The Dickinsons

Christmas is over…

2011-12-28T11:25:00.001-07:00

I love Christmas and the month leading up to it.

I love spending time with family and friends.

I love all the decorations.

I love the music.

I love the Christmas movies on Hallmark & Lifetime channels.

I love all the treats.

I love hot cocoa with marshmallow crème and cinnamon and nutmeg.

I love sending and receiving Christmas cards.

I love all the lights on houses and the Mesa Temple.

I love when we find the “perfect” gift for each kid.

I love the big family dinner on Christmas Eve at our house.

I love the looks on the kids’ faces when they unwrap their gifts.

I love seeing the kids happily play with their new toys.

I loved the beautiful musical program at church on Christmas Day.

I love all sharing and giving.

I don’t love all the cleanup.

Christmas is OVER and now I want everything cleaned up. Who wants to come do it for me? Although, as much as I want someone else to do it, I’m a little OCD about how things are done, so ultimately, it’s up to me. UGH!! How soon do YOU put all the decorations away?

Also, I’ve completely derailed my diet and workout. I found 101 Healthy Things You Can Start TODAY! (<--click to see them)

I only skimmed thru the list but I’m pretty sure I need to do ALL of them! Starting TODAY!

What are you going to start doing in 2012? I also starting thinking about MY WORD for the new year. Have you?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2011-12-24T13:08:00.001-07:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS from my family to yours!

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Gift Ideas

2011-12-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a few Christmas gift ideas for that special someone? Or someone who is hard to shop for or seems to already have everything they want? Watch these short videos to give you inspiration… (turn off my awesome Christmas music first so you can hear the good info)

The Forever Lazy

The PooTrap

Booty Pillows

Handerpants

Nathaniel wants the Forever Lazy. And Felicia keeps telling me that we need the PooTrap for our dogs! HAHAHA

A Little Post

2011-12-02T10:33:00.001-07:00

HA! It's been almost a year since my last post! It's just so much easier to send short updates to facebook (from my phone) than post on my little blog.

Well, I'm most certain that my computer has crashed! I've been hijacking Ben's computer the last 2 weeks. Mine won't even boot up anymore. It keeps asking for a Windows boot disk, but since my CD Rom took a dump a couple years ago, I can't use a boot disk. So, now I'm ready to ditch my cute pink computer tower and clunky monitor that was around when dinosaurs were still here (ok maybe not that old, at least it's has a flat screen but still thick and clunky like the old TVs) and upgrade to a laptop! I'd say that's a pretty good Christmas and Birthday combo gift. I'm used to combos since my birthday is only a week and a half after Christmas.

If anyone has any tips or knows of a good deal on laptops or what NOT to buy, please let me know! THANKS!! Oh and I don't have a very big budget, so please don't send me links to amazing stuff I can't afford, it will just make me drool and cry. :(

Let the hunt begin...

My Word…

2011-01-16T23:23:00.001-07:00

I had two different words on my mind when this word popped in my head:

CHOOSE “to select from a number of possibilities”

CHOOSE the Right

CHOOSE a positive attitude

CHOOSE to be productive

CHOOSE NOT to be offended

I was inspired a couple weeks ago, when we had a lesson at church during Relief Society that came from President Thomas S. Monson’s talk “The Three R’s of Choice” from the October 2010 General Conference (Priesthood Session). He talks about various aspects of choice and put them into three categories: the right of choice, the responsibility of choice, and the results of choice, hence the three R’s of choice. I really enjoyed his perspective. He ended his talk by saying “…may we be filled with gratitude for the right of choice, accept the responsibility of choice, and ever be conscious of the results of choice.”

I hope I can be more aware of the choices in front of me and do a better job this year with my attitude and being a good example to my family.

I’m also choosing to attempt Project 365 again this year {a picture each day for the year}. Hopefully I’ll get farther than I did 2 years ago. LOL! If you want to follow along, you can check out my Project365 blog HERE.

Did you choose a word to center your goals around this year?

If you want ideas for a word, go HERE.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-12-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas!

We did! It was simple but nice!

I'm so grateful for my family and friends {real & online}!

I can't believe that this year is ending and 2011 is approaching so FAST! It's been a strange, hard, changing and wonderful year! I've also started thinking about my new word of the year. Have you picked a word yet? I'm still thinking. I'll reveal mine when I finally settle on one.
*Need some ideas - look HERE and HERE

Please Vote…

2010-07-19T16:57:00.001-07:00

‎8 weeks ago my friend, Karyn Zendejas, entered a Muscle & Fitness Hers Transformation Challenge. She has been very dedicated and worked really hard! Please go HERE and vote for her! THANKS!!!

**All the names are ABOVE the pictures. When you get to the website, hit CTRL+F then type her name Karyn Z to find her. You can view her BEFORE and AFTER pics if you click on her picture. Then don’t forget to hit the VOTE button on the bottom of the page.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

I’m still here…

2010-05-15T09:45:00.001-07:00

I’ve been mostly posting updates on facebook recently.

Seriously, I can’t believe it’s been over 2 months since I last posted here!

Here’s a few updates:

Ashley was baptized as a new member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! We’re so proud of her! I also found a beautiful white dress for her to wear so she would feel extra special!

My Dad got married over spring break. He’s been going back ‘n forth between here and California and wherever his new wife needs to be. She just graduated with her Masters degree and is looking for a job in several states. So, we’re not sure where they will end up.

My Sister is moving to Colorado in a week. :( She needs some fresh new scenery and will be staying with one of her best friends, so I’m not too worried about her. Although I will miss her terribly.

We had a wonderful Easter and Ashley even learned to ride her bike (without training wheels)! That was a HUGE accomplishment for her. She has been terrified to get on her bike even though Ben was always holding on. We’re so proud of her!

Ben has been in Taiwan for the past 3 weeks (for work). He’s coming home tonight! I’m so excited!!! We’ve been using skype for the first time to talk to each other. It was fun being able to see him while we talked. I think it kind of made it seem like he wasn’t so far away. He could also show me his hotel room and the view from his window. I took snapshots nearly every time we talked, which really wasn’t that much because of the 15 hour time difference. Sometimes he was being silly, so of course, I snapped those moments, usually without him knowing. haha Sorry babe, I just couldn’t resist sharing some of these pics. *Can you tell what was on the tv one night?

While he was gone, my friend from TX, Karyn, visited me for almost 2 weeks! We had so much fun together! We went to the gym nearly every day, visited the kids’ P.E. classes at school (it was parent P.E. week), shopped, went to bunko, rollerbladed, and swam lots!

We also had a relaxing Mother’s Day {considering Ben wasn’t here, Karyn’s kids were back in TX, and my Mom wasn’t here}! Here’s what we made for breakfast – Belgian waffles with strawberries & cool whip!

And the kids made some cute gifts at school for me!

M-Marvelous, O-Oh’ So Nice, T-Terrific, H-Heart, E-Extra, R-Reads to me (that last one took a minute to figure out) By Anson

“Dear Mom, Happy Mother’s Day! I love you and thank you for helping me with my homework. Thank you for making all these yummy meals. I also wish that every day was no school so that I can spend time with you everyday. I love you very much. Love, Ashley”

M-My Special Hero!, O-Often makes me Happy!, T-The very best Mom!, H-Hugs from you makes me feel loved!, E-Everlasting love!, R-Really amazing mother! by Felicia

Awww they just melt my heart ♥

Karyn also introduced me to a new food – Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah). It’s really good and good for you! I got a small package in the health food section at Fry’s (a grocery store). I made just one cup of dry Quinoa, it pretty much doubles in size when you cook it. When it was done cooking, we mixed in sautee’d onions & green peppers, then added some frozen peas and corn – you let it sit covered for a minute or two and they get cooked from the heat of the Quinoa. I had some leftover grilled chicken, so I threw that in there too. That was our dinner the other night. Nathaniel & Felicia love it, so do I! Since I posted about it on facebook, here’s a pic:

With everything that has been going on, I decided to take a little break from digital scrapbook designing. Hopefully, I can get some mojo and get back into it soon. I really love it, but I’ve needed a little break.

I can’t believe that school is almost over for my kids! Less than 2 weeks are left!!! Next week, Nathaniel & Felicia have an orchestra concert, history fair (they’ve been working hard on a history report and presentation), and their hip hop dance recital. Felicia also has to write a short speech and make a poster because she’s running for student council President! Elections are Wednesday! Way to shoot for the stars! Yearbooks have arrived and I’ll be busy handing out preordered ones next week and selling the rest of them before and after school. Then the last week, the kids will all have their class parties! They are so excited!

Ok, so that’s a little bit of what we’ve been up to, of course there’s more but then this post would never end. haa haa A couple more busy weeks, then SUMMER VACATION!!!!! YAY!!!

Ok, this has taken way toooooo long to type this up plus add all the pics (my comp kept freezing and wouldn’t let me add the pics for a while). I need to help get the house cleaned before Ben gets home tonight! :)

News & Spring is almost here!

2010-03-09T17:32:00.001-07:00

I’ll start with the shocking news…

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, my Dad met someone online, they met and immediately became engaged. They have recently set the date for May 20th to get married. It’s been kind of difficult dealing with this. My sister and I have been trying to be happy for our Dad but it’s still too fast for us. But it’s what he wants, so there’s no changing his mind. She will be visiting here March 18-26th, so that’s when we’ll get to meet her.

Good News…

I finally removed the hangers, bagged, and donated all of my Mom’s clothes. It was 2 huge trash bags plus a bag for her shoes.

Fun news…

I shopped for bunko prizes last week. Then I hosted bunko at my house on Friday. It was a blast! And I got a cute prize (I really wanted to keep all of them)!

On to sweeter news…

My darling Ashley had her 8th birthday over the weekend. I can’t believe how quickly she is growing and changing. She has been wanting secret journals, so she received a couple of those. You know the kind that has a mini key with it? She thinks they are so cool. She also got a Moxie doll (like a Barbie doll but with changeable heads) and an iCarly notebook, but I forgot to buy some batteries, so she hasn’t used it yet. I think you have to use a passcode to get it open, then you can write your notes in it. My sister also found a gift & card that my Mom had bought for Ashley before she died. So, Christy was able to give that to her. It’s a necklace with a charm and inside is a mustard seed with a quote attached that reads, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Ashley was so excited!!! I love the one I got just like it when I was 8 from my Aunt Wendy. I still have it.

Enjoying breakfast (homemade Belgian waffles) with her BFF that spent the night. Playing a little xbox.Eating lunch after the makeover her sister gave her. her bday cake (rainbow chip with rainbow chip frosting) The whole gang! blowing out 8 candles. her Moxie doll. some wall scrapbook kits Ashley with Grandma and Grandpa Stradling Ashley & me Ashley & Ben

And because Ashley turned 8, she will be getting baptized this Saturday. She is thrilled!

Decluttering news…

Ben & I helped the kids go thru their closets & dressers to gather all the clothes that don’t fit them. We filled 7 trash bags!!! {well 2 or 3 were already filled with baby/toddler clothes just waiting to be donated}. Ben dropped off ALL the clothing for donations yesterday! It really feels good to get all that stuff OUT of the house that we weren’t using. Now, if I can just get the computer room organized. Hmmmm. That’s for another day. LOL

* NEW * March Challenges are posted.

Head on over to the DSO Challenge Blog for some inspiration, plus you earn freebies!

