I'm the Tamamamma

Happy Birthday H3!

2011-07-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

My baby just turned 7 yesterday! She is such a sweet girl and lights up our home with her terrific personality. Today in the car she was telling me that there's no job she'd rather have when she grows up than to be a mother. She loves and cares for her baby dolls and is very sensitive to the feelings of the people around her. I admire her faith. She is always the one that is willing to say a prayer, remind us to have Family Home Evening, or recommend that her brother or sister get a blessing when they are sick.

She got a camera (it's a piece of scrud, but she likes it), a styling head, a baby doll (of course), and a Happy Napper.

We also had a little birthday party for her. She had a Rapunzel cake:

The kids played with Fazoodles:

and she got some really fun gifts. It was a great, and exhausting, day for her.

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to St. Louis to visit my family. Boy, it was hot! We had a great time though. We went to Purina Farms where the girls tried milking a cow:

And we saw a really, really, weird looking duck:

We also took a trip to Liberty, MO to visit my brother and his family. We were going to take a train, but because of complications due to flooding, we ended up taking a bus instead. It was still fun.

We had dinner at Buca de Beppe in Kansas City and played in the fountain.

We also got to go the Magic House (it's like a big Children's Museum). There was a big "beanstalk" connecting the floors of the museum that the kids could climb up and down on:

Their favorite room was the bubble room. H1 made the biggest bubble of anyone!

That's pretty much all that's new for us around here lately!

Is It Spring Yet?? Please??

2011-04-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Winter weather seems to be dragging on forever and I am so thankful for the few-and-far-between fair weather days that we have had. We've had fun though!

January brought us a visit from Nanna. We were lucky to get to stay in a cabin up in the mountains once again. It was warm and cuddly inside and beautifully winter-y outside. We had fun going sledding together, everyone taking turns hiking up the hill and sledding back down again.

Nanna and H1:

H3 was remarkably brave!

All bundled up!

There were some amazing ice formations on the cabin and along the river.

At night we enjoyed a fire, watching TV, and cuddling.

The next day I had big plans to stop for BBQ on the way home. Not even a mile down the road, we ran into a road closure. There had been some avalanches that needed to be cleaned up before we could go anywhere. I tried to go back to the cabin, but the roads were too slick and we ended up stuck for a bit. We ended up having an overpriced but memorable lunch while we waited for the snow to be cleared. The kids were pretty bored, so I let them take some random pictures of our experience.

Our Smuckers had to have another surgery. His knee ligament broke (like the other one did a year ago) and he had to have it fixed. The kids were so precious with him. He is a very pampered pooch!

Do you like his gangsta bling?

Spring Break came along just in time to give me a much needed break. Things were extra busy at work and I was also trying to get my volunteer hours in so that I could choose the kids' teachers for next year. I did 23 hours of sewing during the month of March. Whew!

My parents came for a visit and we had a great time. The weather wasn't great, but we had a lot of fun regardless. The first thing H1 wanted to do with Grandpa was play some video games. We opted for Raving Rabbids, and Grandpa did pretty good!

H3 was a little cuddle bug!

H3 was very excited to have another loose tooth and decided that she really, really wanted it to come out while her Grandparents were here. She got her wish! While we were up at the cabin, her Grandpa pulled it out for her!

On their last night here, the girls played a hidden object game with Grandma and then watched Get Smart with Grandpa.

During that same time, a lot of our extended family was gone on a cruise, so we got to dog-sit Dixie. She was a welcome member of our household.

H3 has been practicing with a musical group from school for a couple of months now. She had her performance on Thursday night and she did so well!

We had our Easter party today and it was so fun! The weather was even nice enough to have an outdoor Easter egg hunt. First was the kids' egg hunt:

And the adults had eggs to find too. Each egg had a number in it. There were 7 prizes, some better than others. Our cousin J won the adult egg hunt again this year and got $20. There were also Hershey bars, $5, an old phone, and an old pinewood derby car (so it was kind of like a white elephant thing too).

Happy Easter everyone!

Time Flies When You're a Working Mamma

2010-12-30T11:25:00.000-08:00

My poor little blog has had a spot on the back burner for a few months, so one of my goals over this Christmas break is to do a little catching up. Are you ready to see a ton of pictures? We just got back from vacation and I have a lot to share : )

We took off for California the Tuesday before Christmas (that was also our last day of school, so it was a bit chaotic for me to try to be ready). We drove halfway to Mesquite and spent the night there. The next day we drove the rest of the way to Carlsbad. They had had a lot of rain and we were very lucky to have the storm clear up just in time for our arrival. We headed straight to the beach. It was low tide and we were able to find all kinds of cool things in the tide pools. These starfish were amazing.

There were tons of these little hermit crabs too.

With the sunset and the clouds, it couldn't have been more beautiful.

There was a photographer there from one of the local papers. He was doing a story about the rainstorms and took some pictures of us enjoying the evening.

That night we had dinner at the Old Town Cafe in San Diego's Old Town. We met my long-time roomie Stefani and her family there. Delicious. Afterward, she and I went to Chocolat for some crepes and scrumptious Nutella and cream gelato. Mmmmmm. More, please?

The next day was Legoland. It was fun, but I think we would have enjoyed it much more if it hadn't been so crowded. It was Christmas break and everyone was coming out of the woodwork after all of the rain. The rides at Legoland aren't very conducive to getting people in and out quickly. Anyway, we rode a couple of different plane rides:

The girls rode the horses:

And we pulled ourselves up a tower with ropes. H3 was not wanting to go all the way up though!

And check out this creepy elf that we saw on our way out of the park:

The apple fries were delicious. If you ever go, you've got to try them! We also enjoyed the mini-cities built of Legos. We bought several mini-figures in the gift shops. They're fun because you don't know what's in the package until you open it. I got a little skier and a gladiator.

The next day we went to a Japanese import mall that I wanted to go to (pretty much a waste of time, except the girls got a few cute things there). Then we spent the afternoon on the beach playing in the sand and the waves. It was a nice, relaxing day.

The hotel we stayed in was fabulous. We loved it. Each night at 8:00 they put out fresh chocolate chip cookies and milk. It was especially convenient on Christmas Eve. We went and got some and extras for Santa and his elves. In the morning they were mostly gone and Santa had filled our stockings!

After we checked out our stockings and slept in, we headed out to the Wild Animal Preserve. The first portion was a lot like a zoo, except prettier and with only African animals. These little guys were my favorite:

And these little guys were pretty cute too:

The kids enjoyed the petting zoo:

The second portion of the park was a tram ride through a wildlife preserve.

As it usually goes on vacations, especially during the winter, we had a sick kid. H1 had a cold and a fever, so he was not a very willing vacationer. We had to pretty much drag him everywhere, but it worked out ok. Luckily, it was a laid-back, relaxing kind of vacation. We had a lot of fun, but also a lot of rest.

That night we went one last time to the tide pools. A few more fun little sea creatures. A cute little starfish and a sea snail:

I had to get this picture online because we didn't have our camera when we found a guy just like this. It was a sea slug that easily weighed a couple of pounds. Totally cool!

The morning that we left, we stopped by La Jolla cove to see the seal beach. It is such a beautiful area. I love the way the waves splash against the cliffs. There were groups of pelicans flying right past us as we walked along the cliffs. Super cool.

Now we are back home and I need a vacation from the vacation (and from my children, who will not stop fighting!) More to come later once I locate my camera with pics from October and Halloween.

Birthday, Baptism, and More

2010-09-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Our cute little H1 is not so little anymore (but he's still cute, of course!). He had his 10th birthday a couple of weekends ago. It was mostly all about video games. He also got a skateboard and a Lego Pyramid game. For his birthday treat he wanted homemade pizza and brownies.

His game was a little hard to figure out, but it's sure cool looking!

He also had a party with his friends. They played his new video games and decorated sugar cookies. And there were presents, of course : )

I would guess that the best thing that happened on his birthday was his Nanna coming to town.

We had a great time visiting with her. The first day she was here, she took the kids to Build-A-Bear Workshop to make animals for their birthdays.

During her visit, she also took them on a special "Nanna date" to the temple grounds and then lunch at Wingers.

Our sweet little H2 got baptized this same weekend. She looked so beautiful in her pretty white dress. It was a great family day. After the baptism, the family came back to our house for a Cafe Rio style lunch. I was so busy that I had no idea that my kids had eaten nothing but chips, dressing, and rice until I looked at these pictures to choose which ones to post here. Bad mommy! Oh, well. It was her day, right?

I was lucky to receive these beautiful dishes (the blue ones) from my dad and stepmom just in time to use them at the baptism. They were great!

Nanna was able to stay for a week, which was fabulous. We went out to eat a lot, saw Toy Story 3 together, had a backyard cook-out for Labor Day, and had fun in general. I love this picture that she took of us down by the lake on Labor Day (the mosquitos chased us away pretty quickly!) I already made a page with it so that we can have it in our album.

Smuckers enjoyed it too!

Since then I have been trying to catch up on work and sleep (I had a nasty cold to deal with) My new job at the school is absolutely fabulous. I love it. Just the right amount of work to be enough without becoming overwhelming and taking away from my "being a mom" time, which will always be my first priority. I have finally found someone to take over my position at Walgreens too, which will make life a little less hectic.

Yesterday we took a little family hike up the Nebo Loop. My friend Christina had blogged about this location a while ago and we finally decided to go. It's called the Grotto. The hike itself is only about 1/2 mile, so it was perfect for the kids. The fall colors were absolutely gorgeous!

We had a yum-o lunch at Smokehouse barbeque afterwards. Mmmmmm.........

Another Birthday at Our House!

2010-08-29T10:25:00.001-07:00

Two down, one to go! Plus a baptism : )

Our cute little HBoo turned 8 on Thursday. She is such a joy in our lives with her sweet, calm (usually), personality and her big brown eyes. We started the day at 6 a.m. so that she could open all of her presents before school.

She got a kareoke machine, a Baby Alive with an outfit, an Easy Bake oven, and a Fur Real kitty.

For her treat that night she said she wanted blueberry pie. They weren't a hit, but oh well.

Her "candle" was a sparkler shaped like an eight.

The next night was her birthday party. It was music themed. They had a great time.

After cupcakes and presents, they made i.d. tag necklaces.

School has started for us and it's been great so far. I've taken a job at the school as a teacher's aid in the 6th grade. The hours are great and it's been a lot of fun. I really love the kids and the teacher is great to work with. It is all the fun of being a teacher without all of the stress and long days.

My friend Kari got me into Japanese bento lunches. I've been having fun packing cute meals for my kids to take to school on the days that they don't want school lunch. Here are a few that I've done so far.

I love this quote that I found on one of my favorite bento blogs Obento Lunch 4 kidz. "It is said in Japan that when you eat a bento lunch prepared by a loved one, the preparer's feelings for you are transmitted through the food. What could be better than sending a bit of love and cuteness with your children to school everyday?!" I also like the fact that it encourages a wide variety of foods and a more nutritious meal that the kids are more likely to eat.

Wish me luck as I head into the next week with H1's birthday, birthday party, and HBoo's baptism. Oh, and my mom arrives on Thursday. Whew! Life as usual at our house. And I love it!

My Sweet Little Jy-Jy Turned 6!

2010-07-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

She sure did. She was so excited that she was in our room at 6:30 am to open her presents. Our tradition is to let the kids come into our room the morning of their birthday and they get to open their presents on our bed. Ok, so the root of the tradition is my laziness, but the kids like it.

Her most treasured gift is her Baby Alive. She fed it all four packs of "food" the first day, changed it's diaper about 20 times and never let it out of her sight. The batteries were going dead after about 24 hours, probably due to her constant playing! The building blocks behind her in this picture have been a big hit too, even with my older kids.

During the day we had an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party. We started with our tea party. Heart shaped sandwiches, fruit, and kool-aid. H2 had made little place cards that were really cute. I love the one in this picture that says "Mad Hater".

We opened presents and the kids played for a little bit. Everyone was very interested in H3's new baby.

Then we did a craft project and made Alice in Wonderland ID tag necklaces.

Then it was cupcake time! H3 is very bugged that you can't see her in the picture. She's hidden in the back there. Oh well.

We saved the cake for dinnertime. Here's a close up:

She blew out her candle : )

It was all a lot of fun. I have another 2 parties to plan in the next month when H1 and H2 have theirs!

I've also made some dresses these past couple of weeks. The first one I did was for H3:

Then I made one for H2, but don't have a picture of that one yet. I had a bit of leftover material and decided to make one for this cute little girl. Love it!

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

2010-06-26T12:38:00.001-07:00

We've been keeping busy, and it has been so much fun! The day after school let out, the kids had a "late over" with some friends. We had pizza, watched Wallace and Grommit (at least I wish they would have), and had cupcakes. The cupcakes had little "carrots" growing out of them.

We got 6 month passes to the Gateway Discovery Children's Museum. We've only been once so far, but plan on going more. The kids really enjoyed it. I think the girls enjoyed the play town the most, and H1 liked the building toys the most. Here he is waiting for time to pass so that we can go upstairs to his favorite part:

And helping my friend's little twinner play with the balls:

H3 made my heart melt as she played and played with the babies in the little house:

H2 liked sitting up high on this horse:

We also had Lagoon day with DH's work. The weather was fabulous and we had a really great time. While we were there, I forced the family to do this:

We have also really enjoyed Classic Fun Center. We have memberships for the summer that make everything really inexpensive. H3 has played laser tag for the first time and gotten to play in their Ball Blast play area (which looks fun enough that I would like to try it myself). The girls have had fun on the bouncy toys and the skating rink and track. All in all, it's fabulous because the kids get exercise and I get a chance to read for a bit.

H3 on the slides.....I can hear her squealing all the way across the place : )

H3 isn't quite coordinated for skates yet, so we tried out a scooter and she loved it. She'll be getting one of her own for her upcoming birthday (along with a Baby Alive). I can't believe she'll be 6! That's H2 on the roller blades....she's really good at it!

I wish they didn't enjoy the games so much, but they beg and beg, so I let them do a few each time.

I've also been busy sewing things and planning for my new business venture with my friend Kari. We are starting a fabric business and sewing/crafting blog. We will be starting out with Riley Blake quilting fabric (soooo cute) which we will have available on etsy shortly. Our blog will be full of tutorials on how to make all kinds of things. Our first tutorial is for this skirt made from a pair of old jeans or pants.

I love the logo my talented DH made for us!

You can check us out at www.twocraftycritters.blogspot.com

Disneyland and So Forth

2010-05-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

We recently got back from a fabulous vacation to Disneyland. It was so fun. I'm bummed that it's over. Anyway, we drove to Mesquite on a Friday afternoon after the kids got out of school and spent a night there. That only left 5 more hours to drive on Saturday. We stayed at the adorable Candy Cane Inn on Harbor Blvd. I stole this pic online so you could see how cute it is.

