Wicked

Last Tuesday (so I am consistently about a week behind on my posting) Russ and I got to go on a date. Here I am trying to decide which dress to wear. All so pretty, unfortunately they look much better on the hanger than they do on me.

We had a busy day that day. My mom was in town and stayed with my kids while I ran errands. It was so nice to be able to get all that done without having the kids with me. When Russ got home we loaded some furniture from the shed up for Connie. She got a new TV and had to do some furniture rearranging. We went over there to help her with it and then all went out to eat. Russ and I had to leave quickly to make it to Wicked (Russ' parents gave up tickets for Christmas and I was pretty excited cause I had never seen it) and Connie took our kids home and put them to bed. 
We really had to hurry and got stuck behind some traffic so I was sure we were going to miss the beginning. We parked in the parking at University and Mill and got out and ran for it (I took off me heals and pretty much ruined my tights). It was fun running down the street together and as we were getting closer I told Russ that I might die and that I loved him. We also saw like 6 parking spots open in the Gammage parking lot so we will definitely check next time.
Our seats were pretty high so at intermission we got to go out a see the lovely view.



Seriously, what a view:)Now for my thoughts on Wicked. I have heard many rave reviews about it and people love it, so I may have been expecting too much. That isn't to say I didn't like it, cause I did; a lot, actually. Russ really enjoyed it too. And I probably would have nothing negative to say if I hadn't gone expecting so much. The opening seemed a little long and weird (for lack of a better word) but the worst for me was when Fiyero shows up and start singing "Dancing Through Life". I was sitting there thinking what is going on? I didn't like the music dancing or costumes. The other one that I thought was super awkward was when the Wizard sang. But on the other hand I like that this play had such strong female characters. I was okay with the way it ended, but I would have also been okay with (spoiler alert)

----Elphaba turning out bad, you know actually wicked. Because the truth is sometimes it happens and I am okay with a sad and truthful ending. But I am also okay with the way it ended. It was cute and fun and I hope to take Gracie some day. My favorite song was Defying Gravity and I also really like Popular and For Good. The actresses were phenomenal singers and really did such a good job. If it wasn't so dang expensive I would go again.

sweet valentines

This valentines was a little bit stressful. I had planned on making some mini bows and arrows for all the kids in Williams class like the tutorial here. I had all the Popsicle sticks soaked and ready to be made into bows at about 8:00 the night before he was supposed to take them (is this why we are not supposed to procrastinate?). As we started making them they started breaking. Every.single.one. Russ told me we would have to do something else. 

What something else!? I didn't have something else!?

I showed William tons of ideas on pinterest of stuff we could do, but he didn't want to do any of them. Just about the moment we were going to strangle each other in frustrations I remembered something. 

Some pictures from miss Lindsay's instagrams here, here, and here. I showed them (actually I only showed him the first one) to William and he loved it and immediately sat down and drew some robots.

And wrote a message on a separate piece of paper. I scanned them both into the computer and then printed them out on some cards that we had left over from last years valentines party.
I thought they turned out really cute. On valentines day I told Russ to pick up the movie Ever After on the way home and we all watched as a family. Then after the kids were in bed I gave him my gifts. 
I got him some lovers lotto cards that turned out to be lame. I thought they would at least be funny, but it was stuff like: what? comedy club, when? before April, where? your choice (all the 'wheres' were 'your choice'). It was not what I was expecting.
And then I got him this game which is like scrabble but instead of letters it is words and instead of words you are creating sentences, and it's timed. It was very funny. I was glad we got a laugh out of it (I think it was $.75    at a thrift store).

A date with Grace

After Gracie had earned enough stickers on her chore chart I knew exactly where I wanted to take her. There is a cute little ice cream parlor and restaurant in Scottsdale called Sugar Bowl. Everything in there is pink and it is all just really adorable.

We decided to share a banana split and as we ate Gracie and I talked about what it would be like if we lived there.

Then there is a game room with a gumball machine of only pink gumballs.

and ski ball, which Gracie is not strong enough to play.

And across the street there was a fountain (and luckily an atm so I could get cash for tokens).

It was a lot of fun and I am glad I got to go there with my Gracie girl. Also, after seeing the pictures William wants to go there too, even though everything is pink.
- Posted by deb on the go.

spinning

I found these pictures from back in January of Russ spinning the kids. Something they love to do. 

You may notice the Christmas decorations in the background, doesn't Christmas seem soooo long ago?

I love William's face in the background.