Here's what you get FREE if you play along:

{remember my posting bonuses are coordinating}

FONT Challenge

QUOTE Challenge

HAPPY SPRING and HAPPY SCRAPPING!

Word of the day…

2010-03-03T13:05:00.001-07:00

Tintinnabulation

is a long word that describes the sound of a bell ringing.

~you can hear the pronunciation HERE

I found this word on the kids’ lunch menu. I thought it was an interesting word & I had never heard it before.

Chugga Chugga CHOOO-choooo…

2010-03-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

I’m so excited to be a part of my first HUGE Blog Train! YAY!!!

Just a little kick-off to SPRING! {my fave time of year}

Here’s what you have to look forward to {for FREE} if you hop around to all the participating blogs:

Ok, so you may have just hopped here from Sara Ellis’ blog.

Here’s my portion of this GORGEOUS Mega Kit Shine On:

You can grab it HERE.

Next Stop is LouCee Creations (my fellow DSO Designer)! Wooohoooo!

If you get lost along the way, don’t worry, head over to the Blog Train Blog for a list of all the participants!

Enjoy! And I would LOVE to see if you use my part to create something!

Thanks Trish for all your hard work organizing yet another fabulous blog train!!!

So, I decided to post the list here too:

P.S. Please remember that everyone is in different time zones, so if their part isn’t posted yet, check back in a little while because you don’t want to miss out. Thanks!

Valentine Parties

2010-02-12T10:14:00.001-07:00

The kids are so excited for their class parties today! Which basically means lots of candy & treats! What better way to celebrate a holiday? hahaha It’s ALL about the candy! LOL

The kids assembled their Valentine goodie bags Wednesday night. It got kind of late, so Anson had already fallen asleep and wouldn’t wake up. Oh well, he was excited to see everything all done when he woke up.

Here’s the candy that went into the bags – candy ♥s and kisses!

Ashley started making the bags by herself.

Then Nathaniel joined in.

Once Felicia finished her homework, she helped too.

YAY! All 108 bags are assembled and ready to go!

Here’s what went into each teacher bag. A goodie bag plus a 3-pack of delicious milk chocolate covered caramels plus a card!

They all took their Valentine goodies to school yesterday. Nathaniel and Felicia already handed theirs out. All their friends were excited to receive cute treats!

Nathaniel & Felicia’s classes are also having a gift exchange (it was supposed to be instead of cards for everyone, but we opted to do both). Everyone filled out a little questionnaire and then exchanged them. Here’s what Felicia is giving away to a girl in her class.

Here’s what Nathaniel is giving away to a boy in his class.

By the way, this is supposedly Nathaniel’s *girlfriend*. Aren’t they cute? They were sitting together at lunch yesterday. I also got one of those huge Hershey kisses, so Nathaniel’s giving it to her today. He’s happy he has a little gift for her! :)

Felicia has a boy who likes her and keeps giving her treats this week. She was out sick Monday & Tuesday, so when he came to our house for cub scouts Tuesday night, he gave her some Pop Rocks. (yep he’s in our ward and is one of Ben’s scouts) Then he gave her a sucker and a little toy (from Sonic) yesterday. Isn’t that sweet? You know what’s funny? Felicia had a crush on him for the longest time (like a couple years), then recently he started being mean to her at church and school. Hmmmm I told Felicia he probably thought she was cute and no longer knew how to behave *normal* around her. haha Then suddenly she’s sick and he tells a few people (well the word gets around quickly – u remember those days right?) that he wanted to give her a treat since he felt bad she was sick, and a friend told her when I was picking up the kids from school (she was in the car with me). She is no longer hating on him. Oh yes, I totally remember the grade school drama. LOL

{This was taken at Skateland last night & the boy who’s been giving Felicia treats is in this picture – far right. I was trying to get them in a pic together but not make it obvious to embarrass her too much. heee heeee}

Back in January, Ashley’s class was reading & talking about Flat Stanley. So each kid made one of their own. Here’s Ashley’s Flat Stanley. Isn’t he cute?

Everyone got to send Flat Stanley on an adventure to a friend/family in another state. Ashley chose to send him to my brother’s family in TN. They had so much fun with him! They took lots of pictures and sent him back to Ashley’s class, so they could find out about his adventure. Ashley was thrilled to hear all about Flat Stanley and her aunt & uncle & cousins in TN. She got to leave the letter and some pictures at school. So she brought the rest of the pics home and Flat Stanley. She liked them so much she hung them all by her bed.

Thank you Spencer, Merrianne, Libby & Jacob for taking such great care of Flat Stanely & returning him home safely!

Alrighty, I’m off to get some things done today. Have a wonderful Valentine’s weekend! ♥

Valentine Cards & a FREEBIE

2010-02-08T16:06:00.001-07:00

I made these Valentine cards for my kids for school. I will print them and add a little bag with candy for each student and teacher. {just like we did last year} The kids are so excited!

I made these cards using my new kit Sweet Valentine 1 & 2 that is only available as a posting bonus for my DSO Challenges for the month of February.

I’m trying to show some L♥VE, so I am giving you BOTH of these Valentine Cards FREE, if you want to use them! Just plop a picture {or anything you want} in the empty space and you’re done!

You can GRAB these HERE!

What kind of Valentine cards do your kids use? Do they make them or use store cards? Do you add candy to them?

Sweet Valentine

2010-02-07T23:33:00.001-07:00

Want inspiration for some sweet, lovely or romantic pages or hybrid projects?

Head on over to the DSO Challenge Blog, plus you earn freebies!

Here's what you get FREE if you play along:

{remember my posting bonuses are coordinating & extra big this month}

FONT Challenge

QUOTE Challenge

Go to the DSO Challenge BLOG for all the details! Hope you’ll join in the FUN!

I’m going to use this kit to make my kids’ valentine cards to pass out at school. I’ll be back later to show you what we created!

Forever & After

2010-02-01T11:46:00.001-07:00

The DSO designers have collaborated this month to bring you a PICK YOUR BITS Mega! This means you can choose which parts you want and only pay for those!! You’re not stuck with downloading huge files or parts of the kit you don’t want.

PLEASE NOTE : All of the Feb Collab, titled FOREVER & AFTER can be found in the DSO COLLAB category in the store.

Here is my portion:

Here’s a layout I made using my part {and Jazzy’s Funky Love Lines Wordart}:

This is my brother, Spencer, and his wife, Merrianne. I took this pic when they were visiting at the beginning of January (for my Mom’s funeral). I hope you two don’t mind that I used your pic for this layout.

My Doppelganger and what’s for dinner?

2010-01-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

On Facebook apparently it’s doppelganger week. {I don’t know who comes up with this stuff, but if I have nothing better to post, then yep, I copy and do it too. LOL}

What is a doppelganger? I’d heard that word before but didn’t know what it meant. It basically means someone who looks like YOU. So, you’re supposed to change your profile pic (on facebook) to someone famous that you’ve been told you look like.

In high school, my friends and I would sometimes watch Young and the Restless at a friends’ house while eating lunch. They told me that I looked like Heather Tom. Of course, I was thrilled because I think she’s really pretty. Well, that was back in high school though. hahaha

(I’m the one on the right, in case Heather Tom really is my twin and you couldn’t tell the difference. LOL) Who’s your doppelganger?

Ok so I was going to post this earlier in the week but just didn’t get around to it til now. My SIL Merrianne tagged me, so here goes.

We had Shepherd’s Pie for dinner on Sunday (and Monday) evening. Sorry Ben, yep, we had one of your faves while you were out of town. My Dad, Christy and the kids loved it!

Ok I know the pic looks a little messy but it’s the only one I got. We had green salad with it (I’m not including a pic – sorry. It was just lettuce, tomatoes, croutons and dressing). Here’s my recipe, you can cut it down a little if your family is smaller or you only want it to last one day.

Shepherd’s Pie

2lbs lean ground Beef

1 Onion, chopped

1-2 Garlic cloves, chopped or pressed

1 Green Pepper, chopped – optional

1 large can Tomato Soup

1 large bag Frozen Green Beans

5lbs or more Potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 stick Butter

1 cup Sour Cream

Milk, optional

Shredded Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground beef with onion, garlic and green pepper. Drain fat. Stir in tomato soup, let simmer for 5-10 min on MED LOW heat.

Cook green beans according to pkg directions. Drain.

Peel potatoes and boil (I cook them in the pressure cooker because it’s faster). Drain.

In a bowl combine butter, sour cream and cooked potatoes. Mash until all lumps are gone. If a little dry, add a little milk slowly.

In a baking dish, coat with non-stick cooking spray. Add meat mixture, green beans, then mashed potatoes. Top with shredded cheese. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

For dessert we had a coconut-banana cream pie. My Dad loves coconut cream pie and banana cream pie and has been saying that it would make a great combo pie. So, I tried it and it was delicious!!!

Here’s my recipe:

Coconut-Banana Cream Pie

1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs (I used store bought crumbs)

3 Tbsp. Sugar

1/3 cup Butter, melted

1 sm box Banana Cream Pudding

1 3/4 cup Milk

1 Banana, sliced then cut in half

1 sm box Coconut Cream Pudding

1 3/4 cup Milk

Cool Whip, optional

Shredded Coconut, optional

Combine crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Stir in melted butter until thoroughly blended. Pack mixture firmly into 9-inch pie pan and press firmly to bottom and sides. Chill one hour before filling or bake in 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, cool & chill. (I usually bake it so it stays together better.) Set aside until ready to fill.

In medium bowl, add 1 3/4 cup milk and box of Banana cream pudding mix. Use wire whisk to blend for 1 minute. Stir in banana slices. Set in fridge for 5 minutes.

In medium bowl, add 1 3/4 cup milk and box of Coconut cream pudding mix. Use wire whisk to blend for 1 minute. Set in fridge for 5 minutes.

Pour banana cream pudding into graham cracker crust. Then top with coconut cream pudding. Refrigerate until serving.

*I wasn’t sure both puddings were going to fit in my pie crust so I didn’t add all the banana pudding on the bottom layer, once I saw there was room, I topped it with the rest of the banana pudding – that’s why you may see banana chunks on the top layer in my pic. You can do it however you want.

Optional: Add a dollop of cool whip and sprinkle a little bit of shredded coconut to each slice when serving.

It’s delicious! Way better than I even thought it would be!

I’m not good at tagging, so if you post what you had for dinner and recipes, please let me know so I can come check it out!!

Have a super duper fun weekend! Ben’s been out of town since Saturday (in Austin, TX) so I’m excited he’s coming home tonight! YAY!!!

my word for 2010

2010-01-16T11:46:00.001-07:00

ACHIEVE: to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish; to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain; to bring about an intended result; accomplish some purpose or effect; to attain with effort or despite difficulty.

Notice the last definition. It means I actually have to WORK on my goals and not just sit by and wait for them to get crossed off my list without any effort.

I have so many goals for this year {especially since I failed miserably with my word from last year} that I’m hoping I can ACHIEVE something this year. I will take one goal at a time and WORK on it until I ACHIEVE it.

Have you picked a word for the year? If you need ideas, like I did, you can go HERE. {I totally got this idea from Allie Edwards} I looked thru the list of words, for inspiration, then wrote down a few that stood out to me and narrowed it down again from there. Good Luck!

