Finally, some pictures!

Yes, we DID get another camera... FINALLY! It's another Canon, another Elph, in fact. And it's red. Maybe we'll keep this one. :)

Anyway, so finally I can put up some new pictures for y'all. Only, we haven't done anything super noteworthy since getting the camera. So, instead you just get my random smattering of happenings from the last week or so, kay? Get ready...

First pic on the new camera, me fixing dinner while Samantha tells me about school. Typical.

Next pic, Samantha's new GLASSES! She's so cute!

Spencer on the hearth, during FHE, singing a song, I think?

Happy Birthday to Brian's Dad! 74 years old. He wanted a pie and ice cream party, his favorite...

Poor Spence. Sick day, with lots of toileting. He finally crashed out on the bathroom floor, poor sweet boy.

At the bird refuge by Lake Lowell...

"Bed fort" in the living room floor. Not my favorite game, honestly. But she looks cute and comfy...

Outfit number three this morning (of about eight different changes throughout the day, no joke!), Samantha's size 8 swimsuit...

The aftermath of the cute little snugly blanket fort Spence and Nat made. It actually resulted in a not-so-happy mom who had to remake all three beds!...

After the beds got made, my cute little "bugs" in a rug...

Those last ones were from today. So, now you're pretty caught up to all the uneventful happenings that are happening around here, I guess. And maybe we'll be using that camera to capture some more interesting stuff, sometime soon, eh?! Bye for now!

Things I sometimes want

I want a garden, in the back yard, in those fun containers like everyone is doing these days... with tomatoes and spinach and cabbage and zucchini (and I don't really care about corn, but don't tell Samantha or Brian. sshhh.)

I want longish, well manicured fingernails that don't flake off when they get a quarter of a millimeter long. And I want to never be enticed to bite off those flaky, weak edges again.

I want to have patience, for real. The kind of patience where I don't nervously look at the clock when we're running two seconds later than I wanted to; the kind where I stop yelling at my children to make them go faster when the yelling won't really help; the kind where I can wait to watch that scale come down without over-induldging ridiculously, just because I am not seeing immediate results!

I want to get my house really clean and really organized, and then KEEP it that way... especially that endless pile of papers on the phone counter. hmm.

I want to be more neighborly. What do I even know about my neighbors' lives? I went to our neighbor's daughter's wedding reception this weekend, and felt... well, I just felt like I know next to nothing about them. And they're nice, good people, -- the kind of people I should know and care about, ya know? I want to get to know them, and all my other neighbors, too.

I want be able to play the piano better. I accompanied a women's choir for our Stake Conference meeting this weekend. It was really a great experience, and I even got to play with several violinists and a flutist, sounded super fancy. But did you know, I probably played those two new pieces 100 times + EACH! I mean, I probably put in more than 30 hours of practice to be able to do an okay job. I'm just not a very accomplished accompanist. But I want to be.

I want to write more. On the blog, in my journal, on my various story ideas, etc. I used to think writing was one of my talents. And then it was more of an outlet/hobby. And now it's almost an inconvenience. But I miss it. And I want to reverse the trend and make it more of an outlet again.

I want to be able to wear pierced earrings. That's one I won't ever get, I'm afraid. But it's something I want, especially since Dalana just gave me the cutest red necklace and earrings set. Oh well, dumb pudgy lobes of mine.

I want to be a morning person. I can't believe I'm saying that, because the part of me that is NOT a morning person really does NOT believe I should ever even THINK such a thing. But that part of me that enjoys getting stuff done thinks it would be sooo nice to have long, leisurely mornings for getting things done, organizing my day, etc. (And yes, I've tried to be a morning person before. But 30-something years of night-owl habits don't leave easily.)

I want a window over my kitchen sink. That's a silly one, because my sink is in the breakfast bar island... window wouldn't work so well there. But someday...

I want to do menu planning, and then, once I've selected all my meals, I want them all to sound delectable to me on the days I've designated to make them. (Why does Papa Murphy's always sound better than tortellini soup?)

I want to clothes shop without my children. I take them with me all the time, and then I get frazzled and stressed and make unwise shopping decisions. But it's sooo nice to shop without them, even when I'm shopping FOR them. Make sense??

I want Natalie to stop playing in the water, stop spilling a cup every two hours, stop filling up with water from the fridge and leaving full cups all over our house in odd places, stop changing her outfit every two hours because she's soaked herself while "washing hands."

I want to remember how my kids' voices sound at this age and stage. When they're not busy being too crazy, they each have the sweetest, most innocent voice. I'm afraid I'll forget, as I've already forgotten how they USED to sound.

I want flowers in our front yard... hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, hydrangeas, geraniums, etc. I'm the person with 10 boxes of bulbs I MEANT to plant last fall, envying every neighbor who has bright cheery blooms popping up right now!

I want to read a good book, just for fun. The kind of book that makes me feel better, happier, lighter. Still looking, and still not finding.



I think that's the list, for right now. I think I can HAVE some of those things I want, with a little elbow grease and effort, don't you? :) What about you, what's on YOUR list of Things you sometimes want??

Something New

Yes, this is new, but nothing oh so new to report. I was just tired of that same dumb post at the top of my blog. So, here I am again.

