advances in swimming

it seems like every year, ashley “forgets” the fact that she knows how to swim.

this year she even took to screaming when we would try to take her to the deep end, just as a reminder that she knows what to do…

every summer, by the end of the summer, the kid “remembers” that she knows how to swim, is going down the slide and off the diving board no problemo!

last summer, sadly, she didn’t “remember”.

(but she would jump off the back of the houseboat at lake powell?)

i am happy to say, that this summer, she remembered.

(finally.)

lynn lives with goggles attached to her face…

and little peyton, who started out not liking the water much, has fallen deeply in love.

seems as if all my girls have grown gills and fins.

introducing skipperdee.

(still not sure of the spelling of his name.)

the other day, we went to visit good old dad at the hotel.  took him a treat.

(it wasn’t a very good day for him.)

while there, peyton ventured into the lost and found area of the back office.  she emerged with this little guy.

no one knows how long he’s been there, probably lonely and crying. 

lost toys like this sit there for a long time, in hopes that their owners will reclaim them, which rarely happens. 

if it’s something that merrill knows the girls will love, then it comes home, in a nice, plastic, shiny best western laundry bag.  otherwise, it gets sent to the d.i.

peyton was in love and asked merrill if this turtle, whose name was suddenly skipperdee (or maybe it was all along?!) could be her turtle.

well, obviously he said yes.

skipperdee is never far from peyton’s side.  if he is, then that means he is lost, and we all help to find him because it is pretty sad around here until he is safely by peyton’s side again.

he slept underneath her pillow last night, then was dragged into my bed, placed underneath my pillow before she snuggled up to me after having another “bad dweam”.

she even made him breakfast this morning.

the kid who doesn’t want to try anything new, tried something new. (!!!!!)

indulge me for a minute, mmmkay?

(proud parent moment coming your way.)

lynnie-lou doesn’t like to venture out and try new things often.  she is a teensy-weensy little bit like her dad in that regard, he doesn’t care too much for change.  this kid, well, she goes above and beyond that and doesn’t like pretty much anything out of the norm. 

new meals?

not a snowball’s chance…

a different color cap on the milk and her world implodes.

this summer, we (her dad and i) were trying our hardest to convince her to venture out and try something (anything!!) new.

first, there was a cooking class.  she would have gone with her cousin (notice the “would have” there) but bringing it up only brought her to tears.

she told us that she was interested in art camp so we, very excitedly, got her in there.  she loved it..  after being nervous that she wouldn’t know anyone there…

my friend called, wondering if lynn would be interested in taking ice skating lessons.  her daughter has always wanted to, but thought it would be funner with a friend. 

let me tell you, merrill and i were doing our best to talk this kid into it.

she tried crying.

she tried stressing.

she tried to out-right, flat-out say no, and we wouldn’t let her off that easily.  we told her to sleep on it.

the next day (the day of the first lesson), the kid told me that she didn’t want to do it because she was scared she would get hurt.  crack her head open, break her leg..  she had dreamed up some real great possibilities.

so i enlightened her.

(that is part of my job as “mom”.)

“did you know that you could fall down the stairs and break your leg?”

“well…”

“does it stop you from coming down the stairs?”

“no…”

“did you know that we could get in a car accident today?  maybe even die?”

(shocked expression.)

“does that stop us from going anywhere?  do we just sit at home?”

(still shocked.  maybe i took this a bit too far..  nah.)

“did you know that when we fly to disneyland this fall, we could crash?  does that stop us from going?”

“we could get there some other way…  we could drive?”

“did you know that it is more likely that we get into a car accident than our plane crash?”

okay..  maybe i went a little too far.

but guess what?

she decided to learn to ice skate!

(and she had fun.)

