Scores

James got 3rd place in the Individual, the 4-Man kicked butt, they took 2nd place with the Exhibition with Arms and 2nd place over all. Plus, at Guard this weekend, he won a nice red polo shirt for being the best at drill (the left, left, left right left, stuff).

What a Stud!

Today was the T-ville JROTC drill competition. I'm so glad it wasn't stormy like James' last competition. He participated in the Individual Exhibition (left: this is how they begin and end their routine.. by asking permission to enter or leave the competition area), 4-man exhibition, and Exhibition with Arms. I have to say that James got better as the day wore on. I won't know the scores until after James gets home from Guard. He and another soldier got permission to show up late to Guard this weekend so their whole team wouldn't suffer. That's why the ACUs were hanging in the back of the Escort in the last post... cuz as soon as he was done competing, it was time to high-tail it to Camp Williams. And I am SOOO glad the promised storm didn't ruin the day.

Notice the rifles in the air!

New Car or Bust!

At the end of January (31st to be exact) James was in an accident that totalled one of our cars. Fortunately it was the oldest car. We've been without and have had so much going on which prevented us from even looking for another third vehicle. We looked casually at Craigs List and KSL.com but nothing panned out. Finally, about two weeks ago I paid for a Carfax subscription and started running VINs on every half decent car we saw. It's a good way to weed out cars that have problems. Then, last Saturday, we went out car hunting with a list of cars in hand. We started at the south end of the valley and worked our way north. On the second to last stop we found this little Escort. It's a '97 and everything is manual from the windows to the clutch and works well. The seats are even comfortable... bonus! If you look close, you can see James' Raider team shoulder cords hanging from the rear view mirror and his ACUs hanging in the back seat. It has been claimed.

Easter Sunday

Easter was about as early as it gets this year. In fact, the last time it was this early was 95 years ago so only people like Ruth Cole were alive then and being only 2 years old, I doubt she remembers anything about it. We were lucky to have a beautiful day but being so early, everyone is at some stage of the gamboo. Sami had been up all night vomiting her guts out so I can understand why she didn't really get into the spirit of picking up Easter eggs. She was finally coaxed into it with this game where parent and child go up, down, up, down. It's amazing that both Sami and Marc weren't hurling after that! A nice Easter present for me was that Tasha and Emma tried on the dresses I have been making them and are so excited for them to be done. I just have to hem them.

Dell Schmell

Last night I heard a news ad that said Super Dell was running for Mayor. Of course they didn't say where and I didn't watch any more but went to bed instead. On my way I was thinking he was probably running for Mayor of Eagle Mountain since that place is as messed up as he is and can't keep a mayor. When I saw the news story this afternoon that stated Super Dell is running for Salt Lake County Mayor, I just laughed and laughed. I can't believe what a maroon this guy is. Then I looked at the comments to the story and there are a few who really think they'd like to vote for his guy. Who's the bigger maroon? Super Dell, or the person who votes for him? I'd say we are really in need of some chlorine in the gene pool. And then some uncle or someone related to Super Dell made comments to try and say how great a guy SD is but couldn't spell, had bad grammer and couldn't even make his sentences flow. Yeah, that makes me think the comments are from an intelligent life form. I'm still laughing at the thought that SD thinks he can be mayor of SL County. If he made it, I might just have to move out!

Professor Paint

Today I stopped by Lowe's to buy paint to match my new siding. I've decided to paint the front door the same color as the new contrast siding. Lowe's (and probably others) have a great computer program that you can put any color swatch up to and it will make paint the same color. It's really cool and being excited to get the paint, I had a swatch in hand. What I wasn't expecting was to get a lecture about how it's too cold to paint! So, am I not allowed to buy paint before it's warm enough to paint outside? Weirdo lady... some people like to plan ahead! Speaking of which, I will need just a little primer so those of you who have some, don't throw away your cans with just a little dab cuz that's just what I need. :)

New Contrast Siding: Before & After

One of the best things about our new window job is the new decorative siding. We used to have wood paneling that had become old and warped. One piece even jumped off and ran away! These fellows at Norton's Quality Exteriors sure know their stuff. I watched them re-do finishes and trim placement because it wasn't perfect enough. Look how gorgeous the house is now!

New Windows: Before and After

It's been a long time coming but today we got our new windows. We just did the main house (not the addition/garage) so that was 10 windows total. It's so freaky to go into a room and be able to see out the window. Especially in the upstairs bathroom. It's wonderful in the living room which is featured here. Can you see how crystal clear the view is now?

Americana Double Pinwheel Quilt

Grandma started this quilt some time ago. She's given me quite a number of quilts to finish. There were four double pinwheel blocks finished for this one and she'd planned to put them with some football blocks for a U of U quilt. To me, the two just didn't go together. I've given the football blocks to Sonia to make something for one of her avid football loving nephews. I made 8 more double pinwheel blocks and then took Sonia shopping with me for material for the sashings and borders. It cost a lot but I had the time to finish it with James and dad off snow caving. The top is all done now and looks great. Now on to the Tutti Frutti dresses and then to finish my Jacob's ladder quilt. (Sonia said I should add a picture so here it is. It's not a real good photo as light is behind it but you do get the idea. It will be bound with the blue border material.)

Tutti Frutti Dresses

Last Wednesday I stopped at Shopko. Right inside the door was a display of new dresses for toddlers. One really caught my eye. It was so cute and reminded me of Sami. I was so tempted to buy it but it was too expensive, even on sale. I couldn't get the dress out of my mind so Friday I went and bought material to make it. The material of the dress at Shopko was big splashy flowers so that is what I was looking for until I found the gobs of Tutti Frutti material at Joann's. I was able to get a different color for each of Hillary's girls with two colors left over. Guess Hillary will have to have two more girls!! (Is that a Packer curse or what!)