Another Birthday Party

So Prima Donna was wishy-washy about a birthday party.

I think she wanted to have one, she just didn't like any of my suggestions. Since she is turning 14, a dance party or a late-night seemed like a good idea. No, that's not what she wanted. It took her several days before she came up with the idea of a tea party.

At first I thought she was crazy. These big girls didn't want to have a tea party!  Boy, was I wrong...

Her plan was to have the kids (I say kids because as you can clearly see, one of these is a guy), decorate cupcakes and then eat them with sparkling cider and a few other items. So she passed out the invitations. I went to the dollar store and bought some cheap pink plates, forks, and napkins. I bought fresh fruit and cheese. Princess made the cupcakes and I mixed up a couple of batches of frosting.

All the kids pitched in, cleaning the house and helping set up the tables. We used cloth tablecloths and our fancy long-stemmed glasses. I was too cheap to buy real sparkling cider so we mixed Sprite Zero with apple juice.

The party was awesome! The kids were well-behaved and seemed to enjoy themselves. Cheese was the item of choice and they went through about 2 lbs of it. They also loved the fresh pineapple and watermelon.

Her friends were very generous and they gave her tons of nice things. I love mostly grown-up kid parties. I just have to sit around and make sure they are chaperoned. Especially when one (or two) of them turns out to be a boy.

Beauty Pageants

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? I know, that doesn't really seem to be my style, does it? Well, one year I was invited to be a State Finalist (whatever that means) in the Miss United Teenager pageant.I was excited and flattered and it took me a while, but I finally convinced my parents that I really wanted to give it a try. It was 1982 and I was a junior in high school

I never thought of myself as being a beauty. I struggled with weight issues all my life, but this pageant didn't have a swimsuit competition and it did have a writing segment. Silly me, I thought I might have a chance.

It was held at the University of Utah. Grandma brought me up to campus and I remember getting lost. We eventually found the check-in area and I settled into a dorm. The competition took two or three days and I really don't remember it all that well.

I know that the red and white outfit in the first picture was required and we all practiced and then performed a big number together in those clothes. They sent us patterns and I made the skirt. White strappy shoes were also required. We were allowed to choose our own evening gown and this peach-colored one was actually the dress my mom made for my junior prom.

I felt pretty good about things going in, but by the time I met the other girls I realized I was way out of my element. Having our pictures snapped every 2 seconds was disturbing to me and I didn't love wearing a dress all the time. I felt like most of the time I was pasting on my smile and not being myself.

Not surprisingly, I was eliminated in the first round, but that didn't stop me from tossing my hat into the ring one more time. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

Pinterest Flowers

I asked Teach to put up some random pics for me again since I couldn't seem to get my brain working today. It seems my creative juices have dried up...

When I was younger, I was a craft-a-holic. I loved working with my hands doing embroidery, felt, plastic canvas, hooking rugs, you name it, I was there. Maybe tomorrow I'll show you my greatest creation (if I can get it out of the cedar chest where it's been hiding for almost 30 years). Kind of silly, huh?

So it would seem natural that I would LOVE Pinterest. But I really don't. My days are so filled with other things now that the only time I do crafts is with my girl scouts, on a road trip, and sometimes during General Conference. I prefer to spend time with my sewing machine when I want to make something.

But Teach loves Pinterest and she is constantly showing me some new thing she would like to make. Sometimes it's food and sometimes it's crafts. So last weekend she raided my fabric and rallied her little sisters while I wasn't home and they created some really cute flowers for their hair. Most of them were eventually attached to a headband although her pictures just show them this way.

I wish I could say I participated in this activity, but I was a terrible mom and mostly I just complained about the fact that the yellow gingham USED to be the exact size for a quilt back.

Thanks for taking up the slack, Teach! Maybe someday Pinterest and I will become best friends. Until then, keep showing me the pictures, maybe one of them will get my creative juices flowing again.

Words of Wisdom

Not our veggies

One of the things we are trying to do in the new year is eat a little healthier. My biggest problem with that (besides the Twinkies and chocolate bars) is the fact that healthy food just costs more. So we looked around and we discovered this rather amazing service called Bountiful Baskets. (No, I'm not plugging this group, I promise!)

