Procrastination Queen

Why is it whenever I have something that really needs to be done now- like it should have been done yesterday- I find a million other things to do before I get serious and finish the pressing project? Such as- I need to read all my favorite blogs.... and comment on them. I need to check on all my friends on FB and comment on them, or at least hit the "like" button. Instead of just having cold cereal this morning, I really needed to cook oatmeal (and not the instant kind either) oh and wait, I think I'll make some toast too, good idea!

Prom is Saturday. The dress is not done. It is not even half way done. I hate the dress. It is mocking me. I've never had such a devil of a time sewing anything. So the dress (what is done of it) hangs on a dress form in my basement waiting for me. Every time I pass it (which I have to do each time I go to my bedroom) it laughs at me and calls me names, "hey stupid", "hey procrastinating queen" "hey good looking" (ok it's never really said that last one, but I wish it did) So today is the day I HAVE to get it done. Right after I eat my oatmeal. and toast. and I take a shower. Then I'm getting it done. But first I'll find a good show on TV to watch. like Lost or ANTM. At least I know I'm the queen.

Mags is 2

Today is Mags birthday! April 27.

Magnum Thomas

This boy has big shoes to fill-

named after his uncle Tommy

and a hunky, Hawaiian living, 1980's P.I.

I love -

-the way he runs down my hall to the garage door with both

hands flying above his head all willie nillie, squealing the whole way

- his red hair

I love-

- his blue, blue roundy eyes

-that he always is happy and silly

I love-

-the cutest "David Letterman" split between his two front teeth

-that he has his own language only he understands. It sounds

something like Dori speaking to the whales on Finding Nemo

I love-

-when he comes and takes my hand and leads me to the french doors,

he puts my hand right on the door knob, so I get the idea- he wants US to

go outside

I love-

-that he'll come and stand by me when I am sitting down, he'll let his little

hand just rest on my leg. It's such a "we're buddies" feeling :)

-his little skinny legs that are always sticking out of a pair of shorts

I love-

-the outfits he wears. From Star Wars to his favorite Mickey Mouse

shirt, he always looks fabulous!

-that whenever he wears his Mickey Mouse shirt he shows

everyone multiple times he is wearing his MM shirt

-Mags

Today is Mags birthday. April 27.

FFA Queen and Anniversaries

Somethings as a young mom you never think you will hear out of the mouths of your babes. But, that doesn't mean someday your kids won't surprise you and say something SO random and unexpected it catches you totally off guard. Sierra did that to me her Sophmore year in high school- "mom, I want to join FFA." Huh? When I was in high school, FFA kids were boys who were farmers or cowboys that loved Country music and chew. (At least that was my perspective on them, don't tell that to Pres. Scott Anderson who was in FFA royalty in his HS days) So to hear my sweet, petite little girl say she wanted to join was a real shock. I found at later that cute boys belonged to FFA, well no wonder she wanted to join! Not so weird now that I know the facts :) Sierra has taken her membership quite seriously, which is a shock in its self too. She has participated in multiple competitions in the areas of Poultry Judging (really?), Floral Design and Knowledge, and Interviewing. She has traveled to Denver, Cedar City and Logan to compete. This past week FFA State Competition was held in Logan. Only 12 kids from our school headed to USU to compete in teams of 4. So three teams went. Sierra went to compete in Floral ( she needed to be able to recognize plant species, tell how to care for them, make arrangements - both large and small) She has been practicing and memorizing for weeks. She also went in Poultry Judging (once again- REALLY? where does she get the interest in this area?) In poultry judging you have to be able to tell a "good" layer from other chickens, which eggs are good, etc. To tell which are good layers involves sticking up to 3 fingers in the little hole the eggs appear from, the more fingers, the better the layer. Also if the hen is totally beat up looking- she must be a good layer because this beat up look means the rooster has been paying her a lot of attention- hence "good layer". Well anywho- when Sierra came home Wednesday, she brought along the good news that our FFA floral team won FIRST PLACE at STATE!! She and her 3 other team members will be flying to Indiana next October to represent Utah in the floral area!! She was so excited, as she should be! Sierra also earned a silver on her own in Poultry. Two of the three teams came in first, so 8 kids will go together to Indiana. I guess FFA turned out to be a good thing, and even though she does like Country music, I have never seen a chew can ring in any of her back pockets.

