driving home today,

i was listening to the "mamma mia" soundtrack...again!

the song "slipping through my fingers" came on.

as usual, it had me in tears.

when i hear it, i think of

my three beautiful daughters.

the times we have shared.

the laughter. the tears.

the good times and the bad.

they are truly three of my best friends. but this song makes me realize that i could have been

so much better as a mother. i should have done so much more

with them when there was plenty of time to do it.

now i see the future closing in and i have to admit that before long,

they will all be grown and gone and living on their own.

they will be wives and mothers and i will no longer be the center of their lives.

two of them are already married

and one of them is already a mother.

so i am even closer to being the only girl in the house than i care to admit.

but my intent is not to whine or seem entirely morose.

my intention for posting this is to

remind the rest of you

to make the most of every single minute you have your children near you. don't wait for "later"...it comes far too quickly.

and then "later" becomes "too late".

children are so precious, and once they grow,

they are grown ups forever after.

so love them. play with them.

read to them.

take them all the places you dream of going.

hug them. kiss them.

and never, ever "send" them to bed...

always tuck them in.

and always tell them you love them!!!

sarah, laura, jessica...i love you!

ps...you can hear this song by choosing it

from my playlist to the left!

or here are the words:

schoolbag in hand
she leaves home in the early morning
waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
i watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
and i have to sit down for a while

the feeling that i'm losing her forever
and without really entering her world
i'm glad whenever i can share her laughter
that funny little girl

slipping through my fingers all the time
i try to capture every minute
the feeling in it
slipping through my fingers all the time
do i really see what's in her mind
each time i think i'm close to knowing
she keeps on growing
slipping through my fingers all the time

sleep in our eyes
her and me at the breakfast table
barely awake, i let precious time go by
then when she's gone
there's that odd melancholy feeling
and a sense of guilt i can't deny

what happened to those wonderful adventures
the places i had planned for us to go
well, some of them we did
but most we didn't
and why i just don't know

slipping through my fingers all the time
sometimes i wish that i could freeze the picture
and save it from the funny tricks of time
slipping through my fingers all the time

it's that time again!
shabby scrappin

is

tues, august 5

at 6:00 pm.

here is a sneak peek at the

project...an altered composition

book/day planner.

hurry...sign up today!

last chance!

okay...here they are...the much

anticipated pics of this month's

shabby scrappin'!

do i have your attention yet?

these are just a few of the pages,

meant to tease and tempt even

the strongest of scrappers!

if you want in, call

scrapbooks,etc at 854-2303

and sign up today!

hope to see you there!

listen up all you scrapbookin' junkies!

on friday, july 11, i will be teaching at scrapbooks,etc.

this month's project is

a very cute, tim holtz inspired,

travel-themed mini album.

cost of the class is a meazly $25!!

if you aren't familiar with tim holtz

and his amazing products and ideas,

click on his website link in my favorites list

for a peek into his amazing world!

and keep checking back...i have a few

pictures of the project,

which are totally meant to tease you

and make you want to come to class with me!!

(i just have to have a little help getting them

off the camera

and onto this darn blog thingy.)

'til then...have a great day and

take care of you!

well...richard and austin are at scout camp, cody is at the mall, sarah is talking on the phone, and jessica is babysitting. so...
i finally get a turn on the computer!!

i should totally be printing teasers for my june class, but i can't resist the opportunity to sneak a blog peek.


yesterday, sarah and i both had the day off, so we spent the afternoon at my brother reed's, with a bunch of the family, eating and playing games. then we picked up jessica (she had been quadding with her friend), and headed for the movies. we saw "ironman". terrific movie, by the way. and i must take this opportunity to say that

robert downey jr is STILL freakin' hot!!

then we headed to mervyn's to take advantage of their memorial day sale...all swimwear 55% off, with an additional 15% off if you used your mervyn's charge card. hey, i can do that!! so, at 70% off, we saved WAY more than we spent! then we made a stop at chicago grill for a bite of dinner. then it was home to watch a dvd...first one since the big tv died in january! richard hooked up sarah's ps3 to the bedroom tv before he left for camp! yeah! we watched "just like heaven". awww!! tear! love that movie. love mark ruffalo.


tonight we are going to drag two card tables into the bedroom and try to scrap while we watch another movie. any suggestions?


while i'm here, i might as well do a
random "tag" thingy.


1. i love photography. wish i could take better pictures. my dream job would be having a studio set up in my garage where i could do photo shoots to my little heart's content.


