Oh, So Cute!

When we first moved into this ward, I noticed all the little girls were wearing this adorable flowers in their hair. It was a new fad that we hadn't seen in Montana. I usually don't buy anything more than bands and barrettes for my girls' hair, because I don't have the patience to find a matching bow on a busy morning, but these were so natural and would go with anything. I started looking around, figuring everyone probably bought them at Wal-mart, but I couldn't find them. They must be handmade, I thought, so I started checking etsy, but I couldn't find them there either. Finally, I asked my neighbor. She said, "Oh, we make them." She and her sister learned how to make them and taught all the other ladies in the ward. You can buy them at a craft mall here, but they are expensive and they have rhinestone centers and such. I love the real looking flowers.

So, when I finally gathered all my supplies, Mazie literally dragged my neighbor to my house and said, "Show my mom how to make the flowers!" Last night I went wild making flowers. Of course, I didn't buy enough clips for all the flowers I bought, so now I have to make a second trip to Sally Beauty Supply, but I just had to post photos of these. They are oh, so cute! I know all of you with girls will love these....

So, to celebrate, I'm giving away this orange set. Just leave me a comment before Friday and let me know that you want to be considered for the drawing. I'll announce the winner Friday afternoon. Horray!Another note: I was having this major bout of indecision. I love these, and no one is selling them on etsy. I could post some in my shop, but I said to myself, who are you kidding? You hardly sell anything from your shop. So, true! I answered. What should I do? Here is what I decided. If you're crafty and you want to make your own flowers, I will tell you how. If you're not crafty, and you'd just like to have some, let me know and I'll do a special order, which I'll run through my etsy shop, so you can pay with paypal and not send a check. (I love paypal!) The cost depends on the flowers, because some are cheap and some are not.

Tell-Tale Signs

Signs I've been writing...

Unwashed dishes.

Unfolded laundry.

Piles of Unwashed laundry.

Bathrooms that haven't been cleaned.

Unwritten blog posts.

Errands that haven't been run.

Lots of last minute meals.

A giddy smile on my face. :)

I considered posting photos, but I'd really rather that you all didn't know what my house looks like on days like today.

Have You Gotten This Email?

I received this text in an email a few days ago. Usually I delete things after giving them a quick glance, but I keep thinking about this one, especially when considered in comparison to all the bailout money that is being thrown around. Why doesn't anyone in Congress have this kind of common sense?

"This was an article from the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday. The
Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"
I thought this was the BEST idea....I think this guy nailed it!

Patriotic retirement:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1
million apiece severance with stipulations.

1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry
fixed.

3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed."

Four Inches An Hour

We don't have church until 11:00 AM. This morning around nine-thirty the clouds seemed especially low. Nathan looked out the window and said, "It's starting to snow." Soon it was really coming down, huge flakes that were sticking everywhere. Nathan tried to convince me that we should stay home, drink hot chocolate and have a nap. Yeah, right. We just moved from Montana. We're not afraid of a little snow.

We crossed the parking lot with our four children in tow, and by the time we reached the foyer, the front of my sweater was completely white. Not just flakes, a sheet of snow all down the front of me. Josie touched my snow-covered hair and said, "Mess." I looked like I'd walked through a blizzard.

As we went down the hall to the nursery (we have Priesthood/RS first, then Sunday School, then Sacrament meeting-- it's a terrible schedule), Nathan said, "There's no one in the Priesthood room." That was when I remembered it was a fifth Sunday. So, why is this so funny? Our topic was emergency preparedness. It seemed ironic to me in the middle of a storm.

Now the storm has let up, and the snow is melting off the roads. We got about four inches in the hour before we went to church, but by the time our meetings were over, it had all melted off the cars. Just another spring morning in the mountains.

A Few Reasons

When we were growing up, Barbie got a bad rap. She was too busty, too perfect-- the subject of much heated feminist debate, but Barbie has come a long way since then.

Recently, we have purchased several Barbie movies for our girls. Granted, compared with Disney, Barbie movies are low-budget, but here are a few reasons why I like Barbie movies better than Disney princess movies:

1. Price tag. The newest Barbie release will set you back $15-20, but you can find the older ones for $5.50 at Target. No matter how old a Disney movie, you always a pay the full $19.99 for it.

