Technical difficulties

So our computer died about 2 weeks ago, thus the lack of any blog posts.  My parents have very generously let me take over their home office for a few hours to catch up and check e-mails.  So if you need to get a hold of me quickly, don't e-mail, call :)  We hope to get a new one in the next few weeks, but until then. . .the joys of modern technology.

So I have survived April.  Soccer is over.  Miss E did great.  Last track meet is today.   Miss A broke the school record for the 2 mile race last week.  She is doing awesome.  Miss O turned 12!!!  Mr J had his first piano recital and music competition, and he got a gold medal.  Yeah!  We found out Miss A won a state writing contest, and then found out her entry won a national honor.  Exciting stuff here.  We have about 2 weeks of school left.  Time is just flying!  I can't decide if I am ready for summer or not.  I guess I don't have a choice.  We finally got our garden planted.  We divided it into 4 equal sections and let the kids plant whatever they wanted in each section.  It will be interesting to see what (if anything) we harvest.  Mr J has at least 2 rows of zinnias and giant sunflowers.  They have to weed and water their own sections.  We will see how that turns out. 

Posting will be few and far between coming up, but thanks for visiting, and hopefully we will get our crazy life kind of figured out and get a new computer soon!  Have a good one!

2012 Blue Jeans Week 15

Have you ever had one of those week where you feel like you are drowning because you are insanely busy?  Well, this week was like that.  Don't want to bore you with details, but sufficeth to say, I think April's activities and business might put me over the edge :)  And to top it off, my kids will be out of school for the summer in one month!  One month!  Ahh!  But I can't think about that too much, I am just trying to survive these next two weeks of piano and choral competitions, soccer games, track meets, and dance rehearsals.  If I can make it to May 8th with my sanity still intact, I will consider myself very lucky and blessed.  Anyone else in the same boat?  Are April and May activities drowning you?  And then there is yard work, gardening, mowing, cooking, cleaning, school projects, spelling lists. . . and the list goes on, but despite all this I am very blessed.  I don't have to do it alone.  I have a very supportive husband, and I have soccer games and track meets to go to because I am blessed with kids.  I have piano recitals and choral performances to go to because I am blessed with wonderful kids.  My family is a blessing, and I am grateful for that, and someday I am going to be really bored sitting at home with nothing to do--just wondering when that will be ??? :)  So here are our pictures from this week, and thankfully they don't show me running around pulling my hair out.

Sunday:  Easter--everyone in their new stuff all ready for church.  Mr J picked his tie out himself, and when did my 2nd daughter get as tall as my oldest?  Crazy!

Monday:  Mr J and his awesome pajama ensemble--man that kid has style :)

Tuesday:  Miss E lost a tooth at school today

Wednesday:  My volunteer day at school.  I snapped a few pictures of Mr J's class--the classic, "pick me" with his hand raised.  Love it!

Thursday:  I was at the school today for something--seems I am always there for something or another, and I peeked into the gym where Miss E class was doing archery.  How cool is that? 

Friday:  My iris are already out and blooming this year--a month early!  These purple ones smell divine, I wish you could do a scratch and sniff on a blog--you would love it!

Saturday:  Our church has temples where special worship services and marriages are performed.  I was married in the Salt Lake City, Utah temple.  Where we live our closest one has been about 5 hours away, but they recently built one just 2 hours from us, and we are so excited!  We drove up there today to go through the open house, and it is so beautiful!  The kids were very impressed.

Thanks for visiting, and hope your week is going well, and that if it is crazy, that you survive!  :)  Hang in there, I am with ya!

2012 Blue Jeans week 14

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.  Ours was beautiful.  So grateful for my Savior and all He has done for me.  I am truly blessed.  Here is what we have been up to this past week. . .

Sunday:  Our church has a semi-annual General Conference, and we usually watch it over the internet, but Ben figured out a way to hook it up to the TV.  The kids always enjoy playing with legos while listening.  We love General Conference weekend.

Monday:  Mashed potatoes are one of our family's favorite foods, but it is rather labor intensive, so the kids know if they want it, peeling potatoes is required.  Miss O was in charge of peeling potatoes for dinner tonight.

Tuesday:  First track meet of the season, and it was a beautiful day.  It was small meet, but Miss A did awesome and came in 1st in her races.  Go, girl, go!

Wednesday:  We enjoyed a nice afternoon at the park on early release day today.

