a photo from friday

here is dan’s family from chase’s graduation this past week!

my birthday

so I am sure you all read my pathetic post on my birthday emotions. well, I am here to say I had the most wonderful day! Thanks to my family and friends and all their sweet wishes to me. We had a breakfast of raisin cinnamon french toast, a lunch of pb&j (and sprinkles) sushi roll and a great dinner of Chili’s. My girls were really well behaved! We frosted my pink lemonade cake and at only half  :) My VTers came over and brought me some much needed lotion and then offered to watch my girls so Dan could take me out. Sweet… we went to Chili’s and it only cost us $13.00 with a coupon! It was fantastic. Then we came home to have cake with the Walkers.

Sadly, I don’t have too many photos, but here are the ones that were taken.

Trevor eyeing the cake

Dan and Abi picked me out a candle and a shirt. Sadly, the shirt didn’t make the cut so I was able to take it back and get a purse and a bra – happy birthday girls! I got a really neat bracelet from my family with a sweet and memorable letter, and then Dan and Dan’s parents bought me a new phone!!! Honestly, I think that my favorite gift of the day was a letter from my brother and his family… my niece colored me a sweet picture that now hangs on my fridge.

So let me tell you about the phone. I got one last year for my b-day. We bought it used and it never worked right. It got to the point where I could only answer phone calls and rarely could call someone. I had no touch on my touch screen and it drove me crazy!!! I was depserate enough to ask for another one this year. Dan bought one… used, of course, and guess what?!?!? The microphone doesn’t work! So now I can text and make calls, but no one can hear me! So we are working to get that in check… and this also means, if you haven’t figured it out yet, please text me!

recap of this week

monday- prep for the coming week – shopping for flowers for this corsage – grocery shopping for two weeks – birthday shopping – laundry – finances – make corsage – more runs to stores to finish the corsage

tuesday- send corsage – cleaned house - bake birthday cake – work on RS lesson for sunday

wednesday – happy birthday to me! – see next post

thrusday – birthday party shopping – second round of laundry – birthday party prep

friday – out of the house by 8 am – picked up aunt jenny in SL – dropped of wedding ring to get cleaned – helped girl carry boxes across BYU campus - went to chase’s graudation – forgot batteries to camera :(  so no photos – met with best friend/dance partner Tim – ran into family friend Julie – dragged abi all over campus with new shoes – and new blisters – gave many piggy backs - ate at magelby’s – at a whole chocolate cake at magelby’s – went to seven peaks to get pass-of-all-passes – drove to pick up wedding ring *bling* – went to trafalga (for free) with best friend/dance partner Josh and his new wife Sarah – beat dan by one point in golf – almost hit dan’s balls – into the pond – laughed hard – drove to best friends merrills – passed cousin – chased down cousin – talked - enjoyed a b-day party for Rianna – sent girls with dan’s parents – had a queit night – phew!

saturday – set up for party – had awesome party - see next post

sunday – enjoyed church – wiped out – drove to american fork – eagle court of honor for cousin – saw my parents – laughed – ate cake – enjoyed family so much! – drove home – wiped out yet again!!!

forgive me, these are from my phone

house projects

Last week we took on the project of revamping our kitchen table and chairs. We sanded down all of the surfaces and then stained the wood finish a dark brown.

For our Saturday project, that is how far we got. We found our table and chairs (bought from the one and only KSL classifieds) started out green and then were painted white, then black, and then another color of black. So lots of sanding.

I can’t wait to show you the final product when they are done. Hopefully this next week. We still have to paint them and then seal them up with some strong lacquer.

This is after we stained the seats of the chairs.

This baby is another hand-me-down and future project of mine. I haven’t quite had some inspiration for it. I will have to hop on over to pinterest to find some.

