The Family Side of Vegas (Part 1)

This week was Spring Break. No school. Good times.
We have a Timeshare that we bought many years ago, and we got a letter to let us know that one of our weeks was about to expire. We had to use it before the end of April, or we would use it. So, we figured Spring Break was the perfect time for a vacation, but we didn't want to go anywhere very far. So, we looked for an exchange that was close enough to home that we could drive. What came up was Las Vegas.

Las Vegas. Not exactly known as a vacation spot for families. Smoke-filled casinos. Lots of alcohol and strip clubs. hmm... could we really make a family vacation work there? We set out to do just that, and I think we did a pretty good job.

Day 1: The Drive
The typical route from Phoenix to Las Vegas involves crossing the Hoover Dam. There were signs several miles out that said "expect delays at Hoover Dam: Spring Break". So, I guess we were not the only ones with the idea to spend Spring Break in Vegas. We opted to take a different way and drive through Laughlin instead. It may have taken a little bit longer, if there wasn't any traffic, but it really wasn't bad at all. Total of 5 1/2 hour drive - including a stop for lunch along the way (In Wikeup, AZ - at pretty much the only restaurant in town). The kids were very well behaved (we were well stocked on snacks to keep them occupied) and it was a rather enjoyable trip.
We checked in to our home for the week. In case you've never had the chance to a timeshare, you should check it out. It is NOT a typical hotel. We had a fully equipped one-bedroom apartment, complete with a full kitchen, a jacuzzi tub, and a pull-out couch for the kids to sleep on. Pretty nice. We had brought food with us from home that we put in the fridge, saving us the need to eat out every meal. (I'm all about saving money - even on vacation!)
That night, we did go out to a buffet. (It's Vegas after-all). Brandon's parents were spending the weekend in Vegas for his Dad's birthday. Papa Floyd did not know that we were there, and we surprised him by meeting them for dinner. It was fun, and we all stuffed ourselves silly!

Day 2: Sunday in Sin City
We found a church near our place and attended Sacrament Meeting. We arrived a few minutes early, and several people came over and said hello. At least four people asked if we had moved in, and when we said we were just visiting, they gave a very disappointed "ohhh." I guess they don't have very many new families? Anyway, it was very nice and we enjoyed it.

After church, we had lunch in our apartment with Brandon's parents. It was nice to see them.


After lunch, we drove out to the Las Vegas temple. It is set up on a hill, looking over the city. The flowers were beautiful. We had fun walking around.








Day 3: St George
My brother and his family live in St George, Utah, which is about a 2 hour drive north of Las Vegas. We figured that since we were so close, we should take the time to see them.
Thanks to Daylight Savings time, we forgot that we were no on a different time then them, so we got there an hour later than we planned on. Whoops. But we were still there in time to have a fun picnic lunch. They took us up to Snow Canyon, right outside of town. There were lots of sand dunes there, which the kids LOVED! It was like being at the beach... but without the water. Each of the kids, and daddy, took a turn getting buried in the sand. Unfortunately, when we walked to the dunes, we left the camera, and the sun screen in the car. So, we didn't get any pictures of the event, and left with very red faces. My brother had his camera with him though, so maybe some time I'll get to see those pictures (hint hint).

After our sandy adventure, we went back to my brother's house. The kids watched a movie and we played cards. FUN! Then we had a dutch oven dinner and played some badminton. It was great to see them!
A very pregnant Anna (thanks for putting up with us!)

Brady

Long overdue Zadyball update

I've spent the last several weeks working on giving Zadyball a bit of a face-lift. Most of the changes are pretty subtle, but I'm hoping that I'm making steps toward improving my business.

I've had an online business now for nearly two and a half years. One thing that I've learned in that time is that good pictures are CRUCIAL to online sales. In a "real" store, people can use all five senses to view a product. They can pick it up, shake it, feel it, throw it, even smell it if they really want to. But, the only sense that is available when buying online is SIGHT. So, what they are seeing had better look good!

When I first started selling online, I had a really hard time with my pictures. I was never happy with the background. Finally, I decided to take the background out completely using Gimp. This method works. Pretty well. But, it's very time consuming, and doesn't always give me the results I want.

I recently made a lot of new Zadyball styles (more on that in a minute). I wanted to post them, but the idea of spending SO much time editing the pictures really didn't make me happy. And I realized that I had several already made that I had never posted simply because I hadn't managed to get pictures I was happy with. So, I looked for a solution.

What I found was this: How to make a light tent. I followed the instructions, and in just about an hour, I had made a light box that I could use to take pictures. I still have to do a small amount of editing, but it is SO much faster than the old method. And I'm very happy with the results! (I'm still having trouble getting pictures of very light colors, but I'll keep working on it!)

Here's the light box I made: (I realize it's not super pretty, but it works, for now)


And here's some of the pictures:
Old Way:New Way:
Old Way:New Way:
Old Way:New Way:
Old Way:New Way:

I'm still working on the brightness issue -- I know it might be a little TOO much light for some of the pictures.

Here are some more new items that I took pictures of with the new light box.

