Today I am exhausted.  I cleaned my home.  Really good.  And no, I wasn't in a fight with Doug, although that is when we do our best cleaning.  But it was just time and needed to be done.  And that was the first 3 hours of the day.  We then went to set for Mesa Highs Prom at a Gilbert Country Club.  That was another 4 hours.  THEN, Doug had a concert - nearly 2 hours long.....   So to sum up.....   I AM TIRED!

Okay, boohoo, I can hear you all crying a tiny tear for my.  Thanks.

Yesterdayt Doug surprised me with two things.  First of all, he found a SIZZLER restaurant that opened here in the east valley!  WooHoo!  One of my favorites!!  So he treated me to lunch.  AND the best surprise was this......

An Apple IPad!

I had been complaining about taking on our vacation my large laptop - it is a 17" screen and it is slightly heavy and bulky.  I love it for my personal computer at home, but it is not very fun to travel with. I need a bag just for it!  Anyways - once again - WooHoo!!!  While we were at Sizzler he claimed his phone was low on charge and wanted to use my car charger while we were there eating lunch.  He placed the IPad on my drivers seat and then came back in to finish eating.  When we left the restaurant he watched me get in and nearly crack my head on the door jamb of my car!  He is a sweetie!

So I took his old  case/keyboard protecting thingy and because it was pretty grimy (think of Doug's fingers after work) I covered it.

Cute fabric, some flexible glue and there it is!  Cute, huh?

And one last thing to share.  I just want to give a shout-out to one of our new acquired items.  Actually, I gave each of my girls/daughter-in-laws one of these steamers from QVC at Christmas time.  I just used ours for the first time on Shannon's prom dress (see previous blog).  I Love This!  And I would recommend it to you all! ( This is NOT a paid endorsement, darn it) 

Who thinks Allan is a stud?

Many days ago......Yep, I've been busy.  There have been quite a few activities that I've been involved with these past few week and one of those is Mesa High's Prom.  Doug, being the great 'set-builder' that he is...remember the windmill from the play 'Oklahoma'?  

Well, we were asked to help design a few Prom decorations.  Something that could be 10 feet tall and sturdy enough to hold material that they will drape from these swirly, curly things and also add Christmas lights - like a waterfall effect.

Well, here they are.  All 18 of them.  

Luckily, by Saturday they will be gone.  

Also, our ward did a fundraiser yesterday.  The kids were asked to get sponsors to pay any amount for how many laps they ran at our local Jr. High school.  We, meaning Doug, pledged $5.00 a LAP for Shannon.  Not $5 per mile, no per lap......  We, again meaning Doug, felt pretty confidant that she wouldn't get too many laps accomplished, however, she did great and reached an amazing 12 laps!  They had an hour to do it, so I shouldn't be surprised, that is like walking 3 miles in an hour.  Good job Shan.....   Now, last Sunday, we found out the Young Men of our ward were invited to use this as one of their fundraisers as well.  Allan didn't get as many pledges as Shannon because he didn't have a month to ask around (brothers & sisters that would normally come to dinner on Sunday) and so we (once again, Doug) volunteered the same amount we offered Shannon.  I think Doug must not have remembered that Allan was setting long distant running records at Brimhall Junior High when he was attending there!!!  I won't give the exact number of laps that Allan ran, but I will say it was over 29 and he did the most out of all the WHOLE mutual group.  That put a whole lot of money in our ward budget.  

Along with just pledging funds for the laps, we were asked to do a booth or two for the carnival that they had set going while the kids were running.  People paid $1.00 for 10 tickets (I think, I never got to leave my booth because it was busy).  But each booth you paid a ticket to would let you do that activity.  I was in charge of the balloon/dart game.  It was a joke at the beginning because there was a slight wind and my balloons would get blown off my board and pop in the grass!!  (Good thing I blew up about 300 balloons).  Luckily, the wind died down and all went well.  Oh, Doug made this amazing stand for me to use for my game.  The other booth we did was the sponge toss game.  Doug designed/cut/built this.....and then I painted it.  I'm sorry I can't get the picture to turn the right way.  Anyway, this added to our out of pockets costs to help.  Although, these will always be in the 'family game' arsenal that we are stockpiling.

sometimes I just can't get it to turn the right way, sorry!