We immediately picked up our Disneyland tickets. Our original plan had been to get 2-day passes, but because of the deal they were running, we ended up with 5 day passes. It was really nice to be able to spread out our time at the park. I have a Disney rewards card, so we have a little tradition of visiting the Disney store in Downtown Disney on our first night there so that the kids can each choose a souvenir. The kids love it. They are very thoughtful about their choices.

I was impressed with the bravery of the kids this time. They all rode Splash Mountain, although none of them liked it. The little girls cried on that one. H1 went on it one other time with DH. H2 wanted to ride Tower of Terror with me, which is my favorite ride. She did pretty good on it, which convinced H1 to try it with DH. Everyone but H3 rode Space Mountain too. The lines weren't too bad, but we still ended up doing a lot of this (waiting in line):

We really liked the new "Toy Story Mania" ride. We waited in line FOREVER for it on Sunday, but when we went back by on Tuesday the wait wasn't quite so long. This Mr. Potato Head would talk with people in the line. H3 and H1 were in the right spot at the right time on Tuesday.

H1 rode Space Mountain twice, and this is what he did both times (DH had to pull a face for the camera):

On Mother's Day we went to the Orange County Swap Meet. I love shopping, and I love a good deal, so I love this place. I got some really cute jeans and capris there, the girls got the dresses in the picture above, and H1 and DH got a guitar.

We also wanted to visit the beach, so after the swap meet we headed to Ventura beach. We didn't spend much time there because it was chilly and windy. A few days later we headed to Huntington Beach but it wasn't great beach weather that day either. We played in the sand a bit, and then the poor girls both fell in the surf within moments of each other and both started crying. So sad. We headed to the hotel to play in the pool instead.

We celebrated my birthday by having a yummy (and, unfortunately, expensive) lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Who would have thought the souvenir sports bottles were $6.99 a piece!! The waitress just told me that all you had to do was order an Icee. Dang expensive Icees!

It was a great trip, a little exhausting, but super fun.

After we got home and had some time to recuperate, I decided to paint my kitchen/living room area. The project is almost done. I'm still waiting on some rust colored curtains for the sliding door.

School is almost out. We've had a busy couple of weeks with a dance recital, gymnastics exposition, and kindergarten graduation. Right now I can only upload the graduation photos because I'm a nerd and took the other ones without the memory card in the camera. I'll have to have DH find the cord to get the other pics off of the camera so that I can get to them. Here is H3 getting her diploma from the school director.

Sew Busy!

2010-04-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy few weeks at our house! Spring break was a lot of fun. We kicked it off by having an Easter party at our house. We decorated the house and spent hours on cupcakes. We had a Cafe Rio style dinner.

We had the kids' Easter egg hunt.

And then we had another hunt for the adults and big kids. Each egg had a code in it and only one would open the lock box. J won the $20 gift card that was inside (her little brother helped her open the box)

After the party, H1 and H2 headed off to Bountiful to hang out with their cousins. H3 stayed here with us and enjoyed dying eggs and going to Pier 49 Pizza.

We had a couple of croupy kids that week, but once they were better we spent an afternoon at Classic Fun Center.

H1 lucked out that Friday because he went back up to his cousin's to spend another night and missed his dentist appointment. It turned out to be a good thing for all of us, because H2's appointment took forever and I was glad to not have to be there even longer. H3 was a great helper for her sister and held her hand while she got her shot. We celebrated H2's bravery with a trip for ice cream on the way home.

H1 got his turn the next week. We got H2's mouth finished up and one side of his done. I wish we had flouride in the water here! I've finally bought flouride rinse for them in the hopes it will help them out. Poor H1 was very scared and I was proud of him for being so brave. Thank goodness for nitrous! H3 was a great helper again. She would be with H2 and say "Oh! I better go check on H1!" and off she would go. We stopped for ice cream again, but H2 was a little frustrated that it kept dripping out of her mouth and down her shirt!

Other than that, I've been very busy sewing my heart out. I just keep finding new things that I want to make.

I'm working on another quilt that is made from a pattern I wanted to make many years ago before I had ever quilted before. I took a break from that when I ran out of one of my fabrics and had to order more. Here is a preview that I created in Photoshop:

The pattern is called Storm at Sea. I love the way the curves in it are optical illusions. It'll be fun to see this one finished. While I was waiting for the fabric to arrive, I became obsessed with some pillow cases I found on someone's blog and HAD to make some. I've done quite a few now with plans to do some more. H2's is in progress right now and I'm working on some to give as a wedding gift along with a set of sheets.

H1's pillowcase I actually made a while back. Crochet is too girly for a boy anyway : )

Then H2 started asking me when I was ever going to make something for her to wear. Well......I had to take the challenge. I found a tutorial online so that I didn't have to buy a pattern. I even had some extra frabric. Here is H2 modeling for you:

And last but not least, with Mother's Day coming up soon, I decided to make this apron for my Mother in Law. I think H3 looks pretty cute in it!

Whew! I think that's it for what we've been up to!

My Current Obsessions

2010-03-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

I just wouldn't be me without being obsessed with things that I will most likely not be in few months. Oh well, that's what makes life exciting : )

Currently, these are the things I love:

DownEast Outfitters......the new things they have coming out are making me drool. I know where I will be spending my birthday money!

Another obsession......Noodles and Company. Mmmmmm. Way too expensive, but if I have a coupon or it's just me eating, it's worth it. Of course, I always order something from the Asian menu.

This ones a bit odd for me. I have never in my life wanted a doll....even when I was a little girl. But check these out. It's a Blythe Neo doll from Japan and they cost a TON of money (I will never own one of these). They totally remind me of the marionettes in The Sound of Music! Their eyes turn and everything. And you should see the little outfits and things that you can get. Sooooooo cute!

Yet another obsession.....Sweet Nothings shapewear from WalMart. Yes, WalMart. I purchased other shapewear at Kohl's that was total crap compared to these. And I love that they are cut like a cami, so I can layer it under my low cut shirts and it makes me look skinnier while doing the same thing as my Shade camis. Love them. I want one for every day of the week! I think this model needs to wear a different color panties.....almost looks like she doesn't have any on. Eeeeek!

I've also been obsessed with Ugly Betty. My friend Kari has been checking out the seasons at the book mobile and kindly sharing them with me. I love finding a good show that you have never watched before because it is so nice to watch as many episodes as you want, whenever you want!

My last obsession, at least the only one I can think of right now, is quilting. I feel myself coming to the end of this one for a bit, but here is what I've been up to in that arena for the past two or three weeks. This is the first quilt I ever took in to the quilter's. I met them at the local quilt shop and picked the pattern I wanted it quilted in. They took it home to their fancy-shmancy machine and returned it to me ready to be bound.

I picked up some fabric today to re-cover some feather pillows I picked up at IKEA a while back. We needed some good living room pillows for stretching out on the floor to watch TV.

This one is currently at the quilter's. I can't wait to get it back....it's my favorite!

I already know what I want to work on next if I can make myself stay with the sewing a bit longer. Love these.

On a Felt Kick

2010-02-21T20:01:00.001-08:00

My friend Shari posted a pic on Facebook of the most gorgeous Valentine's wreath she made from felt. The idea originally came from The Idea Room. I could hardly wait to try it. So I ran up to Material Girls quilt shop and bought some felt to match my living room decor and went to work. My husband thinks this looks Christmas-y, which was not my intent at all--I just happen to have a green and brown living room. Anyway, I love it!

Then I decided that the same technique would make a really cute topiary. I think I like this even more than the wreath:

While I was at it, I finally finished a project that I should have done ages ago. About a year and a half ago I got some curtains at IKEA to cover our sliding glass doors. They were way too long, so I cut them shorter and intended to use the scraps to make a matching valance for our living room window. The scraps had been sitting in the closet for a very long time. I finally got some coordinating fabric and put them together.

And here is a cute picture for no good reason. Our cat is not the most affectionate, but for some reason she lets our youngest do things like this to her:

And finally, our little gymnast. She has been taking gymnastics for about a month and loves it. She is so persistent....I really admire the way she will practice something for hours until she masters it. Here is her latest accomplishment (the video is way too dark, I'll have to redo this at some point!):

Winter Boredom Busters

2010-01-16T11:12:00.000-08:00

Once Christmas is over, I'm ready for spring. Those long winter months at the beginning of the new year without any holidays to look forward to can be a little boring. So, we've had to get a little creative.

I'm lucky to have a husband who comes up with such fun ideas. We have FHE on Sunday nights, and the kids love to do things like this together. Lately we've been watching old family videos and playing games like Clue, charades, and statue.

We got Raving Rabbids for the Wii. It was our New Years Eve entertainment. It's been a big hit, even H3 can play it. I love this picture of her brother teaching her how to play. Awwww.

Our kitty, Tink, got "the fix" last week. She did really well, and the kids enjoyed nursing her back to health. H2 was an especially good nurse. She put this sign on the kennel. It says "Welcome to the kitty motel." So cute.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

DH and I got an exciting new job as models for romance novel covers. Can you believe it? Don't we look great?
Just kidding, of course (DH photoshopped our heads onto these pictures)! These were part of our white elephant gift this year. We covered some old kids' paperbacks with these covers. The titles were awesome. The first one was "Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel" the second one was "The Care and Taming of a Rogue". They were hilarious!

Christmas was super fun. I always have so much fun watching my kids open their gifts.

Some new cozy digs:

Some new "pets" to add to the family:

This cute little guy is actually a CD holder. H3 got some new computer games to play:One of H1's friends taught him how to play chess. Impressive!

Santa knew this was H3's favorite library book, so he got her her very own copy to keep. She can sing me the whole thing.....it's pretty cute : )

Everything's cuter when it's tiny!

2009-12-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

One of the things I made to give as Christmas gifts this year was mini-pies. I decided to post it because trying to describe it to my mom over the phone didn't do it justice, and some of my friends wanted the links for the project. I love how they turned out....I'm thinking of doing these together as a family sometime and having them for FHE treat.

I found the idea on Our Best Bites. I have found so many great recipes there. The tags for the top of the jars were designed by Lolly of Lollychops (check out all of her free download and print things on her sidebar!)

I gave H3 a bit of dough to play with while I was working. I love her little creation. It's a kitty! (Can'tcha tell?)

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

2009-12-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite holiday traditions is setting up this little (literally!) town of Bethlehem that my mom bought us at Costco about 8 years ago. I love it and I love letting the kids play with it (although a few of our little people have died tragic deaths in the hands of my children). It lights up and everything. As long as the Holy Family stays intact, I'll be happy because that's the most improtant part.

The girls built a snowman outside with Daddy yesterday while I shoveled (which, by the way, is my favorite form of excercise!). They named him Kyle. We took bets on how long it would take him to fall over. He looks like he's doing yoga after a bit of melting, but he's still standing!
Backing up to Halloween, I wanted to post our creepy little apple faces. Each of us carved one and then let them dry up. It was fun checking on them each day to see how different they looked as they dried ( and by the way, that's not mold, it's just the core):

Thanksgiving,Two Haircuts, a Tree, and a Naughty Kitty

2009-11-29T17:47:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We sure did! It was my first time hosting it here at my house and I loved it. We had a ginormous 20 lb. turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, berry-pretzel salad, stuffing (with BACON in it!), sweet potatoes, and lots of pie. Mmmmmmm......... The turkey is almost gone now, I've been eating it with a little gravy everytime I feel hungry. Love it.

We had Grandma and Grandpa, Chris, and the Newhouses over. When we had cleaned up all the mess, the kids decided to put together the gingerbread house. They're getting better and better at it every year.

The next day we put up the tree and went to see The Christmas Carol. I re-did the tree a bit this year with a new color combo and a collection of birdies. I love it!

This little bird is my favorite (the brown one with all the feathers):

Unfortunately, we have a very naughty kitty that thinks our tree is her personal playground!

So now the bottom 1/3 of my beautiful tree looks like this:Lovely, huh? I'm off to Petsmart tomorrow to buy a can of Ssssscat, which is pressurized air with a motion sensor. I'll put it near the tree so that whenever she comes near it, she'll get the crap scared out of her. Wish me luck!

On the other hand, she sure is cute!The girls wanted their hair cut so I did that yesterday. It ended up pretty short, but so cute.Every year the kids look forward to playing with our City of Bethlehem. We got it out tonight and the girls set it up for me. They love all the little tiny people and animals that they can pretend with.

Best Night Away EVER

2009-11-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

Thursday we stayed the night at a cabin near Sundance. It was so wonderful. Very cold, but great. Check it out:

Here I am cooking tinfoil dinners in the barbecue. Later that night we made s'mores in the fireplace. It was so cozy.The kids and hubby went for a dip out in the hot tub.

The guy that owns the cabin (and some others) grew up right in the area. Sundance resort didn't even exist back then. His house sat between the Alpine Loop and the river. All that is left now is this fireplace. His dad did all kinds of cool things with the river, creating pools and waterfalls. I totally want to come back in the summertime!

We had so much fun on this zipline! I was a little scared at first, but I did it! None of the kids were daring enough.

Go Grandpa go!

And this tree swing was awesome. Someone has to push you because it is really hard to get going very high on your own with a swing like this.

Snack Mix by JyJy

2009-10-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

It was H3's turn to do "show and teach" at school last week. It worked out perfectly because Grandpa was here to see her do her thing. She taught her class how to make a snack mix. I love that this shows the sassy aspect of her personality. As she is pouring the cereal in, we are all saying "keep going" and "more cereal".....she just looks at us, ignores us, and does her own thing. Same thing happens when she fills the cups to the rim and we are all asking her to put a little less in each one. Nope, she was going to do her own thing. Good thing she's so cute : )

Fun at the Park

2009-09-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

We set out today to find the new reservoir in Herriman, but I screwed up the directions and we ended up "touring" Daybreak. It was actually a pretty cool drive. Lots of really cute houses to look at, and we found a really neat park. Check it out:
I was calling this thing a "birds nest", but DD1 decided it was "the diaper". Too funny! They had so much fun and the weather outside was absolutely beautiful. You could feel autumn in the air. When we left here we found the reservoir and spent a little time playing in the sand there before heading home.

Furry Little Friends

2009-09-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

Here is one of my favorite little friends--although she's not furry. We like her a lot. I just thought she looked so cute all dressed up for school that I had to get a picture.And our newest furry friend is adapting to the house quite well. She gets lots of attention....if she's not getting attention, she mews and mews until someone picks her up.
She's also getting used to Smuckers. Pretty soon they'll be playing, I'm sure. They've tried to play a few times, but they haven't quite figured out the "rules" yet so that they don't hurt or scare each other.

The kids set her on Smuckers, so this shot was a set-up, but "awwwwww...."

And, there's nothing like napping with two furry friends. How do you like Smucker's "Quarter Bark" shirt? I know, I'm a nerd. The plan was to shave him again and then have him wear the shirt to keep him toasty, but it came off after about a day. He's just too stocky and the shirt kept working it's way farther and farther down his chest.

