Mother's Day was hard but my mom and I did OK. We went to Pima where generations of our family are from and some still live there including my aunt and uncle. It is a very small town (makes Maricopa seem like a metropolis) and it is where Courtney is buried.
We took Margie to her mother's grave for the first time. Because of all the hearings since Courtney's death we have not been able to go back since her funeral. Pima is three hours away and with all that we have had to do there just has not been time during the few days at at time that my mom and dad are here.
There was sadness and a bit of healing in going. Mom and I took chairs on Saturday and sat near Courtney's grave. Just me, mom, and Margie. We were mostly quiet.
On Mother's Day we returned with my grandma and aunt and we placed flowers at Courtney's grave and other family members too.
We took pictures but they are personal and nothing to share publicly.
We had a nice lunch at Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Morris's new house. The just finished it last year and it is beautiful.
Aunt Cheryl's new house
Grandma and Mom having lunch. Don't let my Grandmothers demure smile and petite stature fool you. She is sassy.
Me and Mom on Mothers Day. I love that my mom is smiling. She never used to smile in pictures. Courtney would gripe at her about it. My mom said she will always smile in pictures now...because that is what Courtney wanted. She even smiled when we took pictures at the cemetery. I love my mom's smile.
Ryan playing outside. Oh to have land. We grew up living on acreage and I always wanted to live in a "neighborhood". Gag. I would give anything to live on a big fat piece of land again!
The meeting house in Pima. This is a very old building. My own great-grandmother attended church in this very same meeting house. This is where we had Courtney's services.
POTATO ROLLS
I love a new bread recipe. I found one on my friend Natalie's blog. You will have to go there to get it. You will be glad you did though. She is way cute and super crafty. My kids love to help in the kitchen. Sadly, only Margie and Ry got to help with the rolls. Matty had been naughty and was spending a little time in his room thinking about making better choices :)
Margie and Ry....rolling out dough for rolls!
Our final product. The house smelled YUMMY!
WALMART
There is big news around these parts. Our new WalMart opened yesterday. I know some of you may be anti-WalMart...and you go right on ahead. Me...I am tickled all different shades of pink. The nearest store to our town (besides a grocery store) is 20 miles away in either direction. Having this store will be LIFE CHANGING.
OK maybe that was a tad dramatic. But it will certainly make life easier and I am thrilled.
The first graders at Ryan's school were invited to sing the National Anthem so we were there for the ribbon cutting bright and early.
The mayor was there for the grand opening. This is a funny little thing about Ryan...he is interested in politics at age 6! He was interested in the Presidential Elections - which were a hot topic around here as our home is politically divided. He also asks me lots of questions about our mayor. He wants to know his name, what his job is, who he is the boss of, etc.
He once told me that after he was out of school he was going to be the mayor and then he would be ready to be the President of the United States!
Since the mayor was literally standing right there, Mr. Wresh asked him if he would say hello to Ryan and I managed to get a picture. I could not get Ryan to look at the camera because he was trying too hard to look at the Mayor.
Mayor Smith of Maricopa and Ryan
GOSPEL TRUTHS
As we go through our days I try to find ways to talk about gospel truths with my children. Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with Ryan about why we revere the name "Jesus" and "God" and only use them in reverence.
Here is how the conversation went:
Ryan: Why do we have to be reverent when we say Jesus or God mom?
Mom: Because we love God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Savior.
Ryan: What is a Savior?
Mom: A Savior is someone who saves us from something. Ryan, can you tell me what Jesus saved us from? [hint: the correct answer is sin]
Ryan: Yes. He saved us from the aliens.
Mom: Hmmm. Yes, well Jesus saves us from a lot of things but the most important thing He saved us from is sin. Because of his sacrifice we can repent and be clean before God.
Ryan: Yeah sin. Jesus saved us from sin AND the aliens.
MOVIE AT THE PARK
Our little town does movies at the park during the summer time and last weekend we decided to go. It was fun! We went and got Taco Bell and ate it picnic style while we waited for the movie to start. I popped microwave popcorn at home and we brought that along too. They were showing the Classic Peter Pan (Disney) The little boys loved it. Joel decided to pass and went to a pool party with his friends! I know...shocking. There are no pictures of the kid because he is always at church activities, school activities, or off with friends!
A NEW BEDROOM
Mr. Wresh and I have never - and I mean NEVER - had a nice bedroom. When we were first married we had a small dresser and headboard my aunt gave me. After awhile it was too small and we bought THE UGLIEST 80's style bedroom set off of CraigsList for $100. Mostly because there were a lot of drawers. We were in desperate need of drawers.
