Week In A Nutshell

The newest Frontier Girls
Jenny and Julie

A few months ago my dear friend Julie approached me and asked if I liked camping. Those who know me, KNOW camping don't go hand in hand. However, now and again I am up for trying new things even if it involves getting dirty. Little did I know that she had something more in mind for me. Never mind the fact she was also the stake camp director over girls camp. (which I vaguely remember back then) I replied with a "sure!" not thinking twice about it. Months rolled by and camping never came up again. Until this week. All the names that are submitted for any church outing or function have to be looked over and "approved" You are now looking at one of the newest stake leaders over the 3rd year girls. Yep, that's me! Thursday night was our first meeting. They have made the entire theme western frontier. Camper or no camper I have my boots ready!

Just a quick snapshot to prove we were there.
It was pretty windy after we got outside

I LOVE this guy!

Friday was just great all around. Doug got off early, the kids were in school so we headed over to the temple. We slacked the past couple of months and squeezed in a session just before the end of the month.

Sarah giving us her tips and secrets

After getting my camera, my sweet husband signed me up for a couple of photography classes with my talented friend Sarah. I spent 8 hours learning buttons on my camera that I didn't even know existed. It's going to take a lot of practice, but lucky for me I have 5 subjects under my roof to use as my guinea pigs. Beware of upcoming photo posts!

Sneigar Park
Baseball tryouts

During the time I was in class Doug drove Taylor over to her dance competition in Northp Phoenix (no photography allowed) then rushed back to catch Jared's basketball game and his little league tryouts. I caught the last 15 minutes. It took nearly 3 hours to have all the boys catch fly balls, hit and do a little fielding. Much thanks to my inlaws who watched my little boys for most of the morning.

With aperture, exposure and shutter speed information in my head I quickly took advantage of the last 30 minutes of light while the boys played at the park. I had to take this photo because I am constantly telling them to keep their shoes on, and this is where I often find them. Scattered in the sand or in odd places.

Doug lounging on the love sac

Once the sun went down I decided to pop in to some of our favorite neighbors. Heather made the suggestion that we grill some steak and chicken. We pulled together a fajita dinner in a matter of minutes. It ended up being so great! Thanks Hunter's for a fabulous yummy evening. Just so you know, Doug fully expects a dodge ball tournament in the near future. :)

good deed Thur: went to a girls camp meeting
good deed Fri: went to temple
good deed Sat.: helped Taylor get ready for her competition

Five For Friday

photo courtesy of Janet's blog

1. What a huge difference a week makes. Last Friday was Halloween. And it was WARM-this morning it was 40 degrees!! My poor little nephew had to shed his costume after a few houses. But, he still looked adorable even if it was just for a photo. We opted to stay in our neighborhood which only consists of about 4 streets. I am amazed they still were able to come home with over 3-5lbs of candy each! I allowed them to pick out about 20 pieces each and donated the rest to the elementary school.

2. My kids ended up dressing up as different characters than our party the other night. I am certain I do have a photo of them in each of the costumes in that box, therefore I didn't even attempt a photo. They were too busy wanting to roam the neighborhood anyways. It's all about the candy--right? Doug sat on the porch with our candy and came up with this Axel/old man look. Quite scary if you ask me.

3. Monday was Taylor's first orchestra concert. She still continues to enjoy the violin which I am thrilled about. She also continues to improve each week on the piano and has even surprised me by playing some primary hymns. Thanks to connections, we have the BEST piano teacher (even better she can walk to her lessons). I am beginning to think she will hold the musical talent in our home because we all know Doug or I don't have any!

4. We survived 3 nights in a row of baseball games. Fall ball has been a little disappointing in that I am not sure Jared really got to improve his fine skills as much as I would have liked. I also can't decide if he just plays better when we are not around or it's a fluke. Last night I had to get Taylor and Doug had to run into the hospital and we missed the most exciting play of the night. Jared was pitching and ended up holding the game striking someone out, catching a pop fly and tagging another kid out. What in the world?? We haven't had that much excitement all season!
At any rate he was so excited last night telling us about it. His face was priceless.