2. No "vault". Barbie movies don't disappear from the shelves after three years. If Mazie suddenly decides she wants The Princess and the Pauper, and we don't own it, I can still find it in a store or on Amazon. Compare that with Beauty and the Beast, which Mazie desperately wants, but is no longer available, because it went back into "the vault" when she was too young to care.

3. Nice heroines. The Barbie characters are nice. They treat people kindly, and even when they are angry or behaving badly, they don't act all that badly.

4. No overemphasized body parts. Mattel has tamed Barbie's appearance to resemble a slender teen or early twenties woman. Even in the fairy costumes, which, yes, are immodest, she doesn't show cleavage. Compare that with Ariel or Jasmine.

5. Bright scenery. Have you noticed how dark Disney movies get some times? The Barbie movies are bright and cheerful in their scenery.

6. Villains. Even the wicked Laverna is pretty in the Barbie movies. The villains don't look creepy. I think it is important for girls to understand that ugly people are not bad and pretty people are not good. Good and bad are determined by a person's character, not their face.

7. Heroes who aren't Ken. I never liked Ken. I'm glad that the starring roles in the Barbie movies are played by nice young men who DO NOT look like Malibu Ken with his creepy smile. Also, not all these heroes are princes. One is a tutor, another the son of a blacksmith, another is a shoemaker.

8. Music that the girls love. Personally, I don't love the music of The Diamond Castle, but my girls love it. I really do like the music of the Princess & the Pauper and The Island Princess. No matter which movie we put in, Josie starts turning circles in the living room. She loves all the Barbie movies and their music.

9. Ballet. These movies have given me a new appreciation for ballet. They nearly all include some element of dance, and my girls love to watch it. I love that they are true to the form and structure of ballet. If I could enroll Mazie in dance again, I'm sure she would have a better appreciation for what they were doing in those classes now.

10. Content and messages. I remember my sister axing some Disney princess movies from their library because she didn't want her girls to imitate the girls in the movies. This is not a problem with the Barbie movies. Barbie is polite, humble and kind. My girls are free to mimic those characteristics.

11. Lastly, romance. In most of the movies there is romance, but not all. In Fairytopia, there is no romance at all for the main character. I think falling in love and finding someone to marry are important things in life. The Barbie movies show a love that is based on friendship and trust. The characters do not fall in love at first sight, but prove themselves to each other over the course of the adventure. They learn to trust each other and they learn the other person's values. This is a far better example of love than what you'd see in Cinderella or The Little Mermaid. I don't want to discourage my girls from falling in love. I want them to do it right.

So, what do you think of Barbie movies? Comments welcome.

First Impression

* Posted in response to Tif-do's additional question: What was your first impression of your significant other? It's sort of a long explanation........

The summer before my senior year, I lived in an atypical family. It consisted of three single women: my mom, my older sister and I. That summer my mom met John. Janae met David. They were both in love. I was trying hard not to roll my eyes, convinced that playing the field was the way to go.

In November, Mom married John. He and his children moved into our quiet house, and everything changed. I took refuge in cheerleading.

I lived, slept and breathed cheerleading. It consumed most of my time outside of school. Some cheer squads get along very well; others do not. In an effort to build a squad that worked well together, our coach scheduled a mandatory squad night outside of practice and games once a month. We got to choose what we did and where we went, but attendance was mandatory and other friends or boyfriends were not invited. Cheer nights were for the squad only.

In December-- right in the middle of the busy basketball season-- Janae and David announced their engagement. They were getting married on Valentine's Day. They chose this date for two reasons. It was the only long weekend in WSU's winter semester before Spring Break, and it was two weeks after David's brother was scheduled to return from his mission.

Just before the wedding, David's family received news that the mission president had extended David's younger brother. He wouldn't be coming home until the first week of March.

All of the wedding plans were in place, the announcements sent out, the temple appointment made, so they went ahead with the wedding without David's brother.

About a month later Janae and David dropped by our house. It was a surprise visit, and they brought David's brother Nathan with them. He had just gotten home from his mission in Argentina.

Nathan stood in the doorway of our old house in Pasco, clean-shaven with a missionary haircut. His face was tanned because he'd just come from the Argentine summer, his green eyes so bright against that golden skin.

I think my mouth actually dropped open when I saw him. I didn't just look, I stared. I had to force myself to look away and felt my cheeks burning red when I finally did. I turned to my mom and mouthed the words, "Oh... my... gosh!"

