She is one of my favorite people

Makenzie. She is beautiful, smart and virtuous. Recently I've just been awestruck as I've watched her mature into an amazing young woman. The beginning of April the youth camp presidency gave the girls a challenge to read in the Book of Mormon everyday. It was the perfect thing for Makenzie because she loves a good challenge. And she loves being rewarded for said challenges. And i guess there is supposed to be a reward for those that read faithfully and complete a check off chart. Well, what has ensued with Makenzie doing this has been wonderful to see. She has grown spiritually in a way that I don't even know if she realizes. It's one of those subtle things that a mom picks up on. She is a little bit more gentle and kind with her sisters, she is more humble, she is grateful, she is more respectful. She has been listening to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost in her life to guide her as to what activities to choose. She was set apart today as the Mia Maid president. I wasn't surprised when we found out. She has grown spiritually in the past couple months that prepared her for this new calling. And because she has been in tune with the spirit she was able to choose her counselors with ease.

Makenzie had her spring dance recital lately. She was beautiful as always but we noticed that she didn't seem as prepared as past recitals. I wasn't going to say anything and only complemented her on all the lovely things I saw her do. It was her, however, that said she felt terrible that she wasn't more prepared. And unlike in the past where she would blame it on something or someone else she took responsibility for it and said she would work harder next time. I was so impressed with this new level of maturity.

A few weeks ago Makenzie was rewarded with her YW medallion. The highest honor in the YW program that you get after completing goals in different areas like, faith, knowledge, integrity and good works. A project has to be done in each of the 7 areas (now 8 areas) that has to be at least 10 hours long as well as other goals. It's a lot of work and we are so proud of her for accomplishing it. She really wanted the older medallion like mine. She has seen mine before and wanted one like it. The Bishop heard about this and tried to get it for her on Ebay and didn't luck out. I told him that it was okay, i would give her mine since when I die she would take it anyway. I don't ever where it because I don't care of gold. But Makenzie prefers gold over silver so it's fine with me that she wears it. I think she has worn it everyday since. We are going to have my name and the year I earned it engraved on the back and then her name and the year as well put on there.

The final thing about Makenzie is that she cut her hair. Wonders never cease. Seriously. I have suggested tons of times that she cut her hair but she never would. When I insisted that she at least trim the ends she would go to the stylist complaining about it. But a couple weeks ago she came to me with a picture in hand and said I want my hair like this. I was in complete shock as it meant cutting about 7 inches off her hair. But when her aunt Krista came up for her YW recognition night she cut her hair. And it looks fabulous!

Here are some pictures.




Makenzie after YW recognition night and with her new haircut.

I love a good deal

I love a good deal. Yesterday I found a coupon I had put aside and forgotten about. It was for Lane Bryant and it was get $15 off anything $15 or more. These coupons don't come out very often and when I saw that my last day to use it was that day I knew I had to make time to go. I found the above skirt on the clearance rack. I tried it on and loved it. Here is the break down of what I paid.

Regular Price: $45
Clearance price: $30
Additional 40% off all clearance items: $18
Minus $15 with coupon: $3

Woohoo! I paid $3 for a great denim skirt that I will wear all summer long and knowing me I will wear it probably for years to come.

I love a good deal.

Lost then found

My sister will appreciate this blog post. Because for almost a year, 10 months to be exact, I have tried without success for her to give me this:



It's a key chain. We bought matching ones several years ago. And when I lost my keys last July it wasn't the keys I missed, it was my purple beaded flower with the metal swirl keychain that I missed. I have begged and begged my sister to give me hers and she won't. Isn't that mean? I mean I would have given her the shirt off my back (just not my purple beaded flower with metal swirl key chain).

I had done everything you do when you lose something. LOOK EVERYWHERE. They were not to be found. I had pinpointed it to our family reunion last summer. I was pretty sure that is the last time I remember having them.

This morning Chris walks in and lays a set of keys next to me on the desk. WHAT? Is that a purple beaded flower with metal swirl keychain? It is, It is, It is!!!!!!

Apparently it was in Chris' church bag. Yep, the same one he has used since the keys went missing. And he didn't discover them. Makenzie did. She said they were in one of the pockets.

Too funny. I'm glad I have my keychains back. Now I won't have to secretly take my sisters and remember to take it off my keys when she comes to visit.

Attention Safeway Shoppers

Will the real Michelle Rodenbaugh stand up?

For nine years now I have been posing as the woman named above at my local Safeway store. She must have had our previous phone number because every time I punch in my phone number there to get my discounts the friendly store clerk says, "Thank you, Ms. Rodenbaugh" The first time it happened I remember just staring at them. It took a few times of being called that before I realized that in plain print on my receipt it said, "Michelle Rodenbaugh" Huh, that's interesting.

Nine years later and I am a little defensive about my pseudo name. For example, if the cashier has trouble pronouncing it I will help them out a little, "Oh, that's Rodenbaugh" I say with a smile. They smile back thinking all is right with the world.

But it's not all right in the world. I"m a fake I'm telling you. I mean, do I look like a Michelle? Not that's there's anything wrong with the name Michelle. I love Michelle's worldwide but I'm not a Michelle. But when I go into Safeway I instantly turn into this person.

I have spent countless drives home from this store wondering just who she is. Is she old, young, does she like skim milk or no milk at all? Where does she live now?

Well, whoever she is I hope she doesn't mind an impersonator because I'm simply too lazy to take the time to reapply for a Safeway card. I think Michelle is just fine for now.

Memorial Day Weekend

Words to describe our camping trip to River Bend County park in Linn County

Sunny...



Catching up...




























Relaxing....



Competitive...



Beautiful...