2. i love chocolate. but not chocolate pudding, and not chocolate ice cream.


3. i love movies. i know what you are thinking...you are thinking, "really? i never would have guessed". i am practically obsessed with them. i live my life in a movie dream world. re-living and quoting scenes from my favorite movies all day long. i think it must mean my own life isn't exciting enough. quite sad actually!


4. i love to read. as i read a good book, i play it out in my head as if i were watching a movie. i know...another shocker...refer to #3.


5. i hate cats. those of you close enough to me will know why i must humbly leave it at that and say no more on the subject!


6. i love my car. it is so stinkin cute and so totally amazing to drive. i can go anywhere and do anything in my car. if i ever have the chance to buy another car, i will buy another trail blazer. it's that good.


7. i fall asleep in church. every week. doesn't matter how much (or how little) sleep i get the night before. it doesn't matter how interesting the talk/lesson is. it's just that when i stop moving, i'm done for. that's it. done. finished. kaput.


8. i like the colors red/black. i like the colors brown/pink. i do NOT care for yellow, or purple, or green, or orange.


9. i love my family. they make me smile. they make me cry. they make me laugh. they make me happy. they make me sad. they make me want to sing. they make me want to scream. i love my family!


so, there you are. i little peek into my head...a pretty scary place to be most of the time!

happy tuesday.

take care of you!

(a movie quote...what movie?)

Here's a little video of Kaiti being herself on Mother's Day! Enjoy!



ok...sorry...it posted twice and i can't get either copy to go away. so just watch one...they are the very same video!

well, we did it!

le jour d'artiste

came off without a hitch.

i want to thank my

three frenchie friends,

carol, tena, and jennifer,

for working so hard and sharing

their creativity with myself and our students.

and, of course, i have to thank all the wonderful women who had enough faith to trust us to lead them on an amazing,

fun, creative journey.

what a terrific bunch of artistes!!

we ate, we laughed, we created,

we ate some more.

and we all went home with great big

smiles on our faces.

if you were not one of the lucky few

who joined us, don't fret...

we will be back again

next year!!

until then...au revoir!!

c'est tout bien!!

i am so excited to announce that i will be involved in a very special

all day event

at scrapbooks,etc.

on saturday, feb 23, carol wingert, tena sprenger, jennifer wagner, and myself, will be teaming up for

"le jour d'artiste".

each of us will teach a 2-2 1/2 hour class, showcasing our individual styles. that means four teachers,

four projects, catered lunch, prizes and tons of fun. you can sign up by calling scrapbooks,etc or by coming down to the store. don't miss this awesome opportunity!

c'est tout bien!

are you sitting down?

i'm b-a-a-a-ck!
i was very busy getting ready for christmas...absolutely love it!!

if money were not an issue (yeah right), i could just keep on buying gifts for everyone. but then, suddenly, it's all over. the tree is down. the lights are put away. the kids have all brought their stockings back. all the good candy is gone! but that's ok. we played games, ate great food, stayed up late, had a good time! it's all good.
since then, life has been pretty much the same old.

i am babysitting cambria tonight while laura works and blue is home sick. we have all been passing around various forms of icky-sicky. hopefully we will ALL be over it soon.
have a great night...drop me a line.

i promise to post again sometime before easter!

i need your help!!
the following movies are missing from our library...if i have loaned them to you and simply don't remember doing so, would you let me know so i can not worry about them. thanks!

because i said so
gone in 60 seconds
last of the mohicans
miracle
national treasure
sahara
the saint
troy