This feels like my life sometimes. I am spinning. I finish one thing and before I can take a breath I turn around and there is something else that needs to be done. Such is the life of a housewife. It's not bad though. I love having a full life and stuff to do. And even when there is stuff to do I still take baths (sometimes) and read (I really recommend If I Stay and Where She Went (if you are not opposed to swearing),

 and go the the park for 3 hours. We still have leisurely times.

 Every times something else gets done I feel very grateful because I realize that for some people, things don't get done. And even though that finished project is to be followed by countless others each accomplished project (no matter how small) feels good. 

letterpress

I have always liked letterpress but didn't really know how it was made. I got the chance (back in January) to help Angela letterpress her baby shower invitations. I know it is weird that she designed/made her own invitations, but no one could do it better and she was happy to do it. We most of the day on a Monday with this old machine.

There were drawers of metal stamps that were so fun to look at.

Mixing colors is the coolest, and I wish I was better at it. I was super impressed how quickly Angela got the colors she wanted. It would have taken me awhile.

She let me try it out, but for the most part she did it cause we would have been there all day if I was the one doing it.

You let the machine run forever until the color is spread all over that plate.

They turned out lovely. I got to see Angela's perfectionist side come out for these. She really wants her work to be perfect and notices any flaws. Not in an annoying way, but in a way that is refreshing; to see someone who takes pride in their work and a job well done.

Also I just wanted to add: look at these streamers I used for her shower! I found them (mostly at different times) at the thrift store for 25 cents a roll and they were the perfect colors. I love it when that happens.

b is for baby

This last weekend I had the privilege of helping throw a baby shower for my good friend Angela Hardison. I have not known her very long, but I am so glad that she and I moved into the same neighborhood. She is well known for her talent in design, being crazy stylish, and taking beautiful pictures. When someone appreciates beauty in the world around them as much as Angela does, it makes it that much nicer to throw them a beautiful shower. I think we did it (at least she says she got a little teary when she saw everything)!

Jessica and I were behind all the decorations and such.

And Angela's sister Anna and sister-in-law Lindsey were in charge of getting and preparing all the food. We were going to have two separate showers; they were going to have a family shower and we would do a friends' shower but Anna called me one day and asked if I thought we could do it together. I am glad she called because even though it was large (60+) it was fun and that meant I didn't have to do any food (my least favorite part of party planning).

It also meant that I got to meet and get to know her sister Anna. She is awesome and I decided she is now one of my best friends. Seriously. I went over to her house to pick oranges and chat like three times before the shower even happened.

Some awesome and beautiful guests

I am kinda bummed because I was so busy with everything else I didn't take a picture.

Once at another party, everyone had to introduce themselves and say what kind of nerd they are. Angela said she is a typography nerd so I figured ABC's would be a good baby shower theme for her.

We had boxed lunches for everyone. These boxes that we got from Paper Mart. We sent out email save the dates prior to sending the invites (which Angela designed and printed herself, but I will post about that another  time) and along with it a link to a survey that asked their name, if they were coming, and what sandwich they wanted. This was by far the best response to an RSVP that I have ever gotten. Not everyone replied, but most people did.

We really needed people to RSVP because as favors we gave sterling silver necklace charms of their initials. Lynette Andreasen made them for us and she made them in Angela's handwriting!! I even got to go and help Lynette and watch her in action. She is one talented lady. Here are the charms before they were finished.

And all polished and ready

Aren't they amazing!?

We needed a few things designed for the shower and I didn't want Angela to do it (we tried to keep everything a surprise for her). I was pretty stressed one night cause design is not something I do or even have the equipment to do. Then all of a sudden it came to me that her lovely sister Rachel who lives in Utah and couldn't come to the shower does design. I emailed her and before I knew it I had the perfect things in my email inbox. I mean look at these place mats!

It was so fun watching her open presents and I brought two chairs cause I thought Clint would probably come. And he did.

Here are some pre-party pictures.

Fabric ties for the boxes

to hold the jewelry

Here is Abe helping Jessica and I get things ready the night before 

Abe is Jessica's husband and one of my kids' favorite people. That is why William is cursing him in this picture.

I am glad we got a lot done the night before. It definitely helped things go smoother the day of, but that doesn't mean we were totally ready. If we had been, all the boxes would have been on the table in the pictures:) We were running around like crazy trying to make sure everyone had their food, but once that passed it was a lovely afternoon.

I am really glad I was able to help do this for Angela. She is a women of grace and virtue. Because we both serve together in the Young Womens program in our church I have truly gotten to see her spirit and it is a beautiful thing. She is going to be a wonderful mother. She already is.