Another Year Older & Wiser

2010-01-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

hahaha yeah right! JUST OLDER! I finally found my FIRST white hair a few months ago! YIKES!!! Although, I have yet to see it grow back {of course I plucked it for safe keeping}.

Ok now I have finally caught up with my dear ~~OLD~~ hubby!

His birthday was the week of Thanksgiving and now mine.

I tease him that he’s OLD, but then a month and a half later – I “catch up!” LOL

By the way, do you like my new playlist? Enjoy it while you can because it will only play TODAY!

{maybe if I give enough hints – hubby will get that cake for me! I’ve already printed the $3 off coupon & will be placing it where he can easily find it. heee heee}

**I also want to add a BIG “THANK YOU” to all who have sent kind, loving emails, cards, meals and donations to my Mom’s Fund. My family and I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity!

♥((BIG HUGS))♥

My sister, brother, uncle and I spoke {I was so nervous and it took me days to prepare for it} at my Mom’s service and a dear family friend sang several songs {he is so amazing} and it was beautiful. I’m so grateful that my brother and his wife were able to be here. I wish they could’ve stayed longer, but they needed to get back to their kids. Can’t wait til they can visit again this summer!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! {and a Blog Hop freebie}

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

This has been one heck of a year for me and my family! I hope y’all had a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to what’s to come in 2010.

We had a nice Christmas {even though my Mom was in the hospital}. She came home Monday evening and passed away after only being home 5 hours. We are having services for her this Saturday, Jan 2nd at 1pm. It has been a struggle for me to say “Goodbye” to her because she was my BEST friend! But I know she’s not in any more pain and with her family that passed before her. Thank you to all my amazing family & friends that have sent loving messages to me. I am so grateful. ♥

Ok I don’t want to dwell on the sadness right now because today is the beginning of a New Year and new beginnings!

If you are still finishing scrapping your Christmas pictures, check out my Deck the Halls kit plus all the extras!

Here’s my 2-page layout

Look at these fabulous layouts from the DSO CT:

These layouts were by Kerri (kayjaydo)

These were by Karen (bydelstorp) also using Jazzy’s A Christmas Song wordart on the 2nd layout.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! The DSO Gals have been busy making gifties for y’all.

So, you probably hopped over from Shannon.

Since you’ve gotten this far, here is my special TREAT for you!

You can grab this HERE

For your next treat, go back to the DSO Blog to see what you’ve missed or hop over to Jazzy!

Since this is a Blog Hop, if you get lost along the way make sure you stop by the DSO Blog for directions! {Plus there may be a surprise for y’all there too!} Please remember that we’re all in different time zones around the world, so some may not post at the exact same time. Thanks!

**Ooooh I almost forgot, ONE LUCKY commenter will win a $25 gift certificate to DSO! Don’t forget to comment on THIS POST {and all the other blogs for more chances} to be entered to WIN!!! The WINNER will be announced Saturday, Jan 2nd on the DSO BLOG!

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Merry CHRISTmas

2009-12-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

May this day bring you & your family health & happiness!

I’m so thankful for all my wonderful family & friends! I feel so blessed.

CLICK HERE for a beautiful e-card

{thanks Charlie for sharing this}

ONE more day…

2009-12-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

until CHRISTMAS!!!

Are you ready?

Are you having any parties/celebrations tonight?

Every year on Christmas Eve my husband’s family comes to our house to celebrate with a big pot luck dinner, plus treats and sometimes a gift exchange.

I did some baking yesterday with the kids and brought some goodies to neighbors and my Mom in the hospital. {oh she went back into the hospital Monday morning. She already received some plasma & vitamin K to thicken her blood, then had her left lung drained of fluid this time. She may have fluid in her right lung again that they will drain today and start chemotherapy because her breast cancer has spread to her lungs & throat.} My Mom is such a trooper and is MY HERO!

I still have a little more baking to do, plus clean up & start cooking the ham, meatballs, creamy corn, wassail, make a cheese spread & slice the cheese for the crackers.

I haven’t even begun to wrap presents. I guess it’s a good thing there aren’t very many this year.

I hope you & your family has a wonderful CHRISTMAS!!!

Don’t forget that you can TRACK SANTA. We’ve done this the last 2 years and the kids love it! Go HERE and select your language, then you can see him throughout his journey! It’s really cool. We just leave that site open and the kids come back and see the updates. Sometimes they race to see who can tell me which country he’s in now and where he’s going next. hahaha

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

New goodies . . .

2009-12-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

in the store at DSO this week! You don’t wanna miss these fabulous deals! I think they’re all on sale at the moment!

Bunny has these these great templates!

KimB has this gorgeous new kit A Fresh Start

Jazzy has an amazing set of wordart that coordinates with Kim’s A Fresh Start

Diana has this beautiful new kit with soft colors

Charlie has these cool Notepaper Flakes

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!!!

~ For some inspiration, check out these fine designers’ blogs (their names are linked above) or the DSO Gallery! Don’t forget about the DSO Challenge Blog, too! ~

HOORAY!!!

2009-12-17T08:29:00.003-07:00

After 15 days, 2 surgeries, and a blood transfusion, my Mom is finally HOME from the hospital!

My Dad was able to bring her home last night around 5pm.

Thank you so much for all your prayers! They really helped her get well.

Now she can relax in her own home in her comfy chair and fuzzy blankets. My Dad has been an excellent nurse staying by her side most of the day every day she was in the hospital. But his job doesn't end there, he's got his work cut out for him making sure my Mom takes all her meds, gets to her doctor's appointments and follows all the doctor's orders. You're doing GREAT Dad, keep up the good work!!!

Here's to a speedy recovery, Mom! You are my hero and best friend!
♥ I LOVE YOU ♥

Have you heard of Fruitcake Lady?

2009-12-14T11:21:00.001-07:00

oh. my. gosh. This lady is hilarious! Apparently this was on Jay Leno.

She reminds me of the “Shoebox” cards lady. You’ve gotta watch this (don’t forget to pause my playlist on the right first, so you can hear what she’s saying):

{warning – you may not want young ears around}

UPDATE: My Mom is doing very good! I saw her at the hospital last night for a little while. Her morphine has her making up funny stories and wanting to bust out of there & go home. LOL She was cracking us up as usual. It was good to finally see her much more awake and aware. She’s been in the hospital almost 2 weeks and majority of that time she has been in tons of pain, very uncomfortable, and unable to talk much or be herself. We can tell she’s feeling better because she’s suddenly worried about getting her Christmas shopping done and cleaning the house for the holidays. She really wants to eat – when she was able to eat, she just kept vomitting last week. They wouldn’t let her eat or drink yesterday. Hopefully today they will give her some liquids, then solids soon. She overheard some nurses talking about pizza in another room, and my Mom said if someone couldn’t get her at least some ice chips that she wanted to leap out of bed and hunt down the pizza and eat it all. hahahaa

She just had some x-rays this morning and now they’re waiting results.

Gotta go. I’m heading to my parents’ house to help get some cleaning done so my Mom can stop worrying. Plus my Brother’s coming in town tomorrow night, so we are ALL very excited to see him! Hope you have a safe flight, Spencer!!!

Come See the Light

2009-12-12T18:44:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends.

It’s been kind of hard getting in the Christmas spirit {which usually decorating the house with the family does it} because my Mom has been in the hospital for the past week and a half. Earlier in the week, Ben, the kids and I went to my parents’ house and set out their tree with lots of lights and garland, and we found some decorations to place around the house too. We wanted my Mom to feel “festive” when she comes home. I finally started getting us ready for Christmas by putting lights on the house outside and setting out a few decorations. I’m really hoping we can get our tree set up this weekend. Are you ready for Christmas?

Have you seen Mark Mabry’s photo exhibits called Reflections of Christ and/or Another Testament? They are so amazing! I have the book with all the pictures from Reflections of Christ and my parents have the CD, which they play often – it’s so beautiful and peaceful.

Well, I just received an email notice with this info:

“Dear Friends,
Great news! Deseret Book is offering a friends and family discount of 40% off the Book, DVD, and CD from Another Testament. This is for in store only so print and enjoy:
COUPON

“Also, we've made a new video combining images from both projects put to the music of Come See The Light:

“The biggest thrill of my life over the last two years, other than the birth of my son, Canon, has been the chance to speak often about the making of Reflections of Christ and Another Testament. The process of making of these two projects effected me deeply and positively. These projects deal with my personal understanding of the Savior and how His gospel works in my life.
This email reaches out to people of various faiths. Whether we're Baptist, Catholic, Mormon, Methodist, Unitarian, or anything else, the intent of this work is to let us all imagine together meeting Christ in person.

“The new video combines my two most recent projects and focuses on two different communities of people coming to the Lord. We are all familiar with the first group of people as those in the Holy Land at the time of Christ. The imagery also introduces another group living across the world on the American continent who knew about the Savior and awaited His appearance after His ascension to Heaven in the book of Acts. The stories combine the Biblical record of Christ and the record kept in the Book of Mormon.

“If nothing else, I hope these images give us pause to imagine that Jesus is among us and that we can see each other as we are... brothers and sisters.

Merry Christmas,
Mark Mabry
markmabry@mac.com “

I just watched the youtube video and it is incredible! I really hope that you’ll watch it. It’s only a few minutes and already I feel some peace in what’s been a really hard past week and a half, especially today.

My Mom is about to have surgery again tonight. Please keep her in your prayers. Her surgery last Sunday went fine until she didn’t come out of her anesthesia, the doctors gave her something to counteract it, then she stopped breathing. She had to be on a respirator for a day or two until she could breathe on her own. I’m praying that her surgery goes well tonight and she can wake up from anesthesia and get well so she can come home.

* * EDIT * * Received message from my Dad - surgery went well & my Mom is waking up! He is with her right now. THANK YOU for all your prayers! I was getting really nervous and scared most of the day since her surgery kept getting delayed. It's been a long day for everyone. Now my tears are tears of Joy! I can finally breathe easy tonight.

NEW MOON tonight!

2009-11-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Today is going to be BUSY but full of FUN!

I need to shower & get dressed for the day.

Call doctor because he forgot a stitch in my bellybutton & it hurts. {had laparoscopy & cystoscopy last Friday} Ben tried to help me get it out last night, but that didn’t go so well. :(

Go buy some groceries.

Drop off case of water bottles to school for teachers’ luncheon.

Pick up sister for cousins lunch!

Eat lunch & laugh til it hurts with awesome cousins!

Pick up kids from school.

Nag kids until homework is done & clean clothes are put away.

Make quick & easy dinner for kids.

Pick up sister and head to theater to wait in super long line for NEW MOON!!!!!! Wooohooooo!!!!!!!

{do ya like the *eye candy* I slipped in this post? heee heee}

Are you going to see New Moon? Let me know if you liked it!

A Little Scrappin

2009-10-16T18:40:00.006-07:00

I'm such a bad blogger. Looking at the date of my last post, I guess I have turned into a once-a-month blogger maybe twice. I think of lots of things to post about, but when I get to my computer, either my mind goes blank or I just don't feel like typing it out. LOL

So, to at least post something, I will share a few layouts that I've made this week. It was fun & relaxing to just sit and create a few pages.