Aaaaaah.......Free Time

2009-09-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

A little of it anyway. A little can go a long way! I've been busy organizing and getting household projects done. Here are a few:

I finished DD1's quilt for her bed!

I've canned a full box of pears, some tomatoes from the garden, and frozen most of my two boxes of peaches. Mmmmmmm......
I put together a small quilt for my brother and his new wife (so if either of you are reading this, I hope you like it!). This one's going to be hard to give away--I love the colors!
I organized our wee pantry and installed shelves on the interior of the door.

Tink (our new kitty) has been visiting during the afternoons for a few days. She's a little small to leave her mommy entirely and this gives her a chance to get used to the new environment. The kids are having a ball with her. She's so tiny!

Yesterday she crawled between the fridge and our cabinets and fell asleep there for a while! I think it felt very cozy to her and she didn't have to worry about the kids wanting to touch her. You can tell how little she is by comparing her to the crayon on the floor--the gap here is so little that the broom won't even reach back there (thus, the stray crayon).

Now, backtracking to another important event:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE GUY!

9 years old! He had a great day. We let him stay home a little bit in the morning while we played with some of his toys. He didn't mind missing a bit of school at all : ). Then he had friends over to play in the afternoon. Dinner was his choice--spaghetti!

This is an awsome toy! And the best part is, I just happened upon it in the clearance aisle at Target a while back. DS loves to build, so this is perfect for him. He is such a sweetheart--after opening each gift, he held it up and smile for the camera. The boy knows his Mamma!
He also got a few Magnext sets--more building!
I don't know who loves this toy more, DS or DH!
And for DS, it just wouldn't be a birthday without a new video game!

Another favorite was the knock-off brand iPod that he got with the money his grandparents gave him. It's a video and mp3 player. That will sure come in handy on our big family vacation to Silver Dollar City next month. Happy birthday, baby boy!

Quite an eventful week or so!

2009-08-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

Our last fun summertime outing was up to Classic Skating. The kids had a ball playing on the inflatables and the Jungle playset. We got some nachos too (who can go to a skating rink without buying some nachos?). I loved it because I was able to read while they played : )

Unfortunately, they brought home more that memories. DS and DD2 both woke up with a sore throat and flu-like symptoms. They didn't eat and just laid around all day. I could tell they really felt awful. It lasted about two days, so not too terrible, and at least it didn't spread throughout the family! Poor DS missed the first day of school, though.

Right after that, I left to go to my brother's wedding in Liberty, MO. It was short but so much fun! My brother and his fiancee picked me up at the airport and we went out for lunch at an Irish pub. We each odered something and shared. My brother's "bangers and mash" were my favorite. Sausage, mashed potatoes, onion gravy, and creamed peas. Mmmm....I'll have to try making it sometime.

We met up with all of the parents and kids after that and went for a big family meal at Golden Corral. Then back to my brother's house to work on things that needed to be done for the big day!

Here we are after the ceremony and reception:

I had so much fun getting to know my new family members : ). Three new nephews and a niece! I can't wait to see them again in October when we go on our big extended family vacation.

That evening, I went out for a delicious meal at Carraba's with my stepmom, mom, and dad(that's the order that they are in this picture, from left to right)

My stepmom and dad headed home and my mom and I went back to the hotel and watched "Last Chance Harvey" on her laptop. Cute chick flick!
I got back home on Sunday and things were pretty quiet again until today. DD1's birthday and DD2's first day of kindergarten. Fun stuff!

DD1 had a very grown-up wish list this year. She wanted make-up, so we got her this cute little box with lip-gloss, shimmer gel, a brush, and little fingernail polishes in it:

She also wanted a mirror, and I found this one at Ikea. It looks soooo cute in her room! And it came with a matching hand mirror, too.
She got bath salts, beads, and confetti:
And she loved modeling her "fancy dress" for us : )
She also got some stuffed animals and she has an off-brand imitation Nano on the way. She's a lucky girl! We had birthday cake with friends this afternoon and then sang to her after dinner. The flower on the cake was a "magic candle". We lit it, it did a roman candle kind of thing for a bit, then the petals opened up and it turned and played "Happy Birthday"!

Now, on to DD2's day. The first day of kindergarten! She was very excited to get going in the morning. Here she is all dressed up in her uniform:
Our first stop was the doctor's office for her 5 year exam and vaccinations. She was very nervous about the shots--she had been talking about them all week. At one point, the nurse poked her finger to check her iron levels. DD didn't like it, but she did ok. When it was over, DD was clapping her hands and saying "Yay! My shots are over and it wasn't even that bad". When I told her that the shots were still coming, she FREAKED out! Screaming, crying, the whole nine yards. Luckily, we survived, but she had sore legs because she had been so tense when they were giving her the shots. Poor thing!

After the doctor's, we went on a mommy/daughter date to the Asian buffet. Her favorite part is the ice cream at the end.

On the way back from lunch she said to me "Mom....those doctors were sure nice to me." I said "Yes, they sure were." She said "I'm sorry I was mean to them". Awwwww.......so cute! I told her that I'm sure they understood that she was just very scared.

Then it was time to take her over to the school. The teacher was showing them how to line up before class each day. I love this picture because sweet DD is so intent on listening to her teacher and doing what she wanted. I hope her year is full of happiness and friends and new adventures!

Little Tinkerbell

2009-08-11T15:29:00.001-07:00

We just got back from visiting our new kitty, Tinkerbell. Her eyes have just opened and she is still super tiny : ) DD2 was there also, but she is a little nervous about holding the kittens.

Farewell Little Mosey

2009-08-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

Most of you know about the fate of my poor, cute kitty, Mosey. So, this is really more for me and for our family history than for anyone who might read it. Just a little rememberance of one of my favorite pets.

I know Mosey was "just a cat", but he was sure cute and a great little companion. The fact that he liked me best and the circumstances surrounding his demise have made his departure pretty emotional for me. More than if he had just "dissapeared" and never come back home like our previous kitty.

I picked him up in Salt Lake about a year ago--his owner had developed asthma due to cat allergies, so he had to go. (She is a follower of this blog--I hope this doesn't make her too sad).

We put him in the crate to go home with us, and he was so mad he wouldn't even look at us. Major cattitude. It was hard to get him to warm up to us--he hid under the couches for weeks. Here he is in one of his better early moments when he actually graced us with his presence. However, he was still so upset that his pupils were constantly dialated, which explains the glowing eyes in this picture.During this time before he warmed up to us, he showed interest in going outside, so we let him explore a bit. He had a little "adventure", and when he came back it was as if he had always lived with us. These are some of the things I miss:

I miss him curling up against me at night.

I miss seeing him in his favorite cuddly spots

I miss him sleeping on my printer while I play on the computer

I miss him liking me more than anyone else

I miss him kneading my tummy while I read

I even miss him walking on my keyboard while I'm trying to type

Anyway, the poor little guy got hit by a truck last week. A neighbor saw it and came to get me, so I saw him at his worst moments. I'm glad to know what happened to him, but the memories of him there are lingering. I wish I had just kept him indoors all of the time. Once a kitty gets a taste of the outdoors, they are hard to keep in. He really liked to go out for a few days and then come back in for a week or so.

That same neighbor just had two litters of kittens last Monday, so we've enjoyed going out to see the kitties and have even picked one out. I picked one that looks like Mosey, but it's a girl because I promised DD1 we'd have a girl pet sometime (and picking out a collar for a girl is more fun--I know, I'm a nerd!). We've named her Tinkerbell. We can't have her for at least another month, but it will be fun for the kids to see her grow. She will definitely be an INDOOR kitty! Hopefully she will love Smuckers.

If you've ever had a kitty, you'll love the "Simon's Cat" videos. Here's my favorite. Makes me laugh every time : )

In other news, we've had some crazy wind storms lately! Last Wednesday we were having dinner when the wind started. The haziness in the picture is dust. Yuck! The house in the center of the photo is where the kitties are, and the accident happened right in front of that.Our patio table has about 20 tiles in it, and they all were blown out. Luckily only 3 were broken. We actually bought that table because we live in an area that gets a lot of wind and we figured that tiles would be easier to replace than a glass top. We also had heavy patio chairs go rolling across the lawn--and luckily they stopped before going through the fence!

Zucchini, anyone?

2009-08-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm home sick with a cold today. Ugh. The kids are excited to set up a tent in the living room this evening. We're trying to find things to do together. I thought I'd let the girls bring in some things from the garden. Check out this zucchini!

I've already grated and frozen many bags of zucchini/squash to be used in breads and muffins thoughout the winter. My plants have done better than ever before!

The funny thing is, all of this produce (and lots before this pic was taken) came from a few plants I planted in April. I put these plants against my back fence and didn't do a thing to the soil to improve it. I guess we've got some good soil! On the other hand, a couple of summers ago I got interested in square foot gardening and put together a raised box in the back yard filled with the suggested mixture. Everything I've planted in that spot has pretty much sucked. Go figure! I've just let that plot totally go this year--I think next year I'll empty it and fill it with potting soil which might be more successful.

I have about 6 spaghetti squash ripening up out there too. Mmmmm. I discovered how much I like it when I was on the Southbeach Diet a couple of years ago. I just substitute it for noodles whenever we're having spaghetti for dinner. Good stuff.

It's Been a Long, Long Time!

2009-07-28T20:30:00.001-07:00

I'll start back in June when DH's work had an all expenses paid day at Lagoon. Not my favorite place by any measure, but the kids love it and it's really nice of his work to do this for us every year--and on a work day too!Here is DH and DS enjoying the train ride. I think my favorite part was when DD2 said "Look Mommy! A princess duck!". Here is what she was referring to: I love it when my kids come up with adorable stuff like that. Thier favorite ride is in the kiddie section. It's called the Dragonfly. We rode that one a few times. We had fun watching the kids play in the water fountain near the front of the park. They got soaked : )
We had a little giggle watching this little girl lead DD1 all around. She just walked up to DD1, grabbed her hand, and took her where she wanted. DD1 shrugged her shoulders at me as if to say "I have no idea who this is or why she wants me, but I guess I'll go along with it!"
DH and I wanted a chance to ride the roller coasters, so his awesome sister came and picked up the kids for a while. We rode Wicked (which really was totally cool), Colossus, and The Bat. Next time I'll take some Dramamine before I go! The older I get, the sicker I feel after a few roller coasters!

We went back to DH's sister's house and she made us dinner. It had been cloudy all day and finally started to rain. We were lucky enough to see this nearly the entire drive home:

A full, double rainbow. Incredible.

That was about all the excitement I can remember for June. Maybe if I blogged more regularly I would have remembered more!

The fourth of July came and we went up to DH"s sister's house for a barbeque and some street fireworks. Good times. It's always nice to spend the fourth somewhere other than my own living room!

DS and DD1 both passed level two swimming lessons this month too! Yay! They are officially swimmers!

DD2 had her own excitement going on. She turned 5! I can't believe my baby is so big! Here she is sharing her new Barbie clothes with her sister (she was happier than she looks in this picture, I promise)
She opened her other gifts first thing in the morning
And she loved her princess cake (that she picked out herself at the grocery store)

DH's birthday was the next day and we had our babysitter come over so we could get out for a bit. We had dinner at Winger's and went to see Transformers. That's not really my kind of movie, but I wanted DH to pick. During the movie I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin the whole experience for him. Then (when it seemed like the movie should have ended an hour ago) DH turned to me and said "OH my gosh! Is this ever going to end?". My feelings exactly. We had a good time though. There was one point during dinner where we had to count up his age to make sure we hadn't gotten it wrong. Funny how the older you get the easier it is to remember exactly how old you actually are!

This last weekend was Pioneer Day weekend. We went down to Fairview to visit DH's parents and most of his siblings were there too. We got to be in the parade. DH got to drive his dad's old Studebaker and I rode in one of the antique trucks. We threw candy to all the little kids. That night we sat out on the porch and watched the fireworks at the nearby fairgrounds. We spent the night and went Jeeping up in the canyon the next day. I was mesmerized by all of the beautiful wildflowers.

On Sunday we were back at home so after church (and a nap), we took a drive up to Bridal Veil Falls. We tried leaving at 7, and found the canyon freeway at a total standstill. We decided to take a mountian road home, but 5 minutes into it, the little cousin that was with us was crying and puking. So, we tried spending an hour at Sundance. Still no improvement in the traffic. We heard from a passerby that there was a big accident at the base of the canyon. We ended up driving to Park City and down to Salt Lake and home. We finally got here at 11! Sheesh!

A Gift From My Little Guy

2009-06-23T13:45:00.001-07:00

Sure to be the longest post ever!

2009-06-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

The kids and I just got back last night from a week long adventure in St. Louis. We had a great time. I was initially a little apprehensive about being on the plane with all three of them all by myself. They were angels. Here they are with their toys out (DS has Silly Putty, if you're wondering) My dad and stepmom picked us up at the airport and took us to a delicious meal at the Pasta House. The next day we went to "Monkey Joe's", which is kind of like Kangaroo Zoo is here. The kids had such a ball. The inflatables were different from the ones we have here. DD2 even went down the 20' slides! I don't think she would have done it for me, but Grandma got her to try it.

That night we were watching my dad throw a tomahawk at a target and on the way back into the house, poor DD2 fell on the driveway and scraped her face up. We aren't sure how she managed to scrape up her upper lip area without doing much damage to her nose--it's a mystery. The next day she sported the band-aid mustache all day long. We spent the afternoon visiting with my best friend Debbie. That night the kids spent a couple of hours playing in the hot tub and the band-aid came off (which was a good thing, because whenever I suggested taking it off, she would FREAK out!). We had some tasty Imo's Pizza that night and visited with my Aunt Vickie and cousin Tiffany.

The next day was Saturday and Grandpa took DS to a rendezvous at the nearby Fort de Chartres (a historical French fort). There were people dressed as soldiers and Native Americans. He got to see the drum and fife corps, hear black powder rifles being fired, and he got to taste home-made buffalo jerkey and root beer in a corked bottle. While the boys were busy doing that, Grandma took me and my girls out for a pedicure. It was heavenly. The girls enjoyed sitting in the massage chairs and getting their finger and toenails painted. DD2 even let the nail technician clip her toenails! It was a victory. She hates it when I do it. I guess the peer pressure in the nail salon was a good thing : )

That night my brother Mike came into town with his two little boys. They played in the hot tub again--for 2 1/2 hours! Who knew a hot tub could be so much fun?We let them stay up waaaay too late that night. In the morning, my brother's oldest wanted to shoot bb guns with Grandpa. My DS wasn't interested, but DD1 was!This is what happened as soon as we arrived at Nanna's (my mom's) that afternoon:

On Monday, Nanna and I took 5 kids (my three, my brother's 2) to the city museum. It was quite a feat! We took them to the outside climbing area and they climbed and climbed to their hearts' content. This place is absolutely incredible. Almost everything in this museum is recycled--a lot of items were taken from old St. Louis building that were going to be torn down or refurbished. Anyone visiting St. Louis has got to go. Here they are climbing down from the airplaneHeading down the slide:

Using her sweet balancing skills:
Climbing, climbing........
Riding the train up on the third floor: This slide goes from the third floor all the way down to the first:
Do you see the "V" over the slide? It's made of rolling tubes like they use on conveyor belts. The same things are used as rails on the stairs in the background. They're pretty cool because they let kids paint them and they are each unique. Fun to look at. They're also cool to spin as you come down the slide.