thanks again...signed, feeling a little paranoid

well, we did it! or should i say, laura did it. laura and blue gave birth to a beautiful little girl, tuesday morning. being a homebirth junkie myself, i was ready to be very judgemental of everything and everyone involved in this hospital birth. ya know, i just thought laura knew better than to even consider the hospital thang! so i waited and i watched for them to do anything too intrusive, so i would have an excuse to cause a scene and say, "no way! you are NOT doing that to MY daughter!" but i have to admit, the doctor and staff were so kind and gentle and helpful, that i never had a reason to make a fool of myself. (ok, i know you are thinking, "since when did she need an excuse") and they were so family friendly...jake and tanya even got to bring little kaiti right on in...no questions, no problems! and then daddy (that would be richard) brought panda express for everyone and we had a party right there in the hospital room.
wednesday we got to bring laura and the baby home to our house while blue went to utah for his sister's funeral. a very sad story...go to laura's blog to get more details. we loved hearing little baby noises from the other room! and i must say, it was hard to let them go back home today. but i am glad that their new little family can finally be together and start bonding and growing even more in love with one another!
i am starting to panic that christmas seems to be right around the corner. i have several projects in my head, but i haven't actually started any of them. and frankly, it's getting a little crowded in there! LOL
i wanted to print baby pics tonight and spent two hours looking for them on the laptop...couldn't find them anywhere. so i came to richard's computer for that same reason and ended up blog stalking for another two hours. alas...still no actual photos of grandbaby numero dos. i have the worst luck with anything electronic! don't even get me started on how retarded i am with cell phones! (perhaps that's the secret reason i don't have one, eh?)
i am loving the cooler weather and need to remember to take my jacket with me everywhere i go now. that's right...i get cold very easily! i wear slippers year-round and even have to wear a jacket around my house at least five months out of the year! you'd think with all this padding i would be able to stay warm, but not so.
have a great weekend! keep blogging! and take care of you!

bella...edward...i miss you! j/k

busy prepping for my class at good ol' scrapbooks,etc...that would be friday morning. and then it is scrapfest!

4 more days!

also recovering from yet more dental surgery! ugh!! i am so ready to be done with all of this.

no worries...y'all can go back to what you were doing! i found a copy of eclipse!!! not at borders, not at costco, not at wal-mart, but the last copy at good ol' target. yeah for target! i heart target! woot woot!

i was finally caught up on some other obligations and went on a quest...i did not rest until i found numero trois in the bella/edward drama. can i just say that i am in love! very soon i will re-read the entire trilogy!

we went camping over the labor day long weekend and it was divine. my whole family was there...all my children, their spouses, and even the little grandbebe! she was such a trooper. she loved the fire...couldn't stop staring at it as if she had never seen anything so fascinating in all her short little life...oh wait, she probably hasn't!

we read, played texas hold 'em, jumped on the trampoline, made s'mores, played horseshoes, shot guns, sunbathed, and just had the very best of times! we stayed mostly dry. a wicked storm blew through camp sunday night right after we had all gone to bed. scared the bajeebers out of me! we had to run out in the rain in our jammies to pick up tents and canopies and tie them down, and put out the fire so the sparks didn't burn down what is left of the forest. back in my tent, all i could think was "i hope all my kids are safe and stay dry...and i wonder...is this how edward and bella felt? "

then i turned right around and "left town" for three more days to work at creative escape in phoenix. wow! such a lot of work to pull off something like that, but also so much fun. i was glad to be a part of it. sarah was a volunteer, so i got to spend a little time with her...a very little time. but we were bunk buddies, so at least i got to spoon with her every night! i love going away, but i always love coming back home more!

ok...here is my first official blog picture. my new favorite toy. i got it for christmas and spent several weeks (aka many, many hours) uploading songs for our cruise. by the time we left, i was blissfully enjoying 2652 songs, with only a fraction of my memory actually used. i came home and started compiling a few new playlists and was getting ready to start searching out 100s more songs...then one night i went to sync my dear little ipod with the new enrique cd i had just burned onto itunes. somewhere in the process i was asked by mr. computer if i wanted to change the settings or something and i naively responded "yes". in the blink of an eye, i lost 2000 songs! gone! just like that! hours and hours of my life lost, never to be retrieved again. i seriously didn't know whether to laugh or throw up! i have been told by a few computer geeks that my songs are still there...somewhere...i just have to re-sync. not sure i trust them. i would hate to lose the only 600 songs i have left! one day i will try. what have i got to lose, but another week or so of my life.

ok, ok...i really am still alive. but now you know why my blog is named what it is! i was recently told by a friend that if i didn't update my blog, she would no longer be able to be my friend!

well, i don't want to lose any friends over this, as i have so few to start with, (j/k)...so...

i had oral surgery on friday the 13th (july) and am now considered an organ transplant recipient and can not donate blood for one entire year! go figure...who knew? i have actual cadaver bone powder transplanted in my gums. yum!

my father-in-law passed away on my birthday (july 15) and we made a quick trip to utah for the funeral. thanks to all who knew about this and sent their love and prayers to our family.

dad packard was 90 years old, square with god, and ready to go back home!

he has been saying for 25 years that he was ready to go whenever the good lord saw fit to take him ...said he had seen everything and done everything he had wanted to do. he was a great man and

will be missed by all who knew him, but

it is all good.