Wednesday was also mine and Eddie's 32nd anniversary :) We celebrated BIG in February with a cruise, so I figured the actual day of our anniversary would be no big deal. I never even brought up the subject of anniversary. So when the actual day rolled around, I decided I wouldn't say a thing and see how long it took him to say something about it. That morning Eddie was running late to work and as he was driving out of the driveway, my BFF Sabrina came up the driveway to go walking with me. She didn't say a thing to me, but went right up to Eddie's truck and knocked on the window. He rolled down the window and she said, "Happy Anniversary!". Oh man, you should have seen Eddie's face!! LOL! He looked sick! He looked at Sabrina, he looked at me, and very sheepishly said, "happy anniversary Wee." and had to drive away to work. I laughed to hard, I wasn't mad at him at all. I told Sabrina my plan for the day- to see how long it would take... she was worried she ruined it, but as long as it wasn't me who said something I was fine. Well about 1:30 that afternoon, beautiful flowers showed up at my door! Almost a good as a cruise :) This picture was taken today, so the flowers, like me, aren't so perky anymore :) That was a good day.

Now for my laugh of the week. I took Grammy to WalMart Wednesday- what a busy day that turned out to be :) She had a pedicure and I guess I left her there long enough, she also had a manicure. They are pretty,huh?
Sierra noticed her nails this morning and commented on them, "they are pretty Gram, what design do you have on them?" Gram says, "Heck if I know, that's what happens when you can't understand the lady and you just nod your head- you get this stuff on them. I hope its not some bad words in their language!" That just really made me giggle hard, actually guffaw right out loud!

She's leaving (left) on a Jet Plane (Amtrak Train)

Eddie and I took Kira and kids early this morning to catch an east bound Amtrak train to Iowa. Who knew there was a train station in Provo Utah? In the middle of houses stands this little unmanned train "station", it was clean and well lit and even provided a copy of the "Watchtower" on the benches to help pass the time :)

Kira, Liam, Emma and Fox were all anxious, nervous, sleepy, but ready to get the show on the road. We were told to arrive 1/2 hour early so we wouldn't slow down the schedule of the train. Kira was only allowed to take so many suitcases and bags onto the train, so everything that didn't fit into a bag went onto the kids :) big old winter coats, Fox layered in blankets, backpacks full of toys and goodies :)

The train was behind schedule :( But the kids were great. It was cold waiting in that train station! But we found a button that said "push for heat" (sounds a little Alice in Wonderlandy") We pushed it and on turned in the ceiling heaters! We felt like we were in an oven broiler :) But it got toasty warm, warm enough both Liam and Fox fell asleep

Emma had her trusty blanky ready for the trip. As soon as we heard the train whistle blow, Kira tied her blanket around her neck, scarf style, so it wouldn't get lost. And it's a good thing she did! The train finally arrived at 5:40 am, soon as it stopped 3 men jumped off, scooped up the whole family and all their bags

and what felt like a kidnapping took them into the train "sleeping car" and they were gone! I got to quickly kiss Emma, Fox and say goodbye to Kira, but Liam was gone before I got to him :'( I still haven't gotten over that one yet :( So they are officially gone from one chapter of their lives onto another new exciting adventure. I have heard from them 3 times so far :) The kids are having a great time, LOVE the tunnels and the food is good. So they are happy and excited to see their dad. I am a little in shock and wondering what all the silence is about. I need a little bit of Mags, Mal and Will :) August will be here before I know it, and I'll probably still be cleaning Sharpie markers off my belongings :) love you Kira :)

I heart Personal Progress

I love the YW's Personal Progress program! I love how it helps the YW stretch and grow. I love that when doing PP, the young woman learns to love the scriptures, learns to make and complete goals, and blooms into a mature righteous woman. But I mostly love those times when PP makes a BIG difference in MY life :)

For example- Sierra (her name has been changed to protect the innocent:) my blog, my rules :) but I digress-

Sierra is SOOOO close to getting her YW award, she only needs to complete a few things. One which needed to be done was an experience in preparing food for the family for 2 weeks.

Sierra works. She works everyday after school and doesn't get home until late. (That's another story) So for her to pass off this goal, we decided she could make a list, go shopping with me to get the food, and make enough freezer meals for 7 days. (the true goal is 2 weeks, but go with me here, we are doing the "spirit of the law" not the "letter of the law". Some times mom's have to do these things in order for them to get done. don't judge me :)

So we spent one whole day planning, shopping and preparing food. We browned 6 pounds of hamburger, cooked 6 pounds of chicken, opened 7 cans of tomato sauce, and boiled tons of pasta.

We purchased 4 extra 9x13 pans to go along with the ones I already owned and filled them all.

