One Day Later

So take a look at yesterday's van photos in our driveway. Then take a look at our yard and these ones of the van taken just less than 24 hours later.





And that's after shoveling the driveway (twice) and Emily the Tour Guide cleaning off much of the van. No, it hasn't been driven today. This is an Explorer day.

The New Van

To make it easier to "assist" Tonya with the blog posts when she really wants to post something, even if she doesn't know it yet, but she's tied up making quiche or something else equally or more important, I sort of broke into her account and added myself as a contributor. The kids think it's a good idea so it must be.

Anyway, here are some photos and a video tour of our new vehicle, a 2000 Chevy Venture. We still have the Exploder, but we also have a van now. It's only been about 10 years since we had two vehicles, so it's a big deal. It was getting difficult to get the kids and ourselves to all the different things we have going on, so we gave in because how else should one behave responsibly in times of economic uncertainty but by buying a car. Take that stimulant, you economy!

Enjoy.

My version of a 365 project. It's more of a 5 project.

So I guess we're not going to be eating this onion. Maybe I'll stick it in the ground and see if it grows me a pineapple.
This is for my mom, who doesn't even surf the net. But she taped things inside the cupboard and now I do too.
This is my newest addition to our decor. It sums up what I think many wall sayings are saying. Also what happens in the kitchen more than cooking.
Here is one Mike took at Union station on Tate's birthday. His face appears to be permanently frozen in this expression. All his pics look like this.

So I saw this thing that scrapbookers are doing, and they call it a 365 project. I cannot possibly take a picture a day for an entire year, let alone scrap them. But it is a nice reminder that I should be taking pictures of everyday things, like laundry, and unusual things like an empty sink. So I might do that. But I'm not committing to anything. That would be like promising to stay in touch better than I have. It never happens.

Finally, a few pictures!

The kids making sugar cookies. This was our FHE activity. We decided that a ten minute lesson and scriptures wasn't cutting it. We told the kids that all their homework and chores and practicing has to be done before dinner because from after dinner until bedtime is all family night now. Emily made us a chart and we have an activity, too. So far we've made cookies, played with Emily's ello toys, and played a board game. Tate only ever wants to go bowling, so I guess that will be what we do on his turn. :)
These are the flowers that Mike got for way cheap when he went to the store Valentine's night for milk to get us through Sunday. Clearance flowers are the only flowers I like. Because they die, you know.
Yummy kisses.
This is Hayden with his "eye of Sauron" (sp?) cookie. Can you guess what he read last week?
These are the cookies of Mike and me. Note the meeples and the skull and crossbones. Not mine.

This is my current excuse. It's not a bad one at that.

Our hard drive crashed last week and Mike replaced it, but picasa hasn't been installed again yet, so I don't have new pics ready to post. Also, I was working on the ward activity for the last few days, and not much else. So now that we have clean dishes again, maybe tomorrow I will download me some picasa. I guess it's not as good an excuse as I thought. It's not like I'm in the hospital or pregnant or stuck in a heater vent. That last one really happened to a lady in SLC. It makes me want to never live alone so that I wouldn't be stuck for a day or two. Not like I'd fit, but you know what I mean. Have fun storming the castle this week!

i'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell

do you remember that Matchbox 20 song? "I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell."
Well, I didn't mean to worry anyone, I was just having one of those dark humor days. Because I'd felt crummy for days. Sadly, the sarcasm lingers on, even though the fever is gone. I don't know whether to blame the sarcasm on Mike or on the mucus that fills my head still. Maybe next week we will have pictures of some fun outing or something of good report to report. Maybe I'll start seeds this week and take pictures of that. Starting seeds cheers me up until I actually have to put them out in the ground and then I think, " this is a lot of work. Why was I so excited?" Isn't it so much funner to buy the bulbs and the plants and seeds than to actually plant them???

What a lame week.

I wasn't feeling all that great at the beginning of the week, and it was all downhill from there. Now there are extra dishes and extra messes that I would have kept up with, had I been up. I don't remember what even happened this week. Mike took Emily and Hayden to the museum here in town, to GameStop, and to Shopko. Whoopee! Too bad they didn't bring the camera along, eh? I forgot to mention last month that Tate was student of the month at school for his class, a feat not accomplished by either Hayden or Emily. They are convinced that it is a not a reward for good kids, but an incentive for naughty kids. They may have a point there. Being the fabulous mother that I am, I neglected to cut out his picture in the paper. He was the one in the back row, with his hair sticking up. That's ok, now he and Hayden have both been let down ( I forgot to mail in a release form when Hayden was going to have a poem published in a book that costs more than a new car). Two down, one to go. What can I ruin for Emily? hmmmm........
Is sarcasm a talent I can do to win a talent show?