man of the hour

Poor Mark often gets the short end of the stick when it comes to birthday celebrations. He turned 48 today, and in completely uncharacteristic Wood family fashion, we did little more than eat take-out Mexican food from our favorite local dive in the basement tonight to honor the occasion. No cake. No pie. No singing. No gifts. No photographs.

I could bore you with my detailed excuses and promised plans to make it all up to him, but instead I want to share what I had planned to say about him at the birthday dinner table. (Have I ever mentioned our birthday tradition of going around the dinner table and saying something you like, admire, or remember about the birthday honoree?)

I can never narrow my comments to just one thing, so here a few things I love about Mark on his 48th birthday:

• He drives John to early-morning seminary at 6 a.m. Monday - Friday--as in, EVERY day, not taking turns with me, no matter the weather or the amount (or lack thereof) of sleep he has received the night before. He also picks up another seminary student in our ward on the way. Did I mention that I have NEVER driven to seminary this year?
• I have absolute and complete trust in his fidelity and faithfulness to me. I have never doubted it.
  
• He never makes me feel guilty for doing the things I like to do, whether it's scrapbooking with my friends into the wee hours of the morning, singing and performing, going to Philadelphia for a week to work with my sister, or the insane costuming gig I take on every spring. This is not to say that he loves me doing all of these things, or that he doesn't secretly roll his eyes when I complain about being tired and over-booked, but he nevertheless allows me the freedom of creative expression and supports me in doing so.
• He saves the last bite of chocolate pie for me when it's left in the refrigerator after a Sunday dinner.
• He loves my dog quite possibly as much as I do and secretly does things to spoil her.
• He does dishes, cleans bathrooms, and vacuums.
• Though he likes to keep it quiet, he's a closet Jane Austen fan.

Happy birthday Mark! One of these days I'll make all of those lost December birthdays up to you.

Christmas: Black-Eyed Susan style!

15 bolts of satin ribbon: $450

30 boxes of fresh greens for outdoor urns: $1,800

1 tube of heavy-duty hand lotion to soothe hands scratched from endless tree primping: $13

1 scary New York Yankees ornament that had to be worked into an otherwise beautiful tree: $9.95

1 early Christmas present--a warm and very stylish scarf from Paris: undisclosed amount of Euros

Dinner on the run (that's Diet Coke, in case you're wondering): $15

60+ work hours in 4 1/2 days spent with my best sister and friend: Priceless.

'tis the season

This year I have two friend "clients" for whom I did Christmas set-ups. I'm almost finished, except for a little accessorizing at both places, and now I'm faced with the piles of Rubbermaid bins stacked in my own dining room.

Part of me has been energized by the creativity of setting up Christmas for other people, and the other part--unfortunately the dominate, aching back, and very tired part of me tonight--perishes the thought of having to primp more garland and trees with my pricked and sore fingertips.

Hooray for Charlotte and Emily's imminent arrival, because when it comes to Rubbermaid bins, it's always best to have a buddy or two in your back pocket.

put on the hot cocoa!

It's not often church is canceled here in Colorado, but I got a call at 7 a.m. today to inform me that it was.

This is my front porch:

And here is the back yard:

I can't honestly say that I'm disappointed.

Do you think it's time for a new blog banner?

progress

Ta-dum! The first set of dance team costume tops completed:

Count them: eleven.

Now, on to the red polka-dotted satin. . . .

Halloween hauntings

I felt somewhat conspicuous last night walking into our ward party dressed in my trusty Cruella DeVille costume. Our missionaries--from Samoa and Mongolia--seemed to get a kick out of my get-up and asked to have their picture taken with me. (Yes, the wig is extremely itchy!)

Upon Emily's suggestion, I tried to convince Mark to go as either Horace or Jasper (Cruella's dimwitted henchmen) but he didn't go for the idea, claiming no one would recognize who he was. I told him that no one recognizes him anyway.

I was pleased that, in addition to using my nearly ten-year-old Cruella costume, I was able to recycle several others as well. Sarah wore a cute witch outfit I made for Emily when she was in about 6th or 7th grade.

