Mejojac's Memos

Better Late than Never

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:49:00 +0000

I've had a couple of people ask me about Baby Girl's b-day party this last October. So, I thought I'd throw together a quick, yet picture laden post to show what we did. Sorry some of the photos are blurry. I'm no expert when it comes to photography! And yes... Baby Girl's name is blurred or edited out on the photos (I hope). So, here we go!

These were the invites I created using photoshop:

I covered the windows with poster board and black garbage bags because when the party started it was still light outside. The decorations were pretty simple, but made a big impact I thought. First I bought a handheld black light and then wandered around different stores seeing what things glowed (paint, papers, pom-poms) and what didn't. I bought three 18" long black lights from Wal-Mart for $10 a piece to place around the main party room.

As far as decorations go, I made a poster for all of her friends to sign when they first got there.

We cut out "Happy Birthday Baby Girl" from neon poster board and hung that on the one wall....

There was clear contact paper on the walls and then tons of neon shapes were cut using a Cricut. When the kids came in they created collages using the shapes....

I had also found neon sticky notes at the dollar store. 400 flowers and stars for the wall for $4! I strung some glow in the dark beads around the room, used a glow in the dark spray on the mirror, and then used some other odds and ends that I found around the house that glowed in the black light.

The kids got goodie bags with a black light/invisible ink pen (they were only $.99 when I found them), a notebook, glow sticks, and then a couple of glow in the dark items from Oriental Trading.

I also found some glow in the dark and neon nail polish that I painted her fingers and toes with. Each kid also got a picture drawn on their hands with some neon face paint crayons I had found at Wal-Mart.

We also served food that glowed, but the only thing I got a shot of was the potato chips...

We served pizza (mozzarella cheese glows) the potato chips and then a lime drink that kind of glowed. The hot pink frosting on the cupcakes we served also glowed.

This is probably one of the better parties I've done. The kids had a ball and Baby Girl was thrilled! Who could ask for more?

Elf on the Shelf

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 18:04:00 +0000

My mom gave us an Elf on the Shelf and I thought I'd share a few of the ideas/tricks he played last year to try and get my brain moving on what to do this year!

These are just the favorites... stole the Scrabble tiles to give us a message

A treacherous ride along the top of the cupboards.

We had 5 days left till Christmas and he switched back our countdown to 95. (My youngest did freak out just a little bit over this one... but once I assured her it was just a trick then she was able to laugh about it!)

A whipped cream sugar rush.

Hiding out in the Russian stacking doll nativity.

And the kids absolute favorite from last year... changing out all the animals from the nativity for dinosaurs! (And yes... that's Rex from Toy Story right there in front)

I think the triceratops and T-Rex give it an adventurous feeling, don't you?

So far this year our elf has been pretty tame. Right now he's hanging from one of the light fixtures using our Monkey's in a Barrel.

Sorry the photo isn't that great. I used the webcam to take it because I'm feeling lazy!

Well, there you have it! If we figure out anything else super fun for the elf, Oliver, I'll post them. Do you do Elf on a Shelf with your kids or grandkids? What are some fun things you've done?

Photo a Day

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 29 May 2012 03:39:00 +0000

I think I'm going to try this out... anyone want to join me?? Here's the link to the original blog - Fat Mum Slim

P.S. Please forgive the changes... I'm trying out some new formats. Seeing if I can find something new that I like. What do you think of this??

Letters

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Dear Lady who screamed like a Banshee,
If you come to a pool party with a couple hundred kids, you're gonna get splashed. If you don't want to get wet, stay home next time.
Sincerely,
The gal who kept her kid FAR away from you

Dear Tattoo Guy,
Thanks for the laugh! I've never seen a bedazzled mermaid tattoo before!
Best Wishes,
The girl who is still wondering WHY you would get a mermaid tattoo and then get piercings to look like she was wearing a pink and purple necklace... (it seriously did look like someone had attacked him with a bedazzle gun!)

Dear Kids who kept coming up to Little Bug over and over to say "hi" and give him high 5's, or fist bumps, or hugs, or tried to talk to him even though he didn't respond or even acknowledge your presence,
Thank you.
Love Always,
"Little Bug's Mom"

Solar Eclipse - May 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:44:00 +0000

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Just trying out this Make a gif thing with my pictures from the eclipse. Sorry it's so huge... I have no idea what I'm doing :)

Gonna try to get back into blogging (quit laughing! I mean it this time!!)

