7gypsies Blog

If you want a small peek at my little corner workspace, go here: It's were I spent many hours of my time, both for 7gypsies and for my own "entertainment"!
The March 31st and March 27th entries are "me". There are others, but you'll have to check out the older posts to find them. You can see part of what keeps me busy and out of trouble!

So Blessed!

Today was a wonderful day. The weather was nice, though a bit breezy. We had our annual family Easter party. We went to a local park and had a GREAT time! We started off with lunch....everybody brought their own. Then we had our fun games/activities. First we started off with the traditional, Tootie-Tah! That's always a hit! Then we had some three-legged races. So funny! The grandkids hadn't ever done it before, and it was fun to watch them figure out a system whereby they didn't fall on the ground! Next we played with bubbles. The kids couldn't get enough of that one. Hattie especially enjoyed chasing the bubbles!! And Luke had to figure out that you blow out of the opposite end that you stick into the bubble suds. A couple of weeks ago Mark and I found some small marshmallow shooters at a boutique and figured that that would be fun for the party. And boy, was it fun! We got one for each of the grandkids and their dads. The kids figured out quickly how to make them work. And they figured out some tricks to get them to shoot further and how to shoot several marshmallows at one time!! The birds at the park will have a feast this week! Then we had the fish pond. It was a little "make-shift" this year, but fun nonetheless. After that the kids (and their dads) played some baseball, rode around the park on their bikes and scooters, played on the playground equipment and had a great time together. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family that will put aside time to spend together. It was a memorable day. And also so grateful for my children. They are the best! I'm grateful that they love and support one another (and us!) and that they choose to follow the Prophet and live the gospel to the best of their abilities. I'm also grateful that they will go out of their way to help one another. One of the kids needed a little help today, and another of them stopped what he was doing to lend that much-needed help. You know who you are. I love and appreciate all of you. Erin had a big event today that she was "in charge" of. She was in charge of the program and refreshments for the YW Broadcast in their stake. They recognized each of the YW who earned their YW Medallions this year. She and a friend made some darling bracelets from vintage spoons. I'll try to get a picture to post. And she also did very creative refreshments. They had a sundae soiree....vanilla ice cream with various toppings. The creative part was that she found yummy toppings for the sundaes that were in the eight value colors. So fun! I'm so proud of my kids and the choices they make that keep them on the right track. And I'm grateful that they're passing on that tradition to their own children. I'm feeling very blessed today.

Latest Family Photo

I just had to share our latest family photo. It was taken after Abby's baptism. Can you tell the sun was bright?

Paper grading, Little Golden Books and Bread

This week has keep me busy with grading papers, making altered Little Golden Books and bread.
I've been putting together some Little Golden Books for a craft show next week. I hope it goes well. Otherwise, I'll be putting them on either Etsy or Ebay (or both!).
Erin and I were able to get together on Thursday this week and bake bread. It seems like it's further between sessions than either of us would like. We run out of bread before we get time to make more.
Dallin's birthday was this week....on Wednesday. He turned 6! And Hattie turns three tomorrow. Where has the time gone? And it's going to be March already on Monday. Didn't we just have Christmas? Now we're planning for Easter. Crazy flying time!
I'm looking forward to stake conference this weekend. We have a general authority visiting our stake....Elder Hales. Should be a very uplifting weekend!