just some items of remembrance

• The other week in RS Brookie fell and as I went to catch her… the cheerios in the cup decided to fly away – Brookie vacuumed the floor for the rest of class. it was kind of embarrassing but the bishop’s wife was the one to help me clean them up, telling me that it has happened to all of us.
• we went running as a family the other Saturday. we went over to our park where there is a trail. seeing as I got a flat tire the week before, I cautioned Dan to stay on the trail *pause – the other half of this story. I didn’t stay on the trail the week before and got a flat tire, which Dan fixed and we didn’t have to use my backup tube and Dan said I could return it to wal-mart. *un-pause* However you can all guess what happened right? yep, he didn’t listen. “Oh, it won’t be that bad,” he told me and proceeded to take the stroller off the trail. oh my goodness, I wish you could have seen all three tires… they were LOADED with thorns. Not just one like I had the week before… loaded!!! We stopped and picked most of them out, but by the time we got home we were left with a flat again. When Dan fixed the tire this time, he said there were at least three puncture holes. He also had to use my backup tube and was grateful that we didn’t return it.
• one day last week Abi was pestering me to watch a movie. She just kept asking… long story short. She asked again and finally I had it. I said, “No, no, no, no, no, no, and again no!” Which was then followed by the RS presidency knocking on my open screen door. Talk about embarrassing. Thankfully they are all mothers.
• One of my favorite joys lately is watching Abi run circles around Brookie. Both love it, both laugh, and both are entertained; which gives me pure joy.
• Brookie is starting to show her smarts-
• if you blow in her face, she will blow back in yours
• she hates getting dressed
• she is getting better at giving loves – she will do a cute little, “Ooohhh,” when she lays on your shoulder.
• if you try and feed her something off her tray she won’t take it, but if you take it off your tray, put it on your plate and then give her the same piece, she will scarf it down.
• she eats more than Abigail! she packs it away!
• she has been starting to point at everything. our favorite is if you ask her where the lights are, she will point and do a sort of whispering “th” sound.
• still hangs on me every chance she gets
• loves to go up stairs and can go down with help
• loves any sort of bling
• Abi is starting to show smarts as well… not really the good kind
• I think she is learning this in primary
• I know that some of it is developmental, but it has not been fun
• when she’s good, she’s awesome!!! (which is most of the time)
• when she’s acting out, it’s on the other end of the scale…. and it’s tough.
• it is time to pull out my love and logic CD’s again…. :)
• Abi has some awesome qualities right now-
• I was having a hard time the other day and she came over and rubbed my back and sang me a song about santa picking us up and all of us flying up to the stars to visit Jesus, and how Jesus made our bodies and the earth for us to be happy. It was a sweet moment and really helped me perk up.
• She loves to feed Brookie and that really helps me get some lunch made for us.

I just want to say how much I do love these girls and Dan. I am so blessed to have them as my friends and family forever.

a mother’s birthday

I know that it is important to start traditions and rituals in a family. with that said, I also know what a big deal my birthday used to be for me. as a teen, it was like I woke up a year older, more beautiful, and in a way, more “blossomed” so to speak. My birthday used to be a day of Clarissa being an exception to the rule.

so why did things go down hill once I was married? ah, so there’s the answer right there. marriage. enough said :) but seriously!?!? it obviously has something to do with expectations. you know, wishing for my hubby to be my mother – bear with me – who seems to know all and knows exactly what I need and want. maybe it has to do with financial situations – although, I would pretty much go into debt to get one of my loved ones something they wanted… the hubby has a better head on him – one that is driven by rationality and not the emotional connection to getting someone the perfect gift. maybe it has to do with the extra 30 pounds I carry around from marriage and motherhood – maybe you don’t deal with the emotional burden of 30 pound, but I sure do – when I don’t feel good in my birthday suit, it shouldn’t be my birthday. maybe it has to do with me not being able to be the exception – not being able to stop motherhood or responsibility – or even pee alone.

so, for the past couple of years, I have tried to not think about these things, although they have plagued my mind since my birthday in hawaii 6 years ago, when for my birthday I got a haircut and a jacket that didn’t fit and we took it back and that was that…

but like I was saying, since learning about successful families, I have started a tradition with abi and now brookie that we have a special lunch together and then decorate my cake to eat for dinner. I let the girls pick the color of the cake and frosting and they help with everything from licking to… licking. it is something that I cherish and look forward to, hoping that someday, they will continue on with it in their families when they wonder the same thing.

so tomorrow when I am closer to my thirties than to my teens, I will try to push all those plaguing thoughts behind me, and try to strengthen my family… one lick at a time.

confessions

I have so much to write about, but I just don’t feel like it tonight.

I always get such great ideas to blog about, but don’t jump on them for fear of sounding dumb…

or I forget

or by the time I sit down I don’t feel the vibe I was feeling with the thought of topic and can’t get words to flow

or, like tonight, I am just so tired

as abi told me yesterday, “this freaking socks” – which was followed by a lengthy discussion, yet again.

maybe tomorrow