Creative Friday

Jill brought Ashley again last Friday, and Eva was so excited she could hardly stand it. She sat by the window watching for them for the last half hour before their arrival. They both wanted to get in on our self-portrait.


Some of Eva's squishy dinosaurs made an appearance at the table. (The colorful ones are from Whitney, with the blue one M.I.A.) I swear, everyone that touches those dinos wants them!


Jill was stamping a monogram on the cutest little composition she made for a giveaway. It brought back fond memories of the times gone by when we stamped all the time.

Eva and Ashley did sidewalk chalk for awhile, including tracing Ashley and coloring her in. Holy moly, chalk dust!

Jenn joined us after lunch because she had to attend a school program. Although Jenn was a visitor to Creative Friday, she got the sticker while helping at her kids' school. (We don't have stickers. Yet.) Her son Ethan joined right in with the girls and they all played well together, woot!

We had to have another self-portrait with Jenn.

This skirt that Jenn's sister made for her is killing me with its cuteness!! I want that fabric so much. I checked JoAnn's online, and they are sold out. If anyone has access to that fabric, I would gladly pay you to get some for me!

Jenn did some stamping as well. She stamped her brain box cards. She said that if she made the cards pretty, she would feel better about doing her chores. Jill and I exchanged a glance that said we had nothing but scorn for our cards at that point.

I didn't have anything good for lunch (quesadillas), but at least I had Ultimate Fudge Cake (a.k.a. Giant Ding Dong Cake) left over from book club the night before! That cake is vying with German Chocolate to be my favorite.

Ashley, Eva, and Ethan spent a lot of time on the trampoline. Hooray for not-too-hot days!

I had a bag of Cadbury eggs that I had bought before Easter and saved until after my candy fast was over. Jenn brought raspberries, her signature offering. I would be in good shape if raspberries were my go-to treat.

Ethan wanted a picture of him with Jack before they left. He may be the first visitor ever that has actually liked Jack!

Jill doing her semi-fake crying that amuses me so. The girls played so well together that we hardly saw them all day – we never thought that day would come!

Our combined output for the day – not too shabby!

Sunday thoughts

I can't think of anything else today besides service.

If I know one thing about getting ready to move halfway across the world, it's that we are inundated with service. You might think you would welcome that with open arms -- and maybe you would -- but I still struggle with being the recipient at times. Nonetheless, I am always, always incredibly grateful and humbled afterwards.

Jill has once again proven herself to be the most understanding, selfless, giving friend ever. She has been over so many times this week, I lost count. She didn't wait for me to ask for her help or tell her what I needed her to do (she knows me too well).

-- She took Eva for the whole day on Thursday, and I spent the entire day doing errands and knocking items off my to-do list(s).

-- Hannah watched Eva for several hours on Friday so I could be distraction-free.

-- Jill came over on Friday for a summit about the state of my lists.

At Marc's suggestion, we went out to lunch. My first reaction was that I couldn't possibly, but I was oh so glad that we did. The summit took place at California Pizza Kitchen. {all photos by Jill}

This was one of my lists. I consolidated them all to one new one. (plus one for packing) I am seriously a list addict.

We then hit Cold Stone, as Jill had a gift card (thanks, Lisa!) and treated me to this embarrassing decadence. It was fabulous.

We went back to my house and did 3 more things on the list before I had to pick up Eva!

-- One of my visiting teachers called on Friday and asked if we liked corn. She was going to a corn stand and wanted to bring us some as well. Oh, and a Costco rotisserie chicken and a huge package of strawberries. I nearly wept with relief.

-- On Saturday, Jill and Jenn came over to help. It felt more like they came to stabilize me. I feel like I've been teetering on the edge of a precipice for the last week -- one minute I am thinking, "I'm doing great, I can totally handle this!" and the next I am thinking, "I am never going to make it to the end. I think I'll sit down and cry." And yes, I'm still taking my meds.

When they first arrived and asked what they could do, all I could do was shrug. Jill returned our library items and came back with Sonic drinks. Jenn started dusting:

I am embarrassingly bad about dusting. (I think that once someone has cleaned your house, and seen your (lack of) housekeeping skills, it takes your friendship to a new level. There are no more secrets.) Jill joined in on the dusting, vacuumed the laundry room and the downstairs.

(blurry self-portrait, but it had to be documented)

Jenn had to leave, but Jill picked up Wendy's for us and the kids and we all sat down to watch So You Think You Can Dance (top 15 routines ever). Any guesses on how I felt when they left?

-- Jenn brought me the game Gloom because she knew I was planning to buy it before leaving. She gave me a gift and saved me from another errand!