My New Favorite Place

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Sedona, Arizona is on several "Most Beautiful Places in the US" lists. And now that I've been there, especially in the fall, I have to agree. 100%. I'm not going to say much... just going to post enough pictures to make you crazy. You see... we live in the desert. We haven't had fall-like weather for about 6 years now.
Sedona, on the other hand, has fall. They have an INCREDIBLE autumn season! So that's probably part of serious love for this area. I miss the changing of the leaves. The crisp air. The smell... gah! I'm making myself crazy just thinking about it. So. Onto the awesome pictures!

Baby Girl with a weird reddish alien tint to her skin... she's still cute though ;)

My Dad... and the shoulder of a random stranger (note to self: crop this photo a wee bit)

Little Bug... not a great photo, but hey! He is looking at the camera! I'll take it :)

My Mom! It was so fun to have my parents on this trip!

Little Bug throwing rocks into the stream. He would have stayed there all day long if we had let him!

Red...um... helping(?) Baby Girl across the stream.

Red is not a fan of having his picture taken... can you tell??

A closer shot of the photo above... it almost looked like one tree that went from green to yellow to red!

Sorry the photos are huge and that there are so many... but... you know. It's my blog and stuff :)
I hope we get to go back to Sedona in the fall sometime! Such a beautiful place!
Do you have a favorite place to visit? Or a place that you think is absolutely gorgeous?

Trippin

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:50:00 +0000

We don't take a lot of vacations, so when we do get out and about, it's kind of a big deal! Every October the kids have a fall break. My parents came down to hang out with us and we decided to head to the Flagstaff area for a few days to see what we could see. And what did we happen to see? Some really awesome stuff!
First stop was Montezuma's Castle and Well....

As we walked around I just kept thinking... how did they build that? It's so cool! The well (it looked like a pond) also had cliff dwellings along the edges. Not sure how they got in our out of their homes (rope ladder from the top, perhaps?), but it was neat to see. We didn't have a lot of time here. We arrived about 15-20 minutes before they closed. We stayed that night in Flagstaff and then spent the next day in Walnut Canyon.

Aw... 3 cute kids ready to hike :)

Can you see the cliff dwellings in the above photo? All the little dark spots that look like caves... cliff dwellings! And there were TONS of them in Walnut Canyon! The thing I loved the most about this area was that we were able to go inside some of the dwellings....

It was a short hike (under a mile, I think!) but we saw so many amazing things! It was great! After Walnut Canyon we tried to find Wupatki National Monument. We stopped by a visitors center where the kids jumped around and made earthquakes...

And then I got us lost. How fun is that? I was the navigator who said, "turn left" when I should have said, "turn right"... so, yeah. Fun times. We did eventually arrive at our destination and it was pretty awesome!

We couldn't walk up into the ruins, but there was a nice walking path around the whole thing. We had a laminated card that we had grabbed from the gift shop and we found markers along the way telling us about different things. It was amazing! That night we went to Lowell's Observatory and got to look through some really powerful telescopes. We all enjoyed it!

The next day was the Grand Canyon. And... I'll admit it. While I was super impressed by the immensity and size... the color?? Well... I was expecting really dramatic color. What I saw was pretty much this...

What I thought I would see looked a little more like this...

Okay... so maybe that's a LITTLE over the top of what I expected... but not much. The reds obviously need to be toned down a bit... but STILL! I thought the color would be a lot more pronounced. I went along the way enjoying the day with the family but still feeling this little tug of disappointment. Imagine my joy when the sun started to set and I saw this... (these are unedited)

Much better! It was a great ending to the day! The only down side - Little Bug had a horrible day. He was not at all happy about being at the Grand Canyon and Hubby ended up taking him back to the car rather early in the day. I don't know if he was tired or just as disappointed as I had been ;) But the next day was better.

And... since the last day of our vacation was my favorite, I'm going to devote an entire post to it in the next couple of days!

Happy Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:45:00 +0000

I have several posts I want to do in the next little while... so hang in there! I'm still not doing so well with this blogging stuff... I am trying though! Just a few Halloween pictures today....
Our witches kitchen and black light decor...

