Another Friend

Today I went to Erin's for a couple of hours to stay with Libby, who was home ill, so Erin could attend a luncheon for a friend who was moving. Libby seemed excited to have me there. She had mac and cheese for lunch, then we drew some pictures and she read the Friend. My goodnes, but can that girl read! She's 5 and in kindergarten, but has been reading since before school started this year. She could read anything in the Friend magazine and didn't let any of the words trip her up. I'm amazed at how smart kids are these days and how well they do in school. It's like once the idea of putting letters together to make words clicks in their heads, there is no holding them back! I think we read the magazine from cover to cover....at least once! Erin said that Libby and Eliza really enjoy the online Friend activities at lds.org. What a blessing to have that available to kids instead of the more undesirable internet activities.
Tomorrow is bread-making day, so tonight I ground the wheat. We've gotten pretty good and quick at the bread making. And yum! is it good!!!

First Lesson Down

Yesterday was my first RS lesson and I thought it went well. The timing was just right, there were great comments during the lesson and I didn't let things get out of hand....just kidding!! It was good. Not on to the next one....on Missionary Work.
I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of pictures from our trip to the Chocolate Affaire.



Of course, I forgot to take pictures until we were almost finished making the pizzas. Oops!
Today I'm working on another baby album for a baby shower this weekend. It never ends!

I Have a New Friend

Yesterday when I was scrubbing the tub/shower in the bathroom, I noticed a stain that wouldn't come up with an SOS pad. That's when I noticed a bit of mildew on the inside of the shower curtain (the side that touches the tub). Try as I could, I was unsuccessful getting the stain up. A few months ago, Mark noticed the same sort of stain when we moved a couple of shower gel/shampoo bottles. Dark stain that wouldn't go away. We tried an SOS pad, bleach solution, Magic Eraser...with no success. I mentioned it today to Erin and she suggested Bar Keepers Friend. It's a powdered cleanser you find at the grocery store. Cheap, too! Anyway, I put a little of it in my hand tonight with a little water to make a paste and I gently rubbed the stain. GONE! No scrubbing, no effort....but gone! I tried it on the old stains, too and they're gone! YEA! I have a new cleaning friend! Thanks, Erin. So I replaced the shower curtain liner. We got one that's guaranteed no mold/no mildew. We'll see if that works! But for now, I'm happy.
This afternoon Erin and family and Brian and family came by and had lunch (pizza). Then we all headed off to the Glendale Chocolate Affaire. Our goal was to let the kids make their own chocolate pizzas at the Cerreta's booth. After we finally found a place to park, we took a short walk to Library Park. The kids each made their individual pizzas and we walked back to the cars. Nobody was really interested in walking around this year because it was so darned crowded. So we met our goal and the kids all headed home. Matthew and Emma weren't able to come up to join us, so we made one for each of them and decided to deliver it to them. They were pleased and surprised! We visited with them for a while and headed back to the valley. On our way, we decided to try out the Wal-Mart in Queen Creek. We'd heard that they sold food storage buckets with Gamma Seal lids for not a lot of money. We found the store at Ellsworth and Rittenhouse and found the buckets. The buckets were $5 each (5 gallon) and the lids were $5.50 each. We got three. They also carry canning jars, water barrels, pumps for the water barrels, small lids for the barrels and a wrench to remove the lids for filling and usage. It's a good resource...and cheaper than what you typically find in a specialty store. Score!!
Tomorrow is my lesson. I've spoken to several people who agree with me that the Joseph Smith lessons are challenging, to say the least. At least I feel like I'm in good company and that it's not just me!! I pray it goes well. I've already started looking at next month's lesson. It should be a fun one, too!

Friday Funday

Today was a bit of a fun day. Erin and I packed up three of her girls and headed to Mesa to the Modbe sale at the Mesa Hilton. I didn't think they had a lot of choices, so I was a little disappointed that we went that far for not much. Erin managed to get a couple of shirts for a birthday party the girls were going to this afternoon, so all was not lost. I'm sure she could have found a few items for herself, but she restrained. The girls were great the entire time we were gone....no whining, no fussing...total cooperation. We had a picnic lunch in the car before we headed back to the west side of town. Eliza even posed under a tree for me so I could get a picture for my Project 365. We had parked under a BIG old tree that was VERY shady. I was particularly impressed with the trunk of the tree. It would be a great climbing tree. There was a funny sign on the block wall between the cars and the tree that said something like....Park at your own risk. There are birds in the trees. We thought that was worth a chuckle. After stopping for refreshment at Sonic we trekked back to Glendale/Peoria. Erin went home from here and I worked on my lesson for Sunday. It wasn't coming together like I'd like, so I set it aside for a bit. After Mark came home, we went junkin' for a while. We found a couple of fun things....I got a gallon ziploc bag full of ink pads (not sure if they're even any good), and a bunch of OLD stamps from some business. They're great and I can't wait to use them on an upcoming project. Another find was a totally retro footstool. It's about a foot tall, about a foot wide and about 18" long. It has wooden legs with metal ends and "feet". The top is a cushion covered with orange vinyl. Can you picture that? I'll have to take a photo when it's lighter in here. It's in perfect condition! I have been wanting a table/stool to put next to the recliner and to use when the grandkids come over. It will make a great stool for them to sit on. And it's a beautiful orange color. Can you tell I was excited. And it was only $5!! Another item I saw and wanted was an old, green depression glass citrus juicer. It wassss gorgeous, but I wasn't willing to pay the $25 they wanted for it. I'll wait. But I'll probablly be sorry, too.
Tonight I finished grading papers and went back to work on my lesson. I finally finished. But I hadn't realized how challenging this lesson would be. It didn't seem to flow as easily as lessons I've taught in the past. It seemed like there was a LOT of repetition in the lesson and I felt like I would be saying the same things over and over and over again. I hope it goes well. I've been working on the lesson for almost two weeks now...since I was first called. So it's not like I've been putting it off. I like to wait until near the lesson time to pull it all together so I've had a chance to study/pray/research before I tie it all up. Anyway, I may need to rethink that strategy.
Tomorrow is the Chocolate Affaire in Glendale. At least some of our kids/grandkids are coming. It should be fun.

