New Summer "Do"

Allison decided that she needed a change and that her hair was just getting way too long. So we gave Lauren a call and wah-lah! Here is her new look. She got about 5 inches cut off and Lauren put in a few highlights for a sun-kissed look for the summer. Allison is in heaven and having fun doing her own hair, for the first time ever, finally! (I know it looks like she went out and got a tan too, but she didn't. It must have been the lighting).

Princess Bows

I have been doing hairbows as my little home business for 11 years this month and I have never taken a picture of me doing them until now! Anyway, here are a few pictures of me putting together my latest order.

Here I am putting on barrettes after spending several days making the bows. This is the fun part.
Sorting through the piles of bows to put them on cards and box them up.
Here is an order all boxed up and ready to ship.

It has been such a blessing through the years to be able to have a second income (kind of) and still be able to be home with my kids and not miss a thing. I can even do them on long car trips! When I first had Allison, a good friend of mine used to make bows and I would go to her and have her make one for each outifit for my little princess (hence the name Princess Bows). Soon after, she moved out of state to be a nanny and I was beside myself as to what I would do for custom made hairbows for my baby. I was also looking for a way to supplement our income. I had quit my fulltime job at WordPerfect soon after Jake was born. I had been doing daycare to help pay the bills since then, but it was not my cup of tea at all! So I had Elisa teach me how to make bows before she left (mainly for Allison) and then I thought to approach the store that she had been supplying, but was now leaving behind. I got an order immediately from the Lindon Kid to Kid. I was so excited! That is, until I went home and realized that there was no way that I could possible fill the order! I was not experienced enough to put together so many bows. I was seriously freaking out and in tears. I was about to call them and say, "Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking..." when Brendan was so great to encourage me and help me to do it all. Yes, he helped me make bows...other than giving birth, there is absolutely NOTHING that he can't do. But that is a whole other post. I LOVE MY SWEETIE! Anyway, long story short, I did my first order and it took me about two weeks. Now I could do it in about 2-3days. I remember my fingers and hands hurt so bad at first that I could barely turn a doorknob! I don't know if it's a good thing or a sad thing that I can do them with my eyes practically closed now. I have stayed up late many times and have made many bows half asleep. I ended up getting business from most of the Kid to Kid stores in the franchise which at one point kept me extremely busy! If it wasn't for the help of my mom and my old neighbor Michele (she's not old, she just moved :), I would have never survived! Sometimes I have been so busy that I get a little stir crazy sitting in front of my card table doing bows day after day after day. There is only so much TV I can stand! But it's kind of sad that my bow business has really been dwindling lately. There is just a lot of change in ownership in all of my stores and the competition is a lot harder to keep up with. It's been an adjustment to try to live on one income again, but we'll figure it out. Brendan and I are resourceful and have always been blessed to make ends meet. I hope to be able to keep it up enough that I can hand it down to Allison when she enters the stage in life where her little princes and princesses need her at home with them. It's been a long hard road sometimes full of its own problems and pains, but it has also been one of the biggest blessings in our family. I'm not ready to go back to the real world's workplace even though my kids are all older now. It seems that they need me more now than when they were little and I'm not ready to leave them either. But I'm always at my best when I have a million things going on so I'm sure I will find my next project or adventure before too long.

My little chef

Ok, he's not so little anymore, but he's still my little Jakers. I love that Jake always wants to help me in the kitchen whether I'm baking cookies or making tacos. He's always there eager to learn and ready to do whatever. He's going to have a very happy wife someday! So last Sunday I decided to try cinnamon rolls again. I only do them once or twice a year because they are so much work and usually don't turn out very good. Jake was there ready to volunteer. Using the floss to cut them was a first for him and he thought I was kidding when I showed him how to use it. He pretty much did the whole thing by himself with just a little guidance from me on the sidelines. They were fantastic!

Here we go...

This is from Brendan...

