Mod Podge Mania... I'm such a slacker!

I am SO sorry! I have been so sick, and my son has been so sick, and it's Halloween, and overall I'm just a slacker!

I failed to do a Mod Podge Mania project or post!

Even though I don't have a project to share, I'd still love to see what everyone else has done! So sorry it took me so long to post!

Please...Link up!

In Spite of it All..

Well, my son is doing much better - thanks everyone for the words of concern. As for me...well, my lungs are on fire, and I feel like they're going to burst out of my chest every time I have a coughing fit which is approximately every 1.4 minutes. I feel like there is a semi truck parked on my chest. I seriously cannot remember when I have felt so crappy.

In spite of this...I'm feeling pretty blessed today. Please bear with me as I tell you a story. The story is about my dear friend Heidi. Actually it's about how the Lord used my dear friend Heidi as an instrument to bless my life.

Heidi is a neighbor and friend whom I have known for years. I was her son's nursery leader, our husbands are friends and we even were assigned as visiting teaching companions. However it was just this past summer that Heidi and I became close. She was realeased from the Young Women's Presidency, and I was called to serve in the YW's Presidency. These girls really steal your heart, so it was a hard thing for Heidi to leave. Therefore she still attended many of our summer activities and she and I discovered a kindred spirit in one another. Truly ...right down to our love for NKOTB! We became fast friends and haven't looked back! (our poor husbands!)

Back to my story. Rewind to yesterday around 5 p.m. I'm on my way to Walmart to get some last minute supplies for my girls' Halloween costumes. I've been so busy making costumes for everyone else that my girls' still weren't ready. I knew I was in for a long night. Add to this the news that I had just received that my son has H1N1, the stress of STILL not having found the right director for our school, and some major stress about our company - well I sorta felt like I was drowning. Alone in my car is where I let the overwhelmed feelings take over for a moment...I have to check them at the door so my family isn't affected. Especially my husband...he has enough to worry about without feeling like he needs to worry about me as well. So sometimes, when it's just too much, I get in my car, play my music a little too loud, drive a little too fast and let my mind sort itself out. But then I receive a text. Here's how the conversation went (don't worry I only replied at stop lights!):

Heidi: Does your family like Chili?
Me: Yup...why?
Heidi: I'm bringing your dinner tomorrow.

That was it. Just that simple. I haven't seen Heidi but briefly these past weeks...she had no idea my boy was sick, or that I was sick, or that I'm stressed about the other things I mentioned, but she just felt the need to do something kind for a friend. Suddenly my load was lifted. I still had costumes to make, still have no director, still have company issues and I'm still sick! In spite of it all, I felt the love of a dear friend, and the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father who knew just how I was feeling and how to lighten my burden. I'm so grateful.

Tonight my family enjoyed a delicious, warm meal, and I didn't have to worry about what I was going to make for dinner! That made all the difference in the world. Our church has a Hymn called "As Sisters in Zion". Part of the song says " The errand of Angels is given to women, and this is a gift that as sisters we claim, to do whatsoever is gentle and human, to cheer and to bless in humanities name." This truly was the case tonight. Thank you Heidi for blessing my life...I love you!

Devastation...

Well...I haven't had a chance to watch Tuesday night's competition for SYTYCD...I had Young Women's and Board interviews that night...HOWEVER...I did find out some devastating news. Really.

Remember I told you Billie Bell was just incredible to watch? I honestly think he was the best dancer in the competition. Well...he's out. He's out due to illness, and he didn't even get to compete once! I am so sad. Especially because usually once you make it to the top 20, you're not allowed to audition again. Hopefully they'll make an exception in his case, since he didn't even get the chance to compete.

I just wanted to share my sad news. And of course leave you with a video in honor of Bille Bell! Skip to 0:41 if you want to just see the dance.

We'll miss you Billie!

It's really on now!

Man, this only getting 1 blog post in a week has got to stop! I can't stand it! I'm going to make up for it by doing a super long one with lots of videos today! Of course the parts I want you to watch of each video are only 30-45 seconds long.

I had to make time today to share my excitetment that the competition is REALLY underway now! Have you been watching So You Think You Can Dance? If not, you are at the PERFECT time to tune in! The top 20 have been named! The top 10 guys and top 10 girls will begin competing on Monday! I'm so excited! I will be using "!" a lot throughout this post!

