Girls Just Want To Have Fun

We got into Phoenix on Thursday morning. When I turned my phone on, there was a message from my sister Carolyn, saying, "we're having fun, where are you?" I was so excited to see them. We got our car and headed to Tucson. We met my sisters at Eegee's, which is one of my favorite places to eat in Arizona. To my surprise, there were four out of my five sisters. I was not expecting Christine to be there, so that was really great. We decided to get our nails done, so we dropped James off, because he didn't want his nails done, and headed off. Here are some pictures of the results.




It is hard to see in the picture, but we all got little flowers painted on our big toes. After our fun, we met up with the guys for some fantastic Mexican food. YUM!

Friday was every bit as fun. We headed to the beauty supply store to buy some fun hair products, then off to the mall. I got my eyebrows waxed. That was a first for me, but definitely not the last. Then back to Eegee's for more yummy food. Our day ended at The Gaslight Theatre, where we saw The Son of the Sheik. The show was fantastic. My favorite was the character called, Ali ur Booty who wanted to be Sheik ur Booty. Say that out load, and you get how funny it is. Every time he said he wanted to be Sheik ur Booty, he would start singing the song, Shake Your Booty. Seriously Funny. My sister told our waitress that is was our anniversary and we got a free hot fudge sunday with two spoons. I forgot my camera, so I do not have any fun pictures to show you.

Today is our anniversary. We have been married 18 years. Kerrie called us at 5:45 am to wish us a happy anniversary. This trip has been such a treat for us. We have not been away without the kids in 8 years. Thank you so much to the wonderful families that are taking such good care of our kids. Every time we talk to them, they sound so happy, and say they are having a good time.

Best of all, is today we get to be at my brother's wedding. I am so happy for him. I will get to see all 9 of my siblings today too, which is pretty rare to have us all together at the same time.

Sometimes You Just Need A List

This week is crazy busy. Well, I guess most weeks are around here. I have to get a lot done, in a little amount of time, so I am going to make a list to help me get going. Maybe I am unique in this, but when I have an overwhelming amount of work, it tends to just shut me down, which does nothing for getting things done. So, I am going to make a list in the hopes that I can see my way through all the work. One bite at a time right?

Day 1
Visiting teachers coming
Call vet to fax test results to dog kennel so the dogs can actually go there
Laundry
Packing
Clean floors in front room, hallway, breakfast nook & dining room
Get glasses fixed
Clean master bathroom
Family Home Evening (luckily Ashley asked if she could teach the lesson, so sweet, no prep time for me.)

Day 2
Three doctor/orthodontist appointments in the morning
Laundry
Packing
Clean floors in Family Room
Shopping for clothes for James (he would actually have a fit about this, but since he does not read my blog, and I pack for him, he won't know until we are on our trip. Sneaky?)
Viola lessons
Clean my bedroom
Help James get his grades done for his classes that are ending this week

Day 3
Take dogs to their new home for the next several days
Grocery shopping
delivery of above groceries to lovely friend who is watching four of my children
Last minute packing
Bake a birthday cake. (I pleaded with Amanda to just let me buy it, but nope, she wants homemade, and since I am actually not going to be there for her birthday, I really could not say no. Yes, she is milking my guilt for all it is worth.)
Another orthodontist appointment
Take Amanda to get her hair done
Prepare refreshments for joint young women meeting. (Not sure what I am going to serve. Any ideas for quick and yummy refreshments?)
Take kids to their new homes for the next several days, or as Kerrie puts it, give the kids away. (Seriously, we have both left them for two days in the whole of their entire lives. Maybe we should have done it more and they would be used to it.)

Day 4
More last minute packing
Take care of cats
Do the dishes
Take out all the trash

There you have it. It is amazing to me how much work goes into getting away for a few days. It should make the fun part of this so much sweeter, right? Let me just say that I am seriously questioning the decision to be a pet owner. Royal pain.

I must explain one thing about James' clothes. He wears nothing but button up "business shirts" well that is what I call them. They are not casual. He claims he must have shirts with pockets. Why, you ask? Well, he can't imagine a time when he would not need to carry around a pen and pencil in said pockets. Seriously, I think he would wear pocket protectors if he could, but he knows he would be severely mocked for geeky behavior by his family. The other thing he does, that I just don't get, is socks with sandals. I just have to take matters into my own hands. I asked him if he was planning on wearing the socks with his sandals on our trip. His kind of gave a non answer, but then told me the funniest thing. Apparently he has been wear his socks and sandals to work lately. His coworkers have been asking him if he has some weird foot fungus. He looked very perplexed with why they were asking him that. I think the socks will be mysteriously missing from his suitcase. What can I say, I just gotta love him, socks and all.

I feel better now and will go conquer my list.

Lots Going On

It seems like my life is crazy right now, so I hardly ever blog. It makes me a little sad, because I know I am not documenting these busy things, so I don't have a good record of the happenings.

It is mostly just my life, with a few special moments thrown in. Ashley had her final youth symphony concert of the season on Sunday. They performed Prelude to Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner, and Symphony No.1 in D Major by Gustav Mahler. The symphony lasted over an hour. It was stunning to hear these young people play such difficult music.



It was a little bitter sweet because the principal chair violist is graduating, and Ashley is really going to miss her. Her name is Ashley also, which is very funny.



I tried to get my kids to cooperate with a photo, but of course they did not. Here is the best one I got, which is not great. Then one of Ashley's cute face that I just love.



Here is a little video from the concert, where the viola's take over.

Ashley's Sweet 16

Today is my darling Ashley's 16th birthday. I hope she had a good birthday. It started very early with a visit at 5:30 am to her choice of fast food restaurants for a quick breakfast. Then on to seminary. After school, she and I headed to JoAnn's to pick up a wooden treasure chest she wanted for her birthday. While there, we discovered a sale too good to pass up, so we picked out fabric for all of the girls for Capri's for girls camp. It will be a fun project for them to make their own clothes for camp. Then we headed to Daedalus, to pick up some books, which was the other thing she wanted for her birthday. We found some bonus books, because they had several on the history of Brooklyn and the New York tenements, which she needs for her research paper. We walked out of that store with 8 books for only $40. Pretty awesome. Then home for her choice of lasagna, then cake and ice cream. All in all a pretty fantastic day.

On another note, Ashley set a goal several months ago to finish her Young Womanhood Recognition before her birthday. Sunday morning, she finished reading the Book of Mormon, which was the last thing she had to do. Way to go Ashley. Her next goal is to get her learners permit.

Ashley is a joy to have in our family, and I am so grateful to have her as my daughter.

Oh Boy!

We have had lots of quadruple girl activities at our house. So, it was a rare occurrence when the girls meet their match. On Friday, was just such an event. We had two extra boys at our house. My boys were in absolute heaven. All four boys played for a couple of hours outside in the yard and on the trampoline. When I called them in for dinner, the smell of those boys was something to experience. What is it about boys, that has them bringing in the worst smells of the yard in with them? All the girls were complaining about having to sit next to a boy. Those boys were pretty proud of that.