I first heard about them from Grandma. She harassed me for a year to try them and I didn't get around to it until a couple of weeks before she passed away. She was always a bargain hunter and this is definitely a bargain. A basket costs $15 and you have to order it on Mondays. Then you pick it up on Saturday.

When we ordered the basket in the summer we decided that our garden was producing the same kinds of things so we really needed to wait until it was snowy and cold and the garden was dead. To make a long story short, we got our first basket a couple of weeks ago. Half fruits and half veggies, we got things like bananas, clementines, apples, grapes, lettuce, and cucumbers. The kids loved having fresh stuff around to snack on and we didn't waste anything. So this week I signed up for TWO baskets.

Dad's Veggie medley!

When my sweetie got back from the pickup time, he just shook his head. "I don't know what we're going to do with some of this stuff!" he complained. We still got bananas and clementines, but also kiwi, watermelon, and pineapple. (The kids were so excited about the watermelon, they ate both of them for lunch yesterday.) The veggies though, were crazy!

There was the obligatory bunch of lettuce, plus cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. And because we had two baskets, we had TWO bags of them! My sweetie scoured the internet, trying to find some sort of recipe the kids might eat. The first bag was turned into a sauteed bunch with little mushrooms cooked in pork grease. Most of the kids tried one and spit them out.

So tonight he cooked the other bag into a medley of vegetables including parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and the dreaded sprouts. (Yeah, suddenly the veggies weren't so cheap anymore.) I was folding laundry as the kids were setting the table and my sweetie was finishing things up.  Scout poked her head around the corner.

"Mom?" she asked rather timidly. I kept folding. "Yeah." Her little voice quivered. "Can I say the prayer?" I looked up from the shirt I was turning right side out. "Sure," I responded. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That food looks so darn yucky!" I guess she was thinking that a prayer might fix everything.

And just so you know...she was totally wrong (or maybe her prayer DID help!). The veggies were delicious! Guess we'll get another basket or two this weekend. Don't know what I'll do with rutabaga though...

Food for Thought - Gingerbread Cookies

Sport loves hanging out with the cute girls!

You all know I love scouts and I have a little Girl Scout troop that meets at my house every other Friday. Today we had our Christmas party and finished our Cooking badge we were working on.

I have never made gingerbread before and I guess I’ve actually not made it now either. But the Drama Queen is a pro and she offered to be in charge. Because we only have an hour and a half with the girls, she mixed up dough beforehand so that it could be chilled. Then after they had rolled and cut and decorated, they actually mixed up the dough. It was kind of backwards, but it worked.

We also made some cute Christmas ornaments, had a visit from Santa, and ate eggnog shakes. I’m always a bit exhausted when I’m finished with a scout meeting, but it’s a good kind of tired. Now we are going to use the newly mixed dough to make cookies for the family party. Hope you love it!

Gingerbread Cookies

½ cup shortening
2 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup molasses
1 egg
1tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves

In a bowl, beat all the ingredients but only add half the flour at this time.  Beat until dough is thoroughly combined, then slowly add the remaining flour.  Chill for 3 hours or until easy to handle. 

Divide the chilled dough in half and roll out each half on a lightly-floured surface.  For simple circles, flatten to 1/8 of an inch, cut with a glass, and then bake at 375 for 4-6 minutes on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper.  For gingerbread men, flatten dough to 1/4 of an inch and bake for 6-8 minutes instead.  The girl scouts made theirs extra thick so we ended up cooking them for ten minutes and that crisped up the little ones.  Great recipe and easy to do!   

The Tooth Fairy

Scout has been having a very busy week! First she had her friend party, then her birthday. After that it was Thanksgiving and she got sick. Her lower lip was cracked and bleeding from the fever and she was pretty miserable. Then, horror of horrors, one of her front teeth started to wiggle! She was excited about the prospect of the Tooth Fairy coming to visit, but since this was her first tooth, she was nervous about the level of pain she might have to endure to receive her prize.