Busy Weekend

This weekend has been another busy one. It started off with Hattie's birthday sleepover. She's been looking forward to and talking about it for weeks. Everything is..."I'll do that for my sleepover. I want that for my sleepover. Etc."
I picked her up from Brian early Friday afternoon. We hung out at the house and waited for Mark (Grandpa) to get home from work. She enjoyed watching Snowball Express while we waited. Then we were off. We went shopping for her birthday gift first. She chose a Cinderella dress, a crown, Fancy Nancy shoes (which she wore to church today without her mother knowing it!), and a Cinderella doll. We also shopped for a little gift from her for Abby's and Dallin's birthday party on Saturday. Then we went to dinner at the Elephant Bar. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. She ordered mac and cheese and got a special hot fudge sundae, complete with a birthday candle, for dessert. She told us that was her birthday party. I think she associates the party with blowing out the candles. Then we came home and watched Nim's Island (her choice!). When it was time to get ready for bed, she was ready to go home. Although she'd brought her sleeping bag, etc., she wanted to be home with her mom when it was bedtime. So we took her home. Then we picked her (along with Eliza, Libby and Ellie) up for the Abby and Dallin birthday party on Saturday at Peter Piper Pizza. The kids all had a GREAT time, but personally, there were way too many birthday parties at the same time and too many kids running around for my taste and comfort. I kept thinking I was going to lose one of them! After we took the party-goers home, Mark and I did our Saturday shopping and spent the evening watching the Olympics. Today was church and we had three excellent women speakers in Sacrament meeting. Jessica Crouse spoke about faith, Suzanne Webb spoke about teaching our children what's important....the gospel, and Tracy Heid spoke about charity. They were all great talks. After church, Mark and I took a nap (short but sweet), watched some Olympics and did some odds and end chore that needed to be done. On to another week!

Back already?

Yesterday was our anniversary (37 years!). Mark took the day off and we slept in and were VERY lazy. We got a late start, but made it out the door before noon (barely!). We did a little junkin' and made our way to Broadway Palm in Mesa for dinner and a show. Dinner was okay....the names of the dishes sound way better than they really taste. The show was good....The Unsinkable Molly Brown. It just wasn't the same without Debbie Reynolds, though. Today I worked all day on a wearable art project for 7gypsies. The assignment was to make something wearable from any of the 7gypsies products. We did a similar challenge a few years ago and it was easier back then because they had more embellishments to choose from. But today I worked on and finished an apron. Mostly, I copied patterned paper onto fabric and used it to embellish an off-white apron. I think it turned out okay. I'm afraid to wash it though....it will probably all wash out (the color, that is!). I'd better get all the pictures I need and hope they don't need to actual project!!
Erin called me this afternoon and asked me if I'd meet her at urgent care. Ellie fell off their swingset and hurt her arm. I met her there (after frantically showering and getting ready while Mark brought the car home to me)and I watched Hattie and Ruby while Erin had Ellie looked at. Turns out she broke both bones in her left wrist. They fixed her up with a splint and a cute sling. She wasn't at all happy about it though. It seemed like she was embarrassed about the whole ordeal. She'll have to learn that a cast is a "medal of honor" in the eyes of other kids! By this afternoon, she was playing a little, so that's good. She has to go to an orthopaedic Dr. in a few days to get a hard cast on it. Poor girl.
We've been enjoying watching the Olympics. It's amazing what some athletes are capable of doing. And I like watching the Olympics, but it's too cold for me to actually be there!!

Heavens to Betsy....Where have I been?