The next day we visited Grant's Farm. A tram takes you through a wildlife preserve. Here is DS and his cousin enjoying the ride:
The kids all took a ride on the new carousel: Then we did my favorite thing--feeding the goats milk from a bottle!
That night I got to go out to Casa Gallardo for a fabulous visit with old school friends.

The next day was Wednesday--time to head home. We did a little shopping on the way to the airport and stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. The End!

A Little Catching Up

2009-05-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

It has been sooooo long since I've spent time blogging! I've got a lot of catching up to do.

I'll start with my birthday a while ago. The big 3-7! Time sure flies. I got to do a lot of shopping, which was great because I totally needed new summer clothes. I think I probably visited every mall and clothing store within 45 minutes of here. It seems like it's always harder to find things I like that I think it would be. Luckily I enjoy the "hunt"! DH and I went to P.F. Chang's for my birthday dinner date. My favorite gift (that I picked for myself) is a charm bracelet. I even have a little chinese take-out box on it--not only is it my favorite food, but it'll remind me of our birthday date together. I remember loving my mom's charm bracelets when i was little, so it was fun to get one of my own.
Left to right the charms are: measuring cup, corgi, family, chinese take-out, wedding ring, and garden gnome (my favorite).

Here I am holding the Playdoh birthday cake DH2 made for me:On my birthday, Smuckers had to get sugery. He completely tore his ACL ligament in his knee. It would be risky to not fix it because he could injure his second hind leg by favoring it and then he'd really be in trouble. He's doing much better now, but he was pretty pathetic for the first few days. I had to cook him chicken and brown rice because the medicine made him sick and he wouldn't eat. The whole family gave him extra TLC. He loves pillows--he would sleep like this for hours.We are loving this great spring weather we've been having. On Sunday we decided to drive to the top of Lake Mountain. The whole family piled into the Jeep and took a super bumpy ride all the way to the top. DH2 cried a little because she was scared but then she calmed down and was a trooper the rest of the way.
School is almost over! Yay! I'm ready to not have to worry about homework, bedtimes, alarm clocks, etc. Plus, I'm taking the kids to St. Louis for a week and we're really looking forward to it! Yesterday was DH2's preschool graduation. She was so cute. She kept blowing me kisses from her place in line. Here she is singing the "book song". She's opening her "book" and looking inside.She was one of the last ones called up to get her diploma and treats, and I thought she was so cute just sitting there watching the other kids walk past her.

And her moment finally came : ) No more preschoolers in our family!
Yesterday I was driving home from Kari's and a police car pulled behind me from the Chevron. I always feel a little nervous with a police car behind me. I remembered as he was following me that our tail-light got broken a while back (because I backed into something--doh!) and the moisture had blown out the bulb. I knew he would see it. However, he followed me through the intersection and all the construction traffic so I thought maybe he was off duty or something. No such luck. The moment I turned onto the side road, he flipped his lights on. I'm feeling pretty guilty right now because I fibbed and said "I knew it was broken but I didn't realize the light had quit working"--I guess it wouldn't have changed the outcome anyway. I just like to be honest and sometimes I don't live up to that. Oh, well. He gave me a fix-it ticket. I have to fix it, find a police officer to sign off that I fixed it, and then go to the courthouse and they'll remove the ticket from my record. He thanked me for being so nice and said that doesn't happen too often. Hopefully that makes up for my fib, right? I hope a bulb fixes it for now, because I've broken this same tail-light before and it's not a cheap fix!

Spring(?) Break

2009-04-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

It's been fun playing with the kids this week during their break from school. This is good practice for summertime, which is only 6 weeks away! We've had a lot of snow and cold weather this week so we've found fun indoor things to do. On Tuesday we went to the Lehi Legacy swimming pool. The kids loved it. DD2 was a little wary of all of the spray features when we first got there, but she was totally enjoying herself by the end. For those of you not from Utah, here are some pictures of the fun kids' section. Every time the bucket dumps, a bell rings first. DD2 would scream and run to the side of the pool at the beginning, then she decided it wasn't so scary after all.Tuesday night I got a special treat. DH's sister Carrie had an extra ticket to Wicked and she let me use it! It was so fantastic. I totally loved it. Carrie is the best! I think it's my new favorite musical--after Les Miserables.

On Wednesday Kari, Danette, and I (with kids in tow) went to Kangaroo Zoo and the kids played on all kinds of inflatable big toys. They had a ball. We even ended up running into some people from our old neighborhood as well as some from our own. I guess everyone had the same idea!

I decided a couple of days ago that the kids really needed a swingset. We live near a playground but it doesn't have swings, and that is one of DD1's favorite things to do. Besides, it's great to have them right where I can keep an eye on them. After hours of scouring the internet, I finally found the perfect one for us. I wanted it to be small with a swing for DD1 and a glider for DD2. The little single-jumper trampoline is an awsome bonus. Who would've thought KMart would come through for me?My dad sent me an e-mail today with a segment from Britain's Got Talent that really impressed me. I like to think I've learned the lesson to not judge someone until I get to know them, but sometime's we forget. This was a good reminder. Also one of my favorite songs ever. I've been humming it all day.

Susan Boyle Sings on Britain's Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 @ Yahoo! Video

Something to Show and Not Much to Tell

2009-04-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in quite a while! Things are good with us. We are dying for the spring weather to arrive. I have plants sitting in my kitchen waiting for the weather to warm up.

I've started a new blog called "Tried and Tasty Recipes" (link is to the left). Anyone who wants to can contribute to the blog--the more the merrier. If you'd like to contribute, just let me know and I'll send you an invite so that you can post. The goal of the blog is to create a collection of recipes that are easy (for the most part) and GOOD! We're all tired of making the same things every week and trying things that may not turn out well. This blog should take some of the guesswork out of it : ). Besides, I love learning from other people's ideas.

My little project today was for my neice Tiffany who is expecting a baby. I'll be seeing her in June and she won't know if the baby is a boy or a girl yet, so I wanted to make her a gender-neutral baby gift. Kari has made some super cute baby blankets for her twins and I wanted to try doing one myself. I found a good tutorial for this style of blanket here. They're so easy and so cute! I used the extra material to make a matching burp rag and binkie holder. We have some more babies coming to the family, so I'm sure I'll be making more of these. Picking fabric is just so fun!

Big Creativity in a Little (Cute) Package

2009-03-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

DD1 loves to create things. This is what we found in our kitchen a few nights ago. It totally cracked us up.

We're still having fun doing the girls' hair too. Before church DD told me exactly what she wanted me to do with her hair--so we tried it and I think it's one of my favorites so far!

I was bummed that right after I added "Hair Today" to my blog list and started telling people about it, she had to quit blogging : (. I added another good one to my sidebar--"Adopt a 'Do". Check out the Slide Braid a few posts down--it is the coolest thing ever! I can't wait to try it!

And She Scores! (At the Grocery Store)----Plus an "Award"

2009-03-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

Maybe this is a seriously lame thing to blog about, but I'm gonna share anyway. I've been "couponing" for about 2 years now. It's a tad bit time consuming and sometimes I'm a few weeks behind in my clipping, but it's definitely worthwhile. Especially when you hit the sales/coupon combos just right and save a lot of money! I get five papers every sunday for about $16 a month. I found the deal here. I'm sure that I've saved at least that much on groceries each month, usually more, and sometimes a lot more. Here's the latest score that got me re-motivated to keep at it : )Three boxes of cereal, 10 boxes of fruit snacks, 10 boxes of granola bars, two cookie mixes, and three boxes of Dannon crush cups. I love saving on snacks especially, because they get eaten up quickly and every kid in the neighborhood helps us eat them. So here is the breakdown:

Cost before discounts: $94.65 (Sheesh!)

Manufacturer's coupons (from the paper): $23.05

InStore discounts/sales (automatic with store card): $30.27 They were running a sale where for every 10 participating items you bought, they gave a $5 discount--that helped a lot.

Savings: 57%--$53.32

I hid most of this stuff from the kids, because if they can see it all, it seems to disappear faster : )

After buying all of that stuff, I headed over to WalGreens to buy hair color. They were offering the $7 box for $6 and they had an instore coupon for $3 off. I paired that with the manufacturer's coupon for $2 off. That made them each $2. Yay!

Okay, so enough of the boring shopping news. My super cool friend Christina gave me a bloggy award:

Here are the rules for the award:
1. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
2. Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

Here we go with my "honesty" session:
1. I think I'm pretty lazy. I really enjoy sleep and I don't enjoy cleaning. I think my house is clean and basically looks ok, but there's almost always some clutter around.
2. I'd love to drop 10 pounds. I don't mind changing some eating habits to get there, but on the other hand, I don't want to be on a perpetual diet to achieve it either.
3. I love it when my kitty curls up next to me at night.
4. I think my kids are the cutest, most wonderful little people in the world. I could just stare at their faces all day long.
5. In high school my favorite bands were The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Information Society. In college, it was The Smiths/Morrissey
6. My husband totally cracks me up. I think it's one of his best qualities (among many).
7. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I feel guilty that I got a degree in Elementary Education and then realized that it didn't make me happy. Sometimes I think if I tried it again I might feel differently because it's been 9 years since I taught, but I don't know. I just don't know what my "thing" is, and the things I'd like to try would keep me away from my kids too much and I don't want that either. Oh, the confusion!
8. When I was really little, I wanted to marry a dog.
9. I would never trade back, but sometimes I miss the social life of college
10. I was always a one best friend type person---I think I was "cut out" for marriage in that way. I still miss my high school best friend (Debbie) and wish I could see her/talk to her more often.

And here are 7 blogs I love (it's ok if you don't want to play, I love you all anyway!)
1. Kellie @ Camp Run-a-Muk
2. Hollie @ The Traylor Park Blog
3. Kari @ Come What May and Love It
4. Hair Today (she just quit blogging, but if you've got girls there is a wealth of hair ideas here)
5. Tara @ Three Little Babelets
6. Sarah @ The Mundy Family
7. Karley @ The Simmons Family

Whenever I see that these people have posted, it makes me happy because I love to read what they've got to say. Thanks for entertaining me!

We hate the croup!

2009-03-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

We've had an isolated few days at our house, thanks to a very persistent virus! It all started with DD2 getting a cough on Thursday. By Saturday, we were taking her in to the Dr. to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or something (she was running a fever). Next in line was DD1, who developed a sore throat and the croup. We went in to the Dr. two times yesterday to get the croup cleared up. The first time they gave her a steroid and the second time we went in she had a breathing treatment. Here she is modeling the little dinosaur facemask they used.Poor DS is also sick, coughing, and feeling crummy, but has apparently outgrown the breathing problems that croup can bring on. Ugh!

My friend Kari told me about some cool blogs that post cute hair-do's for little girls. They've been a lot of fun to look at and I've been inspired : ). My favorite one is posted on my sidebar (Hair Now). She has a whole list of other ones on her sidebar. Here are some of the things we have tried (we've also tried some that weren't so successful!)

Mmmmmm...Chicken Enchiladas

2009-03-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com yesterday and it was so yummy that I decided to post it (I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for new recipes and I hate wasting my time on gross ones). I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't, so I snagged their picture instead.

Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup diced onions
1 can chopped green chili peppers

1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups shredded cheese

12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 can mild red enchilada sauce

The recipe said to boil the chicken, but I put them in the crock pot instead. I put in about a 1/2 cup of water and the packet of taco seasoning and let it cook. When it was done (timing depends on which setting you use on your crock pot) I shredded it.

Put some of the juices from the crock pot in a skillet. Add the onions and chilis and cook until the onions are tender. Remove from heat and add the shredded meat and enough juices to make the mixture nice and moist.

Combine your sour cream and cottage cheese in a separate bowl.

I tore the corn tortillas into pieces and covered the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. I would have rolled them, but they always fall apart on me anyway (does anyone know the secret to rolling corn tortillas?). I topped the tortilla layer with the meat mixture. Next put on the sour cream/cottage cheese mixture. Add about 1/2 of your cheese on top of that. Tear up the rest of your tortillas and layer over the top. Pour on the enchilada sauce and top with more cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. YUM!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2009-02-20T21:10:00.001-08:00

I had a crafting class at my house tonight and cute little DD1 wanted to participate. She said she needed some wood and some ribbon (sorry I gave her this wood Karley--I can pay you back for it). A little bit later she gave me this masterpiece. I think it's the cutest thing ever! I want to keep it forever. I guess she takes after me a little bit, huh?

Home Improvement Overload!

2009-02-19T20:31:00.001-08:00

I have not blogged in so long--and it's because my life has been taken over by painting projects! I had ideas about how I wanted the kids' rooms to look and I didn't want to do one without the others. I wouldn't want any of the kids to feel left out. So, a full week and a half later, I am finally done with the painting portion of the project. Yay! I am soooo sore and soooo tired! I even had to paint the ceilings because the entire house (ceiling included) was originally the mocha brown color that you can still see in the last picture.

In my daughter's room (the yellow and purple), we'll be putting up a white chair-rail. In my son's room we'll be putting up white trim where the dark blue meets the light blue. In the light green room, I'll be putting up pink damask wallpaper where the brown panels are. Then we'll put white trim around each of those panels. I'm still waiting for the wallpaper to arrive at the store, but you can see it here.

Now that this much is done, I like to just stare at their rooms. Paint makes such a difference! Tommorrow I'm going to enjoy NOT painting for the first time in many days!

My mom is coming for a visit in a week! Yay! We're going up to Park City for a girl's night out. She'll only be here for the weekend, but I'm soooo looking forward to it!

More Quilty Goodness!

2009-02-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

I just finished DD1's quilt--yay! I'm tempted to keep it for myself : ). I found this fabric and ordered it online (It's called Soiree by Lila Tuller--I got mine on Ebay). I just HAD to have it! I didn't do anything fancy as far as creating quilt blocks or anything because I didn't want to loose the beauty of the individual fabric patterns. With these 5" squares I can still enjoy them all (if you click the picture you can see it bigger). Off I go to watch TV and snuggle in this quilt before I give it to my daughter tomorrow.

Long time no blog!

2009-02-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

I am making myself sit and blog tonight because it has been so long (for me, anyway). There hasn't really been anything exciting going on. I suggested to DD that I could help her stop sucking her thumb, and she thought that was a great idea (lucky me!). So, we wrapped it for a few days with waterproof sports tape. She seemed to kick the habit very quickly because even without the tape she hasn't been sucking it. Even when she hurts herself and would normally want the thumb. Good job DD!My other daughter has started doing her own hair. She loves coming up with new styles, some of which are quite impressive! This is what she came up with for church on Sunday:
Well, wish I had more to share, but that's it! Have a great day!