As the tooth wiggled looser and looser, it started to hurt a little. She became so distraught; I couldn’t get her to eat. She thought that something as simple as crunchy peanut butter might make the tooth fall out and that might mean blood and carnage and she just wasn’t ready for that. I tried to get her to let me touch it (i.e., pull it out when she wasn’t expecting it), but she refused to open her mouth. She got so worried that I even had to give her a little Ibuprofen to ease the pain and stress in her neck and shoulders!

Then last night, she came running into the office while I was working on my post. “It fell out!” she cried and placed the tiny tooth reverently on my desk. “Yay!” I enthused. “Did it hurt?” She skipped back out of the office. “No,” she called over her shoulder. “Get a cup!” I reminded her. It’s been many years since we encouraged a child to put a tooth under a pillow. The “cup” method makes life much easier for the Tooth Fairy.

 The fortunate child expecting a visit places the tooth in a small cup and sets it in the kitchen window. Then the Tooth Fairy can quickly and easily find the tooth and leave a prize in the window. Much better than a huge lump under a pillow! That’s because our Tooth Fairy NEVER leaves money. It’s always a small gift of some sort, usually something between five and ten dollars. Sometimes it’s a movie, in fact Crafty receive the Flipper twin set just a couple of weeks ago for losing a tooth. But this was Sport’s first tooth, so it was bound to be something amazing.


She was so excited when she finally dragged herself out of bed this morning and headed for the kitchen. By then, most of her siblings had already gone to school, but not before they admired her new treasure. She was so excited to find a Lil' Webkinz puppy! When I was a kid, we got a shiny new dime…and I’m pretty sure I was just as excited as Scout to receive it. How about you? What does your Tooth Fairy leave?

Not Again!

Who knew she would be so destructive when she grew up!

Remember last week how excited I was about my new countertops? I’m still excited about my countertops, but I’ve got another story to tell you about Princess.

Last night I was shuffling paperwork and I didn’t want to leave it in the middle so I asked Princess to figure out something for dinner. My sweetie was working late, so that made it much easier. She decided that Ramen soup and cheese sandwiches would be yummy and she got right to work on it. I stayed in the office, tallying up the Tupperware fundraiser we just completed at the dance studio.(Hey, check out my new website! The Drama Queen just got it all set up for me...pretty cool, huh?!)

When food was on the table, we all gathered round so we could eat. Ramen isn’t my favorite, so I headed for the pan of rolls that were left from Thanksgiving dinner. When I passed the new cooktop, I glanced down and noticed this.

Apparently after stirring the soup, Princess had set the plastic spoon right in the center of the hot ceramic unit. When I picked it up, part of the spoon stuck to my new cooktop and the other sort of melted with long strings of white plastic as I held it up for all to see. I tossed the spoon in the trash and headed for the rolls, telling myself it was too hot to deal with and I would take care of it later.  Then I forgot about it.

When my sweetie got home several hours later, the plastic had hardened on the cooktop and was nearly impossible to get off. After about half an hour of scrubbing, it looks mostly better. I’m going to have to have a chat with Princess…she needs to ruin something different next time if we have any hope of remodeling. Hmmm…my bathrooms need painting…

Just Kidding...I Wish

You ever get one of those “just kidding” phone calls? So Sunday morning at exactly 8:30 on the dot, the clinic called me. It seems that the doctor was wrong yesterday and the radiologist confirmed that Curly’s finger is indeed broken with a “buckle fracture.” That means the bone was forced back over itself. Great! Just what I need, three weeks of trying to keep him from pulling off the tape! He seems to think it’s already better.

Alex, Teach, and Bethany

I was seriously hoping for another “just kidding” call today, but it didn’t come. On Saturday I was heading back from spending a million dollars at Sam’s Club when a call came in from Teach. I punched the button on my cell, intent on making some smart comment. But the tone of her voice stopped me cold. And the words coming out of her mouth made me colder still. “Mom! Alex’s mom had a heart attack and she’s dead!” My mind could not comprehend what she was saying. “What?” I could hear the tears and disbelief in her voice as she repeated the words. And yes, they were the same the second time around. I told her I’d be home in a minute and I snapped my phone shut. I couldn’t believe it!

Alex is Teach’s best friend. Maybe you remember her from the post I wrote about the Artichoke Box. They have been friends since middle school and at 20 they were closer than ever. Her mom was only 53 years old. She was not a particularly close friend, but I counted her anyway. She was an amazingly supportive person who always bought Girl Scout cookies and Tupperware and whatever else my kids were selling.