  

Our bishopbric each took a turn standing behind here and the kids LOVED it.  We had brought our hair-cutting cape so they didn't get too soaked, but of course they did and the kids had a great time watching them get smacked and drenched!  All in all it was a great success.  We had a good showing.  I'm not sure what they all earned in the fundraising department but I think it will be an amount that will be welcome.  

Also, one last thing.  Shannon was asked to the Prom and so we came up with this.  It is a shirt from her closet that she never wore because it fit funny.  So we took out the elastic waist and pinned it to a sheet (the peach under material) that I got from Goodwill for a dollar .  Then we bought the tulle and a zipper for around $17 at JoAnn's and lastly, the belt we found at Sas (a store we love ).  

https://plus.google.com/110917207599293469384/photos?hl=en

Sas is a material store mostly sales the fabric by the yard, but it does sell some of its fabric by the pound.  Most of the material is fancy, not the average cotton kind, but it has lace, appliques and trim that was ever produced in the world - okay, slight exaggeration   It is one of those stores you have to dig through to find what you want, but if you have the patience to do it, usually it works out.  Anyway, we are very please with how it came out.  This was truly my first experience with out a pattern to help me every step of the way.  I actually had to use my mind to think 3 or 4 steps before so I could know what needed to be sewn before the next step.....!  

This belt I love, love, love.  It brought the shirt and the skirt material nicely together.  

I know, don't be shocked, 2 posts in one day?!  Can this really be Becky at the computer? Believe it, it's me.   Even though I am in 'mourning' of not having Vin to sit on my lap as I sit at the computer and to ask for an Elmo picture to color, or to ask for bites of whatever I happen to be eating, or to watch the Baby Show...."lil' bit"?.....  my life moves on.

Allan....
At Mesa High they do a 'Survivor' spin-off.  Kevin enjoyed being a participant and ended up being 3rd place(?)....the last two girls had a silent bond and voted him off.....BUT, this year Allan is wanting a shot to be in it this year.  He has at least passed the oral 'tryout' part and that put him into the next step of trying out.....which is dressing up as a 'Super Hero, Doll, or Action Figure'.  So, here he is....I hope you can tell whom he dressed up like.  If you can't, be calm, I've added a clue.

We stayed up for a couple of hours making this shirt!  

We tried to get the slick look for his hair, but couldn't quite get it.

He then wanted more of a 'doll' looking face so we hope this will work.

 

Close enough.  Allan, you're a character.

Vin has moved on.....

He is sad to leave us too!

It's quiet.  I'm not sure I'm liking it too much.  Okay, maybe I like it a little, but I do miss little Vinnie.  Yesterday, Jill and family, moved out of our home and into their new place.  It is only 3 or 4 miles away so it will be close enough to run and visit or babysit or whatever.  But now, what am I going to laugh at during the day?  Who will be here to make me smile?  Taped Duck Dynasty shows........possibly.  So this post is to say that we enjoyed Jill, Jonathan and Vin while they lived here.  I will miss having a little boy telling me about 'Jesus up high...' (Easter Pageant) and all the other things that he would say all day.  He made me smile everyday and I'll miss totally miss that.  I'm pretty sure Shannon is glad that her 'other 2 parents/adults' are out and can no longer grill her about her school classes, boy interests and choice of clothing/accessories.  AND she can finally listen to music while getting ready for school. Something she has been doing without for the past 6 months; a tragedy in her mind.  Hmmm.....she did seem happier leaving for school today......

We got to spend Easter Sunday with Vinnie and look, how can you NOT want to see that face every day?  It will be hard.  Thanks, Jill and Jonathan for letting us have a few months of 'Life with Vin'.