My Favorite Distractions

Kiss And Tell

2011-04-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

At dinner the other night, the subject of boys came up somehow... So we were teasing, uh, I mean, asking Halle if she ever kissed a boy. She got this mortified look on her face and quickly screeched, "What!!! NO WAY!!!". So, I proceed to offer her a deal, that if she didn't kiss a boy before she turned 16, that we would buy her a car. (One of my Visiting Teaching sisters made a similar deal with her oldest-now 15-and it's worked so far!) Halle immediately accepted and went back to eating. Mike and I exchanged a look, cuz as boy-crazy as Halle is, we'll be lucky if she makes it out of this school year. Then, Kiah piped in with, "I don't need car, I kiss boys". Looks like we've been worrying about the wrong girl! ;)

On the horizon...

2011-04-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

So, I've got a girls trip planned! Woohoo! 2 friends and I are planning a whirlwind weekend of thrills and heart pounding adrenaline at Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain! (Btw, we're still looking for one more person to join us... anyone interested??). So let me tell you what I'm looking forward to the most...
First up, Six Flags-
Now if you remember Mike and I went not to long ago and had a great time. My new, all time fav ride can be found there.
X2

Ahh, it's so frickin awesome! Watch a video HERE. I'll be honest though, the video doesn't do it justice, because it's hard to tell that your seat is actually rotating independently (for instance, when you come up to the big drop, your seat flips around so you drop backwards and upside down. Yeah, I know. AWESOME!). Not to mention the fire cannons and music blaring from the speakers behind your ears. The $35 admission is worth that ride alone.
Not to mention, my other fav roller coaster of all time (the one that was my fav the many years before I was introduced to X2), Batman: the ride.

My love affair with this ride started many years ago, at Six Flags New Jersey. I was 13, had a huge crush on Val Kilmer, who had recently starred in Batman Forever, and it was the most awesome coaster I'd ever been on. I still love it to this day, I especially love how your feet dangle free. They have a million other coasters that we'll be sure to hit up, but those are the ones I'm most excited about.

Now, I know it sounds funny after showing you those coasters, but I am VERY prone to motion sickness. I'll have to pop some Dramamine and wear my motion sickness bracelets to ride those rides, but it's so worth it. And another trick I've found is to sit in the front row. I know there's a longer wait for that, but it seriously helps my stomach so much!

Okay, now moving onto Knott's. Guess what? I've never been there before! Can you believe it? I can't. Especially since Snoopy is kinda a main fixture in our lives. He was very present in our courtship. Mike was constantly buying me Peanuts books and movies and stuffed animals. We sent Snoopy cards when our relationship went long distance, so I really don't know how we've never been there together. So, thing I'm most excited to do at Knott's is...

That's right, SNOOPY! All I really want to do is get my pic with Snoopy. And maybe try some of their famous boysenberry pie. And ride the multitude of thrill rides. But mainly, Snoopy. :)
So, that's that. I'm so super excited. I can't wait to get my 'thrill' on! LOL

Some of my new favorite things...

2011-03-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Let's see... (I know I totally over use ... both here and on FB, but I just can't help it, I'm kind of addicted). First up, is readthescriptures.com . I LOVE this website! I'm really bad about reading my scriptures, I'll be the first to admit it! But this site sends you your scheduled reading everyday thru your email. And it keeps track of how your doing with a little progress bar. Kinda juvenile, I know, but it helps motivate me! And then I have this email glaring at me all day--so I always get it done early, so I don't feel guilty wasting time later on FB or searching for blogs about Rainbow parties for Kiah's bday in a few months.

Next up, is Nanocleanse . I guess you kinda need the backstory for this one. All my life, I've had relatively good skin. The occasional zit, but never bad acne. Until I got pregnant with Kiah (3 1/2 years ago), since then, I've had a steady little mountain range on my chin. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good. I'd tried some of the inexpensive OTC products, and they'd work at first and then my skin would get used to it or something. Well, either Mike felt really bad for me or got tired of me complaining, not sure which, but he did some research and ordered me Nanocleanse. Now first off, it's expensive--$30 a bottle. But it works. I've been using it for almost 2 months now and my chin is clear! Yay! I'll still get an occasional zit--but just one, not a mountain range--and it goes away in about 2 days. Oh yeah, the best part is that it's just a cleanse--not a whole system. Just massage on your skin for 1-2 min morning and night and you're done. That's it. It's a great product, I'm finally happy with my skin again.

Okay, what else??? I read all the Percy Jackson books this year and really LOVED them!

Here's some old favs that are worth mentioning again...
Swagbucks ---seriously, if you're not signed up, you're missing out on FREE MONEY. We've earned over $100 in Amazon gift cards just for using SB as our search engine.
My Chi flat iron--one of the best gifts I've ever received, I owe my mom for life!
Oh and two of my newest fav websites...
Our Best Bites
(How perfect would these be for Kiah's Rainbow Bday party?!?)
And My Baking Addiction
(We made these for dessert yesterday... YUM!)

Well, I guess that's it for now! I'll keep you updated when I find more great stuff!

Get into the Groove

2011-03-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

So... I haven't posted in a while. Yeah, there's that laziness again. And I haven't really felt all that interesting lately. But I'm kinda missing blogging... I'm just so behind. There were a lot of fun things we did last year that I never posted. So, I might just throw them in sporadically--cuz I don't have two days to try to get caught up now. LOL
So what's been going on in our life, you may I ask? (I mean that rhetorically, of course, cuz I don't think anyone actually reads this anymore). Well, let's see... I just got a kind of drastic hair cut (I do this occasionally, cuz I just can't seem to commit to a hairstyle). I have been helping Halle sell Girl Scout cookies--always so much fun... not. (That's right, I went total old school and pulled out the 'not'!) Mike got a promotion at work, which is awesome. Kiah is using the potty during the day! Hooray! Other than that, I feel like I've been doing alot of couponing/grocery shopping--so exciting. I've been using Just Dance 2 on Wii as my only form of exercising (not really sure how helpful that is!). And, yep, that's all I've got for now. Oh yeah, I've been released from the Nursery after 2 1/2 years. It's definitely nice to be back in RS. And, we want to have another baby. Coincidence? I think not.....

Eclipse party!

2011-01-08T22:17:00.000-08:00

TEAM EDWARD!

Team Jacob...

The whole crew

We had a fun Eclipse party here tonight! I love getting the girls together to hang out! We had lots of good food-I should've taken some pics!--and lots of fun drooling over Edward and Jacob! Overall, Team Edward triumphed! Hooray!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T13:11:00.001-08:00

We had a fun Christmas this year! Mike's mom and stepdad came down from Utah, so we had our whole family together on Christmas Eve. We had TONS of food--I wish I had taken a pic of all of it! Lasagna, Eggplant Parmesan, Raviolis, Meatballs, salad, breadsticks, appetizers and Oreo Truffles and Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake for dessert........ YUM! The kids opened gifts from their Grandparents and the adults had an "As Seen on TV" White Elephant gift exchange. This was alot more fun than our usual drawing names. And, we had to fight for it, but we scored a Big Top Cupcake (total awesomeness!) and a Fushigi Anti Gravity Ball. Halle was very excited about that.
I just want to list the gifts the girls got, so I won't forget like I always do.
From my parents-
Halle got Lego the Burrow and the Santa Clause 3
Kiah got Toy Story Duplo set and Toy Story 3
From Mike's parents-
they got $$-which turned into Boots, and 2 outfits and hair clips for Halle
a little dollie house and furniture for Kiah
From us-
Halle got Disney Sing It, icarly, and Just Dance Kids for Wii, and Fairyland for the DS. She also got a Cinderella magnetic wooden doll kit and a pet Kitty for her American Girl.
Kiah got a Leapster Explorer with 3 games as her big gift. She also got some Mickey Mouse instruments and a 'magic' tea set.
From Santa-
We all got board games! Halle got Apples to Apples (7+), Kiah got Red Rover, I got Imaginiff and Mike got What's Yours Like?. The girls both got a mini Hungry Hungry Hippos, too. And Santa did a great job stuffing their stockings, too! Everything from nail polish and books to panties and socks!
Mike surprised me with the Elf Soundtrack and a gift certificate for a Cut & Color in my stocking. (He always spoils me--like our trip to Disney wasn't enough) And I got him a 'Date Night Calendar' with a years worth of date scheduled and babysitting set up, along with a gift certificate to go rollerskating as one of our dates! Should be fun!
On Christmas morning we opened gifts, watched the Disney Christmas Parade on ABC, and ate our traditional Eggnog Stuesel Coffe Cake (one of my absolute favs!). Then Mike's fam came over for Christmas dinner, which consisted of Sweet Pork burritos- More YUM! It was a great weekend with family celebrating our Savior's birth!

Our totally awesome FREE Christmas Cards!

