tucson stash...

(mom and sara outside the hotel)

I was so lucky this week to be able to head down to Tucson for the annual Bead Shows. It's really quite amazing. If you ever get a chance to go - take it. We were only going to be able to spend 2 days (you could spend a week, easy!) so we had to pack in as many shows as we could. Sara and I drove to Phoenix on Thursday evening, stayed the night and headed bright and early Friday morning to Tucson. We spent the entire day from 11-6 at 3 different shows. By the time we got to the hotel, we were finally able to eat dinner about 8:30. Next morning, up and at the shows at 10:30 until 6 again. The shows we went to on Friday were INCREDIBLE. There were ENORMOUS tent pavilions set up with hundreds and hundreds of vendors of beads, gems, jewelry, and other *weird* imported type things. I can not even do it justice trying to explain how HUGE the shows are. Needless to say by 4:00 the 2nd day - my poor 30 week pregnant body could not handle anymore and I HAD to rest for awhile (dang contractions!). We are soooo beaded out, but it was a successful trip. I was going purely for the almost free trip - but managed to spend quite a load myself. We even survived the crazy google map directions and the freeway construction. Check out my stash.... (I'll post more detailed info about the actual beads I purchased on my other blog: http://scrapbeadsew.blogspot.com/ if you are interested).

macaroni what?...

Zane has a tendency to hear things differently sometimes and then insist that he heard it correctly. Especially if it comes from his teacher. (I am told that I used to do this too - what a lovely trait to pass on). He came home from school one day and told me "Mom, did you know FROSSILS are bones of a dinosaur buried in the ground?" I corrected him, and said "Yeah, they are actually called FOSSILS". Zane - "No, Mrs. B said FROSSILS!!". No arguing there!

So yesterday he told me that he wanted to decorate his valentine's box with Sego Lilies. I asked him why and he said because he wants to see what they look like. I took him over to the computer and told him we could look up some pictures of them so he could see. Then I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to see pictures of, and he said "Yeah, Macaroni Penguins!" Me - "Uh, Zane, are you sure that's what they are called? I don't think that's right." He insisted, "Uh, huh! They are called Macaroni Penguins!!" So I reluctantly typed "Macaroni Penguins" in Google Image search. Sure enough.....

uh huh , oh yeah...

I passed!! Yiipppeee!!

the 3 hour tour...

It really is all it's cracked up to be. I went in at 7 am this morning to take the 3 hour glucose test. After drawing my fasting blood sugar and making sure it wasn't high, I was given a nice lemon lime soda to drink. Oh, I'm sorry, I mean CORN SYRUP (it is 100g glucose - double the strength of the one they give you for the 1 hour test). So disgusting. It makes you feel so nice and fuzzy inside. Oh, I'm sorry, I mean want to VOMIT. Luckily I didn't or I would have to do the test again. Really, the worst comes between the 1st and 2nd hours. Yes, getting stuck twice in each arm is lovely (with the accompanying bruises), but feeling shaky and dizzy and sick for the rest of the day is the BEST! I won't find out until Monday if I passed.

yay for me...(sarcasm included at no expense)

I had a Dr. appointment today. The big glucose test. For some reason, I have been worried that I wouldn't pass it. I've passed it with both of my other kids, so I had no reason to think I wouldn't pass it this time. I failed. It wasn't too terribly high (152 - it needs to be under 140), but I have to go in to take the 3 hour fasting test. You fast for 12 hours, and get your blood drawn 4 times while you wait in the lab for 3 hours. Yay me. Wish me luck that I pass the 3 hour!

100's day...

They are celebrating 100's day in Kindergarten next week to celebrate 100 days of school. Each child is supposed to come up with a collection of 100 things to share in their 100's day museum.

Here's our conversation:
Me: What do you want to display for your 100's collection?

Zane: Paper airplanes!

Me: Ummm, I don't know, are you sure that's what you want to do?

Zane: No nevermind, how about pies!!