Leslie opened the newspaper Thursday, turned to the sports page and was greeted by this picture of Jordan at football practice. He's been doing great and will most likely be the starting quarterback this year. He will also play safety on the defense and even receiver sometimes. He's been looking forward to this year for a long time and is very hopeful for a good season. I told him Thursday night to be ready for the onslaught from the local newspaper. They will print good and bad about him this season. He needs to have a thick skin and just concentrate on doing his best, not worrying about what some reporter thinks. Here we go, this is the start of it. It's a cool little article about student athletes still working hard at school, practicing their sports over the summer. Football season starts when school gets out for us. Jordan lifts weights Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday's at 7am and he walks through offensive plays, watches film, and runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 9pm. On Saturdays he has 7 on 7 tournaments at every major college in the State and football camp in July. He'll also be running a football camp for the youth football program with some of the other seniors (It's very weird calling him a "senior"). Working at the car wash and going out with friends are how he fills the rest of his time. What a busy kid. We NEVER see him anymore. But what a FUN time of life he is in. Enjoy it Jordan, it will be over before you know it.

Family Preparedness

After weeks of preparation and planning, we were finally able to come together as a family to assemble our 72 hour kits. We live in such an amazing neighborhood and I was inspired by a goal that we set as friends to get our supplies and get ready! I thought we kind of had ones already only to discover that the only thing I was able to salvage from them were a few toothbrushes and combs. Why would anyone have a can of "potted meat product" in their kits. I wouldn't have fed our nasty stuff to a dog! Obviously it was time to re-do them after 10 years or so...even our lotion was spoiled. I won't let that happen again. I now have a plan and real stuff! I spent several days researching and organizing what we needed, where to buy it, what to do with it, how to rotate it, and how to pay for it. I won't go into the long story, but let me just say that our Heavenly Father really blessed us to do this. We have been really tight lately in the finance department, but miracles fell into place to allow this to happen. It was wonderful!
I could have just assembled each person's backback, but I felt that it was important that everyone do their own so they know exactly what's in it, what it's all for, and how to use it. I labeled plastic ziploc bags of different sizes with all of it's contents and then each person filled them up.

It was actually kind of fun! Jake said that it felt like Christmas. They were especially excited when I showed them the rotation schedule and when they get to eat the food that we put away so that it stays fresh. I know it's meant to sustain us for 72 hours, but in "real life" it's just a few snacks that will be devoured in a day!
I told them that even though it's kind of fun to do this and it was a lot of work to put it all together, I hope that we NEVER have to use any of it.

Yikes!

Last Friday night was our ward's father and sons campout. Jake had been looking forward to it all week! He was packed and ready to go when Brendan got home from work (it's just kind of an unspoken fact that Jordan has football all summer and won't be at many family events.) So they packed up the car, headed for KFC to pick up dinner and went to join in on the fun. Allison and I were having a girls night and reading together in my bed when we heard commotion downstairs at about 11:00 pm. Jake ran up the stairs and ran straight to his bathroom to wash up. Brendan was getting some Benadryl and came up to tell us that Jake was sufferring from a major allergic reaction to the grasses and pollen at the campground. He had been playing night games for hours in the fields and had been rubbing his eyes which made them even worse. They were so swollen that he could barely open them. Thank goodness the campout was just five minutes from home. I told Jake that he looked like Rocky Balboa after a fight! He could hardly see himself in the mirror and asked me to take a picture. Even in the deepest despair, boys just love to see their battle wounds, don't they? The picture doesn't show how bad he really looked. He washed up, took out his contacts, took his medicine and they were off again. He wasn't about to let a little thing like eyes swollen shut prevent him from missing out on the campout of the year!

Flashback or Flashdance?