We're in trouble!

Sunday morning, I was cold, so I was heating a corn bag in the microwave. After I put it in, I walked down the hallway (behind the kitchen) and heard a LOUD pop! I went in the kitchen and the microwave was off and dark....nothing working at all! No lights, no fan, nothing. So Mark went out to check the circuit breaker and it was fine. So no microwave. So sad. Today the repairman finally came out and gave us the verdict. The magnatron is shot! It's the big part (read most expensive part) of the microwave. He said it would take five working days to get the part in and another five working days to get it fixed. He removed the microwave from above the stove and took it away to the microwave hospital. I thought living four days without a microwave was bad. Now we have to live without our devoted friend for two weeks! Yikes! Like I said, we're in trouble! I told the man....I don't know how to cook without it. Truth be known, I can cook, but I can't reheat anything without it. Ok, I take that back, too. I can reheat things, but you have to dirty another pan of some sort in order to reheat anything. Talk about reverting back in time!! So my photo of the day for my project 365 was my broken microwave. We'll miss her, and will be waiting with open arms for her to return home once again. Luckily, we have a home warranty that will pay for the repair. Whew!

Go Cobras

Tonight we attended the first round of the state finals soccer tournament at Cactus High School. A couple of boys from the ward are on the team, and it's our kids' high school alma mater. Cactus played Copper Canyon and beat them handily, 5-0. Now they're headed to round two to be held in Tucson on Friday night. Go Cobras.

My VT partner and I didn't do so well last month in our visiting teaching, so we got out early this month. Today we got all of our ladies and we can check that task off our list for this month. We really love the ladies we visit. They're all so much fun, but we catch ourselves staying too long because we enjoy their company and conversation so much.

Today was Abby's and Brian's day to stop by for dinner before Brian heads off to school and Kamille picks Abby up. We enjoy the time they spend with us here. It's a treat for us.

Yesterday Hattie slipped off the chair at lunchtime and got quite a bump on her lip. She bit the outside of her lip with her upper teeth and the inside of her lip with her bottom teeth. It's a wonder she didn't bite totally through her lip! Today she's swollen and bruised, but I think the popsicles we took over last night seem to help ease her pain. And Ellie has had a fever off and on all day today. No other symptons, but a fever. Weird.

Dad in still in the hospital. He spent Saturday night at the ER and went again on Sunday night. He had very high blood pressure, a little trouble breathing and a little pain in his chest. They've run a full battery of tests, but so far, everything is coming out okay. Tomorrow he'll have his stress test and they'll send him home if that's okay, too. I'm thinking he has too much stress in his life and we need to work some things out that should help ease those troubles for him. At least I hope so.

We're looking forward to the annual Glendale Chocolate Festival on Saturday. Every year for the past several years, we meet our kids and grandkids there and the grandkids get to make their own personal chocolate pizza at the Cerretas booth. They LOVE it! Mark is good friends with the Cerretas and they're always so good to let the kids make pizzas on their tab. They are also good to donate candies to the guys to use in their classes at the various schools. What's not to like about chocolate??!!!

Bummer!

Today was the much anticipated Super Bowl XLIII. It's the one where the Arizona Cardinals finally made it!! Sadly, the Cardinals lost...but it was a good game right to the bitter end. Bummer! Mark said it was a good think that we aren't die-hard fans, or we would have taken it a lot harder, I'm sure. We had our annual gathering at Erin's house so the kids would have room to play together while the adults watched the game. Kamille was the good one, and worked on her Relief Society business while the rest of us cheered. Erin cheered loudest of all, and she took a lot of ribbing from the guys. She doesn't cheer all year, but today she made up for it, for sure!!!
Dinner was great. We had Cafe Rio pork, cilantro lime rice, creamy tomatillo dressing and chips and salsa. Erin made fresh tortillas and of course, we had dessert. Erin is so good at trying out new recipes and today was no different. She made marshmallow treats, but used strawberry marshmallows. Not only were they delicious with a hint of strawberry, but they were pink! And she made a devil's food cake with two layers of chocolate and cool whip in between....and Cool Whip icing on top. Yum!
I was sustained today in my new calling....Relief Society instructor. I teach the second Sunday each month and next week is my week. Wish me luck!
Thankfully, this week looks (at this point) to be a "quiet" week...visiting teaching, a class at Scrap Happy Sisters and a baby shower. Not too bad. We'll see if that's what actually happens!