Me: I think we better do paper airplanes.

What do you think? (they are in groups of 10 so the kids can count to 100 by 10)

This is what I did to our kitchen table mounting the airplanes. Quite dumb of me to not check that the staples were barely poking through the other side. I've stressed about our kids wrecking our table and then I go and do this! Hundreds of pin-sized holes. Nice.

after christmas christmas program...

The kindergarten christmas program was scheduled for the day that school was cancelled because of the snow. So they had the program after the break, on the 8th of January. Zane is a cutie and did a great job singing and reciting. We took video of the whole thing, but I won't *bore* you with that. Here's a few pics from the day.

The elf is fast asleep ...ssshhhhh

Zane waving to John taking the video

What a great smile!

Zane and Zekiel (one of the only 2 other kindergarteners in our ward)

isn't this the great american pastime?...

While my parents were here over the holidays we all headed up to Cedar City to hang out with my sister and her family. My kids don't see much snow so we though we would take the kids sledding. There wasn't a lot of snow - but it was a beautiful perfect sledding day. Lily was sooo excited to go down after she saw the boys. She kept saying "Turn! Turn!" My sister popped her in the sled with her and headed down the hill. (I'm pretty sure sledding is something a pregnant person shouldn't do, or I would have gone myself!) Lily didn't want to go again. Once was enough. I think it scared her just a bit. Grandma even took a turn down the hill with each grandkid. Way to go Grandma! The kids had a great time and on the way home to St. George - Zane asked if we could go buy a sled. Sorry kiddo - we really don't have use for one here! We will have to make a point to go up there a couple of times every winter for sledding. Some photos and a couple of videos too.

uh madison, you're going the wrong way

grandma and zach
wipeout! (madison and andrew)
turn! turn! turn!
awesome zane!

tandem sledding - madison and andrew

grandma and zane

go Lily!

zach on his way!

just how does that brain work...

A case in point on how Zane thinks:

Grandma: Did you use your bath blizzard? Did it blow all kinds of bubbles?

Zane: No, just one kind.

HA!

the annual cannon christmas party...

My grandma Cannon has a Christmas party every year for the extended family. They moved this year from their home of 30+ years to an easier to manage condo - so we had the party at my Aunt's home this year. We try to make it up north for the party every year since it is the only time that we ever see extended family. For as long as I can remember, we have a nativity with all the kids - now the great grandkids. It's amazing that we have kept it up for this long, but I know I treasure the pictures from when I was a child, and I hope my kids treasure the memories of it too.

We got to stay at my friend Steph's house for the night and it was perfect. Zane and Kane (Steph's son - only 6 days younger than Zane) had a lot of fun being loud, and playing with new christmas toys. Thanks guys for the wonderful breakfast and great time. We'd love to visit your "hotel" again soon.

christmas day...

Santa definitely came to our house this year. And he had some work to do! Lily got an adorable kitchen that Santa and his elves had to put together and a cute Little People princess castle. Zane got a bike and an iPod Shuffle. He loves his iPod. He wears it non-stop. It's quite entertaining to hear him singing loudly all over the house, or yelling when he wants to say something. He hasn't quite learned how to work the headphone thing.

Zane got just what he wanted from his grandparents - a 2 wheeled scooter, and a bath blizzard (it's a bubble machine for the bath). Lily got some dishes for her kitchen and her first purse complete with all the accessories. They each got some more great toys and books from cousins and family. Thanks so much everyone for making this an awesome christmas!

christmas eve...

John's parents came in the Sunday before Christmas. It was so nice to have them stay with us. They are a lot of help. John sang a solo in the Christmas program on Sunday. I played for him. He sang a great arrangement of "Coventry Carol". The music was a minor version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." It was difficult so I had to practice quite a bit. It went well, despite me getting my music mixed up halfway through and having a big pause while I got it straightened out. That was a little upsetting because I had practiced soooo hard - but I'm sure noone cares but me!

