Bittersweet!

It's the last day of school for Mesa and it's a FULL day! And by that I mean ALL DAY OF SCHOOL - not a half day like Gilbert. And I'm good with that!! :) I get ONE MORE DAY to organize, clean and get my chore charts printed before they get home. They know they are "my slaves" for the summer, with some chores that require time. With school, dance, baseball, shows, and all that life brings, I enjoy the summer in that I can finally get some BIG things done. Among my list is clean the garage, finish painting the game room, touch up painting bedrooms and living areas, wiping down baseboards and doorframes and touch up painting them if needed, and lots of others.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO CLEAN UP DURING THE SUMMER?

We also have some big plans for summer and hope they can be followed through. I am working 3 weeks of summer music theatre camps, scout camp, girls camp, Journey (young women's retreat), Time to Blossom (girls retreat), trip to Colorado, trip to Oregon, etc etc etc. Here's hoping I keep my sanity!

But back to my bittersweet moment - I'm excited to have my kids home, excited to get some things done, excited to not have to get up so early, excited to enjoy some quality time together. But I'm not excited for the noise, the messes, the dozens of kids in my pool (although that is fun!), the LATE bedtimes, the lack of motivation. Can't decide which weighs heavier for me!

WHAT ABOUT YOU??

Last night of silence . . .

It's only 10pm and my house is quiet. It's the last night of "school bedtimes". And because I'm not at the theatre and Geoff is gone to work (he's on night shifts this week) - MOM SET THE LAW and THE LAW WON! Everyone had dinner, showered, and was in bed (since there was no real homework) ON TIME!! (insert song ditty - Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles)

I will miss this time. The time when I can enjoy the golden silence of just my mind and sometimes the t.v. MY alone time when Geoff is working nights and the kids are in bed at a decent time. MY time to goof around on FB. MY time to do what I WANT! Tonight I started my summer chore charts (well, I updated them from last year), I played on FB, I emailed a bunch of peeps, looked at Beatles music for summer camp (details about that another day), and text silly messages back and forth with the hubby at work. We discussed how we are going to spend the LAST day of the school year when ALL the kids are gone. He will have just come off a nightshift, so we'll have to play it by ear and see how tired he is, but we listed lunch, cuddling on the couch with a movie we've been wanting to see, looking at houses in another state (details to be explained later too), and planning out our summer fun. I'm just excited to have a day with JUST HIM to myself for one more day until the fall! I love my Geoff!

ALSO - - -

Tonight was a BIG night for my Jon-boy! Jonathan turned 12 last Friday and he got to go to mutual for the first time tonight. He and I went on an "errand" (that's what we call soda runs) and I asked him if he was nervous. His reply was a very timid "kinda". But he left with a friend and had fun! Tonight they split up into troops for Scout Camp. He leaves for his first Scout Camp on Monday at 6AM!

Lots going on this weekend . . . .

"Stay TOONed!"

To Blog or Not to Blog . . .

That IS the question!

I have so many friends who blog. I have so many family members who blog. My life is anything but exciting BUT I do have adventures, mishaps, preteen moments, theatre geeks and lots of other "fun" things that happen in my life.

Would you really like to hear them? Would you really read them? Be honest! Let me know if it's worth typing and adding something else to my do list in my incredibly exciting life! HAHA!

Simple Joys!

It's been a LONG time since I've blogged. I'm sure you all missed me . . . j/k!

I have so much to blog about but I'll spare you all the details and instead just recap:

School is officially out! Kylee CRIED for hours after school because she "will miss her awesome teacher and will really miss elementary school". She was very emotional about leaving 6th grade and although it's exciting, she is nervous about junior high.

We have had house guests - Medlyn's from Utah - and THOROUGHLY enjoyed the WEEK they stayed with us. They slept, swam, hung out, swam, played XBox, swam, etc.

While they were here, I had to leave for about 3 days to go on our ward's YW Retreat. I was blessed with the opportunity to be on the committee that planned this "Journey to Eternity" and it was AMAZING! I was in charge of getting speakers for the girls and I think I fulfilled that. I had Heather Madder come and speak to them about having DIVINE NATURE. She was awesome and I think she affected the leaders as well. The last night I had my Dad come and talk about not ever feeling alone. He was INCREDIBLE and I know he affected the girls and leaders by the testimonies born the next morning and Sunday. I could not have been prouder of my DAD!

My boys had the incredible opportunity to attend a week of Diamondbacks Baseball Training Camp. They had a blast and both did great! They got lots of kudos from the coaches and Dakota won 4th place overall (kids 4 years older than he participated) in their olympics. They are anxious now for Winter Training that Dad has promised they can do.

I'm knee deep into rehearsals for The Secret Garden (playing Lily) with my Kylee (in the children's chorus). We have had fun with rehearsals (old college friend is playing Archie opposite of me) and with costume fittings (yea for the weight loss!) and publicity pictures! I have just started adding in the additional rehearsals at Hale (Widow Paroo in The Music Man) this week as well. It's been a crazy schedule but I thoroughly enjoy it once I get to the rehearsal.

Tonight Geoff is at work (on nights this week), Kylee is at a sleepover and my 3 youngers are asleep. I had 6 no show lessons (welcome to summer! Good thing they pay in advance!!) and I was able to be a "MOM"! I know this may be normal for you all but I don't always get the joy of fixing dinner AT dinnertime and then serve it, eat it with the family and clean up after it! I so enjoyed this process!! I usually fix something early in the day to be thrown in the oven at dinner time and if I'm lucky I get some before I head out to rehearsal or when I get back from rehearsal. Otherwise, it's fast food for me and sometimes everyone. I made homemade pizza tonight (even the crust) and a caesar salad. This is a family favorite and the kids had a blast eating with me - funny how the smallest things make kids happy. We enjoyed ice cream and vanilla Oreos for dessert.