I think if you click on the pictures, you can see them bigger {in case you really want to read my journaling}. heee heee

These are all for the October Challenges at DSO
{If you heard DSO was going to close this month, well I have GOOD NEWS because it's going to remain OPEN! YAY}

Grandparents Lunch

Altered Photo Challenge
{Hokey Pokey kit and Templates Set 1 by ME}

Sleepover FUN

Ad Challenge

{Felicia's Flowers kit by ME}

Poor Pepper

Animal Kingdom Challenge

{Just Because kit by KimB}

Strike a Pose!

Scraplift Challenge - this layout by vana63

{Fun Borders 1 by Bunny Cates, Lark kit by ME}

October 09 Desktop

Desktop Challenge

{Desktop Template by Charlie's Digiscraps, Ginger 'N Spice kit by ME}

I also want to wish Bunny a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

I'm so excited because I already have my New Moon tickets!! My sister and I are going together to the midnight showing! November 19th can't come fast enough! HAHAHA

My kids have been out of school this whole week {Fall Break}. It's been really nice having them home. Although, Anson asks me every day "What's today? Is it a school day?" When I say "No." Then he says "Awwwwww I want to go to school!" He is a silly kid!

Hope your week has been good & have a wonderful weekend!

Wassup?

2009-09-21T16:15:00.004-07:00

Just popping in to say HOLLA!!!
{that's "Holl-ah" not "O-lah" like in Spanish}
heeee heeee

What have I been up to?

Ummm, let me see...
took Felicia to dentist last week & today

Felicia couldn't eat for half-hour after dentist today and it had to be liquids, so we went to the store & made chocolate shakes at home for her lunch (just so I wasn't feeding her soooo bad I added a little protein powder to make it a little healthy)

went on Ward Campout over the weekend at Camp LoMia in Pine, AZ
SO FUN!!! pics coming soon

had lunch w/ my sister & the cousins last week
{I look forward to these every month}

started going back to the gym
got the OK from podiatrist to work in a little cardio slowly

grabbed price list for massages while at the gym
{a girl can dream right?}

played bunko with the girls
didn't win big prize but got cute door prize

went to the Cannery

went to Enrichment & learned all about being prepared for Emergencies with "Grab-n-Go" Binders for important documents
more info HERE

thinking about getting a haircut

finally bought the books "Vampire Diaries" (split cost w/ sis)
started watching "Vampire Diaries" on the CW w/ sis
{new weekly ritual}

enjoying new Fall tv shows, so far
{yep, I'll admit, I'm a tv junkie!}

still trying to get pool from green to blue. UGH!!

OH and the BEST day ever - BEN came home early!!!! So, he's been home for 2 weeks instead of just one week!!!! Yipeeee!!!

So tell me what exciting things you've been up to?

Last Chance & REVEAL

2009-09-10T09:15:00.001-07:00

I just finished washing ALL the dirty dishes! Apparently, NO ONE can find the dishwasher! Uh-hem, it's right NEXT to the SINK (where all the dishes have been piled high)!!! Thank goodness for the Mama Mia soundtrack! I was singin' & dancin' while washing all those yucky dishes!!! My dogs kept lookin' at me kinda funny. Oh well. It made the time go by much faster :)

This is your LAST CHANCE to grab my PU Grab Bag for ONLY $3.

I decided to REVEAL what's INSIDE....

Ginger 'N Spice kit
Ginger 'N Spice Alpha tags

My FIRST set of Templates

I made them kind of simple so you can add whatever you want.

The DSO CT have been crazy busy making WONDERFUL layouts using the stuff in all the PU Bags! Here's some layouts using some of the goodies in my bag!

KayJaydo made these 2 gorgeous layouts

Kim made these 2 fantastic layouts

(this is where she got married - lucky lady it's such a beautiful place)

Vicki did these 2 awesome layouts

Thanks gals! You ROCK!!!!

Better Hurry! The super deal of $11 worth of NEW products for ONLY $3 is almost over!

Grab them before they go up in the store individually.

I'm off to put my face on. Gotta take my Mom to an appointment & run some errands!

Have a super fantabulous day!

DSO's 2nd Annual PU Grab Bag Week!

2009-09-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

WOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!

The DSO Designers have been BUSY!

Check out their PU Grab Bags too!

I'll be back to show you a few layouts as sneak peeks to what's in my bag!!!

Have a FANTABULOUS weekend!!

HAPPY Shopping & Scrapping!

Little Sneak Peek

2009-09-03T15:50:00.003-07:00

DSO's 2nd Annual Personal Use Grab Bag Week $3 each

{More peeks tomorrow}

I'm still here...

2009-09-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Holy Hanna! I haven't posted on my poor little bloggy in for-evah!

Ok, this is gonna be kinda long - BUT it's our summer in a photo-nutshell.

June 2, 2009 - My oldest {Nathaniel} turned 11

June 24 - 28th we went to Ben's family reunion in Utah.

June 26, 2009 went to Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House
The temple was BEAUTIFUL!!!
June 27, 2009 HUGE Family Reunion at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo, UT
Ben's Family with all his siblings (minus 1) plus his parents & nieces/nephews

June 27, 2009 my beautiful daughter, Felicia, had her 10th birthday!
July 4, 2009 we celebrated Independence Day with a few fireworks of our own (in our backyard)!

July 23, 2009 these ~~dorks~~ guys left for Comic-Con in San Diego, CA

July 26, 2009 They came home.
Ben got all of us tons of FUN free swag!

Are these not the CUTEST little Batmen & Catwomen?

I told Ben he really shouldn't bother coming home unless he found some New Moon swag.

No I wasn't that mean, but he DID hook me up!

Awesome trading cards, plus see that Carlisle Ring? Everyone was waiting in line for raffles to win one of those. Someone thought his costume was COOL so he gave one to Ben! Woohooo! Way to go hubby!

He also scored these posters for me!

The big posters look just like the smaller ones, but the back looks faded & backwards almost like you're looking thru the poster! Pretty awesome!!! Thanks again babe!

Ok, so we wanted to wear the COOL masks too!

Do we look HOT or what? LOL

These two actually played together a LOT this summer!

August 5, 2009 This little guy got a haircut!

This is the BEFORE.

Are you diggin' on his sweet locks?

Well, don't get too used to them, cuz now they're gone!

There's my adorable Anson!

August 6, 2009 My munchkins got some new Webkinz

Thanks MOM for finding these amazing deals @ Costco!

August 7, 2009 I had foot surgery. OUCH!

And got to wear this ~~cute~~ shoe for the last 3 weeks.

Well, it's better than the one I wore 3 years ago when I had my bunionectomy.

I can finally squeeze into a sandal, so at least my shoes match now.

August 9, 2009 the Boys being silly after church

The Girls striking a pose after changing out of church dresses.

Yep, they planned on their matching outfits! heee heee

August 10, 2009 Ben left for Oregon (for work)

And my sister, Christy, had her birthday!

August 12, 2009 FIRST day of school

Nathaniel - 5th grade, Ashley - 2nd grade, Anson - Kindergarten, Felicia - 5th grade
Yep, my sweet fun baby is in all day school now! I have totally mixed emotions about that. I'm happy for him because he loves it & was so excited to start school. On the other hand, I miss my little buddy hanging out with me all day!

After 1st day of school treats!

Sonic Slushees

While Felicia was playing on the computer after school.....

I found Ashley like this...

She curled up on a jacket on the floor & passed out. LOL

I found Nathaniel sawin' some zzzzz's on the couch

Anson was watching tv, but quickly gave in to his heavy eyelids. haha

They had a wonderful 1st day of school, but apparently it totally wore them out!

August 16, 2009 10pm - Nathaniel got stung by a Bark Scorpion!

OUCH!!! Poor guy! He thought he needed to go to the ER or he would DIE! He knows those suckers are very poisonous! I talked to Ben on the phone {yep he was still out of town}, looked it up online and also called Poison Control. All I had to do was wash the area with soap & water, dry it off, apply a cool compress, and give him some Tylenol. As long as he didn't have an allergic reaction (like hives or trouble breathing), then he would be OK. Poison Control did warn me that this type of scoprion releases neurotoxins and within 6hrs he would probably have some numbness and/or tingling anywhere on his body. It could take 24hrs up to 2weeks for it to go away. He had some tingling the next day and came home from school early, but was fine later that evening. Thank goodness!!!!

That night ALL the kids slept in my bed with me.

I had our pest control company back at our house and respraying for scoprions inside & out!

August 18, 2009 Ahhh yes, that's water under our Hot Water Heater.

Well, it was 15 years old, so time for a new one!
Another thing to take care of while Ben was out of town.

Luckily, my Dad's friend came over right away to replace it!

August 22, 2009 we Celebrated Anson's 5th birthday!

{even tho his actual bday is August 23rd}

Ben came home for the weekend to celebrate Anson's bday!

But then he had to leave again early Monday morning :(

August 28-29th Nathaniel had his FIRST Boy Scout Campout! He was ecstatic! He loved that all the boys got to help plan the menu - he LOVES food! He came home covered in dirt, but had a BLAST!!!

See - my foot is healing quite nicely!

I took this pic this morning. I know my feet are covered in scars. But the newest one is on my left foot in the middle. My foot still hurts a lot periodically and I can't walk very fast.

Ok, sorry to end this LONG post with a pic of my foot (I know feet are gross) but at least my toenails look cute, right? LOL

Oh I had Parent Information Evening (PIE night) last night with Anson & Ashley's teachers. Their teachers seem nice & fun. Plus the kids love them! Looks like the year is off to a good start!

Today is picture day for the kids. We were late, but NOT because I was busy fixing their hair (I got that done on time) but Anson was stuck on the potty - crying in pain. Poor guy. He finally did his business and we were on our way! Felicia was the only one on time because I had to take her to school early for a student council meeting.

Tomorrow is PIE night for Nathaniel & Felicia's classes. I'll be busy trying to touch base with both teachers since usually Ben & I divide & conquer. But he is still out of town. In fact, he's on his way to Seattle today for PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) with his friend Trey. They will be helping EA promote the sequel to Army of Two xbox game {they will be dressed in total Army of Two gear}!

Ok, I'm out!

New Moon Trailer

2009-08-17T16:30:00.003-07:00

Here's a link to the trailer that's showing before the movie BandSlam:

NEW MOON TRAILER

Enjoy!!!

I canNOT wait for this movie to come out!

New Makeup

2009-08-06T09:58:00.008-07:00

My Mom and I went to Ulta last night to get a little bit of new makeup. PLUS, they are having an awesome promotion. Check this out!!! {each pic is linked if you want to go see them}
So, I bought this Quad eyeshadow in browns called "Good Girl"

AND this mineral eyeshadow in Amethyst.

Then I qualified for the freebie above.

But, I couldn't resist this HOT PINK case full of awesome makeup!

Oh and the cashier gave us each one of these....

WOOHOOO!!!! Who doesn't love some free makeup?!!!!!

When I got home, Felicia couldn't wait to see what was in my big bag (it was only BIG because that HOT PINK case is good size). She kept asking if the makeup was for her, especially when I showed her the big PINK case. Her eyes lit up. hahaha Oh I had to let her down and tell her it was for ME. But being the nice Mom that I try to be, I put some of my new amethyst eyeshadow on her, blush, lip liner, lipstick, and bronzer (all but the eyeshadow were from the PINK case). She was tickled PINK that I had put *grown up* makeup on her!!!!

I took her picture & she showed Ben (he thinks she looks too grown up with makeup on).

