Too Darling for Words

Last weekend Sean attended his very last prom for his high school career with his galpal Stacy. I give them my vote for the cutest couple. See if you don't agree. So darling.

A Slow Day at the Office

(Double click on the picture to get a better view of the crime scene.)

Why, you may ask, is Sean trying to drown Christian in the kitchen sink while using a plastic half-gallon milk jug? Good question. I don't know. No, actually, you have it all wrong. Sean isn't using a half-gallon milk jug to drown Christian--he's using a full gallon milk jug. Just kiddin' ya.

What you see here is what we at the Sagers house like to call, "killing time on a slow Sunday evening." We started out lingering at the dinner table debating about who has the greater lung capacity. Now, as I look at it in the light of day, it doesn't seem so vital to know that particular fact, but at the time it seemed mighty important to determine who is the biggest windbag. We tried blowing out as much air as we could until our eyes bugged out of our heads then tried blowing into a balloon until our eyes bugged out of our heads. Then Christian, Mr. Science Christian, matter of factly stated that there is a very accurate method that we were overlooking. Drowning our heads in the sink. Well, sort of.

The method went like this: We filled the sink with water, then filled a gallon jug with water, capped it, then tipped the jug upside down in the water and removed the cap, then inserted a straw into the mouth of the jug which is underwater at this point, then inserted the other end of the straw into our mouths and blew. The outcome is that we were able to see how much air was blown into the milk jug replacing the water that was already in the milk jug. Then we marked where the water line ended up after one blow. The one who ended up with the most air in the milk jug and the least amount of water remaining was the one with the most humungous lungs. That turned out to be Sean and Dave. They both blew all of the water out of the jug, and then some. Actually, I think Christian also blew out all of the water on his second try. (Insert your own "full of hot air" jokes here. I still have to live with these people, so, you know, I better watch what I say. But you feel free.)

The biggest windbag competition, along with a lively game of Handsdown (for the record, Sean was in absolute agony about having to play Handsdown) made for one of our more er, "interesting" Sunday evenings. But a fun one to be sure!

Sometimes Mother Does Know Best

Well, here it is exactly one month and one day after Easter, and I am still picking up that doggone green plastic Easter grass from around my house. When I was a kid my mom refused to use Easter grass in our little baskets; instead she would just crumple up tissue paper (usually not even colored, just boring white) and put that in the bottoms of our baskets before the bunny made his visit. I always thought that was kinda lame. Now I get it. How long must this go on? If we had a cat, I'm sure it would have coughed up a big hunkin' plastic Easter grass hair ball by now and left it in the front entry as a warm welcome to all of our guests. So glad we don't have a cat.

I Don't Mean to Brag or Anything, But . . .

In honor of Earth Day yesterday, I made the herculean effort (whew! just typing "herculean" wore me down some . . .) to reduce my carbon footprint by actually declining a plastic bag at the checkout for my new DVDs (all neatly encased in lots and lots of plastic) at Borders, and I said no to a plastic bag for my purchase of a single sheet of stickers at Robert's, and I had the clerk reuse my cute pink bag with tissue paper at another store where I made an exchange. So. How did YOU do with reducing your carbon footprint on Earth Day yesterday? Can you top that? Oh, I know some of you may have walked miles to school or work instead of driving your gas guzzler, or perhaps you switched over to those superduper efficient light bulb thingys. Maybe you helped your kid make an Earth Day craft like this Egg Carton Buggy Mobile to illustrate the value of recycling. (Although I did notice on the instructions that you must spray the Egg Carton Buggy Mobile with toxic acrylic sealer spray. Doesn't that just defeat the whole . . . oh never mind.) The point is, I did do SOMETHING, even if it was just saying no to a couple of plastic bags. Hey! I'm trying here, people.

Hoping this comic strip won't offend, here is one of the funnier Earth Day themed comics in yesterday's newspaper which, by the way, was absolutely replete with comics about Earth Day. My store clerks who were surprised to learn that yesterday was Earth Day must read a different section of the newspaper than me, like maybe the "world news" section or such. Ah well. To get the real hard-hitting news, one must turn to the comics section and ponder for a while.

Did You Find It?

Did you find the Utah word from my April 14th post? Here is a little hint: It begins with a "c" and ends with a "p" and rhymes with slap, as in, "Slap me if I get into the habit of using that word excessively, okay?" Deal.

What a Fun Day!

Yesterday was filled with fun from beginning to end. After hitting the golf links Monday, yesterday started early with a trip to the driving range for Dave, Sean and Christian. I guess they decided they needed a bit of "polishing up" after Monday's foray. I'm just guessing here.

At 10:00 Sean's extremely awesome funk band came over to rehearse in the front room. Not the band room? Nope. A real piano is needed for the funk band, and we couldn't figure out how to maneuver our baby grand down the turning staircase. So the front room turned into an awesome club with multiple horns, drumset, guitar, amps, mic, etc. Very cool. They stayed for lunch and chatter, then they were gone. Until Thursday night. More awesomeness is coming in my own front room. I absolutely love it!

The fam then decided to show off our bowling skills at the local bowling alley. We all faired pretty well, but Dave came out the high scorer. However, if you combine the scores of both of the games played, I guess I get to wear the bowling pin shaped crown! Sean and Christian both had very respectable tallys up on the board too. The lady in the lane to the left of us drew her ball back and then totally dropped it behind her; the guy to the right of us had a Fred Flinstone "twinkle-toes-ten-step" approach, and his friend had a totally two-handed heave-ho style. But they all seemed to be able to knock the pins down suprisingly well. (I love observing people, can you tell?)