My parents came in on Christmas Eve and we all headed over to my grandparents home in the evening for dinner, christmas carols, and the reading of Christ's birth by my grandfather. My sister and her family came down as well. Madison sang a couple songs that she learned from school, Zane played "Christmas Bells" with Grandma Ellen, and John sang his solo from the christmas program. It was fun to spend time all together as family.

here comes santa claus...

It's nice to be back into normal routines. I will probably post a few posts today to get caught up. We visited Santa at the mall the week before Christmas. Zane was getting very concerned that he had not told him what he wanted yet and it was getting close to Christmas. We were worried that he would ask Santa for something that we didn't want him to get (which he did - it was Bratz Magic Hair Color - a girls toy and Bratz - no way). It was the ONLY thing he asked for from Santa, so we were a little concerned that Christmas morning would be a disaster. We explained to Zane that Santa knows that mom and dad don't like Bratz things because they are inappropriate and a bad example - so Santa would not get him something that he knows mom and dad wouldn't be happy with. We weren't sure how that was going to go over. On Christmas Eve - Santa called to talk to Zane to check whether he was being good or naughty. When Santa asked Zane what he wanted for Christmas - he said "Well, mom and dad don't like Bratz, so I guess I will just have a 2 wheeled scooter." Hurray! Crisis averted!

Hysterical Lily - of course. Love that age.

snow day...

Ok so you may all laugh that they cancelled school for 2-3 inches of snow - but if our neighbor kids had not come over and shoveled our driveway in the morning - we would have been stuck in the house almost all day. Our driveway is a killer. If we lived up north, yeah we would maybe have had 2nd thoughts about buying the house just for this reason. But it doesn't snow here. I mean really dump, ever. So 2-3 inches at once. Big deal! Do they even sell snow shovels here? I don't think I've ever seen one. Of course, my kids don't own boots (do they even sell those here?), and only knit gloves, and not even heavy coats, but that didn't stop them from playing in the snow all morning, building a snowman, and doing snow angels. I LOVE driving through the neighborhood and seeing snowmen on everyone's lawn. Every kid that stayed home yesterday probably made one. So cute. Fun day.

Lily - really not sure what to think about the snow yet.

The snowman or Frosty as Zane has named him. Original, I know.

Snow Angels. Sad. They probably should be called Dirt Angels or Rock Angels, but he had fun!

happy birthday john ... (very late)

John celebrated his 32nd birthday last week and I am just now getting around to posting about it. He got a new Tech hat, some clothes, and the Seinfeld Scene It game. We love you very much and appreciate all the hard work you do for our family!

bead star 2008...

So the time has come for me to announce that I got an Honorable Mention in the Crystals category in the Bead Star 2008 competition. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. You can see the necklace and the instructions in the inaugural Bead Star issue available on Monday. My necklace is an auction item to benefit the American Heart Association and will most likely be auctioned off on ebay in March.

The following is the press release and winners in all the categories.

Bead Star Announces 2008 Winning Jewelry Designs and Publication of Debut Issue

Loveland, Colo., December 9, 2008:

Bead Star magazine announced today the 45 prize-winning jewelry designers in the inaugural Bead Star challenge—an exciting competition that garnered more than 1,000 entries worldwide and was voted on by nearly 10,000 members of the Beading Daily community. The designs are published in Bead Star 2008, the first-ever beading publication composed entirely of prize-winning designs, on newsstands nationwide Monday, December 15. In making the announcement, editor Danielle Fox said, "While on the outside Bead Star may look like any other magazine, it's really an event—an awards ceremony if you will…. imagine resounding applause, cameras flashing, and jewels sparkling as you flip through the pages of this star-studded publication."