This picture was taken at her school class party on Friday:

And this photo was taken with her friends just before they left for an evening of trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Her other friends went for the scary makeup look. I'm glad that Sarah still likes to be the "pretty" witch.

A really cute little boy in my ward, Hyrum, wore the Batman costume I made for John when he was three years old. I can't believe John was ever that small! (Sorry for the blurry photo--I just wish you could see Hyrum with the Batman satin hood/mask on!)

Another friend in my ward borrowed one of the Elvis costumes I made for a Roadshow many years ago for her sixth-grade son Ramsey. He was a hit in white satin and gold sequins; sadly, I have no photo.

Thankfully I had costumes I could recycle for Halloween this year, as there is no way I could have sewn anything given the sweatshop production line I've got going in the basement. I've now finished 2 1/2 dance tops for Sarah's clogging team.


Only 18 1/2 to go. . . .

snow day!

Wednesday and Thursday were official snow days here in the Denver metro area. School was canceled both days and Mark and I stayed home as well on Thursday. Here's my photo documentation of our enjoyable day at home.

This was the view out of my basement sewing area window:

Three cheers for John and his multiple times of shoveling!

John snapped this photo for me, as I did not want to don snow gear to get it:

Sarah's friend, Danielle, came over and the kids enjoyed playing in the snow together.

The unavoidable soggy pile of debris by the back door:

Sarah must have had at least 8-10 cups of hot cocoa throughout the day.

My staple nutrients, along with multiple DVR episodes of one of my favorite TV shows, kept my energy up for my many hours of sewing:

Moosey, being from the South, tends to not like the snow. Just as I snapped this picture, however, she heard the kids playing in the yard and bounded off through the snow. She was back by the sliding door in a matter of minutes.

Mark ventured out to buy a new touk (Canadian for hat) as he has found his new hairdo to be a little on the chilly side.

My mom helped me make dinner to take to a family in our ward. We were also the beneficiaries of her baking goodness.

I made a family classic, Noodle Bake, in a big enough batch to give some away, save some for my family, and make this heart-shaped pan for my parents. Buttermilk bread courtesy of my mom.

At the end of the day I was tempted to climb into the cozy fort Sarah and Danielle had made in the family room.

The only down side to having a snow day on a Thursday is that it seemed like it should have been Friday. Cruel hoax to have to wake up early Friday morning and face real life again. . . .

fruits of our labors

Guess which one is John's?

this and that

Since blogging seems to be the thing that most often gets pushed to the bottom of my to-do list these days, I need to mention a few random things that happened this month so I at least have some record of it.

• Sarah had a solo in our ward's Primary program this month. She sang the first verse of I Feel My Savior's Love and--in my completely unbiased opinion--it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard! I have never heard her sing alone and I was really impressed by the clear, sweet, and sincere quality of her voice.

• Speaking of singing, John had his first choral concert this month. He made it into the top mixed choir this year (coincidentally the same one I was in when I attended his high school). I wish this photo showed the great pinstripes in the guys' pants and the rows of dots in their ties. John has really found his niche in high school and I love how much he loves singing in choir (much of which I attribute to his fabulous and darling teacher, Mrs. Burns).

• Speaking of high school, my long-time friend Ann came for a two-day visit with her beautiful daughters earlier this month. It was a fun surprise and a treat to have them stay with us; the actual reason for their visit was to see the show Wicked, but we enjoyed watching movies, eating carmel corn, shopping with our girls, and playing Bananagrams. Moosey made friends with them all.

• Speaking of Wicked, my mom and I were invited by a friend in our ward to go to the show, complete with a back-stage tour prior to the show! Yes--I said BACK-STAGE TOUR. It was fascinating to see the costumes, props, and sets first-hand. To top it off, we had box seats. I felt like royalty and only wish I had been allowed to take photos of the experience.
• Speaking of photos, I just had to take this one of a flyer I found lying around the house. At first I thought it was something from Sarah's school. When I asked her about it, she confessed she had made up a stack while playing School the other day. It made me smile.