She did her own poses, she likes doing this one like she's surprised or something. She's so cute!

Ok, she took a couple pictures of herself with her own camera and asked me to upload them on the computer so she could see them. Well, her camera has video too. And as we were looking at all her pictures together, we came across this video. She had taken this after I took her picture. She held the camera herself and taped herself in her room (probably looking in the mirror while she was doing it). If there is a mirror nearby, all my kids seem to talk to the mirror instead of me while still talking TO ME. LOL We were all laughing so hard. She was a little embarrassed but I told her it was so cute & SO HER!!! I asked her nicely if I could post it on my blog. She agreed. So, if any of you have a 10 year old girl, you may recognize this behavior, then again this was taped privately. Apparently this is how she behaves when NO ONE is looking! HAHAHA

**You definitely want to PAUSE my playlist - -> over to the right, so you can hear her!!!

Dance Off

2009-07-21T06:00:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is for the Star Wars ~~nerd~~ fan in me.

This is funny!
{you'll want to *pause* my playlist over on the right first}

Star Wars Dance Off {part 1}

Star Wars Dance Off {part 2}

If you don't remember much about the movie Star Wars, here's a short recap:

She is soooo dang Adorable!!!

NO Cupcakes

2009-07-20T18:45:00.002-07:00

Check out this dog when he's told he can't have these cupcakes {esp his eyes}.

I totally understand how he feels. I'd be staring at those cupcakes the same way if they were shoved in my face & they kept telling me NO get AWAY! hahaha

Updates & NEW Stuff

2009-07-18T14:00:00.002-07:00

First, THANK YOU for all the kind thoughts & prayers sent our way. My Sister is recovering well from her surgery. She came home Sunday afternoon and stayed at our parents' house all week. She's doing so good that we were able to squeeze in our cousins' lunch too. It's always fun to see them & laugh for a couple hours! Christy had her follow-up doctor visit and got the OK to go back to work (sorry sis but you knew it was coming - LOL) and drive again. YAY!! Now she can feel independent again with her own car.

I've been trying to help my Dad by taking my Mom to some of her appointments so he can actually get some work done. This has been a BUSY week. My Mom has had several appointments EVERY day. I'm glad I am able to help out though. Plus it's time I get to spend with my Mom :)

We're trying to squeeze in our appointments before school starts again. {Yikes that's coming up quick - Aug 12th.} Nathaniel had his retainer adjusted since more teeth have been growing in. Nathaniel, Felicia & Anson all have their well visit next week. I had my yearly woman exam, then needed a sonogram (NO I'm NOT prego not even close). I've had painful monthly ovarian cysts since I was 21. Turns out I may have endometriosis now. My Dr wants to do laparoscopy to check for sure and if so, then blast any unwanted cells. {OUCH!} I also had my 3rd MRI on my left foot because of my dang toe joint that hurts. I have Freiberg's Disease and the pain just keeps getting worse. I'll be having surgery soon to remove part of the 2nd metatarsal head. Don't know how close together I can do these procedures, but I'll get it worked out. I'm going forward with the foot surgery first.

Ok enough with the blah blah blahs. LOL

DSO is still having their Designer Call and Site CT Call until July 31st

If you want a chance to sell your designs at DSO or love scrapping and want to be part of the DSO Store Creative Team, go apply now before it's too late! Good Luck ☺

DSO has a couple new talented designers in the store this week!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!

Sassy Sarah aka Designs by Sassy has joined us! YAY!!!

See what's new in her STORE

And one of my *online* designing buddies - Charlie (aka Charlie's Digiscraps) has joined the DSO team also! We've gotten to know each other thru blogging and at our fave digiscrap place DSO!!! Welcome aboard sweetie!

See what she's added to her STORE already

Oh I almost forgot, there's a couple new treasures in the store too!

Kim & Gaye (two very talented & creative sisters) have joined forces and created this amazingly beautiful Toof Fairy Collab kit:

You don't want to miss out on this kit!

It's so incredible & with so many hand-drawn elements!!!

{There are LOTS more pictures & close-ups HERE

& some FREE add-ons on their blogs!}

Ya know what?

This kit would go perfectly with this month's DSO Quote Challenge!

{hint - it's about *toothless grins*}

Bunny created this amazing poem wordart in this same theme:

Jazzy also has some darling Toof Fairy wordart

To see all the new designs go HERE

I also wanted to share some lovely layouts using my Hokey Pokey kit:

Renee's Flowering Cactus

Michelle (aka SunshineState) Birds of a Feather

{she won my kit at DST}
Bunny playing with glue again, made this darling hybrid box

I also want to do a little shout out to my brother-in-law:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIK!!!!

Hope it's a good one!!! Have a safe trip home!

My Sister - Update

2009-07-11T23:50:00.000-07:00

Christy had laparascopic surgery to have her gall bladder removed. She was getting pretty nervous. We were all being silly & giggling & I think that helped take her mind off it for a little bit. Thank goodness it went well & she did great! She has some aches & pains, but they gave her some pain meds & something for her nausea. They finally brought her back to her room and she was pretty tired and thirsty. She hadn't eaten or drank anything since 2am. They said it was ok for her to have something. She had a popsicle & some chicken broth. My Dad and I decided to leave and let her get some much needed sleep, plus it was getting really late. I just barely got home about 20 minutes ago.

My Dad's going back to the hospital in the morning and once the doctor checks her out, she can be released. YAY!!! She'll be staying with my parents for a few days (plus she gets out of work for a whole week - doctor's orders).

Thank you all for your well wishes & prayers! They are really helping :)

My Sister

2009-07-11T15:10:00.005-07:00

went to the ER this morning (my Dad took her). She was having extreme abdominal & chest pains - a gall bladder attack. They gave her some pain meds, so she's feeling a little better. I felt so bad for her when she called me this morning. She could hardly talk because of the pain.

She had a sonogram and it's definitely gall stones. They have scheduled her for surgery in a few hours. I think they are removing her gall bladder.

Please keep her in your thoughts & prayers. Thank you!

P.S. I've been posting updates (as I get them from my Dad via txt msg) on My Facebook

{pics sent from my Dad's cell phone}

Ever try home waxing kits?

2009-07-09T22:41:00.005-07:00

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.

It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be! ? I mean,I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin aroundit tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.

With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship.

I drop my under garments and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the one strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my *hoo-hoo* and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (Yes, it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip.CRAP!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!! Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax.

CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.

DANG!!!!!!!! I hear the slamming of a cell door. *hoo-hoo*? Sealed shut! Butt?? Sealed shut!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!!

I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? WRONG!!!!!!!

I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.

Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.

So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxied myself to the porcelain!!

Thank goodness for the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!

I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter-

"So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!"

There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or who-ha?"

She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.

YEAH!!!!!
Right!!
I should be the joke of someone else's night.

While we go through various solutions. I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!

By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!

The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend.

It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!! It works!!"

I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up.

I successfully remove the remainder of the ! wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!

So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......Now that's funny ......... Notttttttttt.

**Ok, so this isn't MY story. It did NOT happen to me. I got this in an email a long time ago and just came across it again. Freakin' Laugh-Out-Loud Hilarious, dontcha think? I did try those infomercial at home waxing kits {even epilady - don't even get me started on that insane torture device} with similar scream-out-loud results just not as dramatic and traumatic as this story! And I only tried it on my legs.**

Wanna WIN?

2009-06-24T10:03:00.003-07:00

If you'd like a chance to WIN my newest kit HOKEY POKEY

Then go HERE and leave a comment.

I'll pick a WINNER or TWO on MONDAY, June 28th!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Shocking News & a little Hokey Pokey

2009-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't heard yet, my Mom had been really sick all last week and my Dad finally took her to the ER last Thursday night because she couldn't hardly breathe and was coughing like crazy. Turns out she has pneumonia and they drained a LOT of icky yellow fluid out of her right lung and put her on antibiotics. So, with that she's feeling a little better now.

However, it doesn't end there. She has had a lump in her breast & hadn't seen a doctor about it. I have known about this for a while. My Dad and I have tried to convince her to get it checked out. She's so stubborn. Well, now that she's in the hospital, they have discovered she's in the advanced stages of breast cancer. It has spread to her lymph nodes in both armpits and may be in her right lung (or could be part of her infection).

They have done a full body scan, biopsy and bone scan. The bone scan results came back clear. YAY!!! A little bit of good news! Still waiting on the other results. She is optimistic and really likes her team of doctors. They want to start chemotherapy as soon as they get all the test results. She will be in the hospital a couple more days. We are all hanging in there and doing fine. We've all visited her a bunch of times, I even took the kids a couple times (we had to meet her in the lobby of her floor since the kids are under 12). She's excited to have her family near and enjoys receiving phone calls from friends and family.

We were still able to celebrate Father's Day this weekend. My Sister and I took my Dad to a movie of his choice. He chose UP in 3D. It was SO CUTE!!!! We all loved it :)

After the movie, we took the kids to McDonald's for a late lunch and then went to visit my Mom at the hospital again.

My sister, Dad, and ME

We always have a FUN time when we're with our Dad! He's an amazing Dad and he's always been there supporting and encouraging me! Thanks Dad - you're the BEST!!

The kids enjoyed shouting "Happy Father's Day!!!" to Ben several times Sunday morning!
They love their Dad so much!! Ben is such a wonderful father & husband!! We hit the jackpot with him :)

I also invited my Dad and sister over for dinner Sunday evening. We had a good time together. Then my Dad, Ben and I visited my Mom at the hospital (w/o the kids).

Oh my goodness! We were all laughing for hours! The nurses must've thought we were all nuts! We finally left around midnight. Under the circumstances, it's been a good weekend.

We all really appreciate all the warm thoughts and prayers everyone has been sending our way!

Now I've been doing laundry most of the day so we can pack. We're going to Utah for a few days for Ben's family reunion. It's more like a sibling reunion rather than huge extended family one. We're excited to see everyone. Not looking forward to the drive, but there's no way around that.

On to some more exciting news! Well exciting for me. I have finally finished a new kit!!! It's taken me a while, but I had fun creating this one.

HOKEY POKEY SAVE 25%

Somehow I got this silly song in my head, so that's how it got it's name:

You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out.
You put your right foot in, and you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about!

You singing with me yet? hahaha
That song is fun and quirky, just like this kit!
There are lots of fun pattern papers with birdies, gems, glitter, strings, swirls and flowers to play with.
17 Papers and 52 Elements (not all shown)

Here's a better look at the pattern papers

And the Solid Papers

I took a little time {in between doing laundry} and made a layout with the kit!

I also used my Deck the Halls Alpha.
It's for the DSO Template Challenge.

These pics are from Easter this year. I just love their matching dresses and so do they! They look so beautiful! I can't believe how big they're getting.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

Dad will NEVER say...

2009-06-19T14:15:00.002-07:00

Top Ten Things You'll Never Hear a Dad Say

10. Well, how 'bout that?... I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions.

9. You know Pumpkin, now that you're thirteen, you'll be ready for unchaperoned car dates. Won't that be fun?

8. I noticed that all your friends have a certain "up yours" attitude ... I like that.

7. Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car -- GO CRAZY.

6. What do you mean you wanna play football? Figure skating not good enough for you, son?

5. Your Mother and I are going away for the weekend ... you might want to consider throwing a party.

4. Well, I don't know what's wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies -- you know -- that makes it run or something. Just have it towed to a mechanic and pay whatever he asks.