-- Marc took Lucas shopping for new shoes, as we discovered he didn't have any. Hooray, one fewer errand for me! Plus, he helped the boys pack their suitcases! Woohoo, I didn't have to pack for 4!

-- Our bishop announced in sacrament meeting today that we were leaving and wished us safe travels and told us that we would be missed. I was surprisingly touched by that.

-- My darling neighbor Traci called this afternoon and invited us to dinner. I haven't been buying food, as I'm trying to use up what we have, and I was planning to scrounge up something, probably waffles. Instead, we went to her lovely home and had a veritable feast. We ate wonderful food outside on her back patio, which feels like a little corner of paradise. She even sent us home with a cellophane bag of homemade cookies!

-- I received several cards from blog friends over the last couple of weeks, many well wishes and expressions of thoughtfulness sent my way.

And so, once again, I find myself absolutely humbled by the many ways I have been served. How did I get such wonderful friends? What have I done to deserve such gifts of time and sacrifice? All I can think is that I have a Heavenly Father who is aware of my every need. Thanks so very very much to everyone who stepped in to fill those needs.


*We leave tomorrow!*

seriously.

Jill and Jenn came over this morning to help me out. They were both dusting (I rarely seem to get around to dusting!) and I was gathering and sorting. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of something hideous on my wall!

Not a bug, nor bodily fluids or anything of that sort. No, this little beauty was hung there on purpose.

What the? In fact, I actually purchased it at one point (albeit about 16 years ago). My only excuse is that, at one point, I liked it. And now I hate it. And apparently I stopped seeing it. I have no idea what brought it into view with such clarity today, but it was such a relief throwing it away!

I mentioned it to Marc, and he said, "well, it did have some cool keys hanging from it." As if THAT excuses this monstrosity.

But the worst part was that, when I mentioned to Jill and Jenn that I was going to throw it away, they both breathed a sigh of relief and said they had been wondering for years how that had made it into my house. Years!

I demanded to know why they never mentioned it, and they said it wasn't their place to question my decor. And so, a declaration is in order: if ever you are wondering something like that, please tell me! Please. I promise I can take it.

belated birthday celebration

Last night was our (very!) belated book club birthday celebration for Jenn. I feel badly when so much time elapses between the birthday and the celebration, but hopefully it's fun to have birthday festivities no matter when they occur (at least that's what I tell myself).

Customarily, we have our birthday dinners at Amy's house, but since Marc was off seeing more Sundance screenings, they obliged me by coming to mine. The only problem: I somehow spaced the fact that we meet for dinners at 6:30, instead of our usual 7:30 book club time. Whaaat?? I really don't know how I did that. I was somewhat flustered when people started arriving an hour before I was ready, but oh well, what can you do? At least it happened with my good friends, who don't mind if Eva and Lucas are chasing each other and toys are scattered around the floor. They just picked up the slack, set the table for me, and finished the dinner prep. while I put Eva to bed.

Jenn looking through her birthday book. She started a tradition of making each of us a book for our birthdays (everyone participates but she does the bulk of the work). So when her birthday rolls around, there is a little pressure to make a book for the book-maker! The great thing about Jenn, though, is that she is the ultimate gift recipient. She is just so appreciative, it makes you want to make and give her gifts.

This is an example of the pages within (Jill made this one). It's what makes the birthday books such a treasure!

{this shows just how late we were}

I think we were feeling like we were done with the books (because of how much effort is involved and maybe we're feeling a little tapped out creatively -- I say we, but I don't think Jenn is included here). But then Jenn floated the idea of doing circle journals, and we were immediately sucked back in! For those of you that are wondering, a circle journal is just a journal that you circulate between 2 or more people. Ideally, each participant has her own journal so that she has one to keep. You can write in them, draw, doodle, paste in pictures (Jessie often includes newspaper and magazine clippings in the one that she sends me). It's very cool, a great keepsake, and definitely a low-pressure book alternative. I think it's a brilliant plan.

{the only photo Jill authorized me to take of her}

Jill has instituted obligatory book club self-portraits whenever we get together. We usually end up doing it at the end of the night, when almost everyone has been eating, laughing and crying and rubbing their makeup off. (not to mention looking very tired!) I have suggested that we take the pictures at the beginning, but after looking at the ones from last night, I wonder if the late night aspect lends a certain hilarity that we might otherwise miss...

oops...

oops!

Slightly better. It's grainy, the lighting is not good, and we're tired. It was 11:30! But we were all laughing and having fun, so it's just real.

Collette, you're not allowed to get sick anymore. We missed you!