A few of us in costume.... not the best picture, but the only one of all of us smiling! We had a witch, a reporter, and a Newsie. (Little Bug was sick on Friday when we took these pics... I'll put some up of him later today if I remember... and some better ones of the rest of us)

And last but not least... pumpkins!

Not the happiest crew here... but they were tired of having their pictures taken and Little Bug kinda hates pumpkins... so yeah :)

Happy Halloween!!

Little Girl Giggles

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Is there anything better than hearing your kids laugh hysterically over the silliest things?? I think not...

Make it Work

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:37:00 +0000

I've been searching for a striped knit fabric for a few months now. I found a few things online, but nothing that I really loved... so I decided to create some! I thought I'd share how I did it... just in case there's someone else out there searching for a striped knit fabric (or maybe I'm the only one??)

You'll need:
solid colored knit fabric
contact paper (I've found this at Wal-Mart in their kitchen section...)
bleach
spray bottle
ruler or quilting square
a bucket for rinsing
(I know not everything is in this photo... sorry! I'm new at this whole tutorial thing...)

Lay your fabric out flat and decide how far apart you want your stripes. Anything not covered in contact paper is going to be the lighter color. Cut strips of contact paper that will go the full length of the fabric. Pull the back off the contact paper and using your ruler or quilters square, space the stripes evenly across the fabric. Make sure that you press the contact paper down firmly so that the bleach won't seep under. I needed a smaller section with skinnier stripes, so that's why my stripes don't go all the way across at the top.

Next, take the fabric outside lay it flat again and spray it with the bleach. Don't put on too much or it will spread under your contact paper.

Let it sit for a few minutes till you get the desired color change... but don't let it sit too long or the bleach will eat a hole through your fabric!

Rinse out in your bucket and pull the contact paper strips off. Wash and dry your fabric again and.....
WAH-LAH!!

Stripes! The bleached part takes on a kind of heathered look and I love it! I'll show you what I did with the fabric next time :)

I've linked up here....

and here....

Pass or Fail??

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:48:00 +0000

Some of you may recall that I HATE sewing clothing! I've documented that fact here, here, and here. I think there might be other posts declaring how annoying patterns are and how they NEVER EVER end up being the right size, but those were the first posts I found.

Anyway! I found this blog - "MADE" that had a tutorial for a circle skirt... you do a little math and make your own pattern. I'm not great at math, but thought I'd give it a whirl....

And what do you know? It turned out pretty awesome! I also made one for myself and several others for Baby Girl.
Then I noticed that on the same blog there was a tutorial for pajama pants... again, making your own pattern using a pair of pj's or shorts that you already have...

Another success! They aren't hemmed, but I kind of like them that way!

Skip forward to today... I had bought some fabric a few weeks ago with the intention of making it into a skirt. But it was so soft and I kept having visions of a shirt in this fabric. I looked around for a tutorial, but couldn't really find anything I loved. So... I made a pattern up all by myself. And guess what?!?

It's not horrible!! I think the neck needs to be a little lower. And I made the shoulder seams too wide so the sleeves kind of hang off a little bit. And I kind of goofed on the gathering at the top of the shirt... maybe if I added some detail around the neck?

So tell me what you think... is this a pass? or an epic fail??

p.s. This is technically an EPIC FAIL because I forgot to prewash the fabric... meaning that it is now a "hand wash in cold; lay flat to dry" article of clothing... booooooooo!!!!

Anxiety

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:17:00 +0000

Have you ever ridden Mickey's Death Wheel at Disneyland? Okay... technically it's called Mickey's Fun Wheel... but since it's one of the only rides that has ever made me feel like I wanted to die... Death Wheel it is!

Don't let it's bright colors and smiling face fool you. The cars that are stationary are fine. The ones that roll and sway are evil. Completely. The last few days my stomach has been in knots... like I've been on a continuous Death Wheel ride. Let me explain...

Tomorrow is our first day of school and Friday was the open house for all 3 schools. We started at the middle school and the line to get into the school went out to the parking lot. I dropped off Hubby and Red and the rest of us headed to the next school to figure out who Baby Girl's teacher would be (the schools here are weird... we don't find out who the teacher will be till the Friday before school starts! Insane...).

We got to the school, scanned the lists and my heart sank. Baby Girl has the same teacher that Red had last year. She's not a HORRIBLE teacher, but she did manage to make me very crazy last year. But I have this kind of weird attitude about teachers. We don't always get to choose the people we work with in life. And some of those people are going to make us crazy...so, Baby Girl will stay in the class. I'm not going to ask for her to be moved... but I think it's going to be stressful.

