dear diary

Things have been crazy busy as always, but in a good way.

 

I started the semester last week and am really enjoying my Microbiology class. It is so much easier than my Anatomy & Physiology classes. . .I can't get over it. Plus, I love my professor and really enjoy her lectures. She is from India and is so cute and personable with an infectious laugh that makes me giggle right along with her. Loving it.

 

I've done a lot of scrapbooking in January--17 layouts--which has been so fun! I've been learning how to use my Cricut and Sure-Cuts-A-Lot and so enjoying the results.

 

I've also been doing lots of reading, I think another 8 books this month (well, I completed 7 and gave up on the 8th) and just started a new one last night. Such a nice respite from the world!

 

(that's not me)

I got a new calling at church. I am now one of the four ward organists.  (I know, I know, this much coolness should not be allowed to occur all in one person, alas, someone's gotta do it). 

"But Amie," you say, "I didn't know you knew how to play the organ?"

I don't.

I've never played one in my life!  Ha!  But hopefully I'll be able to get used to it and not muck up my first week of music (in February) when it comes. I'm still playing piano in Primary too, so I'm definitely getting my quota of music in each Sunday.

 

Sean just got a fun part in the school production of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. He'll be playing the part of Mike Teevee, so that's exciting for him. He gets crazy anxious nervous about new things, so I'm hoping this will break him in enough that he'll get over that fear and hopefully continue to try out for new things in the future.

 

My girls and I went to the temple a couple of nights ago which was really refreshing and enjoyable.  I think it was the third time I've been to the temple in the past month. . .so cool that I'm able to go so much more often now!

 

We're considering going up to Flagstaff on Saturday to play in the snow, but we've never done that with the kids before and have no idea how to plan! What to wear? what to take with us? How cold or wet will we be? Anyone have any suggestions or clothes we can borrow?

 

And this is my newest favorite song, "Somewhere Only We Know"--I just love these covers done by other bands! The original (which I also love) is done by Keane and can be seen here. This version is done by Lifehouse. And is it just me, or does the lead singer look like a cross between Jim from "The Office" and Charlie from "Lost" (Dominic Monaghan)? Right?

 

So, in a not-so-small nutshell, these are things that have been keeping me busy this past week.  What are you up to this last week of January?

it's a scrap attack!

I've totally had the scrappy itch lately. 

And I love to scratch.

Or something.

 

12 of 12, a little green, a little late

I didn't make too many goals this year; be less sedentary (ie, get off my butt!), play my piano more, try to get a bit more caught up on scrapping, and try to participate monthly in the Twelve-of-Twelve challenges.

If you read my blog, you know that 12-of-12 means you take tons of pictures on the 12th of the month, then pick the best 12 to represent that day, and post them and/or scrapbook them. They don't have to be pictures of major events, just simple things that detail your day to day. It actually is really interesting to look over later and see what your house, kids, yard, fridge looked like during different months of the year. We don't always think to document the little things like what your closet floor looked like, and this program pushes me to think outside the box a little.

To keep it interesting, this time around I took pictures of all things green. :)

No, these are not old Christmas presents, these are actually Mother's and Father's Day presents that Cameron made, wrapped up (in Christmas wrapping paper), and told us to wait until May or June to open them. That kid is too funny.


This is Sean's backpack.

This is a bit of leftover Christmas gumball candy.

My favorite cup. Best when full of cranberry flavored crystal light.

Ethan loves dinosaurs, and these prominently displayed ones are some of his favorites.

The color of the hand towel in my kiddos' dirty bathroom.

Some green stuff in our year supply. I love that Garnier face scrub stuff!

I just bought anjou pears at the store for 50 cents a pound.

Love this yummy smelling candle, but it gives me headaches. Go figure.

Green tomatoes growing on the vine.

You may or may not have noticed that AZ has had a bit of crazy rain and weather lately! The green grass popping up is a sign of all the moisture we've had lately.

And the obligitory self portrait. I have green eyes.

If you want more information about 12-of-12 or if you want to get on Susan's reminder email list, go here.

*glug glug* the return of el nino to arizona

Since Monday it has been raining off and on, causing a slurry of accidents and small time floods, many a change of clothing and socks, and all together change in habit and temperament around these parts. The rare inch upon inch of rain has hit the state, threatening the closure of school due to impassable streets and soaked schoolyards.

