It's a bird!

I was out shopping with Macey and Emmy and Scott took some pictures while I was gone. Here is one of a bird that flew into our garage.

Yes, that is a parakeet. Macey was actually hearing a bird chirping by her window this morning and for a moment, as I looked at the picture on the camera, I actually thought that Scott had kept the bird and it was in some sort of contraption on the side of the house. But no, Scott said at it would not go onto his finger so he just let it go. Poor bird!

Our Garden

Here are some pictures of the Williamson/Burley garden. The guys have been working on this garden and watering it for weeks. It is looking pretty good and I can't wait to taste all of the yummy food after the "hen" does all of the work! Scott really enjoys gardens and the results after all of the work.

What I have been up to...

...not blogging. Here is what I have been up to. Last week, Thursday-Saturday, I took some classes at the Creating Keepsakes convention. It was a fun time! I took a class where we created a 6x6 album that covered the whole year, a class called Scheming Around, and then the send-off crop Saturday night where I worked on my card for card club which is next week already. I will post a picture of my card when it is finished.

I have been playing volleyball on Wednesday nights at our church building. This is a picture of my knee which is killing me. The pain from last week was feeling better just in time to go and play again. Knee pads? I can't wear knee pads. I am not good enough for that and they would probably hinder what little ability I may have. I guess I will just have to learn to let them go, but it will be hard. I get a little competitive when it comes to playing sports.

After a late night of volleyball and Sonic and then several nights of late classes at the convention I was exhausted. I am not sure I have ever been so tired in my life. I felt like I needed to sleep for like 3 days straight.

I have also been taking Photoshop classes from a friend in my neighborhood who is like a computer wizard when it comes to the creative stuff. I used some of the info. I have learned so far to create my new "title" picture. There are still 2 more classes in the series and I can't wait. Photoshop was like another language to me and now I can actually understand most of it.

Oh and GO SUNS!!!!!!!! I still believe!

Playgroup

Emmy has been part of a playgroup all year with several other kindergartners where we take turns taking the kids on Wednesday's. It has been fun and a slice of relief with Emmy only going to school half of a day (well, techincally it is only an eighth!). It was at our house this week. Here the kids are playing "war" with a deck of cards.

Going around the circle is Emmy, Jaxon, Jaden and Teagan.

Blogging ettiquette

If you are reading my blog and I do not know it, do not be embarrassed I don't care, the more the merrier! I just had to make mention that if you are reading my blog I should be able to read yours! Just seems fair, right? HuHum especially if your name starts with a "C" and ends with a "Y".

Macey's Field Trip

I went with Macey on her field trip to the Museum for the Youth in Mesa today. I had forgotten how much waiting you do on field trips. It takes more time to get everything organized and going than the actual activity does. The museum was pretty neat although the topic of the art right now is "Table Manners" so everything is food themed and encouraged all of the "I'm hungry" whining. After we went to the museum we went to eat our lunches at Freestone Park and then once again we waited and waited for the bus drivers to come back for 20 minutes! Honestly, I think that the chaos of the field trip and some of the naughty kids behavior was just about enough to push me over the edge. I am over it, and like child labor, I will forget about every thing until the next time. I was wiped out and fell asleep on the bus on the way home, but I think I will go take another nap while Claire is sleeping. I am already in my pajamas and I am looking forward to an evening at home watching the Suns game with my hubby (although I really should go to the PTO meeting).

GO SUNS!!!!

This is Macey with one of her friends, Jamie, while we waited for the bus drivers.

I am not sure why I had to cut Macey's face out of the picture, but this is her Earth Day shirt that they made at school. Well, Macey actually forgot her shirt so I had to iron it on at home. It says "I care for the earth".

Also it is my sisters birthday today! Happy Birthday Tara!

She's Growing Up

Yes, another self-indulgent baby post! I know they all grow up I am just noting it as it happens so I can remember, even though I hate to think I would forget-I will.

For the past couple of weeks I have been feeding Claire rice cereal when I have the time and she has done really well. Tonight I let her try some carrots. Although my other kids moaned and groaned and said don't make her eat those, like I was torturing her, she liked them. Here she is sitting in her Bumbo seat as I was feeding her.

Also, yesterday she rolled from her back to her stomach. I was actually quite surprised because she never seemed to try very hard and I thought it would be a while, but she seemed to do it effortlessly. She can actually get up on her knees briefly so she is on her way to crawling within the next few months.

Macey's Music Program

On Wednesday Macey had a 2nd grade music program. It was western themed and was short and sweet. I put this picture in to show you what I saw the whole night. Macey is on the shorter side of most 2nd graders, was in the top row, and I think the tallest 2nd grader was right in front of her so all I saw where glimpses of Macey as they moved around. Not very condusive for cute pictures!

