Lest we forget

Game Boy's new threads

The Theatre Society Banquet at Cottonwood High School is a formal affair. So Game Boy needed some new threads to wear. He and his mom found this good looking suit, and we were fortunate enough to have him with us the night of the banquet, so we got see him off in all of his new finery. (Notice the purple Converse. Yes, we are the Kings of Style.)

It's so strange to think that he was a shy 12-year-old when I met him. He's grown so much, and not just in height. It's also strange to think that next year we'll only have one child in the public school system. It makes me think of a hymn we sing at church:

Time flies on wings of lightning; We cannot call it back;...life is quick in passing. 'Tis as a single day.

(LDS Hymns #226, Improve the Shining Moments)

YouTube Video Wednesday

The girls and their guys

When Drama Queen asked if PaintBall Boy could come to the photo shoot and maybe jump into some of the shots, we immediately said "Of course! and let Lawyer-in-the-Works know that Our Computer Fixer can come, too!" We love the results. We think they look a bit like those pictures of people no one knows that come in frames when you buy them (because our kids are beautiful enough to be models, don't you know).

Thanks, again, to Melina Moore Memories for the wonderful pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

Gardening 2012

As any ardent follower of this blog knows, Mr. Perfect and I are devoted gardeners. We love fresh vegetables, and we especially love them if we've put some of our own sweat into growing 'em. This year, we enlarged the garden (yet again), and started the peas and radishes on time! Way to go, us!
We have

• peas
• radishes
• carrots
• beans
• tomatoes
• beets
• pumpkins
• Hubbard squash
• acorn squash

We did go easy on the squash this year. Only one hill of each kind, including the pumpkins.

To help draw the bees to the tomato plants, we also planted marigolds and petunias. The roses have also started blooming, so our yard smells great!

Singing the Phonebook on American Idol

I saw this on a friend's blog and had to repost. Enjoy.

I've updated the link to one that should work. Gotta love the living world of the Internet and YouTube.

A summer job for Game Boy

Mr. Perfect's company, MJ Structrual Engineers, recently moved to a new building. They've been outgrowing their old location for a while now, so it was time. The new location is quite a bit bigger, and they are the sole occupants. This has left them with a need where Game Boy can help: environmental engineer.

As you can see, he has the perfect attire for the job:

He seems right at home with the Rug Doctor.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo courtesy of Melina Moore Memories

How often do you stop and listen to what is playing around you?

Will one of the nation's greatest violinists be noticed in a D.C. Metro stop during rush hour? Joshua Bell experimented for Gene Weingarten's story in The Washington Post. (Video by John W. Poole).

This is the violinist playing in the video.

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, so this is not on Wednesday and won't be so wordless. I was sick yesterday, so I didn't do any posting. We just got the photos from the girls' senior pictures photo shoot with Melina Moore Memories. Thanks, Melina. They are amazing.

Game Boy and the Spring Fling

Saturday, Mr. Perfect got a call from Drama Queen to inform us that Game Boy was about to be asked to the final dance of the school year and we needed to get him out of the house. That proved to be harder than you might think. First, we had to wait for her signal. We waited about an hour. When it came, Game Boy was a bit tuckered out from planting tomatoes and helping in the yard. The conversation went something like this:

Mr. Perfect: Hey, want to go with me to Lowe's and get a sprinkler head?

Game Boy: (after a blank stare) No, not really.

Mr. Perfect: No? Come one. It'll be fun.

Game Boy: (after another blank stare) No, not really.

Most Happy Girl: Well, I need some stuff for dinner tomorrow. Could you go to Walmart and Harmons? Want to go with Dad to Walmart and Harmons?

Game Boy: (blank stare) No, not really.

Mr. Perfect: Well, come on. We're going to Walmart and Harmons.

Game Boy gave both of us another blank stare and left with Mr. Perfect. The girls came (Drama Queen's friend, Next Stop-BYU, was the asker). In his bedroom, they hung up streamers and a sign. (Unfortunately, I did not think of capturing the action on the camera. I still haven't taken a picture of the room [yes, it's almost all still there].) They put streamers on his door and moved the car so that it couldn't be seen, awaiting word from us that Game Boy had found his surprise.

When the guys got home, we stood in the kitchen for about five minutes talking. Game Boy told me that Drama Queen had texted "like" ten times, telling him to take a shower. (Okay, for the record, he doesn't overuse "like", but he really did say it this time.) He was starting to get a bit suspicious, but not sure as to why. It was kind of funny, because he had his back to the stairs, which provided a perfect view of his bedroom door. All he had to do was turn around and look up the stairs, and all would have been revealed to him. I finally told him, "Well, you'd better go take a shower, then." He started up the stairs with his head down, and it wasn't until he was actually standing in front of his door that he looked up.

This is what we heard, "Oh." The next thing we heard was ripping crate paper (they'd braided the streamers and taped them to the door frame). Then came Game Boy back down the stairs to ask "Okay, how do I say yes?" That was the easy part. Much easier that getting him out of the house or to go up stairs and look at his room. He grabbed the still-over-half-full bag of confetti, went out to the driveway where Drama Queen and Next Stop-BYU were waiting in Drama Queen's car for him to come out. He dumped most of the confetti on Next Stop-BYU (see the pictures below). I think it was the fastest shower Game Boy has ever taken.

The kids all had a great time. (Yeah, you can tell they're all drama kids, can't you.)

A Fine Frenzy

Everyone should love this group. Simply fun.

A moment to consider the blog counter

I just looked, and the blog counter was on 7777. How bizarre is it that I would see that number? I mean, 7779 or 7787 or 7902 are more likely to be seen.

Just wanted to share my joy in all of this perusing ya'll are doing. Thanks!

The Filling of the Cupcakes

Last week, I signed up to bring a dozen cupcakes to a Relief Society activity. I'd never baked cupcakes by myself before. (Yes, I do realize that I'm 45 years-old and haven't had this experience yet. No snickering.) I found several recipes online for orange cream cupcakes, and decided to go for the one I already had all the ingredients for. (Check out the cooking blog for the recipe and more pictures.) So, not only was I flying solo on my cupcakes for the first time, I was also doing the "fully from scratch" methodology. Well, the cupcakes turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. The only problem was that I wanted to fill them with frosting, and that turned out a bit hit-n-miss. Some had filling, some did not. Oh, well, live and learn, I say.

Here's one of the successful fillings, courtesy of the the sweetie who picked it up and started eating it.

She said it was really good.