Scratched DVD Cure.

Hey,
I found a great tip today to save scratched DVD's. Use children's Crest toothpaste. Check out this tutorial here:
http://thehandmadedress.blogspot.com/2008/09/do-you-suffer-from-scrached-dvds_27.html

It's worth a try. I'll let you know if it works for me!
Have a great day.
Lisa

I'd love to be in his head...

Last night I was making Sean's lunch and Ty was helping me.

This was our conversation:

Ty: Mom, is this turkey (made of) chicken or ham?

Me: It's just turkey.

Ty: Did dad shoot this turkey and take the turkey out if it?

(I've had the first part of this conversation with Carly and Ridge before, the second part took me a little by surprise and I couldn't help giggle.)

We got dizzy and laughed...

Do you remember being little?

If you were lucky enough to have a childhood like mine, it was awesome.

I got to be a kid.

I have great parents who were involved in my life and made it wonderful.

I have the best brothers and sisters and we actually love each other.

We weren't/aren't perfect...But we love each other.

I think my childhood was so wonderful because I felt loved.

It's easy to get lost when you're one of seven kids.
But I wasn't lost.
My dad came home tired from work and played basketball in the driveway with me.
I got to go to work with him.
We would sing songs in the truck and stop and get a soda and I got to help him on the job.
I know I wasn't that much help.
My mom taught me to sew scrunchees and let me play volleyball in our entryway! (Yep, inside the house! I set that ball off the walls so much I don't know how they didn't fall down.)

My dad could do flips on the trampoline.
My mom wet her pants while jumping (Sorry mom!)

But she jumped! She jumps with my kids now...once in a while!
Today I went out and jumped with my kids. Twice.
It was fun.
I flipped.I flipped them.
They thought it was cool!

Ty said he loves me.
He always tells me he loves me...but jumping with him sure did help!
He couldn't keep it in.
I did ten cartwheels in a row at Ridge's request.
He did five.

We got dizzy and laughed.

I taught the boys some tricks on the trampoline.

They couldn't get enough.

We had so much fun.

What a great day!

Curtain call...for Keri

I needed curtains for my playroom and decided that I wanted to make some that were loose and fun. Wasn't real sure what I was doing, but I experimeted and this is what I came up with. They're linen, which I love, and they don't actually close but I like them!

Some fun little critters!

So, have you caught the bug to start some fall projects yet? Here's a fun one that turns out so cute! I made them from the salt dough recipe I used for the Easter project earlier this year. Add a little paint, trim and ribbons and you've got some cute vintage inspired pumpkins! Can't you imagine a fun Halloween party with these used as the table markers. Just write each guest's name on the little flag and send it home with them when the party's over! Or keep them for yourself, they're cute lined up on a shelf or in a wreath!

Creativity

I've had a chance to expand my talents lately and it was fun. Our primary children had an end of summer water party, and I was one of the ones in charge of putting it together. We thought of having a photo station where the kids could dress up as little surfers and I happily volunteered my talented mom to paint a backdrop for it! Well, she helped me pick out the fabric, but there was no time to have her paint it....It was all up to me. Yikes!

Well, I jumped in and did it, and I think it turned out ok. Best of all, the kids pictures turned out cute. (Thanks Cindy for taking the photo's at the activity!)

This next project was a birthday present for Sean's Grandma in California. It's a plate rack, or magazine rack, or plate/cookbook rack...you decide!

First Day of School

Ridge and Carly did an awesome job on their first day of school. I was expecting tears from at least one of them (from past experience) but got none! It was refreshing!

They kind of had a madhouse for the first day. Before they go to class, the kids meet outside in lines with their class to say the pledge, etc. They were all squished, but did well considering. I was really nervous for Ridge, but he loves learning. I asked him what he did and he says he learned all day! Good! Oh, and for the record, he made a friend and it's a girl. She sits by him, but he can't remember her name, just that she has blonde hair. No boys to mention yet.

Carly has three kids from church in her class. She loves her teacher and her class already got a "caught-cha award" for being good citizens. Her spelling words start this week. Lotsa work ahead! Ty misses his big brother and sister but he should start preschool next week.

Surprise!

