SU Convention & Motivated to Diet!!!

Yesterday I got to go up to Salt Lake City and spend some time with my former roomie, Dannie, at Stampin' Up's convention. It was a lot of fun. We stayed up there for a while and then went shopping, toured the Stampin' Up facility, and went for a yummy dinner at Chili's. It was great having some girl time and catching up with her. When we were at the Stampin' Up facility, we had our picture taken out front. I'll backtrack a little here and add that DH and I started dieting on Tuesday. One look at this picture was all it took to solidify my commitment to this diet--Ugh!Having kids never caused me to put on weight (except for the baby weight itself). I was always nice and slim afterward. Then I turned 33 and it all changed. It's been a hard adjustment for me. It was so nice to be able to eat whatever junk I wanted. But, this is kind of a blessing because it makes me accountable for what I'm eating and therefore I try to eat more healthy foods. About a year and a half ago I lost about 10 pounds but I slowly let them creep back on. So, I've got a ticker here on the blog now in the hopes that it will help me stay motivated!

Anyway, back to yesterday. One of my favorite things was the little museum in the Stampin' Up facility. The first few rooms were about the history of the company. My favorites were the rooms that showcased projects and home decor incorporating the SU products. Awesome! I've got to share these pics with you because they are great home decor ideas whether you're a stamper or not.

I would love to do this in one of my kids rooms. Looks like it wouldn't be too hard, either. I'm wondering, though, if it would still be good when they were older (without the letters and stuff on the chalk board). Isn't this cool? Anyone know where I can find one of these doors/shutter thingys : ) ?This was my favorite. I totally want to do this. They did their with stamps, but I was considering vinyl as an option. Paint with stamps would be cheaper though.This is so simple and sooooo cute! The pieces are cut out of designer series paper. Such a cute baby shower idea!

It was a great day! Thanks Dannie!

Aren't They Adorable? And the Kids are Pretty Cute Too : )

I went up to Michael's the other day to pick up a few things and came across these adorable piggy banks. They had chickens, sheep, and cows. There were all kinds of outfits you could buy to dress them up. We had a great time putting them together and they look so cute in the kids' rooms. They picked a pajama outfit, a ballerina, and a pirate. Doesn't DS look so happy in this picture? He didn't like the pose we chose, so he was feeling grumpy : (

A Little Catching Up

I finally pulled some of the pictures off of our camera from the past couple of weeks. These first pictures are from one of my favorite places, Tibble Creek Reservoir. It is so beautiful up there. We enjoy going up on Sunday afternoons to enjoy the beauty and the time together.

This water is icy cold, but the kids still enjoy wading in it a little.

Smuckers enjoys it too!

There are tons of prairie dogs up there! We love trying to spot them all as we walk along the edge of the lake. These next pictures are from DH's birthday. It was a Sunday so we took the kids to a park to play for a bit. It was very overcast outside so the lighting was perfect for taking pictures.

Happy Birthday DD#2--and Lots of Other Stuff!

Happy Birthday to my baby!
First, I've got to show you this picture of what I saw when I opened the pantry on Sunday. I had to do a double-take!Doesn't that look weird? It is a cat's head from a Shrek glass on top of a Mickey head from a sippy cup. Such little things amuse me!

I can't believe my baby is 4! Only one more year and she'll go to school. One thing I really appreciate about life with my youngest is that I have always been more aware of how quickly things pass and that I need to cherish every stage and accomplishment. I think sending her off to kindergarten will be a hard thing--closing a chapter in my life. Good thing I still have this year with her. It will be a special time because it will be just the two of us during the day.

I think she had a really good birthday. Here are some pictures from her day:

She loves the Little Mermaid (which has also always been my favorite) so she got a Little Mermaid doll and costume. She also got Hide and Seek Blue and Sprinkles, some new jammies (in the picture with the cupcakes) and a Color Wonder activity kit. It was fun seeing her excitement. She is great--we sure love her!!!

She likes playing games on the computer these days so I got her some new educational software (Dora, Freddy Fish, Putt-Putt). There's a wesite that sells super cheap software and the shipping is free. I've used them a few times and they are quick and the only downside is that you don't get a jewel case with them. They just come in a cardboard sleeve. If you'd like to check it out, click here.

Harrison got mad at her yesterday and said "Ugh! You're so USEFUL!" It was so funny. I'm sure he thinks that word means something else.

I've been working on the kids' rooms--having fun decorating them and making them look nice. Here's what I've done with the girls' rooms (they're pretty much the same). I got a bunch of butterflies and dragonflies and hung them with fishing line (I plan on painting the little white plastic things on the ceiling with paint that matches the ceiling).

These bottles and flowers have been up for a long time, but I hung the little bee there:
And lastly, I decided that a valance would really make the room look nicer. So, I found this fabric at WalMart and made these (the ribbon was just ironed on using fusing tape--super simple). The fabric has a butterly print and some sparkle to it. It's amazing what a difference it makes in her room.
I'm hoping to work on DS's room tonight--we got some glow-in-the-dark stars to hang from the ceiling.

The Blog Book Link

I wrote all about that great website where you can have your blog made into a book and then I forgot to post the link! Here it is: http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

It included your pictures and everything. Very cool!