I'm especially stoked because so many of my favorite's made it in! Including 3 Dancers from Utah! Go Utah!

First my fellow Utahns. We have a married couple, Ryan and Ashleigh DiLello. The are fun just to look at because they are so gorgeous! Skip to 1:21 if you want to bypass the "introduction" piece.

Next up we have Mollee Gray. She's just this adorable little spunky blondie. Her mother packed up their family and moved them to L.A. to give her more opportunities in her dance career. I can't wait to see her grow over the course of this competition! Skip to 1:07 to go straight to the dancing.

Next up we have Billie Bell. He is stunning. Simply stunning. Adam Shankman (love him) gets a little over-the-top emotional in this clip, but just ignore that and be amazed at this powerful solo. I love this kid. What's even more incredible is the fact that he's only been dancing for 5 years. This is a huge, long montage clip, just skip to 7:52 to see Billie's last solo for the final elimination round.

What I love about these next 2 guys is how the really stepped up during Vegas week. During Vegas week, the dancers are put through the wringer, learning and performing dances from ballroom, contemporary, broadway, and I can't remember the rest. My point being, typically the trained dancers are able to adapt quite well to other styles of dance. But the street dancers almost always have an incredibly difficult time adjusting their "street" style to more technique-based styles. Even when they are amazing at their own style. These 2 guys took everything they threw at them and proved they could hang with the best of the techinically trained dancers! Here are their original auditions.

Legacy Perez - break dancer/ b-boy: Go to 0:54 to skip the intro.

Russell Ferguson - Krumper (awesome)

And there ya have it! My rundown on my top picks for this season of SYTYCD...it's gonna be AMAZING!

Where the heck did my rhythm go?

I know I said I was getting back on track...but I just can't seem to get everything done that I need to! Hopefully the busyness is winding down though!

I did have a fabulous time last night with my cousin J. We went to the parents' Discovery night at my childrens' school.

Discovery is a program in our school that encourages children to discover new interests, talents and abilities. The session runs 4-5 weeks, and the kids are given a choice out of several different courses. Then they have Discovery 1 day a week for 2 1/2 hours. After the month long session, the children have a whole new set of courses to choose from for the next session. The courses are taught by experts from the community and chaperoned by parent volunteers (this allows teachers to have this time for teacher planning). Often children travel away from the school to participate in Discovery. Here are just some of the courses that students have been able to choose from:

Taekwondo, Ballroom Dancing, Robotics, Rock Climbing, Scuba Diving, Ice Skating (learning figure skating, speed skating and hockey at the Olympic Oval), Oplympic Sports (kids traveled to the Olympic park in Park City and participated in the luge, ski jumping and other winter olympic sports), Electronics, Drumming, Musical Theatre Production, tennis, .......This is seriously just a sampling.

For Parent Discovery Night there was just a small selection of classes, and adults were able to sign up for a class, and participate in a Discovery class just to get a taste of what the children do in Discovery.

Hubby had to work, so J was my date for the night. We did Ballroom Dancing. Our istructor is a professional dancer who has actually worked on Dancing With The Stars! He was incredible, and boy did he work us! So we learned the basics of....Waltz, ChaCha, Rumba, Swing, Quickstep, Salsa, Tango, Merengue and Foxtrot. It was awesome!

But can I just say....I don't know where the heck my rhythm has run off to! I had no trouble learning the steps, but something was just. not. right. And I used to LOVE dancing! I danced all through my teenage years, and now I'm like this big spaz with no motor control! Can someone tell me how to get my groove back? I felt like such a dance-tard!. Still...definitely one of the highlights of my year!

Speaking of J... I have forgiven her for this little misdeed. Tonight she was going to a church dance for Young Single Adults. She was supposed to dress up, but being a poor student didn't have the funds for a costume.....Xazmin to the rescue! I hurried to revamp an old, slightly thrashed tutu I had made for Cowgirl a couple of years ago, and whipped up a pair of pixie wings courtesy of Ribbon Blossoms. Doesn't she look adorable?

Okay...I'm going to see what I can do now about visiting all my favorite friends whom I am STILL missing so much! Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Long time no blog!

Ha ha. I'm so clever. Okay...I was having a hard time coming up with a title.

How the heck has everyone been?