2010-12-13T20:58:00.001-08:00

Retro Kaleidoscope Holiday Card

Shutterfly has elegant holiday invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

One heck of a giveaway

2010-12-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

Todays Mama is doing one AWESOME giveaway!! Wii's, DSi's, Kinnect's and one ginormous giftcard to Gamestop... So here's my entry!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
Honestly, just that we can have a joyful time with each other. Free of fighting and negativity, and full of love, happiness, and Christmas cheer. :)

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
I make an Eggnog Stuesel Coffee Cake and Hot Cocoa (YUM!) and we open presents, of course, then we ALWAYS watch the Disney Christmas Parade. :)

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
A Disney Cruise for my family... Or a house (since we're just renting now-LOL)

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
We love to take walks around the neighborhood looking at lights, making gifts for our neighbors and friends, and watching LOTS of Christmas movies. We talk alot about the first Christmas and what we can give our Savior as a gift.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
Nintendo! Mario Bros and Duck Hunt... some skateboarding game. I loved the way my mom made the whole controller jump to jump!

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
We still exchange family presents on Christmas Eve, and there must be lasagna involved!

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
I know it sounds crazy, but I'd love to spend Chirstmas at Disney World. Maybe not Christmas Day (I'd feel bad about making people work, but I'd like to be there for the 26th)

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
Epic Mickey looks like the coolest game ever. And I love our Wii, but Kinnect looks pretty awesome. And I'd love the udraw tablet for Wii--so cool!

Wish me luck!!

What's better than Photo Christmas Cards??? FREE Photo Christmas Cards!!!

2010-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Yep, you read that right! Thanks to Shutterfly, bloggers can get 50 FREE Photo Christmas Cards. And they have beautiful cards!!! I LOVE Shutterfly--I love their photo books (so much) and I have 2 photo sharing sites thru them. So, I am super excited about this promotion! Bloggers, click HERE for more details.
So now the hard part... how do I decide which design to use??? There's so many cute ones. For example--
I love this one... It's so {FUN}! And we'll be wearing black, grey and red in our pics...

Or this one... (So cute, and part of the Proceeds go to the American Lung Assoc)

I love how elegant this one is...

But this one just might be my favorite!

All my favorites have the same color scheme for some reason ;) But they have every color available--just go to Shutterfly to check it out!
But you know my FAVORITE part about ordering my cards from Shutterfly? No waiting FOREVER at a portrait studio! (And that makes for a much happier hubby and kids!) We take the picture on our own terms--heck, I can even bring Tyko. Then I can edit the pic how I want, order it in my pjs, and have it delivered right to my door! The hardest part will be getting the girls to look at the camera! LOL
And while I'm ordering things in my pjs, I might just have to add on a calendar for my hubby--I'm planning a year's worth of Date nights for his Christmas gift! (Don't tell him though-it's a surprise!)

Actually, that one's too cute--I might have to get one for myself...

And these New Years' Invites are so cute, I might just have to throw a party!

So get going! Order some cards! You can thank me later... ;)

I LOVE Disneyland!!! (and my amazingly sweet hubby!)

2010-12-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

So, my adorable hubby told me a month ago that we were going on an overnight trip, because he's been working alot of overtime. He marked 'Mike & Amy Day 2010' on the calendar, and told me we'd be going to Flagstaff, AZ to play in the snow. :)
Then a few days before it was time for our trip, he makes me this sweet little slideshow on the computer, saying how much he loves me and that Mike & Amy Day would actually be spent at Disneyland! (Is he the cutest or what?!?)
So, we hopped on a Southwest flight to Cali, park-hopped to our heart's desire, and played like little kids for one glorious day. Exhausted, we dragged ourselves to check-in at the hotel at 11pm and flew out the next morning bright & early. It was FANTASTIC!

Some highlights included...
-riding Finding Nemo and Toy Story Mania for the first time
-seeing the new World of Color show at Cali Adventure (so good!)
-the Christmas Parade & decorations
-Captain EO, the most wonderfully bad thing I've EVER seen! LOL
-Indiana Jones (one of my all time FAV rides!)
-a day with my hubby WITHOUT kids!

The Deathly Hallows

2010-11-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

So, I guess I gave up on my vaca photos. LOL I've been so bad about blogging lately. But this past Thursday was just too fun not to share. Thanks to some friends of friends, one of my BFFs and I scored tickets to an early showing of HP7!! So awesome, I know!! Being borderline-obsessive HP fans, we couldn't wait to see the movie! So we pawned off the kids on our hubbies, caught a 5pm show and rounded out our British night with dinner at Shakespeares! YUM!!!
Oh, in case you were wondering... the movie was AMAZING! EPIC! Siriusly (heehee), one of the best movies I've ever seen. Of course, I may be a little biased...

I had to make a shirt for the occasion! I free handed a "Hallows" symbol on the front, and freezer papered HP7 on the back.

Waiting for the movie to start!!!

Yorkshire Pudding and Cornish Pasties for dinner. So good! I'm salvating just thinking about it!

Yay!

VACATION!

2010-10-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm a little behind again... okay, a lot behind! Here's pics of our awesome vaca to Orlando (my fav town!) last month. We did one day at Disney (Magic Kingdom), a few days at Universal (including Islands of Adventure) and a few days relaxing at our AWESOME hotel. The Marriot Vacation Club Harbour Lake---I HIGHLY recommend it! Here's some of our fav pics!

{Halle playing minigolf at our hotel--that's a fake gator but there were signs all over the hotel warning of real ones in the lakes-right outside our room!}

{The awesome Pirate Pool at our hotel. The other pool had a BIG waterslide and the huge buckets that dump water every few minutes.}

{Yay Self timer! Us in the master bedroom of our villa. Can you see my hair getting bigger right before your eyes?}

{Lounging by the pool. While I don't love my double chin in this pic, I think the palm trees in my glasses is way cool. LOL}

{Us at the beautiful Orlando Temple}

Minnie Mouse Shirts

2010-08-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for our Disney World trip! I saw this tutorial here and HAD to give it a try! My girls are gonna look so cute!

Triwizard Tournament

2010-08-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

This is for all you Harry Potter fans out there! As an end of summer treat for the kids (well, okay it was probably more fun for the moms), we decided to host a Triwizard Tournament for our kids to compete in.
It started with an owl dropping off an invitation (My friend, Sherri, printed some owls with the details and taped them to the doors.)
The first task was at Jill's. There we ignited the Goblet of Fire and the kids put their names in.

Then they mixed magic potions to see what color eggs they would be retrieving for the First Task. (Put a drop of food color in a cup, and cover with ice. Then pour in some Sprite and see what color your potion turns)

The first tast was Dragons! Daddy dragons in our case. Each daddy was armed with a 'fire breathing' hose and shot the kids with water to prevent them from getting their eggs.

Inside their eggs was a clue pertaining to the Second Task.
Ex: "Like my cousin, Crookshanks, I'm smart and witty. Better swim fast to save your ______" (She had to save a kitty cat)
"You'll have a whale of a time, trying to save me. Swim down deep and see what you see." (This was Halle's. She had to same a Shamu toy)
The Second task was the Lake, in our pool. Each kid had to rescue a toy that was being held hostage at the bottom of the lake. They had to avoid the mommy mermaids to do so, though. We broke for some pumpkin juice (orange koolaid) after the second task. :)

The Third Task was a maze at Sherri's. First the kids had to charm open a locked door. We gave them multiple choice. A) Augamenti (if they choose this, they were squirted with water-LOL) B) Obscuro (They were blindfolded, if they choose this) and C) Alohamora (which opened the door). Once inside, they had to crawl thru some tunnels, where they emerged to a picture of a dementor glaring down at them. They had to cast a patronus to defeat the dementor. (We had them choose a stuffed animal to throw while yelling EXPECTO PATRONUM) From there, they met Rowena Ravenclaw and had to answer a ? to proceed. Ex: What is Hermione's last name? What was the 7th Horcrux, that Voldemort did not intend to make? Finally, they crawled thru a veil and claimed their Triwizard Cups filled with Galleons (Rolos). We ended with a celebratory pudding, consisting of different trifles. It was a super fun night! We can't wait to plan something for next year. Maybe they'll have to save the Scorceror's Stone....

Back to School!

2010-08-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long (and at times, painful) summer--school is back in session! Yay! This is a very good thing. Halle missed it alot, and despite having things planned almost everyday, she was getting bored.
She's in 2nd grade this year! She's loving her new class and teacher, as well. There's been a few tears, but much better than last year. I really think she has some form of anxiety, but she's really learning to work thru it! Keep your fingers crossed! For her sake, and her teacher's! LOL

ps Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have time to post about our incredibly awesome Triwizard Tournament! Stay tuned!

Card Night 7/10

2010-08-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

The spoils from our latest Card Night!
(Mine are the purses--I couldn't decided which I liked best!)

Silhouette giveaway

2010-07-13T07:57:00.001-07:00

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/07/silhouette-digital-cutting-tool-review.html

Check out this AWESOME giveaway!

