This Is The Year

Today for WWTK , Crazymama wants to know about food: 1 - What is your favorite go-to breakfast recipe for special occasions or company? This breakfast casserole is hands down the best I have ever had, and we have it frequently for family breakfasts or brunches during the holidays: Breakfast Casserole Ingredients: 10 eggs                                                 1 pint small curd cottage ½ cup flour                                              cheese 1 teaspoon baking powder      ...

Remember last week when I told you that Cowgirl was getting her hair chopped for Locks of Love, and Bookworm was riding his bike 40 miles to raise money for cancer research, and Pixie was anxious to see if her grade would once again win the Penny wars?   Are you ready for an update? Bookworm's ride is Friday, and he is excited, but also nervous - wondering if he will be able to ride the full distance.  I have faith in him!  But he also hasn't ridden much at all since winter got over, so we're not sure what level his endurance is at right now!  Fingers crossed! Once again Pixie's grade won the penny wars!  This makes 4 years running - I think the rest of the school is beginning to feel a little bit humiliated by this group that started out as Kindergarteners, and has continued to beat them every year!! The penny wars raised $1,009.38!!  A total of 50,000 coins were collected! I know you're all dying to see Cowgirl's hair.  Here's a remi...

I thought it was high time for another embarrassing story.  Only this time it was my son who was embarrassed.  And I thought I'd extend the experience for him by putting it online for all the world to see. A little background:  The director of our charter school (we'll call him Rick) is also our neighbor and friend, and he is my son's scout-master. The assistant director/part time math teacher (we'll call him Dan) is also a family friend, whom I went to school with and then reconnected with a few years ago, and had him come apply at the school.  He is also my son's geometry teacher. Last week I was in the school doing prospective teacher interviews for our new campus with the new director for that campus.  Since the new school isn't yet built, we were using Rick's office.  The interviews went long, so my kids were left sitting in the lobby for about an hour and a half after school got over!  I finally had to leave the last interview before it was d...

For anybody who has been around my blog for the long term, you know that each year our school does a big fundraising, multi-activity event called Pedals for Hope , to raise money for cancer research.  It kicks off with an assembly where they start their penny wars - a fun competition where each grade tries to raise the most money in pennies.  Grades can sabotage other grades by putting monies of larger denomination in each other's collection jars.  So however many pennies they collect count FOR their total, but then whatever they have had put in their jar that is larger (quarters, dollar bills, 20's) counts AGAINST their total.  Between the students collecting pennies, and then adding larger amounts to each others collections - we always have quite a fun and successful "war".  Pixie's grade has won every year. She loves to remind her brother and sister of that fact. The next thing is the Locks of Love assembly.  Anyone who has a minimum of 10 inches of h...

I'm not usually one to do multiple blog posts in one day.  But I couldn't pass up this week's edition of WWTK - so even thought I posted already - I'm doing it again! This week's questions come from Mamarazzi - here we go! 1 - If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose? I'm going to have to go with Hawaii Five-O.  I mean, not only is it in gorgeous Hawaii (where I've never been, and may never go), but then you've got these guys to look at when you're done appreciating the island scenery: Not the chick - the other 3. Plus I want to be a tough chick who carries a gun and can beat the crap out of bad guys. 2 - If you could be guaranteed one thing in life, besides money, what would you ask for? That is a tough one, but I think I would choose wisdom in raising my children.  Seriously people - I don't know what the crap I'm doing. 3 - If you had to name the most terrifying event in your life t...

This post is something that has been on my mind for months.  Something that I have been afraid of posting for fear that I might offend someone I like, or alienate another blogger, or just generally make people mad, and not like me.  But it seems that each time I start to think about this post, my feelings are stronger, and it's time for me to pour it out into words. It's about being mean.  I keep seeing it all over online and it truly troubles me.  It especially disappoints me when I see it from fellow Christian bloggers. Now I'll be the first to admit that I am guilty of an insult spoken in anger or irritation, or a snicker with a friend when somebody does something silly, or foolish.  And it's not right, and I need to work on it.  But I do try in earnest to be a kind person.  I know how self-conscious I can be, and how it stings to think other people might be judging me, or making fun of me. For the past few months I have seen too many posts th...