Teach and I had spent about an hour visiting with her a month ago. She didn’t seem like she was staring death in the face then. On the contrary, we talked about Christmas and Alex’s future and school and marriage and grandkids. All things she will never experience. Just last week she asked Teach if the Dog Walker planned on selling any of his cornstalks this year. Halloween was coming up and she loved that holiday!

I have been walking around like a zombie for the last 36 hours. Why do some people have to face these kinds of challenges? Why Alex? And why not Teach? I’m 46 which is not a whole lot younger than 53. Yet I go about life just assuming that I have 30 or 40 more years of living to do. I hope Alex hugged her mom when she left for work on Saturday. I hope she said, “I love you!” as she ran out to her car. I know she said it often on her cell when she was at my house, asking for just one more hour or one more minute with Teach. We never know when our time on earth will end. Let’s not waste any of it. Tell the ones you love how you feel! Let’s hug a little more, forgive a little more, then when the time comes at 53 or 93, there won’t be any regrets. Because I’m pretty sure that “just kidding” call isn’t coming.

PS We love you and are praying for you, Alex.

The County Fair

Hair feathers!

I’ve always been a sucker for the fair. I don’t remember a time when we weren’t involved in the County Fair. My grandma was a judge, but that didn’t help us win more blue ribbons. She was completely honest in her reviews and more than once I came home with the red or white. We participated through the 4H program as kids and I learned how to cook, care for kids, and sew…probably a few others too that I don’t remember at the moment.

Sewing was the one I enjoyed the most, although my mom said that I liked to push the pedal way too fast. She was our fearless leader and an amazing seamstress. The only problem was that she was so busy we usually ended up finishing our entries the week of the fair. When I was about 12, I was working on a cowl-neck striped knit sweater…(give me a break, it was the seventies!). It was late and I was tired, but the entry was due before noon the following day. Mom was hanging around, folding laundry or something, just in case I needed help. I was hunched over the sewing machine, pushing the pedal way too fast.

I finally finished setting in the second sleeve and I pulled out the scissors so that I could trim the seam allowances. This was not a good idea at 1:30 in the morning. Halfway through the second sleeve, I slashed a big gash in the sleeve itself. I was devastated! Mom hurried over to assess the damage. This was the last step on the shirt and I had totally spoiled it. Then the tears started. Mom took one look at me and sent me off to bed. Clearly I was in no position to begin unpicking.

When I awoke the following morning, something magical had happened. The shirt was complete and perfect! Had I dreamed the gash? Mom just smiled and we piled in the car to turn in my entry. I suppose I should have felt a little guilty when I received that blue ribbon, but the sleeve I put it looked good enough for blue too. I don’t have any pics from that era, but I do have some fun ones we took today at our own County Fair.

 We enjoyed the vendors’ booths and the kids won some little goodies…stuffed animals, candy, water bottles, pencils… We only bought one thing, and I just couldn’t resist the cute little grandma and grandpa giving the demonstration. It was called the Quilter’s Tacker. The grandpa had actually invented this little device that sets the tacks into the frames and then a different tool that pulled them back out. My grandma would have loved this product! At twenty bucks, the price was a little steep, but they were so nice… Teach spoiled all the girls by buying them hair feathers and the boys loved the Army booth and its video games. Gamer even got an alignment for his back that was supposed to help him feel better, but he doesn't look that happy to me.

We also participated in the Read and Ride program. All the kids between the ages of 5 and 15 did a little reading and then wrote reports on them to earn us some free ride passes to share. The little kids loved the motorcycles, but the big kids (including my sweetie) were all pretty dizzy when they climbed off the Tornado. The Dog Walker even headed to the dumpster and we worried that he was going to heave, but unlike last time, he managed to pull it together. We didn’t get to see the animals since the Drama Queen had to go to work, but since the fair comes back every year, I'm sure I'll be standing in line again next year.