(after she was over the nervousness..)

so they look like they are dancing..

they aren’t.

they caught each other, saved each other from falling.  probably breaking open their heads or something..

the funniest thing had to be seeing lynn, talk to herself constantly!  when she was near riley, she would yammer on to her.  i kept telling her, like she was really going to hear me, to knock it off!!  she is such a chatterbox.

this is after they crashed again..  well, after lynn crashed and her arm, flailing, took out riley’s leg.

as i type this, she is over my shoulder, yammering on even more about how excited she is to go next week..

julie and I are too.  we get a great core workout from all the laughing we do while we watch them.

because i suck at stuff.

so with part of our tax return, i got seven sorts of excited about a two terabyte (2 TB) external hard drive, and bought it.  one of those seven sorts of excited primarily dealt with all the cds worth of images i have, and need to preserve in a better way. 

i discovered problems with a disc from 2005 while putting together lynn’s little picture disc for her baptism.  yeah, I remember totally reading an article years ago in creating keepsakes about how long those discs will last, yada yada yada..  and yup, years later, i am finally doing something about it!

sadly, the one picture i was after on that one disc, not able to bring it up…

(yeah..  so I got this thing back in..  it was a while ago, and now, I am really getting to my precious preserving?..  see, I suck at stuff.)

so here i am, before any more time is wasted, getting around to putting all of those discs onto that hard drive.

(helps that i can’t seem to sleep..)

*sigh*

it is a bittersweet thing to do.

i give you reasons why:

(most of them circa 2006)

lynn still gives me this dirty look:

sad to see that lynnie-lou wore this shirt not that long ago, and now peyton fits into it.

don’t believe me, see the header…

but glad to know that they are still this close…

i just can’t help but wonder where the time has gone.. 

we sat and watched the girls swim tonight.  all three of them, going all over the pool, jumping off the diving board, totally belly-flopping, but loving it.  laughing, playing, splashing together…

i am afraid to blink.

i see where we are, completely loving it, but remember all too well where we just were.  to be completely honest, i am a little homesick for it.

oh my goodness…  there are so many more like this.

a layout or 5..

I have been getting a lot of scrapping done.

(sadly it is all digi scrapping..  heaven knows how many pictures i have that are printed off, waiting in the mess that is now known as my craft room in the basement..  don’t even get me started on the stash of supplies that keep those pics company..)

I am not sure if this surge of digi scrapping is because of the re-discovered passion my girls have for playing polly pockets or  for watching jurassic park.

(both of which seem to take place in the loft, upstairs where the computer is..)

but anyway..  here’s a few:

(as always, click on layout for list of full credits.)

new today:

“chemistry” by cosmo cricket:

and i was way too excited about these brushes by liv:

and well, then there is all of this other stuff, that was basically just for fun…  our summer has been well-spent, and i have some cute pix to prove it!

(cute pix = more scrapping motivation!!)

hope you are enjoying your summer as well!!

how red river paper saved my father’s day.