Quilting 101

2009-01-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

I always have some kind of creative obsession going on. Lately it's quilting. I'd made a couple of rag quilts before so I made another one of those for DD2 because I had never made one for her (the older two kids each have one made from denim and pieces of their baby receiving blankets). When I found the flannel for hers online, I just HAD to have it. I wish I had gotten more though. It is the perfect size for her but is pretty small and I couldn't give it a regular pattern like I had originally wanted to.

The backside isn't as pretty, but is very cuddly!

While I was making the rag quilt, the other two kids wanted me to make them something too. I was itching to try a real quilt, so I made one for DS. It ended up being about 4'x5' so I was able to do all of the top stitching on my machine. I love it!
I'll be making DD1 a quilt of her own next month. The fabric I want isn't available until February so I can't start until then. You can see it here. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Sooooo much catching up!

2009-01-18T19:07:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Christmas memories this year was watching DD2's preschool performance. It was a riot! It was at a dance studio so there were a lot of mirrors. DD was placed at the end of the row and she quickly became fascinated with watching herself in the mirror. DD1 helped me film this, so sorry for the camera being dropped half way through the video (that part was actually my fault). We laughed and laughed and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing!

If anyone can tell me how to turn this video so it's right-side-up, please tell me!

I also wanted to post some Christmas pictures--better late than never!

Santa left this cute toy for DD. He also almost finished off the cookies we left him. He left the kids a note and told them about meeting Smuckers (who came to eat the cookie crumbs his elves dropped on the floor). Santa also explained that he knew DD1 wanted a cell phone and he would consider bringing her one when she is older : )

Barbies for the girls from Nanna!

And Bitty twin dolls from G&G Mundy.....
I got a picture of them with thier "twins" tonight. Notice DD2's teeth! She actually looks pretty cute with the missing teeth!

DS got video games, a metal erector set (fun for him AND Daddy!), and some cool Playmobil pirate sets.

It was a great day! It was snowing out so we waited until the next day to go see Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. We really liked it.

I'll have to post again soon with pictures of my new craft obsession---quilting! I already made DD2 a rag quilt and I'm almost done with DS's traditional quilt. Next month I'll make one for DD1--the fabric I want won't be released until February.

Feeling Sad : (

2009-01-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday poor DD2 fell down the stairs. Poor thing! She was ok except for a tooth that she had bumped. It had moved back from its original position and it bled some. Unfortunately, it continued a slow bleed all through the day and night. It looked pretty gross this morning. I took her to the dentist today. They took an x-ray and it showed that the root was broken. The tooth needed to be removed. The dentist said that in the case of removing a front baby tooth, it was best to remove both. I think he said that it was best for the alignment of the other teeth and the permanent ones coming in later. Here are her teeth. You can totally see that the roots were broken off of the one tooth: (SORRY--IT'S GROSS)Now I just feel horrible! After watching her go through that and then wondering if I should have gotten a second opinion, I just feel sick. I can't really cry about it because the kids are all here and I don't want them to worry. I've really liked him as a dentist and have no reason not to trust his opinion. It was just such a whirlwind and I didn't really expect to have to have even one tooth pulled. Now I'm worried about speech development and all kinds of things. Ugh. I wish DH was home, even though he can't really do anything. It would just be good to have him here.

On a happier note, my final Christmas present. I love it!

The Rest of the Family Photos

2009-01-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

I guess I missed the boat on printing pictures of Christmas. Oops! I'll have to do it so that it will be in next year's book.
So, here are the rest of our family pictures. I want the grandparents to see them so that I can send them prints, and I figured this was the easiest way to do it! The photographer gave me a cd with my top 10 pictures on it. I am not crazy about the way I look in this first one, but trying to get all 5 of us to look good in the same picture is near impossible.
DD1 lost two bottom teeth this week! She looks so cute with the space in her teeth and the slight difference it makes in the way she sounds. I always get nostalgic looking at the first teeny-weeny teeth they loose. Awwww.....

This one is even better!

2008-12-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

My friend Holly sent me an even better picture of the hair--check it out! It wasn't curly at all until I turned 13 or so--then it just got progressively curlier. Where were hair straightening products back when I needed them? One time in college we actually ironed it out on the ironing board. Pretty soon after that it started getting straighter all on it's own.

The Hair

2008-12-21T21:11:00.001-08:00

Back when I posted "Yearbook Yourself", I wrote a little about what my hair used to be like and how hard it was for me to deal with. I'm so glad those days are in the past! Of course, I'm thankful that I had hair in the first place, but it drove me nuts anyway : ). One of my buddies from St. Louis posted a picture of me on Facebook and I copied it here for those of you who wanted to see what it used to look like (unfortunately, I don't have a scanner). Keep in mind that this was on a GOOD hair day. Meet the hair:If I don't post here again before Thursday, have a great Christmas!

Family Pics by Little Wunders

2008-12-18T21:25:00.000-08:00

As one of my Christmas gifts this year, the fam went to get pictures taken last Saturday. Our next door neighbor from our old neighborhood is a gifted photographer so we had her do the shoot. I would love to do an outdoor session sometime, but last Saturday was a blizzard so these were taken in her studio. Love them. There are more, but these are the only public ones for now:

You can check out her website at www.littlewundersphotography.com

It's Official----Blurb Rocks!

2008-12-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

Yay! My book came today. I am totally pleased with the results. I chose the least expensive size, I think it's 7x7. I upgraded the binding some. It's a hard, imagewrap cover which comes with library binding. It ended up costing $35. I got lucky because they were offering free shipping at the time. The only thing I would change is the cover--I wish I had designed a better cover, but oh well.

Check it out--here's the front coverAnd the back cover:

And some of the inside pages (there are 100 pages):Here's my little project for today--neighbor gifts. I wasn't even sure I was going to do any neighbor gifts this year, but when I saw this on another blog somewhere I decided to try it. I dipped the marshmallows in a glaze made of powdered sugar and a bit of water. I scraped the excess glaze off and dipped the marshmallow in crushed candy cane. I'm handing them out with packets of hot chocolate. It was super easy, just what I needed.

Our San Diego Adventure

2008-12-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

We just got back around 5pm today. Whew! What a long drive! San Diego was so fun though, it was totally worth the time in the car. We rented from Redbox a lot. We broke the drive up into 2 parts. We drove to Primm first, then the rest of the way on Friday.

The first thing we wanted to do was go to the beach. So, as soon as we checked into our room, we took off for Mission Beach. I LOVE the beach. It was pretty cold, but so fun. The kids were jumping in the water and discovering all of the cool things in the sand. They had never been to the ocean before, so seeing seaweed and waves for the first time was exciting.

That night we walked over to Old Town and looked in some of the shops (and bought some fudge--yum!). We had told the kids that they could each get a souvenir at some point on our trip, so they were very excited to look at all the things in the shops and scope out what they wanted to get.

The next morning we headed out to Point Loma. I was really looking forward to looking at the tide pools. When we got there it was still high tide, so we decided to wait and come back later that evening. This is what the area looked like before low tide: We drove to the old Point Loma lighthouse to check it out and enjoy the amazing views. Then we went back to Mission Beach where we bought sand buckets and shovels for the kids. We had a blast digging in the sand and combing the beach for interesting shells.

At around 3:30, the tide was low enough to look at the tide pools. It was pretty crowded because it was the weekend and the area closes at 4:30, so we didn't have a ton of time. This is the area that was totally covered in water in the last picture. There are all kinds of interesting little critters to find here. We loved it so much that we went back a second time before we came home.Lots and lots of hermit crabs and kelpy stuff

Lots of crabs hiding in the crevices of the cliff
We found some fish (can you spot him?)
He's in the middle of the photo, he's brown, and he's right above the horizontal blade of grass-like stuff.

I was excited to find this cool sea snail with some kind of plant growing on his back.

The next two days we went to Sea World. DH took this picture at the Shamu show--pretty awesome!
We all loved the dolphins, especially DS. I loved watching DH and the kids feed the seals (I was being the photographer). They were barking at us like crazy and the herons were sitting on the railing just waiting to steal a fish. One of them stole a fish that the kids had put in one of the upper holes. The seal just wasn't quick enough that time!DH and DS wanted to ride Journey to Atlantis. I really didn't want to because it was pretty cold outside, so getting wet didn't sound fun. They got on together and the girls and I waited where we could see the boats come by. DS didn't like it very much--he was pretty scared, poor guy. I snapped this picture as they passed us. Later on when I got a closer look at the picture and the look on his face, we all had a good laugh.
Our last night there, my old roommate Stefani (Auntie Stefani), came and picked me up and we went out to dessert. We had a great time catching up. We went to a place called "Decadent Desserts" and shared a slice of Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake and a Triple Berry Cobbler. Mmmmmmm. I also got to see her house and her twin baby girls (who were fast asleep and super cute). It was great girl bonding time. Thanks for the night out, Stefi-Bear!

In the morning before we headed out, we stopped at the La Jolla children's beach. It is a beach that was created for children with a giant wall constructed to protect the beach from the waves. However, the seals thought that sounded good too, and have taken over the beach. It's been that way for many, many years and is a contraversial subject with the locals. I asked a nice lady there where the children's beach was, and she told us where to find it. Then she said "It's not really for kids though, there's a bunch of seals there". I said that we knew that and wanted to go see the seals, and she (jokingly, but not really) said "I'd like to take a gun to those seals"! It was interesting. We loved watching the seals. Here's a picture of the whole area and a close up of a super cute seal that DH took with his camera (we weren't really as close as it seems).

This is a super long post! You probably feel like you took the vacation yourself!

Christmas Tag

2008-11-25T12:30:00.001-08:00

I was tagged by Hollie at The Traylor Park Blog with this Christmas tag:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I'd use all bags if everything fit in them
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the week of Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? Between Christmas and New Years Eve.
5. Do you like eggnog? No. A sip or two is ok, but not anymore than that.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My brother made me a doll house one Christmas--but it was for animals because I didn't like dolls. I was a tomboy.
7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband
8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself : )
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes--two of them. My mom buys us a new piece each year. This year I got the star backdrop to the Willow Tree set.
10. Mail or E-mail Christmas cards? Mail--in fact, I need to get some of your addresses so I can send one out to my blog friends, too.
11. Worst Christmas gift ever recieved? I plead the fifth
12. Favorite Christmas movie? Either "It's a Wonderful Life" or "A Christmas Story". They're so different, it's like comparing apples to oranges.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In October. I'm pretty much done by Thanksgiving. It's just because I like to shop so much!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No--I can't hold on to things I don't want for that long. We've given back some White Elephant gifts just to be funny. There are a few things that show up in the white elephant exchange each year--one is a framed picture of Kyle's face and another is a giant pair of underwear.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mmmmm.....there are too many to name! I like to make a big breakfast Christmas morning with maple sausage and french toast.
16. Lights on the tree? Definitely. But only white ones, and not the blinking kind.
17. Favorite Christmas song? I'm not sure. I like the Hallalujah Chorus a lot.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Stay at home. But, we can get a little bored here all by ourselves, so this year I think we'll get tickets to that new Adam Sandler movie and go see that in the afternoon sometime.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph---not sure that's all of them.
20. Angel on the tree top or star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I like to let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve--especially if we're just home for the evening.
22. The most annoying thing about this time of year? Feeling overscheduled.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I added a lime green ribbon this year to match my living room. The rest is gold and red. I like to go to Target the morning after Christmas to get really cute, cheap stuff for the next year.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Lots of finger foods, like at my dad and stepmoms house when I was growing up. Wings, little smokies, dips (seven layer dip and dill dip in a bread bowl), and Christmas cookies for dessert!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I always pick out my own things--I like to. This year, I picked out a California King comforter set because the king sets are never wide enough to cover a king matress. We are also getting family pictures taken (we've never done it before--I'm so excited)!

I tag anyone who is looking for some blogging material!

Yearbook Yourself

2008-11-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

You've got to try this--it's very entertaining : ) I found a website called Yearbook Yourself that shows you what your yearbook picture would have looked like from the 60's to the 90's. Check these out!

My hair was sooooo curly and fro-ey during high school that I probably would have gladly worn any of these hair-do's instead of my own! I'm sooooooo thankful that it changed during college and beyond and is now perfectly normal hair. Such a relief!

Anyway, I'm off to download my kids' pictures so I can see them with the funny hair-do's too!

Favorite Picture of my Hubby

2008-11-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

This was taken when DH and my brother were Jeeping a month or so ago. I needed to post a pic for someone in my family who is working on a Christmas gift and needed some pics. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Fun Little Family Outing

2008-11-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

When my mom visited a while back, she wanted to go do something cultural. So I searched online for all things cultural going on in the valley. We ended up going to the BYU Homecoming Spectacular, which was totally awesome.
I also found out that the Springville Art Museum was having an exhibit of children's book illustrations done by local artists. We didn't have time to go with my mom, but we went down today. It was really cool. The pictures are fun to look at and absolutely stunning. There is a bookshelf in the room with all of the books that the artwork was used in, and there was a couch to sit down and read. The kids had a good time matching the book with the artwork on the wall. Then we sat on the couch and read some books together. It was free too!
I know I've written on here before about Blurb.com and how it can pull all of your blog info into a book format. Well, not exactly. It only works with certain blogging platforms, NOT including Blogger. Bummer. It's ok though--I've been cutting and pasting my information over into one of their regular book templates, and it's pretty fun. It's time consuming, but I can edit as I go and even copy over some comments here and there as I go. I'm all the way up to May. I can't wait to order the book see the finished product!

Happy Veterans Day and a Tag

2008-11-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Veterans Day is easy to not notice if you're a stay-at-home mom. Luckily, my Dad always sends an inspirational e-mail every year. Last year he sent the link to this video, "A Pittance of Time" by Terry Kelly. It is so touching, I promise if you take the time to watch you won't regret it.

I also got "tagged" by my friend Kellie at "Camp Run-a-Muk". I have to list 6 random things about myself:
1. Kari told me that McDonald's sells pumpkin pies for the holidays (the little ones, like their apple and cherry pies). I tried one yesterday and have been wanting one all morning long--YUM!
2. I'm worried that I'm getting another cold, and I just got over one a week ago--hoping it's just allergies!
3. I'm totally looking forward to TV tonight--it's my favorite TV night : )
4. When I was growing up I pronounced "wash" as "warsh". It's a regional thing. My roommates at BYU thought it was hilarious.
5. Toblerone is my favorite candy bar
6. We're going to San Diego in a couple of weeks. YIPEE!

I tag......Kirsti, Kari, Karley (I'm on a letter "K" roll here!), and Laura (because you didn't do my last one : P)

What is a Peanutopolis?