He looked pretty intimidating, but then David cracked a joke and Nathan laughed. His smile lit up his entire face. He was drop-dead, flipping gorgeous. Four very distinct words came into my mind: OUT OF MY LEAGUE.

So, my mom piped up and said, "Why don't you invite Nathan to go out with your friends tonight?" I'm sure she thought she was doing me a favor. I could have killed her. It was squad night-- other friends not invited-- and he was a returned missionary. Why would he want to hang out with a bunch of high school cheerleaders? Somehow I made an excuse, but to this day, Nathan thinks I jilted him that night.

The following year Nathan moved to Utah, and I went to Washington State with Janae & David. In the fall of my sophomore year, Nathan took time off school and got a job in Pullman working road construction. He worked full-time and slept on Janae & David's couch. He also came to the singles ward, and he usually talked to me because he knew me already. Several of the girls in the singles ward were interested in Nathan, and a few asked me to set them up with him. Somehow I never got around to it.

I remember him telling me that he was planning to go on a date with this one girl. I thought, "Her? She's not that pretty. Heck, I'm as pretty as she is." Suddenly, a light went on in my head.

He didn't know he was gorgeous.

The following week, another of my friends asked me to set her up with Nathan. I said no. If I was going to set Nathan up with anyone, it was going to be me.

After that, as Nathan would say, it was all over but the cryin'.

For Lack of a Better Post

Since I've been wallowing in negativity lately, I've had a hard time coming up with fun, up-beat posts. I borrowed another list. This is a list of firsts. I would love for all of you blogging friends to post your firsts, too, but I'm not going to tag you, because frankly I never liked playing tag and being "it". Who wants to be "it" anyway?

Who was your FIRST pet? When Janae and I were babies, our parents had a dog named Lobo. He was a Husky cross and part wolf. We called him "Bobo."

Do you still talk to your FIRST love? (Can you hear me laughing at this one?) The answer is no, but I keep in touch with his wife through blogging. If you would have told me this seventeen years ago, I probably would have scratched your eyes out, but I've grown up since then. We're both happily married, and I wouldn't change a thing.

What was your FIRST job? (If you don't count changing water on the farm) I took over one of Janae's jobs cleaning an office for our ex-uncle's new wife. It was easy and paid pretty well.

What was your FIRST car? Mazada 626; mint green, and Janae had been in an accident in it before I inherited it. So, the entire time I drove it, it had a crunched front fender.

Who was the FIRST person to text or call you today? Nathan. I love getting texts from him while he's at work.

Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Dina Alberts. She was also my 6th grade teacher. She was the first person who ever made me feel smart.

Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? Hawaii, with my grandma and cousins

Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? I don't really think I had a BEST friend until high school, and we're recently back in touch, thanks to blogger.

Where was your FIRST sleepover? At my grandma's house. Whenever my cousins came up from Portland, we would have a sleepover at Grandma's.

Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Nathan

Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? My aunt Marti. I was two-- the flower girl.

What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Kicked the kids off the computer and then made breakfast.

What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Tiffany. (Tee hee!) She came to the newly build coliseum in Tri-Cities when I was in7th grade.

FIRST set of stitches and how? Two years old; running down the hallway with Janae. I tripped, and hit my head on the metal bed frame. (I think I was pushed.)

First piercing? My ears when I was twelve.

First foreign country you've been to? Canada-- the only foreign country I've been to.

FIRST movie you remember? I remember seeing the Fox and the Hound in the theater.

What was your FIRST bike? I don't remember. I know we had banana seat bikes before we moved out to the farm, but I couldn't tell you anything about what they looked like except for the giant ORANGE FLAG my dad put on the back of them so we wouldn't get hit by cars.

What was your FIRST computer? Nathan & I bought our first computer during my senior year in college. It was an NEC. We had it until Mazie was born.

Who was your FIRST roommate? Melisa Dashiell. I wish I could find her again.

Okay, so you know what's not on this list? First kiss. I'm willing to bet that the story of most people's first kiss is more memorable than any of the things on this list. I once wrote the story of my first kiss. It's nicely tucked away in a personal history file that my kids can find when I'm dead. No, it's not that bad, it's just that I wasn't LDS back then, so my first kiss happened when I was WAY TOO YOUNG. I was in the seventh grade-- 12! I had no idea how young 12 was until I became a parent.

Have any interesting FIRSTS you want to share?