frazzled & frumpy

Welcome to Leap Blog Day! Today's guest post is by Nicole (which happens to be the name of her blog.) I hope you enjoy what she wrote, I did, since it's mostly about me. Nicole's blog is filled with her family, her faith, and some really great menu/cooking ideas. I hope, if you have the time, you'll 'hop around' and find some new blogs to read. Enjoy! A Hawk for  Jewels  – Some Leap Blog Love from  Nicole So I have been really nervous about the whole Leap Blogger event.  I love leap years, and I like the idea of a whole community of bloggers hopping around and posting for each other.  But it makes me nervous to be a part of the hopping.  So I decided that I would play it safe and type up a post that honored my hostess in some way.  It takes courage to allow a random inter-neighbor a little bit of space on your personal spot on the web.  What if they say something crazy or totally against your grain?  And I’m sometimes scared t...

Yes, this is a potato chip. Yes, it is a perfect heart. No, I did not nibble the edges to make it perfect. It came out of the bag this way. That was months ago. It's been sitting on my shelf in my bedroom ever since. I don't normally keep old food on shelves. Not even in my pantry. We have 8 kids. Food never gets the chance to age around here. I just didn't know what to do with it. I mean, how often do you find food like this? OK, people find food with images on it. Virgin Mary on grilled cheese and all that.  But, I don't believe in 'signs' or that God was sending me a message via Lay's.  But, I couldn't eat it either. So, it's been collecting dust for the past several months. I'm amazed it hasn't broken. Or attracted bugs. Or small hands that would send a dusty chip to a slobbery end. I figure I have two choices- 1- Modge-podge it and make a necklace. 2- Sell it on e-bay. (That 'Virgin Mary'sandwich sold for $28,...

I feel like I've seriously dropped the ball. Next Wednesday is Leap Blog Day.  I haven't mentioned it once and even forgot to put this cute little frog on my sidebar. The idea came from We Band of Mothers .  Surprisingly, it isn't about frogs at all. It's about guest posts and 'leaping' around to read some new stuff.   I'll be writing a post for another blog, and will have a guest poster here on mine.  I'm excited to do this, and to find some new blogs. Thing is, while some bloggers write just for themselves, if you put in the effort to put it out there in cyberspace, you pretty much want someone to read what you write.  Makes you feel important. Makes you feel loved, in that non-creepy Internet kind of way.  So, I hope you'll read my blog that day, hop on over to where I post, and maybe jump around to some others. Ribbit.

I'm not well acquainted with grief.  Not the kind that tears your soul and makes you wonder how life continues to go on.  I've been lucky, I guess.  As I started The Rules of Inheritance , by Claire Bidwell Smith, I worried that it would depress me or that I wouldn't connect with the author.  I don't have much in common with Claire.  Her life experience is so different than mine, that I had to remind myself that this was a memoir, not a novel. In the book, Claire shares the powerful and heart-wrenching story of the loss of her parents.  I wasn't sure how I felt about the way she skipped from one time of her life to another, but I soon got lost in the story and read the book in two days. Claire paints a vivid picture and her storytelling is profound.  One of the most haunting parts for me was when she described grief being her constant companion- "Grief holds my hand as I walk down the sidewalk, and grief doesn't mind when I cry because it's ...

I write because it's part of me. I ignored that part for many years.  But now, I've awakened the beast and she will not be silenced.  To have people read what I write is a bonus. To find out they like it? It's overwhelming. Imagine my feeling when my new friend at My View Through Kat Eyes gave me this-  I smiled all day.  (You like me!) As part of the award, I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me.  I've been wracking my brain trying to think of 7 things.  This blog has made me an open book.  But, I think I may have come up with a few. 1- I am one of seven kids. I have seven kids.  If each of my children had seven, I'd have 49 grandkids. That would be amazing! (Tho' I highly doubt it will happen.) 2- Yes, I am old enough to have grandkids, tho I really hope it won't happen for at least 3 years. 3- You know the movie, 'The Vow'?  I wrote a book almost identical to that story about seven years ago. Weird, huh? (No it wasn't publi...

