Cherie Mask – Page 35

so worth the wait

July 28, 2008 3 Comments

been saving and waiting all summer long for this.
now that we're here. all i can say is it is sooooo worth the wait.
the kids are exploding with excitement.
i am in my towering mountain element.
and jeff is happy that he can eat ice cream for every meal. ev-ry day.
and the best part is that we are all being edified in so many ways.
it's only been a few days but i feel like i'm ready to come home, be the best wife and mother ever and conquer evil.

maybe we'll just call this superhero camp instead!

back with more a little later. perhaps i'll be donning a red cape too. 😉

our family

he’s a lego maniac

July 23, 2008 3 Comments

the kid is amazing. he's got some serious skills. have you ever heard of anyone growing up to become a lego engineer? well, we've got one.

Uncategorized

listen to the blocks

July 22, 2008 8 Comments

and this is what they are saying…

something strange has gotten into me this past week. i'm not quite sure what it is or why it is happening but i've found myself wanting to be daring. out of the ordinary. different than my norm. in a word…funky.

i've been seeing so many fun designs lately. designs that are bold, striking, and not really my usual style. but they make me happy. i recently heard someone say "you can never have a bad day when wearing red shoes." i think that must have registered in my subconscious because i was out shopping a few days ago and found myself looking at red shoes. who me? wear red shoes? never! but somehow i kept looking at them thinking maybe just maybe i could do it. it was quite the process.

i picked them up.

put them back.

then came back a few minutes later.

should i?

well, i might as well try them on.

that can't hurt right?

they fit okay.

nah, i'd never wear them.

but it might be fun.

jeff would laugh.

just be funky, cherie.

just this once.

and then i put them on the counter ever so hesitantly.

bought them.

and carried them out the door.

and the rest is history!

family photography

beach. beach. beach.

July 17, 2008 4 Comments

it's hot. stinking hot.

and i'm longing for that one place we used to live. right by the ocean. that one place where homes do not have air conditioners. that one place where you open a few windows to get a cool ocean breeze blowing through the house. mmmm…i can feel it now. oh wait, no i can't. all i feel is sticky, sweaty, stuffy, and a little stir crazy! ;)

we'll just dream a little then. how does that sound? good? great.

p.s. i do like arizona. just don't tell jeff that! heh heh.

Uncategorized

black and white

July 10, 2008 5 Comments

i was looking through some photos last night and came across two from our last trip to california.

this one.

and this one.

i took them on the same night but what different feelings each of them evoke…

one peace.

one chaos.

one heavenly.

one worldly.

one with true happiness.

one with the counterfeit.

interesting to see them side by side and realize where i really want to be!

our family

fireworks, flags and food storage

July 7, 2008 5 Comments

what a weekend! fun. entertaining. and productive. productive. productive!

i can't say that we braved the heat for any fireworks this year though. i think fireworks are almost non-existent in my little world here in the desert. usually i am used to hearing blasts most of the day and night on the 4th. either people are out setting off their own little shows in the street or attending the huge city productions. here in AZ? not so much. i didn't even hear one little measly fire cracker on our street (maybe that's a good thing seeing as how they are illegal!). instead, we're all inside trying to keep from smelling like wet dogs due to excessive sweat production when venturing outside! 😉

even if fireworks weren't part of the festivities this year, it still was fun! a couple of movies. a little swimming. some yummy patriotic treats…

and a LOT of organization. i have no idea what got into us, but we cleaned out the pantry and the garage. man, oh man, it feels like we have a whole new addition to our house after we unburied the piles and piles of boxes!

you should have seen it though. it felt a bit like that scene from christmas vacation when chevy chase is up in the attic watching old home movies, reminiscing, and getting all teary-eyed. i found a little diary i had when i was eight-years old and started reading jeff a couple of entries. he showed me some of his glamour shot senior pictures…hot stuff, baby. the only thing missing was the turban and pink gloves. hah!

i think the best part of it all was the step we made towards preparing a location for real food storage. i have procrastinated this far too long. and now i'm ready. so bring on the barrels of wheat that i have absolutely no clue what to do with besides worry that it would cause severe bowel complications were we forced to actually consume it. hee. hee. hee.

but really, i am super excited. amazing. i know. i never thought i'd be excited about food storage. taking it little by little though. i've made up a list of our three-month usable supply and i'll start making a dent in that for now. i found a great website, the totally ready blog, that is an awesome resource too. if you have any suggestions for me, i'd love to hear them.

