31 July 2012

. . . slurry . . .

. . . what's going on 
in your neighborhood today? . . .


. . . gotta love that 
fresh blacktop smell . . . 
{nope}
. . . and all those tiny black rocks 
that end up in the house . . .
. . . they're great for wood floors . . .
{nope}
. . . but ~ on the bright side ~
 the street looks great . . . 


30 July 2012

. . . pom line . . .

. . . i'm gearing up for the 
great eighth grandchild giveaway . . .
{which is totally different than 
if we were giving away an eighth great grandchild}
. . . anyway . . .
. . . all of today's oops! 
feature jumbo pom pom fringe . . .
. . . it's my favorite edge trim . . .



. . . this white on white is perfect 
for a blessing or christening day . . .


. . . how about 
a snow leopard version? . . . 


. . . elliott's crib bedding 
started out red . . . 
. . . but switched to aqua . . .
. . . and it only took me 
nearly four years 
to use up the red chenille . . .


. . . this pink is beautiful in person . . .
. . . sort of a deep carnation pink . . .
. . . anyone remember 
the crayon named 
"carnation pink"? . . .
. . . it was my favorite . . .


. . . this is the sweetest, palest, 
babiest pink . . . 
. . . so soft and cute . . .


. . . and this is the perfect green . . .
. . . not too lime-ish . . .


. . . for all the pink and purple lovers
 out there . . .


. . . another carnation pink . . .
. . . this time in polka dots . . . 
. . . that perfectly match 
my favorite rosy chenille . . .


. . . stay tuned for the
 great eighth grandchild giveaway . . .
. . . we're just waiting 
for baby hayden 
to make her grand entrance . . .
. . . hopefully soon . . . 
. . . her poor mama is getting 
a bad case of the itchies . . .
{PUPPPs and it's no fun at all}


29 July 2012

. . . grillin' in the rain . . .

. . . it was so good
. . . we decided 
to recreate this meal 
today . . .
. . . it was raining both times . . .
. . . never mind 
it was about 
thirty-five degrees warmer 
today . . . 
. . . and no pine trees . . .
. . . but, dinner 
still turned out great . . .


. . . thanks to shellene
 for highly recommending 
this marinade . . . 
. . . tasty . . .
. . . easy . . .
. . . juicy chicken . . .

. . . even better than dinner 
was having 
all the grandkids together again 
after a couple of months apart . . .
. . . noisy, sticky, damp, happy kids . . .
. . . a perfect end to this sunday . . .


28 July 2012

. . . dear liz . . .

. . . seriously . . .
. . . you were with daniel craig . . .
. . . in a helicopter . . .
. . . with daniel craig . . .
. . . at the olympics . . .
. . . with daniel craig . . .
. . . in england . . .
. . . with daniel craig . . .


. . . really . . .
. . . it's okay to smile!! . . .


27 July 2012

. . . just say no to crack . . .

. . . warning: this post is rated pg . . .
. . . tell the kids to look away . . . 
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. . . okay . . .
. . . first of all,
i'm not quite sure
why people send this stuff 
to me . . .
. . . second of all, 
there seems 
to be a theme today . . .

. . . exhibit *a . . .
. . . from brother-in-law, rob . . .
. . . apparently the shirt says 
"i'm more attractive 
than you think" . . .
 . . . he says it's going to be 
the new required uniform 
for all his carpet installers . . . 



. . . exhibit *b . . .
. . . from daughter, amelia . . .
. . . she says, "this is how 
we do swimming 
at the johnson house" . . .
. . . this better be included 
in colby's wedding video 
someday . . . 

. . . *i'll let you figure out 
what the *a and *b stand for . . .


26 July 2012

. . . nesting . . .

. . . she's washed 
all the tiny clothes . . .
. . . he's assembled 
the stroller and swing . . .
. . . they've dressed the crib . . .


. . . after a trip to lowe's, 
they've hung the quilt . . . 


. . . what's left 
for jessalyn and drew 
to do? . . .
. . . wait patiently . . .
. . . baby hayden 
should arrive 
any day now . . .


25 July 2012

. . . my favorite day of the month {and a winner} . . .

. . . yes, today was quilt group . . .
. . . good thing, too, 
because i was in withdrawal 
from missing it 
the last two months . . . 
. . . i love my children 
and i was so happy 
for the chance 
to visit drew and jessalyn 
in utah 
and amber, chris and children 
in california, 
but i will 
~ from here on out ~ 
be a little more careful 
with my trip planning . . . 
. . . there's only one third wednesday 
of each month . . . 
. . . no need to be out of town 
on that one day! . . .
. . . so 
~ after my prolonged absence ~ 
you'd think i'd be excited 
and take lots of photos . . .
. . . well ~ think again! . . .
. . . when we were nearly finished 
for the day, 
i snapped a couple of pics . . .
. . . and i'm so disappointed in myself
 for all the things 
i didn't document . . . 

. . . like the amazing quilts
nedra is working on . . . 
. . . she's a professional 
scrap user upper . . . 
. . . and she turns those scraps 
into works of art . . . 

. . . gina whipped up a baby quilt 
and a doll quilt 
in a couple of hours . . .
. . . then she and renee served 
an italian lunch feast . . .
. . . salad, pasta, sauce, bread 
and panna cotta . . . 
. . . oh, my . . .

. . . vicki is working on 
adorable birthday wall hangings . . . 
. . . i am most likely 
going to steal one of them 
when they're finished . . . 

. . . renee worked on one 
of her signature 
minkee and satin 
baby blankees . . .

. . . candice sewed 
strips of vintage modern 
for a grandbaby's chevron quilt . . . 

. . . holly stitched away 
on a project 
that might take a while . . .
. . . embroidered blocks 
depicting famous children's books . . .
. . . a labor of love . . .