Ode to My Hubby on His Birthday

Yep, today my sweet DH turns 35. Yesterday we got to go out on a great date together while the kids played with their aunt for a while. Carrie's the best--she is always willing to spend time with our kids and is a great influence and example in their lives.

On the way up to Carrie's, we stopped at one of my new favorite places, Granatos. If you've never been there and you're from around here, you ought to give it a try. It's an Italian bistro/deli with all kinds of yummy imported things to buy. We got sandwiches there a couple of months ago. This time I just ran in to pick up some scrumptious ciabatta bread and tepanade (it's a spread made from olives and capers--it's totally yummy on sandwiches).

We started out shopping for the kids' birthdays which are also coming up very quickly (in fact, DD#2 turns 4 tomorrow!). We didn't have much luck finding anything we were looking for. I wanted some Lego Castle sets for DS and a Mushabelly for DD#1. Nowhere to be found. Oh, well.

Next we went to see IronMan. I'm not usually a fan of that type of movie, but I totally loved it. I'd actually like to see it again.

After that we had a great dinner at Red Robin. Yum.

So, on to my Ode to DH. It crosses my mind all of the time how lucky I am to have found him. He is kind, patient, funny as heck (one thing that comes to mind is our day at Lagoon last week when he said "Do you think they ever have Naked Day at Lagoon?"), and treats my the way every girl would want to be treated. I love that he is a good father and spends time with me and the kids. He is patient with me about my short-comings (like the fact that I tend to really take my time getting up in the mornings). He is super easy to get along with. He's a hard worker. He does a lot of freelance jobs which allows us to do and buy so many extra things--and he doesn't ever complain about me spending money on things that are just for me. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father blessed him with the talents that allow him to have such a successful career. I love you Pookey!

I'll post again tomorrow with a little spotlight on DD#2 and some cute pics of her on her birthday.

Did you know you can turn your blog into a book?

You can! I am so excited to look into this. My blog is the only journal/family history I'm keeping right now and so far I've just printed out the pages myself (I haven't printed out anything since 2007). I had to teach a class at church tonight and some of us got talking about blogs and internet safety--speaking of which, I've removed my last name from my profile. I just feel like I need to do everything I can to deter possible creepy people. The other day there was a hit on my blog from google images--the post they landed on was "Cute Little Girls". Is that creepy or what? I changed the post title right away, but it got me thinking.

Anyway, back to the original subject of my post. During our discussion tonight, one of the ladies there told me about this cool website that "slurps" your blog into book form. You can edit it, they print it and ship it to you. I'm sure there's others out there, but I'm really excited that I can save everything in my blog in such a nice format (it says it even "slurps" the comments).

I just found out this week that school starts in four weeks! Holy Cow! I thought we were only half way through summer, and it turns out we are well over half way through. I've really enjoyed it so far. The kids have been busy and have really been enjoying themselves. The only parts that have been hard for me have been trying to get errands run during the day and managing the little fights that break out between the kids when they've had enough of each other.

I've been working on decorating the kids' rooms, so hopefully I'll get some pictures taken and posted soon.

Lagoon Day

DH's work paid to take all of the families to Lagoon on Wednesday. Lagoon is an amusement park about 45 minutes from here. The kids were totally excited. We stuck with the kiddie rides all day--except for the time we spent in the little pool at Lagoona Beach. I think this one was the girls' favorite--the Firefly.

We totally expected DD#2 to scream like crazy when the ride got started--but she just said "Yay! This is fun!". They also enjoyed the little cars.

The girls shared a bumper car and it was hilarious to watch! They kept getting stuck or going around in circles. Our camera battery was on it's last leg, so this was the best picture we were able to get.

We were there for almost 8 hours. It was fun, but we were all exhausted! This picture was taken about 10 minutes after we left the park.

We also got our fish tank up and running again. Needless to say, Mr. Whiskers has a new hobby:

If you're still sticking with reading this, there's one more story I want to get down so that we don't forget it. We just had an El Pollo Loco open nearby, so we decided to go try it out. They're having a grand opening right now, so as we walked in they gave each of the kids a balloon--an uninflated balloon. DH and I both have a thing against balloons because our kids like to blow them up and let the air out over and over. They end up being all slimy and gross and just totally and completely disgusting. Well, DD#1 blew hers up while we were waiting in line, and then she LET GO! It went flying through the air, into the kitchen, and right onto a bunch of chicken cooking on the grill. I just about died it was so funny (and embarrassing)! The cook just laughed and threw it away. Memories, memories!

Happy Fourth of July!

Do you have great plans for the weekend? We don't : ). There's a neighborhood party tonight--that'll be fun. I'm thinking I'd like to go see Wall-E tomorrow. Other than that, I'm not sure what we'll be up to.

I've been re-reading my favorite series of books; "Children of the Promise" by Dean Hughes and it has really been fitting for this time of year. I'm at the end of book four right now--WWII has just ended and some of the soldiers are headed home. I think it's good to be reminded every now and then of the sacrifices that have been made in the past (and currently) so that we can enjoy living the carefree lives that we do. They don't always seem carefree, but compared to what others have lived through we have it soooooo easy. I am very grateful. I absolutely love the song "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. Here's an inpiring video for you if you want to get in the Fourth of July mood

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Here are the fun little treats I made for the kids yesterday:

They're Lifesaver fireworks. I can't remember where I saw the idea, I picked it up from someone else somewhere.

Have a great weekend!