Aquarium

2010-07-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am so behind on my posts. Here's some pics of us at the local aquarium they just built inside one of the malls. For someone who's been to Sea World many times, it was kinda lame and way overpriced, but we still had fun {Especially since Grandma and Grandpa took us and a bday present to me}. The girls liked petting the Sea Stars and I thought some of the little sharks were cute. And of course they Sting Rays are cool, but that was about it. I enjoyed a quick trip to the Disney outlet more than the aquarium itself :)

My FAVORITE summertime dessert!

2010-06-17T17:06:00.001-07:00

I just have to share this recipe---it's one of my favs EVER! And so easy!
Sugar Cookie Shortcake
Ingredients:
1 pkg refridgerated sugar cookie dough
2 T sugar
1 lb fresh strawberries (it's also delish with blueberries, too!)
1 4-serving box of vanilla instant pudding
1 C cold milk
3/4 whipping cream

Preheat oven to 325. Line 2 8in round pans with foil (spray foil with Pam). Cut cookie dough in half and press into bottom of pans. Bake 15 min or until golden brown. Cool in pan for 10 mins.
Use foil to lift cookies from pans, cool completely on racks for 20 mins. Slice strawberries, spinkle with sugar, set aside. In a separate bowl, mix pudding and milk for 2 min. In another bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into pudding mixture. Remove foil and layer cookie, pudding and strawberries in serving dish. Refridgerate 1 hour serving. YUM!

note--I have substituted the whipping cream with cool whip and it was still just as awesome--and a little easier! I got this recipe from www.pilsbury.com

Check out my new site!!!

2010-06-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

http://allyouneedislovies.blogspot.com/
I've finally made a site to start selling my Lovies! (Hoping to list some on Etsy soon too) Check it out! and tell your friends!!! 10% off your first order if you become a follower!

Spring Portrait

2010-05-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here's Halle's 1st Grade Spring Portriat--how cute is she!?!

Teacher Appreciation

2010-05-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Halle seriously has a WONDERFUL teacher this year. Even thru the first (?) months of crying and clinginess, she's been so sweet, loving and supportive. Not to mention all she's taught Halle, as well. Have I mentioned Halle is currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? Not bad for a 1st grader. Anyways, I'd love to get Mrs Hyde an elaborate, whopping gift card or something as a thank you--but let's face it-- that's simply not in our budget. So I found this tutorial HERE .... SO CUTE!!!
So here's my version. Hopefully she likes it. (Her classroom theme is Jungle) ;)

Here's the top.

Here's the inside (with a personal note from Halle).

Here's a close-up of the bottlecap magnets I put inside.

I got just about everything a Walmart, except for the container itself and the scrapbook paper(That was Michaels and Joanns). And I think the Chocolate is the MOST important part! :)

Happy TuTu Kiah!

2010-05-14T15:39:00.001-07:00

My baby's TWO! We had our family over to celebrate Kiah's bday and Mother's Day on Sunday, and then had a little party for friends yesterday. We did a Sesame Street Theme (Kiah LOVES Elmo), complete with our SS Bounce House, Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes, Big Bird Juice Boxes, Elmo Crackers, some fruit and a game of Pin the Kiss on Elmo. It was a fun time! Though it was pretty low key, I'm still exhausted a day later.

My fav part was putting together the goodie bags. :) I found red paper bags at Target and drew Elmo on them and wrote 'Elmo loves ______ on the front, and 'This party was brought to you by the Letter K and the number 2' on the back. They were filled with: Crayons from Elmo, Bubbles from Ernie, Stickers from Big Bird, Lollipops from Zoe, Cookies from Cookie Monster and Goldfish from Dorothy.

Kiah totally scored on presents-LOL--LOTS of Dora things! She's in HEAVEN! She's so big now and it's been fun watching her grow. I LOVE my little monkey!

Card Night

2010-05-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the results of our latest card night... can I say? I.LOVE.CARD.NIGHT!!! Great friends, wonderful converstation, chocolate, and I get to leave with all these GORGEOUS cards! Yay! --my card was the froggy one :)

Uninspired...

2010-05-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I'm still here. It's just like me to beg for followers then stop blogging for months on end. I just haven't been feeling it lately. Sorry! My creativity spark has dimmed for the moment, so no new crafts to post. On the other side, I've got a TON of pics to put up. Easter, bdays, our long hike to Havasupai. So, stay tuned. I should have some cute bday ideas for Kiah's 2nd bday next week. Maybe that'll inspire me!

Winner!

2010-04-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

Alright! Thanks to random.org we have a winner! I just numbered the comments and my followers 1-35 (respectively) and the random # selected was #5 Ryan and Stacy. Congratulations!! Be sure to send me a pic to post of you with your winnings!

Freezer Paper Stencil TShirt Tutorial

2010-04-02T21:08:00.001-07:00

Here's a tutorial on how I made my awesome Cullen Clan TShirt for the New Moon Party!
It was way easy and way cheap (my favorite!)
Supplies-
TShirt
Fabric paint
Freezer Paper (avail at Walmart, with the Saran Wrap/aluminum foil)
Cricut (or Exacto Knife)
Foam Brush
Iron
Cardboard

First, design your freezer paper. I borrowed a friends Cricut to cut out my letters. You'll want to cut the paper with the waxy side down.

Next, iron your stencil onto your shirt waxy side down.

Then, stick some cardboard inside your shirt to prevent the paint from going thru.

Next, get your paint ready. I just used some gold puff paint I had on hand. I poured it onto a paper plate, then dabbed it onto the shirt using the foam brush.

Make sure you get a really thick coat on there. To give mine more of a 'vampire' feel, I sprinkled some glitter onto the paint while it was still wet.

Finally, carefull peel off paper while paint is still wet. (I made the mistake of letting mine dry--trust me, it was a big pain to get the paper off!)
Let dry according to paint directions, then wear it proudly!

Here's some other goodies from the party---
Werewolf Kibble and Vampire Bites (LOVE IT!)

Team Edward Goodie Bags

Team Jacob Goodie Bags

Let me know if you want me to post any recipes or details from the party! Enjoy!

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY HERE!

For Sale!

2010-03-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, I'm thinking about opening an Etsy shop or something. Since I can't seem to find a job, maybe I can help contribute to our family by selling stuff.

First off, are these cute headbands for only $6, or 2 for $10

Next up are my magnets, for $1.50 each or 5 for $5 (These ones are Twilight but I can do just about any image. ie Princess, Dora, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter...)

And of course, Taggie Lovies!! These are a steal at $12 each, or 2 for $20!
Again I can do just about any color combo.

I'll also be doing wipes cases and bows and stuff. Let me know if you're interested in anything, and I'll keep you posted on my 'shop'!
PS Don't foget to enter my giveaway!!! Scroll down 2 posts!!

A few things I've been working on lately...

2010-03-30T21:24:00.001-07:00

Twilight Bottlecap Magnets for my New Moon party goodie bags :)

My shirt for the party

A hobby horse for Halle's Rodeo at school

Remaking some old sandals into something way cute :)

A taggie Lovey and headband to match this cute little outfit as a baby gift

Giveaway!!!

2010-03-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here it is, as promised!! My first giveaway! Woohoo! You have a chance to win one of my fabulous headbands (modeled by my sweet Halle) or a set of Twilight Bottlecap magnets!!
To Enter:
Leave a comment telling me what you choose! Include your email please!
And for an extra entry, become a follower and leave a comment telling me so (or that you already follow me!)

Good luck!
Winner will be announce on Wednesday, April 7th!

Playing Catch-Up!

2010-03-29T16:21:00.001-07:00

Whew! It's been a crazy couple of weeks! First, it was Spring Break and Mike went out of town, leaving me to deal with the drama queens alone. Then, I spent the week prepping for a New Moon party. {Yay!} Anyways, tomorrow I'll be back for real with a tutorial or two and my FIRST contest! We made it to 25 followers! Yay! Stay tuned...

Fried Marbles TUTORIAL

2010-03-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

So here's a more in depth tutorial for the Fried Marbles. It's really easy.

Materials:
Flat single colored marbles (I've heard the two-tone will just split in half, but I haven't tried it myself)
a frying pan
a glass of very cold water
a spoon

1st-Open the windows--it has a funky smell.
2nd-Turn a dry frying pan on high and allow to heat.
3rd-Carefully add marbles and fry for 10 mins. They won't 'crack' til the next step.

4th-Carefully use a spoon to transfer marbles to glass of water. They will crack as soon as they hit the water. (They're supposed to make that sound) ;)

5th-Let sit for a few minutes and then dry them off. They are ready to go! I just hot glued mine to the hair bows.

{WARNING: Once the marbles 'crack' they are very breakable, so be careful. I shattered a few by dropping them on the tile. As clumsy as I am, I was happy I only broke 2. LOL!) The pics don't really do them justice, but they're a really cheap and easy way to add some bling to a project! Enjoy!

Plea for Followers!

2010-03-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
If you ever stop by my blog, please, please, PLEASE become a follower!! I want to get into reviews and giveaways and stuff, but I'm pretty sure you need a 'following' for that. So FOLLOW! Once I hit 25 followers, I'm going to have my first giveaway. And check back this week for my 1st tutorial on how to make a Taggie Lovey!