I can't believe how long it's been since I've "really" updated this blog. It seems like after Ruby was born I got busy (not just with her, but with lots of things) and I got out of the routine of blogging. I had a dear friend ask me (again) last week when I was going to update. I told her I had to go back to Thanksgiving and catch up. She suggested (Thanks, Susan!) that I just jump back in and maybe update as I go along, so that's what I'm going to do. I'll start with what's recent and here and there I'll toss in a backdated entry. So here goes....
So far this month has been hectic and fun. But I can't think of a month lately that hasn't been!! We have three grandkids with February birthdays, so that means three sleepovers/shopping trips/birthday activities/dinner out with them. The month started out on a high note. Our oldest granddaughter, Eliza, chose to be baptized. That happened on Feb. 6th. She was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church by her dad. What an awesome experience it was to be there to witness this event. She was beautiful and she just glowed that day. She had a sweet smile on her face all day long. She was able to wear the same baptismal suit that I'd made almost 24 years ago for her mother, Erin, to wear. After Erin wore it, her cousins, Emali, Audi (I think), Jodi, Katelin, Kacey and Stephanie all wore it. Now it's starting a new generation. What a legacy for them. She had a beautiful new ivory dress with a sage green sash that she wore, and her mom, Erin, made a cute headband to coordinate with it. Eliza was showered with love, well-wishes and thoughtful gifts on her special day. We look forward to Abigail's baptism next month. I'm sure it will be just as memorable for her.
This weekend started our three-sleepovers-in-one-week week. Abby's started on Friday night. She wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday gift, but as the time got closer, the more afraid she became. She was afraid it was going to hurt. We told it that yes, it would hurt, but just for a minute or two. Then it would be over and she'd have beautiful pierced ears. All the way from her house to the mall, she had a worried, almost sad look on her face. She didn't think she could do it. Just before we got out of the car, I told her that she could choose whether to do it or not, but if she didn't, she would be disappointed in herself the next day and would be sad she hadn't done it. So as we went into the mall, she seemed to cheer up and get excited again. When we arrived at the kiosk where the ear piercers were, she walked right up to the counter and told the sales clerk that she wanted her ears pierced, but that she was a little nervous. The girl said that that was normal, but it would be okay. So we proceeded. She chose her earrings...both to get pierced with and another pair for after her ears had healed. And she got right up in the chair and was eager to get going. After they marked the perfect spot for each earring, the two girls there each pierced one ear at the same time. Abby looked up as me and said, "I did it! I have pierced ears! I did something HARD!" I was so proud of her for being brave and doing something she really wanted, even though it was hard. She wanted to go for ice cream as a treat for being brave, so we went across the street to Cold Stone Creamery. We then went to Deseret Book and she chose what she wanted for her baptismal gift from us, but she has to wait until her special day to receive it. Then she wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. She had a great time there...especially when they brought her the cutest little glass with an ice cream sundae with a candle on top. The waitresses sang Happy Birthday to her and she just beamed. Then on Saturday morning, we met up with her parents and brothers and took a trip (her birthday activity) to Flagstaff to play in the snow. What fun that was! There was a TON of snow and the kids had a blast sliding down the hills on their sleds/discs and throwing snowballs at each other. My mistake of the day was climbing to the top of a slippery hill so I could watch the kids from the top rather than from the bottom and having to dodge the sleds as they sped by. It was a mistake because as I attempted to walk down the slippery slope, I realized that there was only one way down....sliding. After I'd gone a few, unsteady steps with the help of Mark and Brian, I sat on my bottom and slid the rest of the way. I was afraid that I'd fall and get hurt, so I just sat down and away I went. I'm sure that was a sight for all to see! Luckily, I was the one holding the camera, so there was no documentation of the event.
Sunday was my lesson in Relief Society. It went well, I think. The good part was that I got about 30 minutes this time, so I got to actually give all of the material I had prepared. And we even got outo about three minutes early! Yea!
Then on Sunday, some of the kids and grandkids came over for dinner. Abby and Dallin (the birthday kids) got to choose the menu. They chose Hawaiian Haystacks. We had ice cream sundaes for dessert. Mark and I wanted to give the grandkids a Valentine of some sort, but we didn't want it to be sugary candy. So I got some cute fabrics and I made them each a new pillowcase. Ruby got a swaddling blanket from the same material. Then on Sunday night, Dallin spent the night for his birthday sleepover. We watched Snowball Express, which he thoroughly enjoyed. This morning we got up and met his dad and siblings at the dentist for their semi-annual teeth cleaning. Then we took Dallin for the rest of his sleepover activities. We started off at Wal-Mart so he could choose his gift. He got a Nerf rapid-fire rifle. He also chose a Spiderman car that transforms into four different cars and a rubber snake so he can scare his mom (sorry, Kamille!). He got a Hot Wheel car for his brother, Luke. That was thoughtful. Then we went to Red Robin for lunch and to Castle and Coasters for a round of goofy golf. He had a blast playing against Grandpa. And Dallin beat him by one stroke! Then we took him home and got his gun put together and everybody had a chance to test it out. It seems like a fun toy. Mark and I then headed back home after a stop at JoAnn's Fabric, a couple of Savers, and Safeway. We had leftovers for dinner and caught up on some TiVo'd shows....Amazing Race, Undercover Boss and Extreme Home Makeover. Then we watched a bit of the Olympics. I should be in bed by now. Yikes! It's almost midnight and here I sit at the computer. Tomorrow should be a fun day. It's our 37th wedding anniversary. Mark took the day off, so we'll spend the day playing....probably doing a little junkin' and tomorrow night we're going to see The Unsinkable Molly Brown at Broadway Palm. Should be a great day. Nighty, night.