Come and see - I know you want to!

First - an update on my mojo - still missing, though I've heard of several sightings suggesting it's headed back my way. I'm waiting patiently!

On the other hand, I've been so busy, maybe my mojo has tried getting in touch, but hasn't been able to reach me. If that's the case - sorry ol' buddy. As you'll see from this post - I've had a lot going on! But I'm free now - feel free to head back home :)

(btw, do any of you remember these mojo chews? I used to LOVE them! Why do all the great candies disappear?)

We spent much of last week doing some cleaning/purging/reorganizing in preparation of my in-laws and niece coming to visit. I don't want them to think I felt pressured to do such cleaning - on the contrary, it's a happy cleaning. It was filled with excitement and really gave me the push I've been needing lately to get ANYTHING done. It was just what I needed.

On Thursday (May 14) the girls had a day off school, so they decided that, while cleaning their room, that they would like to rearrange it. Okay - sounds fun! We moved furniture, washed walls, scrubbed down dressers, desks, you name it! In the end, the girls love their 'new' room. It gives them lots of space to play, AND we managed to get rid of bags full of trash and give aways. Nice! Now, if only we could afford some paint to change that awful color! Ew. But, one thing at a time my little grasshopper :)


Friday was spent much the same way - lazily getting some cleaning done here and there - waiting anxiously for when the in-laws would arrive! We knew it wouldn't be until late, but we were anxious nonetheless. TJ had a fun night at a friend's house watching a fun flick with the other achievement days girls. LUCKY!!!

They did arrive, safe and sound, and we visited for a while before heading off to bed. It would be a busy day the next day!

Bright and early I had a newborn shoot with such a great family. Wow. I really loved it. They were so fun, had some nice ideas, and the entire shoot was a pleasure. So sweet.We then got right to work recovering our kitchen chairs. Yep. My in-laws don't fool around! They come to work! LOL! Judy and I ripped apart the old overs while hubby and his dad worked on unscrewing the parts. Judy then sewed new covers from a pattern made from the old fabric, with some gorgeous faux suede type stuff. SO nice. I love them. Hubby and his dad drove to the store to buy some new high density foam for the seats, and some wood to fix the chair backs. Then we stapled them together. They turned out so nice! We finished 4 chairs when we ran out of fabric. I'll finish the rest later on.
The girls spent the morning playing around together. TJ and S are two weeks apart in age (TJ being the older of the two, though S has grown much taller!). They dressed alike nearly every day she was here - somehow they have managed to buy the same clothing, though they live miles apart. SO fun. They even wanted their hair done the same way. We almost pulled it off. I, of course, went camera happy on them :)




JJ joined in the fun as much as possible. HER hair has almost grown back enough to put in little piggie tails.
AND the weather was just nice enough to be outside most of the day. Our little tulips are just peeking their petals out.
After chairs we took the kids out to Milky Way - our fun little ice cream shop here. The kids were certainly spoiled! I got a vanilla/strawberry swirl soft serve cone (their soft serve is the creamiest I've ever tasted!) while the rest got various hard ice creams concoctions. Later we got a babysitter (miracle, I know) and went out with mom and dad to eat at Rock Creek restaurant and then to a flick to see "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage. It wasn't what I expected at all - laughable in some parts - but a fun flick all in all.Sunday was like most Sundays - busy and wonderful. We magically all got out the door early enough for a quick picture and time to race back home to look for forgotten church keys :)
Yes. TJ and S had the same church clothes. Nice.

I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on lifting and building others. I was nervous, as usual, which is funny to me because I've had lots of experience speaking, teaching, conducting meetings.. but it never fails - I get so nervous I can barely swallow. Thankfully, I don't think most noticed :)

After church, and after my meetings, we did some baking in the easy bake oven,
Grandpa hung around downstairs with JJ, who apparently was enthralled by his company :)

.... played a rousing game of "Go Fish" or "Gold Fish" as my kids like to call it. Followed by another rousing game of memory.Judy and I sat for a while, going through old pics of hubby as a child, with her recollections and stories. Probably my favorite part of Sunday. I loved hearing all about their lives while my hubby was growing up. It's amazing the life we lead, isn't it? Especially looking back at everything we have experienced!

Hubby treated us to some Pico de Gallo - his first time making it, and it was nummas!
Later that evening Jeff and Judy went to visit some friends of theirs here while us girls all made journals! S especially LOVED doing this, and she made quite the fancy notebook in the end :)

Monday was a holiday, and we had to say our good-byes to the in-laws. I was so sad to see them go. Their visits never seem long enough. I often miss our families :( We said our goodbyes, only after they bought some treats for each of the girls, and then headed off to find some adventure during Hubby's day off work.

We first headed to a local garden center which was full of gorgeous flowers and plants. I was drooling over every bit of it.

We came home to have some lunch, then headed out to the YMCA to play, since nothing else seemed to be open! We played at the indoor play structure for a while, then realized that our day pass also included the pool! We got the kids in their swim suits and all headed into the pool for some fun. We loved it. The water was so warm - even in the regular swimming pools! Then we changed, ate some supper, and came BACK to play at the play structure a while longer. Hubby treated us to slurpees (um, we shared - I don't usually drink a slurpee THAT size on my own) while the kids ran off their energy :)

After we got home, at bedtime, the kids were asking for Family Home Evening. We told them that the entire DAY was family home evening! Boy, do kids ever like structure! We had such a great Victoria Day. Loved it. It was a nice ending to a crazy week!

Tuesday was a slow day, doing nothing but laundry and editing pics from the photoshoot on Saturday. I loved every second of the boring, slowness. Hubby treated us to a dinner out at a favorite Chinese restaurant nearby. It was the perfect ending to a perfectly boring day :)

So, that brings us to today! Jersey day at school. Well, we aren't a "sporty" type family, so we had zero jerseys around here. Therefore, a trip to Le Village was in order. After a short look through the boys' section, we came away with three cute jerseys for our girls to wear. Nice!


Phew! Are you still with me? I'm sorry it was a long post, but - seeing as this blog often doubles as my journal, you're stuck with long, boring posts about what I do with my days :) I do plan to update with some tutorials, I'm just pulling a blank! I've got no creative drive right now :( I'm working on it, though - so please don't give up on me, yet!