tai pan should be renamed 'balls r us'...

yes it has been a long long time since i last posted.
(thank you amber for pointing that out)

so much has happened but i won't bore you with it except to say

1. we are all healthy

2. no one is pregnant

and even though i haven't posted, please note that i have still been thrifty and crafty and shopping and all those things we love.

now, to proceed with the ball post!

i didn't feel like working out thursday after work so i didn't.
sometimes you have to skip it.
 i took some time for me.

(summer-no comments about how all time is me time!)

i went to tai pan for some st pat's day inspiration.
and i found balls.
i assume everyone is now on the ballswagon* because here are photos of stuff i DIDN'T buy...

these were the 1st ones i came across.

i call them spring balls.

that orange and yellow and green look fantastic together!

hey-i go to church as much as the next person so i can say these are religious balls.

thank you friar tuck.

fuzzy balls.

no other way to call it.

(not to turn all 'schweddy balls' on you but these were so soft!)

these were in the st pat's day stuff.

green yarn balls.

these might actually come home with me another day.

and of course i couldn't leave empty handed, so i purchased these beauties!

this is really a turquoisey-blue ball with sparkles.

and you can't tell but this is yellow.

WITH a small noise making ball inside!

oh, and st patricks day...not that much other than the above green balls.
some 'kiss me' and 'lucky' stuff but nothing funky enough for me.
i guess i need to get out some spray paint.

*ballswagon is a trademark of thethriftyba

where oh where should i go?!

i know i haven't been around alot, but i still love you!

i hope you love me.

i'm (ALONE) headed to the oc (orange county california-and the reception is in coto!!!)
and wanted to know if there are any

amazing thrift shops

i can stop by.

oh, and im leaving utah thursday and coming home saturday.

im flying standby, so im unsure of what flight i will actually get.

could i be more pathetic?

and the reason im headed there for the quickest trip ever?

this pretty niece (britney) of mine...

is marrying, um, danny...

and they picked the san diego temple to be married.

and why not-it looks like a castle!

(every princess needs one!)

oh, and then monday im headed to sun valley idaho.

so if you have any suggestions, i could really use them!

good times with meggie poo

with the summer upon us, i wanted to re-post my fruit dip recipe.

2 block of cream cheese

1 bag of SKOR or HEATH candy bits

2 t of vanilla

1 cup of powdered sugar

1.5 cup of brown sugar

mostly so i could post this photo of my niece eating her 2nd hamburger of the night AND licking the paddle of the mixer covered in fruit dip.

i dont think she is embarrassed at all.

 

today, i will remember...

this is angelina and antonio manno.

(1971, their 50th wedding anniversary)

neither fought in a war.

(but they sent their oldest son in wwii off because they loved their nation.)

they were poor and worked hard for everything they had.

(he dug ditches in the depression to keep his family fed)

they relied on family and friends when things got tough.

(and didn't feel entitled to any assistance)

they believed in the american dream.

(and when they left italy, they knew they'd never see their family again)

these are my great grandparents.

without them, and their choices, i wouldn't be here.

i am grateful for them and their sacrifices.

i am what i am today because of my family.

it is the end of the year already?!?!

actually, it isn't the end of the school here in utah yet. we have year round school, so my kids are in (and im working until) the beginning of july. then, depending what track you are (or if you work at the school), you might be going back by the end of july.

but nate's S.O.A.R. is over.

nate is a smarty pants, but has trouble reading. S.O.A.R. has really helped him and he is up to grade level now! it is one teacher for 5 kids and they spend time every day doing intense reading.

he doesn't like it because sometimes it goes into his recess, but i say it is worth it.

(but i would have hated it as a kid too!

i found out today that S.O.A.R. is over tomorrow, so it is lucky that i already had a gift, i just had to make it fancy.

last year i got some aluminum water bottles on clearance for something like $1 from roberts. all i did was tie some cute patriotic ribbon that i got from dollar tree on it and...

(no idea why nate feels like he needed the red crayon for the photo)

mrs. k deserves so much more than just a water bottle for putting up with little nate this year,

but the school isn't paying me for my looks.

family portrait

i know i haven't posted photos of my family in awhile. here is the newest one.

(courtesy of a frame originally from the wood connection, that i got from d.i. for a buck)

left to right, parker, chris, me and natey.

im quite the picasso!

teacher appreciation week let down

last week was our teacher appreciation week.

you know the deal-gifts and supplies for the teacher.

and when i think of that they put up with

(meaning 25 kids who are just like mine for 7 hours a day),

they deserve it!

we had one teacher who not only didn't get her door decorated by the room mom,

not have a list of her favorite things sent home so kids could bring in all kinds of lovely things, but...

who had a 15 yr old daughter go thru treatment for thyroid cancer!

I KNOW!

anyone of those would make me break down into tears!

and i didn't find out until friday

(as a copy aid, we stay in our own little copy room and have fun. we don't venture out much)!

i borrowed a camera from ms taylor (another teacher) and took a photo of each of her kids.

ms taylor then sent the photos to walgreens for 1 hr processing.

after my shift, i ran and picked them up and made her an adorable book of photos.

but really, this teachers week really sucked.

and a regular book of photos wouldn't do.

so i went to skiptomylou and found this...

sweet!

i put little embellishments on the pages and made it awesome!

well, that just isn't enough for a teacher who has a daughter battling cancer, is it?!

so i found out that this teacher loves coke (not diet, which is the official drink of lds women in utah), so i found this craft lunch box and my modge podge and...

I KNOWS!

i even punched a hole in a metal coca cola bottle top and hung it on the handle with all the ribbons.

and still that wasn't enough!

i had a glass bottle of coke, and decided to do one last thing

(that i of course didn't take a photo of!).

i tied a tag around it that said

'i'd like to teach the world to spell...'

needless to say, i'm amazing!

and it wasn't even one of my kids teachers!