I want to go to Italy for four weeks and become a Gelato Master. Stupid WholeFoods and their pistachio gelato is too far away for me to go when a craving hits. Why can't they stay open late like the crap selling stores with their OtterPops?

I remember...

When I was six we lived with my Grandma and Grandpa for a while. I remember getting ready for school while Grandma watched her recording of Days of Our Lives before going to work. I never got into soaps and almost never watch t.v. now, but I know all about the evil Stefano and the Brady family.

Grandma came with my Mom this weekend for a visit. We had a lake day and a shopping day and brought home a kitten for Scrunch. She's begged for a kitty since she was three. What can I say? I don't mind the animals, and she told me a week ago that animals were her hobby. She has no interest in doing t-ball, soccer, or swim team so 4-H and poop scooping are our future. Let the Noah's Ark jokes begin.... It actually is a very sweet kitty, but honestly! You'd think these ladies might have talked me out of it, but no. They are enablers. I might be classified as one too after our visit to the knitting shop. 

Grandma does amazing needlepoint and is a very good knitter. I found out that even though there were women in her family who knew how, she learned to knit from a neighbor. This is funny because I learned from a library book, and not Grandma. It's like a non-tradition tradition.

Another random fact...Scrunchs' 'Pandora' looks JUST like Grandma's kitty 'Pixie' did. I also remember the day Grandpa brought 'Pixie' and 'Tigala' home from the mill.

I am...

hoping part of our Reverence FHE stuck and will continue to stick through a couple of Sacrament meetings before we need to revisit the topic again.

anxious to demolish the other kitchen counter top. Oh yes. Yes I did.

grateful my Husband is oh so very patient.

giddy about the idea of not having to scrub grout on the counters any more. Except in the bathrooms. This year.

debating about where to plant the Katy apricot tree and whether the limes and limequats should stay in pots or go in the ground.

obsessing over whether or not I could pull off making a giant hypertufa planter.

resigned to the idea that I am becoming an old lady who fusses over her fruit trees and deadheading   flowerbeds, and has read a few too many tutorials on hypertufa.

pleased that I am starting to get this spinning thing. 

relieved to be taking a break from violin lessons for the summer.

exhausted from making Goldfish patterns, oil pastel-ing, water coloring, pipe cleaner twisting, and potato stamping at Art Camp today.

excited about our upcoming get away.

worried that Crazytown might be enough to send my sister over the edge.

guilty that I'm not as concerned as perhaps I should be that it might send my sister over the edge. I've done my part. Baby is weaned and Porkchop is on the potty (for today).

Can you see me now?

If you can see this picture then you know I am one proud mama...

Did it work? Can you see the pictures now?

My big fat goal for the day is to cast on Mix No. 13. This means after showers and family work we'll be having a marathon of How It's Made.

See my sweater? I plan on it being my Netflix marathon sweater- before and after it is knit.



I think we could all use the down time. Monday we rode our bikes to the lake and I am more sore than I should be. Yesterday was the first day of Art Camp. With ELEVEN kids under 10! We read a story, talked about Wassily Kadinsky, started their very own circle painting with oil pastels while rocking out to different moods of music. They made color wheels with coloring and practiced mixing colors with play-doh. I had fun. I counted the activities a success because I was completely beat by the afternoon, and Scrunch announced after dinner that her orange Otter Pop was a secondary color.

On his way home from work Husband called and told me the missionaries' dinner appointment canceled- meaning they were looking for somewhere to eat. I was planning on feeding my kids black beans and rice (they like it, I swear) but I rallied some energy and put on my new go-to Crap Company's Coming dinner of bulgogi, kimchi coleslaw, Korean melon, and sticky rice. It's just exotic enough for it to seem like some thought went into it, but I almost always have all of the ingredients and everyone loves it. We have secured our place once again as their favorite place to eat, which means I can probably expect at least a few more drop-ins for dinner before the next transfers. This may or may not have had to do with the fact that I "forgot" to turn off my Pearl Jam Pandora station when they arrived and we let them jump on the trampoline. Technically this is against the rules but I counted it worth it when on his way out one of them said, "Thanks for helping remind us what it's like to have a family and that we're regular people. Sometimes being a missionary is hard."

No crap it's hard. I went 21 days without grains, sugar, or dairy with only a couple of "cheat" meals and I don't know if I could have done it. Scrunch and Porkchop love having them here and think they are the best ever! I love to hear the missionaries bear testimony to my kids about what they are doing and how much they love Christ and his gospel so I guess it is worth the trade-off of feeding them every once in a while from the comfort of my play-doh encrusted kitchen. Plus, Juju is their favorite. But how could she not be?

Last Monday my list was...

bedrooms
bathrooms
bunny hutch
bird cage
blog my banquette.

And I did all of them, except the very last. But now, now I will show you. It is one of my all-time very favorite house projects I've completed. I like to remind my husband just how much money I saved him by buying my sewing machine and serger last summer just so I could do this project. Do you know how much  they want to charge for custom bench cushions?

Some day, I want there to be french doors instead of the slider. Some day. For now I am very happy with the happiest of high chairs.

While he was gone, I couldn't sleep. I never sleep well when he's gone, so I stay up working on projects and I wake up super early to work on them some more. Because it is either very early or very late, these pictures are awful, but you get the idea. Hopscotch and polka dots because I can!

And if I still can't sleep I re-arrange the furniture. Again.

He doesn't even flinch if he walks into a room and it is completely different from last he saw it. Sometimes it's because he's been gone a week and other's that very same morning. He even encourages some of my crazy ideas. Like hosting a weekly Summer Art Camp for ten kids. I might be more excited than the kids. He set up my new printer and got the kids to clean up while I sorted supplies and got the last little bits ready. I am going to keep him.