Thursday:  Getting ready for Easter and dying eggs--a favorite activity for everyone!  We dye our brown chicken eggs, and they turn out so pretty!

Friday:  Every year we host a Easter Egg hunt/potluck dinner with a bunch of friends.  My kids love filling the Easter eggs full of candy that we hide.  I think they love it so much because they have to sample each kind to make sure it is good :)  Mr J and Miss E were good egg stuffers today.

Saturday:  Our 6th annual Easter Egg Hunt/potluck.  It was raining in the morning, and we were worried we would have to cancel, but the sun came out, and it warmed up right as we began.  The kids have lots of fun hunting eggs, and it is a great time to spend with friends.

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great week!

Fabulous Friday

Happy Good Friday to you all!  We are having a beautiful day here.  I walked around my yard this week and got some pictures of my flowers.  I have some iris that are in bloom, can you believe it?  They are a month early this year.  Our spring sprang early :)  Enjoy your fabulous Friday and the colors of my yard. . .

This purple iris smells amazing!  Too bad you can't do scratch and sniff on a blog--it's scent is divine!

I have these pretty yellow and pink tulips

I also have these pretty white ones.

This is a new flower I got last year for Mother's Day, and I cannot remember the name, but it grows on a climbing vine with these beautiful purple flowers.

Love creeping phlox.  I just wish they would bloom all summer instead of just the beginning of spring.

Ben also gave me my first knock out rose bush for Mother's Day last year.  It is already blooming!

Have a very blessed Easter weekend!  Thanks for visiting!

Mouth-watering Wednesdays--walking tacos

Do you know what a walking taco is?  I think it is a Mid-West thing.  It is a staple at the fall craft and county fairs around here, and it is really good.   It is basically just a taco salad, but at the fairs they open up a small bag of Frito's chips, dump a cup of meat sauce in the bag and then have cheese, olives, sour cream, salsa, etc for you to top off your bag with and then you get a fork and eat your taco from the bag as you walk along thus the name--walking tacos.

This recipe is my friend Cathy's, and it is loved at my house.  We don't serve ours in bags, but we put the chips on our plates and then pile everything on.  It is also a great crock pot recipe.  Enjoy!

Walking Tacos Meat Sauce

2 lbs hamburger, browned and drained

1/4 cup taco seasoning or 1/2 to 1 package taco seasoning, depending upon how spicy you want it

1 can diced tomatoes, don't drain, puree

2 cups salsa

2 cans kidney beans, drained

Cook meat, then combine all ingredients in a crock pot on low for a couple hours (you can simmer it on the stove also).  When ready to eat layer chips, sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sour cream, salsa, cheese or whatever you like on a taco.  Enjoy!

**Also, if you have lots leftover (which we rarely do :), this freezes well for another meal a different day

2012 Blue Jeans Week 13

Spring is definitely here, and I was kind of worried that summer was already coming because we had two days in a row where the high was 90~  Way too early for that.  We survived the pink eye of last week.  I had kids home 4 of the 5 days last week with it, but all is clear now.  It is not fun, but if I had to choose between stomach flu and pink eye, I would choose pink eye :)  Soccer and track are in full swing now, and this month is going to be crazy!  People say that December is the craziest and busiest month of the year, but I think April/May top it easily.  Here is what we have been up to this past week. . .

Sunday:  3 of my kids stayed with my younger sister and her husband for part of spring break last week.  They had a wonderful time!!!  We met them and got the kids back today.  It was nice to have everyone home again.  The house had been too quiet :) 

Monday:  Lawn mowing season--let it begin.  I mowed the lawn for the first time this season.  I think this is the earliest I have ever started to mow.  My 6 year old took this picture for me :)

Tuesday:  Ben gave me some beautiful roses for my birthday last week, and they are so gorgeous!

Wednesday:  The youth in our church at practicing for a big regional cultural event with singing and dancing for the dedication of a new temple 2 hours from us.  Miss A and Miss O have been practicing a lot for it.  Tonight the local youth were practicing the dancing.  Miss A and her cute partner :) make sure they get the steps right.

Thursday:  Miss O and Ben practice their duet for their piano recital coming up in a few weeks.

Friday:  Miss E helped me decorate for Easter today and hang our Easter eggs in the front entry.

Saturday:  Soccer!  Miss E is the only one playing this year.  She had her first game today and did really well.  #10 is our girl!

Hope all is well with you!  Thanks for stopping by!