The Grand Prize Bead Star winner is Valerie Aharoni, whose project is featured on the cover of the magazine. Aharoni's first-place project in the Seed Beads category was chosen by Grand Prize Sponsor Fire Mountain Gems and Beads among the nine first-place category winners. In winning, Aharoni receives an all-expense-paid trip for two to Bead Fest Santa Fe, March 12-15, 2009, courtesy of grand-prize sponsor, Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, plus a $1,500 gift certificate from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads to be awarded at Bead Fest. This prize is on top of her $1,000 gift certificate from Miyuki for first-place in the Seed Beads category. For Aharoni, an artist from Brooklyn, New York, this win represents a series of exciting firsts: the first time she's created a nonbeadweaving seed-bead project, the first time she's entered a beading contest, the first time she's won any contest at all, the first time she'll travel to Santa Fe, and the first time she'll attend a bead show."The contest was totally no-stress," says Aharoni. "There were no entry fees and the guidelines were clear. Bead Star made it easy for beginners like me who have never entered a contest before."

Winners Selected by the People for the People

The Bead Star contest kicked off back in April 2008 with a call for designs made with simple stringing, crimping, and wireworking techniques. The Bead Star editorial offices received more than 1,000 unique entries, which the editors of Stringing and Beadwork magazines culled down to 180 finalists—20 per category. From there, nearly 10,000 Beading Daily members voted on their favorites in each category, which ultimately made it into this all-star publication. A first-place, second-place, and third-place winner and two honorable mentions were awarded in each of nine design element categories: Crystals, Seed Beads, Glass, Pearls, Stones, Metals, Plastics, Designs Under $25, and Designs with a Heart. All first place prizes are valued at $1,000, second place prizes are valued at $500, and third place prizes are valued at $250. All honorable mentions were sponsored by Interweave and winners received a complimentary one-year subscription to an Interweave jewelry magazine of their choice—Beadwork, Jewelry Artist, Step by Step Beads, Step by Step Wire Jewelry, or Stringing.Information and contest rules for next year's Bead Star 2009 contest will be posted on the magazine's website, BeadStar.com, on December 16.

Auction Items

Jewelry pieces marked "Auction Item" in the magazine have been donated by their designers to auctions in March 2009 to benefit the American Heart Association's women's heart-health initiatives. All auction items will be on display at Bead Fest Santa Fe, March 12-15, 2009. Interweave will host a silent auction for five of the pieces live at the event on March 14 and 15, while the rest of the jewelry will be auctioned on eBay from March 6-16. Look for the symbols "Auction Item – ebay" and "Auction Item – Bead Fest" throughout the magazine to see which pieces can be bid on to benefit this worthy cause.

Congratulations to the Bead Star 2008 Winners:

Best in Show: Valerie Aharoni, for her seed-bead necklace "Gild & reGild," sponsored by Fire Mountain Gems and Beads (Prize valued at $5,000)
http://www.vaharoni.com/

CRYSTALS

Kirsten Salem: 1st place sponsored by K. Gottfried, Inc.

Bonnie Hjerppe: 2nd place sponsored by Step by Step Beads magazine

Tiffany Quint: 3rd place sponsored by FusionBeads.com

Kristal Wick: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Abi Collins: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

GLASS

Samela Dorey: 1st place sponsored by Beadaholique.com

Susan Shannon: 2nd place sponsored by Stringing magazine

Andrew Thornton: 3rd place sponsored by Step by Step Beads magazine
Erin Strother: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Patricia Dugmore: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

HEART

Lisa Liddy: 1st place sponsored by Beadwork magazine

Heather Powers: 2nd place sponsored by Shipwreck Beads

Debra Kallen: 3rd place sponsored by VenetianBeadShop.com

Cassie Donlen: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Tracy Van Voorst: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

METALS

Ann Marie Hodrick: 1st place sponsored by The Bead Goes On

Jennifer Cunningham: 2nd place sponsored by Monsterslayer.com

Ann Marie C. J. Crosmun: 3rd place sponsored by Vintaj Natural Brass Co.