5. This weekend Nascar is coming to Phoenix. I am not a huge fan, but it reminded me of this free song that Kidd Rock did for the military featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. Have you heard it? Kidd is also not my favorite, but this song is one of my new favorites. It is AWESOME to run to.

Five For Friday

1. It's FINALLY cooling off in AZ. People are now walking their dogs, riding bikes and taking strolls outside. The kids are now able to walk home without dying of heat exhaustion. Yay!! I'll admit I am a little sad that the monsoon season is over. Long gone are the heavy clouds that roll in, the thunder, lightening and these lovely rainbows. I took this while we were up at the cabin a few weeks ago. (hence the A-framed window).

Taylor with her hip/hop hat

2. Taylor is enrolled in three dance classes which consumes her entire Thursday after school. I opted to trek her into Mesa just so that she would be able to go to a "good" studio. People have their different opinions on what "good" is, but for me I prefer the technique side to be good. Plus she has some of the same instructors I did as a youth along with a few of my friends teaching the classes there. Her favorite class is hip/hop. This doesn't at all surprise me and she LOVES her teacher (House). The bummer part is his dance crew is in the process of trying to make it onto the Randy Jackson's Best Dance Crew. This is a great opportunity for him, but means that if they make the cut he will no longer be able to teach and choreograph at the studio.



3. The other day I couldn't help notice this piano at Claudia's house (she does my nails). I asked her if she played and she said she used to but is looking to sell it. My ears immediately perked up when "sell" came out of her mouth. I know nothing about pianos, but we have been wanting to start our kids with lessons. She is selling it for a little higher than the price of a keyboard. (like the ones at Costco) After talking to a few people, they said I would be crazy not to take it, it's a steal! We are still weighing the idea or deciphering between this or a piece of furniture. But, isn't it beautiful?

4. Little League has been a little different this season. Last spring the games tended to be on the more exciting side due to having it machine pitch. Jared has now bumped up into the "kid pitch" age, which DRAGS on and on. I know they have to learn at some point, but 2 hour games? Seriously, it's painful especially when some games start at 7:30pm. Did I mention these are on school nights?

5. It seems along with blogger another craze besides my-space is going around. One of my friends briefly told me about facebook a few weeks ago and since then I have found TONS of people from high school not to mention people I haven't thought about for years. Who needs a reunion when you can find them online? Crazy. Have you gotten on?

New Molds

You can mold wax into all different sizes, types and formations. I sometimes wish each of my kids had the same mold, well when it comes to school. Don't misunderstand, I love that my children are diverse and have each of their own personalities, but when it comes to self-discipline and making GOOD choices, some are better at it than others. Over the past few weeks we have been dealing with issues I had hoped would never happen at school. It's one thing to deal with them at home, but school? For the most part Taylor and Jared have been fairly good role models in school-- aka teachers pet. However, 3rd grade has started off on the wrong foot completely.

I think Jared has a great teacher, but my 8 year old has Doug and I shaking our heads more than I would like to admit. Thinks such as "what were you thinking?" and "seriously?" have been the questions we find ourselves asking him on a daily basis. It's frustrating. At this point I am not sure whether it's the move, the age, or him just testing the waters. We try to be fair and treat each situation differently. But, we have now gone to the extreme of loosing ALL electronics and anything else possible that would sound tempting. Part of me really feels bad about it, but I am at a loss what to do. A consequence is a consequence. Should we pull him out of sports along with everything else (knowing that would be more of a punishment for us?) Bottom line is the behavior has Got. To. Change. Period. As anyone knows.....having a family can be challenging, life continues to be crazy and yes, things of this nature come and go. I think it's part of learning and being a parent. But, one I am struggling with. Suggestions??