Next we headed over to meet Little Bug's new teachers. He was supposed to be in a class that had 2 teachers that would rotate the kids back and forth for different subjects. This last school year was not an easy one for him. There was a little girl in the class who was very aggressive and Little Bug came home over and over with scratches on his face. He also regressed A LOT last year. He stopped reading out loud and we can't get him to do the math he was really enjoying in California. So, we were excited for him to be in this new class.

Imagine my surprise to see that his name wasn't listed on ANY class list. We went in, asked the secretary, she checked with the registrar, who informed us that they had been told we wouldn't be returning this year. So they didn't have him in a class. At all. They made a few quick phone calls and the district Special Ed put him in a class. The same class as last year. With the same little girl who made things so miserable.

Can you say Mama Bear??

I was in tears and more than a tad angry. I was told I could go visit the district office if I wanted to chat with them about the placement. At that point I was ready for more than a chat. I went and talked with them. They were very nice and listened to my concerns. Then they put him in the class I requested. I didn't even have to shake my fists at them :)

So, back to the school to meet the teachers. Little Bug wanted to go to his old class. He was not happy about going to the new room. The teacher was not happy to have another student in her class (it's a big class...) and wasn't exactly pleasant. And as I watched some of the other kids come in and out I wondered if it would be the right place for him.

We were finally able to go back to the middle school to get Red and Hubby and head home. But there has been a pit in my stomach since then...

That leads us to today... I didn't get to meet any of Red's teachers. I don't know who they are or what they are like. I've heard a few bad things about this middle school and I'm worried for him... a lot. Baby Girl will be dealing with a teacher this year whose moods swing like a pendulum. She's a bit unpredictable and not always easy to get along with. And then... we have Little Bug. I hope this new class will work, but if it doesn't, they will put him back in his old classroom. And when I think of him in that class I start to feel like I'm on Mickey's Death Wheel all over again.

I can't wait for tomorrow. Perhaps then I'll have a sense of how this year is going to be and then I can get off this crazy ride!

The State of the Union

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:51:00 +0000

Just a quick note to let you know that we're still alive... barely though. Did you know that Yuma, AZ was named the hottest city in the country? Apparently we average 114 days a year over 100 degrees... aren't you glad I told you that? Now that I've given you a random bit of information we can move on... to more random bits of information... mostly in the form of pictures.

In April I took Red and a few friends to a book signing for Brandon Mull. The boys are all huge fans and Brandon was fantastic with the kids. It was a great trip!

April also brought us a broken arm for Little Bug. Once we got the cast on things were good, but getting x-rays and the process of putting the cast on was pretty traumatic for all involved. We've got our fingers crossed that we don't have to do this ever again...

Cruddy pictures here... but Baby Girl got her ears pierced in May...

The last days of school arrived and we attended several awards ceremonies...

Including a "promotion ceremony" for Red who will be in middle school next year!

We had our Angry Birds themed Father's Day (I made the birds using this tutorial)

And then headed to Idaho to spend time with family. We flew kites....

visited Craters of the Moon

Some of the caves still had ice in them... nice and chilly on a hot summer day...

And 2 of my nephews were brave enough to crawl through this spot... on their bellies... I couldn't quite bring myself to do it...

Little Bug went into all of the caves and on the hikes. He really seemed to enjoy the day...

Snow in the mountains...

Wildflowers everywhere else... must be June in Idaho :)

4th of July brought fireworks at home...

Of course, the sparklers were a big hit...

That night we took the kids to see Cars at the drive-in. It was great - we had the movie in front of us and the Idaho Falls fireworks on our right. So much fun! Of course, I forgot my camera for that...

We did a lot of other things while we were there and overall we had a fantastic time in Idaho. It's always great to visit with family and friends.

We've had other things occupying our time here in Arizona too... Baby Girl did 2 weeks of gymnastics camp and is starting her 2nd week of swimming lessons. Red just got back from a week at scout camp and now gets to start his own swimming lessons. We've done a craft day every Monday with friends and I think that might be a new summer tradition. Little Bug has struggled a little this summer, but he has enjoyed time in the pool almost every day.

We have 3 more weeks till school starts and hopefully we'll be able to make the most of what's left of this summer vacation!