So I've been working on getting the Mind Organization for Mom's program implemented in my life.  I'm taking a little longer than I probably should have, because it was really hard to focus on getting it completely set up during spring break for my kids last week! I would say I'm doing the system about 70% right now.  That's not due to the program being hard to follow (because it's surprisingly simple once set up), only that I don't quite have all my crap sorted out that I needed to go through in order to get it all "plugged in" to the sytem.  <----- I know that doesn't really even make any sense, since ("sense since"?), you don't KNOW the system.  But I am already seeing big changes in my life.  I am still following the email system I told you about, and it is working like a charm! I can't wait until I have the program fully implemented (like within the next couple of days...woohoo!), and then give you guys a review an...

Monday, Monday - what to blog about?  I actually had a great weekend and thought I'd share a few of the good things: Easter - obviously.  Gorgeous day here in Utah, wonderful church service, followed by a great afternoon with the fam.   Family Fun on Friday - It was a soccer weekend, date night with the Hubby.  But Friday was about the kids.  We headed to the stadium for Friday Friendly.  It's a free little mini-party for fans with food, prizes, a video FIFA tournament, and fun kiddie activities.  The kids enjoyed the bounce-house, and trying to kick the ball into the goal.  I enjoyed winning one of the drawings.  Hello Subway giftcard, Chile Verde giftcard, RSL Christmas tree decoration, and RSL/Budweiser beer glass (Do you think the glass will be offended that it will be used for drinking mostly milk or water, with maybe the occasional soda?). New music to love - I have some great new music to share.  It's the highlight ...

It's that time again - one of my favorite blogging days.  Time to link up with Mamarazzi , confess, and get it all off your chest! I confess ... I have been a HUGE blog slacker this week.  Mostly because my kids have been on spring break and we've been hanging out as a family a lot.  But also because I am feeling boring and lame lately too. I confess ... I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by the thought of an upcoming craft show that I signed up for.  It will be the first time I've ever done one alone.  Previously I was making cute stuff with my bestie Tanielle, so craft shows were a joint undertaking. I confess ... Every time I see these pinned on pinterest, I don't think of mummies, I think of Baby Jesus - and that just seems so wrong! Source: notjustahousewife.net via Juliann on Pinterest Seriously, the first time I saw them, I did a double take, and the voice inside my head said, "what the...??" I confess ... I have...

I thought it would be fun to "showcase" what I've been pinning, when I was thinking about what I should blog about today.  At first I thought maybe I would somehow pick 3 pin boards (I have 18),  and show you my most recent 3 pins on those boards.  But then I didn't know how I would pick which boards to show you.  So then I thought I would just pull up all my pins (I have 1083), and show you my most recent 6 pins.  Here you go! Source: shoedazzle.com via Xazmin on Pinterest Source: Uploaded by user via Xazmin on Pinterest Source: realmomkitchen.com via Xazmin on Pinterest Source: umamigirl.com via Xazmin on Pinterest Source: shoedazzle.com via Xazmin on Pinterest Source: iknowhair.com via Xazmin on Pinterest So basically my pins reflect that I am obsessed with shoes and food? I don't know - I have some cute shoes, and I AM fat - I guess that would be an accurate assessment. What do your pin...

....those are the words to describe how I feel right now. After a weekend of General Conference , I always feel renewed.  But this conference particularly was a favorite of mine.  Every single talk spoke to me, inspired me, and re-motivated me to try harder to be better. I know that there are many in the blogging community who feel that discussing religion is taboo.  It should be avoided on one's blog.  But it makes me wonder, how does one blog and leave out religion when their faith is literally who they are?  If my blog is supposed to be a reflection of me, my thoughts, my stories, my experiences - how can I avoid blogging about the one thing that encompasses all of what I do in my life? Exactly.  I can't.  So I don't, and if you prefer not to read - that's okay. I said last week that I was going to share a favorite conference quote every day leading up to conference.  Epic fail.  I shared ONE.  But it's all good,...