Luke, Magnus and Tyler

Now that is off of my chest (phew!) I can focus on the happier things that have been going on in our home. Surprisingly, the weather has been effecting many our "extra" activities. We survived a pretty hot Saturday watching Luke kick the soccer ball around. It was by far worth every bead of sweat sitting out in the grass, just by being a spectator. I am finding that my used to be quiet boy is molding into an outgoing one. Luke was so excited to go out and play and was so serious when it was his turn to get the ball down the field. His team played 4 on 4. It really was a hoot. I was surprised as to how much they were able to catch on and they ended up tying the game 3-3.

The photo is a little smoky due to Doug's crazy grilling

Doug and I can no longer officially fly under the radar in church or secretly hope for that calling that you have to place the books back into sacrament meeting. Is that really a calling? Last week he was sustained as the new Young Men's President. And the first words out of his mouth were, "I believe every YM president I knew as a youth owned a boat, isn't that a requirement?" Um. no not until you put a much needed body of water in our backyard. Nice try though hon. I think if I had to choose any leader position for Doug this would have been the one. He fits the mold to a tee, not to mention he loves the youth. He also has some great advisers (Adam Hall, and Joe Germaine) between the three of them I think they make a great team. They had their first official mutual at our home Tuesday evening. Doug wanted to make sure they knew where we lived and if they ever needed a place to go our home is open. As far as my callings go. Drum roll please......I am a Den leader in the cubscouts. Go bears!

Jared at the top of the line up

Monsoon weather here is always so unpredictable. It can range from dust storms, to dark clouds and no rain, to rain and heavy wind and hail. Crazy! During the day it still gets pretty hot, but it has at least started to cool down at night when the storms come brewing in. Unfortunately, lightening isn't the safest thing to be around, especially at a ball field. We were surrounded by dark black clouds last night and finally as it kept moving in closer the lightening did as well. Jared was only able to get through 2 innings. I wasn't too upset since it was a late game, but it was a bummer they were ahead and it just went down as a forfeit. Thank goodness this week is winding down. Just a few more things on the calendar (Saturday--more about that later) You bet I will be welcoming Sunday with open arms!

Sunday Seven

1). I signed into Taylor and Jared's school for the last time Wednesday. The 5th graders were holding their annual graduation since here they move on to middle school. I have to say I am a tad relieved that Taylor will walk the halls of elementary school for at least ONE more year starting in July. (AZ doesn't move onto junior high until 7th grade).

Along with all the other crazy events last week I was pleasantly surprised how enjoyable their program was. They read the names of each student by class room and then had a few selected awards they gave out to students. Taylor wasn't expecting any other award other than her diploma. She was recognized for student council and orchestra and then they handed out the "Presidential Award" These students were selected based on their grades from last year and all of this year. They had to keep a 90 average for 6 straight semesters. It was exciting to see Taylor earn such an award. She really has worked hard. We are so proud of you Taylor!

2). Thursday was the first official day of our summer vacation. Instead of hanging around the house I decided to take a road trip to the outlets (45 minutes away). I was gambling that the rugs at Pottery Barn would be on sale since I was currently looking for one. (Remember my chocolate carpet and mocha leather couch dilemma?) Well, that will no longer be an issue since I lucked out and found this for 60%! I wasn't sure that I LOVED it, but I think it's starting to grow on me. And I guess it better since there is a no return policy. After our successful shopping trip I stopped off at Gruene on the way home. They have a really cool iron store plus this town is so charming.

The new 8x10 rug

3). I haven't officially decided that I am a gym goer. For the first time in MY life, yes you read that correctly... Doug and I joined Lifetime Fitness. Many of you may think we are absolutely crazy for joining a gym. Hello, we are moving! However, I joined primarily for the pool to keep me sane with my kids for the next couple of weeks. And they have a fabulous 30 day no obligation deal (which is another reason we decided to go with it.)