. . . amanda popped in and out 
between her 
relief society president duties 
and back to school 
immunization appointments . . .

. . . so excited julie's 
going to join us from now on . . .
. . . can't wait to see 
what she'll work on first . . .
. . . whatever it is,
it will be spectacular . . .

. . . we missed jamie and janet . . .


. . . i think if this quilt 
and this quilt 
had a baby . . .
. . . it would look 
like this gorgeous quilt
 that karen is working on . . . 
. . . bliss and snowballs . . . 
. . . perfect combo . . . 
. . . i absolutely love 
the tiny cornerstone squares 
in this pattern . . . 
. . . they add so much . . . 

 {isn't it so pretty?}


. . . gina has an entire bolt 
of this mustache fabric . . . 
. . . pretty sure i laughed out loud 
when i saw it . . .
. . . so clever . . . 



. . . here's one of peggy's projects . . . 
. . . she's started 
a great granny quilt 
for a grandson on the way . . .
. . . lucky baby! . . .

{that tiny gingham background will be fabulous} 

. . . me? . . .
. . . i didn't get done 
nearly as much 
as i thought i would . . .
. . . could it be because 
i was yakking too much? . . .
. . . could it be because 
i was admiring 
everyone else's work too much? . . .
. . . could it be because 
i was 45 minutes late? . . .
. . . could it be because 
i spent too much time with megan
 designing my ipad cover . . .
. . . could it be because 
i was savoring 
every single mouthful 
of that lunch? . . .
. . . who cares? . . .
. . . bottom line? 
i finished a couple of blocks . . . 


. . . and today . . . 
. . . that was good enough for me! . . .
. . . i just love spending time 
with these ladies . . . 



. . . and . . . 
. . . yep! . . .
. . . today's the day . . .
. . . congratulations, rachel! . . .
. . . you get to pick out 
a couple of your favorite oops! . . .


. . . thanks to all of you 
who left such nice comments . . . 
. . . don't worry . . . 
. . . just as soon 
as jessalyn and drew 
have their baby girl, hayden . . .
{grandchild number eight}
. . . there'll be eight more winners . . .
. . . stay tuned . . .



24 July 2012

. . . they walked and walked and walked . . .

. . . it was early this morning . . .
. . . about six o'clock . . .
. . . nearly time to go walking . . .
. . . tuesday is green trash 
and recycled trash day . . .
. . . as i emptied 
all our diet coke and lemonade cans
 {with loud clanking} 
and walked the green and blue bins 
out to the curb, 
i thought i heard 
someone sweeping . . .
. . . it was actually 
the sound of a lawn rake . . .
. . . my sweet neighbor 
was raking MY yard . . .
{thanks, susie!}
. . . crazy wind/dust storms 
over the weekend 
had left my yard 
looking sort of like this . . .
{well ~ maybe not quite so bad} 


. . . i planned 
to clean up the needles myself 
after walking . . .
{about three miles, or so}
. . . but she'd beat me to it . . .
. . . she assured she wouldn't 
do the whole yard . . .
{she did the worst part}
. . . so, i finished when i got home . . .
. . . i managed to get 
blisters on both thumbs . . .
. . . the one on my left hand 
tore open . . .
. . . wah wah wah . . .

. . . then i started thinking about today
 ~ the 24th of july ~ 
the day my church 
celebrates the arrival 
of the mormon pioneers 
to the great salt lake valley . . .
. . . they'd been walking, too . . .
{about thirteen hundred miles}
. . . they had blisters . . .
{and mostly no shoes}
. . . they'd been sleeping 
on pine needles . . .
{those things are pokey!}
. . . their faith was incredible . . .
. . . their determination unmatched . . .


. . . i doubt i'd have made 
a very cheerful pioneer . . .
. . . i'm pretty sure 
i'd never have been 
anyone's choice 
for a first wife . . .
. . . not in those days 
before makeup 
and blow dryers . . .

. . . but i am thankful every day 
for their sacrifice . . .  
. . . their dedication 
to what they knew 
to be true . . . 
. . . leaving their homes, 
their friends, 
their comfortable circumstances . . .
. . . many of them 
burying family members 
along the trail . . .
. . . traveling across this great land 
to build a new home . . .
. . . a home where 
they could worship 
as they pleased . . . 
. . . blessed, honored pioneers . . . 

{tomorrow's the day i'll pick a winner}



23 July 2012

. . . card tricks . . .

. . . for about twelve years now . . . 
. . . i've signed up for and taken 
a card making class 
every month . . .
{i haven't missed more then a handful of times}
. . . it's held at my 
local {favorite} scrapbook store . . .
. . . i started when my first daughter
 was working there . . .
. . . continued through daughter two
 and daughter three 
working there . . .
. . . and even now that 
no daughters work there, 
i still go to class . . .
. . . the teachers are/have always 
been so creative . . . 
. . . first was margie . . .
. . . then lesli . . .
. . . and now it's amy . . .
. . . each teacher has her own style . . .
. . . but here's the truth . . .
{it's not about the cards}
. . . it's just another form 
of creative {relatively cheap} therapy . . .
. . . one more weapon in 
the "let's keep steph sane" 
arsenal . . .

{creations from last week's class}

. . . and {icing on the cake} scrapbooks, etc. 
is now also my 
local {favorite} fabric store . . .
. . . it has morphed 
over the last couple of years . . .
. . . now they carry 
all the latest 
quilting fabric lines . . .
. . . and patterns . . .
. . . and tools . . .
. . . and classes . . .
. . . it's a happy place to be . . .
. . . check out their calendar . . .
. . . sign up for a class or two . . .
. . . you'll see . . .

{just a reminder: i'll be picking a winner on wednesday ~
so, there's still time to enter}