Susan White: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Melissa Fortner: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

PEARLS

Christopher McLachlan: 1st place sponsored by Merchants Overseas

Steph Kexel: 2nd place sponsored by Beaded Impressions
Mary E Dawn: 3rd place sponsored by Stringing magazine

Heather Powers: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave
Samantha Kilgore: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

PLASTICS

Bonnie Hjerppe: 1st place sponsored by The Beadin' Path

Darlene Jones: 2nd place sponsored by Step by Step Beads magazine

Doris Coghill: 3rd place sponsored by Natural Touch Resin Beads
Carina Moreno: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Amanda Klimek: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

SEED BEADS

Valerie Aharoni: 1st place sponsored by Miyuki Glass Beads
Kelly Jarvis: 2nd place sponsored by Tambrook Bead & Trade
Lola Surwillo: 3rd place sponsored by Jane's Fiber and Beads

Susan Shannon: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Carrie McMahon: Honorable Mention sponsored by We got the Bead

STONES

Ann Marie Hodrick: 1st places sponsored by Lima Beads

Wendee Brandenburg: 2nd place sponsored by Zarlene Imports

Meredith Duers: 3rd place sponsored by Cherry Tree Beads

Marcella Austenfeld: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

Edna Lucille Hendrickson: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave

UNDER $25

Myra Fierro: 1st place sponsored by Beadalon

Christina Rondeau: 2nd place sponsored by Step by Step Wire Jewelry

Darlene Jones: 3rd place sponsored by Beading Daily

Erin Beutel: Honorable Mention sponsored by Interweave
Lori Mendenhall: Honorable mention sponsored by Interweave

Web sites:

http://www.beadstar.com/

http://www.interweave.com/

firsts....

Lily attended nursery at church for the first time today. She made it through the whole class without the teachers having to retrieve us. Hooray! She only had a few minor upsets they said, but was easily distracted. The real test will be next week, when we drop her off, and she knows what to expect....

And now it can also be known that I did in fact win a prize of Honorable Mention in the Crystals category of the first annual Bead Star competition! I just received the issue in the mail yesterday - so run out to your local craft store and pick one up. The magazine is called BEAD STAR (duh) and I am on page 17! I was under a confidentiality agreement not to say whether or not I had won until publication - so now it's out - go buy it!

Also, I posted a couple of my latest projects on my other blog, check it out if you're interested.

christmas cards...

If you would like a christmas card - leave me a comment with your address. I won't publish it, so noone will see it. Yes, I'm actually sending out christmas cards this year. It's a first I think.

thanksgiving and such...

*warning* picture overload!
Our Thanksgiving was great and relaxing. Perfect trip. We took the plunge and drove out to New Mexico to visit John's family. We spread the driving down and back over two days - so it wasn't too much for the kids. I almost think Zane's favorite part was getting to stay in hotels on the way there and back. Zane and Lily had sooo much fun playing with their cousins. We will miss them. We survived the trip with only a minor illness which I think is just fabulous.

After playing outside all bundled up. There were a couple days where it was quite chilly. We're not used to the cold weather!

Baby Trent and cousin Savannah. He's getting so big already! So glad we got meet him.

The newest cousin - Ava - and aunt Charity. Just a week old in this picture. What a beautiful little girl!

Cookie decorating at grandma's house with the boys. Grandpa was quite the artist - very impressive. Such a fun tradition.

Decorating with the girls turned into more eating than decorating. Yum!

Time away from Rock Band, and other video games to just visit. The best part of the trip.

Silly Lily's squishy face. Who knows where she got this - but she does it all the time. Too funny.

Zane and Grandma and the binoculars he played with the entire time we were there. Even slept with them a few times. Hmm... christmas present idea?

Lily studying baby Trent. She was so cute around the babies, and really didn't have too much of a problem with me holding them either. Very good to know! She will be a sweet older sister I'm sure.

Totally zonked out on the way home. Zane had a fever, and wasn't feeling well. Zane never ever takes naps - so you know he must have been sick!

We are all home, getting over the sickies, and trying to get the house back to normal so we can decorate for Christmas. Can't wait to see more family over the upcoming holidays. Love you all!