Cute, Cute hair bows!!!

2010-03-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

How cute are these!?! I found this cute ribbon on clearance at Michaels and decided to try some more bows. I'm really not good at bows, I've decided--so I think I'll be sticking to flowers for the most part. I found this super easy tutorial for the flowers at http://landofthemisfittoyz.blogspot.com/2010/02/bow-tutorial-3-flower-bow.html. I love them! Oh, and the 'bling' middle? It's a fried marble! How awesome is that!?! And so, so cheap. Just fry your marbles in a dry pan for 10 mins, then carefully place them in a cup of cold water and watch them crack. Super easy, but a bit smelly. Open the windows first :)

The girls :)

2010-03-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a few cute pics of my girls at Halle's school carnival this weekend.
Our Halle-cat (rhymes with alleycat!) I may very well be making kitty costumes this Halloween :)

My little supermodel in the making--she's even got the pout down pat!

Monkey on the Bed

2010-03-08T08:57:00.001-08:00

So, Kiah figured out how to climb up the bunkbed in Halle's room. It was given to us, and didn't have a ladder-but since we just kept stuffed animals up there, it wasn't a big deal. Well, it turns out our little one is fearless, and not only climbed all the way up and on top of the bed by herself, but was even trying to get down by herself. I swear she's just begging for a trip to the ER! Perhaps, if Dr Ross wasn't a fictional character, I would be on board for that, but unfortunately that's not the case. ;) So anyways, we decided to separate the bunk and put one in Kiah's room. But naturally, she wants nothing to do with a big bed, so instead we have this.
As if the room wasn't small enough! On the other hand, Halle's room looks huge now...

Crafty, Crafty

2010-03-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

So, I've been feeling the NEED to craft lately. Here's two cute scarves I made from some old clothes I had sitting around. The pink one was a tshirt that was stained and the purple was a horrible pair of jersey pants I got on clearance for a buck, only to find out they were total mom pants and came up past my belly button. I found the tutorial on this great blog,http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/. The blankie is for a baby shower I have this week and it's my own creation. Maybe I'll try doing a tutorial of my own if anyone is interested. It's so easy though, a tutorial's probably not necessary. :)
ps I can't seem to get the link feature to work... any tips for me?

Pampered Chef Party

2010-03-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

So, how did I get all this awesome Pampered Chef stuff for only $30 you ask?? Well, I had a party, of course! One of my oldest and dearest friends, Christine, just became a consultant and (since she lives on the other side of the country) asked if I would host a catalog party. Of course, I'm always looking for an excuse to have friends over and make lots of food that will make my butt bigger, so I had a little Open House to go with it. And well, my friends are awesome. They got me to the $400 sales level, so I was able to select $60 of free merchandise and 2 half-price items. SCORE! I chose the Stoneware Large Bar Pan (I LOVE stoneware!!!), the Stoneware Muffin Pan, the Springform Cake Pan, the Small Scoop, the Stoneware Creations Cookbook, the Pie Crust Shield, the Cranberry Trivet Pad, and the Season's Best cookbook. So, if you want to try hosting a party yourself, or just want to place an order, check out Christine's website for all your Pampered Chef needs! Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying all my FREE stuff!!
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/CLEM

Card Night

2010-02-26T20:29:00.001-08:00

Here's the fun cards we made at Vickie's last night! Aren't they awesome! I LOVE Card Night--fun friends, yummy treats, and leaving with lots of beautiful cards!

Here's the card I designed...

The pics don't do them justice at all. It's hard to tell, but the one on the top right is pleated and looks like curtains--SO CUTE!

Yummy winnings...

2010-02-26T15:07:00.001-08:00

I tried out the adorable heart-shaped cakepan I won from Delishious Dishings! http://megan-deliciousdishings.blogspot.com/ Halle thought it was so cool to have heart cake. I tried a new recipe from Lucky Leaf (the sponsors of the giveaway), but tweaked it a bit and it was so, so yummy.
So here's the original recipe!

Sweetheart Cherry Cake (from Lucky Leaf)

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) dry white cake mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 (21 ounce) can Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry Pie Filling

They frosted it with Buttercream Frosting, too. I used Blueberry Pie filling and omitted the almond extract, and served with vanilla icecream instead of frosting it. YUM! It was great not having to load it up with butter or oil. We're trying a Strawberries and Cream version this weekend... I'll let you know how yummy it turns out!

Win The Princess and the Frog Blu-Ray combo from Mommy Mandy!

2010-02-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

http://mommymandy.com/the-princess-and-the-frog-combo-pack-giveaway/
Here's another one from Mommy Mandy- I just love her!

Super cute giveaway!

2010-02-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

Go to http://diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/ for a giveaway of the cutest little hats you've ever seen. Craftaholic is a great blog with awesome ideas and tutorials! :)

Toothless Wonder

2010-02-21T13:18:00.001-08:00

Let the age of awkward pictures begin! Halle lost her 4th tooth--the top left, and it's looks like she'll be toothless for quite a while! On the plus side, she got to use Tutu, the Tooth Fairy Pillow--and the tooth fairy LOVED the ease of it! :)

Flowers {finally!}

2010-02-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

So, back in August (yes, August) we had an Enrichment Activity to learn to make the cute flowers for your hair. Let's just say, they were much harder than I expected. I had signed up to make 6 flowers and a few bows, and I finished 2 1/2 flowers and no bows while we were there. But after 6 months, learning some basic sewing, and a girls night to finish them--- here they are! Drum roll, please!

Whitney showed me how to make the cute little pink one in the middle today--it's even her own design! Thank goodness for people craftier than me, that I can copy. We also started more felt food--a carton of eggs. It was way... not hard exactly, but time consuming. I'll post pics when I'm done.
Here's a really easy flower I made today to go with a gift for the newest little baby cousin coming into our family. I found the tutorial on http://diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/

Father-Daughter Dance

2010-02-19T19:55:00.001-08:00

Halle's school had a Father-Daughter Dance the week before Valentine's Day. She was so excited-- she wore her fanciest dress and had me curl her hair. I couldn't believe how grown-up she looked. Halle had a great time at the dance, Mike had as good a time as possible, surrounded by over-excited hoards of little girls. ;) Halle said her favorite part was dancing with her friends to "Love Story" and "YMCA".

DownEast Basics Giveaway from MommyMandy!

2010-02-07T19:44:00.001-08:00

Enter to win an outfit from DownEast Basics (One of my fav clothing stores!!!) from MommmyMandy (one of my fav blogs!)
http://mommymandy.com/downeast-basics-giveaway/
Good Luck!!!

Taggie Lovey

2010-02-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I've got the sewing machine working, there's no stopping me now! Here's a pic of a Taggie Lovey I made with some fabric and ribbon I had laying around. It is made from authentic muppet fur, as I'm sure you were wondering. It'll probably go to the next little girl born into my little world. ;) Now on to the ginormous to-do list I've been gathering from blog hopping!

Tooth Fairy Pillow

2010-01-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

I finally figured out how to really use my sewing machine!!! Yay! This is the first fruit of my labor. Sherri sent me this idea from http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/02/tooth-pillow-revisited.html
I'll admit it, I'm pretty proud of myself! Halle's top tooth is so close to falling out, so I knew I had to hurry. We'll have to see how the tooth fairy likes this, compared to fishing around under pillows. The mouth is a pocket for the kid to put their tooth in. Isn't it adorable???

Kiah's 1st Haircut!

2010-01-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

It was turning into a mullet, so we knew it was time... Kiah did awesome getting her first haircut though! She just sat there reading her books, completely happy the entire time. And she LOVED getting a lollipop and giving the stylist the tip all by herself.
Here's a before shot. Our little 'Wolverine'-LOL

And after-she's still so happy about it!

A few side notes...
Kiah is 19 months and she's really taking now. She says phrases and puts words together so well. So needless to say, she's been cracking us up lately.
We were a Church, and she was being rowdy so I got out some fruit snacks to shut her up, when Halle said "No Mommy, Kiah's already had fruit snacks today". Well, before Halle could even finish speaking Kiah yells "No Halle! Shhhh!" with this look on her face like 'don't tell Mom'. It was priceless.

Kiah has had a little strawberry on her arm since she was born. In the bathtub the other day she finally noticed it and started calling it her blu-blu (blueberry). Too funny.

When she sees her baby pics she says 'baby kaka'. We really need to teach her to say Kiah! LOL --I'm blaming it on Alexa, Whitney!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Nancy!!!

2010-01-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Mom/Grandma! We love you and can't wait to celebrate when you come visit! Hope you have a wonderful day! All our love - Aaron, Amy, Halle, Kiah and Tyko :)-
P.S. Make sure you pause the music at the bottom first.

Cute Tutu giveaway!