Before and After

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:53:00 +0000

I do this every time we move. I get tired of packing/unpacking boxes and go into this creative decorating frenzy! When we bought our home in Oregon I stacked all our unpacked boxes in the middle of the room and started painting the dining room. Hubby wasn't thrilled, but I just had to do SOMETHING other than figuring out where all our junk would go.

Well, we've moved again (just around the corner from our last place) and I'm tired of boxes... so it was time to get creative!

First off we have this nasty bench. I bought it at a yard sale about a year ago for $1 and it's just been sitting around my house looking sad. The yellow/gold faux velvet stuff was stiff, dirty and just all around gross!

There was a small tear in the fabric and the foam was coming out of it...

I'm working on recreating our master bedroom. I'm using browns, tans, aquas and oranges. So, when I saw this orange fabric at JoAnn's, I knew I had to have it for the bench!

Love, love, love the way it turned out! The aqua and orange together are just playful and fun. Can't wait to use this in our room!

Then we had the mirror I got from Good Will this week. Loved the shape and style of the frame... not so excited about the, um, floral print... so, yeah. Had to get rid of that... (p.s. I had already started the project when I remembered I hadn't taken pics yet... so this is just the frame.)

I'm pretty sure those are flowers... or maybe they are really sad sea creatures. I haven't decided which...

I scratched up the back of the mirror and then placed an aqua and white fabric behind it. Painted the frame white and glazed it a bit. Baby Girl is not a fan of the glaze... she said, "It just looks dirty". But what does she know? I like how it looks :)

It was harder than I thought to get a good picture of the mirror... hopefully you can see the fabric okay... looks a lot better in real life.

So there you have it. Now I'm working on the quilt for our room and then I have a few other projects in mind. And eventually... one day... I just might finish unpacking!

I Know

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:56:00 +0000

I'm not the most intelligent person on the planet. Heck, I can't help my 12 year old with his math homework any more! But there are a few things that I do know.

I know that my Redeemer lives. Jesus Christ came to this earth to set an example for us to follow. He suffered and died to atone for the sins of the world and he rose again that we too may overcome death.

I also know that this life is difficult. Trials and troubles come our way no matter who we are. But we can have hope that things will be better because of Jesus Christ.

In the Book of Mormon there is a scripture that I love. It's found in Moroni 7:41 - And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

We can find joy and peace even in the darkest times because we can have hope for life eternal. This life won't last forever. Time will pass. Our trials will end and we will be better for it all.

My prayer for you is that you can find hope and peace through the Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives. I know that He loves us.

Have a very happy Easter!

A Laugh

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:33:00 +0000

A friend of mine bought a wooden sign today and the quote on it made me laugh... so, I thought I'd share.

I understand that scissors can beat paper. And I get how rock can beat scissors, but there's no way paper can beat rock. Paper is supposed to magically wrap around rock leaving it immobile? Why can't paper do this to scissors? Screw scissors, why can't paper do this to people? Why aren't sheets of college ruled notebook paper constantly suffocating students as they attempt to take notes in class? I'll tell you why. Because paper can't beat anybody. A rock would tear it up in two seconds. When I play rock, paper, scissors, I always choose rock. Then when somebody claims to have beaten me with their paper I can punch them in the face with my already clenched fist and say, oh sorry. I thought paper would protect you.

I'm not sure if the fact that I found this so amusing means I have a really great sense of humor or a really twisted one...

Dig, Dig, Dig

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:20:00 +0000

We were listening to a Disney CD this morning and the "Dig, Dig, Dig/Heigh-Ho" song from Snow White came on. It's a song I've always loved, but as I was listening to it today I had an odd little epiphany towards the end of this verse:

We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig from early morn till night
We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig up everything in sight
We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for
We dig dig dig a-dig dig

And just for the record... I cannot read through those lyrics. I MUST sing them. Every. Single. Time. Okay... moving on!

The line "But we don't know what we dig 'em for" just kind of hit me today. I mean...isn't that how life seems to work? I know it is for me. I dig through trials and troubles. I dig through the craziness of everyday life. I try to do my best and work hard and and sometimes... well, sometimes I just kinda sit back and think "What in the heck am I digging for???"