3. No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring -- now quit your belly-aching, and let's go to the mall.

2. Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.

1. Father's Day? aahh -- don't worry about that -- it's no big deal.

I'm still here...

2009-06-17T23:26:00.004-07:00

My poor bloggy has been so neglected this last month :(

I just wanted to check in and let you know we're all enjoying our summer break with the kids home. I have been using a point/reward system and it's working fabulously!!!

I reward *points* {they're really pennies - not allowed to be used as money per say} for certain things the kids do or how they behave. I never take points away once they've been earned. At the end of the day or the next morning, then I hand out the points. Each kiddo has a container with their name on it.

Then they get to *use* their points for fun things like xbox time, computer time, candy from the grab bag, sleepovers, etc.

When I first came up with this idea 2 summers ago, Ben called me Hitler. hahaha Said I was being too strict or whatever. But you know what? When I first mentioned it to the kids they were excited! Then when we put it in action, oh my gosh, they were ecstatic!!!

The kids. Love. The. Points!

I can see why Ben may have thought the points were too much because the kids have to do workbooks {to review their school year}, read books, do book reports, chores, and actually behave the way they're supposed to. And they're not allowed to *use* points until they've done a couple *work* type things, like their workbook and reading time. But they dig it & its totally working for us! YAY!!!

I only do points during the summer to maintain some kind of order {I am not a schedule person, I LOVE not having a schedule and get to plan whatever I want to do each day}. You know what's funny? A couple months before school was over, the kids start asking about summer points! Are we going to do points again this summer? Can we add more things to the list to earn more points? What kind of grab bag candy will we have this year? Can we help pick it out? etc etc!

What kind of system do YOU use in the summer? Or do you have something else that's working for you?

Do share.

Ok 'nuff about that. I need to get to bed. Sounds like the girls (Ashley & her friend that's spending the night) are finally quieting down. My clue that I can go to bed now. LOL Did your Mom ever tell you that she couldn't go to bed until YOU were in bed? My Mom did all the time, now I kinda get what she meant. tee heee :)

Tomorrow - going to lunch with my sis & cousins! WOOHOOOO!!! I look forward to these each month!

Friday - bunko with the girls!!! YAY!!! Can't wait!!!

Oh one more thing... do you remember this post about our cool praying mantis?

Well, she laid an egg sac on Halloween night last year. We looked online to find out when it may hatch. Turns out we'd have to wait until spring! Well spring came and went - according to Arizona weather. So we didn't think anything would happen with it. Suddenly, little praying mantis babies started hatching earlier this month! We had about 10 (approx one hatching per day). Nathaniel was so excited and such a good bug papa by feeding them little tiny bugs and aphids (they're favorite), but then some of them started dying. I guess nature weeding out the weakest ones. So now there are 2 left and they're growing every day! They are so cute!!! I'll post pics later.

I seriously need to go to bed. Ok I've updated my pathetic lonely blog. Hopefully I'll be back soon to update more!

Katie Brown Celebrates Cookbook Giveaway

2009-06-06T10:14:00.002-07:00

In KATIE BROWN CELEBRATES, Katie gives readers a reason to host a party every month of the year. From a festive New Year's Eve dinner to a lavish Christmas brunch, from the perfect child's birthday party to a down-home family reunion, readers will delight in Katie's signature approach to making any celebration simply wonderful. With delicious recipes, straightforward craft projects, and tips for casual entertaining, Katie shows how any host can make a delicious meal and create gorgeous ambiance without the hassle. KATIE BROWN CELEBRATES is a must-have for anyone who ever gives--or has ever thought of giving--a party.

Do you want to WIN this great book?

Go HERE to enter! Good Luck :)

Memorial Day SALE

2009-05-24T22:28:00.002-07:00

Memorial Day SALE 25% OFF Storewide
ONE DAY ONLY

1st Anniv & Lark FREEBIE

2009-05-22T23:45:00.001-07:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to ME!!!

I've been @ DSO for 1 YEAR!!! WOW!

{well, my actual anniv date was May 20th}

I am amazed how quickly this year has flown by. It's been such a great experience being on a team of wonderful designers! I have learned so much!! DSO is the BEST!!!

I created a mini kit to CELEBRATE!!!

LARK is 30% OFF until the end of May {along with the rest of my store}!

I scrapped!!!! I made this LO for the DSO Font Challenge:

{credits HERE}

These pictures crack me up from the Father & Son's Campout. The men are wearing the SAME exact clothes both days! No need to bring clean clothes. LOL Oh and Nathaniel's disgusting crawdad! Bluh! Can't believe he thought he was going to boil it, then EAT it. Ummm sweetie, it's not fresh lobster! heeee heeee {credits HERE}

I also made this card (added fabric flowers & brad)

{scanned image}

And I am offering the card as a FREEBIE!

It includes the front & back and just the card face, so you can print it as you like.

You can download it HERE

Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend!

P.S. Don't forget about SAVERS 50% off SALE on Memorial Day!!!

CONTEST WINNERS

2009-05-22T11:11:00.003-07:00

My Bath & Body Works GIVEAWAY is now CLOSED.

I printed all the comments and let Anson pick one from a big bowl.

CONGRATULATIONS....

Merrianne {my SIL}

I had such a great response, that I decided to pick a Runner-Up to win a Lotion. It smells so good, I can't help wanting to share!

CONGRATS

snowflake (Karyn)

WOOHOOOO!!!!!!

I already have your addresses, so your prizes will be in the mail soon!

Thank You to all who entered my giveaway & posted it on their blogs!

Maybe I will have another contest soon.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL 2009

2009-05-21T05:00:00.002-07:00

I'm still in denial. Can it really be the LAST DAY of school??? Has it already been 9 months? I guess it has because whether we're ready or not, they're coming home & not going back until August!

I am excited that I don't have to do these again until August:
*pack 3 lunches (in August it will be 4 lunches)
*wake up early (Monday thru Friday)
*race to get kids ready
*throw on clothes or robe & run out the door to get kids to school on time (Barely on some days)
*nag about homework
*sign everyone's folder or agenda daily

Instead, here's what we will be doing this summer:
*NOT getting up super early every day (only if we WANT to)
*Reorganizing the kids' rooms
*earning points so the kids can "use" them to play video games & have sleepovers
*doing summer workbooks
*summer reading
*practicing violins (I'll be tutoring the kids)
*daily chores so the house doesn't look like several tornadoes hit
*squeezing in a little Webkinz time {gotta take care of my Olivia☺}
*Playing with Friends
*Summer Movie Fun
*Swimming, lots of swimming
*free school lunch (during June, Monday thru Thursday)
*going to Utah for Ben's family reunion
*Ben gets to go to ComiCon again
*hoping for NO fighting, hitting, screaming (is it possible or am I just dreaming? LOL)
*Having lots of FUN!!!

BUT, before all the summer FUN begins, I have a BIG day before the bell rings at 3pm & all the kids flee the school campus!

The kids have their Winners Assemblies shortly after school starts, so I will go to both of those (the younger grades & the older grades). Ashley will be receiving "Winning Attitude" award! YAY!! Felicia will be in the B.U.G. Club again (Bringing Up Grades or if you keep straight A's)! YAY!!! Nathaniel doesn't know yet if he's receiving any awards.

Then I get to meet my sister & cousins for our monthly Cousins Lunch! I'm so happy I get to see them more often now! Anson is looking forward to spending time with my cousin's son too! They're the same age & they have so much fun together!

I have a couple errands to run after lunch.

Pick up the kids from school & hear about all the exciting parties!

Let the kids swim for a little bit to cool off.

Then we'll all be off to Pack Meeting to see Nathaniel receive TONS of awards! We haven't had an official pack meeting for a few months because there have been other important meetings, like Blue & Gold Banquet, Pinewood Derby, etc. We are so proud to see Nathaniel accomplish so much! He has really been working hard and even achieving a few badges on his own {to surprise Ben - who is also their Webelos leader}! He will receive 9 pins, 1 belt loop, Webelos badge, Compass, 1 point on the Compass, and his Arrow of Light {which if you know anything about cub scouting, Arrow of Light is very Honorable}! He's so ecstatic to be receiving so many, especially right before his birthday! He'll be 11 on June 2nd, so he'll move up to Boy Scouts! He is growing UP way toooooooo fast for me!

Oh and Ben is also bringing the snow cone machine to make the treats for everyone at Pack Meeting! It's going to be yummy! And sticky. I'm glad I won't be in charge of that! LOL

Hope you all have a great day! And if your little ones have their last day of school today, hope your SUMMER is AWESOME!!!

Webkinz

2009-05-19T20:03:00.003-07:00

Do your kids have Webkinz? My kids have 3 each. They have been getting them for their report cards at the end of the school year & for Christmas {in their stocking}. Sometimes I play on their account to earn them kinzcash (points for buying stuff in their virtual world). Sometimes I play just because I like some of the games {and they get addicting - like Tile Towers, Goober's Lab, Cash Cow & Solitaire}.

Anyway, LOOK what I got today!
Zebras have ALWAYS been my fave animal and when I saw it advertised on Webkinz, I just had to have it. So, today I ventured to the Hallmark store and got one for myself. I made my own Webkinz account & named her Olivia.

See the fun things I got...errr I mean Olivia got! tee hee That stripey sports car is too cute!!! And how delicious does that stripey dessert look? Mmmm making me hungry :)

Ok, so it's offical, I'm a total dork! But I don't care! LOL

I'm off to play another game before it shuts down for the night (it closes for a few hours at Midnight EST).

Fun & Busy + GIVEAWAY

2009-05-18T14:00:00.002-07:00

Nathaniel & Felicia had their last orchestra concert last Thursday. They both did GREAT!!!
I'm so excited that they have both decided to continue playing the violin next year too! YAY!!!
{following in my footsteps ☺}
I also ran into an old friend from high school. We had orchestra & Japanese together (her mom was our Japanese teacher - one of my fave teachers).

Friday night, I went with Tangie & Molly to the Bohemian Bliss Soiree at Ms Alber's home. It was FUN! We all tried to dress up in Bohemian attire, but no one brought a camera, so you don't get to see our attempt. :( There were amazing booths of wonderful treasures! I wasn't able to purchase anything that night, plus how do you make up your mind with soooo many to choose from? I got their cards & will definitely be checking their sites & put a few things on my wish list! What's the next gift-receiving holiday? teee heee {just found some pics of the event HERE}

Oh, we also got a tour of her two homes (one I guess was remodeled to be a showroom/house). Holy WOW!! They are BOTH totally GORGEOUS!!! I wanted to park my behind in the showroom/house and not leave. Everytime I see some fabulous rooms/homes I want to totally redecorate my whole house. Decorating shows don't help either. I see those and again, I want to RUN to the nearest decorating store and buy all new things to dress up my rooms! Too bad I have NO BUDGET for that :( Oh well it was fun to see the beautiful homes and get some ideas!

Saturday morning came quickly. We got up early went to The Park of the Canals to let the kids put their handprint on a tile - Kaboom! is going to be building a new play area at the end of the month. These tiles are going to be included in the design.

We also saw a few people from our ward there. Look! Ashley was helped by our favorite babysitter!

Nathaniel getting his hand painted.

