

Since Jade and I are "sharing" a car - this means that I usually have the car and drive her around - which, secretly, I love. I picked her up from her job at Costco and took her to school. Her BF Willy has a car and they have almost all the same classes so he can give her a ride home and pick her up from work on most days.

On this particular day she asked me to drop her off at Willy's car so she could meet him. Since it was her first day of school and she claimed she was in too much of a hurry to take a picture while we were at home, I brought out the camera and took one while she was waiting for Willy. She was HORRIFIED!!

Oh, I know she looks happy enough in this picture, but let me tell you she was not a happy camper. As she later told me I completely embarassed her. First, it is bad enough that your MOM has to take you to school, but then she is taking pictures of you on top of it?!?! OHHH the Indignity of it all!!! So here you go Jade - I love you and I'm just proud that you are going to college!

A few days later Jack started Pre-School at Miss Hollie's Happy Hive Preschool. He goes 3 days a week and LOVES it so far.

On the morning that he was to start school he woke up and wanted to wear some of his new school clothes. I explained that his school clothes would be a little hot for that day, but he insisted.

As he was getting dressed Madeline came in and demanded to know where HER school clothes were. I had a feeling that this would happen since she has been talking non-stop about when SHE is going to go to school with Jack and when SHE starts school, etc. So I had bought her a new little outfit as a little bit of "screaming, meltdown, fit insurance". We got everyone dressed and avoided any major mishaps that morning.

Jack was only too happy to have his picture taken and didn't even seem to mind that Madeline insisted on being in every single picture since she thought that she would be going to school too.

When we pulled up to let Jack out, Madeline started saying "let me out, I'm going to school too!" "Unbuckle me!" She was very angry that I would not let her go with Jack. She thinks that she is his equal.

When Jack got out of the car I asked him if he wanted me to walk him up to the door and he said "Nah, I can do it." He then started to run across the lawn and then it was like he suddenly remembered that he needed to be cool and started to walk again. It was cute.

All that morning as we were running errands she kept saying "let's go find Jack". She really missed him, only if it was for 2 1/2 hours.

And then it hit me that before I know it, I will be sending Jack off to college. Who knows, maybe I'll drive him to school on HIS first day of college and take his picture.

Dino Museum

Jack LOVES Dinosaurs and is always asking to go to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. Usually this request comes as we are passing it on the freeway on our way to or from somewhere else.

When Thanksgiving Point had a promotion for $2 Tuesdays in August, I decided this was my chance to FINALLY visit the "Dino Museum" as he calls it.

We asked my sister Hollie and her two boys who are almost exactly the same ages as Jack and Madeline to come along with us - figuring that they would have more fun with some cousins along.

We got to the museum about 20 minutes before it opened. As it turns out we weren't the only ones with the idea. I thought that since school had started there would not be as many people - - WRONG~!!When we got there the line snaked around the building almost to the end!

As we inched forward Jack and Madeline found a comfy rock to sit on and rest. I'm not sure what Madeline is doing in this picture - - is she giving the "Hail Hitler" sign? Did I catch her mid-wave? And what about Jack? I'm pretty sure he is trying to reel me in with his "Spidey Web".



It was really windy that day and not very warm - I couldn't resist including this one of Jack trying to keep Madeline warm. Check out his hair!

Well, we FINALLY got in and there were lots of cool things to see and do. Madeline and I saw some big lizards - she wasn't a fan!

There was a small dino that you could sit on and have your picture taken - we all took turns.


Apparently Hans was a little taken aback at the brazenness of my daughter just hopping on when it was so clearly HIS TURN! But look at that face, how could you resist?!


After that we saw some more exhibits. Hollie somehow managed to get all the kids to sit by her long enough for me to take a picture - something that I couldn't even do with my 2 children! Although, Dane does look a little put out about the whole thing!

Next we went into a big room with sand and water where the kids could get down and dirty with little plastic trees, dinosaurs, etc. and build their own little land. There were so many kids that it was hard to get a good space or enough trees and animals, but they had fun just the same.



Next we went to another hands on room where the kids could pretend like they were finding dinosaur bones in the sand. Everyone got a small paint brush and could dig around and find parts of the dino that was buried in the large sand box.


At the end everyone got a "dino chomper" souvenir to take home. They all really loved it and now Jack is asking even more to go back!

Yard of the Month

I know that it has been FOREVER since I have posted, but things have been crazy busy around here!

We have been working in our yard and garden and lo and behold our efforts were rewarded!! Our neighborhood homeowners association has a yard of the month program where they pick three yards each month to spotlight. I am not sure if this is to encourage others to do better or just foster competition among the neighbors! This month we were chosen along with our next door neighbor, so hopefully that will take the competition part out!

Here is the shot of our front yard.


And then since you can see my garden from the side of my house I thought I would include it as well. I love the arbor as it was a Mother's Day gift from Mark one year. Him being the Structural Engineer, he poured footings for it and anchored it into the ground - I'm telling you that thing is STURDY!!


Here is a close-up of my garden. After I planted my pumpkins (far left) Madeline came along behind me the next day and dug up most of the seeds. She was helping! So now I only have about 2 pumpkin plants, but I am sure we will get plenty of pumpkins from that.