2008-11-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

My brother Mike is currently working in Kabul, Afghanistan (he is "Kabul Architect" on my sidebar)--I know that sounds crazy, but he is well protected and this has been a great career move for him. He'll be home again in January after a 12 week stretch in Kabul and then he'll go back. His entire commitment will last a year. It has been interesting to read about the culture there and the people he is getting to know.

This morning he sent this picture. I don't know about you, but the word "Peanutopolis" brought something totally different to mind, so I was really suprised when I saw the picture. The soda can is pretty interesting too:

Playing Tag

2008-11-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

My friend Britney at Britney's Boys got "tagged" on her blog. I'm in the mood to spend some time playing on the computer, so I'm going to play along. Here goes:

My top EIGHT:

What are your favorite TV shows?
1. The Office
2. Privileged
3. LOST
4. 30 Rock
5. Seinfeld
6. Friends
7. HGTV shows, like "House Hunters"
8. The Dog Whisperer

What are your favorite restaurants?
1. Chili's
2. Carraba's
3. Bajio
4. Cafe Rio
5. Asian Buffet
6. Imo's Pizza (St. Louis)
7. Steak n' Shake (St. Louis)
8. Olive Garden

What are 8 things that happened yesterday?
1. Got to church only 5 minutes late (that's progress!)
2. Conducted Relief Society
3. Made mummy dogs for lunch
4. Took a great, long, Sunday nap
5. Had Family Home Evening
6. Watched 48 Hours Mystery with DH
7. Blogged about the weekend
8. Read some of "The Shell Seekers"

What are 8 things you are looking forward to?
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas
3. Going on vacation (we will probably plan this soon)
4. My mom moving to Utah someday
5. The rest of my life with my husband and kids
6. Losing about 15 pounds : )
7. Doing a digital scrapbook page when I'm done with this post
8. Checking my blog tomorrow to see if anyone has left a comment

What are 8 things you love about fall?
1. The weather (that great "feeling" in the air)
2. The changing leaves
3. Halloween
4. Thanksgiving
5. Christmas shopping (I like to do it early)
6. Carmel apples
7. Smelling my "fall" scented candles--like Pumpking Spice and Witches Brew
8. Drives up the canyon

If you are one of my awesome, newly re-found St. Louis friends, then I TAG YOU!

Halloween Weekend

2008-11-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Having Halloween on a Friday is the best scenario ever. It was a really great weekend. I've had a nasty cold for a week and Friday was the day I finally started to feel human again, so that made the weekend even more enjoyable.

Thursday night was the Trunk-or-Treat at church--I still wasn't 100%, so no pictures of that event.

On Friday I went over to the school to help with DD's party. They had a good time. Afterwards (Friday is early-out day) I took the kids to see High School Musical 3. We really liked it. The girls have been pretending to be Gabriella all weekend. As the movie was starting, DD#1 leaned towards me and whispered "I like Troy. I think he looks CUTE!". I can't believe she's old enough to think that way. So cute.

After the movie we bought a costume for Smuckers. Here he is in all his pumpkin glory:Can you tell how much he hates this hat? We took it off right after I took the picture. We had fun taking him Trick-or-Treating with us.

Here are the older kids in their cool costumes (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Mundy)!

Poor DD#2 missed out on this photo-shoot, so here is a picture of her all dolled up for church this morning and acting silly:

For dinner this week we had "mummy dogs" a couple of times. They're pretty tasty!

The girls have been playing together so sweetly today. Check out the creative things they did with their Halloween stash : )

My kids crack me up--they're the best!

I Gutted a Fish!

2008-10-26T18:52:00.001-07:00

I did! Plus three more. It was totally and completely gross. Can you believe it?

This isn't the exact fish--because I didn't take any pictures. It all started with a Sunday afternoon drive to Deer Creek Reservoir. We walked around the lake a little bit and the kids threw rocks in the water. On the way back to the car we ran into a nice man who had done his Sunday fishing but was looking to give them away. Four trout.

When we got home, I did a Google search for "how to clean a trout", and then I got to work. Soooooo gross. One of them had some flourescent green stuff inside (anyone know what that was?) and one had an egg sack inside.

I can't believe I was able to eat them after seeing that. I put the fillets in some egg and bread crumbs and cooked them in a little butter and lemon juice. It was really delicious. DD#2 had a little taste, but no one else was daring enough to try it. Smuckers and Mozy helped me finish off the rest.

Shari (the Bailey family) wanted to know how I find promo codes for ordering online. Most of the time I just do a Google search for "Children's Place promo code" or whatever store I'm shopping with. You have to look around a bit because sometimes codes have expired or don't work, but it's always worth trying to find one that works.

Ode to the Internet

2008-10-24T18:59:00.001-07:00

I have loved the internet for many years. First off, I use it ALL the time to answer silly questions for myself. Like, for example, yesterday I asked "why is daylight savings time so late this year?" because the dark mornings are kicking my butt! I ended up finding out that it was actually moved to a later date starting last year to conserve energy.

Secondly, I LOVE to shop online. Once you have kids, it becomes a very convenient way to Christmas shop. I also buy a lot of their clothes online because I know when they go on sale via e-mail. Then I look up a promo code for that store to add to the sale (always do that before you buy anything on line). I still love wandering around Target when I've got some time, but online is really great--I've done tons of shopping on E-Bay.

The next reason I love the internet--digital scrapbooking. My friend Kari got me hooked on it last year and it is so much quicker and cost-efficient than the old way. I just surf around, buy digital kits (which are not very expensive), and then I can sit and scrap without the mess. Love it!

And who doesn't love e-mail?

My next internet-love to enter my life was blogging. I love it! I plan on using blurb.com to print out my blog at the end of every year. I wonder how many pages that will be? I no longer have to feel guilty about not journaling.

And my newest obsession--Facebook! Have you tried it? You aughta! I have found so many good friends from my past through Facebook and have been able to reconnect with them through their blogs. Soooo fun! I guess I'm just nosy, but I love reading about people's lives and seeing how much we have in common and what they're up to. Seeing what their kids look like is fun too.

Well, time to get the kids off to bed!

Is it physically impossible?

2008-10-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have to buy apples in bulk. Apparently, only adults are capable of finishing one : ). Not only do my kids never finish one, but they ask for another one while the half-eaten one is still sitting on the counter. Go figure. I like my apples with peanut butter lately. Yum!Have any of you tried watching Privileged? I totally love that show. It's my new favorite (along with LOST and The Office). Too bad LOST doesn't start again until January.

Woo Hoo!

2008-10-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm finally satisfied. Now I've "wasted" some of my Saturday--but it sure was fun and relaxing. Thanks for the tip, Kari. I copied the way the code was done for the header and followed that example for the main wrapper.

I am totally loving this weather! I planted some more mums today and have the windows open. I think I've got to run to the store now--I have nothing good to feed the fam for dinner. Hmmmmm.........

Yay Me!

2008-10-16T20:50:00.001-07:00

Okay, I can't say I totally love my header (I just put it together tonight), but I figured out how to change the background of my blog and how to get rid of some print that was over my header that I didn't want there. Fun stuff. I'll have to play around again tomorrow until it's exactly how I want it. There's so much more to learn!

Ummmm......

2008-10-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly learing how to change the template of my blog, and since I don't know HTML it is a slow process. I've been playing around all morning, but I'm running out of time since I'm taking the kids to see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" this afternoon. So, my blog looks totally crappy right now, but hopefully next time you stop by it will be awesomely fabulous : ).

DS's Special Day

2008-10-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

In our religion (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), children are baptised when they turn 8. This is considered the age of accountability for them.

Saturday was DS's baptism day--a very special day for him and our family. The baptism was at 9 in the morning--kind of early for all of the family that had to drive here. But, we have the best family in the world and they were all here. Here is DS and my husband right before:

DS has ALWAYS got to pull a face for a photo. I made him be a little more serious for the next pic I took.

I think my favorite memory was right after DS was done being baptised and right before the next boy came down into the water. I was feeling teary-eyed. I was feeling the Spirit so strongly along with love for my first-born. My sweet little 4-year-old daughter was standing in front of the font where she was able to see her brother's baptism better. She turned around and said in a very loud voice "Mommy, I don't want to go in da water because I can't bweath in dare!" I thought it was totally hilarious! But, being a good mommy, I told her to "Shhhhhhh!"

Here are the girls all dressed up in matching dresses from Nanna:

When we were all done at the church it was snowing outside. The next morning we had a couple of inches on the ground. It was really pretty. After the baptism we had everyone over to our house for a big breakfast of belgian waffles and breakfast casserole. It was a great day.

Havin' Fun With the Fam

2008-10-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

My big brother just left yesterday after a week long visit. We had a great time. My mom's visit overlapped his and she'll be here for almost another week. Yesterday we went to Gardner Village (the big kids were at school). Mostly we went for lunch, but we went in a few shops too. My brother had the same opinion of the place that my husband does. He said it was "Wall to wall women and knick-knacks". I think he liked the food though : ). My DD loved looking at the witches. It was hard to convince her to follow us around the place because she wanted to stay and look at each witch.

Leave a Freaking Comment Day!

2008-10-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

I got this marvelous little idea from my friend Christina. Any of you who have a blog know how fun it is to see comments waiting for you. I know my readers are there because my traffic feed tells me so. I would love to know who you are! Celebrate "Leave a Freaking Comment Day" by leaving me a comment! It only takes a minute, and it would make this blogger very happy!

DD and I are back from St. Louis. It was a bit of a stressful trip because my poor little girl was sick the whole time. UGH! The night we got there we went to eat at a fantastic Mexican restaurant--Casa Gallardo. It's another of those places that I did not fully appreciate until I moved away. That night at about midnight she started moaning that her tummy hurt. Soon after that she barfed. Fun stuff, huh? It was one of those sicknesses that goes on and on and on. I dropped her off at my mom's house on Sunday so that I could go to the "Celebration of Life" that my Dad and Stepmom have every year near the anniversary of my little brother's accident. It's at a beautiful outdoor winery and it is a good time for everyone. Here I am with my dad at the party: I really thought DD was all better when I dropped her off, but it ended up she wasn't. Poor mom! I asked her if she had been able to have any fun with DD at all and she said "Actually, not really". If any of you know her, it had to be really bad for her to say that. So, this is pretty much how DD spent the trip:

The trip was still a great one though. I got to spend great, quality, relaxing time with my family and that is the most important thing we could have done. I also got to spend time with my dearest friend Debbie, who was my best bud all through high school. And DD and I were both healthy and happy for the plane ride home (big relief!)

My big brother Mike is here for nearly a week--so fun! My mom will be here soon, too. DS is being baptised on the 11th. Wow! I can't believe he is 8 already. He is such a great boy. I pray that I have taught him and prepared him for this step in his life.

If any of you know my friend Kari, her twins are here! She had them on Saturday and named them Jonathan and Julian. They're doing great and just came home. I can't wait to see them!

Our Little Yoda

2008-09-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

We went and picked up Yoda on Wednesday. I'm a crazy person! It has actually been just fine so far. Mosey likes to spend a lot of time outdoors, so we don't have all three animals here all the time. Smuckers is very interested in being buddies with this new kitten. He's a little sick now from all the stress of the shelter, surgery (he got the snip-snip), and a new home. Poor thing. He's a lot more receptive to the kids and Smuckers than Mosey is, which is why we went ahead and got him. I went into DD's room last night and this is what I saw (it was really dark, but the flash makes it look like daytime).
I thought it was really amusing that they both have their arms up (it doesn't take much to amuse me). DD always sleeps on top of the covers like this, and she always has so many stuffed animals in the bed that there's hardly room for her. I love how she covered him with the blanket before they fell asleep : ).

The Prodigal Kitty Returns

2008-09-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

Our new kitty, Mosey, was finally adjusting to our home. He was letting the kids pet him, sneaking some sniffs of Smuckers (the dog, not the peanut butter), and was even staying out and about when our house was crazy with extra kids. Then I had to throw a wrench in the whole thing.

I went to Albertson's last Saturday to hit their GM sale and get extra boxtops for the kids' school. When I came out I saw a dog wandering the parking lot. It's not a great place for a dog to be wandering because it's right on Main Street and there is a lot of traffic. So I called the dog over and she came right to me. She was a German Shepard/Huskie mix named Molly. She was the sweetest thing. I figured the best thing to do would be to take her home to my backyard until I could reach her owner. She slept on the floor of the van all the way home.

Mosey is an indoor cat, so I figured that if Molly stayed outside and Mosey stayed inside, all would be well. But, for some insane reason, Mosey decided to sneak out for a little fresh air and then wouldn't return because the dog was there. I don't know how Mosey got past Molly in the first place (to get outside). Go figure. I was really upset about the whole thing. Here I am trying to help one animal in need, and I lose another! Molly is waiting for her owners at the animal shelter now. If anyone is looking for a really awesome dog, you should check her out (although I'm pretty confident that her owners will come looking--they must have been gone on vacation or something). She was super sweet and obedient.

So on Friday I was watching some morning news show and they were talking about Utah animal shelters and I decided to do some more searching for Mr. Whiskers an Mosey. I had already scoped out our own shelter two times, so I searched online photos of some other shelters. I found a picture that looked just like Mr. Whiskers and all of the stats matched, so off we went to take a look. With kids in tow, we made the drive, only to find that it wasn't him. But who could resist looking at the kitties? I really enjoy having a cat around the house because they are just so entertaining. We checked out four different kitties in the "get aquainted room" and found a great one. "Yoda" was only about three months old. He loves the kids and has been around dogs. He was so cute and playful. I have an adoption appointment for Tuesday. The kids are so excited.

So, guess who shows up at our back door last night? Mosey!

We were all so excited to see him alive and well after worrying about him for an entire week! He got lots of loves and hugs. He's a great kitty. But, as you can imagine, the kids have been asking, and asking, and asking "but what about Yoda? We love Yoda too!".

Can you believe the luck? The very day that I get my children all excited about a new kitty, our Mosey shows up! I'm really wrestling with this dilemma! Right now I'm thinking we're going to have two kitties! (and a dog, and fish : P Sheesh!)

Building Bears

2008-09-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

All of my kids' birthdays happen within about 6 weeks. It can be a little nuts. I told the kidlets that they could either have a little party with friends or we could go to build a bear. They chose build a bear--I was glad. A little more costly, but soooo much easier! Here are some pics from the big day.

The hardest part was picking which animal they liked the best. They were all very thoughtful about their decisions. We ended up making a turtle (really cute, his "shell" is a backpack), a bunny, and an elephant.

Here is "Cuddly" the elephant being stuffed:

And now it is "Fluffles" turn:

And then came the funnest part of all, in my opinion. Picking out clothes!
We all had a good time and hopefully it was a memorable event for the kiddos. I won't be able to get away with doing things like this with all three of them for much longer. I'm sure my little boy will be way too mature for something like this by next year : )

Happy Birthday DS!