Allison's 6th grade group did their dance festival routine to "The Evolution of Dance" which was made popular on You Tube. Anyway, they asked the kids to dress in clothes from the 50's, 60', 70's or 80's! Of course Allison "forgot" to show me the paper with all the details. She remembered to tell me about it literally 15 minutes before she was walking out the door to school that morning! She didn't want to wear her 50's costume because she had just worn it for the music program. So I started racking my brain and remembered that I had a box of all my old dance clothes from high school at the bottom of my closet somewhere. We ran up the stairs and tore through the boxes until we found it. You can't get more authentic than REAL 80's clothes. I found an old headband, leg warmers, parachute pants, and off the shoulder leotard. She was cracking up at the thought of people actually doing their hair in a high side ponytail. I went on many dates with my hair like that. SAD! I didn't have the "flashdance" sweatshirt so we found an old sweatshirt of Allison's that she never wears and put the scissors in action! Wa-la! Instant 80's outfit in 10 minutes! Another "Whew" moment --done! The only things we were missing were the Reebok high tops and big plastic earrings! I was so busy video taping the dance that I wasn't able to do pictures too. I got a few afterwards inside the school. Oh what we moms do to capture these memories!

Playing Catch Up

So I just really love this blog thing. I love looking at others' to catch up on their families and I love that I have a place to write down and document all of the everyday stuff that I won't necessarily be scrapbooking. I used to be really good at keeping a journal in junior high and high school when I had a life that revolved all around me, but it's been a losing battle ever since. I have about 2 or 3 journals around here somewhere with the startings of good intentions, but it doesn't ever last long.

Just recently I was thinking it was too bad I didn't start my blog a year earlier because I had kept a somewhat up to date journal in a Word document during the end of 2006 through 2007 on major family events. I even had a few pictures added since that is when we got our digital camera. Then my sister in law told me that you could change the posting dates and I could add it all in and still keep it all chronological. Yipee! So I decided to copy and paste it all over to our blog. No, I won't be typing up my life story from my teenage journals, but since this part was already saved on my computer, I wanted to have it all in one place for once.

Some of my entries in my "Word journal" were copied over from Emails that either I or Brendan sent to out of state family...kind of a longer way of doing a blog, I guess. I used to enter information weekly which makes for long posts now, but I'm just glad to have it for posterity sake. So if you are in the mood for reading, have several hours (or maybe days) to kill, and love to read a lot about football, check out my older posts. No need to comment on any of them. That would be crazy.

He did it!

Jake went before the Eagle council tonight for his Eagle Board of Review and passed with flying colors! Signatures are dotted and crossed, everything is done and submitted. Now we just have to wait anywhere from 3 to 9 weeks for it to come back from approval from the National Council. Then it's mom's turn to get to work on the Court of Honor. It will probably happen at the end of the summer. For the record, though, Jake's Eagle rank date will be May 27, 2008...28 days BEFORE his 14th birthday! That is huge! We are so proud of our little guy.

Singing and Dancing!

We are getting down the "last hurrah's" of the school year. Allison had her music program on Thursday. They did songs from "Grease." She got to sing "Hopelessly Devoted To You" on the microphone with one other girl so that was a highlight for her. It was fun to see her and all of her friends really ham up the songs. The boys were way too cool to do anything but sing, but the girls did their own cute actions to everything.

On Friday, we went to the Big Show. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the 3 1/2 hour, end of the year dance recital from the group in which Brendan and I met 24 years ago. Colleen is now 80, but still doing it all to perfection. We go every year to see the old dances, costumes, and yes, a few people we used to dance with. It's amazing that their are so many "moms" out there on stage. Anyway, Jake and Allison have decided that they really want to go back and it looks that they will start up in the fall. I am kicking myself for ever having taken them out about 5 years ago. They were both quite good for being so little and they could be fantastic dancers by now. But with a crazy fall schedule it was just too much to drive to Provo every week. With Jordan pretty much on his own now, as far as transportation is concerned, I have a little more free time. It is a huge commitment because it's not just any dance class and it's going to be a pain, but I have tried 3 or 4 different places closer to home and no one teaches dance like Colleen Collins Smith! She is a treasure and we are so lucky to have her with us still. If it wasn't for her, our family would not even exist. So we will see where this new chapter will lead us.