Tasty...





Happy...



Too short. Emma already asked when we can go again.

Dreaming of.....

Today I am dreaming of this dress......

You can find it here. Will you make me one dear sister of mine?

10 eight and nine year-olds, 24 Webkinz and the Sun

Today was Heidi's birthday party and what a perfect day to have it. The sun was out so we did almost everything outside. The theme for Heidi's party this year was Webkinz. If you haven't heard of Webkinz I'm guessing you don't have a son or daughter between the ages of 6 and 11. It's all the craze. Once again, like Emma's Percy Jackson party I was left to come up with my own ideas. Luckily the Webkinz website is full of tons of games that the kids can play with their animals. I chose a few and went from
there.

The first thing the girls did when they arrived was to make custom collars for their very own Webkinz. These were made with pipe cleaners and beads. Then they just twisted them on. Some got very creative and made hair and hats too.

We had to have a wheel of wow!!!


And Quizzy's corner was a huge hit. Emma came up with tons of trivia questions and prizes were given for correct answers.












Froggy's Leap Frog was fun too where the girls
had to toss a wooden frog onto a lily pad.






Then there was Mr. Quack's office where the girls could take their Webkinz for any medical attention that was needed. Apparently it was a very UNSAFE party because I saw a lot of bandages on those animals!


Another game played was tossing their Webkinz back and forth over the net using pillow cases. There was a lot of laughter from that.


Homemade Strawberry Lemonade hit just the spot on this warm spring day.


After we were all tired out from games it was into the house for cake and icecream. A while ago I saw a cake on my friend Eva's blog that she had made, I loved it. And I have to say that when Heidi saw it she wanted one just like it. I sent the link to my friend Stephanie who is a fabulous cake artist and she said she could do it for us. Here is the final product.

Looks too good to eat, huh?



Then it was time to open presents and go home.


Thanks Heidi for being such a beautiful, sweet daughter. Happy Birthday!

Manic Monday

I had such good intentions today. I fully thought I could do the following:

Exercise
Work
clean my house
clean the car
make dinner
attend my TAG project team meeting for the school district

This is what will get done:

Exercise
Work (but didn't get it all done)
have makenzie heat soup for dinner
Attend my TAG project team meeting

No cleaning of house or car. It's a shame really because when I walked in the door last night from lovely visit to my sisters my house STUNK. Seriously stunk. I have no idea what it is. I'm kind of wondering if it's the old maps I bought at a garage sale last Friday. They are huge, one is floor to ceiling and we hung it in the living room. Can old maps which have been rolled up and stored in a musty basement have an odor so intense that it could fill my entire house?

I don't know what the smell is but it won't be discovered today apparently.

Maybe tomorrow?

A trip to THE PUMP HOUSE

Whenever I go home to Coos Bay I make a stop to this place....

The Pump House

What is "The Pump House" you ask?

Well, let's go inside and see.


Ain't it purty? Let's get a better look.

When I go in The Pump House the smell of my childhood overcomes me. It smells musty and cool and slightly metallic.

My mom is amazing. She did all this. And you are only seeing one wall. here is the other wall.


I always go in here and fill a box with a few essentials like the dill pickles you see above. They are an ESSENTIAL. This last time I was there I took a bunch of jam. Plum, red currant, apricot, peach and of course, Blackberry.

I guess the reason my parents call it "The Pump House" is because this is in there:

The water pump

As my sister and I grew up and left home we came to realize that not everyone had The Pump House. We also realized that not everyone called Merchuracrome "Monkey Blood". Isn't it funny the words and things that seem so commonplace in our lives but are actually something unique to our families?

What word or thing is unique to your family?

12 on 12 for 12

I drove Makenzie to school


I took a shower


I made pancakes

I went hiking at Tryon Creek State Park

I went to New Seasons with Merilee and Makenzie

I ooogled and awed over all the produce and told Makenzie that if I had unlimited amounts of money I would shop here exclusively. I love this store. And look how gorgeous Makenzie is!!!!

I took a 45 minute nap


Camila stopped by and although I forgot to take a picture of her here is a picture of what she brought me.
I went to Makenzie's Spring Dance recital


That's all the pictures I took today.

If i had remembered I would have taken pictures of :

Me working

Me working on stuff for Girls Camp

Eating dinner that Makenzie made

A Sweet Surprise !

This afternoon I came home from running a couple errands and found this on my porch:

I had an instant smile


I LOVE cotton candy.

I mean love, love cotton candy.

Remember this?

"I'm convinced that we need to buy our own Cotton Candy Machine. That thing is so much fun. I ate 5 sticks worth of fluffy, melt in your mouth sugar in blue, green, yellow, pink and I think orange. YUMMMMY. I got the feeling though that being a cotton candy fanatic as an adult is a rare thing. None of the other 40 adults at the reunion seemed as excited as me when that big silver machine came out."
- Darilyn's blog July 2008

I wondered who had left me such a wonderful surprise. But then I checked my answering machine and found out it was this sweet angel.

Thank you dear friend. It was the perfect surprise. She said she saw it and it reminded her of me.

I will take that as a compliment.

MAY DAY

It's here again. The annual May Day celebration .

This year we went out for breakfast. I had grand plans to make homemade orange rolls using Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll dough. Going out of town killed that plan.

So we went to the Black Bear Diner. We woke them up a little before 6:30 to head out. They awoke with groaning and complaining but when I mentioned we were going out to breakfast they sat up so quickly I laughed.

It looks like it's going to be a nice day here in Portland. I hope your May Day is nice wherever you are.



Heidi is still tired....

At Black Bear Diner (heidi's still not happy)


Breakfast arrives and Emma digs in....