I do find that I still end up going walking outside most days. I think out of habit. I noticed lately that my feet have really been aching. Doug bought me a new pair of running shoes for Mother's Day and I just barely took them out of the box. Part of me didn't want to get them dirty. (weird I know) I justified that I would wear them to the gym on the treadmill. (indoors only) Ironically, the other day I wore them and my feet felt awesome! I ran 4 miles and it didn't even feel like it. What a difference a new pair of shoes makes.

4). Yesterday was the closing ceremonies for Little League. Because it was the 50th anniversary they had a huge party with a moon jump, water slide, etc. I am not sure I would have attended (due to the extreme temperatures--it was held at the hottest part of the day) but Jared was selected by his coach to receive the sportsmanship award for his team. We felt honored that Jared was chosen for this, as many of his teammates would have qualified for such a trophy.

5). This is a new trend in our household (not for Doug--he is the book master) but Taylor has found a book that she just can't put down. I thought it was cute to see them both engrossed in their reading.

6). We have been trying to pack one room at a time so it doesn't seem overwhelming (even though it still does). I have officially cleaned out all closets, except for a few necessary items. Cleaned out bathroom cabinets and most of the kitchen. We tackled the boys toys today. Oh, my! I knew we had a lot of toys, but that is really an understatement. We boxed up at least 5 LARGE boxes today and still probably have two more. (We had to leave some out for obvious reasons).

Our house is now one big box mess!
But, at least it's an organized mess right?

7). I couldn't end my post without recognizing and wishing my grandparents a Happy Anniversary. They truly are the greatest example to me. I really am lucky to have such wonderful grandparents. Happy 60th, love you guys!

Grandpa & Papa Hughes

Last Minute

What is up with my pizza face? Ick!
(apparently I am not only feeling stress, but wearing it--ha!)

Are we already in May? My word time is flying faster than ever! Friday Angie had been invited to go see a movie with some of the ladies in her neighborhood. She called me to tag along (since she really didn't know them very well). Since we had about an hour to kill, I was expressing how nasty my feet were and how a pedicure sounded heavenly. There was a nail place right behind the theater and they worked us in at the last minute. Hurray! I was trying to explain to the lady (who didn't speak English very well) that I wanted a thin black line (like eyeliner) under my french manicure. It turned out okay, but I probably should have just left it plain.

With 10 minutes to spare we quickly headed over to grab a bite to eat shoved it into our bags and sat just before the previews started. I thought the movie was great and I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. It was just the medicine I needed after a stressful month. If you haven't seen it, grab your girlfriends and go! (I am a total sucker for Patrick Dempsey).

Our weekend was consumed with baseball/softball. Jared's team lost again Saturday. They are definitely in a loosing streak. In fact, on our way to the game last night Jared expressed how discouraged he was and that they would probably loose again. They were playing against one of the top teams in the league (The Astros). The coach on that team is beyond buggy. He is a little too hard core for my taste. Jared's team pulled it together and the boys hit like I have never seen them do in the past. The game was close throughout, (seriously a nail biter) but they managed to pull through and win 9-8. It was the greatest victory! The best part was after the game (coach Tim normally talks to the boys) and he said, "See doesn't it feel good to work together and win?!" It was so funny. Hopefully, this win boosted their confidence and they will play this well Saturday. I wish I would have captured their faces after the game, but this is one of the only shots I have. Dang!

I am feeling down to the wire on so many things. The kids only have a month of school left, we move in 7 weeks, my friend Sara moves in 2 weeks, Mother's Day and Angie's birthday are around the corner. Time needs to slow down. Ahhhh!