Felicia also got to spend a couple minutes with our babysitter!

Anson was also very excited to do his handprint with his fave color.

They all wrote their name & age on the tile & they're baking them so they will last a very long time.

The rest of our Saturday was full of running errands, dropping off/picking up Ashley from 2 birthday parties, shopping for teacher gifts, picking up Christy from her walk so she could hop in our pool to cool off for a few minutes before we were out the door again. Oh my goodness! It was a HOT day! I think my back was sweaty all day. {ok sorry maybe that was TMI}

Sunday we went to church, then relaxed in the afternoon. After dinner, we took one of our famous walks with the dogs to my parents' house. The kids LOVE walking to their house, hang out for a little bit {look around for any treats that could be shared with them}, then walk home! It's a great end to our weekend.

Now, on to something special....

Since this is the LAST WEEK of SCHOOL for my kids,

I'm having a GIVEAWAY!!!

Bath & Body Works has a new scent, which I absolutely LOVE!

So here's what I'm giving away:

Antibacterial hand soap, Body cream & Shower Gel all in the new White Citrus scent.

{my beautiful hydrangeas not included}

Ok so HOW DO YOU WIN??

Here's whatcha gotta do:

School Elections

2009-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, Felicia ran for Student Council Secretary at her elementary school.
She's been a Student Council Representative this semester and you have to be in student council in order to run for an officer. Her meetings are before school, so I went to the meeting and got to see everyone present their speeches (they only had to be 1 minute & written by themselves w/o help from anyone else). Felicia wrote her own speech & did fantastic presenting it! I was pretty bummed because they weren't going to announce the winners until the end of the day. So, I went to pick them up from school & got there a little early hoping to hear the announcements. I was too late, so I had to WAIT what seemed like FOREVER for the kids to get out to ask about the outcome.

YAY!!!! Felicia WON as SECRETARY!!!!! Woooohoooooooo!!!!!

Way to go sweetie!!!

What's been going on...

2009-05-13T11:30:00.001-07:00

I snapped this pic a couple weeks ago. I had to record Ashley helping to wash dishes! LOL No really, she can be a great helper {when she wants to be}. She was showing Anson how to wash dishes, so they could do it together.

Felicia got rollerblades for Christmas and LOVES wearing them all the time! She loves using them to get to/from friends' houses. One day a couple weeks ago, she fell on the way to her friends' house and skinned her knee.

OUCH!!!! A day or two later, this is how I found her sleeping! Yep, she made a 'sling' for her leg. Pretty creative if you ask me! HAHAHAHA

Ok think we have already hit SUMMER weather. It's been at least 100 degrees for several days in a row. But a couple weeks ago, the weather was absolutely perfect! Especially the evenings, I enjoy leaving our backdoor & our bedroom door {to the patio} open all day. Well, one evening, I left our bedroom patio door open most of the night (the screen was closed). I got up around 2am and closed it. I won't be doing that anymore!

Look what we found in our bedroom the next night! A SCORPION!!! YIKES!!!

This is the FIRST time in my life that I have ever found one of these horrible things inside our home! It may as well be as BIG as these! That's how much I despise scorpions!!!
{remember Clash of the Titans? I hated those huge disgusting scorpions! but totally loved that movie}

Ben carefully picked it up and put it in Nathaniel's bug catcher so we could have a closer look at it. He also decided to get out the black light {we use it at Halloween} to see if it really glows. Those are grasshoppers in the bug catcher with the scorpion.

Now that is pretty cool! We watched it for a little while. Then Ben used the black light and looked around our room and our back patio. Then the scorpion needed to go to heaven {if that's where they even go. LOL}.

Ben went right to bed, I mean after all, it was late and he had to get up early for work. Ummmmm NOT ME!!! I had a hard time even stepping foot into our room. I had to go to the other side of the house {of course, turning on each light before I entered the room} and watched some episodes of my fave shows on the computer (our DVR didn't record them properly). I stayed up til almost 3am. Anson got up at one point coughing, so I let him sleep in my lap for a while. I was so tired, I finally got in bed, but not before I checked the room again. I may sound like a total baby, but I did NOT want to get stung!

Ok, so I finally fell asleep in bed. Ben woke me up a couple hours later when he was leaving for work to let me know that his truck had been broken into and his stereo was GONE! He asked me to please call & report it. I came outside to see his truck and to also see if my van was ok. Whew! My van was fine. Went back to bed. Got up a couple hours later to get the kids up & took them to school. When I got back, I decided to look around the carport and see if anything else was missing. Yep, they took Felicia & Ashley's bikes! Dang thieves!

I called to report everything that was missing. We've had our car stereos stolen before, called to report it, then that's pretty much it.

To our surprise, late that night, the police was at our door! They were asking if the car stereo in their hands belonged to us. What? You actually found it? Ben came to the door, NOPE that's not mine. They caught a couple teenagers (13 & 17) behaving suspiciously near a park. Turns out they had a couple car stereos on them. Well, after talking to them a while, they confessed to stealing several and described where they got them. Led them right to our house. But first, the cops made them tell about the missing girl bikes. They took the cops to the canal and showed them where they had dumped them! The cops made them feel really bad about breaking little girls' hearts! Anyway, the cops went back to the boys' house and retrieved MORE stolen car stereos. They found Ben's stereo! But the bikes can't be retrieved from the very full canal. :(

One of our neighbors is also a police officer, and he tried to help the next day. He saw our report & went to the canal site and called SRP to see if they would send someone to retrieve the bikes. NOPE. They drain the canal once a year in December/January, they can be fetched out then. Darn it. But I really appreciate our neighbor cop trying to help.

I went to see STOMP with some friends. Well, last minute someone couldn't go, so we brought Felicia with us. It was AMAZING!!! Felicia loved it too!

Last week, Ben & I went to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It was AWESOME!!!!!

Sunday evening, Anson snuck up behind me with the corn holders and told me he was Wolverine! He was cracking me up, so I told him to stand still so I could take a picture. He jumped on the couch {yikes! watch out for the leather! he was careful not to touch anything} and posed for me! Silly kid!!!

The kids really enjoyed the corn on the cob my Mom brought over on Sunday, so I bought more while it was still on sale. Nathaniel helped me shuck it. Awww sweet helper!

Mmmmm it was delicious! We still have some leftover to eat tonight too!

Mother's Day/Weekend

2009-05-13T10:20:00.001-07:00

I had the BEST Mother's Day/Weekend this year!!!

The weekend started out with the boys leaving for the Father/Son campout. They had a few extra people with them - Ben's friend Trey & his son, My Dad & a neighbor friend.
See how excited they are to go on their camping trip?!

Nathaniel ALWAYS has a way of finding interesting things to bring home with him. This is a DEAD crawdad. He's pretending to eat it. He ran in the house & grabbed a measuring cup to fill with water. He wanted to boil it and EAT it! I said NO WAY!!! Eeeeewwwwww! Ben made him throw it away. Whew!

Here's my fave boys returning from their trip. No need to bring a change of clothes. LOL They had a BLAST!!! They also quickly became a HIT because they all brought AirSoft guns and played around. They shared so other boys could play too. They thought it was cool to shoot at the water in the nearby creek because the way it looked when it hit the water! Boys are too funny!

While the boys were away, I had bunko! I was in the 3-way tie for most wins or losses (can't remember which one) but in the roll-off, I didn't win. Oh well, I got this CUTE door prize! The kids thought it was funny.

My sweet niece, Chantel, spent the night so she could be with the girls while I was out that night. Ended up staying out til 3am. I was soooo tired in the morning. The girls had fun getting makeovers from my niece & watching Hotel for Dogs.

After Ben got cleaned up from camping, we got some pizza for the kids. Then we snuck away on a date. He took me to Chili's for dinner and we wanted to spend a little more time out, so we hopped over to the theater and got there just in time to see Star Trek. I'm totally NOT a trekkie, but it was pretty good, esp with the eye candy!

Sunday morning, the kids woke up & wished me Happy Mother's Day right away! Awwww what a nice way to wake up! Kids hugging & kissing me while I was still in bed. So sweet!!! Nathaniel asked me if I would make Belgian waffles. What??? He quickly corrected himself, Ummm Dad can you make pancakes? That's more like it. hahaha So, he did. Ben makes the most delicious pancakes!

We got ready for church and the kids hardly fought. YAY!! What a nice morning! Ben took this pic right after church! I just told the kids to come stand by me but they immediately squeezed me with big hugs! {I almost fell over from all the love♥}

I love all my sweet munchkins that make me a MOM! They can definitely drive me crazy sometimes, but I wouldn't trade any of them! I couldn't imagine my life without them! They give me so many hugs & kisses every day, I love it!!!!

These are the fun & lovey dovey cards I got from my darling kids & Ben!

Ben loves putting my card in a place where I will find it {I do the same thing - it's fun}. Who doesn't love surprises? He usually places my card on my vanity or pillow so I will find it when I'm getting dressed. This year, I found it on my keyboard {yep I snuck in to check my email after breakfast - tee hee}. He's a sneaky one!

Ashley's card was sooo cute! She made it at school and inside it says all the things she loves about me! Awwww. She also made me a "diamond" necklace! I wore my pretty diamond to church. She was so happy!

Inside the card:

I like being with my mom most when going swimming with her.

If I could give my mom something special just from me, it would be some flowers.

It really bugs my mom when ask her if I can play. {she means begging for xbox or computer time}

My mom helps me most when she helps me make my bed.

My favorite thing about my mom is she makes dinner for me.

One of my mom's favorite places is the snow. {ummm this one is questionnable. not a huge fan of cold, but do like to play in the snow like one day a year}

My mom likes to go out to dinner.

My mom looks prettiest when she puts makeup on. {at least she can appreciate my hard work 'trying' to look pretty - LOL}

My mom is special because she's kind to me.

I like it when my mom tucks me in to bed.

My mom's favorite food is chinese food. {yep that's one of my top faves, it's a close tie with Mexican & Italian}

If my mom could have anything she wanted, she would probably have 4 children. {she said she put that answer because we already have 4 kids}

At church, all the primary kids got up in Sacrament meeting to sing a couple songs for the Moms. This is one of my favorite times at church! Even if they're not singing or don't remember the words, the fact that they get up there and smile back at me - awwwww just melts my heart!

The talks during Sacrament meeting were Awesome!! Especially Jaime's talk all about being a Mom! You Rock Jaime!!!

They got subs for us in primary, so we could go to Relief Society. It was AMAZING being with all the wonderful ladies and the lesson was incredible!

The kids also made these cute cards at church:

Ashley & Anson made some too, but they were cards that you wrote something inside about your Mom. Ashley said she likes that I have brown hair just like her. Then she drew a picture of me, I think with blue hair & brown eyes! heee heee

Oh my goodness! They totally spoiled us at church! Not only did we get the sweet cards from the kids, but this is what they gave all of us too. A super delicious cookie from Sweet Cakes {a family in our ward owns it}, caramel/chocolate dipped pretzel, primary cookbook {kids wrote the recipes with the 'real' recipe attached, bookmark & sweet quote to hang on fridge.

Ok, so I broke my almost 2 weeks of 'no treats' diet and had a couple bites of the cookie & pretzel. Shared the rest with the fam. Could you resist those?

After church, we went to visit Ben's Mom. Ben picked out an apple scented flameless candle (takes batteries) & cute mug {both from Real Deals} for his mom.