Old man strength

We have a saying in our family that the boys all mumble when they lose a wrestling match to anyone older..."it's just 'cause they have Old Man Strength." Last night I jumped off the couch to avoid the flying bodies and thought to grab my camera. It was an ordinary evening ... Brendan was getting ready to go to YM and Jordan had to go to a work meeting when all of the sudden, out of nowhere, they started at it. Brendan would usually win in about 5 seconds, but Jordan kept coming back for more! He had his dad pinned down for a good while, but the "old man strength" was too much for him. It used to be cute when Brendan would play rough with the boys when they were tiny, but they are much bigger and stronger now and they get pretty serious. Brendan and his younger brothers (who are all in their mid 20's and 30's) still can't control themselves when they get together. I swear it's in their blood! Jordan and his uncle Brian are only 6 years apart so their matches are quite even now. I think it's so funny to see them pouncing on each other while laughing and with huge smiles on their faces! It's hilarious to watch, but am glad that I'm a girl and don't have to join in! I'll just stand clear and take the pictures.

Hi Grandma and Grandpa!

This photo was taken right before they left in February

This post is dedicated to my mom and dad who are serving as missionaries in Bogota Colombia establishing the Perpetual Education Fund program down there. These are 6 of their 8 grandkids wishing them the best and waving to say "We love you Grandma and Grandpa!"

Isn't my little nephew, Ian, the cutest thing ever? He is such a sweetie and so hilarious, especially when he sings "She's a brick ...house" that Jake taught him!

Grandma and Grandpa are so special to these guys. They take them all out on special one on one dates all the time and the older ones have been able to go on out of town trips with them. They adore their grandkids and spoil them rotten with love, hugs, attention, support, and stuff! We are so lucky to have such a close family and I'm so grateful for their example right now and for their influence in each of our lives. They really are the best!

Motherhood - Fulfillment and Uncertainty

I have been reflecting a lot lately on being a mom and about my own mother. Being a mom and Brendan's wife is all that I have ever wanted to be since I was 15 years old. I see so many shows where women say they have lost their identity and need "to find themselves," but I just can't relate. One of my biggest fears is of losing my husband or kids someday and then I think I WOULD feel like I've lost my identity. I think I'm lucky that I can say that being a wife, mom, and homemaker is completely fulfilling for me. I don’t feel like I have “sacrificed” anything or have missed out on life because I am doing what I do. In fact, I feel so lucky and blessed that I GET to stay home and be a mom and a housewife and experience each day at home. It’s a true blessing, not a burden. I'm also thankful for how far Brendan and I have been able to come so far. Life was really hard when we were first married. I was thinking just the other day how I used to work full time (at least 45 hours a week) at Murdock Travel and my take home pay was a measely $600.00 a month! Plus we had a new baby, plus Brendan worked full time (at night) and went to school full time for four years! I still get chills thinking about how horrible it was. But it made us both work really hard to achieve more and really appreciate our life now. I'm so blessed to have Brendan in my life. He is such a hard worker and I can say that I know he really loves me. Our journey is never without challenges however. It's true that we don't have to deal with ear infections, potty training, and night time feedings. Our kids can bathe themselves, make their own meals if necessary, and even drive themselves places. But that doesn't mean that being a parent is any easier. It's less physically demanding now, but so much harder in other ways. I'm a seasoned mother in some ways, but I am constantly terrified about what the future holds for my kids now that they are at such vulnerable ages. They try to be so independent, but I know that I have so much work left. I feel like time is running out and I don't know what I'm doing. I am so thankful for prayer and I know I couldn't do it without our Heavenly Father's help. As I watch Jordan grow into a man I'm torn in two. I am happy to see his independence, but it breaks my heart to see my baby grow up and not need me as much anymore. I miss him being with us all the time as his life is now consumed with school, sports, work, and friends. I'm scared that I haven't taught him enough to be able to survive "the world." I'm scared that he might not always make the right decisions and that his choices could turn his life upside down. I'm scared that his testimony isn't all there and he'll decide to not go on a mission. I'm scared for so many things! A child's free agency can be so terrifying to a mother sometimes. I hear about all the "drama" that goes on in Allison's circle of friends and I wonder why does all this crap have to happen? Why do kids have to grow up so fast nowadays? But then I think of my good friend Heidi who's life lesson to me is to always look on the bright side and I think of Jordan putting on his suit and preparing a lesson to give as he goes home teaching with our bishop. I think of how far Jake has come in school and how much he teaches me about eternal principles every single day! I think of how Allison's choices with her friends haven't always made her popular and has cost her some friendships, but how she has learned to stand up for what is right and learned what a true friend really is. I think of my wonderful parents who are serving a mission in Colombia and how their service and sacrifice is blessing our lives and will for generations! I am so grateful to have truly "been born of goodly parents." The biggest thing that I treasure about my mother is how she always set down the rules and taught us good values, but then she gave us the freedom to be whatever made us happy. She let me grow up to be "me." I guess my biggest problem is that I like to control my surroundings and I realize that I ultimately have no real control over what my future holds or what my children's future holds. I just pray that my Heavenly Father will continue to bless our family as He always has and that He will give me the strength to deal with the trials that are sure to come.