Now, I know that I'm rewarded with blessings throughout my day. Not necessarily HUGE things each day. But little things. A phone call from a friend. The giggles of a child. A hug from my husband. A beautiful sunset. The good bits of every day that make life so much better. And yet, for me, I seem to miss the value of these diamonds and rubies. In my case, I think I don't recognize the gems like I should.

Maybe it's because the digging process can be difficult, monotonous, frustrating and extremely time consuming. And by the time I get to the good stuff I'm tired and covered in dirt. And sometimes those blessings don't look quite like I had thought. I was hoping for a sapphire when I plucked out that ruby. Or maybe the blessing is something that really doesn't look like a gem at all. It's rough around the edges, dull and has absolutely no appeal (in my life, these ones are often disguised as a U-Haul van.... I think I won't understand the beauty of these gems till later in life or maybe not till the life after this...).

I guess what I'm trying to say (and not doing a very good job of it) is that this life is a lot of work, but it's worth it. I may not understand what all of my diamonds and rubies are for right now... but someday I will. The only question left is this: which dwarf am I going to be like as I dig, dig, dig from early morn till night?

Now I'll leave you with a few gems from this month...
Little Bug at horseback riding lessons. Look at that grin!!

Red with his new hair cut... I told him to give me a "Hurrah" cheer. This as good as it gets when you're 12...

Baby Girl finishing homework...

A finished project for a friend...

It's the little things...

Christmas Quilts

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:02:00 +0000

2 out of 3 kids needed a new quilt for their bed this year. I had already started a quilt for Red just a little over a year ago... and yeah. Never finished it till this fall. I pulled all the pieces out, reminded myself of the pattern and got to work. It didn't take too long to get it all pieced. Then I took it to a little place here in town to have it quilted. My hand sewing is pretty much terrible, so I was more than happy to pawn the job off on someone else. They did a fantastic job and this is the final product...

I did hand sew part of the binding... it took about forever to get it done. But I did it :) And I really love the way it turned out. I didn't get a great photo of him opening it, but he really loved it!

I knew I wanted to do a rag quilt for Baby Girl, but wasn't sure how exactly I wanted to put it together. I sketched out several things, searched Google and Etsy for ideas and finally came up with this...

I was pretty much THRILLED with the way it turned out! It's bright and fun - just like Baby Girl. She was pretty excited about it too...

I just finished a baby quilt (that I'll blog about later) and then I have another baby quilt to put together and then a quilt for Little Bug and THEN one for me :) I'm really looking forward to the me quilt. I've bought the fabric, picked the pattern and I'll hopefully get to work on it.... in a month or two :)

Creative Juices

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Lately I have felt like I was in a creative slump. Just couldn't get the wheels in my head to spin the way I wanted them to.
Awhile back Busy Bee Lauren wrote a blog post about a new book she had received for Christmas (I think). It sounded like the perfect way to get my thought process moving. So, I got a copy for myself.

I forgot to get a picture of it before I started... just imagine the cover without the doodles on it. Okay?? Okay.
So, the instructions are pretty simple...

(Can you spot the "hidden Mickey's" throughout my book??) And so I began. We took Red to the Cracker Barrel for his birthday and so, I "documented" my dinner...

Hubby thinks it's totally gross... but it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Here are a few other pages I've done...
I don't drink coffee... so this is my hot cocoa page.

This was something my 3rd grade teacher would have us do if we were bored... draw a bunch of swirls, pick 5-6 colors and try to make it so that no colors are touching (except at corners).

Fruit stickers...

Stamps (some of these are from Christmas cards from last year...)

I didn't do such a great job connecting the dots with my eyes closed...

Still need to figure out what I want to decorate the other hand with :)

This is my FAVORITE page so far... which makes me sad since one of the instructions in another part of the book says I have to give away my favorite page...

My nonstop line got a tad damaged (and it's not finished quite yet...)

I have to admit... I've struggled with some of these items. You're not supposed to wipe your food in a book, rip the pages, burn the edges, or doodle everywhere... and so far, I've done the easier items. At some point I have to tie a string around it and take it for a walk... which sounds kind of embarrassing. I also have to take it to a public place and ask people to write/draw in it. I thought about just letting my kids do that part, but that seems the cowardly way out.
But the best part? It's helped me cut loose a little bit... and I've been feeling more creative...

I'll post pictures when it's complete.
So, here's a question for you...
how do you get your creative juices flowing?