I haven't visited any of you in FOREVER! But, I had to stay home from church today because my little Pixie is sick. And since I don't ever do Ribbon Blossoms work on Sunday, I have the best reason to spend my time getting caught up with y'all! I can't wait to get around and get visiting!

Nothing too exciting to report here. At the kids' school we're still on the hunt for a new director to replace our current fabulous one. I can't understand why "Dean of Education" is a more appealing position than "director of a tiny charter school". So it's a really prestigious position, and a lot more money, for a lot less work...so what? I guess that's the risk of hiring someone fabulous, there's always someone else looking to steal them away from you!

Last night had a girls' night out with Tanielle. We did a little shopping (nothing exciting - trust me!) and then headed over to the dollar theatre to see The Proposal. I had seen it over the summer, but she never had, and I was more than willing to see it again. We had a great time, and a little adventure in locating the owner of a cell phone that slid down the theatre floor and crashed into Tanielle's foot.

Spent Friday at my moms getting caught up on DVR'd episodes of SYTYCD that I had missed. Can I just say...I am so proud of Utah? The Salt Lake City auditions were AMAZING! I can't wait to see how many Utahns make it into the top 20. I guarantee Utah will be represented in the finals.

I guess that's about all for now...sorry so boring! But now I'm off to start visiting!

Winner!

Hello Ladies,

No time for chatting...have 6 more tutu costume orders to fill! If you want to place a costume order you have 1 more day. Go Here.

I just wanted to take a quick second to let you know that the winner of the Handmade for Fall Giveaway is Deb, Cards etc.! Congratulations! Please email your shipping info to ribbonblossoms@aol.com.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Friday!

EM:ME

I didn't participate in EM:ME hosted by Amber last week, because it was Mod Podge Mania. BUT I am goin' strong. I've been walking with my mom - although we need better consistency!

I am down 3 lbs - so that's good...although I did have some birthday cake and spicy sausage and potato soup at my daughter's birthday dinner last night...I am so weak!

But today I'm being super good!

I've got a new little addiction that is helping to motivate me. Do you ever see REALLY cute outfits in catalogs, or on mannequins, or on T.V. and you think "that is so CUTE!" but it is immediately followed by the thought "that wouldn't look cute on me, because I'm fat". Yeah - that's me all the time. I love clothes - until I try them on, that is.

So, as shallow as it may be, the idea of wearing cute clothes motivates me. Last week I decided I would put together a collection of great stuff I'd like to wear and look good in - only I could only find a couple of things. Lacey did a cute fashion makeover for me back here. Because of that I discovered polyvore.com. I decided to put my own outfits together!

I've had so much fun with it...even though some of the stuff I could NEVER afford, other stuff is too young for me, or not my "modesty" standards (although I've tried, but do you know how hard it is to find a gown with sleeves on that sight?). But here are some of the things that I WOULD wear, if I were thin. Oh, and rich. If you click on any of them, you can go see all the stuff I've put together just for fun!

girlfriend by funfriend featuring Seven For All Mankind jeans

sunny day by funfriend featuring Forever21

girls night out by funfriend featuring Monsoon

This is almost as addictive as blogging!

I print these out along with other pictures I've collected, and keep them in a "think thin" (slogan stolen from Tanielle!) jounal. I also record my progress, food diary, setbacks and successes in theis journal. So far it is really helping me stay focused and motivated.

How are you doing?

Dear Monkey,

Wow. I can't believe you are 3 years old. It seems like just yesterday we brought this chubby little bundle home from the hospital. Your brother and sisters ADORED you. In fact, Pixie was so enamored of you, we were constantly having to tell her to "back off!" Consequently, "back off!" was one of the first things you ever said. True story.

You have been such a source of joy and laughter in our home these last 3 years. Despite your antics, we couldn't imagine our family without you.

You are so smart (too smart!), funny, and full of spirit. We feel so honored that Heavenly Father trusted you to our care.

Thank you for blessing our lives and always keeping us on our toes! I hope you have a wonderful birthday my beautiful little girl. I love you!

Okay...I had the best video of her telling about her birthday...but stupid Blogger won't upload it. If I get it to work, I'll update...have an awesome Tuesday!

Can you believe it?

Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm safe to write about this, because I don't think my cousin "J" reads my blog. If you're reading this, J, stop right now! I mean it!

Okay so J is staying with my mom and dad while she goes to school here in Utah. She LOVES soccer. So a few weeks back her parents sent her some money to go to a ReAL Salt Lake game. ReAL(pronounced REE-AL)is our MLS team. I LOVE ReAL games.

