childrens parade and beautiful lizzy...

So our stake primary activity this summer was marching in the Freedom Festival Children's Parade together. Holy smokes it was HOT! It's no wonder the Schofields don't really do the parade thing. The kids had a great time, and I survived...as long as I was being misted. Prep for the beach, right? I really do love my ward, so it was fun to hang out with all of them...but you know what...I really don't like to be hot. I really, really don't. The last picture is of Lizzy...just because I thought she looked beautiful on Saturday.

* I am LOVING Emily and Ethan in that group shot...faces mashed together, helmets all lop-sided. :)

we did it...

We got the picture. OK...so the shooting in the mirror thing is a bit tricky. By the end, I just handed the camera to John our sales associate and he took them for us. This is Carrie and I. What we look like now. After 4 kids each, a decade of marriage each, 16 years after we met. We went out for Thai food, then rather than a movie, Carrie wanted to get us matching bags for my birthday. We bag shopped at the mall for over an hour...and it was SO fun. We laughed a lot. The brown bag in the last 2 pictures is what we finished with. Is that the coolest present idea EVER? I told her we now need to do a whole separate bag blog...the life of the brown bag. She can do posts from all over Mexico, and I can do them from Delaware and Utah, and Utah, oh...and Utah. Wouldn't it be fun to see where these bags go? And by the way...I cried...but only a little bit. :)

he's home...

EARLY! Yay! We missed our daddy so much this week. He's been gone at scout camp since monday am at 7. I have been dreading this all summer. Really, really dreading it. I DO NOT like to be home alone. I get worried and anxious. I hear too much. I panic. Guess what though...I survived. And here are some things I learned:

Alex spent 5 days as the man of the house. Molly even called him Dad half the time. He told me the first morning...Mom, this is really hard. Being the man of the house. I wish Daddy would have walked me through it a little before he left. :) Alex was awesome. He really made me feel more comfortable. He helped me. I have great kids.

I had Dave give me a blessing before he left. One that told me not to be scared. One that told me we would be protected. HE would be protected. I still worried a little though. I called my dear neighbor Leonard and asked him if I could have him on speed dial at night just in case. Like a good father should...he told me SURE, then told me I needed to trust the Lord. I had prayed, now I needed to have faith. Michelle reminded me of the same thing. Dave was serving the Lord...the Lord would watch over me and my kids.

I have great friends. THE BEST. I had phone calls all week, offers to watch my kids, people coming to hang out with me at night. It actually makes me cry thinking about it. I love them. They knew I was worried and they watched over me. Thank you.

I CAN do it. I rely on Dave too much for simple things. By the time he gets home from work at the end of the day...I pass the baton and check out. With noone to pass it to, I had to do it all, and I realized that I am capable. I had more patience with my kids than I thought I would. More energy. More confidence. More peace.

We actually had a great week...but man, am I glad he's home a bit early. We love him and have really missed him.

something special...

I have something really special that I want to share with you. REALLY special. I have been eating this frogeye salad all week. When I say all week, I mean it. I run out, I head to the store for more ingredients. I've had many frogeye salads in my day...I love them all. I wouldn't have touched them with a long, long pole when I was younger. Pasta with fruit...bleck. But this...this is special. So special, you can only find the recipe on the Western Family Acine de Pepe box. Who would ever think to look there? Not me, actually. I was told to by my sister-in-law's mom. I am now going to share it with you. After I do, you may want to head to the store for some supplies!

6 ounces Acine de Pepe, cooked, drained and cooled

8 oz vanilla yogurt

12 oz Cool Whip (just as tasty w/fat free)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, undrained

1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained

1 c mini-marshmallows (or slightly more)

1 medium banana, sliced

1 c red seedless grapes, halved

In large bowl, combine yogurt, cool whip, and cinnamon. Carefully add next 5 ingredients and pasta, blending to coat. Refrigerate to chill. Gently stir before serving.

*I usually omit the bananas, not really sure why...it's pretty darn good with them, and once in awhile I'll add sliced strawberries. The berries brown and wilt though, so you'd have to eat it right away. That should NOT be a problem though. :)

*OK...so it's not a gorgeous salad, but it sure tastes good. Borrowed a leaf from my neighbors grapevine for a little green. AND blogger keeps flipping my picture. Should be horizontal, in case you wondered.

sprinklers and murals...

I love my ward's Mom & Me group. I love it. The kids always have a great time together in spite of pretty hefty age gaps. I think the moms have an even better time together though. :) My darling friend Melissa plans and organizes the whole thing. She's fantastic. It was so great yesterday to hang out in the shade and gab, while the kids made a horrendous, wet mess and we just didn't care. To Melissa, Jamie, Kari, Brenda and Michelle...thanks for the great time! Till next week.

potter...

Conversation between Alex and his pals Jonathan and Matthew:

Oooo...Harry Potter 5!

This is like the least scariest one.

It should be PG not PG-13. It's so not scary.

But Harry Potter kisses.

Yeah...he kisses. Not many scary movies have kissing in them.

sunglasses...

You know what? It's not even about protecting their eyes for me. I am obsessive about always knowing where their sunglasses are, having them worn any time there is a single, solitary ray of sunshine. Look at her. This is why. It has been crazy sunny around here, after a really late start. LOTS of excuses to stare at them in their shades. Coo-coo, I know. :) And I think I'm REALLY coo-coo because I don't know how to spell coo-coo.