That Face

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 21:19:00 +0000

I really don't have much to say today... I was just messing around with some photos and loved the way this one turned out :)

This was taken in Idaho over Thanksgiving break. She was SO excited to play in the snow!

Help...again!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:57:00 +0000

I have a decision to make... and I really don't want to do it. So, you get to do it for me! Aren't you excited? I knew you would be.

This is a life changing decision. Please don't take this lightly... ready??

With the stem....

Or without?

Okay... so maybe it's not life changing. But I can't decide and I'd love your thoughts (just like the last time I made a baby quilt). Ignore the ruffle and extra bits of fabric laying around and let me know... with or without??

A Figment

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:30:00 +0000

I used to believe in mythical creatures... such as elves, dragons, unicorns, fairies, and children who made me look like a competent parent.

Red attended a meeting with his dad today for all the 11 year old boys at our church. Our Bishop asked each boy to share something that they had learned from their mothers. Now, I've had almost 12 years with this kid. I've tried to teach him to be obedient, respectful, kind and happy. I've taught him to pray, read his scriptures and to try to be the best he can. Apparently I need a refresher course on how to teach these things because what he actually learned is to be to be silly, sarcastic and to go for the laugh instead of giving a real answer.

His response when asked what he had learned from his mother : "She taught me not to kill people". Which, in the grand scheme of things, is good. Really good. I'd rather my children weren't running around being serial killers.

But, now that we've got the "no murdering" thing down... I think it's time to move on to other things that will eventually turn him into a well-rounded individual. Perhaps we'll start with "there's a time and a place for everything..."

Oh, hey... Hi

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 02:25:00 +0000

So, um, as you can see, I haven't written in awhile. So, let's do a quick catch up post and move on, shall we? Excellent! Here we go...

July - Spent some time in Idaho with family and then came home to pack like maniacs! We moved to Arizona on one of the hottest days of the year. Oh yeah... some like it hot... or, um, something like that. So anyway, we had such great help from friends getting out of our old house and a ton of people showed up to help us get into the new place. We're settling in slowly (a.k.a. I'm still not done unpacking). But the kids are adjusting fairly well. We've had a few small bumps in the road, and I'm sure there will be more, but for now, we're good.

August - the kids went back to school and I was so scatter brained that I didn't get pictures. Lame, lame, lame!!! Hubby's birthday was in August, but, again, trying to unpack and finish things up in California and it ended up not being a big celebration... MEGA LAME!! Sigh... I'll do better next year!

September - wait? What? Did we even HAVE a September this year? Oh yes. I had a kidney stone in September. Spent most of the month feeling awful. Let's forget September this year. Moving on!

October - Busy. Really, really busy. First off we had Hubby's parents come visit. It was so great to have them here. We didn't do much... just relaxed and enjoyed their company! I think everyone had a good time.
We had two birthday's in October. Baby Girl had a fairy birthday party that was a blast!

I decked the house out in lights and yards and yards of tulle. Made skirts and got wings for all the girls instead of goodie bags. It was a lot of fun.
Then we had an "October Birthday Beach Bash" with friends from California. Between the two families we have 4 October b-days. It was so fun to see our friends for the day!

Little Bug's birthday was more low key. He doesn't like lots of people around. So we kept his day simple.

I gave him a book called "Wild About Books" and all present opening stopped. He had to read it a couple of times before we could resume the rest of our evening. He still packs it around the house reading his favorite parts over and over...

Alan surprised me with a vacation away from kids! He plotted and planned with my parents... they came down and watched kids and we took off for a few days. It was really, really nice! The first evening was spent in Carlsbad, CA right on the beach.

The next two days were spent at Disneyland! I love, love, love that place! And I know it's a great place to take your kids, but can I tell you how awesome it was to go without kids? No begging for over priced toys or treats. No whining or crying because exhaustion had settled in. No skipping rides or shops because the kids don't want to go or because we don't want to take them. We were able to do anything and everything we wanted. There were things that I know the kids would have loved, but they can go next time... maybe...

(BTW - World of Color is absolutely AMAZING!!)

Last day of the trip was in San Diego. We went to the temple and then headed for home. It was a fantastic trip! (thanks again for watching kids Mom and Dad!!!)