More News

If you'd like a chance to WIN a Zadyball - head on over HERE to enter. They did a really sweet review of Zadyball a couple of weeks ago, and asked if I'd be willing to sponsor a giveaway. I hope you win!

One More Thing!

I'm working on expanding Zadyball's Organic/Eco-Friendly line, and just got several new colors!
I hope to have these put together and listed by the end of the month, but if you'd like to order before that, just let me know!

100% Organic Cotton French TerryReally Soft!

Bamboo/Cotton French Terry

Bamboo/Cotton Fleece

Dance!

Last Friday was the last day of Ady's 6 week dance class. I was a lot more disappointed about that than she was. I thought she would beg to go back, but when I asked her if she wanted to sign up for the next class she told me no.
So, I guess dance isn't her all time favorite thing - right now anyway - but I think she had fun.
For the last class, the "families" of the dancers got to watch as they put on a little show. They showed us everything they had learned. It was lots of fun to watch!
There were eight little girls ages 3-5, all dressed up in little leotards and dance shoes. Super cute! The warm up exercises the teacher did with them were very clever. The started with their heads and said "yes, yes, yes" (nods) and "no no no" (slowly), then shoulders "I don't know, I don't know". To stretch their legs, they pretended that a spider was tickling their toes and they had to reach down to get it. I thought the teacher was really great with them!





They did learn one little dance that they showed us. Of course it was far from perfect, but oh so cute!
(I tried to upload the video, but for some reason it won't work!)
This link might work

I am very proud of my ballerina, and I don't feel too bad that she's ready to move on. We may try gymnastics next! (or, thanks to the Olympics, Ice skating??)

Valentine's Day - and President's Day

At the school my son attends, they had a Valentine's Day party the last hour of school on Friday. I was really excited that it happened to fall on the same Friday that my husband had off work so that I was able to go while he stayed home with the little kids.
They had fun little crafts for the kids, some goodies, and games. It was a good time!
I didn't get very many pictures because it seemed like I was the only dorky parent who brought a camera.

My goofy kid with a mouthful of cake.


Since there was no school on President's day, I wanted to do something fun with the kids. I got a Culture Pass to the Desert Botanical Garden. I REALLY like that place. I've taken the younger kids there a couple of times, but this was the first time that Zander got to go. What is really interesting is that because of the nature of it (plants in different seasons) it is different every time we've been. And there are LOTS of different trails, each with something different to learn about.
I learned a lot of different plants and thier uses, and the kids really enjoyed it too! I learned that you can use Mesquite beans (which are EVERYWHERE around here) and grind them into flour. I'm not sure that I would ever do that, but it's cool to know.

Still has a black eye

My pretty girl

The sun was bright and they didn't want to look at me

The baby was there too

Trying to grab the mesquite tree

One more pose

The weather was perfect, and it was a great time! Then, we had lunch with Daddy as a bonus!

A Black Eye - and Green Eggs and Ham

On Tuesday of last week I got a call from the school. My son was in the nurse's office. She wanted to let me know so that I wasn't shocked when he came home. Apparently, he had taken a bad fall while he was climbing the "spider web" on the playground. (One of those metal, half-circle things that kids like to play on). The bar hit him right above his eye. This is what he looked like when I picked him up:


And the next morning it looked even worse!

I kept telling him that he should tell people he was in a fight, but, thankfully, he didn't go along with that plan. He was actually quite embarrassed about it, and got tired of everyone asking him what happened.

In other news about my boy, on Monday (the day before the black eye) he got an award at school - "Appreciation for Reading Green Eggs and Ham to the Class". He got the book Green Eggs and Ham for Christmas, and spent much of Christmas break learning how to read it. He was pretty excited that he got to share it with his class. So, after he got the award, he asked if we could have green eggs and ham for dinner. I didn't have any ham, but I cut up some turkey slices and dyed some scrambled eggs green. It was basically just like an omelet, and if you could get past the way it looked, it was actually quite tasty.


I like green eggs and ham - I really like them Sam I Am!

My Next 30 Years

Yesterday was my 30th birthday. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it. I don't really FEEL any older. It's not like that number actually changes anything about my life. But it does give me the chance to look back on the last 30 years, and think about what I might do differently in the future.

I think somewhere, I have written down where I thought I would be at this point. Written from my perspective at about 16 years old. (I should track that down) I'm pretty sure that life hasn't turned out exactly as I had planned, but I think it's better then I could have expected!

I'm happy with where my life is right now. I love my family. I have a wonderful husband and fantastic kids. We have great friends and I actually like where we live. I never thought that we'd be here this long. I moved to Phoenix to go to school. I was going to stay here for three years, and then be LONG gone. Now, more than 11 years later, I'm still here. But I don't think there's anywhere else I'd rather be right now.

I'm thankful that my husband has a great, mostly stable job and is able to provide for us. I'm happy that I am able to stay home with my children. I don't think I ever really imagined what it would be like to be a full-time mother. It's definatly not the glamorus job I might have thought it would be. But, what else would I want to do? I can't imagine doing anything else right now!

One thing that getting older remind me of is just how short life really is! We all get caught up in all the day-to-day stuff, but, at least 1/3 of my life on this earth is probably over. I need to make the very most of the next 2/3!