2008-09-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been eight years! I was just reflecting today on the birth of my little guy--how it felt to bring home a brand new baby and be a new mother. That first night was rough, and I felt like a fish out of water. Now he is a happy 8 year old and I can't imagine life without him. He is such a fun, talented, kind, sensitive little man. I am thankful every day for each of my kids and the joy and growth they bring to my life.

We let him open most of his presents yesterday because it was a holiday and he would be able to really enjoy his new toys. He got several Lego sets, a Tomagatchi, and a brand new bike (that one was saved for this morning).

Here is his birthday cake. I discovered today that icing cakes is not one of my talents. I guess I need some more practice : )

Today was DD#2's first day back to preschool. She was so excited to go. Her teacher mailed her a letter a couple of weeks ago and she kept talking about giving it back to Miss Nicole as a gift. She has it in her hand in this picture.

I had 2 1/2 hours of time alone this morning. I went to the bank, went to the insurance office (we have to re-do everything we did six months ago to update our life insurance because our old agent is an idiot), went and got a new pair of shoes (yay, me!), and picked up McDonalds to take to DS for his birthday. It was fun--and DD had a great time!

Happy Birthday DD#1

2008-08-27T17:15:00.001-07:00

My sweet daughter had a birthday yesterday. I think she had a good one. We woke her up at 6:45 to open her presents before school.DS loved it too. Here he's helping her take off the Hello Kitty backpack clip I had tied on the box. It's a pair of shoes in the box--not really birthday present material, but since I had just bought them the day before I figured I might as well wrap them up for her. Her first game for the Wii. She also got a Belle dress and wand (you can see the dress on the right). She really loves this glow board. If your kids like to draw, I highly recommend it. I even had some fun playing with it the night before. I left a message on it for her to see when she turned it on.She headed off to school at 8. I went to McDonalds and picked up a Happy Meal for her at lunch time. I got to take it to her in the lunch room. It was cute to see the other little kids saying "No fair! I want McDonald's for lunch too!"
This picture makes me want to give her a great big hug! Here she is in her new snuggly bath robe. After school we went to Dippidee to pick out cupcakes. YUM! She sat at the table with this cupcake three different times before she finished the whole thing! Their cupcakes are filled with creme--they're divine.

Last weekend we took all three kids to Build a Bear to celebrate their birthdays (they chose that instead of having a party, and I was really happy with their decision!) I'll post pictures of that later. I also need to post pictures of our Sunday drive up to Bridal Veil Falls.

I'll leave you with this last picture of our new kitty, Mosey. We wanted to change his name to Waffle, but we've been using his original name for so long now that I don't know if we'll ever switch it. I call him Mr. Moseby sometimes (if your kids watch Zach and Cody you'll know where that comes from--even though I can't stand that show!).

He has had a hard week adjusting to life with kids and a dog, but he is doing really well now. I think he'll even be friends with Smuckers in another week or so. You know how some cats come running when you open a can of tuna? Well, Mosey comes whenever he hears me typing on the computer. I think he knows he'll get some good lap time when he hears that sound. He has really gigantic eyes too. Unfortunately, the anti-red-eye flash on my camera has the opposite effect on cats. Check out this picture!

First Day of School and Carseat Make-Over

2008-08-19T08:18:00.001-07:00

The kids had a great first day of school! DD#1 was excited but DS didn't want to go. He's always been a home-body, but once he gets out he always has a good time. Here's a picture of the two of them right before they left.The look on his face perfectly sums up his feelings about the first day of school : (

While they were gone I went down to Animal Control to look for our Mr. Whiskers, who's been missing for a week. I really miss him. He wasn't a very cuddly cat, but he was so cute and so funny. Needless to say, he wasn't there (Animal Control holds animals for 2 weeks before adopting them out, so if they found him, he would've been there). We figure he either got hit by a car (not super likely in our neighborhood), taken by someone, or he jumped in someone's car or truck and got driven away to somewhere (if you knew him, you know that this is a likely possibility).

I want another cat but I don't want to go through the neutering and all that, so I looked on ksl.com. I found a kitty that is neutered, lives with a dog, and is super cute that the owner has to give up because of asthma. DD and I are going up to meet him at lunchtime. If that works out, I'll post some pictures.

DD's carseat is pink and was getting pretty gross looking. I even tried bleaching the cover, but it still looked gray. Unfortunately, replacement car seat covers are nowhere to be found (they probably want you to just buy a new carseat). I found one cover on Graco's website, but it was totally ugly. So, I decided to be brave and try to fix the problem myself. I went and picked up a $4 fleece blanket at Target and sewed peices right onto the existing cover so that it would still be padded. Here it is!I am so excited about the way it turned out! I think I could do this as a little business, don't you? The actual seat part was the easiest, the armrests were a little trickier. My other kids want me to do their carseats too because hers is so soft now.

I Pretty Much Lived In My Kitchen For Two Days!

2008-08-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

I had two friends with baby showers this week (and I was totally excited to be able to help plan the parties!). A few months ago at a church enrichment night someone showed us how to make "cupcake bouquets". I couldn't wait to give it a try! So, I made one on Wednesday for one of the showers and another on Thursday for the other shower. Here is how it all turned out:It was a lot of work--but worth it! I painted and stamped the pot, topped it with a styrofoam ball, used skewers cut in thirds to attach the cupcakes, and added some greenery. My first attempt actually turned out better than the second. On the second try I got a little to confident and didn't let the frosting set long enough before I tried putting the cupcakes on the bouquet. The icing kind of "slid" off of a few on the bottom row. I also had to drive to the second shower which resulted in some smushed frosting on a few of the "roses". All in all, it was a fun project. I'll definitely do it again sometime.

A bunch of us at church put in an order for berries from Bibell Farms in Oregon. They came in a big truck to deliver them Thursday morning. The strawberries were capped already, the blueberries are totally delicious, and they were all individually flash frozen. I split two 14 pound boxes with a friend of mine. I already whipped up a batch of strawberry-blueberry freezer jam on Thursday (I told you I pretty much lived in my kitchen!) I plan on doing some plain strawberry as well, but I had to take a break from the kitchen after all of my "projects" last week!

The Battle of the Bulge

2008-08-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, my self-deprivation is paying off--five pounds gone! Yay! Six more and I'll treat myself to a little clothes-shopping spree. Last weekend I "fell of the wagon" for a little bit--I had a delicious frozen s'mores drink (thanks, Kari!), ate an entire bag of toffee peanuts (Yum!) and had some cookies for FHE (that's our family Sunday night tradition). Monday I started back up with the healthy-foods-only and it has been a lot easier because I gave myself that little break. Good luck to me at these baby showers today and tomorrow, though! How do you make cupcakes and not sample some?

Aaaaaah.......Soft, Cushy Couches!

2008-08-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Yay! We got new couches delivered last Friday! Our old couch was purchased about 8 1/2 years ago and served us well, but our family has grown by 3 since then. So, we got this gorgeous couch/loveseat set (they are super soft and recline!) Now there's a spot for all of us--especially if we have company over!

All of the accents in this room used to be brick red, but after visiting the Stampin Up offices a couple of weeks ago and seeing the cool decor in there, I decided lime green was what I wanted. They had a room at Stampin Up for the employees to relax in (the "idea room") and it had brown leather couches with lime green pillows and a big, lime green, shag rug. I was going for that same feel. I picked up the pillows and curtains at Ikea--love that place! Anyway, it's fun to have a little change every now and then.

Only one more week until school starts! I have enjoyed the summer with the kids, but I think we're all ready to get back into the routine of school. I've got two baby showers to go to this week--it'll be lots of fun!

SU Convention & Motivated to Diet!!!

2008-07-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

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 : )

2008-07-29T14:51:00.003-07:00

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

2008-07-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

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

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!

I'm a Dork (but at least I realize it!)

2008-06-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I'm dorky is because I like to buy cute collars for my pets. My friends could probably give you a few other reasons : P. Most people would be satisfied with your run-of-the-mill solid colored Wal-Mart collar. Not me. If I'm spending 7 dollars or so on a collar, it might as well be cute, right? So, tonight I was looking around on Ebay and found a store that has the cutest collars ever. I wish Mr. Whiskers was a girl, because the girly ones were the cutest, but there were some good boy ones too. This is the one I picked:

They had seasonal collars too and I plan on getting some. They had black with candy corns for Halloween and blue with Christmas trees. So cute!

Then, I came across an E-Bay store that sells little bell charms for the cat collars. When I saw this one, I HAD to have it:

I think it looks like Smuckers! Since Smuckers and Mr. Whiskers are buddies, I couldn't resist getting this for Mr. Whisker's collar.

See, that's kind of dorky, huh? Oh, well. I know ya'll love me anyway!

Yesterday we spent a lot of time working in the yard. I planted a few more things, DH worked on the waterfall, and we got a patio set! YAY! We ate dinner out there tonight. We put the table in the "notch" of our house because it gets shady in that spot around 5:00 at night. I'll take some pictures of it soon so that you can see it. The yard is really coming together. Our next big job is to landscape the area against the fence. It is full of huge weeds right now. We need to lay down some landscape fabric and rocks to keep that under control.

The New Haircut

2008-06-19T09:47:00.001-07:00

I couldn't stand the long hair anymore! So, last night I finally made the time to go in for a haircut.

DS took the picture for me. He did a good job (it's a little fuzzy, but who cares). I'm really enjoying having the kids around during the day. I feel like I'm reconnecting with them in ways that don't happen during the busy schoolyear.

This is the picture I took in when I got my haircut:

My hair had grown really long, so when the stylist looked at the picture she said "You're not messing around, are you?"

Granted, my version isn't nearly as glamorous looking as hers, but I really like it. Sometimes it's fun to do something totally different.

Mosaic of Me

2008-06-16T20:07:00.001-07:00

My friend Kari did one of these on her blog (My Sweet Life) and I thought it looked fun. I had a good time looking through all of the photos on Flickr to pick the ones I wanted--I would love to get into photography someday.
Anyway, here are the "instructions" for making the mosaic (I totally didn't follow b--half the fun is seeing what results you get!).

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

Here are the questions and answers that go with the photos:

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Tamara. Apparently this is some architectual masterpiece that shares my name.

2. What is your favorite food? I love Chinese food. Nothing too exotic though. There were plenty of pictures of really funky Chinese food--no thank you!

3. What school did you go to? BYU--one of the photos was a picture of a poster from BYU that said "How long is your hemline?" It went on to say "Leggings do not make a skirt longer or a dress the correct length." Pretty funny stuff. Brings back memories of the "Don't let yourself fall short" campaign that encouraged knee length shorts when I was there. I totally love BYU--but that stuff is still pretty funny because you wouldn't see it anywhere else!

4. What is your favorite color? Currently it's green.

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Josh Holloway (LOST). It's ok with DH--his is Kate.

6. Favorite drink? Diet Coke. I'd like to think that's my only vice.

7. Dream vacation? Ireland

8. Favorite dessert? I always love chocolate, but creme brulee is like heaven in a cup! And, if creme brulee's around, you're probably eating at a really great restaurant.

9. What you want to be when you grow up? As happy as I am right now.

10. What do you love most in life? Loving others and being loved. I just really enjoy my family and my friends.

11. One word to describe you. Creative

12. Your flickr name. OK, I messed this one up, but I didn't want to lose my whole mosaic trying to fix it (yes, I lost it once and actually started all over again!). I don't have a flickr name, so I searched "nameless". Apparently, some guy out there has a cat named "Nameless" and he takes lots of pictures of him. That's what should have been there. Oh, well.

Anyway, since this is my journal of sorts, hopefully generations to come will enjoy these little tidbits about me--maybe not, but it was fun anyway!

Super Busy Weekend!

2008-06-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Too bad I forgot to take my camera anywhere! I could have had some great pictures to share--oh, well. On Friday, my two oldest finished their Level 1 swimming lessons. They totally loved it--even though we froze most days. I think we only had 3 days of good weather out of the 10 days of lessons. They can both float now and are very proud of themselves. We're taking a couple of weeks off and then they will do another 2 weeks of lessons. At that point, they should actually be able to swim. Fun stuff!

Anyway, I knew that the last day of lessons was just a free swim day. However, no one told me that the free swim was for family members too. I also had no idea that the free swim was from 9 to 12. So, poor DD#2 and I sat at the edge of the pool in the hot, hot sun waving to the other two playing in the water. The pool is too far from home to just run back, so I ended up getting the wet kids in the car, racing up the street to Shopko, buying a suit for me and DD#2 in record time, and heading back down to the pool. We ended up having a great time playing together--totally worth the hassle. AND, what a bonus, I actually really like the suit I bought. Totally cute.

DH wanted to head down to Fairview for a visit with his parents and some jeeping up in the mountains. He drove his jeep, I took the van, and we headed down. We haven't spent the night there in ages because the kids just can't settle down for a good nights sleep when they're all wound up. Last time we tried, DS kept tickling DD#1 and we kept telling them to calm down or we'd head back home. Finally, DD#1 yelled down to us "He wouldn't stop tickling me and I peed a little on the bed!". Ugh. We drove home at 10:30 that time. This time they were really good. DH and I went in there to supervise until they fell asleep. I think they were totally exhausted from the jeep rides. We all came home sunburned and tired.

DH's parents rent out part of their land to farmers who need to keep livestock somewhere. Right now they have horses. I rode out on the four wheeler with Uncle Jon to feed them some carrots. There was one that really, really enjoyed our company. If we would move away from it to look at something else he would slowly work his way over to us again. He liked to be so close that he was almost touching us. It was really cute--wish I had a picture of that!

Cousins (of another sort)

2008-06-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well, my parents all got back from Ireland safe and sound. They all had a great time. My Dad and Stepmom said that whenever they told someone their last name was "Mundy", people would say "Oh, have you heard of the singer by that name?". Turns out he sings his own version of an Irish folktune called "Galway Girl". It is a totally fun and catchy song. Give it a listen!

http://www.bebo.com/FlashBox.jsp?FlashBoxId=1583608575&FlashViewType=Personal&MemberId=450618348

Anyway, turns out that while my parents were gone, I rented P.S. I Love You to watch. DH has been swamped with freelance work, so I took the opportunity to watch some chick flicks while he was busy on the computer. When I listened to "Galway Girl" I immediately recognized it from the movie. It was kind of one of those wierd ironic connections. Interesting.

When my parents got home, they received a call from my little brother's widow. She told them that it was getting really crowded in the house she's in and as much as she hated to, she needed to get rid of one of the dogs (one was my little brother's, one was hers). My parents said they would love to have Bridgett. It's kind of like having a little piece of Dan back. Bridgett is a corgi just like my Smuckers. Don't they make cute cousins? This one's Bridgett:

And this one's my Smuckers:

My love of corgis all began with this book by Tasha Tudor that I had when I was growing up:

Notice the corgi in the lower left corner. They were all through the book, and I always thought they were so cute. Many years later, when my little brother got married, he called to say they had bought some dogs. He told me that he had driven many hours to get a Corgi. I thought it was pretty cool that we were both drawn to the same breed because we had never discussed it before. So, after his accident, I saw corgi puppies in the paper and convinced DH to drive me down to Nephi to "at least take a look". Well, how can you pass up utter cuteness? I was a little nervous when we first brought him home, but now I couldn't imagine not having him. He's the perfect little dog (except for the shedding!)