2010-01-12T22:05:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
One of my old friends makes these darling tutus and hairbows and is giving a set away! Enter at http://hautesummercouture.blogspot.com/ And, if you don't mind, leave my name too and I'll get an extra entry! Thanks and good luck!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

We really had a wonderful Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve, both our families came over for dinner and a gift exchange. However, we totally filled up on appetizers and just saved the lasagna I made for Christmas Day. Nonetheless, it was a great evening filled with food, family and laughter. The best part was probably daring each other to eat Bertie Bott's every flavor beans--I can vouche that the Dirt, Sardine, and Soap flavor are all disgusting! Then it was off to bed to await a visit from the man in red...
We decided to start some new traditions this year, to help us focus on giving rather than receiving. So, we all still got a gift from Santa, of course, but there were only 3 gifts from Mom & Dad (representing the 3 wise men). And then we took the girls shopping to pick out gifts for less fortunate children from the Giving Tree at Halle's school. Well, it was GREAT! Santa brought the girls each a Zhu Zhu pet, the Lord of the Rings DVDs for Mike and a Popcorn Popper for me! Halle received an American Girl 'Just Like You' doll, a Create-your-own-story kit and a cute bathrobe (and one for her doll) from us. Kiah got a new kitchen (with homemade felt food, of course!), Elmo Live, and Leap Frog's Violet, my puppy pal, from us. Mike sursprised me with a front-attaching baby bike seat, so I can take Kiah for bike rides, and I got him NBA LIVE 09 for Wii. We also copied his Nana and Gdad (the cutest couple in the WORLD!) this year, stuffing each other's stockings. It was so nice not to do my own stocking for once! We had a fun morning opening gifts and watching the Disney parade, went to the park, and then our sisters came back over for dinner. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our Savior's birth and I treasure Christmas every year. So until next year, Merry Christmas!

Christmas at the Railroad

2010-01-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

We went to a local railroad park for some holiday cheer this year. (note to self: it's hard to find cheer with millions of people around you--next year, go in the beginning of December.) We went the night before Christmas Eve and it was packed. The line for the train was too long, but we had fun on the Carousel and meeting some characters. Kiah was, naturally, OBSESSED with Cookie Monster. She didn't want to get too close to any of the characters but chased Cookie all over, trying to get a better look. It was adorable.

Rabbit Pellets

2010-01-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, so most of you know that Mike can be quite the prankster. Luckily, he usually doesn't prank me too often. (And when he does, he knows better than to put a snake in the bed or anything like that...) But I've got to give him props for this one. He had me almost peeing my pants. He came into the bedroom, where I was cuddling with the girls, and told me I better go check the kitchen--it looked like there'd been some kind of accident. So I went to the kitchen (secretly hoping that he was surprising me with a box of old-fashioned sour cream donuts from Krispy Kreme) and this is what I found...

He totally cracks me up!

Here Comes Santa Claus---and Santa Claws

2010-01-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

We took the girls to Bass Pro Shoppe with my parents to meet Santa this year. We also meet some of his furry friends...

A Very Merry Christmas from us to you!!!

2009-12-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Merry Christmas to all our loved ones!!! We pray that the Lord has blessed you and you are of good cheer this year!
We have had a wonderful year and feel very blessed. We are so grateful to have wonderful family and friends in our lives, especially with so much despair in the world now. We are so thankful for Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and look forward to celebrating His birth this week!
We want to share a little of what our family has been up to this year with you.

Mike started a new job with one of the huge credit card companies last month. He is doing commercial underwriting and is enjoying the benefits of working for a large company again (mainly good insurance and hopefully starting their Masters Program relatively soon!). He plays basketball at least once a week and is teaching the girls to play football... well kind of. While it's adorable to hear Kiah yell 'TouchDown' and run with the ball, I wish they wouldn't play right in front of the Christmas Tree! He's always incredibly busy, but still manages to make time to be a wonderful husband and daddy. He's still serving in the Library in Church and LOVING it!

I love being a stay-at-home mommy and these girls definitely keep me busy! I've really enjoyed volunteering in Halle's classroom this year as well. I'm trying to learn some new trades, too. I've taken up sewing and I'm hoping to learn to knit soon. I still love reading, baking, scrapbooking and cardmaking (though I don't get to do it as much as I'd like), and taking long walks with friends. I'm still serving as Nursery Music Leader which I absolutely adore, too.

Halle is in first grade this year! I can't believe how big she's getting. She loves school and is learning so much. She's reading chapter books and her favorite thing is to write and illustrate stories. Halle loves doing 'big kid' stuff like painting her nails and watching iCarly on Nickelodeon. She's truely a loving and caring girl with a very sweet soul--though she can be quite a firecracker for mom & dad, she's always an angel for everyone else.

Kiah is 18 months already!! She's a total peanut, barely 20 lbs, but she's got quite a bit on spunk. We're really enjoying watching her grow. She's really communicating alot more lately and seems to understand everything we say. She's currently obbessed with Elmo and Dora... well actually more Boots and Swiper, than Dora. Kiah loves emmulating her big sis and she loves animals--especially Tyko. Kiah is very sweet and easygoing and brings so much happiness to our little family.

We've gotten to take a few trips this year to visit famiy, and really enjoyed it. We went to Connecticut in May for my cousins wedding and Mike and the girls finally got to meet my extended family. We also visited Mike's cousins while there and just had a wonderful trip. We also got to spend a week in Utah this fall to visit Nancy and Tim. We absolutely love it there and had a great time! And Mike and I had our first ever weekend away, which we spent riding incredible rollercoasters at Six Flags in Cali. We had a BLAST!

We pray that all of you have had a wonderful year and pray that 2010 will be even better! We wish you all the best this Christmas and love you all!
Merry Christmas from us to you!!!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
Luke 2:14

Zhu Zhu giveaway

2009-12-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.thenotsoblog.com/2009/12/zhu-zhu-pet-giveaway-jilly-winkie/comment-page-12/#comment-70029

I'm trying to win an adorable pink Zhu Zhu (NOT IN STORES YET!) Wish me luck!

Felt Food

2009-12-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

Here's some pics of the felt food Whitney and I have been working on. It is seriously so cute! I almost want to keep it for myself, instead of giving it to Kiah for Christmas. Whitney did most of the sewing, and even taught me a bit along the way. I'm so excited to learn this new trade... it's sad that I'm 28 and didn't even know how to sew a button on. The ravioli are my 1st ever attempt using the sewing machine my sister gave me (and I was totally unsupervised--just me and the manual). So, I'm pretty proud of myself. Even if it did take me 2 hours to do 16 ravioli... it was cuz the girls kept interupting, right? ;)

Family Pictures

2009-11-23T08:33:00.001-08:00

My good friend, Becky, took some pics for us at the park. She did a great job, they came out so cute! Next time I'll remember to clear my memory card so we can take more though! LOL So here we are.....

Getting Cheezy with the Craz-Whiz

2009-11-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

K, so I am infamous for mixing up my words. So this weekend, while in Cali with Mike I tried to say 'that's what I get for getting crazy with the cheez-whiz' and it came out 'getting cheezy with the craz-whiz'. And that seems like a great title for my post :)
Mike and I took our first ever weekend getaway this weekend! It was our first time being gone more than one night since Halle was born. Bout time, right!?! Next time, I'm holding out for a cruise ;) So how would I like to spend a much needed romantic getaway? At a themepark, of course! So we decided to go to Magic Mountain while we're still young enough to enjoy coasters.
We were feeling kinda old being surrounded by all the teenagers there. And then when the coasters started making us nauseous, we thought maybe we were to old for it. Then at the end of the day, we rode X2. It looked like a seriously insane coaster so we both popped an extra Dramamine in line. Well, it was the most awesome coaster EVER! I loved every second. Starting off backwards and upside down, the rotating seat, the music, the flame cannons. Ahh, it was great!
We didn't get to eat at the park. We just rode coasters (well, mainly stood in line-LOL) and played arcade games all day. We won a big Sylvester for Kiah and a Supergirl cape for Halle. So anyways, we stopped at Outback (yay!) for dinner. Then the Dramamine kicked in. I had seriously just finished telling Mike how it didn't affect me at all, when I honestly could not keep my eyes open and fell asleep within seconds of getting in the car. Poor Mike had to stay awake all on his own for the hour drive back to the hotel. I'm still not sure how he did it!
We stayed at the Hilton in Anaheim, since it was way cheaper than LA. We were right across the street from Disneyland. Our room had a great view of the parks and we were able to watch the fireworks from our window. It was awesome. Then on Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Downtown Disney and walked around a bit. And then drove back home. A totally short but sweet trip.
Oh, and you're probably wondering how the girls did? They were so good. They spent one night with my mom and one night with Mike's sister, Tera. They were much better behaved for them than they are for us. So that means we won't feel bad next time we need a getaway! LOL

Mike swears he caught the Swine Flu from Porky. He really did feel sick all weekend.