(oh and if you're looking for a little laugh, you can see that lovely attic clip here)

motherhood

confessions of new flag owner

July 2, 2008 4 Comments

today i bought a flag. a united states flag. a beautiful old glory.

but i'm embarrassed. all too embarrassed to admit that this is the very first flag that we have ever owned, besides a little tiny one, since we've been married. (and that the wrinkles wouldn't come out even after trying to iron it!) do we have a spanish flag? of course. do we have an argentine flag? definitely. do we even have a catalunyan (barcelona) flag? why yes!

but we've never had or flown a flag from this great country of ours. our own country. today i ended that. and repented for not taking the time to show my children the importance of this great flag, it's history, and my love for it. silly, silly me!

this morning i proudly hoisted the colors with dallin and ella looking on. they were so giddy! and so was i. my heart swelled with gratitude as i told them about those that gave our lives for our freedom and what it means to be free. i told them about places in this world where people weren't free. and dallin with a concerned look on his face said, "mom, we should pray for them!"

yes. exactly. i loved hearing those words from him. and i loved knowing that we will never be a "flagless" family again! :)

home decor

we could eat dinner in here

June 30, 2008 12 Comments

i love it that much!

it's a little hard to tell the color of the walls in the pictures. here is the swatch. it's ocean air. i just love how it turned out! it has a little beach house look. and it makes a HUGE difference when we come into our home. i stop and breathe in the fresh feeling instead of ducking and running like mad through the mess!

the bench is awesome for the kids to put on or take off their shoes and store them underneath in the cubbies. the key rack is heaven sent! need i say more?! the rack above the washer makes all the cleaning stuff accessible. and having a laundry basket up there is the best! i have a place to throw dirty stuff without piling it on top of the washer or mixing it with already clean clothes. and the little bowls are fun. i plan to use them for random little things like loose change band-aids, buttons, etc.

the cool thing is that most everything that i added to the room was on sale. gotta love that!

here's the deal: now that it's all nice and organized, ask me again in a month if i can keep the place clean. that will be real test!

digital design, our family

weekend projects

June 28, 2008 No Comments

lots of stuff accomplished this weekend. yee-haw!

#1. the laundry room is done. yo, baby! now i just need to take pictures. i'll hook you up with those on monday!

#2. finished a fun little project for the garden girl blog at twopeasinabucket.com. i made a birthday box so now i clearly have no excuse for not remembering family birthdays. you can check out more pictures of it here.

#3. swam. swam. swam.

and perhaps this is our happiest accomplishment of the entire year. if you have been around this blog at all for the past few years, you may recall our issues with swimming. we have them. a lot of them. every year, when summer rolls around there is great fear and trembling in our home. when the dreaded words "swimming lessons" are uttered, usually pandemonium breaks out. crying. wailing. and great trepidation.

of course, this year was no different. same story.

we've been at it again all month long. more lessons. and no swimming. and finally on thursday i said to jeff, "do you have any idea how much money we've spent just trying to teach this kid to swim? no more! i'm going to throw him in the pool myself and say sink or swim buddy!"

well, the same afternoon that i said that, i went out in the pool with dallin to check out his abilities. i expected the same old, "but i don't want to swim!" i swear i must have alarmed the neighbors with my shrieks of delight when i saw him jump in and swim. and swim. and he just kept swimming. for 5 hours straight that day. i had no idea the progress his teacher was making with him. no idea.

i thought it might have been a fluke because we've had those in the past. but yesterday and today we swam again with no hesitations.

and the icing on the cake…when he said to me, "mom, do you know what my favorite sport is? swimming!"

dude. this momma is a happy camper.

home decor

a transformation is coming

June 25, 2008 3 Comments

this is my laundry room. here i am airing my dirty laundry! 😉

yes. this is it. messy. disorganized. a big huge pile of misplaced odds and ends that really don't have a place. either that or they were just thrown there on the way in from the garage. just waiting. hoping. that someday…months down the road, someone will put it away or just put it out of its misery and throw it away!

this is where we enter our home. the back door. this is what i run past closing my eyes every time i come home. it's pretty sad. and scary. and the most unpleasant room in our house. poor thing.

so i've been wanting to make changes to it. somehow organize and beautify it at the same time. but i just haven't done it. it's been a year. and it's time this little puppy became some place i want to go. instead of dreading the "laundry beast" that lives behind its closed doorl.

progress has been made so far. paint. shelves. hooks. oh man, the organization is making me swoon with giddiness. i can't wait to put the finishing touches on it and call it positively happy.

pictures will be coming shortly. mmm….yes.

so take that laundry beast. you are officially evicted. go find someone else to torment!