Hubby and I bought tickets and the 3 of us went. Of course it was awsesome.

For J's birthday, my brothers and I decided to get her a ticket to go again, and then we would all get tickets and go with her. Only my brother "D" thinks soccer games are boring. "They only score like twice and the game is 90 minutes long!" as he puts it. And it would be kinda pricey to get a ticket for each of my family of 6.

So we decided to just get 2 tickets for her, and she could invite a friend, or a date. So guess who she ivites? MY BROTHER D! Yeah the soccer complainer!

Can you believe it? She knows how much I LOVE this guy:

Chris Wingert #17 baby!
Isn't he cute?

In fairness to J, she probably thought I wouldn't want to go without Hubby (yeah, she's new here - love ya babe!), AND we went together last time and D made an excuse why he couldn't go, so she probably thought he "missed out" last time we went. AND we are going to SYTYCD together (my mom and her mom gave her that ticket), so she probably thought it would be a good thing to invite D...but seriously. Can you believe it?

I love my cousin J. I'm seriously not mad. It's just I really wanna go! AND it's as if even Costco was mocking me today when I went to get groceries...all the flat screens were playing ReAL highlights...I am not even kidding!

Come Listen To A Prophet's Voice...

How blessed I feel to be able to sit with my family every six months and listen to the words of Prophets.

I love General Conference. I love the feeling of renewal, rededication and recommitment to living the gospel more fully that I get each time I sit and listen to conference. I love the spirit that fills our home as we sit together as a family and hear the things the Lord wants us to know.

Sure, we have to often "shhsh" the youngest ones, or remind the kids (and ourselves) once in a while, to sit up and pay attention. But the spirit is stronger than these distractions and talking with our children about what we've learned, and how we can apply it in our family is such a gift, one I am repeatedly grateful for.

Sometimes we have our children draw pictures of whoever is speaking at the time. They are able to use the T.V. as a reference yet not be too distracted to hear the message. Sometimes they get to write down 3 things that the speaker talks about, or draw a picture of the temple. This time we tried without the activities. Our oldest 2 are definitely mature enough to sit and listen without needing to entertain themselves, but I think we'll go back to the listening activities for the youngest 2 in April!

I've loved all the talks. I really loved President Uchtdorf's talk yesterday, and of course President Monson's today. Also President Eyring's and Bishop Burton's talks really stood out to me today. I think we're going to take the challenge of using the conference talks for Family Home Evening for the next 6 months, and focus on a different talk each week. Have any of you done this before, and how did it work out in your family?

I also had the privilege of attending the General Relief Society Meeting last Saturday with my mom and my cousin. We rode the trax train up to the conference center and spent the evening being uplifted with messages on charity and the history and purpose of the Relief Society. I have been to the conference center a few times for conference, and President Hinckley's Birthday Celebration. Each time I sit and think "I'm sitting in the presence of prophets". It is truly humbling.

I am so grateful to know that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. To know he atoned for my sins, and suffered all that he might know my pain and heartache, that he is able to give me comfort and direction through my trials. I'm grateful for His example of a perfect life, that I may have that example to try to be more perfect in my life. That He showed me a life of perfect service, to inspire me to love and serve others. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who loved me so much that he was willing to send his Son to suffer and die that I might live. I'm grateful for a young boy who had the faith to pray for direction in joining the true church. Who suffered great persecution in defense of his beliefs, and who ultimately restored the full and everlasting gospel to the earth that blesses my life each day.

I know this may sound arrogant to some, but I have truly felt the Holy Ghost testify to me that these things are true. And finally, I am so grateful to live in a nation where I am free to worship in the manner in which I believe.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday.

Blogger Expertise Needed!

First I want to remind everyone to enter my Handmade for Fall Giveaway - here!

Next, I am sending a question out to all you blogging experts:

I have a friend who is the principal of a school. He keeps a principal's blog. He would like to find a way to create a list of his staff members' birthdays that will automatically post a happy birthday message to them on the day.

Does anyone know if this is possible? I know he can do scheduled posts for each of those days, but I'm wondering how far in advance Blogger will allow you to schedule, and how many posts? Also, just wondering if there is an easier way than manually scheduling each separate birthday post.

If you have any advice for me...I'll love you forever!