Another give away...

My friend, Amy is giving away super cute crochet hats. Two of them. I'm sure you don't want one.

http://amyrnelson.blogspot.com/2011/02/giveaway-bee-in-your-bonnet-hats.html

go check it out. or don't

This is how Matthew does laundry...

I folded the clothes after he went to bed.

Good Mail.

I received an awesome box of 'good mail' on Thursday afternoon from across the country in Pennsylvania. My friend Kate is trying to de-junk her house and she was so kind to think of me and send some of it my way. Here are some pictures of my new loot.

A new to me stamp set. I coveted this set for a long time when I used to sell Stampin' Up! but there was always something else I wanted a little bit more.

 A rice bag. Love it! So does Nicole.

 SEVEN Moda Charm Packs. Look up 'Civil War Homefront' and 'Hushabye' so you can see the whole set. The colors and prints are great. My phone camera is no great.

 a whole bunch of other junk too. It was super exciting and I love it all.

 This little pin somehow made it's way in the box too. hmph! I guess that payback for sending her a bracelet that says she supports the rabid.

This little chicken is my most favorite thing that was in the box, even though I really do love everything I got. It's an Amish Pincushion. 

Here it is full of pins.

LASTLY, this didn't come in the mail on Thursday but arrived a day later from the local florist. Flowers from Kate on a day that might have been really difficult. She made it better. I love these flowers. A lot. When the flowers die, I'm going to clean the little square vase and fill it with peanut m&ms.

Thanks Kate! You're an awesome friend. I love you!

February 26, 2011

• Gina is at my house. Her boyfriend is here too. They're funny. 
• We all went to Mexican Food tonight. By all I  mean...no kids were invited.
• Today  I made a scrunchy with my friend, Sylvia. She's going to teach the Activity Days girls how to make them and then we're going to make white ones to donate to the temple.
• I babysat kids yesterday and one had a high fever and puked.  Matthew followed suit this morning.
• Less than 3 weeks until Kate comes to my house and cleans my bedroom. I'm excited.
• We had a party at my sister, Wendi's last night to celebrate making it through the first year without my mom. It was a fun evening.
• We're supposed to get more snow tonight. 3.3 inches. We'll see how much we actually get.
• I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
• Spencer ate them. He said they were yummy. 
• Gina is a stalker.

That is all.

Anna's first Daddy-Daughter Date

Anna had her first daddy daughter date with Ken today. They went to Costco. She got all dressed up for the occasion.

 While she was waiting for Ken to be ready to go, she sat on couch. My friend's son, Tyler was on the couch too, and I had to take a picture because the look on his face is too funny. I'm not sure if he didn't want her there or if he just hadn't seen that much pink on one person in his life, but he was a little confused.

They had a good time and spent our life savings at Costco...again.

One Year Ago Today...

Ken was offered a job in Lacey, Washington. As soon as I found out I tried to call my mom. She was convinced that we would be moving to Port Angeles. It didn't matter what I told her, she couldn't remember it. She lacked the oxygen...literally.

I tried to call her at 11 am CST and she was asleep still.

I tried to call her at 3:30 pm CST and she was asleep again.

I tried calling again at 5:30 CAT and she was resting.

I spoke to my Dad on the way home from his commute and our call was interrupted 3 times from Kyle. Mom was giving him a difficult time. I told him I was going to try to call her since she was finally awake and he said not to because she wasn't feeling well. 

Dad got home from work and had to call an ambulance to get my mom to the hospital. She was refusing to wear her oxygen. He called me and asked me to call Kyle and help him calm down. (Kyle was nervous)

I called him and then called Gina and told her to call him. I was no good at calming Kyle down. 

Dad called me about an hour after that, for what I assumed was a progress report. Instead of saying, She's stable and going to sleep at the hospital tonight he said, 'I don't think your Mother is going to make it through the night.' I did not compute what he was saying. It didn't make any sense. Then his cell phone cut out.  About  20 minutes later I got a call from 'Brother Bob,' a man from church I've known since I was 12 years old. He called to give me more information about Mom. Even after he gave me the information a second time I didn't believe it. All I could think about was my Grandma Price. About 4 years before she passed away she developed a blood clot and almost died. I remember my Mom telling us Grandma only had a 10% chance of living.  Then she lived.  

