High Five for Friday

Here's what my week looked like...


1.  New Furniture.  This lives in my living room now.  I'm kind of in love with it.  

2.  Lunch.  Savannah works a split schedule this summer.  She teaches swim lessons in the morning from 7:45-1:00 and then goes back to a different pool to teach in the afternoons from 4:30-8:30.  She comes home from work starving.  I found a super easy recipe for chicken pesto sandwiches that we all had for dinner one night.  The next day, since I knew I wouldn't be home, I left instructions for Savannah to build her own sandwich for lunch.  When I got home, I found a note from her on the counter next to the one I had left earlier.  (...sigh...how is this girl ever going to survive in college??)

3.  Boredom.  Emma is not happy that her sisters are all working so much lately, and her brother is always off playing with his friends.  She does not like to just sit.  So...this is what she spent the day doing on Monday of this week.  In less than a day, a boring boot was transformed into a sparkly, blingy, fashion-forward accessory!  She's gotten tons of compliments. 

4.  Scout Camp.  Craig packed up all of his stuff and spent the week with these cute guys.  They seem to get smaller and smaller every year.  Next year, it'll be McKay's turn.  (Eek!!)

5.  Trek Dance.  The girls went to a trek reunion dance.  It was Emma's FIRST DANCE!  I cannot believe that we've moved into a new teenager era where now ALL THREE girls will be going to dances once a month.  (Eek again!)

High Five for Friday

I haven't done a Friday recap post in months!!  It's about time to get back to that routine, I think.  Here are the highlights of this week according to my iPhone, which is getting a lot more action than my camera these days...

1.  7 Days of Inspiration.  Have I mentioned how much I love social media?  This was on Instagram on Sunday night, so I happily took the challenge this week and posted pictures, quotes, and general conference talks that have been inspiring and uplifting to me.  (And if I could figure out how to download a video from Google+ or youtube and post it on Instagram, I would have done that, too...but so far...it's just been frustrating.)  I love that there are so many opportunities to share, uplift, and connect via technology.  I love that this little iPhone is convenient and handy, and has access to a wealth of uplifting information that can be shared in an instant, whenever inspiration strikes.  I love that technology can connect us to people we might not have met before, and start conversations we might not have had.  In fact, my post on Wednesday launched an awesome discussion with my visiting teachers yesterday morning on gratitude.  Love those women.  Love #mormonchannel.  And LOVE using social media to uplift and connect.

2.  The Beehive Campers are home!  I missed my girl.  It was so nice to be able to pick her up and see her cute, energetic, happy face.  Our house is different when one of my little chickens is missing.

3.  Mini Fruit Pizzas.  Craig and I combined our Deacons and Webelos this week for a fun swimming activity.  We snuck in a few opportunities for working on requirements, but mostly we just let them play and have fun in the pool...after the thunderstorm passed.  And you can't have a scout pool party, and not have treats.  So Megan and I whipped up a few flowery sugar cookies and threw some fresh fruit on them.  Instant hit!  And I'm pretty sure the fruit cancels out the sugar and butter in these cookies.  :)

4.  Million Dollar Arm.  I took McKay and his two neighborhood besties to see this movie this week.  They loved it and I loved it!  Cute boys.  Awesome message.  Baseball.  And Bill Paxton.  It's kind of a combination for success, I think.  Can't believe we missed this earlier when it first came out.  

5.  Forts.  This has been my view of McKay's bedroom all week.  Sometimes when it's really messy in there, I like to close those doors so I don't have to look at it.  But I've kind of loved looking at this little creative space he's made.  I've been invited in a couple of times...and I have the code word, so I can actually come in there whenever I want.  He and his friends divided it into "rooms" for each of them.  He's slept in there all week.  And I just really love having a 10 year old who wants to do something interesting and fun with his long summer days.  

Hope you're having a great summer!  

High Five for Birthday Week

I love the whole month of February, but Birthday Week is by far my favorite week.  I love all the fuss.  I love the birthday coupons that appear in my email.  I love flowers and cake and balloons...oh yeah, and presents!!  I really love presents.  