I have read over 200 blogs (sorry for not commenting, just trying to catch up)! I read about worms, photo shoots, rain, summer water fun in Az, realized I missed a friends birthday (Sorry Julie!! Gift for you this weekend!!), baby firsts - crawling, smiles, etc., chicken pox, sad days for Mickey, blue eyes, baseball, hockey games, bored kids, bunko fun, projects, pierced ears, clean and organized rooms, husbands leaving the country and coming home safe again, chores, HIGH ladders, diets, church callings, etc. etc. etc. You all have such great lives and amazing families, adorable kids and loads of fun!!

Again, I apologize for not commenting but know that I enjoy reading your blogs and hearing all about you and your family! Keep it coming and I'll try and do the same when I can! Love to all and ENJOY YOUR SUMMER!!!

Shakin' it up a bit and R E S P E C T !

As I mentioned before, I walk 4-5 miles a day. This morning, yet again alone, I headed out at 8:30AM for my walk. I got 2 miles around and thought I'd change it up a bit and take the last 3 (maybe if I'm up for it - 6) laps on my Kylee's bike. Geoff had taken the kids to school in the "new" truck and so I could use her cruiser. I headed out for the first lap and realized how old I am!! My goodness! I got one lap in and hurt so bad that I quit for the day. I felt muscles in my legs I haven't felt forever and don't want to feel them again for a long time! I now have the utmost respect for my kids who would ride their bikes to and from school and ride the neighbor numerous times after school. I used to think that bike riding was "relaxing" and "enjoyable" but after this morning - I'M JUST OLD!

I'll try and make it quick ...

Lots happening but I'll give you small details:

1- Les Mis audition - well, I got one more callback and there were 3 others for Fantine. Didn't get it but that's ok. I guess it's rare to make it this far with your first audition at this theatre. So I'm happy to have made it this far.

2 - Secret Garden audition #1 - made callbacks and it was between 1 other and myself. She was older than I, so I thought I had a pretty good chance considering Lily was to have died 10 years ago. I didn't think they would cast someone who looked like she aged with someone living. But the director had other ideas. The gentleman I auditioned with called me after the callback and said that I sang better and acted when she didn't give him anything to work with and he didn't like her "older voice warble". Gave me a little hope but she got the part. Oh well.

3 - Kylee didn't get the role but they did call and say that she did a great job and to continue auditioning and hopefully for them again sometime. I thought that was very kind! She was really upset and told me a couple of times that "her life was over for the summer since she wasn't able to make it". Such a drama queen - hmmmm, wonder where she gets it? I was even happier when I didn't get the show - that would've been harder on her.

4 - Auditioning for 1 or 2 shows this week - another Secret Garden and The Music Man. I've done both shows before and MM twice but I'd really love to play Lily again and if I got Marian - I love the theatre. So, we'll just see what happens. I only get a chance to do one show a year and it's usually in the summer that I perform. I'm hoping for something, at least.

5 - Our van finally gave up! We had a 2001 Pontiac Montana that has been nickeling and diming us for some time. It's been a good van and has gotten us to and fro for almost years but it had so many little things that kept going wrong. We just replaced the thermostat and the water pump. We found that we had a gas leak and foun online that there was a recall, so luckily we didn't have to pay for that repair. But within days of getting that fixed we noticed a radiator smell and it kept overheating. So, we drove it to AAA and the bad news came: our motor had burned out. UG! We didn't have $4000+ to fix it so we decided to shop for a new vehicle and see what someone would give us for the hunk o' junk! Well, we found a few nice vans and thought great! They even said they'd take our van! Well, they 'couldn't make the numbers work' for us on them and we were back to square one. As we were leaving the lot, they asked us if we would be interested in any other vehicles other than a minivan. We explained we have 4 kids and need the seating. They then showed us a Tahoe - my dream! But I was worried about the numbers being too high for us! They "worked the numbers" for us and gave us a used Tahoe (2006 with only 30K miles on it) for the same price as the vans we were looking at!! They accepted our van as a trade too! DONE DEAL! It's beautiful and my insurance is only $22 more a month! I'll post pics tomorrow. It is in EMMACULATE condition and I swear you'd think NO ONE has even driven it except that there are 2 rock chips in the window which we will get fixed with our glass coverage next month. :)

6 - No more weight lost but I'm losing inches fast! My clothes are fitting better and I feel great! There were anywhere from 2-4 other gals that walked with me daily but I'm on my own lately. I've still enjoyed it though. Time to think and sweat it out. I've upped my 4 miles to 5 miles a day now.

7 - Geoff has only 3 more days on his 7 day off stint. He is not wanting to go back but likes having this week off every other week. :) We haven't gotten a lot done since we spent 3 days dealing with auto crap, but we're gonna enjoy tomorrow together.

Ok, it wasn't that short but now I've updated everything and it won't be such a big deal to just blog a bit each day now. Later and G'nite!!

New temples in Arizona!

So excited to have 2 more! One in Gilbert and another in Gila Valley (Thatcher/Safford).
Go HERE to read more.
We are so blessed to have so many temples so near by - I better up my attendance in thanks to the Lord!