Guest Blog - Another Day at the Zoo by Princess

Yup, me again. But I promise this story is a good one, and it’s very much real. I was thinking about this story because we went to the zoo this week. It was a warm October Saturday. My baby sister had been born a couple of days previously and my mom and Baby Doll were due to come home that day. My friend Salsalita invited me to go to the zoo with her. I was super excited. I got up early and ate breakfast quickly. We got to the zoo and were having fun looking at all the monkeys, birds, and elephants. Our group was watching the baby elephant jump around and eat for much longer than our attention span would allow. “Hey Mom, we’re going to go look at the apes!” Salsalita hollered over her shoulder as we ran through strollers and groups of people.

As we got to the gorilla exhibit (Oh my, I’m shaking just by writing this!), we realized that a silver back, giantly huge, gorilla was sleeping right up against the glass. He was terrifying to look at, yet kinda cute and cuddly. Salsalita made some comment about the ape being her grandpa’s twin.  And she was telling me all about how she wanted to rub his tummy. We both laughed and soon we had forgotten all about the gorilla and were making plans for Halloween and sleepovers. 

Just then my friend’s phone went off. Her ring tone was VERY loud and before we knew it, the gorilla was awake and not very happy. We started to scream and he stood up on his hind legs (is that what you call them on a gorilla?) and pounded on his chest. Well, as you can imagine, when a full male gorilla is growling and about to attack you with only a layer of glass in between you and King Kong, we started running and screaming very loudly (which I’m guessing only provoked him further).

As we turned the corner we ran smack dab into a family (with a boy about our age might I add :). We told them about the gorilla and they laughed and went to go look at the crazy animal. We, being the silly girls we are, decided to go back, just for kicks and giggles. More like punches and growls! As we returned, the gorilla had another fit and actually smashed his fists on the glass. The family and the pair of us left VERY quickly, only looking back to make sure he was still enclosed.

We didn’t stop running until we were back with the group and the peaceful elephants. “I am never looking at a gorilla again!” I told Salsalita, who was already dragging me back to “her grandpa’s twin” who was now climbing in the trees in his habitat.  The gorilla saw us and started growling and baring his teeth. We hid behind the sign that told ape facts and waited for death.

Then we turned our heads to see a man sketching our furry friend and I guess we moved too much because the gorilla threw a royal fit so we hid again. The man told us we should probably leave, and after we took a quick video, we booked it out of there.

“I’m never going back!” I repeated again and my friend agreed with me. We got back to the group and stuttered out the whole story as our knees wobbled.  Well, of course we had to follow the group back to the gorilla den. We got there to find the gorilla had fallen back to sleep with the blanket over his head. “Boring!” someone said as they walked away. Salsalita and I looked at each other and shook our heads. “More like terrifying!”

I’m glad gorillas are an endangered species and I am very thankful for the thick glass that was put in at the zoo. ***Just a little mama-note…I think Princess is an endangered species too. After all, there is only one of her and she has already had her brush with death, so maybe we’d better stay away from the zoo! Although I think we need to have a chat about why she just kept going back...I guess not everybody loves you Princess, just most of us.***

The Tangled Web

Last night I was ready for bed at 11:30 which is kind of a record for me, but I hadn’t been feeling well the night before so I was a bit sleep-deprived. I promised my sweetie that I would finish my blog and head to bed as quickly as possible. Besides, this thing with Sport’s arm had me really stressed and worried (I took him to the doc, btw and she put him on oral antibiotics. The swelling is now 10 inches long and 6 ½ inches wide. If the swelling isn’t down by tomorrow it will be another trip to Primary’s). I had just finished reading my last bloggy friend post, gathered the baby, and turned to head upstairs. That’s when the Prima Donna showed up. But she didn’t look much like a Prima Donna. She looked like something from an 80s monster flick. "Mom," she whined. "Can you help me with this?" She had wrapped the entire front part of her hair around a curling iron brush! The handle and the cord swung loosely toward the floor, but most of the bristles were totally wrapped in her long brown locks.

"What did you do?" My voice raised a little too high for the late hour, but I was exhausted and my patience was wearing thin. "I just wanted to see how this curling iron worked," she stated matter-of-factly. I reached for the rod. It was cold. "Did you even plug it in?" I asked. "No, I was going to figure out how to wrap it first," she said. I rolled my eyes and began tugging at her hair. The hair barely moved. This was not going to be an easy task. I handed the baby off to the Dog Walker and began tugging with a vengeance. This was so not fair! It was my night to get to bed before midnight.