Monday - Institute and a birthday lunch with friends.  Loved Institute.  Loved the lunch.  Loved the friends.  

Tuesday - Days that start with cake and end with cake can never be bad, right?  The kids combined their efforts and bought me the most gorgeous turquoise vase I have ever seen.  So excited to finish that dining room now.  Craig took the day off and we ran errands, had Mexican food for lunch, and popped over to the Rod's office to connect with them and finalize Spring Break plans.  Relief Society meeting that night with...guess what? yep, more cake!  And Megan and Emma sang their beautiful song together.  I love hearing my girls sing.  It was a pretty great birthday.  

Wednesday - I'm pretty sure Wednesday was my favorite day this week.  I stayed in jammies until 12:00, went visiting teaching (I love those women) and had a Cub Scout activity that did not require any planning on my part.  And it was too cold to wear that hideous uniform.  Great day.  Oh, and surprise birthday wishes totally helped, too.  Love those.

Thursday - My newly declared Temple Day with an amazing group of women.  I have never in my life wanted to be part of a Temple group.  I usually prefer to just go by myself.  But these women have had a standing Temple date for years and they've invited me more times than I can count.  Until last week, I always found an excuse to say no, but I loved being with them so much that I thought I'd go again, and I loved it again.  So I'm adding Thursday Temple days with these lovely women to my weekly schedule, and I'm so happy about that.  

Friday - Lunch with Amy, running errands, and exploring a new store in McKinney.  Craig took McKay on the Scout camp out so the girls and I went Spring Break shopping.  Perfect end to a perfect week.

Thanks for all the sweet IG and email-y and actual mail-y birthday wishes!  

High Five for Friday

1.  Flowers

On Tuesday afternoon, some missionaries showed up at my door with these beautiful little tulips.  Elder Christensen said, "Since I couldn't give my mom flowers for Valentine's Day, I thought I'd give these to you."  How sweet is that?  Have I mentioned how much I love these missionaries??

2.  Survival

On Wednesday, I mustered up all of the "inner-camper" within me and dragged myself to Home Depot to get supplies for these paracord survival bracelets for our Webelos activity.  And then I figured out how to make one.  They're surprisingly tedious and frustrating, but I felt a great deal of personal accomplishment wearing mine around all day.  The boys loved the activity and fortunately picked up the braiding technique a whole lot faster than I did.  Now we are all prepared to survive the next natural disaster, although I'm not sure how an 8ft string is really going to be useful in that situation.

3.  Reptiles

The YW had a reptile activity on Wednesday night.  Emma has decided we need a snake.  That is not going to happen.  I told her that I was so happy she got to enjoy this activity in a location outside of our home.   And I was secretly thrilled that I am not currently serving in YW.

4.  Hoodie

Craig and I went to the middle school yesterday afternoon to see the dress rehearsal of Emma's UIL play that she's been working on.  Holy cow!  Those kids are shockingly talented and the play was surprisingly entertaining, even without a single musical number!  :)
McKay even loved it.  

5.  The Temple

A friend texted me at 8:00 yesterday morning and invited me to go to the Temple with her.  I changed appointments, threw on a dress, and hopped in my car.  I love the clarity and calm that I always feel when I go there.  And I loved being able to go with a friend.  It was the perfect, unexpected break in the middle of a busy week.  

This been a great week, and I'm looking forward to an even better weekend: a camp out, mini missions tonight and tomorrow, and a special musical number in church.  (Don't be alarmed, even with my survival bracelet, I don't think I'm up for a camp out quite yet...Craig is taking the three kids who aren't participating in mini mission stuff, so that the house is free for teenagers.)  

Hope you have a great weekend, too!

Valentine's Day H54F

Hooray it's Friday!  I can't tell you how happy I am to see the end of this week.  Five straight weeks of Craig on the road has definitely taken it's toll.  I'm much more balanced and happy when he's home.  And Valentine's Day is an even better way to end a week like this. 

