. . . new for spring . . .

. . . i haven't tried {yet}

to build them myself . . .

. . . but i truly enjoy

the color inspiration

polyvore images

like this provide . . .

. . . that grey/yellow/cream combo's

been one of my favorites

for a while now . . .

. . . so i figured

what's good for the goose

is good for the . . .

{bet you thought i was going to say gander}

. . . nope ~ let's go with gosling . . .

. . . i couldn't pass up

these trendy chevron jammies . . .

{poor jessalyn got baby clothes for her birthday last week}

. . . even though we don't yet know

if grandchild #8

is a boy or girl . . .

. . . these will work for either . . .

. . . and this

~ the latest in fashionable oops! ~

would coordinate nicely . . .

{though it's decidedly girlish}

{p.s. it's been nearly nine years and 5 grandsons in a row,

since we've had a granddaughter ~

but absolutely no pressure, drew and jess}

. . . forecast: sunny . . .

. . . one year ago right now,

it was coooooooold . . .

. . . the following photo

was taken

in early february 2011 . . .

. . . my poor little geraniums

were frozen to death . . .

{shortly afterward, they were given a proper burial

and ceremoniously replaced}

. . . fast forward to the present . . .

. . . this photo was taken today . . .

. . . it's painful to stay inside . . .

. . . when the weather is this glorious . . .

. . . what?

no popcorn popping

on your trees yet? . . .

. . . arizona is THE place to be

in january . . .

. . . although i have it on good authority

that things are looking pretty sunny

in florida, too . . .

. . . fingers crossed for tomorrow . . .

. . . bittersweet . . .

. . . i got released today . . .

. . . from serving

as secretary

in young women . . .

. . . since january of 2008 . . .

. . . i'm a little bitter . . .

. . . because the girls

are so sweet . . .

. . . and i've had the opportunity

to work with

some pretty splendid women . . .

. . . i'll miss all of them . . .

. . . you've probably heard

this saying:

"change is like manure.

it stinks.

but ~ it's good for growth."

{i don't really want to grow!}

. . . ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

was different . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

needed to be special edition . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

got a little extra love . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

was from the heart . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

wears a teeny tiny ♥ patch

made by me . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

is in memory of

a teeny tiny girl

i loved . . .

. . . this batch of oops!

will go to babies

with CHDs . . .

{congenital heart defects}

. . . halleigh helped me

package, sort, and deliver

this batch of oops! . . .

. . . while halleigh's mom

was busy

running a marathon

this morning . . .

. . . go ahead and check

the women's leaderboard . . .

. . . you're fired . . .

. . . well ~

newt wants to build a moon colony

{by the end of his second term}

and eventually

{with a population of 13,000}

it could apply for statehood . . .

. . . mitt's reply:

"if i had a business executive

come to me

and say they wanted to spend

a few hundred billion dollars

to put a colony on the moon

i'd say 'you're fired'" . . .

. . . while mitt was busy channeling

his inner donald trump . . .

. . . giving newt the old pink slip . . .

. . . i was busy working on

these girly oops! . . .

. . . starting to see

the light at the end

of this project tunnel . . .

{i promise the oops! on the right is pink.

let's just say post office lighting is less than favorable}

. . . i did take

a little post office break

this morning

to send these oops!

on their way to colorado . . .

{hi, andrea!}

. . . along with a little

belated birthday package . . .

{hi, jessalyn!}

. . . boys will be boys . . .

. . . one step closer

to being done . . .

. . . i'm starting the cute part

of the blue ones . . .

. . . and i'll tell you what . . .

. . . it must be boy season . . .

{including a friend's grandson born just this morning -

congratulations to ashley and dallin young

and welcome to the world baby rigby!}

. . . i can hardly keep up

with orders for brown, blue,

and a little camo . . .

. . . so if you're

one of my customers

who's waiting . . .

. . . thanks for your patience . . .

. . . i'm getting there! . . .

. . . a birthday wish . . .

. . . happy number twenty-two . . .

. . . my special wish is for

morning/evening sickness

to leave you alone today . . .

. . . thanks for being

my very favorite

daughter-in-law . . .

. . . and for being

the best wife for drew . . .

. . . and i'm pretty darn excited

about this new grandbaby, too . . .

{blatently stolen facebook photo ~ thanks}

. . . love you, jessalyn! . . .

. . . happy, happy birthday . . .

. . . two Ls two Ts . . .

. . . elliott is learning

some pretty fancy stuff

at his new preschool . . .

{notice as he "counts" the syllables in his name}

. . . but, really, dad . . .

. . . it get slightly confusing

when you keep

asking the same questions

over

and over

and over

and over . . .

{this post

was brought to you

by the letter L}

. . . born in 1925 . . .

. . . happy happy birthday

to mom romney . . .

. . . you do the math . . .

{but, seriously ~ who looks this good at eighty-seven?}

. . . she's a lovely lady

with the best sense of humor . . .