Here we are getting Cheezy with the Craz-Whiz! :P

Pinkalicious and the Little Purple Butterfly

2009-11-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

Ah, Halloween. Halle wanted to be Pinkalicious for Halloween this year. But I was too lazy to do the hair and makeup for the Fall Festival and her school party, so she was Corrine from Barbie and the 3 Musketeers for those and Pinkalicious for Halloween. Kiah was a purple butterfly, but it was a bit warm on Halloween night and she had to take her coat off. The thing's like a frickin' snowsuit-LOL! Halle's friend, Luiza, came trick-or-treating with us. She's from Brazil, so this was her first Halloween. The girls' laughed and giggled and trick-or-treated til their buckets were full. It was a fun night!

Fall Festival

2009-11-05T20:43:00.001-08:00

Here's some pics from our Ward's Fall Festival. We had so much fun--and ate some really yummy chili (I've gotta say, I'm a huge fan of white chili!)! Kiah probably would've swinged... swung... swang...(?) all night if we let her. Halle was so happy that her friend, Lana, came with us. They were adorable together!

Our First Jack-O-Lantern

2009-11-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

I know, we are such LAME parents! This really is the first year we've carved a pumpkin. What can I say, Halloween has never really been my thing. But I've got plans for next year... we'll have to wait and see if I can pull them off! LOL

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

My mom and I took the girls to a pumpkin patch on Saturday. We had so much fun picking out pumpkins, petting the animals and going on the hayride. Kiah's favorite part was definitely the bounce house and Halle loved getting her face painted. It was a fun morning.

School Pics!

2009-10-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here's Halle's First Grade picture! How cute is she?!? I can't believe how grown up she looks. There's a huge difference between kindergarten and 1st grade. This was taken on her first full day of being six years old. :)
(And yes, I did make the flower myself!)

Thought of the Day

2009-10-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

As I was reading the Visiting Teaching message in the October Ensign, I came across this quote from President Hinkley in response to the question "How can I nurture the rising generation?". It truely made my heart swell, so I thought I'd share it...

"Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these His little ones....
Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried."

It's like I can hear his tender voice speaking these words as I read them. I feel so blessed to be entrusted with my little ones. And I am thankful to have guidance from living prophets to help raise them as the Lord would have me do.

At the Zoo...

2009-10-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here's us having fun with Whitney and Alexa at the zoo! Kiah and Alexa are only a few weeks apart and are absolutely adorable together! My fav part was feeding the giraffes, but Kiah liked the elephant best {of course!}. Thanks again for inviting us, guys!

Utah!

2009-10-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from our trip to visit Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Tim over Fall Break. We had a nice, relaxing trip. We spent ALOT of time outside--the weather was BEAUTIFUL. Mike and I {finally} got to go to the Salt Lake Temple, followed by a delicious lunch at Nauvoo Cafe and a stroll thru the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to see Mark Mabry's lastest exhibit (absolutely AMAZING, btw!). And some quality time with Nancy and Tim. Needless to say, we had a blast! I'll post all the pics on our Shutterfly page. (well, I'll try to anyways--it's been giving me problems lately!)

Whirlybird

2009-10-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the local news brought their weather helicopter to Halle's school. It was so exciting and fun. I got to run around and take pics for the yearbook--here's a few.....

Pinkalicious!

2009-10-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

We threw a rockin' Pinkalicious Party to celebrate Halle's 6th Birthday! It consisted of lots of sugary pink food (cupcakes, marshmellows, cookies, pink lemondade, etc), some super fun games (dress-up relay, pin the crown on the castle, and a treasure hunt), and 9 wild girls! It was such a fun time--and she got some really awesome gifts! LOL

Pee Pee

2009-10-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Kiah's latest thing, is changing Elmo's 'diaper' (even thought he doesn't wear one). She has to get out the pad, lay him down and get a wipe--and then wipe Elmo's buns. She cracks us up!

Ward Campout '09

2009-10-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

K- So I'm a little behind but here's some pics from our Ward 'Campout' last month. Our friends invited us to stay in their cabin nearby so we didn't do much camping, but everyone else did. LOL We had TONS of fun though-relaxing, staying up way too late, getting all dirty (just the girls), and hanging out with friends. GOOD TIMES!

{Kiah LOVED the deer head. She kept pointing to it and saying 'Moo'. Close enough, right? LOL}

Snowflake

2009-09-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of our trip to Snowflake over Labor day weekend. And we didn't lose Tyko this time, either!

This one's funny cuz I was getting really mad that Halle was almost knocking me down and Kiah was pushing me out of the way. But my fav part is Tyko running like heck in the background. LOL

Everybody Poops

2009-09-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Halle brought this home from school the other day, and the following conversation ensued....
Mike- "Halle, tell me about this picture."
Halle- "We had to draw a lion in art today."
Mike- "What's the lion doing?"
Halle- (blushing) " I don't remember."
Me- (in a high, shrill voice) "Halle Elyse, is your lion pooping?!?"
Halle- (hiding her face) "yes..."
Followed by a long talk about what is and is not appropriate at school. And ALOT of giggling (from everyone).

Spontaneity

2009-08-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took a spontaneous trip to San Diego! Well, as spontaneous as you can get with kids... we had a week to plan--for me, that's totally spontaneous! LOL
We left around 4am on Friday to embark on the 6 hour drive. We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast in Yuma, then headed straight for the beach. We spent the day at Coranodo Beach and it was awesome!!! We loved it! When we first arrived, there were dolphins jumping out of the ocean right in front of us! It was so cool! And then, there were tons of jets flying by since the naval base it right there. Mike really enjoyed that part. The girls played in the sand, chased the waves and followed the birds around. We had a blast. Later that night we went to Balboa Park and walked around a bit. There is so much there, I would LOVE to go back without the girls and go to all the museums! It would be awesome... Instead we rode the carousel and the trolley :)

Hanging out in front of the Hotel Del Cornando

big wave hits "That's what I'm talking about!" -Halle

At Balboa Park.......

On Saturday, we set out for the San Diego Zoo. Holy cow, that zoo is awesome. So much better than our zoo here. We saw tons of animals, rode the Skyride, took the guided bus tour and thoroughly enjoyed our $40 lunch consisting of burgers, hot dogs and chicken strips LOL I was so good though, the only souvenirs I bought were 2 postcards (totaling just over $1) of a panda (for Halle) and an elephant (for Kiah). And being surrounded by cute, cuddly stuffed animals that was no small feat for me! I wanted to go back that evening, but Halle wanted to go to the park instead, so guess where we ended up? Yes, sadly we went to Cali just to go to the park. Of course, it's been so hot here we actually haven't been able to go to the park in months, so it wasn't too bad. We found this park in Balboa Park and spent a few hours there.

My favs--the Koalas!!

Then on Sunday, we went back to the park so the girls could play before the long journey home. Kiah had been waking up every hour both nights so none of us had slept well since leaving home. But even still, we still didn't want to leave. There is so much to do there and the weather was perfect... I never wanted to live in Cali til now...........

Losing Control

2009-08-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

I was on my way to the grocery store this morning with Kiah chillin in the backseat. Enjoying my time listening to the radio, without my ears being assaulted by a constant string of "Mommy, can I hear KidzBop. Daddy lets me listen to Kidzbop both ways. Etc, etc, etc." (Halle and I have a deal that Mommy controls the radio on the way there, and she can listen to KidzBop on the way home. I can only take hoards of children singing 'Funkytown' so many times). So as I'm flipping thru the stations, I come to Taylor Swift's 'You belong with me', when Kiah says "Dis" (translation- This). So I ask her "Do you want to hear this song" and she replies "yeah", and proceeds to sing along in her cute little baby way. Now, for the record, I do really like Taylor Swift and that song--and how could I possibly say no to her sweet little request even if I didn't. But I realized that she's only 15 months and I'm already losing control.........

First day of School!

2009-08-11T13:47:00.001-07:00

Halle just started 1st Grade and is now in school all day! It's a little sad, but mostly awesome-lol. She has been pretty bored this summer, so we were both ready for school to start. Her teacher seems really nice and she already knows a bunch of kids in her class from KG and church. So here she is, ready to go--with her Hello Kitty backpack and her panda lunchbag. She was super-excited---can you tell?

Can you believe I got this whole outfit (including shoes) for about $8?!? I just love clearance and Kohl's cash-lol!

All smiles as she went thru the doors!

Teeth.

2009-08-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Halle is currently rolling in dough from the Tooth Fairy. She technically lost her first tooth a few months ago. It was a back tooth though--weird. So we took her to the dentist and (of course) she needed to have a spacer put in to prevent complications later. The dentist said it was weird, but not unheard of. So she made $3 off it (the TF, daddy, and Grandma Maryann all gave her a buck), and it cost mom & dad nearly $100 for the spacer. Awesome.
Well, last week she lost her 2 bottom teeth. We thought we'd have to take another trip to the dentist because her big teeth were totally growing in behind the baby ones (she looked like a shark), but after some googling decided that it wasn't necessary. So now she's loaded. And I just hope her top ones stay put til after school pictures!

Another great giveaway from the Meanest Mom!

2009-08-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Who couldn't use a photo session at Sears? Good luck!
http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

Saturday at the Mall

2009-07-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the mall to play Saturday morning and actually had a good time. {Usually it's a nightmare taking them to the mall-lol} So, we started at the play area, then perused JC Penney for a little bit, hit the puppy store, got some Orange Julius and finished up at the Carousel. It was a fun day.