Fifteen minutes later the hair had budged very little. "How did this get so bad?" I wanted to scream in frustration. "Well," she said, "When I couldn’t get it right out, I tried to brush it out…I think that made it worse," she trailed off. "Ya’ think?!" I was ready to get out the scissors, so I sent her over to have the Drama Queen give it a try. Less than five minutes later she was back. The Drama Queen suggested baby oil and some scissors.

Good riddance!

The Prima Donna had an even sillier suggestion, "Do you think if we plug it in it might help?" "Yeah," I answered sarcastically, "Then I’ll burn my fingers trying to do an impossible task." After another 20 minutes, I reached for the scissors. I know I’m the meanest mom on earth, but I started snipping. "You’re cutting my hair?" she wailed. I didn’t answer right away, because I thought she deserved to suffer a little. I was actually snipping all the little black balls from the ends of the curling iron brush. I was thinking that without them I might be able to slide the hair down and off the end.

"Do you think maybe a bobby pin would help?" questioned the Prima Donna hopefully. The Drama Queen was watching and offered, "Yeah, then you’d just have a bobby pin stuck too!" I snipped a few more balls. "You aren’t cutting my hair, are you?" Prima Donna asked accusingly. "How do you know?" I snipped some more. "’Cause little black balls are falling all over me," she said. I tugged harder. After a total of 72 minutes, I finally slid the last of the hair from the end of the devastated curling iron. As I dangled its sad and broken body over the garbage can, I bid it a grateful farewell.

It took the Prima Donna another 20 minutes to comb out the rat’s nest (littered with little black balls) that it left in her hair. She sent me a picture text just before I turned off my light. I glanced at the clock…1:00 AM. My sweetie would be unhappy. Oh the tangled web we weave…well, somebody did something with a tangled web...I'm just too tired to know who!

Guest Blog: Spiritual Insight by Princess

Today I got to do some something fun. I went to the Manti Temple with Dad, Dog Walker, Prima Donna, and Grandpa. Grandma C had some family names that needed to be done. The Manti Temple’s Baptistry is much different from the one my sister and I are used to going to. It is a lot smaller, less busy, and it wasn’t as calm or peaceful. I didn’t feel the same as I did in my temple and it worried me. It wasn’t until I was sitting in a tiny room and my grandpa was saying a prayer with his hands on my head that I felt something.

It wasn’t a feeling of peace; it was a kick from my sister sitting on the chair across from me. I opened my eyes and hers were closed, trying to look innocent even as a huge grin spread across her face. Right then I realized that if it weren’t for the power of the priesthood, I’d be dead, and my little sister, who was sitting across from me, would be doing my names. She would have been in the dressing room alone, she would have my room, my clothes, my toys… My treasured items wouldn’t be there, they would be in stores or trees, waiting to be turned into paper, and then masterpieces… by someone else. If I weren’t here, you wouldn’t be reading this.

How would the people around me have been affected if I had died that day? My friends, my family, my future husband…how would their lives be different? Would my best friend be happy? Would my husband marry someone else?

Bossy thinks she is funny.

Now I just want to point out that I DID die (something I am very proud of and am seriously considering putting on my resume!). I wonder what happened when I did. I want to hope I found my great-grandparents, who were already dead, and asked them what to do. I want to think that my great-grandpa, who drowned, told me his story and helped me decide to return to my family. I want to think my children were there, and explained to me that I needed to go back home so they could join me some day. I hope my siblings that weren’t born told me about all the fun we would have together, and the special moments we would share.

My awesome dance friends at C & C

I came back for a couple of reasons. I needed to live out my life. I needed to have trials and fun times, and learn to dance. I needed to get married and raise my family. But one of the most important reasons is because I needed to come back so my autistic brother wouldn’t blame himself for killing me. I love my brother. Nate, I’m so glad you put me in that bathtub. I’m glad you gave me that experience and made me the person I am today. I love you.

~ Princess

Noticed the church pew and did a double take? Go read this story.