imagine:
it’s father’s day.
you have planned the perfect gifts, purchased the necessary items to make those gifts awesome, including printing off the perfect photos of your three darling girls. 
you printed them off days in advance so you wouldn’t have to go to costco the saturday before (when it is a total madhouse there) no doubt dragging those three (not so happy girls now, because you are going to costco on a madhouse, day-before-fathers-day trip).  instead you went days before and picked them up.  now all of the makings for your perfect gifts lay, waiting for you to assemble them.
but that week before proves to be way too busy and the event of assembling these sure to be awesome gifts is left to the morning of. 
the assembling looks more like a mad scramble to get it done before the three, now bed-headed girls wake up, so they can give the gifts to the dude who fathered them (and still fathers them).
as you get out the ikea frames, with those three perfect spots in the mat (perfect for those three perfect little girls) you notice, that is a 5x7 opening in that mat.
not a 4x6.
did you really print off 4x6 photos?
(right about here, it should be state that i am a silly, measure once, cut twice kind of gal.  no, i haven’t learned my lesson, yet.)
you mean, you didn’t double check before uploading and ordering all those photos?!
nope.
and then you cry a little.
(maybe even say a few naughty words under your breath.)
(then you repent because that isn’t becoming of a lady..  and it’s sunday..)
your mind starts to run (cause that’s what the mind of a woman does when it encounters a problem) and the possible solutions to fix this problem start coming.
- mounting photos on a different paper to add interest?
- cutting a new mat, with the matting I don’t have and what, my laser glare?
- printing off new photos…  um, it’s sunday.  you aren’t ready (don’t look the least bit attractive), and hello!  it’s sunday…
- maybe i could print off new photos on that awesome presentation paper..  why use awesome presentation paper when YOU HAVE THAT ASWESOME (and free!!) PHOTO PAPER FROM RED RIVER PAPER?!? (!!!)
yeah.  remember that?  it was sent to you to try out and review?
that red river paper is looking more awesome than the awesome presentation paper, isn’t it.
well, it is more awesome.
up the stairs you go, RUNNING.  to your trusty printer and that awesomely free photo paper. 
you print off all of your pictures (5x7 this time) with ease onto gorgeous photo paper.
as you compare them to the costco prints, these are so much more awesome..  sheesh, and all i have is an hp printer, nothing too fantastic.
(not that i have anything against costco, they are great, fantastic, awesome even..  i also love the word awesome, apparently.)
the color came out more true to what i saw on my monitor. (the costco prints were darker.)  now, i know that i can go out and spend a pretty penny and get a fancy-schmancy monitor calibrating program doohickey, but let’s be realistic.  food is funner.
they are also a nice, matte finish.  (another mistake i made in the online ordering process, i failed to check the proper box for my desired finish.)
they are also so very incredibly helpful as to giving you tips for your specific printer and purpose.
i used the arctic polar luster, arctic polar satin, and the polar matte.  they were gorgeous on their own, but with my little girls’ faces on them, that much better.
point of this story:
red river paper saved my father’s day from being reduced to a bunch of empty picture frames, and promises of pictures, or those darling pictures being printed off on awesome (but sub-par) presentation paper.
basically saved me from being reduced to a pile of pitiful woman mess because this silly girl who happens to measure once but always cuts twice (did I mention that before?), did almost that and tried to remember what size those mat openings were once, and print twice.
seriously.
*in all seriousness, this paper is incredible!!  i am not being paid to say this, but i was given some awesome paper to try out and then give my honest opinion in exchange for said paper.**
*that is all.**
oh, and another link to their site.

late night/early morning randomness from one tired mom.

i am here, snuggling the world's cutest three yer old, typing one-handed, re-living my days of nursing this same child (but in infant form) and typing one-handedly taking those crazy/stupid facebook quizzes (like the one that told me i was captain kirk type nerd?).

(sshhhh! don't laugh too loud.  she's asleep now.)

the snuggling is a result of "scawy dweams".  she doesn't get past that, or the crying.  we are on night two (or is it three?  wow i am tired.) of this adventure.  all i really can do is snuggle and reassure, and pray.

apparently it is effective.

first thing this morning (like 7:30 this morning, which totally caught me off guard, by the way, mostly because i thought for sure she'd want to sleep in..) she woke me up, told me again about having a scary dream, to which i rather sleepily/grouchily responded, "i know.  that's why i am here, in your bed."  but she also added that being scared is silly because Heavenly Father protects us.

things always look better in the light of a new day, don't they?

sweet liana..

this is a friend’s baby.  she was quite the sweetie! 

just look at this sweet mouth:

she is such a sweetheart!  thanks for bringing her to me lorie!!

"you know..."