. . . who fancies herself

a lucille ball double . . .

. . . a more generous,

caring, thoughtful person

you'll never find . . .

. . . i've been blessed

with a fabulous mother-in-law . . .

. . . that's for sure! . . .

. . . i'm jealous . . .

. . . he's the only person i know who,

given the choice of two lessons,

picks one {the day before giving it}

and then can keep

a whole room full of teenagers

and a few old people

{hi, bishop!}

captivated for nearly an hour . . .

. . . and can gracefully incorporate

stories and personal experiences

about his favorite subjects,

including {but not limited to}

missionary work,

his childhood,

our family,

old girlfriends,

sports and

politics . . .

. . . he ties them all together . . .

. . . and makes it look easy . . .

. . . and it totally relates and works . . .

. . . every time . . .

. . . good job, dear . . .

{all i have to do is bring treats}

. . . progress . . .

. . . chenille . . .

. . . the lintiest . . .

. . . fuzziest . . .

. . . messiest . . .

. . . nose itchiest step . . .

. . . ah choo . . .

{i'm off to vacuum now}

. . . even more jammies . . .

. . . i realize christmas

was nearly a month ago . . .

. . . but drew requested

one more post

about jammies . . .

. . . and who am i to refuse? . . .

. . . here's our cute daughters . . .

. . . elliott says these hoodies

look just like elmo . . .

. . . granddaughters looking good

in grey cheetah . . .

. . . studly grandsons

in skull and crossbones flannel . . .

. . . enjoying a disney princess story . . .

. . . and the babies in peppermint stripes . . .

. . . and hold the phone . . .

. . . we'll need

one more pair of jammies

next christmas . . .

. . . we can't wait to meet

a new little grandbaby

in august . . .

. . . congrats to drew and jessalyn! . . .

{it's been a l...o...n...g twenty-nine days of keeping this secret

and i'm pretty dang proud of myself for not telling a single soul

till i got the go-ahead this morning}

. . . choices, choices . . .

. . . what to do when

{yet another}

respiratory virus

{aka dang cold}

strikes? . . .

. . . 1} take nyquil

and nap on the couch . . .

{that's what i felt like doing}

. . . 2} work on

the second step

of my project . . .

{what i actually did}

. . . and 3} let's see . . .

. . . what was number three? . . .

. . . oh, yes ~ watch rick perry

bow out

of the republican presidential race . . .

. . . bonus choice 4} watch newt

blame the media

for his own indiscretions . . .

. . . oops! indeed . . .

{politics again}

. . . happy lashiversary to me . . .

. . . today i'd like to pause

and give thanks . . .

{old eyes}

. . . for this miracle called lash extensions . . .

. . . this has been

the best year

of my life . . .

{new eyes}

. . . and i'm only sort of kidding

when i say that . . .

{disclaimer: lash extensions will not make your red/tired eyes,

fine lines, wrinkles or crows feet shrink or disappear.

they will, however, save you

a good ten minutes of mascara time every morning}

. . . need/want this miracle

in your life? . . .

. . . call me . . .

. . . i know a girl . . .

. . . the first step . . .

. . . this is the start

of a very special

and {kind of} large order . . .

. . . it is also how i busy myself

and refrain from throwing objects

at the television

while ron paul

is proposing a

zero per cent income tax . . .

. . . what a goofball . . .

{i fear this has become

a political blog!}

. . . and yet, i offer no apology . . .

. . . huntsman . . .

. . . so sad to see him gone . . .

. . . NOT so sad to see him gone . . .

. . . are you watching

once upon a time? . . .

. . . the huntsman/sheriff graham

will be missed for sure . . .

. . . sunday inspiration . . .

. . . kimball stake conference . . .

. . . the theme:

doctrine and covenants 115:5 . . .

. . . "arise and shine forth,

that thy light may be a standard

for the nations" . . .

. . . president smith

posed this question:

"how do we arise

and shine forth?" . . .

. . . his answer gave me

a sense of comfort:

"for most of us,

we just keep doing

what we're doing" . . .

. . . and although

i know i have

lots of room

for improvement,

i hope the lord knows

i really am trying

to do a good job . . .

. . . c.o.y. . . .

. . . ever since

i started

paying attention . . .

. . . i've approved wholeheartedly

of pantone's choice

for color of the year . . .

{c.o.y.}

. . . blue iris in 2008 . . .

. . . 2009's mimosa

was one

of my all~time faves . . .

. . . 2010 was a no~brainer . . .

. . . i think

everyone jumped

on the turquoise bandwagon . . .

. . . ahhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

. . . honeysuckle . . .

. . . how i loved thee last year . . .

. . . so things

were going along

swimmingly . . .

. . . until? . . .

. . . i guess

one out of five

ain't bad . . .

. . . hoping for

better luck in 2013 . . .