For dinner that night Sierra prepared and served "French Bread Pizza". I turned out pretty darn good! Liam ate tons of it and even Eddie ate some after he had had pizza for lunch (anybody that knows Eddie, knows that's pretty amazing since he hates pizza)

See- makes your mouth water just looking at it! :)

We made it through the day with only a few frustrations and ended up with many free from making meal days for me! I LOVED it!!!

The lesson learned here- Personal Progress is a wise program that makes a girl into a woman, and a woman (her mom) feel like a girl again! FREEDOM! Thanks Sierra xoxoxo

The Doctor Zone

My DH- Great White Hunter (GWH) and I traveled to the U of U this morning to visit his dermatology doctor, the famous Dr. Zone. After years of not knowing what was happening to GWH, with his skin blistering and horrific sores in his mouth and throat, GWH was referred to the U of U's clinic 28 and the team of doctors that work there. The first trip to the clinic, GWH was inspected by no less than 48 different doctors (seriously, we counted :) and their findings were that he had MUCUS MEMBRANE PEMPHIGOID . What a name! But at least we had a name and an understanding that GWH's immune system was killing him. Dr. Zone, the head of the Dermalogical department of the U of U called him personally and asked to see him.

John J. Zone, M.D.

Chairman and Professor of Dermatology

• B.S., 1967, University of Notre Dame
• M.D., 1971, SUNY, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY.
• Residency in Internal Medicine, 1971-1974, SUNY, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
• Chief Medical Resident, 1974-1975, SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
• Residency in Dermatology, 1975-1978, SUNY at Buffalo
• Board Certification in Dermatology, Internal Medicine, Dermatological Immunology/Diagnostic and Laboratory Immunology

See what a handsome guy he is :) You can Google him and see what an accomplished doctor and scientist he is. It really is a miracle that he is GWH's doctor. And a saint in my blog! (Thanks for the awesome blessing from our oldest son, it all come together) GWH has been seeing him since December and is doing wonderfully! Not fully cured, but surely on the road to getting there.

We still have a hard time finding the place at the U of U hospital, but have a great time being together. I am so grateful for this man (GWH too, but I mean Dr. Zone :) He gave me back MY hubby, who went away for awhile when he was so sick. And thank goodness for worthy sons who bless their families !

It's how much!?!

DD Tink and her BF went to the mall to try on PrOm DrEsSeS! They looked so darn cute in them. This was Tink's favorite dress, and mine too, until we looked at the price tag. For $400 it could be yours. Tink's favorite part of the dress is the back. That's a little weird isn't it?

Look how sweet and angelic they look. $8oo bucks standing there.

We're going to try our hand at sewing our own dress. After a trip to JoAnn's to get the fabric, we are ready to make our own super-de-dooper prom dress. wish me luck.

My First Post.

You might ask me, "why the title, Clouds in My Eyes"? I'll tell you why. Because I like it and because it lyrics from a song that I have loved for years. I tried to think of a title that expressed me, that I have ties to, and that is what I came up with. When I was in 9th grade, Elton John came out with "Daniel" and I took possession of it way back then. It's one of those songs that when you hear it, it takes you back to the first time you heard it. I can smell the smells, see the sights and feel like a kid again when I hear it. When I hear the first notes I am once again traveling in the back of an old, hot, stuffy camper on my way to SoCal to visit Disneyland -Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane, I can see the red tail lights...... See there are those feelings all bubbling up inside of me....again. It is a bitter sweet time in my life. A trip to Disneyland, who wouldn't love it? Traveling with my cousins, going from Utah to CA with them. What a trip- and I mean trip as in crazy. Cousins who thought CA was somewhere in Utah, because they'd never been farther than Salt Lake City. That kind of trip. But it was good to get away from home. We went in March and I had just lost a brother to cancer in December. It was a runaway from thoughts trip. That song pulled through some hard times.

To me the line "I can see Daniel waving goodbye. Oh, it looks like Daniel must be the clouds in my eyes" meant that is what he is focused on- his brother Daniel. The clouds in his eyes are what made him happy, fulfilled and even sometimes made his judgement fuzzy when he tried with all his might to make others happy. I don't have any idea what Elton (I hope he doesn't mind that I call him by his first name, but I have loved him for years) I don't know what he meant by it, but this is my blog. The clouds in MY eyes are those things that I focus on, that make me happy and even cloud my judgement. So who knows what you'll find here, because those things change daily. I go through stages, this week is my blue stage. Don't worry it won't always be so sober, trust me, my life is too crazy to be sad. Just stating facts and it's my blog.