i had to jot down this sweet moment that happened this morning when it was just me and peyton..
we were getting breakfast ready, she was being so sweet!  quietly playing dolls, being the sweetheart she is, i asked her if she wanted to bless the food.
now the kid has some fun prayers, i gotta say.
she prays about everything exciting that has happened since she can remember, and she prays for everything that will happen in the near future.
here's an example list:
- halloween
- trick or treating
- her desired costume (bo peep, again)
- christmas
- a new movie (or old one), she usually adds a favorite part or funny line.
- everything that has happened so far in the day (she told Heavenly Father about playing dolls this morning).
- lake powell
- disneyland
- if someone has offended her (name that sister!!)
today, the most anticipated activity was going out to grammie's to play with cousins and have a "water day".  water day usually consists of lunch, grammie's blow-up pool, shallow pool, sprinklers, and slip'n slide.  lunch is always included, cause grilled cheese and peanut butter always taste better when grammie makes it...  even i can admit that!
she was so excited about the day she had to pray about it, of course!  i love that she has this special relationship with her Heavenly Father already, a relationship where she feels like she can tell Him about anything and everything.  i hope she never loses that connection..
well, she was so excited with everything that was going to transpire in her little life this day that she started to jumble her words, literally tripping over them with her excitement.  she stopped, took a breath, and said with a little sigh attached, "you know..."
just that simple little bit taught me a huge lesson. 
He does know.
He knows the good, the bad, the exciting, the stressful, the sad.  the crazily happy and excruciatingly exciting!!!
He still wants us to come and tell Him.  if there aren't words, He will understand.  the key is to still go to Him.  it feels so good to know that He knows.  such a comfort.
i find that sometimes i gloss over what i think might just be the same-old same-old when it comes to me.  i know that He knows, that He is aware, but i should still communicate my feelings to Him.
i can think of many times where my prayers were more tears than talking.  i have felt comfort because i know He knows.
it was just the perfect reminder for this time in my life.  we are having lots of fun this summer, we aren't stress free (at all!!) but i can receive help and comfort when i communicate with Him.
such a sweet little girl!  i am so thankful to be her mother, to have her teach me so many things.

risk factors of having long hair.

it’s funny..  the moment i actually get a second to myself, to sit down and to type anything of substance, the first place my mind immediately goes to is my hair and the caution that seems to flow constantly with it.

sometime i will no doubt update the world (or me and the two people who might still cruise over to this corner of the www to see what we are up to) on the goings on of our summer thus far.  i will regale the tale of the cold/allergy fit 4 of the 5 of us had (still not sure which it was really, it was just snotty, head poundlingly bad), our latest adventures, some funny stories, some cute pics.  ya know.  life stuff.

but right now is all about my hair.

the last time i had hair this long was when i had lynn.  if you do the math right, it was 8 and 1/2 years ago (okay..  a wee bit more.).  it was highlighted, split-ended, and long!!  i loved it.  loved it until she figured out how to grab a fist-full of it while she nursed, then it wasn’t so fun anymore.  yes, the hair-pulling and the summer heat, heat from the season itself, lugging around my hunk-o-chunk of a baby, and my hair, all pushed me to that breaking point to cut it off.

so here we are again,  long hair.

it gets stuck in my armpit, or between my arm and body.  i will attempt to move my head only to have it jerked back into it’s original position due to the fact that my hair is pinned by my own body!

then there is a similar quandary at bedtime, or at least the time i should be sleeping..  it gets pinned there too.  most unpleasant.

peyton has taken to tugging on it recently.  not to hurt in any way, she just twirls her own out of habit.  i can see why my hair might be enticing to her twirling-prone fingers.

but when she desires a shoulder ride has to be the worst for my hair and scalp!  that is the most uncomfortable of hair being pinned situations.

then there are the times when i am the cause of my own pain and torture.  do you remove hair from your clothing?  i hope you do.  i do.  there are times when i think i am innocently removing a fallen out strand only to find that it is just a solitary hair, still very much attached to my scalp.  it’s just so darn long!! 

then there is the grossest.

wiping small people when they are in need of such assistance in the bathroom.  that is where much caution needs to be taken.  one impulsive move can mean that the end of my locks end up in potty water.

see gross.

but you should know, I am not even playing with considering to think about contemplating the pondering of getting my hair chopped.  I am loving it’s longness immensely.

(hope you enjoyed my shallow post.  it is a poor attempt at humor, i know.  but give me a break!  it’s been a while.)

more for you monday(s).

I am still playing catch-up after last week’s holiday..  well, that and all the fun we’ve been having.

I am trying my best to lay back, relax, and have fun with the girls before summer finds it’s end.

(I wish that the end would just get lost though…)

so here’s two weeks worth of goodies:

(click on layouts to link up to full credits.)

queen of quirk’s newest scrap canvas:

liv’s newest needs + wants, stings galore v.2:

and then there’s the temple…

i needed something newish to put in the girls’ rooms in the way of a temple picture.  i played with jodie lee’s vintage crackle textures and got just what i wanted!