We celebrated President's Day in true American Patriotic fashion. Jumping in bouncy houses, scootering,  drinking root beer floats, and general goofiness. Hope you had a great day.

"He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure indescribable love.  We are important to God not because of our resume but because we are His children.  He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful or broken.  God's love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf I know that I am lucky. I was raised in a home where my  parents were married. (Still are. 49 years in May.)  I grew up with two loving parents who cared for me.  They worked hard and we were poor.  But, our home was filled to overflowing with love. Because of this, it's easy for me to believe in a loving Heavenly Father.  While I believe that He is all-knowing and all-powerful, I also believe He is caring.  That He wants me to be happy.  This belief brings me great comfort and hope.  I recently read a post about prayer .  The author was ask...

Friday night. Lights illuminate a green field.  The excitement is palpable.  I stood in the stands with my friends waiting for the warriors to run onto the gridiron.  Excited cheerleaders stir the crowd into a frenzy.  The game starts and we're sure that our cheers will move the team to victory. I leave the stands and mingle.  Then, when the first quarter is finished, I make my way to the school.  We change into sequined skirts and tall, white boots.  Tease the hair, then run through the empty halls, heels clacking on the linoleum.  Back outside, we wait at the edge of the grass.  Music starts and my butterflies disappear into the air.  We march onto the field, heads held high. Later, we rejoin the fans.  I flirt with that boy.  He holds my hand.  The band plays and we cheer some more. This was the sum of my high school social life.  I lived in southern Idaho in a very small community.  Sports weren't just f...

I'm tired. I'm trying to get a post written. I looked up love songs. Here's what the titles said to me. I Just Want to Be Your Everything - Sweet, I really need a housekeeper. You Light Up My Life - Which is much cheaper than those new bulbs. My Heart Will Go On-  But, keep the defibrillator handy, just in case. The Way You Look Tonight -   Sort of slutty, but I like it . I Can't Help Falling In Love With You -   The same way I feel about chocolate. Can't Smile Without You- Kind of like when I leave the dentist . Love Me Tender - Cuz I worked out today and I'm really sore. I Want You to Want Me -   I also want you to rub my feet . Careless Whisper - Speak up . Carefully . I'd Do Anything for Love, but I Won't Do That -   Well, then why did you say anything ? Crazy for You-   I totally forgot my meds. You Don't Bring Me Flowers-   And why not? Aren't I worth it? All Out of Love-   But I've got lots of diet Coke,...

He wasn't my dream man.  Not the one I'd stayed up high school nights thinking of.  I had a list, a long one. We'd all made them.  "Qualities I Want in an Eternal Mate"  Of course, mine went way beyond internal qualities like kindness or character and spilled right over into every last detail. He would be tall and dark and handsome.  A love to dance was  a must.  Play an instrument? Bonus.   He would have a college degree and wealth, well, of course he would have that.  Good taste in clothes.  You know, all the very important things. Oh, and he would come into my life like a tidal wave and sweep me off my feet with his romanticism. We met when we were serving missions for our church.  Though our families lived merely two miles apart in Utah, we had to travel to New York to find each other.   He was young and cute.  But, as missionaries are strictly forbidden to date each other or anyone else, we fell into fr...

(It's love week at our house. This means the kids get daily Valentine's and special dinners.  In celebration, you get a week of posts about Love.) I love music. Can't sing to save my life, but I could put some lives in danger with my high notes!  Love songs are some of my favorites.  While I enjoy music with a beat, I'm a sucker for ballads.  It all started with this guy- (fanpop.com) Oh, sweet heaven. I was 8 and I was in love!  For Christmas that year, my dad bought me my first album (yes, an actual record, big, black and shiny). It was a Donny and Marie record and I listened to it constantly.  His voice could just melt my childish heart.  I knew for certain that one day, some way, I would marry him. My favorite song- 'I'm Leavin' it All Up to You',  Yes, Donny, I did want your love. Too bad he's nine years older and got married when I was a pre-teen. He'll never know what he missed out on. Then, there was junior high.  I fell ma...