1.  Candy with Scriptures

Each of the kids got a tiny little box of chocolates this morning before we read scriptures.  It's nice to start the day with a treat, don't you think?

2.  Lunch Surprises
I found these adorable little chocolate lollipops and snuck them into the kids' lunches today with a little love note.  I'm hoping someone will text me today when they find their surprise.  

3.  Love Notes
I think this is the second or third year that we've done this.  I cut out a million little hearts out of construction paper and we write little love notes to each other and stick them up on the kitchen cabinets.  It's so fun to see what the kids write to each other during the month.  

4.  Decorations Around the House
It's so nice to finally put a little color back up on the walls.  January seems so bleak after the house has been filled with Christmas.  I love that February comes just in time to revive me again.  

5.  Valentines
Last year we made homemade Valentines.  Every year we've made homemade Valentines.  But this year, McKay is in 5th grade and he's more of a minimalist Valentine giver these days.  He just wanted plain old store Valentines for his class this year.  I think my years of coming up with cute Valentine ideas and doing little Valentine crafts are coming to an end.  :(

Happy Valentine's Day.  I hope it's a wonderful day where you are and that the people who surround you have told you how much they love you today.  

High Five for Friday

Some weeks seem longer to me than others.  And some weeks feel like a whole month's worth of activities have been crammed into them.  This has been a good week.  Busy, and then slow. Chaos, and then quiet.  Warm, and then freezing.  But that's probably typical of a mid-winter week with four (mostly teenage) kids and a husband who travels all week long.  

Here are some of the little things that I haven't already posted about.

1.  Morning Texts

She doesn't actually hate seminary, but it is a challenging year for her, and therefore she needs extra encouragement to get out of bed most days.  I set my alarm for 5:15 and start texting to wake her up.  Usually by 5:30 she's up and moving.  And always, when she comes home at 6:55 she's forgotten all about her warm bed and she has found something enjoyable about her seminary experience.  

2.  Business Trips Adventures

Well, there was no snow during this week's business trip in Miami.  No cars on fire .  No ice covered parking lots.  No treacherous travel conditions.  But there's always some adventure on Craig's trips.  That's Jacob Rodriguez (aka "Craig's travel partner of choice" these days) and that's Angelica that Jacob is holding.  Can you see her?  She's a monkey.  In a yellow dress and hot pink leggings.  At the restaurant.  Apparently she belongs to the owner and she has some sisters at home, but she is his favorite so she gets to come to work with him.  
Only in Miami…

3.  Hoodie

Emma is in this UIL one-act play coming up in March.  She and her fellow Little Mermaid actors couldn't get enough of each other or the experience of rehearsing for a show, so their drama teacher found a play that they could ALL participate in.  Oh, I love that woman!  My little Emma delights in being involved in stuff.  She is always at her best when she's busy and actively engaged in a good thing.  This is a good thing for her.  

4.  DMCO

Can you see this amazing music?  And more importantly, can you see that amazing alto part???  We get to sing a low G…that's the one BELOW middle C…twice!  That is an alto's dream, I'd like you to know.  This whole unbelievable piece of music makes my head spin.  I love the way it sounds even in rehearsal and I can't wait to hear it all come together with the orchestra as we get closer to the concert.  April 26th…mark your calendars.  You do NOT want to miss this.  

5.  Nail Polish

Over the Christmas break, Emma and I stocked up on new nail polish.  I typically don't paint my nails because it's kind of distracting to see all that color when I'm playing the piano or the organ.  But…in an impetuous moment this week, I decided to just do it!  I know, it's not exactly daring.  It's grey.  I think the name on the bottle says "WET CEMENT."  It's a little startling to look down and see anything on my fingernails, but I kinda like it.  I also kinda like that accent finger trend that everyone's doing lately.  Can you see the glittery one?  I know, it's more subtle than shocking, but that's plenty for me.  And btw...there is not enough lotion in the world these days to keep my hands from looking like elephant skin.  This dry weather is killing me.  