Husband and Wife Tag

2008-05-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

My cute sister-in-law Sarah (the Mundy Family), tagged me for this husband and wife meme. I'm so glad because I was lacking any new blogging ideas this week, so here we go:

What is his name? Kyle (a.k.a. Pookey or Sweetie)
How long have you been married? 12 years
How old is he? 34 (35 in July)
Who eats more? He does
Who said I love you first? He did the Hans Solo/Princess Leah thing and said "Do you love me?" I said "yes" and he said "I know". I was not amused and had no idea that this was from a movie until a couple of years ago. His friend showed up right as this was happening. As soon as the friend left he told me he loved me too.
Who is taller? Kyle--by about an inch
Who sings better? I think we're an even match, but he doesn't like to be heard
Who is smarter? Book smarts, maybe me. Common sense smarts--definitely him.
Whose temper is worse? I get mad more often, but when he gets mad it's worse. We're both pretty easy to get along with and we rarely fight.
Who does the laundry? I do it. : P
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Kyle does. I like being closer to the air conditioning vent than he does.
Who cooks dinner? Me.
Who drives when you are together? Kyle always does and I like it that way.
Who is more stubborn? Definitely me.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Hmmmm....I don't know. Maybe we're an even match on that one.
Whose parents do you see the most? Kyle's
Who has more friends? Me. Kyle is very easy going and everyone who knows him likes him, but I am more outgoing and social
Who has the most siblings? Kyle (5).
Who wears the pants in the family? We share them. It's very cuddly : ).

I tag Kari and Christina

Thinking Green

2008-05-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Well, my Dad and Stepmom have been in Ireland for a week now, and my Mom and her friend just left yesterday. I hope they are all having a great time. I was thinking the other day that Ireland is somewhere I really need to visit someday. I have ancestors from there through my direct blood line, but my Stepdad (who has passed away) had ancestors from there and would have loved to go there. I think that's one reason my Mom was so eager to go there. In honor of Memorial Day we watched part of a taped interview with my Stepdad that we taped many years ago--that was our family home evening for tonight. I'm so glad that we made that tape because it will give my children a chance to know him.

I also think of the song "Danny Boy" when I think of Ireland. The first time my Dad and Stepmom went there they purchased some music CD's. One of them had the song "Danny Boy" on it and was especially significant to them because of my little brother, Danny. Years later when he passed away, that was the song that was played at the opening of the funeral. Hearing it now makes me sad, but also reminds me of him, so it has a special place in my heart.

Another thing I think of when I think of Ireland is sheep. I have always loved sheep. It really started when I was a teenager and I went on a country bikeride with my Dad. We approached a field of sheep and I was excited because I love any kind of animal. Then all ran away and hid behind a barn. Shyly, they slowly started sticking their heads out from behind the barn and were making their cute little "baaaa" noises. I was just totally endeared by their sweet little personalities. I'm sure my mom will think of me evertime she sees a sheep over there.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ireland to enjoy (aren't the sheep so cute?):

Life in These Here Parts

2008-05-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much lately--shame on me! I'm in this bad habit of thinking that if I don't have any pictures to share that it's not worth writing a post. Luckily, we have taken some pictures this past week or so, so I've got some things to show you all. On Mother's Day (which was also my birthday) we went down to Fairview to see DH's mom. Fairview is about 1 1/2 hours away, so the drive is a drag, but it sure is pretty:

Here is a picture of DD out on the paddleboats with her Uncle John and Cousin Derek. We love getting to see Uncle John because he works in Africa and is gone a lot. They took Smuckers out with them. They could tell he couldn't make up his mind about jumping in and swimming to DH, so John gave him a little push and made up his mind for him.

It's ok though, Smuckers is a great swimmer!

Here is the beautiful waterfall that DH made in our backyard. Be sure to notice the fence in the background. YAY! Our first fenced yard. It makes it so much more peaceful back there to have that fence up.

Last year, Grandma and Grandpa got the kids a sand and water table to play with. We got some "play sand" at the hardware store, but it really wasn't very fun for playing. It had a lot of gravel in it and was really nothing like beach sand. More like lake sand. So, this year the kids saw some colored sand at Wal-Mart and were dying to have some. It was about 3 times the cost but totally worth it. It makes great castles and things. We spent Sunday afternoon building dams across it, filling one side with water and then "flooding" the village below. Fun times.

This picture is included just because I love it. This is such typical cat behavior! And DD's eye peeking through is just the best!

I'm thinking of Ireland lately. My Dad and Stepmom are in Ireland as I write this for a two week vacation (doesn't that sound fabulous?). My mom and her friend from work are going there next week. What are the odds? All of my parents (all three of them) are going to be in Ireland for the same week just by coincidence. I don't think my mom has ever even left the United States before. I'm really excited for her. My dad and stepmom have been there before and have given her some really great tips for her trip. What are the chances they run into each other over there somewhere?

I'm excited for American Idol tomorrow night. David Archuleta just gives me chills when he sings. David Cook is spectacular too, but the raw emotion isn't there the way it is with Archuleta.

Have a great day!

My Newest Creation

2008-05-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Usually I post stuff like this on my Stamping Blog, but I think I'll post it both places this time just so everyone will see it : ).

My former roommate of 5 years, Stefani, is expecting twins in the next month or two--Wow! I can't even imagine how much work (and how much fun) twin girls would be. I picked out a couple of super cute outfits for the babies, but wanted to do something a little creative for them too. So, here you go Stef:

Here is the card (couldn't figure out how to make this one twin-like):The next part is a shadow box. I got this idea from a blog I visit daily (Taylored Expressions). You can find her masterpeice by following the above link and looking under the category "Altered Art". For some reason I couldn't get a link to the specific post, or I would have done that. So, here it is:

It's a little hard to see every detail in the photo, but after the word "baby" is a "2" with rhinestones on it. There is a stamped background behind the flower that says "too cute" in a circle. These aren't the exact colors Stefani had in mind for her baby decor, but I just couldn't pass up this paper! (It's Nanna's Nursery by Die Cuts With a View).

The Best Cake....EVER

2008-05-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday we went down to visit DH's mom in Fairview. It was a nice, peaceful day. I took a great nap while DH took the kids out on the paddleboats. DH decided that I still needed to have a birthday cake. We thought we might have some down in Fairview because there are so many in his family that have May birthdays, but most of the family had headed back home by the time we arrived on Sunday. Anyway, to get to the point, I requested that DH go to Dippidee's in American Fork. They have the absolutely yummiest cupcakes and things that I have ever had. Nice and moist on the inside with a chewy outer crust--and they always fill them with yummy creams and things. Mmmmmmmmm.

Check out this cake I found on their website. I would love to learn how to do cake decorating, but it doesn't seem like a good hobby choice for someone with a sweet tooth! So, I only practice that kind of thing when we actually need a cake or cupcakes for something, and that hardly ever happens.

DH went there tonight and brought home this yummy little specimen, along with a chocolate one (it was super yummy too, but not as cute.)

Ahhhhhh....a Nice, Relaxing Friday.

2008-05-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Seriously. I can't usually say that because Friday is early-out day at school and the kids usually have other kids over to play all afternoon and it gets a little hectic. Today we had 3 different things going on at the school starting at 8:00. I took all 3 kids over with me bright and early. There were a lot of parents there--they kept announcing over the loudspeaker for people to move their cars out of parking spots that were illegal, unsafe, etc. I had to smile once again because I didn't have to drive! There are only 3 families in the entire school that live close enough to walk, so I love being able to do that.
First there was the "Moms and Muffins" event in DS's classroom. We had muffins and he read me a book that he wrote about me. It was great! Then we went over to DD#1's room for a kindergarten presentation put on for the moms. She was so cute and did a great job! Then DS was in a musical performance called "Heroes". It was great. I am so pleased by the things my kids learn at school that go beyond just the academics (although I think they're doing really well in that area, too). My favorite part was when all the kids sang the theme songs from each of the armed forces and anyone in the audience who had served in that armed force was invited to stand as the kids sang. It was really cool. I would have liked to have stayed for the whole thing, but DD#2 was being impossible, so we snuck out the back door and came home.
So, that part of the Friday was fun but not relaxing. Once we got home, though, the girls went upstairs and played quietly for about TWO hours! That hardly ever happens. I watched The Office and 30 Rock online and took a nice, long shower. Then the girls wanted to watch some TV in my room so I cuddled with them and took a nice, snuggly nap. It was great.
Now I've got to do some cleaning, but I'm actually all geared up for it now. DH got a gift card to Applebee's at work yesterday, so we're going out for my mother's Day dinner. Yum. Then we're leaving the kids with a sitter tomorrow so that we can go to Carraba's for my birthday. The big 3-6! I think 40 is going to be really weird when I get there.

Our Little "Sheep" is Shorn

2008-05-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

Or sweet little Smuckers sheds ALL over the place. We've been talking for awhile about shaving him to see how that goes. Yesterday just seemed like the right time, so we got to work. It was quite the job. Smuckers enjoyed every minute. However, his coat is SO thick that it took quite a while to get it all off. He seems to really like it. We didn't shave all the way down to his skin because we want him to have protection from the sun. We just took off his longer "outer coat" of coarse fur. Now that his undercoat is exposed he is a lot softer, even though he looks a little funny (shhhh.....don't tell him!).

It's finally starting to feel like spring here. There are guys outside right now putting in fence posts around our yard--YAY! However, Alpine Homes put a sprinkler line right along the inside edge of the sidewalk, so that got drilled into. We'll have to repair that. Oh, well--it will be well worth the trouble.

We had a nice night out on Saturday. We took the kids to a sitter and had a YUMMY dinner at Chili's. We LOVE their chips and queso. Then we went to pick out some clothes for my birthday. It's funny how I get more and more laid back about "birthday rules" the older I get. I've actually worn all of the clothes already. Forget saving them until it is actually my birthday.

Crazy Spring Weather

2008-04-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we've finally had a few beautiful spring-like days to get some work done in the yard. In a couple of weeks we should have a beautiful fence around it. Yay! It will be nice to not have to worry about DD#2 when she goes out there to play. DH's big project has been a little water feature at the edge of our patio. He is almost completely done--we just need to cover some of the pond liner that you can still see. We like to open the window in the living room and hear the water outside. We picked out the plants a couple of weekends ago and this is the first time he has ever been emotionally invested in any of our plants--usually that is totally my thing. Every couple of days he says "Oh--I need to go water my plants". Never thought I'd hear those words come out of his mouth : ).

The weather continues to be totally unpredictable with a LOT of wind. Sometimes it makes it hard to sleep at night because it is rattling the windows and whistling. Last week we got some more April snowfall. I won't be suprised if we see more snow in May. I don't dare start the vegetable garden until things get more normal. Here's a little picture of the snow and the waterfall area. I'll get a better picture of the waterfall after we finish the rockwork.

Spring Break Trip to the Zoo

2008-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

We just finished the kids Spring Break, and it was back to the routine this morning. Only about 5 more weeks to go and we can enjoy Summer break. It's so nice to not have to worry about homework and schedules (for the most part).

Last Thursday we took the kids to the zoo. It was the perfect day for it. We stopped for some yummy Cafe Rio on the way up and got to the zoo right after lunch time. Spring is a great time to go because it's not as crowded and the smells aren't as bad. The first thing we saw were the Tamarins. They were my favorite. A couple of them were running around with little babies on their backs. They were soooooo cute! DH says I only liked them the best because of their name : ).

Then we went into the monkey house and the kids had a fun time looking at this guy. He had the cutest little face and looked at them a few times but didn't seem very impressed.

The kids also like to play with this elephant. It makes all kinds of cool noises and plays music when you walk around it.

This giraffe was really funny. There were lots of people there, but it just stood in front of us and stared at me the whole time we were there. I was joking with the kids that it was giving me "the cold hard stare". They thought that was great.

We had a great time. The kids all said that they're favorite part was the playground at the end. I have to admit though, it was a pretty cool playground.

When the day was done we returned home to our very own wild animals : )

Happy Birthday Daniel

2008-04-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

My little brother Daniel would have been 26 tomorrow. It's still weird to think that he is really gone. Anyway, I have just been thinking more about him lately and especially about my parents who have gone through so much with the loss of their son. This picture was taken at his wedding in 2005--he was dancing with my youngest. Let me tell you--I am soooo grateful that I made the sacrifices to be there for that. It's nice to have those good memories.

Here is a fantastic poem that I first read when I was home for his funeral. This is inspirational for anyone, whether you have lost someone or not.

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth...

and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;

the cars....the house...the cash.

What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left. (You could be at "dash midrange.")

If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real,

and always try to understand the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile...

remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy's being read with your life's actions to rehash...

would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

Author Linda Ellis

On a lighter note, this is spring break for my kids. They have the whole entire week off. It's nice not having to get up to an alarm clock every morning! Today we met some friends at a place called Kangaroo Zoo. It's full of bouncy houses and slides. They played and we had pizza. They had a great time. This is a pic off of their website--didn't want you thinking these were my kids!

Here is something else that will make you smile:

My Shopping Extravaganza

2008-04-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have been really good lately about not buying things other than groceries and all that. But, lately I've found a few things that were too cute to pass up. A couple of weeks ago I went to Dollar Tree to find some things I needed to buy for church and found some awesome Coca-Cola glasses. They were just perfect and I really loved the color, so I picked up a bunch. Then, this week DD#1 reminded me that we have not yet been to Ikea since DD#2 has been potty trained. I was needing to get out of the house anyway, so we went to Ikea to let the girls play and then have lunch. The girls had a ball and I found these plastic plates that matched my glasses perfectly. They were only a buck a piece, too! Can't beat that!

Today I went to pick up the little girl we carpool to preschool with. She had the cutest flip-flops on and her mom (Thanks, Tara) told me they were from Payless. I couldn't resist. Off to Payless we went. They were having their BOGO sale too.

As I was checking out I spotted this adorable purse and decided to get it. Love it! It's not too big, but big enought to cram a bunch of treats into next time we take the kids to the movies.

I also hit the big sale at Smith's thanks to Kari reminding me about it. I got 20 items (cookie mixes, fruit snacks, golfish crackers, granola bars) for $20--which saved me $30! My kids ought to have plenty of snacks for days to come. I might go hit the sale again in a couple of days, but a lot of the stuff will be pretty picked over. I got the last chocolate chip cookie mixes and the last princess fruit snacks (that were on the shelves anyway). I love seeing my shelves all stocked up.

Have a great day! Stop over at my stamping blog--I have a lot of new things posted as well as a Mother's Day workshop coming up.