Hello!

So I thought I'd just pop in and say hi. This week has flown by for me! I think with the weekend being so busy and then everyday I had something going on that time has just flown by me. I can't believe that it's Friday. So let's do a flash back...let me dig through my photos and see what I can find.

Oh here we go. I think these are from our trip to Vegas during marching band...I think that was our senior year. Britt I have no idea why you're not in any of these pictures. Maybe you were with Matt or your parents.

P.S. Did you know that we are having a HS reunion in August? Kristy told me that today. Do you think you girls will be going?

Super Music Friend Show

I'm sure you guys remember me talking about "You Gabba Gabba" in the past, well it is one of my kids' FAVORITE shows. We watch it religiously & about a week ago I saw this & realized it is the band I have heard you talk about Britt-Mates of State. The song is really catchy & always gets stuck in my head. I have never heard any of their other stuff, but I really like their sound. I just had to do a little ghetto recording so you could see it. Sorry about the lack of professionalism! :) Enjoy!! Shan, does Ethan watch this show?? Grayden & Brinley seriously LOVE IT!!

I'm Ringin' the Dinner Bell

I was searching through my cookbook for a new and simple recipe. I came across this one & thought I'd give it a try. It was SO simple to make, the kids love it, and so did Matt. It reminded me of a super creamy lasagna. I took a picture of the leftovers (which were even better than the night I made it) but it doesn't do the meal justice at all! We also had salad & buttered bread with it-I'm sure it will become one of my "regulars" :) I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did!

Company Casserole

3/4-1 lb. ground beef, cooked & drained
2 cans (8oz) tomato sauce (I only had one can, so I used a can of Campbell's Tomato soup as my other can & it was yummy!)
2 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese
1 c. cottage cheese
1/4 c. sour cream
green onion (optional)
3c. shell noodles, cooked
cheddar cheese, grated

Mix together. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

When I grow up...

This is a picture that was turned in by an elementary school student:

Here is the reply that the teacher received the next day from the embarrassed mother:

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out of every single shovel we had; and then, I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot. From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith

I have Lemons, but I'm not ready for Lemonade

So...I really need to vent about something that has been putting me in a bad mood for almost 2 weeks! I don't want to cause waves with anyone who was involved, so I have been trying to keep it to myself & haven't even whined to Matt about it because-well, there isn't anything he can do so why bother him with it.

Ok here goes...I am in charge of play group each week, and when it is cold we meet in the church so that the kids can play with all the toys in the nursery. There are usually about 5-10 "regulars" that come & every once in a while the nursery leader comes & hangs out if she has time. I have made pretty good friendships with all the "regulars" & felt like I had a pretty good relationship with the nursery leader too. Well, I noticed that she (the nursery leader-ok, let's just call her NL) had a paper & was going to a few people & talking about assignments & what they could bring. I wasn't tyring to be nosy, but realized that she had talked to almost everyone except for me? I figured it was no big deal & forgot about it.

So...the next week after playgroup I took the kids to a place in the mall & happened to run into one of my friends who is also a "regular" at playgroup. We were just talking casually & I asked her if she had any fun plans for Easter. She said something about the dinner at NL's house & wanted to know if I was coming. Dinner? What dinner I thought? I INSTANTLY felt crushed & knew that all the planning I had witnessed the week earlier was for this big Easter dinner & that I was not invited. I told her that I hadn't been invited & She was really surprised & said something like, "Well, I'll bet she just hasn't told you about it yet." She felt really bad for bringing it up, so I just said it wasn't a big deal & tried to change the subject.

So...Sunday rolls around & I had done my best not to be offended or upset by the whole thing, but every time I saw people I knew at church I would wonder if they had been invited too. I didn't say anything to anyone & when church was over I saw NL passing out little slips of paper & making last minute detail arrangements. I felt total rejection again as we walked out to the car & headed home. I kept busy doing Easter stuff with the kids, making a nice dinner, & talking with our family on the web cam. We had a really nice day & I went to bed content & happy, but it didn't last long because I checked all the updated blogs of my friends on Monday & saw all the fun that I wasn't invited to be a part of.

Another one of the playgroup "regulars" had posted pictures & talked about what a fun dinner it was & how amazing the NL was for hosting a dinner of 30 plus people. I would have been able to find some comfort in seeing that there weren't a lot of people that I was friends with, or if there happened to be other people that I knew who weren't invited, but there was only 1 couple in attendance that I didn't know on a personal basis at the dinner.

I don't know why it bothered me so much, but I had to hold back the tears. I feel like I am in High School again & I didn't get invited to some party with all the cool kids. Ya know? Its dumb, and I really shouldn't feel this way. I keep thinking of the talk given a while back at General Conference about not letting yourself be offended. (I think it was given by Bednar) But I don't know how not to be right now. I'm hoping that time will heal my lame wounds & I keep praying for help to deal with the situation, but I just need to vent. How do I make Lemonade? How do I act "normal" around NL when really what I want to do is ask her why my family wasn't invited?

Dumb...the whole thing is dumb & I hope that tomorrow I will have forgotten all about it.

It's Back!!!

Hey girls I've got a flash back for ya. I believe this is in Denver when we went to WGI regionals. We are standing in line waiting to eat at a Mexican restaurant. All I remember is that the line took forever and that they had this flags on your tables that you put up when you needed your waiter and down when you didn't. But maybe I'm totally wrong...maybe this is somewhere else.

Let's catch up-Shan

1. Ethan. I love my son more then anything in the world but man does he keep me busy. He'll be 18 months on the 28th and I can hardly believe it. He has quite the personality and is spoiled due to fact that he is an only child. He's climbing on and into everything, is trying to talk more and more everyday and gives me the biggest hugs and kisses. It's great being a mom but a lot of work.

2.Cleaning. When I'm not chasing Ethan I'm cleaning and sometimes I'm doing both at the same time. I'm still cleaning for Martha and I'm very grateful for the job. She's in North Carolina visiting her daughter this week so I have some time off and it's so weird. I don't really know what to do with myself. Our laundry is done, the floors have been vacuumed and mopped our cupboards are filled with food.

3. Scrapbooking. For awhile I was doing the Design Star contest at ScrapMatters so all of my extra time was creating new papers and elements and learning a TON! Now that I'm out I have time to do my own scrapbooking. I haven't done a ton of LOs but I have done a few. I'm still trying to find my balance between all of my roles... mom, wife, scrapbooker, housekeeper, cook, and the list goes on. But I love scrapbooking and I think I'll still try doing some designing. Designing is a lot of work but fun and rewarding at the same time. I totally have a new respect for all of the wonderful designers out there. Especially you Britt!

(My most recent LO)

4. Single Parent. Jared is in full swing of the busy, crazy and miserable time of year. He's way behind in his work and needs 2 more people to help him but Pinnacle made HUGE cut backs on their budget this year so he has to do everything on his own. Which means that he goes into work early and stays late. Most days I'm a single parent and it sucks!

(although looking at this sweet smile you wouldn't think so)

5. Decorating my kitchen. I'm on GG's Digital Designs CT (which I LOVE) and she has this beautiful kit called "The Happy Place" When I first saw it I know it would look perfect in my kitchen. So I created 3 LOs and glued them on to some tiles and put them up above my cabinets. I'm still trying to figure out what else I should put up there with them and I really need to make some curtains to go on my back doors. Last Saturday I sent almost 2 hours at JoAnn's looking at fabric and trying to decided what to do. I'm the worst when it comes to make decision.

So there you have it, 5 things about me!