I have sooo much catching up to do here.
I wonder, is it even worth it??

Our camera broke more than a month ago. So, I've been taking pics with my handy dandy smart phone. But of course, I'm inept enough with it that half of them are blurry, and I don't know how to blog from my phone yet. (I don't even know how to keep my phone charged, with me, and full of minutes -- as most of you already know! ha) Anyway, it's a learning curve, right? So... no pictures yet, sadly.

It's been a wonderful, memorable, busy month -- the whole month of March, that is. I really hoped to blog about these things, in full. But my enthusiasm is waning, so this may be all they get. If I figure out how to add the pics from the ipad or the phone, I'll put some under each of these little recaps. But for now, at least you have another monthly update from me. Here's March:

-- Oregon Coast trip: a wonderful week with my mom and her sisters at their annual "Sisters Trip". No kids. For five whole days! Amazing food, perfect views from our ocean-view hot tub on the back deck, and so much fun just visiting and catching up with some of my favorite ladies in the world. Oh how I miss hearing those waves. Our place was just 29 steps down to the sand. I was the only one crazy enough to actually venture into the water for five seconds, in my suit. Brrr! As we all know, Oregon Ocean is better just for looking, especially in March!

Here's our gang, minus Aunt DeeAnn, who was taking our pic...


Our view from the back deck of our place, 29 steps to the sand. It was kinda rainy the first couple of days, but it cleared off later and was gorgeous the last two days...


Aunt Kathy, holding a hermit crab from one of the tide pools we were exploring. She was the only one brave enough. But even SHE screamed and dropped him when he started crawling out onto her fingers.


-- Grandma Eva's 90th Birthday Party. As in NINETIETH BIRTHDAY!! Can you believe!?!? So much fun to see her sweet face light up as she visited with 130+ friends and family who came to celebrate her special day. Oh how I love my wonderful, adorable Grandma Eva. I loved being part of her celebration, and learned so much about her, just from listening to other family members and friends share special memories about her. I played a piano medley of hymns for her, the great grandkids sang "Yes, Jesus Loves Me," and all the sons and grandsons shared memories.

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-- Lava Hot Springs Boston Reunion. Talk about an amazing weekend of being reunited with some of the most wonderful people of my life. (And talk about gaining five pounds at every scrumptious meal!!) My oh my, what a great trip! You'll have to look at Alicia's blog for the full recap (and don't look too closely at that pic of me in my jammies, please!). She and Jeni got all the pics, of course. There were eight of us who all lived in Boston at the same time together, almost a decade ago. We reunited from Washington, Utah, Arizona, and Idaho... bringing along 12 kids, and Rex. It really was a perfect break.




-- Spring Break and Easter. After our on-the-go month, we decided to stay home for Spring Break this year. (We were tempted to stuff the kids in the car and drive to Disneyland, do you blame us? didn't happen. darn.) Highlights included some spring shopping at our favorite thrift stores, some spring cleaning (including window washing!), a trip to a fun place called "Jump Time" -- the kids are begging to go again almost every day, and a camping trip to the sand dunes. Yes, it was actually warm enough to camp (if 70 high/42low sounds warm enough). We had a great time jumping and playing on the dunes, and once it was dark, it was probably the best star-gazing night I've seen in YEARS. Fun! For Easter, we had all our Bishop family over for a big dinner in the afternoon. The Easter Bunny found us, and the kids got in on a fun egg hunt at Grandpa and Grandma Bishop's, as well as a hunt with people from our ward. We are still eating candy and vacuuming Easter grass.

-- Grumpy Kamber. Less noteworthy than these other festive occasions is the fact that I had several very unhappy days in a row near the end of March. I cried and felt irrational. I yelled at kids and glared at husband for no reason. I nit-picked most ridiculously about most everything that I don't appreciate about my life. It was yucky. I even thought I might be pregnant. (Nope.) But luckily, I came through and am back on top again. Not sure what that was all about, really. Maybe lack of sleep? Maybe coming down from the high of all those fun times with friends and family?? Well, anyway, on one of those days, I was on the phone with my friend Ruth, in London. She has some really hard days, tough family situations, lots of drama and trauma in her life. Well, I felt dumb even whining to her about my emotional state, because, really, my life is good, right? But because we're friends, I whined away and told her all about how I had a sobbing, crying, yelling fit right before church because Samantha couldn't find her shoes. (True story!) Before long, both of us were laughing hysterically about it, and about all the other less-admirable moments from my (and her) recent grumpy state. She told me, "it helps sometimes, just to hear that other people who seem to have it all together actually DO have bad days. It makes us all feel a little more human, I guess." Well then, I share my grumpiness openly. Right along side all those fantastic memory makers up top. Life has its ups and downs. I'm grateful for both. But more especially for the "ups" and for the people in my life who keep me "up!"

ps. I just have to brag... I got up at 5AM today (first time in a couple of years or so) to go do a water aerobics class at the gym with a friend. Can you believe?! Then I came home and burned another 360 calories on the cross trainer. And yes, I napped later. But still. This is worth celebrating, for a non-morning-person who doesn't love exercise. :) Thumbs up for me!