Whiny Wednesday & Good Mail

Our house has almost been up for 4 weeks. We have already lowered our price and added that we would contribute to some closing costs. I shouldn't complain, we have had about a dozen potential buyers looking, but no one has decided to bite. I think the hardest thing for me is most of the homes in our neighborhood sold in 3 weeks time, which often makes me wonder what is wrong with our house? Does is smell? Is it ugly? Granted the vinyl flooring in our kitchen is ick. It's ugly, dull, and has TONS of scuff marks (it's 10 years old) I haven't liked it from the moment we moved in. However, since we replaced the carpet, new flooring just wasn't in our budget and now, well it's too late. I figured if that was the biggest hang up we could throw in some incentive money at closing. We have a feedback website that I check almost as much as email when we have showings. The bummer part is not all realtor's leave comments, or if they do often times I get my hopes up. I can't change my floor plan (we have had a few that didn't like that). The upside of our neighborhood is it is a starter home with a lot of turnovers, and the cost of our home is quite cheap compared to some of our surrounding neighborhoods. I know it will sell in time, I just wish I knew when. Doug jokes that maybe we should get one of those obnoxious neon signs to place above our garage that blinks "buy me" Ha!

Taylor in action making a base hit!
(my camera skills suck)

Baseball season has kept us busy with 4 games a week and 2 practices mixed in. It hasn't been too terrible other than Jared's team just can't seem to make a win. I feel bad for the coach and the kids. It's discouraging on both ends. The baseball fields may seem like a second home to us right now, but there is a perk. At the beginning of the season they sold refill cups for $20 which allows you to fill up your cup endlessly until the end of the year. It was the BEST thing I invested in. Taylor has surprisingly enjoyed softball more than I imagined. She has even expressed interest in pitching. However, her games are long and painful. The first three innings aren't so bad because they are using the machine for pitching. The last innings on the other hand are the girls throwing wild pitches (and most don't throw strikes) allowing most to walk and then they steal bases to score the runs. Not very entertaining if you ask me.


This week is Fiesta in San Antonio. The easiest way to describe it is a Mexican party with a lot of food. I like to refer to it as a wanna be Mexican Mardi Gras. My kids even get this Friday off in honor of the Battle of the Flowers. Harsh, I know. But, New Orleans really just knows how to throw a party and Mardi Gras is actually really fun! Eating greasy food, hanging out with friends for an entire day, loosing your voice due to screaming for silly beads is my thing. Here they eat tamales (not my favorite), crack hollowed eggs filled with confetti, and have a parade. Sadly, Doug and I don't even consider parades anymore (or my kids for that matter) We have grown accustomed to having goodies thrown at us, stuffed animals, beads, candy, etc at Mardi Gras. Who wants to attend a parade just watching someone wave? Not me. Call me a Mardi Gras snob, I am okay with that.


Tonight is our pine wood derby. With, Wednesday being crazy carting Taylor around from 4-6pm, I don't even really want to go. I want to veg on the couch, ya know? Perhaps a little American Idol or Ace of Cakes? But, Jared has been anxiously awaiting this day to race this red car and if I wasn't there to support his first derby I would be that mom. Doug purchased the car pre-made, forgetting about the rules. For some that may seem as cheating, but in our defense most of our tools have been packed up and time sorta was an issue as well. Despite, all of that they were pretty stoked as to how it turned out. Doug feared it may be over the 5 oz or the "legal weight" but, I took it to the post office and they have about .8 to spare. I am interested to see what the other boys came up with.


Lastly, I received these to cards in the mail, one from Michelle and the other from Amie. My mailbox has been getting some major neglect since we have completely resorted to online banking. Which means we rarely get anything "worthy" except junk mail. These lovely's were sent last week on different days(which I failed to document) and truly made my day. It's always nice to get a thoughtful note from a fellow blogger. I love warm and fuzzy mail. Anyways, I think that is enough whining for one day. Is is Friday yet?

SPT--What Was I Thinking??