• Speaking of things that make me smile, Sarah convinced us to carve our Halloween pumpkins tonight for FHE. Though I confess I had sort of been dreading the time-honored and messy tradition, I had fun hacking away at the pumpkins with the rest of the family.

• And speaking of hacking away, Mark got a little carried away with the hair trimmer last Saturday and ended up giving himself a new 'do. He has been more than a good sport about the whole thing and we have been laughing about the reactions of his friends and coworkers. People at church yesterday were asking if he had lost some sort of bet relating to the oh-so-sad outcome of the BYU football game of the previous day. Someone at work today asked him if he had joined a Mexican gang. I suggested that we could send for the Cougar Spirit wig we found at the BYU Bookstore last August when we took the girls to school. He was not amused.

• And speaking of not being amused, I have taken on a sewing project I'm afraid I'm going to live to regret: 22 (yes count them, twenty-two) dance costume tops for Sarah's clogging team--that's eleven each of two different styles. Yes, it's a paying gig, but I'm afraid by the time I finish I'll be lucky to make about $1.25/hour.
  

signs of the season

Fall decorations are perhaps my favorite of all the year--perhaps because I love the things I've collected over the years, but more likely because I can actually get them out and put them up in an afternoon unlike Christmas decor, which most often turns into a project of several days.

Though you can't really tell in this photo, letters are etched onto each of these votive candles to spell out AUTUMN.

I've had the autumn vine and raffia pumpkins, shown here on the family room mantle, for more years than I wish to acknowledge and should probably consider replacing them. I pull them out each Fall, however, and manage to spruce them up with a few newer items tucked in--the cutest of which is the "Merry Holloween" china sign hanging with ribbon from an open-back frame (courtesy of Black-Eyed Susan, of course!).

Another gift from Susan, and another favorite of mine, are these "Boo!" kugels and wooden primitive crows which hang in an open half-wall of my desk/craft area.

The only new addition this year was two of these free-standing, billowy wheat sheaves. I love them, especially this one with my favorite Black-Eyed Susan crow perched nearby.

The cutest thing frequently found in my house, however, is my darling parents. This photo was taken on my mother's 83rd birthday. My dad, by the way, turns 90 in January! Maybe this Winter we can convince him to hire out the shoveling. . . .

Happy Fall!

Operation: Rejuvenation

I think I look forward to semi-annual Conference weekends more than almost any other event or holiday throughout the year--and not just because of Donut Night.

Last night's batch was pretty fabulous, however. My mom decided to throw a new variety into the mix, chocolate cake donuts:

Yes, they were pretty amazing, as is virtually anything that comes from my mom's kitchen.

As much as I love the donuts, however, they are the least of things I love about this weekend.

I love that the Priesthood holders in my life honor that sacred trust and take their responsibilities seriously. I love that John, who is now 15 1/2 (and, as you can see stands a good 3-4" taller than his dad) never balks at attending a two-hour Priesthood meeting with his dad and grandpa twice-yearly on a Saturday night. He in fact goes with a smile on his face. I love seeing the men I love in their Sunday clothes.

(I love that my dog loves my dad almost as much as I do.)

I love having my sister Patricia here for a visit, and I love that she selflessly did the dishes last night. I had been ironing for about five hours (no exaggeration), then cooking donuts for another hour or so. I was exhausted, but satisfied.

Most of all, I love knowing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth and that I am a part of it. I love knowing that I have a purpose here, I am given direction and guidance, and that the Lord knows me personally and is mindful of my needs. I love knowing that I am sealed to my family for all of eternity. I love knowing that I needn't be afraid in perilous times, I need only hold fast to the Iron Rod and stay true to my faith. I love knowing that other people I love are striving to do the same.

I love knowing that a prophet of God lives on the Earth today and that he receives revelation from God and shares it with us. I love knowing that I find safety and peace in following his counsel. I love General Conference because I am reminded of all of these things and come away strengthened, rejuvenated, and empowered to be a better me.