Generally, I love the rain, but I absolutely detest driving in it; I mean I border on having an actual phobia of driving under wet conditions. I end up staying around 8-10 car lengths behind the vehicle in front of me. I clench that steering wheel and hardly dare to even look away from the road long enough to check my rear-view mirror. I don't breathe easy again until I am back safe and sound in my own garage.

Good things about this lovely change of climate for us desert dwellers include the nice cool temperature, the wonderful smell, the fresh and clean feel of everything from our landscapes to our roads to just the general atmosphere, and of course, a good healthy dose of drink for all flora and fauna indigenous to this Valley of the Sweat.

Stereotypically, I love to curl up with my fleecy blanket (secretly I yearn for a Snugglie--but was too embarassed to ask for one when by chance I overheard a conversation behind me in line at the Wal-Marts one weekend about how the Snugglie is just a backwards bathrobe! I wanted to disagree so badly! It's larger, comfier, cozier, and in all other ways better than just a plain old bathrobe...right?) and a book. As you all know I've been doing a lot of reading lately and this change of weather lends itself perfectly to a good read-a-thon.

As a result of constantly having cold and wet tootsies (my children can NOT stay indoors during weather like this...they must investigate!) I have been making lots of warm meals (fajitas in the crock-pot tonight) and cup after cup of warm cocoa. I tend to stick to the 25 calorie stuff but then I add more water, raw cocoa, and a serving of splenda to make it a bit yummier.

The storm clouds and precipitation will make their way through our parched state and we will once again be left with dry, hopefully not-so-thirsty terrain. We'll remember that we like the sun and that we live here for a reason. We'll happily return to the park and ride our bikes and in all other ways enjoy our relatively warm winters in Phoenix. (Some of us were still wearing shorts and short-sleeves just last week!) We'll thank Heavenly Father for feeding our plants and refreshing our land and be grateful that we have very few, if any, risks of natural disaster in this lovely state of ours. Our thoughts and prayers go to those suffering in Haiti right now, to those others who have suffered from tsunamis and hurricanes, blizzards and tornadoes, mudslides and fires in other parts of this earth.

I had a disappointing day today (nothing so interesting as to deserve a post on my blog) but as I was driving home, knuckles white, listening to the radio about Haiti, I had some perspective and realized I needed to be grateful for our beautiful weather, our health and safety, and the beauty that is God's Nature.



(And happy birthday to my dear friend Christine!)

the apple dumpling doesn't fall far from this tree

I mentioned in Monday's post that during our football party Saturday, the girls and I had scrapbooked the night away. Cameron had asked me repeatedly if he could join us (with his craft box in hand), so I told him that he and I could scrapbook the next day when we had more time and room.

So Sunday, we scrapbooked.

And we scrapbooked.

And we scrapbooked.

By the end of the night, the tally was, Amie: 3, Cameron 14

Here are his works of art. :)

This is my favorite of the bunch, just because he has a pretty good theme going. He used stencils and glitter glue and even drew an eye patch on himself.

I didn't help him at all-I just gave him a stack of paper he could use and then he went to town using his own craft supplies.

His spelling and handwriting are atrocious!! I don't know how to help him with that. The kid reads like crazy, but still, yikes. I think he just needs to slow down and take his time. His homework is often like this too.

Cameron has always been the recipient of pictures I printed but did not need; those I'd made doubles of for whatever reason, or those that didn't make it into the scrapbook or photo album.

I like his themed, hand-drawn art on this one.

In his words, this says "A to Z", and there are basketballs and a basket cut out of felt and foam. . . see it now?

The ironic thing is, I was scrapping some of these pictures at the same time. Cameron taught me there is no such thing as too many googly eyes.

This layout resulted after I handed him a bunch of alpha stickers and thickers that I was done using. (by the way, I LOVE the picture he used here. It's one of my favorites of my kids)

This one's Danny's favorite.

I love how he added the giant S and H on Sean's picture. And then spelled both Sean's first name and our last name wrong.

Another one of my favorites, even though it is riddled with spelling errors. From the top we have a castle, ghost, count dracula (see the cape?? I love it!), a skeleton, rats, vampire bats, a werewolf, zombie, and bat. *giggle*

My boy loves him some glitter glue.

He even used coordinating rain and umbrella themed stickers for this rainy day layout!

A piece of art depicting him making a piece of art. With cut out felt snowflakes to boot.

I have to say I love this one for the trees. :)

Do you let your kids use your art supplies? I found this was a great way of weeding out my stuff and he really enjoyed the process. He is my artsy crafty boy anyway, and whatever he tackles in this area, he really puts his whole heart into it.

I'm sure he'd love some feedback!