As my Dad and Brother Bob explained what they felt was the end of Mom's life, I knew she'd be fine in the morning...just like her mom was.

She wasn't fine. She died that night.

Ken got home from his Washington trip and the airport about 45 minutes after she died, we loaded up the car and drove to straight back, picking Gina up on the way...One year ago today.

All the leftover pictures on my cell phone

NOTICE:I have deleted the following blogs: cheneychatterless, project 365, and my brother's mission blog that ended a very long time ago. That leaves this blog, my personal progress blog, the front door to this blog and a super secret blog that only one other person is invited to - still up and live. Apparently blogger thinks I've used up too much space on pictures. If you are following me on those other blogs, just know they are no longer.

Here are the random pictures from my phone. I'm pretty sure you don't really care about these, but I liked them enough I took pictures of them and since this is my blog and do what I want to, I'm posting them here.

Nicole made pancakes. She didn't measure the mix and she didn't turn the griddle on. 

Anna likes to sit on her dresser and read books.

Garden gnomes at ShopKo after Nicole and I watched Gnomeo and Juliet

The lady with purple hair was like 50 years old.

This car is a transformer. The sticker says so. It's a decepticon. The gas lid says so.

Quesidillas at Red Robin...Yum!

A giant tube of meat.

Toast Stars

Matthew wearing giant underwear over his pants: he likes to tuck all his pj legs into his underwear for a 'special' effect.

Random stalker photo showing it's face on my main blog page. If you haven't noticed, My friend Amy has a shrine on this blog. You should check it out. (She totally approves and encourages my behavior. That's why I heart her.)

Nicole doing homework with a giant pencil, sitting on a giant ball.

Spinach Artichoke and Bacon Pizza. YUM!

Okay, that is all. Thanks for watching.

Snowmageddan 2011!

This morning we woke up to a couple inches of snow. To my friends in Kansas, this may not be that big of a deal but in the Great Northwest, it's enough to close schools, cancel sporting events and cause the local Walmart to have a run on batteries and flashlights. The Storm of the Century! Or as my neighbor told it last night...snow-mageddan 2011. It may even be here for a couple of days. You never know.

Here are some pictures of the beauty.

The view from my kitchen window. 

Our front yard and the neighbors stuff.

 Matthew and the neighbor playing in the cul de sac

 Our backyard

 My favorite bush in the back yard. In the spring and summer it is full of bright red leaves. The kids take camp chairs 'into it' and use it as their fort.

 Playing in the cul de sac

 The kiddos

 The garbage man's tire track. Matthew picked it up off the ground.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Happy birthday to my nephew Mark! He is 8 years old.

This is a super exciting birthday for him because he gets to be baptized.  I'm really excited for him.

Happy birthday Mark!

It SHIPPED!!!

It will be here on March 3, 2011. I'm so excited!!!

Best. Mailman. Ever.

Saturday while Matthew was outside throwing around his basketball the mail came. I'm not sure how to conversation went but it wasn't long before the mailman turned off his truck and was shooting hoops with Matthew. I got a few a pictures of them playing and a video (from my phone) of the mailman showing Matthew how to throw to the ball so he (the mailman) could get a good action shot. (see 3rd picture down) They never really grow up, do they? 

He was only here for 5-10 minutes but it totally made Matthew's day. That alone makes him the Best Mailman. Ever.

a nice fraction

Today I am 1/3 of a century! 

weird.

I want presents.

Fashionisto?

Ken and I went into Tacoma on Friday night to go suit shopping. The place that was recommended to us what a scary little dive in the ghetto of Tacoma. AND it had nice suits for not a lot of sweet moola. The coat Ken is wearing in this picture...not a nice suit, and even less moola.

Matthew

I'm not even going to try to explain what in the world this kid is doing. I will say 1 thing though.

I LOVE HIM!

Anna dances

We went to a baptism on Saturday night and during refreshments Anna was teaching the missionaries how to dance hula. She's got a lot of rhythm in her little body. I wish I had a video of this because her tongue moves just as much as her body when she dances. Too cute.

Anna and Elder Berger

Juliett, Anna and Elder Berger