You don't want to miss this one!

2009-07-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another contest from the Meanest Mom---the cutest dress EVER from Shabby Apple! AND.... It's for us, not our kids!!!
http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

Fun Contest

2009-07-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Enter to win a nice pack from the Body Shop--Good luck!
http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

Orlando Trip

2009-07-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from my very fun, and much needed Girls Trip to Orlando. My good friend, Janae, met me there from Kansas and we enjoyed a totally kid-free and responsibility-free weekend.
My journey started Wed night. I flew overnight, leaving here at 11:30pm and arriving in GA at 6:30a GA time. I got about an hours worth of sleep before I left home and maybe 2 1/2 hours on plane. The rest of my time went to reading the Di Vinci Code. After my 2 hour layover in GA, I made the hour long flight to Orlando and waited just outside the Terminals for Janae's flight to come in. From there we picked up the rental car (which took FOREVER, naturally) and headed to our hotel. Mike found us a great deal-$33/per night! It was more in Kissimmee than Orlando but was actually pretty nice, considering how cheap it was. We were only a 1/2 mile from Downtown Disney and under 10 miles from SeaWorld.
So despite our fatigue, we decided to head to the Orlando Temple. The Temple is absolutely breathtaking. It can be seen from miles away and I always used to admire it on my way home from working at Disney (totally not knowing what exactly it was). As some of you know, the Temple isn't the greatest place to go when you're sleep deprived, and I felt myself jerking awake a few times during the session. And considering that there were only 6 of us in the session, I'm sure it was very noticable. It seriously took every bit of effort I had not to slouch down in my seat and drift off to dreamland! It was still great being there though, it's such a beautiful temple inside and out. (funny side note: There were TONS of lizards outside the temple, TONS of them. I was about to take a pic of two cute ones that I thought were hugging, before Janae said "uh, I don't think they're hugging". Oops!)

After that, we went over to my old 'hood and got mani/pedi's at MetroWest Nails. I picked the absolute brightest pink they had and I love it! It'd make Jem and the Rockers proud...

Then we went over to Downtown Disney to have dinner at Planet Hollywood-yum. Waiting for our table was a total maze, they made us go upstairs, ground level, upstairs again and back down and finally seated us right in front of the DJ. It proved very difficult for conversation, but we were so busy eating that it really didn't matter. I had my favorite, their world-famous Cap'n Crunch Chicken and Janae had a Pulled Pork Sandwich. I told our waiter that my bday was the day before, so he had the DJ give me a shoutout and brought me a free icecream sundae. While we were waiting for our food Janae pointed out that we were sitting right by the *NSync cut-out. For those of you who've know me for a while, you know how funny and ironic that is. Shortly after, the DJ even put on the video for POP and I felt like I'd gone back in time 7 years. :) After dinner we walked around the Westside, Pleasure Island and the Marketplace, then finally called it a night.

We decided to sleep in on Friday and didn't wake up til--you won't even believe it!--8:30am... we must be moms. So we got ready for our big day at SeaWorld. It was hot and busy, of course, it is Orlando in July, but we still had a lot of fun. Manta, the new coaster, had a 90+ min wait so we decide to move on and try again later. We did some shows, rode Kracken and were in line for Atlantis when the storm blew in. It rains nearly every summer day in FL so we didn't think much of it. It's usually just enough to cool things down and clear out the tourists. Well not this storm. There was buckets of rain and mad lightning and thunder. We waited in line for a while after they closed the ride, but it was nearly 4pm and we hadn't eaten lunch yet. Unable to ward off the hunger any longer, we checked the map and headed for the closest food--a pizza stand nearby. Well, the exact moment we left the shelter of the ride the rain started coming down in sheets. We could see lighting within a mile of the park. We flat out ran to the pizza place, only to discover that it really was a stand. All outdoor seating. Luckily the little ordering area was enclosed so we crowded in, with about 10 others and ate our food standing. When the rain FINALLY let up we ventured out to find some rides. The storm caused the temp to drop ALOT, and we were soaked to the core and pretty chilly. So in a stroke of brillance, we decided to go to Wild Arctic, an inside ride with less than a 15 min wait. Well, they call it Wild ARCTIC for reason. We came out even colder, so Janae went to our locker to get the cameras while I ran to a little bakery (and the ONLY place in the park to get hot cocoa) before Believe, the Shamu show. Thankfully, the cocoa did the trick and warmed us up (even though we never really dried off) and we finished out the night with the Sea Lion after Dark Show (so, so funny), followed by Shamu Rocks and the Fireworks. Then we got lost going back to the hotel (we banished the Garmin for continually directing us to toll roads), did lots of U-turns, and eventually made it back. (In my defense, however, I-drive does this cooky thing and forks out before Apopka-Vineland, so you come out a 1/2 mile from where you picked it up. Once you figure it out it the perfect route, though--a little gem hidden from all the traffic.) So we showered, watched Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter himself, on Letterman and hit the sack.

Saturday, we spent the day at SeaWorld's waterpark, Aquatica. It's a totally awesome park---yes, I really did say totally awesome. We rode just about every water slide and spent most of our time in Roa's Rapids. It's the 'un'lazy river. You can go on your own or with a life vest (the life vest is WAY more fun), and tons of jets propel you thru the river. It was so fun. I can't wait to go back with the girls and Mike, there was so much fun stuff for kids! We got these all day food passes for one the restaurants, so we had to make sure we got our money's worth ;) And thanks to a few instances of falling in and out of the rafts, we laughed our butts off all day. After about six hours of fun in the sun, we were spent--and so was our sunblock. So we headed back to the hotel resembling lobsters a bit. We showered and headed back to the AMC Downtown Disney and saw The Proposal. It was hillarious--I highly recommend it. Afterwards, we walked over to the Ghiradelli Ice Cream Shoppe and indulged ourselves. Janae had the Brownie Sundae and I had the Cookie one (of course). Who cares if it was 10 o'clock at night--we were on vacation. And it was so, so delicious. I wish I had one right now. After that it was back to the hotel, were we stayed up til 1am watching Justin Timberlake on SNL (in a leotard doing 'Single Ladies' with Beyonce-{CLASSIC}).
Sunday it was finally time to head home. We made one last stop in our quest for souvenirs for the husbands before heading to the airport. And what better place than the Nike Factory Outlet. So in true Florida tradition, we left with matching navy blue Nike hats for our hubbies (won't they be cute golfing together) and we even sprung for the nice 'wicking' kind. Then off the the airport for a nearly 5 hour wait before our planes took-off. (We didn't want to pay for a whole extra day on the rental car). I still didn't have any useless trinkets or overpriced t-shirts to bring home to my girls, so I scoured the airport shops for anything they might like. I've been forbidden to ever by another stuffed animal, so it was actually a very difficult task. Finally, I found a pink Shamu pencil case set for Halle and an Elmo book for Kiah--exciting huh? Then we had an overpriced lunch at Chilis ($10 for a quesadilla-are you kidding me?) and found a spot to watch Twilight on Mike's IPOD. I'm sure he's pleased with my uses of his electronic devices. And other than my plane leaking condensation out of the overhead airvents all over the passengers (including a poor blind man who was seated next to an 8 year old boy that couldn't reach the vents), it was a pretty uneventful flight home.
And luckily, I was able to jump right back into reality when Halle woke up with diarrea at 1 o'clock that night and continued pooping and vomiting into the morning. What a nice welcome home........

Fourth of July

2009-07-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th of July. Our ward had a pancake breakfast and bike parade at the park across from our house. The food was yummy--Kiah was going to town on the pancakes and watermelon. And then as the rest of us are sitting down to eat, she yaks it all up. All over her cute, new, little 4th of July outfit, all over Mike's shirt and all over the ground. Lovely. We took her home to clean her up and then I brought Halle back for the bike parade. After that, we went home and spent some time in the pool. And later, we went to my parents for my bday dinner. Steaks, ribs and Carvel icecream cake. YUM! All in all, it was a good day :)

Don't you just love Barry Manilow in the background? lol We were watching the July 4th special on PBS.

Here's Tyko new haircut. He looks kinda like an otter now ;)

Trip to the Zoo (June)

2009-07-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Whitney invited us to the zoo with them last month. We had a great time! We definitely don't get to hang out with Sims enough since we moved, so it was great seeing them! Halle got to fulfill her dream of riding a camel, too. She'd been saving her money for months. It was such a good time, can't wait to do it again--after it cools off a little though, 113 is just way too hot!

Trip to Snowflake (in May)

2009-07-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Snowflake to visit Mike's grandparents. This was the weekend Tyko decided to wander off. We were worried sick and needless to say, it put quite a damper on our weekend. Luckily, he wandering into a very nice lady's yard (she found him with the cows!) and she took him in. A big storm had rolled into town so we were just sick with worry. We were forced to come home without him. The next day we got a call saying that Tyko was found. The woman saw our lost dog poster at the grocery store. Thank goodness! So Mike drove back up to bring Tyko home. I really hope he enjoyed running free--cuz it'll never happen again

Playing in the rain!