Whew!

Can I just say that I am SO HAPPY that 6th grade projects are over - forever in our family. Well, I'm actually sad that the elementary years are over and there are no more fieldtrips, mother's day programs, dance festivals, and all the other wonderful things that go along with elementary school...but, 6th grade is a killer. It all started with the The Medievel Times packet which included a report, costume, tapestry, and projects right at the beginning. All I'm going to say is thank goodness for older brothers who saved their stuff! With grandpa on his mission and unable to lend his artistic talents, a little revision went a long way! Then it was on to the mandatory Science Fair Project with the lengthy research notes and notebook. I say mandatory because you can enter the sceince fair starting in 1st grade, but you don't HAVE to until 6th. And in our house we don't add to our stresses more than necessary! Then the fun continued with the Country Report which for Allison was a one month process of research (21 written pages), one week of typing it to an 8 page single spaced report, display poster, etc. She chose Colombia because her grandma and grandpa are serving a mission there right now, but I think any other country would have been more interesting . Having our two older boys, we know that it only gets better from here. But of course, it's not all fun and games in Jr. High and High School. Jake also had to do complex machine and a science project. Jordan has had several research papers in English and non-stop posters and projects in health, but if you can make it past 6th grade it's all downhill from there.

From one extreme to another!

Saturday night was Morp (which is Prom spelled and done backwards...girls choice and casual.) This year's theme was "All punked out." Nicole did Jordan's hair and MAKE-UP! He didn't have time to go out and get "skinny jeans" so he put on a pair that belong to Nicole's older sister! I'm not sure if the face he is making in the 3rd photo is his attempt to supress his laughing or trying to breathe in those tight pants! Needless to say it was a dance full of crazy hair, clothes, and laughs!

Piano Recital

Allison had her spring piano recital tonight. She has improved so much since the Christmas one. She has finally reached a point where she can sight read pretty much anything and so it's fun for her now. She can play about 4-5 hymns which are her favorite. When she is bored she tends to go over to the piano or the keyboard and will play for hours which is so nice to hear. She's taking right after her Daddy! I tried to upload the video from my camera, but couldn't get it to work. Darn it!

Prom Revisited

Here is Jordan's group picture from Prom. Notice how small he looks compared to his "linemen" buddies. I guess the rule was "kneeling boys don't smile?" Cute kids! Now for the funny part. I had to dig through my photos to dig this one out. I was a Junior here and Brendan was a senior. My, how time changes us in so many ways!!! Good thing I love him even more today. Good times!

Play-aholics

Allison and I had so much fun helping sell concessions at the High School last night during the play "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Gina Wayt (in my ward and a drama dept. mom) offerred us the opportunity to work for tickets since she can't figure out why we go to every play...every night...when we don't even have kids in it! I have to say that our family is full of play-aholics. Especially when it comes to Musicals. We had serious withdrawels when they finished Scarlett Pimpernel. Lehi High School has such a fantastic drama department and we have enjoyed going to every single play they have put on since we moved here 9 years ago. They are usually so amazing that we end up going back to see it over and over again. Les Mis. a few years ago was more enjoyable for us than the Broadway version that came to the Capitol theater. Jake and Jordan came with us too because although they may be tough football players, their mom and dad brainwashed them at an early age. I think our whole family would agree that it doesn't get much better than sitting back at Lehi High School's auditorium and enjoying a good play. This one certainly did not disappoint us. We have gone 3 times and I think Jordan is planning on taking Nicole tonight. Way to go Lehi Drama Dept!