I'm grateful for all the little things that happened this week.  All those quiet, seemingly insignificant moments, when woven in among the chaotic ones, turn an ordinary week into a pretty perfect one.  Hope your week was wonderful and that either the sun is shining where you are, or that you have an electric blanket close by.    

High Five for Friday

It's been forever since I've written a H54F post.  But since it's a New Year, and I've missed these recap posts, here is the first H54F of 2014!

1.  Out of the Nest

Look!  My nest has turned back into a couch.  Blankets are folded.  Decorative pillows have replaced those sorry looking things I dragged out from the bedroom.  Remotes are put away.   Rugs have been vacuumed (not by me, though, don't worry.)  And life is gradually returning to normal around here.  

2.  New Hair

There really is no better reason to get out of the house than a visit to the salon.  New cut and color…hooray!  

3.  Drives

I absolutely LOVE to drive aimlessly around town all by myself listening to music.  I think I've missed that the most while I've been cooped up at home.  Sneaking out on Tuesday was the most fun I've had this week.  Next week I think I'll take the camera with me.  

4.  Best Lip Gloss Ever

Bath and Body Works post-Christmas sale.  75% off.  Perfect shade of plum and sparkly.

5.  Passports

Hooray!  As of today, 6 passport applications have been submitted, which means that in 6 weeks, we will be holding actual passports in our hands!  (more on why we need those things later…) It's no small feat to gather all the necessary stuff to get 6 people, including three minors, registered for passports.  Thankfully, we won't have to do this again for at least 5 more years.  

High Five for Friday

1.  Fall is Finally Here!

2.  Orchestra Concerts

I could seriously listen to this amazing music all day long.  Megan is the third chair bass on the right.  She's been practicing with this group since August and they sound like professionals.  I loved this concert.

3.  Halloween Decorations

Have I mentioned how much I love Halloween??  Well, I do and it's officially sprinkled around my house and I love it!

4.  Pumpkin Swirl Bread

My cute bloggy friend Billie Jo found this in her Northeast grocery store weeks ago and I've been looking for it ever since.  And guess what! It's finally here.  Hooray for pumpkin everything this time of year.  

5.  Song of the Week...Demons by Imagine Dragons.  I love this band and my kids have this song set permanently on repeat on their iPods so it's everywhere this week.  <3

Dear Blog,

Dear Blog,

I'm so sorry I've been shamelessly neglectful of you this week.  I promise I haven't forgotten about you.  I haven't been in an accident.  I haven't replaced you with Instagram or the DVR.  

Every morning I have the best of intentions to hang out with you and fill you in on my day, and then something drags my attention away and I never make it back up the stairs.

Monday it was Institute.  Oh, I LOVE being back into the scriptures, but holy cow! Kevin is making my head spin with this Old Testament stuff.  I had to stay after and dissect the lesson with a few friends, and then come home and recap it all with Craig over lunch before I could even think about anything else.  And then the kids were all home from school... 

...and then someone found a toad that night and wanted to PLEASE keep him in the house. 

Tuesday, the toad was gifted to a very kind 6th grade teacher.  There was a Homecoming date possibility for Savannah, an impromptu lunch date with a friend, and a dr's appt, which turned into a day of Googling all the possibilities and worrying and drinking two giant bottles of this yucky stuff...ew, ew ,ew!!

Wednesday, Craig left for Tucson. Savannah's potential Homecoming date fell through.  She stayed home from school due to emotional trauma.  There were more appts, more errands, and a crisis lunch which included lots of life lessons, the imparting of wisdom, and maybe a few baked goods... 

Thursday, there was a relieving phone call that there are no major medical catastrophes to worry about in the near future.  Then a day spent working on a RS Lesson that I CANNOT seem to pull together, and trying to figure out this very pretty, very updated, very different iPhone.  

And now, it's Friday.  Craig comes home in a few hours.  There will be a recap lunch where I will fill him in on all the events he's missed in 2 1/2 days.   And then kitchen restocking, a missionary open house, more baked goods, work schedules, and baseball practice later tonight.  

See, little blog, I haven't neglected you on purpose.  I'll try to do better next week.  Thanks for understanding.