I have always hoped and prayed that the day would come that we (and when I say *we* I really mean *I* because Mr. Wresh could care less) could get a brand new bedroom set.
Well, reality has finally smacked me upside the head and I have come to realize we will not have the $3500 necessary to buy the type of bedroom set I desire just laying around anytime soon.
I am an all or nothing type of gal when it comes to stuff like this. If I cannot have exactly what I want I would rather just wait. So, because I cannot stand to look at our barfaliciously ugly bedroom one more day I started painting our bedroom furniture.
You know how you see all those before and after shots of thrifty ladies who repaint their "garage sale finds" and act like it is such a breeze? They are big fat liars. Painting, especially furniture, is a pain in the biscuit.
I will say I like how it is coming along. I purchased paint, new molding, new hardware, and went to town. I hope to be finished this weekend and have pictures for you. I refuse to show you the "before" shots until I have the afters. The furniture is just that ugly.
Here are a few of what I have done so far though
Drawers with primer drying
Drawers with a coat of the Cannon Ball Black paint
More to come...I know you are waiting with breathless anticipation....
MATTY'S BOO BOO
Poor Matty. My little dude fell down the stairs last weekend and hit his lip on the wood banister. Ouch. There was blood everywhere. After I made sure there was none on the carpet I took him into the kitchen to inspect his wounds. Just kidding. Sort of.
Anyway...he had a little cut on his chin just below his lip and a HUGE cut inside his mouth on the inside of his cheek. It looked like it may have warranted stitches so we packed up and headed to Urgent Care.
The Urgent Care doctor said she thought he needed stitches on the inside of his mouth but she was not comfortable doing it...so we were off to the ER. There is a pediatric ER at Desert Banner in Mesa so even though it is further than the closest hospital we headed there. I thought if this kid was going to need stitches we were going to need someone experienced. He is a brawler.
After waiting in the ER waiting room with a bunch of hacking, sneezing, goopy kids we were finally called back. The doctor took one look at him and said he was fine. He prescribed antibiotics since the cut was in his mouth and prone to lots of bacteria. The lesson I learned is that unless your kids mouth or tongue is ripped in half and about to fall off they do not put stitches inside kids mouths. At least not at Desert Banner they don't.
Oh well. We got the antibiotics and at least I didn't wonder all weekend if I should have taken his to the ER...because that is exactly what I would have done!
NEW TOY ROOM
I am redoing the toy room too...this is a minor redo though! New curtain panels and pictures.
I am using browns, whites, and a bit of green. I created new prints for the 10x10 frames I already have in the room. I can't wait for them to get here!
I used the kit Autumn Blooms by Kelley Mickus and Sugarplum Paperie
I love this sentiment...especially in a room where children play!
Aunt Coco was and will continue to be a big part of my children's lives. I want her everywhere.
You can read more about the quote I used on this page here. It has been a salve to me this week.
I love this picture of my boys!
BIRTHDAY SALE
Tomorrow is my birthday. I am going to be 37. While I am not too happy about it you can celebrate with savings at my store at TheDigiChick. Just use the coupon code OLDLADYWRESH when you check out and save 37% off any order of $7 or more!
SPECIAL DEAL ON A NEW VINYL DESIGN
If you have not already, please check out my vinyl store at etsy.com. I do custom work all the time. Just convo me and let me know what you are looking to do. I just put this design in the store today. It is $17.50 in the store with shipping. I want to offer my blog readers a special on it for the remainder of the month of May. If you purchase this design here on my blog you can get it for $12.00 and that includes shipping in the US! Just use the paypal button below the design.
This design is 2 feet wide and about 4.5 inches high. It can be reduced. If you would the width to be smaller please include that information with your paypal payment. This specially priced offer comes in black only.
A NEW TEMPLATE FOR YOU
I have been loving the look of layouts using masks and blending so I made one just for you! The layout example is of my sister and I at Knaus Berry Farm in Homestead at Christmas Time. If you are ever in South Florida during the winter months you must stop by there for yummy baked goods, fresh produce, and shakes! It is just a few miles away from my mom and dads and how they resist going there everyday is beyond me.
I used the kit Strawberry Café [Revised]
Well I am off...if you read this whole dang thing I am totally impressed. Ryan and Matty have Sunshine Generation this afternoon and tonight is the dinner for Joel's HONORS Seminary for this year. We are are pretty proud of our little Scripture Master!