Since bowling works up a hearty appetite (humor us on that), we then went out for Chinese at one of those awesome places where the wall decor screams "Made in New Jersey But We're Trying to Fake You Out By Making This Big Paper Fan Look Really, Really Asian." They are all like that, have you noticed? But the food was very, very good and plentiful, and we decided we love places like that, this one in particular.

Are you sick of hearing about our day yet? So sorry, but onward. It's back home again where we find that Young Men's has been canceled, but Sean receives an invitation to go paint balling before it gets dark, and Christian has a bunch of his friends call and ask to come on over for a movie. When I reminded Christian that his friends were not following etiquette in inviting themselves over, he replied that he would rather be here than at their houses anyway. Well. Put me in my place. How can I ever complain about that? I love having my kids home. So if their friends want to come here, then bring it on! I made popcorn and Chex treats for all, and a wonderful evening of watching "Once Upon a Time in the West" was totally great. The friends cleared out around 11:00 p.m., and I feel blessed to have a home where my kids (and their friends) want to be.

After a few episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" it was off to bed. Fun, fun day.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Thanks for coming! See ya for the next episode of "Let's Bore My Readers to Tears." But thanks for hanging in there with me all the same. Hershey's Kisses for anyone who is still awake and made it to the (yawn) bitter end!!!

Daily Daffodil Watch

April 13, 2008 April 15, 2008
April 16, 2008
FINALLY! Our little daffodil bud is putting on a happy face and braving the world! (Even though it is only 37 freezing degrees outside today! And it's snowing yet again, people! Brother.) I'm proud of our little guy. May he enjoy his fleeting days in the sun. So until next year we wish him "champagne wishes and caviar dreams!"

*A special thanks goes out to my awesome photographer, Christian. What a sport.

Lobster, Anyone?

The first burn of the season came as the guys hit the golf course yesterday. (I'm sparing you the sight of their half red and half pasty-white legs. You can thank me when you see me.) Our weather is tricking me--yesterday was gorgeous, and today we have a frigid wind so strong that it could knock Dumbo right on his tail. A couple of our deck chairs went sailing around and, WHOA! I think I just saw our neighbor's little two-year-old fly horizontally past my front window . . . Hey Garrett! . . . Garrett! Come back here! . . .

A Utah Word, Fer Sure!

Here is a fun little quiz for you: Watch this video clip to see if you can correctly identify the "Utah word," a word which, because of its prolific use, surely caught my attention when we moved back to Utah after being away for 17 years. (Note to Ashley, weren't we just discussing this? Here is proof positive that it is a Utah thing . . .) Oh, and the fish is a little creepy too. Just to warn you. Shiver me timbers!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ieqvEzZanR0

An Awesome Day

This past Sunday turned out to be one of my favorite days ever. There was no big whoopity-do, just the fam lounging around watching General Conference, enjoying each other's company, making homemade pasta, playing games, and just generally hanging out.

Later on that evening, we totally had a blast watching one of our favorites, "The Jungle Book," on the big screen and marveling at the awesomeness of those old-time Walt Disney shows. They sure don't make 'em like that anymore!

Too bad every Sunday can't be quite as relaxing. Ah, well. Anyway! Here are some fun pictures of our lovely time together.

Daily Daffodil Watch

April 7, 2008






I don't think I can call this the "Daily Daffodil Watch" since I'm not actually posting about our little daffodil on a daily basis anymore . . . it was getting a bit tedious seeing no visible changes day to day. But wait! We can now see a smidgeon of hope and gladness showing through for our little bud! Let's pray that the Spring Diety will awaken soon because, quite frankly, today's snow and hail just about did me in.

I'm Breathless

I can hardly put into words the range of emotions I felt after watching the American Fork High School production of "Les Miserables." Let's just get this out of the way straight off: In my humble opinion "Les Miserables" is the penultimate musical, and when done with competence, as well as with heart and soul, it leaves me breathless and in tears. That was my reaction after twice seeing AF's stage production this past week. From the acting, to the sets, to the singing, and especially the pit, everything was ubelievably fabulous. Truly. I was very lucky to be able to see the Broadway version in the Chicago Theater a few years ago, and holy cow, AF's version ranks right up there side by side with the professionals! And I'm not kidding.

Sean played the bass guitar in the pit for the play, and I am so proud of him for participating in such a wonderful and worthwhile endeavor! What better way could he have spent those many, many hours of rehearsal time? For weeks he has had the opportunity to play some of the most beautiful music ever written, and he has gotten to hang out and associate with other kids who are achievers and doers and are very talented, just like him. "Les Miserables" has turned into an unforgettable, poignant and lovely memory for Sean to take with him as he finishes his high school career. And that leaves me breathless too.

You May Need Dramamine

Go here and scroll down to take a virtual tour of the proposed $1.5 billion(!!!) City Creek Center in Salt Lake City. The tour is really, really cool, but may cause a little bit of motion sickness (don't say I didn't warn you). The tour even features the extremely controversial Sky Bridge. Any comments Rocky Anderson?

Amen and Amen!

This will warm your heart. Take a moment and watch--it is pretty sweet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDmp967UMds