The Handy Man and I went to the movie last night.  The Woman in Black. Yup, little Harry Potter is all grown up and chasing ghosts.  I liked the movie, even though it made me jump at least six  eight times.  My heart got a better workout than I get on the elliptical.  But, that isn't what this post is about.  No, this one is about the fifty or so children who were at the movie. Children. First of all,this was not a children's movie. It scared me. Granted, I scare easily.  I don't like dark corners and dang you if you don't shut the closet door before bed. But, still. This movie was rated PG-13 for a reason. All these 9-12 year-olds were clearly in the wrong place.  What were their parents thinking?  Not much, since there were no parents in sight. Am I saying that there were 50 kids there without parents? Yes. Kids- texting on their phones, swearing like sailors and drinking Monster.  All. Through. The. Movie.  I could've t...

Text, email, facebook or a tweet. Why not pick up a phone? Your voice is so very sweet.

Here's a few wanderings of my wondering mind- Why do boy's rooms smell so bad? My kids shower/bathe regularly. I wash their clothes. Maybe I don't get them folded in a timely manner, but they're clean.  So, why? When did it become okay to show almost-naked women on a commercial during a show that they know kids will be watching?  It was like a 30 second wardrobe malfunction.  It doesn't seem right that I can go to the mail box in bare feet in February. We have snow on our lawn, but that's only because our house is north-facing and doesn't know what sunshine is.   If I had Bill Gates' money, I'd buy up all the Super Bowl ad time and show puppies and kitties.   No nakeditity.   Noah's friend's mom is having a baby.  He's very jealous. Oh, well. Michelle Duggar I am not. If Sunday's game had been between Giants- (Photo from harrypotter.wikia.com)    and Patriots- the outcome would've been different. Especially, since th...

Love Month- I love being a stay-at-home mom, which means being able to do things like going to lunch at school with my boys.

Question #1 - Do you ever fell like you don't do much to change the world? Like everyone around you is making a difference, but you're stuck in neutral, only affecting your immediate personal bubble? Do you look at the movers and shakers and wish the only thing that shook wasn't your thighs?  Have you ever thought that maybe, if you weren't around, not much would change? Question #2- Has someone done something in your life, that to others may seem minuscule, but to you, it changed everything?  You know, a small kindness or offering that came exactly when you needed it.  A prayer answered.  It could have been a gift or a smile or a compliment.  A boost when you were down, a hand, a pat on the back.  And, while the giver may not ever know what they've done, your world will never be the same. Do you see where I'm going? Question two answers question one. We all walk through this life, doing our best to keep going, sure that everyone around us is more co...

A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by My Memories about doing a giveaway.  I said, 'Yes, please!' Two reasons.   First, because I love my readers and now I have the chance to show them by giving one of them something. I love giving gifts almost as much as I love getting them.  I promise to be fair and not show favorites (and use an online random number picker).  Not  that I have a favorites. Really. I don't. Second, I got the chance to use the software myself. Cool.  I haven't done much scrapbooking in a long time.  Most of my pictures from the past two years are in my laptop.   Digital scrapbooking seems to be the perfect solution. I can make pages and then print them out.  Awesome!  Here are some pages I made from our reunion pictures. They have different papers, and embellishments, as well as video and audio options.  As a non-techie, I appreciated how easy it was, plus there's online support.  I really liked tha...

The new month welcomed me this morning with a lovely pink sunrise.  The sun blushed the horizon over my snow capped mountains. (Did you know I own mountains? heehee)  It made me smile. So appropriate for this month of love. Years ago, when my kids were all little, dates were few and very far between.  Babysitters cost too much and we were hard pressed to find one who would watch our large brood.  So, Valentine's day was just another day, with the exception of preparing those little cards for class parties.  One year I decided to change that.  After my children went to bed on Valentine's Eve, I decorated the house.  Nothing fancy, just red streamers, a few hearts and balloons.  When they got up, it was a sweet LOVE surprise. Since then, we've expanded to Love Week , where we have favorite meals, treats and a box for Love Notes.  The kids are encouraged to give each other Valentine's, and between the Handy Man and I, they get at least one ...