Something always comes up!

Emmy is on her field trip right now without me :-(. I had planned to go with her, but of course, something came up (literally). Tate has been sick all day yesterday and is still yucky today with some sort of stomach flu. Tate has been very needy and I can barely handle it with 3 other kids, one which is a baby, and a house to keep up on, and it reminds me that I definately could not handle any more children without having to be committed! There is always something and of course the nights that Tate has not been sleeping, Claire has been. It always seems to happen when I have a lot on my plate for the week, too. Uggghhh! Oh and the dog barking has started too and I am trying to figure the best way to approach it because I will not go through another summer with a dog barking alarm clock that goes off at about 5:30am and goes off for atleast an hour!

Summer Haircuts

Both of the girls wanted their hair cut last night when I went to get my hair done.

Here is how they ended up!

Flashback Friday

This flashback goes out to one of my oldest friends (in years not her age) Erin who I recently found out does read this blog. This was back in high school obviously you can see the date on there 12/15/95. I love Erin she is so smart and a great listener! Hopefully she does not kill me for this:-)! Hey Erin we need to go to lunch!

Another Great Recipe

This one is perfect for Sundays. I am always so hungry after church and I do not want to wait for dinner to be ready. You just put this one in before church and it is done when you get home! And of course it is so yummy!

3-Hour Chicken

1 package of thin sliced beef (just those little cheap package of meat)

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I usually do not need that many so I just do 6)

Bacon-at least 1 piece per chicken breast

1c. Sour Cream

1 can cream of chicken

Layer beef along the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Wrap bacon around chicken breasts and put in pan. Mix S.C. and Cream of chicken and pour over chicken (I usually double this and next time I may triple it so there is plenty of sauce). Cover and bake for 300 degrees for 3 hours. We serve over rice, but you could use noodles or potatoes I suppose.

Just a little complaining to do...

I really hate this time of year when the sun starts coming up earlier. My kids (Macey and Emmy are past this stage) wake up at ridiculous hours and my neighbors (the one behind us) dog starts barking endlessly at these crazy hours, too. Tate came out of his room at 6:00AM this morning! Luckily Scott gets up early and put a movie on for him, but once I get woken up in the morning I can not go back to sleep. I never get my kids out of bed until the clock says at least 7:00AM. It's just something in my mind that 7:00 is not so early, but anything in the 6's is. Luckily the dog barking has not started yet, but I am sure that is coming! Ugggh!

Reflections of Christ Video

I found this link on one of my friends blog (thanks Tafi:-)). It has the Reflections of Christ pictures set to music and then there is also a link where you can sign in and view the documentary video that the temple quit showing. I love these pictures. Enjoy!

http://www.eastvalleyproductions.com/blog.cfm?postID=31

You're Gonna Miss This!

Even if you do not like country music this song is a must listen. I am warning you though it is a tear jerker. Some of you may have heard it because it was the song Trace Adkins sang on The Apprentice. I just love it. Check it out on my playlist!

Mmmmmmm

I had some strawberries that were on their way out and I had some Almond Bark that has burning a hole in my cupboard for a long time so......of coarse I made chocolate dipped strawberries last night! This is one of those treats I love but only end up getting them when someone else makes them. So I thought why not. I love strawberry season and always buy them when they are so cheap, but for some reason my kids don't really eat them up. They always have to have powdered sugar or poppyseed dressing on them to eat them, but last night everyone ate them up, even Scott.

Twilight Reading

Anyone that knows me probably knows that I DO NOT read, not that I can't read, I just pretty much think it is torturous! I think this goes back to my high school days where I never read one book that I was supposed to yet, I always managed a good grade through skimming, cliff notes or class discussions. My comprehension has never been good. I can read you something very quickly, but have no idea what I just read. Well, I think that has all changed. I went VT to one of my friends on Monday and she convinced me to try reading Twilight and so I agreed totally thinking that I would try, and be asleep before I finished the first chapter. WRONG! I could not put it down. It was playing out in my mind like a movie , and who wants to watch a movie over a month? Not me so I finished it in a day and a half (this should explain my abscence from blogging)! I can not believe it! I thought people were crazy when they said they read books this fast and could not put them down. I loved it and it is even about vampires (which do not exist-obviously) and most people that know me also know that I do not enjoy things that are not real. I found myself smiling and laughing as I read it. I thought it was so romantic (not in an R rated way or anything). I can not wait to read the next one, thank goodness there are more books in the series:-)! Most "readers" have read this series, but if you have not I highly recommend it!

I love my babies!

I love all of the baby stages, but I especially love this stage where they are learning to roll over. I think it is so cute when my babies start to grab their feet. Whenever I lay her on my bed she does this constantly-I love it!