It snowed on the way home!

CT trip (in May)

2009-07-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Wow--so I am a little behind. Here's some pics of our trip to CT in May. We went for my cousin's wedding and to visit family. Alot of my extended family is out there, so we got to see alot of them at the wedding. We also spent some time with Mike's cousin's family there, too. Halle loved meeting all her cousins. It was a very short trip (and a very long flight) but we had alot of fun. We spent one day at a childrens museum in Norwalk--Stepping Stones, I think. And the rest of the trip was spent sleeping or visiting family :)
Here's my beautiful cousin, Kim and her new husband Josh!

Me and the blushing bride ;)

Halle and Kadence--so sweet

Mike and Kiah being attacked by stuffed gorillas at the museum

Halle and Kadence again

Halle with Shandie and Tabitha

sweet little Kambell

did you miss us?

2009-06-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, it feels like forever since I've blogged. To all 6 of you who follow my blog, I apologize. I'm sure your life has been at a standstill waiting for my next post :P Seriously though, I just haven't felt like it. School's officially out and I guess I'm in lazy summer mode. Our days have been filled with swimming, Summer Movie Fun at Harkins, classes at the parks & rec, and lots of Drs appts. (Nothings wrong, just all our check-ups fell in the same month for some reason). And I've been reading alot. I've fallen in love with Jane Austen novels and still keep re-reading Potter and Twilight series for the billionth time. Along with wasting time on Facebook and planning a girl trip to Orlando next month, I just haven't felt the urge to blog. There are some cute things I wanted to jot down before I forget though. And I still need to post pics of our CT trip and Tyko's 'adventure'. More on that later...

The other day we were driving to visit Amanda, and there's one spot were you switch freeways and have a really good view of the south valley. At this point, Halle says "Wow mommy, I can see all of America from here!". She was so serious that it was super cute.

Another day we were driving to Mike's work and saw a homeless man at the freeway exit. Halle bursts out with "Oh man, I forgot all my money"
So I say "What do you need your money for"
Halle "That man doesn't have any money, and I want to give him all of mine"
She has such a sweet heart, I was tearing up and then felt horrible that I didn't have any money on me (I usually keep a few dollars in my wallet, soley for that purpose), but I was so touched at how sweet and giving she is. Especially to give up her tooth fairy money that she's been saving for a camel ride at the zoo.

One more cute Halle conversation went like this...
Mike and Halle were in the car listening to "First Time" by Lifehouse on her KidzBop CD. Mike asks her if she likes that song and she says "oh yes!"
Mike- 'Why do you like it?'
Halle- 'Cuz it reminds me of Porter.'
Mike (getting a little nervous)- 'Why does it remind you of Porter?'
Halle (very impishly)- 'Cuz it's about love'
So when they get home, Mike tells Halle to tell me why she likes that song. Well, Halle is a little embarrassed, so Mike prompts her to tell me about Porter and she bursts out with "I love him!" and runs away embarrassed. I can't imagine how her teenage years will be, but I have feeling we'll get less sleep than we do now.

I just have one Kiah funny.
We were at Church and I had Kiah in Nursery with me. We just finished Singing Time and Brother Tenney had actually gotten all the kids to sit down quietly in a circle to teach them about reverence. So, it's all quiet and they're sitting there folding their arms and Kiah runs to the middle of the circle and starts dancing. I had another little girl in my lap, who was having a really hard day so I couldn't even grab Kiah out of the circle. Well, we couldn't help it... all of us adults started cracking up at Kiah's Reverence Circle Dance. It was incredibly cute, after all. :)

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll feel some motivation to get caught up on the rest of my posts soon! ;)

The ending of an era...

2009-05-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, Halle is officially done with Kindergarten now. It's been amazing watching her grow up this year. She's learned so much. She can read very well, understands concepts that I never imagined she could learn, do some math, and has even improved her drawing and singing skills. It's been so fun to have her start school. To see her make friends on her own (without mom arranging friendships), take responsibility for things like getting her homework done, and seeing her get so excited whenever something new was coming, like field trips and assemblies. She's growing up so fast, I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be gone all day next year (well, a part of me will love it), but it'll be fun to watch her grow. I love you, Halle!!!

Here's her Kindergarten class.

Halle and Mrs. Trancozo

Halle and Mrs. Gibbs

Here's some pics from their end of the year water day, she had a blast!
These are 2 of her best friends, Alex and Porter. Halle and Porter are practically engaged :)

Kiah's 1st Birthday Party!

2009-05-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

Some family came over to help us celebrate Kiah's big day! She had a teddy bear party, got lots of presents, some yummy cake and party games. It was such a fun way to celebrate our sweet little Kiah :)
Here she is opening presents in her party dress from Grandma Nancy!

She got some toys, a whole new wardrobe (mostly from Aunt Tera), and....

a cuddly, talking Elmo from mommy & daddy--she is an Elmo girl!

Here's her very own teddy cake (Mike said it looked more like a hedgehog--guess it's time for me to take a cake decorating class at Michaels... lol)

Make a wish, pretty girl!

The poor bear didn't stand a chance...

Our homemade 'Pin the Hat on the Bear' (this kept Halle busy hours after the party)

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

2009-05-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of Kiah's actual bday. Mike brought home an icecream cake, so we could sing to her. She obviously got pretty upset when she ran out of cake-lol!

Look who's 1!!!

2009-05-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well, my sweet baby turned 1 yesterday! Kiah is such a fun little girl, we love, LOVE having her in our family. I want to record her latest intersts and accomplishments.
At one, she's able to--- Walk, dance, destroy (the whole house in under 5 minutes), say a few words ('Dada', 'iwantit', 'holdthat', go-go-go, Blanket, something that's supposed to be 'Halle', and 'step'), and finally, drink from a sippy! She LOVES Elmo, all kinds of music and swimming in the pool. I'd have to say that her favorite food is yogurt, but she'll eat almost anything. She loves her blanky and her family and is great at giving hugs and kisses. We love our Kiah-bear so much! Happy Birthday baby!

Latest Pics

2009-05-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Here's Halle's Kindergarten 'Spring' portrait...

And here' Kiah's one year shot...

Aren't they adorable?!?

Hugs for Cupcakes

2009-05-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

K- this is just too cute not to post. I'd noticed that whenever I would share a cupcake with Kiah, she'd take her bite and immeadiately give me a hug. It's so stinkin' cute! We've found that it works with cookies, chocolate--pretty much any tasty little goody...

Lovely in Yellow

2009-05-02T22:46:00.001-07:00

My mom and I took the girls to the Temple this morning for a mini photo shoot. We found the perfect spot on the east lawn for these pics :)

Am I a mean mommy or what?

Blanky Love

2009-04-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

If there's anything in this world Kiah loves, it is by far her blanky. Here's some especially cuddly pics of her and blanky...

Ain't no stopping her now!

2009-04-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's some video of Kiah walking! And eating her first Oreo (the joys of childhood!). Towards the end I ask her if her cookies' yummy and she does her cute tongue thing!

Look who's 30!!!

2009-04-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Mike turned 30 this week! I'm married to such an old man! LOL It was kinda a rough birthday, not cuz Mike cares about getting older but cuz Kiah woke up with a stomach bug at 4:30 that morning-bleh! (She then passed it to Halle and my mom, and Halle passed it to another friend and so on... it's been a real fun week for us...) So, that night my parents brought over some pizzas from NYPD, and Tera came over to help us celebrate.
Here's ever so practical Mike with his new sandals and dress socks from Tera.

Here he is with the new wallet the girls got him. Before this he was still rockin' an old, velcro wallet. So we decided it was time for Daddy to get a grownup wallet now that he's 30! haha It took 5 stores, but we finally found a cool, Quiksilver one, that wasn't too fuddy duddy!

Here's Mike and the girls with his favorite--Funfetti cake with Rainbow Chip frosting! Happy 3rd Birthday Babe! haha ;)

Easter!

2009-04-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

We had a nice, quiet Easter this year. First, was Church at 8am--obviously there was no time for Easter Baskets before we left. When we got home, Kiah took a nap while Halle went on a Treasure Hunt to find the baskets. After following 4 clues, she found them in the dryer--what a crazy bunny this year! Kiah checked out her basket after her nap... her favorite part was the Elmo book (Halle loved her new ballet outfit). Afterwards, Tera came over for dinner and we had roast with potatoes and carrots, and Resurrection Rolls (which are INCREDIBLY GOOD made with Grands!) and peach cobbler for dessert. It was a nice day for our family celebrating our Savior's love.
Halle searching for clues...

Halle with her Basket.

Halle's ballet outfit from the bunny.

Here's Kiah and her Basket

Halle reading Kiah her new book

Check this out!

2009-04-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you have girls, you have to enter this contest! These are the cutest hair bows I've ever seen! Good luck!
http://allthingsribbon.blogspot.com/