Halloween was awesome! I had asked Baby Girl what she wanted to be for Halloween back in September and she said "Alice from Alice in Wonderland". And I said, "Oh, that will be fun! We'll get you a blue dress and some black shoes and..." she interrupted and said, "No mom. Not that Alice. The Alice from the new movie. In armor with a Vorpal sword to kill the Jabberwocky." Ah... yeah. Her costume turned out pretty good though... here's what it looks like in the movie and what we ended up with (yeah, that's the best pic I got of her alone...)

Not too bad, if I do say so myself. I got up Saturday morning and decided to be the White Queen... so I made a costume that day.

Then we had "Return of the Jedi" (he was a Jedi last year too)

Our rather reluctant farmer...

And the crazy weird guy...

November - not much so far. And I'm glad! We'll have a few things later in the month, but for now, it's been peaceful... well, as peaceful as we ever get.

I don't know if anyone will even see this post or care. But I'm going to try and get back to the blog once a week. Yeah. Try. I'm not making any promises... but, it feels good to write again. We'll see how this goes!

Huffin and Puffin

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:41:00 +0000

Many of you may remember my friend Marissa's unfortunate hiking experience last year. Well, I had the opportunity to go on that same hike with some friends awhile ago. Needless to say, I went to the bathroom before we left. Never let it be said that I don't learn from my other's mistakes.

But, before I tell you about this latest adventure, I need to explain a few things. First of all, you need to understand my definition of "hike". So, if everyone would please open their copy of "The World According to Melissa" to page 245. Let's see... ah... yes! Here it is...

hike - verb - mindless wandering while eating snacks

I like to stop and look at flowers. Check out crazy bugs. And, of course, eat while I go. Another thing you need to know about this hike - all of the gals I went with are runners and are in fantastic shape. (Technically, I'm in shape too. Round is a shape.)
Anyway, I had gotten up early, dressed comfortably and then loaded my backpack full of snacks. My good friend Shannan was our lovely driver and away we went. Chatting, laughing, and me, totally expecting to "hike" in my own special way.
So, you can imagine my surprise when we get to the trail head and I hear the one of the gals say, "Let's see how good of a workout we can get here!"

Wait.

WHAT?

They weren't there to "hike", they were there to race up the canyon! Everyone took off at a pace that Olympic sprinters would envy. And I brought up the rear... huffing and puffing. After awhile I asked for a break so I could eat a snack. I was feeling a bit dizzy... which may have been from lack of food (most of my family has some sort of blood sugar problem) or lack of oxygen. Either way - I needed to rest for a minute. The other gals weren't even winded. Not in the slightest.
I was a little embarrassed at making everyone stop for a little while, but it was either have them stop and wait, or I could pass out and then they'd have to carry me back to the car. Which, of course, wouldn't have been embarrassing AT ALL.
But, after awhile, I got my second wind and started to feel less self conscious about myself and I really enjoyed the last part of the hike. Too bad I had been a crying whiner for the first half... well, a breathless, dizzy, crying whiner.
And the best part? I didn't get a sliver in my butt! WOOHOO!! (Don't know what I'm talking about? Go read Marissa's account and it will all become clear...)
The End
(What? You were looking for a moral? Some life lesson learned about persevering or having a good attitude or loving who you are no matter how awesome everyone else around you is? Well, too bad. I got nothing... I'm just grateful to be splinterless!)

The Great Reread

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:42:00 +0000

I think I've mentioned once or twice that I love to read. Lately I've read a slew of mediocre books that have left me feeling kind of ... well, kind of meh. Nothing interesting or entertaining about them... actually, that's not totally true. In the last book I read I created a kind of game where I counted how many similes and grammatical errors I could find. That's not usually what I do with a book, but when you have errors as blatant as "The children was playing in the clearing" (not a direct quote, but close) then you just have to start paying closer attention. My grammar isn't perfect, but I also don't have an editor or a slurry of people read everything I write before I "publish" it.
Anyway, I'm tired of these bland and boring books and I've decided to take a couple of months to do some rereading. I want to read the Percy Jackson books again. I can't wait to get lost in the Chronicles of Narnia. Who wouldn't love to walk the halls of Hogwarts with Harry Potter? I have a stack of books from the library, but I think I'm going to take them all back so that I can revisit some favorites and maybe find myself really enjoying reading again.
Do you ever reread books? Or are you the type of person to read something once and then be done with it for good? If you do reread, what are your favorite books to pick up time and time again?