Kelly Times Two

Since, Thursday night, I've been in California. I'll add pictures and details when I get home, but wanted to show my sweet Aunt Jessie how I add posts. She's so awesome! I'll add a picture of her when I get home. UPDATE: I am now home and will continue to add pictures from my trip to California. Kelly and I went to dinner in Rodeo at Ricky's Corner and had a fun time. From left to right, here is Aunt Polly, Aunt Joanna, Mom, me, and Aunt Ollie. They're my mom's sisters. Aunt Jessie (whom I referred to previously) will be in an upcoming post.

This was taken about two weeks ago when Christopher was not feeling well and stayed home from school and was snuggling with Brown, his bear. Today he's feeling fine, but his teacher just emailed me back and said he's needing to be more responsible with homework. She was very upset with several students for not getting their work done and she emailed me right back with a response. She said she has high expectations for him. Let me quote her, "Christopher is a smart boy with lots of personality. I love him and want the best for him in the future." So you can see she really cares about my son and I appreciate her a lot. I just need to be more vigilant when it comes to after school time and not let playtime start until I check his planner. Sometimes when he gets home, I feel sorry for him after a long day at school and he's so eager to get outside and play. But he gets his work done very well and quickly, once he fesses up to having homework! I've found t...

This year's Blue and Gold Banquet theme this past Friday evening was Hawaiian and the boys each shared some interesting facts about our nation's fiftieth state, which they read from the back of their ALOHA cards. From left to right, we have Max, Br. Staines (Scout Master), Christopher, Jacob, Peter, and Cameron. Christopher presented me with the Bear pin and needed help pinning it to my sweater. Notice the small candy necklace I'm holding? That belongs to Christopher and I offered to hold it for him while he pinned me. Instead of leis for the banquet, I bought 65 candy necklaces for each place setting since I found them after Valentine's Day for half price. They were a big hit with all the little kids. Christopher is focusing on how to remove the back of the pin. Brad, Matthew, and Christopher helped with the color guard presentation. Christopher got a few awards too. He advanced from Wolf Scout to Bear in October, but it had not been formalized until now. The Blue ...

At my last card camp, we created more than 200 cute cards altogether that were Valentine themed, but not specific to that day. This one was the favorite by most. I LOVE (get it?) the way it turned out. The yellow lighting doesn't do the soft colors justice. Imagine the love we sent out with our handy work when each card reached its recipient and put a smile on his or her face! That's one thing that makes this process worthwhile, not to mention the chance to get together with our girlfriends and meet new friends for an evening. My friends and I will make some of these "so very happy for you" cards at my next card camp on March 6. (Sierra is doing our precutting for this card. Thank you so much, Sierra!) I just made this one (below) tonight and am still stuck on the love theme apparently. I love putting these cardstock colors together: pumpkin pie, pink passion, pretty in pink, and old olive. I just used a new stamp from my Trimtastic set (the ric rac stamp on the choc...

Lindsey's good friend, Alex, is in ROTC. Alex invited her to the military ball as her guest, then Alex got asked on a date to the ball, and she actually said yes after inviting Lindsey to go with her. Lindsey had prepaid for her own ticket, and knows several guys in ROTC, so she went anyway, solo. As it turns out, Lindsey was probably one of the most in demand girls at the dance, since the ratio of boys to girls was greatly in her favor. She danced almost every song, and already wants to go next year, just not with a date. Here's my sweet daughter outside of the Renaissance Hotel just before the dance. She looks so pretty and is such a great joy to me. She works very hard in school and goes to seminary faithfully and sets a good example for others by her high standards. The floral bouquet in the hotel lobby made the perfect backdrop for my little girl on her night out on the town. The next morning, she was one of the youth speakers in Sacrament meeting and wore her new ...

What better way to say Happy Valentine's Day than with luscious chocolate-dipped strawberries? I made a few dozen of these bad boys last week and they turned out well, very artfully. My mind gets tricked that I'm somehow eating health food, enjoying a portion of fresh fruit, even though it's been smothered in semi-sweet chocolate. My good friend, Carol, hosted a little tea party, serving hot chocolate instead, for her two daughters and their moms, and asked for my help. This is one of the foods she wanted to serve. I also made a few dozen Creamy Profiterole Puffs, which were simply divine. We served three carafes filled with hot cocoa, which the girls loved. I also helped Carol to create a youthful, enticing pink and red tablescape, complete with Valentine's Beanie Babies, peeking over the three-tiered stands filled with the lovely strawberries, cream puffs, and Cucumber Dill Canapés. I also made some Cheesy Bacon Bites, which were most tasty. Carol's elegant afte...

Valentines Day this year was delightful! Kelly bought this pretty card for me that was so adorable that I wanted to post it here. Hopefully nobody will think it too mushy of me to add. The front of the card with the beaded and metal embellishments must have reminded him of me from all the cards I enjoy making because he has never bought a card quite like this, which is what made his selection so unique. As you can see, it says, "My favorite moments have one beautiful detail in common--" Open the card and it says, "YOU!" I loved this valentine from my sweetheart. Our dinner party started off with Chris & Sherrie and Tom & Carol Ann picking us up, then we stopped by RuthAnn's house to get her. Her Romeo is on military duty with the Army Reserves, and we didn't want Cupid to miss her, so we took her along with us. RuthAnn wanted to see my new blouse, so that's why I'm "flashing" it. Chris and Sherrie and the rest of us are waiting for...

Well, it's back. I'm still not sure where the writers are going with what used to be my favorite show, but obviously, they realize that they turned off a lot of fans in their fall disaster "mini series" of the ABC show LOST. I don't see Juliette in this photo, so it makes me wonder what will be happening to her in the near future. Tonight's episode was odd to me how the recap went out of its way to avoid any reference to Libby, or Ana Lucia, whom I could not stand, thank goodness, and the married couple, the black woman and white husband, and the brother and sister, Shannon and what's-his-name, and Michael and his son. Eko made a brief appearance, but he had no lines. ABC emphasized that they will be airing 16 episodes without reruns, again, trying to regain the excitement for their one-upon-a-time hit show. It seems like they were trying to get that loving feeling back from the first season. How many times are we going to see the recap of how their story...

At 15 and a half, Lindsey officially now has a driver's permit in the state of Texas. Beware. I took her driving for the first time {ever} on Monday right before her piano lessons. This is where the $300+ investment at Austin Driving School should be paying off. I'm taking my friend Yvette's advice and letting most of the driving training begin there. Please say some prayers for us. Actually, Lindsey did very well on her first time behind the wheel. It's still scary to have my 4'11" child driving. This is all new to me.