Bugged!

As I check my friends' blogs and then I come back to mine, I'm always a little bugged. I'm someone that loves browns, rusts, golds, greens, anything earthy and when I look at my blog with it's blue/grey theme I feel all cold and weird. It's just that it matches with our family picture and I'm such a "matchy" person. We took this picture last Christmas and it's one that I really like. But this whole template doesn't match "me." I have some work cut out for me as I work on a blog facelift. Any suggestions?

My Babies

Can you tell we all had a long weekend? Jake went to a scout campout on Friday = no sleep. Allison slept with me Friday night because Brendan was out of town. She loves our bed, but said she couldn't sleep all night. We all worked hard Saturday morning cleaning the house, had lunch, and took a break. Not too long after, I found them both fast asleep with the TV on. It reminded me of when I would put them down for their afternoon naps at the same time. Except this time I was able to leave them home and make a quick dash to Costco with a note on the TV saying where I was. Having them so close together was so much fun. Even though teenage hormones and emotions are flying all over our house these days, they are both tender hearted kids that still love to snuggle with their mom once in a while. They hate it, but I still call them "My Babies." They always will be.

Prom Night!

Jordan and Nicole Foster

Yes, he's quite smitten with her!

Jordan and Jordan

aka Harry Potter and Ron Weasely

& Ferris Bueller and Cameron

Saturday was a big day for Jordan. He has been looking forward to (and saving for) prom for a long time! He's so grown up!!!! Last year I went with him to pick out his tux, helped him ask his date, pick out her corsage, etc. Mom's not needed much anymore. He did all that with a buddy this time. His group consisted of 16 friends! Friday night they all went to the Drive-in together. Then he got up early Saturday morning to get ready for their day date (funny, how he can get up on time, all by himself when he's going on a date, but not when it's time for school or church). I guess kids now have to go out Friday night, Saturday morning, and then do the dance Saturday night. What happened to dinner and the dance like when I was in high school? I guess those are ancient customs. He packed a lunch for him and his date. Yes, I said he made them a lunch! This kid doesn't even heat up a slice of pizza by himself if he's hungry. They spent several hours playing flag football and having their picnic lunch. The plan was to go out on the football field, but since Utah doesn't believe in warm weather this year, they ended up playing in the gym! All of the boys are on the football team so I think that the girls were big sports willing to play football with them. I think I would prefer to be chased by a grizzly bear than have any one of those boys coming after me! Then when the girls went to get their hair and nails done, the guys hung out and played video games. They all got ready together so I didn't even get to be there for that! But thank goodness Jordan brought Nicole over before they headed out to dinner so I was able to sneak in these few pictures. Actually, I took 43 of them! It was so fun I couldn't stop and the girls were having such a blast. It was so nice to see Jordan be such a gentlemen and so genuinely happy!

Isn't this the worst part of prom?

Jordan, Nicole, her best friend, Catalina, and Jordan's best friend Jordan Dew.

BFF! They are both truly beautiful inside and out!Aren't these the best? Why didn't I think of that when I went to prom. Heels ruin the night. Smart girls!

There are too many good looks in this picture!

Quarterback to Receiver!

Can you tell that both of these girls are dancers?

Have a great time!

These are just some of my favorite pictures. I couldn't download them all! They went to Bucca de Beppos in Salt Lake for dinner and then Prom was held at the Union Pacific station at the Gateway. I'm just so thankful that he has such a great group of friends, most of whom he's known since 6th grade. I'll post their group prom picture when he gets it back. Didn't Brendan just pick me up for Prom not long ago? Oh ya, that was 23 years ago!!!!! I'm not ready to be so old and have my kids grow up. Jordan took a long 3 hour nap on Sunday to make up for the long, busy, fun filled weekend.