our little grandbaby, kaiti, had surgery a few weeks ago to correct her crossed eyes. we can finally see who she looks like and what a beautiful girl she truly is. it is so great to have her look right into your eyes and smile at you! melts my heart everytime!! she looks so much like her daddy, jake. you can take a peak at a few recent pictures (post-surgery, of course) at photobucket.com...for user id enter "jpsmiles2" and the password is "boop00" (that's the word "boop" followed by two zeros!).

we are so very busy at work right now, receiving tons of new product from the last industry show and gearing up for our huge september event "creative escape". this a three day event for 600+ women. guest speakers, classes, dinners, and all the fun and excitement that comes with it!

i have been on a reading binge as well...reading one book after another until i had to put myself on a reading restricted diet. no more books until i catch up on all my chores and responsibilities, i.e. my blog! so i have to get this entry done before i can start book #3 in the twilight series...eclipse. of course, my first challenge will be finding a copy! can you belive borders only received 100 copies in their first shipment, and now they can't get anymore until more are printed! what a rip! i even had a special order, but i will have to keep looking. maybe costco still has a few left. if you know where i can get a copy, let me know!

also, one book i read but did not like was the memory keeper's daughter. so unbelievable and depressing. no redemption until the final pages, and even then, not for the main character! read at your own risk.

enough rambling for now. i am going to go play around with my e-drive and see if i can figure out the whole putting photos on here thang.

have a good one...take care of you!

okay...i just deleted an entire entry

trying to figure out how to change the font. ARRRGH!!

so i will attempt to re-create it, although, as we all know, perfection is hard to imitate.

it is starting to look like i will be a once-a-weeker for the next little while...at least until i get my bazzill assignments finished. i just turned in one assignment today, and now find myself staring into the cold, red eyes of another HUGE assignment! (isn't that right ang?)

so anyway, we are going to our friend's cabin in strawberry for the weekend. it's a great trade off...richard helps omar do work around his house and business, and in return,we get to use the cabin a couple times a year. one of our new favorite times to go is thanksgiving.

our friend, elder jenkins, who is now lovingly referred to as simply "jenkins", will fly in from wyoming friday morning. he can do that now, you see, because he went home from his mission some time ago. then we will load up a couple of cars and head for the mountains. oh, and by the way,

have i told you lately that i freakin love my car!

on saturday, the kids want to hike into fossill springs. supposed to be a great swimming hole at the end of the trail! meanwhile, i will be scrappin' my little heart out back at the ranch...i mean cabin!

still haven't had time to learn how to put pictures on here, but i promise i will. i have an entire file of "all about me" pics that i know y'all are just dying to see, not to mention the 2000 we took in europe. and yes, angie, we went to florence...the real one...in italy. it was freakin beautiful! i want to move to tuscany! i do, however, have two nieces who live in the other florence...the fake one...in arizona.

well kids, i'd better go e-mail some pics to good ol' wal-mart one hour photo...wouldn't want to be stuck in the mountains without any pics for my projects! so until next time...see ya next week. take care of you...goodnight!

today i went to the airport to pick up richard. he has been in utah the past week visiting his parents and attending a class reunion. i drove there all by myself! and i didn't even get lost...i felt so grown up! as soon as we got home i ordered pizza to feed the missionaries. i always love to have the missionaries over...i truly believe that if i feed the servants of the lord, my own family will never go hungry! not to mention that they set a good example for my children and bring a spirit of peace into my home...go elders!

and who knows, maybe i will find another husband for another one of my daughters! j/k

i hope to figure out how to put pictures on this silly thing, but you know how it is...baby steps and patience. i am truly a computer dork. i work on a computer all day, but really have no idea what i am doing here.

jessica and austin have been in queen creek all week, and cody is rarely home (he's 18...need i say more), so this past week has been very quiet. i have even been home all alone a few times...now with richard home, i guess the party's over. i really don't mind a little quiet time, ya know...it's all good.

sarah moved out a week or so ago, so i took over half of the girls' bedroom for my scrapbook nook...don't you just love how that rhymes? anyway, it is great to actually be able to leave a project out while you are still working on it...and still be able to eat at the dinner table!

gotta go. maybe we can chat about my trip to europe next time. take care of you...goodnight!

hi there...i think i am writing a blog entry...not sure what i am doing yet. just testing the waters. if it works, i should be open for business soon!

right now i am just trying to comment on some of my friends' pages...so let's see what happens...