This post could obviously be more than one thing. As I sat and thought about my week in general things popped in and out of my brain like crazy. My over scheduled calendar, picking the wrong collision center to fix my car, choosing not to eat and then inhaling a package of chips ahoy in one sitting at 10pm, making two trips to pottery barn outlet in one day, screaming at my children to stay off the "freshly vacuumed" carpet so that some "person" could tell me they hated my vinyl flooring. We all have things we wish we could have or should have done differently, but most importantly we learn from them and move on. My hair has been standing on end over the past couple of months. The littlest things have bugged me. Not for any apparent reason, it's just something I wish would go away! Bad mood be gone. I can't change the past, so rather than rehashing the things I wish I could change I decided to take a different approach. Here are some things that have been going on over the past week or so..........

Jenny, Julie, and Cheri

I have met some super nice parents on little league this year. It has made Jared's baseball games a lot of fun. These gals are new to SPT, but they were great sports about taking a photo. Funny, Cheri offered to take this photo, but I explained that self portraits are more fun.

This isn't anything new or out of the ordinary for me. I do have to document that I am still going strong doing a morning walk/run. I can't believe it's been close to 6 months without Angie. It's definitely hard on some days to make myself go, but I am always glad I do. Weird to thing 3 years ago I had absolutely NO exercise regiment in my life at all.

Yesterday, Angie and I drove up to San Marcus to the Pottery Barn outlet. I had a gift card from Christmas and wasn't expecting to find anything. And really went up to "window shop" It is such a crap shoot when you drive up there. This happened to be one of those times I found a deal I couldn't pass up. Doug and I have been saving here and there to buy furniture for our next house. I wasn't planning on getting Taylor a bedroom set for a while, but this was 60% off. Unheard of really. Two trips later she now has a "real" bed. I must say I was pretty pleased with the look and how incredibly easy it was to assemble. No tools required, just my style!

Soakin' Up The Sun

Quinn, Jared, Luke and Cameron

We had a weekend of full sun and 80 degree weather. Saturday we kicked it off with some baseball at the Northside Little League fields.

Sunday we headed over to the Gordon front for hot dogs, and the 2nd half of conference ala outside speakers (gotta love that).

Between three families, (the Millers, Clouse, and Gordon's) we had 12 kiddos. They had a blast hiking in the woods and enjoying the outside. What a fun weekend had by all!

1 down 1 to go!

Doug officially is taking his last week of vacation during his career in residency. Yippee! It will be nice to have him around 24/7 for an entire week, even though he will be busy studying here and there. After today Jared has one more baseball game for the season. It doesn't look like they will be making the playoffs. So sad. Can you sense a little sarcasm? It has been fun, but I am ready for it to be over for a bit since we are in the thick of swim-team.

self portrait in the FJ

I have to admit I was really dreading this afternoon. Taylor was required to attend a mandatory dress rehearsal before her recital tomorrow. It ended up being a pretty good afternoon. I asked Taylor if she was excited about performing on stage. She said she likes it except for the mascara/makeup part. I had to chuckle. I wonder how long that disliking will last? Doug stayed home with the boys and did some boy things outside while I went downtown with Taylor. We had some bonding time and an added bonus we went in the new FJ! Good times. I was a bit hestitant taking it for fear something would happen, but took it anyway. It is a pretty fun car or I mean SUV truck to drive.

sweet roses from the jared and dad.

The dress rehearsal lasted about 3 hours. I was hungry by the time it was over around 6:30pm. (since I hadn't eaten all day). We headed over to Texas Hamburger to share a yummo cheeseburger meal and topped it off with a chocolate shake. Not too shabby! When we got home, Taylor walked in the door and was surprised with these roses from her dad and Jared. Jared even pitched in his own money to pay for them. Sometimes he surprises me. I know deep down he has a tender, sensitive side, he just doesn't show it much. He also bought the little boys bouncy balls out of a machine at the store. So sweet. Well, I am off to prepare a primary lesson. Apparently I am beginning to be a good permanent sub in there. Am I being prepared for something?? Hmmm.


good deed: entered in some case logs for Doug.