We went on a quick trip to California before school started last week. We were going to surprise Sean's Grandma Shirley, aka "Muma", for her 80th Birthday, but we snuck in a day to Yosemite. Sean's dad lives just outside the park, so we can't go visit him without a trip to see Heavenly Father's handy work! It is amazing! We highly recomend the visit to anyone, but especially during the spring when the snow melt off makes the waters fierce and the waterfalls are falling at full force. It's both humbling and uplifting to know the same Creator made both the beautiful earth all around us and each one of us tiny little special people. What's even more amazing to me, and I love to ponder the very thought whenever I am out in nature, is that Heavenly Father has created such things that my mind cannot even imagine, yet He knows me individually (and you too)! He cares about us. Even as He cares about all of His creations. Doesn't it just make you want to pray and thank Him! (and cry just a little, because we're just little peon's in the eternal scheme of things...but we still count!)

OK, on with the pictures:

Just to put this into perspective, Sean is 6'5'' and I am 5'9''. The picture of us in front of the roots of the fallen tree is the same tree in the picture with Carly standing on my shoulders. Standing two tall, we still don't quite make the diameter of the tree. I know! Crazy huh! You have to go see for yourself. AMAZING!

Getting Ready for School...

I thought I would do a little interview with Ridge before school starts, just to see what he thinks about the whole thing. He's surprisingly calm and confident!

Me: How do you feel about school?
Ridge: Good.
Me: What are you excited about?
Ridge: Lunchtime and playtime...the fun things!
Me: What are you nervous about?
Ridge: I don't know how to make the words.
Me: Are you excited to make new friends?
Ridge: Yeah, but I just don't know what friends I want to make first. But if I see a girl that's pretty, I will ask her.
Me: You'll ask her what?
Ridge: I'll ask her if she wants to be friends. That's all.

End of interview....leaving mom cracking up and just a little bit worried!

Tag...I'm it.

My sister tagged me, so here it goes:

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Idaho Falls, Idaho
2. Lubbock, Texas
3. Chuluota, FL
4. Orlando, FL

Four Favorite Books:
1. The Gable Series by Anita Stansfield
2. Ride the Laughing Wind by Blaine Yorganson (I read this a long time ago, not even sure if this is the correct title or author, it may have been his brother…but I enjoyed it!)
3. I love books with pretty pictures. I like to read a good book, but I devour pictures! I love decorating and landscape books and magazines and picture books of other countries. I love a good blog as well!
4. I am currently reading the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyers and enjoying it. Oh, and some parenting help books as well.

Four Favorite Movies:
My sister had some favorites for sentimental reasons…and I guess I follow that reasoning as well:
1. While You Were Sleeping (Not my favorite now, but it was for a long time.)
2. I love old movies with Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Gene Kelly, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn…the list is long. Let’s just say I loved the AMC (American Movie Classics) channel when we had it! (I was just thinking I should add Elvis, Gidget, and the old Beach movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funachello to this list! My sisters and cousins probably remember watching these during spring breaks.)
3. Anne of Green Gables
4. The “Bourne” Movies

Four Embarrassing Facts About Me:
(Shish, this is getting personal!)
1. I think just about every one of my boyfriends hit me in the face with a basketball. This makes me sound klutzy, but I’m not. It’s just a weird fact!
2. This isn’t embarrassing, but it’s a cool trick I can do: I can blow bubbles out my eye when I’m under water.
3. I accidentally flashed my grandma once… She took it a lot better than I did!
4. I blush really easily.

Four Dreams of Mine:
1. I used to have a silly dream of being a motivational speaker. Now, I’d just like to be a really calm and positive person/mom.
2. I would like to complete a triathlon.
3. Finish college.
4. To live. Really live. In the moment, every day. A fulfilling life. With meaning. On purpose. Happily -as a conscious choice. With my husband and kids and friends and family.

Four Pet Peeves:
1. Excuses.
2. Being lazy. (Not to be confused with a lazy day or moment)
3. Blaming others.
4. Not cleaning up after one self.
(I’m not saying I’m not guilty of any of these…they bother me about myself as well.)

Four things that make me Really Happy:
1. Happy Family.
2. When people are nice to my kids.
3. Soft served ice cream cones (These seriously work like magic! The best cure for grouchiness and nausea! Thank goodness we’re getting a McDonald’s soon!)
4. Being outside during that “magic hour” just before the sun starts to set and the sky turns everything golden! It's my favorite time of day!

"TAG" four people. They are:
1. Stephanie H.
2. Keriann
3. Emily P.
4. Sean

(No hard feelings if you don’t want to participate in this tag!)