A L M O S T all girls

once again, the ritual of DRESSING UP, walking the neighborhood and eating candy happened saturday night. this time, we ended the evening with friends galore at sam and jason's house. a feast of corinne's delicious chili, homemade brownies, lemon bars, corn bread and more was at my fingertips to enjoy. the kids had a blast while the parents played games including but not limited to searching the neighbor's yards for hidden pumpkins and an interesting game of 'celebrity'. good friends, good fun. so glad we went.

I think our family is just about OVER BEING SICK. My poor husband is lingering between getting sick and staying well. It seems every day he's on the brink and yet nothing really happens. Everyone except Emma missed at least 2 days of school and I missed 4 days of work plus a weekend. I am on day 9 and still have the cold symptoms and they are slowly wearing off. I do believe that illness is one way of slowing down and forcing us to get rest, stop the madness of every day life and just let go of the mundane things that drive us each day. I welcomed my illness....and now....it can get lost!

August came and went....in a flash. Along with September. We spent many refreshing days lounging by the pool, enjoyed late nights outside until it became dark and we just enjoyed each other and the fun being a family brings. School started at the end of August. The 3 youngest children began their first year in uniforms. I am very excited about the fact that I don't have to worry about 'clothing drama' every morning. Jasmine started her senior year and began depleting my bank account with classes that require hundreds of dollars for books and concurrent enrollment etc. Free, public education you say? I spent a few days back and forth between Utah and California taking care of my parents. Definitely a challenge to be caring for the elderly long distance. We picked a house model to build and found a suitable lot. Money has been put down and the upcoming design center day is just around the corner. We will miss our friends in this neighborhood but are welcoming a ...

Want to take a cake decorating class. I have lost my skill and want to retrieve it. Jasmine finished EFY . She didn't want to go at first but felt very spiritual about it and is glad she attended. On the 4 th , Malcolm and I took each one of the girls on a 2 hour 'mother/father/daughter' excursion. Lizzie wanted to clothes shop at Naartjie so she got 4 dresses. Emma wanted lunch at Einsteins; she got her chocolate chip coffee cake and Ellie got breakfast at IHOP . Jasmine ended up having dinner with us the next night at Applebee's . It was fun to have just one child to focus on. I think we should do that once a month but maybe not spend so much money :) Had a BBQ with Jennifer and Mark at their house. Took Ellie to see my mom on her 75 th birthday. She had surgery the day before so we wanted to lift her spirits. They removed the rod in her leg in hopes to heal the wound from the break. My dad seemed weak and tired. Poor guy. Had our windows cleaned. Elli...

A few HIGHLIGHTS of June 2009 Malcolm and I cleaned out my parents house and garage in California. Mom's ankle was broken and she was non-weight bearing which left her feeling isolated in her bedroom. We went though so many boxes and made abut 20 trips to the Salvation Army. (didn't like the Salvation Army guy) Bought a really nice (nice=expensive in this case) flat iron for the girls' hair. Missed bidding for a new shift at work. Won't do that again. Jasmine did summer school online so she could open a space in her schedule during the school year for Seminary. Jasmine took driver's ed but doesn't seem to enjoy driving. Went to a mother daughter fashion show at our ward with Lizzie. Really enjoyed spending time alone with her.  Went to scrapbooking weekend at Jennifer's. Gave the Relief Society lesson on The Power of Forgiving. Very eye opening for me. Realized I have someone to forgive. Jasmine started EFY (especially for youth)

BLOGGING really is a treat for me. I enjoy taking the time to create cute pages, type a bunch of fun stuff about my sometimes but not usually boring life and click 'publish' . In a few minutes, I have created a journal of sorts that can be referred to in the future. But for some reason, I don't take the time to talk about the things that are important. Some days I feel like....'who wants to read about the hair I cleaned out of the corner of the bathroom or the purchase of comet vs ajax '? Is it really so necessary to be so narcissistic all the time, every day? Probably NOT so important after all. Since I can't seem to make it priority, yet the desire is still there, I have changed my ideas about blogging on a daily basis. It doesn't _have_ to be every day....who said it does anyway? I have worked out a deal with myself and that is my blog of such great importance will be attended to on a monthly basis with grand highlights of the larger, more memor...

I HAVE BEEN SORROWFULLY NEGLECTFUL to myself and my blogging friends. I have not yet figured out the balance between family, work and plain ol' time wastin' fun a.k.a blogging. My good intention has always been to document my life. I am still alive, but without record. I will be more diligent, more focused on setting aside time for sharing my life with my followers. Yes, all 4 of you! Pictures to follow soon. Until the next post.....