*I actually wrote this on Sunday night, but due to computer problems...(again!) I wasn't able to publish it until today, Tuesday and then the heading my blog gave it was Monday... so it's all messed up, but, oh well.

I have been meaning to write on my blog for days and days and days now... but obviously, haven't. (so why, on the day I DO decide to, are my fingers refusing to work? I can't type anything right tonight!)

I am currently waiting for my Caden to get home. He (lucky duck!) was invited to spend the last 5 days with his best friend at Disneyland! I miss my sweet Cuckoo boy! Cathie has been very good about keeping me informed. I have gotten at least 6 texts (most with a picture!) a day to let me know he is well and happy.

This last week was spring break for our boys... which means that I have been able to sleep in and not HAVE to go many places, but it also means that there are boys around 24/7... and that means lots of messes (and more work for me!) I'm not sure if I like spring break, or christmas break or any other break for that matter if it means MORE cleaning! You know it has gotten pretty bad when the missionaries show up at the door on a Sunday afternoon and Curtis won't even let them in the house! He made them stand outside for 5 minutes while we all dashed around like crazy putting things away. Embarrassing! It will take me at least 2 days to get this place back to where it needs to be.(honestly, it is fighting a losing battle to even try to keep up with the housework when they are making 3 messes for every one I clean up.)
Will I like getting up tomorrow at the crack of dawn to get those boys off to school... uhmmm, nope, not really, but I will like to have a few hours of peace and quiet... and it is amazing how clean the house stays when no one is around!

So, this last week. We went to Gramma and Pop-pop's for Easter. I decided to hard-boil some eggs to color and hunt and then turn into deviled eggs or egg salad sandwiches later. So before we headed over I put some on the stove. I had a vague memory about someone telling me a trick to hard-boiling eggs... adding something to the water, so they would peel easier and the yolk wouldn't turn greenish or something. Of course I couldn't remember what it was, and being the NON-cook that I am I thought I'd better check that "recipe" for boiling eggs one more time. I went online (and never did find the trick I was looking for) but found a recipe and put the eggs on to boil. I swear I even checked them by spinning them to see if they were really done (another online tip) but when we went to color them I discovered that they were only soft boiled. I went online again looking for a recipe for how to fix hard-boiled eggs that didn't quite get hard boiled the first time and found....nothing. At about this point I realized (once again) that I am hopelessly inept when it comes to kitchen-y domestic things. I had to laugh with my uncle Dale that it is a sad, sorry state of affairs when you need to look up a recipe to boil eggs in the first place... but then to screw that up and expect to find a recipe to fix it, too! We colored and hunted, but did NOT eat any eggs. Ahhh well, better luck next time.









It was really nice to get to visit with (most of) the family at Easter. We had a nice dinner and played cards. My cousin Rachel brought her daughter Ava with her and when we arrived little Ava, who is 3 had been anxiously waiting for my boys to get there so she'd have someone to play with.
(*You know, there are just some days when your kids are so well behaved and kind and sweet that you just have to smile and think that everything is right in the world. THIS was one of those days.)
Caden and Brock jumped out of the car and "met" Ava on the doorstep (they'd never seen each other before that day). For the rest of the day they were at her beck and call. They pushed her on the tire swing, helped her up when she fell... Brock got her a new band-aid and played nurse when her old band-aid fell off. They gave her all the best eggs during the hunt and shared all their candy with her even after her mom "cut her off" (Rachel: please stop giving her candy!). It just melted my heart to see how sweet and patient and kind they were to her. What wonderful boys. Made this momma proud.

I have been talking to my mom and she was telling me about all the fun projects she's been working on... a fun scrappy quilt, shopping bags and more, cuter shopping bags and I just felt that itch to sew too. She asked me if I had any projects that were started that I could finish (silly question!) and I cam across some patriotic quilt blocks that I had from when I was in her quilt group that had been gathering dust. Me and my bright ideas! I thought, "I'll just pull these out, dust them off, and make a quilt for the chili cook-off auction to raise money for scout camp. I should know by now, (but apparently fail to remember!) that with me nothing is ever simple or easy or quick. So on Monday I start making a quilt, thinking that with 8 blocks already done I am well on my way. HA! I also fail to remember that with me...small is never an option. So I need more blocks and make 4 more, then I need NEED a really cool way to set them apart, so I do stars and bars for the sashing, which needs another border to finish it off... oh, and I just have to finish the binding by hand...
This is where I just shake my head and wonder what the heck is wrong with me!!! I am the one who 1. decided at the last minute to make a quilt 2. decided that it needs to be done in time for the cook-off on Saturday 3. keep making it more and more elaborate... and then wonder why I get cranky and tired and stressed when the days are slipping by and the deadline approaches and I still have more to do!
Needless to say, it did get done and I was quite pleased with the final product. So after spending a week of my life on it... I just gave it away. (story of my life!)