She loved them both!
Ben & his Mom

Ben made fabulous BBQ Chicken & baked potatoes for dinner. My parents came by {and brought yummy fresh corn on the cob already cooked & hot for us to have with our dinner} and I gave my Mom her gift.

I found the delicious White Cheddar popcorn seasoning {she loves getting this topping at Harkins movie theaters}, white & yellow popcorn kernels, popcorn bowl & $15 GC for Hollywood Video.

ME & my Mom

I love my Mom so much! She is the BESTEST Mom!!! Thank you Mom for always being there & all that you have taught me!

It was a fantastic weekend! Hope you had a good one too!

My Design Style

2009-05-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Tammy's blog!

I guess this is kinda true. Why don't they have a style called "Simple Designs due to Simple Budget {and kids who love to run around throwing dirty socks & toys everywhere}"?? Maybe I should've picked my total dream rooms when answering the questions on the quiz. Then again, some of the pics just didn't match what I would choose. I love Pottery Barn & many different pictures in Better Homes & Gardens magazines. I love going to my friends' houses to see their beautiful homes & decorations. I have a mixture of styles, a little of this and a little of that. But we also have tried to choose items that will last a while & not look 'worn/ruined' due to kid damage. LOL

What's your decorating style??

Happy {inter}NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!

2009-05-02T00:00:00.001-07:00

Oh boy! I know I've been neglecting my blog again! But for good reason. I have been busy, so have the wonderful gals at DSO. I have some BIG NEWS!!!
Plus, we have several NEW Designers, TONS of NEW Products, and Bunny & KimB have a Collab CU Grab Bag!
You do NOT want to miss out on these great savings!

I am also hosting a NSD Surprise Challenge! Go HERE for details & a chance to win a $5 GC.
Better Hurry! The challenge lasts for ONLY ONE DAY - ends May 2nd at Midnight (CST)!!!

I am Featured Designer of the Month at DSO!

To read a little info about ME, go HERE!

To Celebrate, I created Bee My Honey to share and it will be FREE the whole month of May!

Click HERE to get this kit for FREE!

HAPPY SHOPPING & SCRAPPING!!!

Field Trip, Hike Layout, FREEBIE

2009-04-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Last week, I joined Nathaniel & Felicia's classes on their field trip to the Arizona State Capitol. I hadn't been there since I was their age. {it's funny because as soon as I said that to another parent, I heard my Mom's voice echo in my head - she said the same thing when she accompanied me on my field trip when I was in school. HAHAHA}
It was very interesting, some I remember seeing as a kid. I was surprised how fascinated all the kids were with the whole tour and learning about the different branches of government. I really LOVE that they re-did the copper dome and sealed it with a clear protectant. Now it will stay copper shiny for a long time!

Nathaniel & Felicia always being goofballs. Someone has to sneak in the 'bunny ears' in every shot! LOL

Felicia posing in front of the Liberty Bell.

And Nathaniel too...

Anson being a silly boy, as usual!

The kids thought it was soooo funny when we caught Ginger on the roof a couple days ago.

Silly kitty!

Ashley LOVES painting her nails, but she can't always get her 'other' hand.

So, I helped her finish painting, then we put cute decals on them too

{all this before we went to church}.

While we were watching The City of Ember on dvd a few nights ago, Ashley had been very sneaky and put an 'Ashley' princess sticker on Ben's cheek. He didn't notice until he went into the bathroom after the movie. heeee heee :)

{btw, the movie was really CUTE}

Look what's NEW in my store!!

Love Letters Quick Pages ONLY 99 cents each!

Quick Page 1

Quick Page 2

I also scrapped! Yep, we went hiking again!

This time it was for Ben to take his Webelo scouts. Felicia & I joined them, plus a couple parents and another daughter & friend. When we planned it last week, the weather was beautiful & perfect! Suddenly, the temp had to go up & up & up each day until it reached at least 100 degrees during our hike! Yikes! I don't remember the hike being soooo UPHILL! HAHA

I felt bad because I kept telling the kids & the other parents that it's not a bad hike because it's kind of gradual uphill not so steep for most of the way. Geesh! I thought I was going to die! LOL I got soooo hot that I actually had to rest in the little bit of shade I could find a couple times. It only took us an hour to get up to the wind cave. I think we hung out for almost half hour, then it took us only half hour to get back down. Everyone had a great time! The boys were such troopers!

I used the darling QP that Bunny made

using my kit Pocketful of Sunshine.
AND.....

She said I could give it to y'all FREE!!!!

**Personal Use Only**

Isn't she the sweetest?!!!

Thanks Bunny!!!

Go HERE to download it!

Don't forget to leave her some love too!

I'm cursed

2009-04-18T19:42:00.004-07:00

Why is it that every time I get in line at the store {any store} that I seem to get in the WRONG line? Especially the self-checkouts at Wal-Mart!

You know what I mean? The line that appears to be SHORT, but instead turns out to have the LONGEST WAIT! Argh!

Every. Single. Time.

{Well, I did catch ONE break today. After hitting several stores, getting in the wrong lines, I actually got a check-out that was EMPTY - meaning NO ONE was in line! Thank goodness for the nice lady at Sam's Club guiding me to her no-wait-checkout!}

Does this ever happen to you? Or is it just Ben & Me that it happens to?

Felicia BFF & Hunky-Dory FREEBIE

2009-04-17T01:36:00.005-07:00

YAY!!! I finally scrapped! I feel like I haven't done that in a while. Feels good to play!

{Credits HERE}

This is such a CUTE picture of Felicia & her BFF. This was a fun weekend for them (a month ago). They had a birthday party sleepover at a mutual friends' house, then I picked them up early Saturday morning to take them to the Stake Young Girl Achievement Activity. They had such a great time! I took this picture {in the car} when I dropped them off at their activity. Oh, I also included the quote for this month's Quote Challenge at DSO {the one that I'm hosting}!

I also have a surprise for YOU...
The kit that I used is one that I made for KimB's famous Color Challenge at DSO. Yipppeeee!! I know. I'm so lame. I haven't had any freebies on my blog in a long while. Too long.

You get this mini kit FREE!!!!!

Are you doing a little 'Happy Dance' yet? heee heee :)

Download HERE

** Personal Use Only **

Have a FANTABULOUS day!

Jack in the Box

2009-04-15T18:15:00.006-07:00

Have you seen this commercial?

Ben is obsessed with this commercial. He will stop what he's doing just to watch it. Then he'll rewind it to see it again, giggling the whole time.

{pause my playlist first so you hear it - the song is funny}

I'll admit, it is way CUTE!

Easter Pics, New Bargains, Layouts

2009-04-15T15:10:00.001-07:00

We had a Fabulous Easter Sunday! The kids woke up to see what the Easter Bunny had brought them....baskets full of candy & the wonderous little toy bunnies that poop jelly beans! They were ecstatic!!! HAHAHA Cheap thrills :) They had already eaten TONS of candy before we even left for church mid-morning! I'm pretty sure most of the kids at church had a nutritious candy breakfast like our kids! And they all couldn't wait to get home to EAT More Candy! LOL Despite the wiggly kids, our class presented our Sharing Time during Primary, and my teaching partner gave a wonderful lesson in class about Christ's Atonement & Resurrection!

Hope y'all had a great day! Here's a couple pics Ben took before church while I was finishing getting ready.

Then I took these when we got home from church.
Ben was making weird faces & pretending to pick his nose behind me to get the kids to smile! It worked! Thanks Honey!

Ben and the munchkins!

Dang! They are growing way too fast! Nathaniel's already to my shoulder! {well not like that's a huge accomplishment, I'm only 5'4" but in this pic I am wearing small heels so it makes me a tiny bit taller}

Don't my little guys look so handsome in their new shirts & ties? Nathaniel never liked wearing a tie & I think he still doesn't. Anson just recently started wearing a tie and he LOVES it! He was excited to get another one! My girls look so beautiful in their new matching spring dresses!

Ben playing around because he wants picture-time to be OVER! You got it dear, we can all go in the house now & change clothes & EAT MORE CANDY! :)

We waited early evening to hide eggs. Well, I did all the hiding. Over 130 candy-filled plastic eggs in our front yard & carport! The kids can't wait to go out & find them all!

Felicia, Ashley & Anson were the ones to fill all the eggs. When they were done, Ashley asked me when her cousins were coming over to help find eggs. I told her that everyone was having the egg hunts at their own houses this year. She looked at me funny, then said, "You mean we did ALL THAT for NOTHING?!!" HAHHAHAHA I told her, "It was for nothing. Now you get to find them & have ALL the candy!" I was cracking up!

Ready...Set...GO!!! Anson & Ashley were first out the door finding the eggs right outside the porch. Felicia & Nathaniel burst thru the door running! {And it wasn't really that dark outside, the sun was just going down, still light enough to see, but our front porch isn't lit very well}

I started laughing when I saw this picture! Nathaniel was running fast! He found the most eggs!

See the full buckets! Felicia shared half of her bucket with Anson since he had the least. He still had a lot, but it looks less compared to the other totally full buckets! That was really nice of Felicia!

Eating all that candy was so tiring! Anson crashed on our bed. Here's proof that Ginger really does like Anson. She's curled up by him! {Usually she leaves the room or goes under my bed when Anson walks in. LOL}

Look what Felicia saved from our pool yesterday! A really cool grasshopper!

He got passed around a little, then released to a safe spot in the yard.

LOOK what's NEW in my STORE at DSO! If you missed out on the March DSO Font & Quote Challenge Posting Bonus, you can get them for UNDER $1 each NOW!!!

Pocketful of Sunshine

Promenade

Amanda's 'Cutie Pie' using Pocketful of Sunshine:

{Full Credits HERE}

DeeDee's 'Cousins' using Promenade:

{Full Credits HERE}

A few more layouts by some talented gals:

Renee's 'Domestic G' using Fresh Air

{Full Credits HERE}

LynO's 'My 5 Favorites' using Delightful

{Full Credits HERE}

Faith's 'Font Feb09 Challenge' using Delightful

{Full Credits HERE}

Renee's 'Treat' using Delightful

{Full Credits HERE}

Thanks again for letting me share your amazing layouts, ladies!

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-12T16:41:00.004-07:00

Easter Egg Hunt, SALE, Layouts, Challenges

2009-04-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood had an Easter Egg Hunt this morning at the park. It was cold & rainy, but the Hunt was still on! We got there a few minutes late, and my kiddos were sad because all the eggs had been found already. Thankfully, a few boys from our ward & another friend decided to share some of their eggs with my kids. Awwww that was SO NICE! Being cold & wet, this was about as happy a picture I could get of them showing me their eggs. LOL
We hurried home so they could open all their eggs & munch on the yummy candy!

Easter is tomorrow!!!! So, I'm having an Easter SALE today & tomorrow!

I've been wanting to share some layouts using my products. I got permission from these sweet gals to showcase them here!

I got this layout from Jodiann using my Mimzy kit. Aren't those pics of her son stunning?!

These next layouts are all from Maggy.

This one was for last month's DSO Font Challenge uses my Delightful kit. Isn't he precious?
This one is for this month's DSO Font Challenge using my Play kit. They're such cute little artists!

This one was for last month's DSO Quote Challenge using my Play Addon. They look like they're all having so much FUN!

This one was for February's DSO Font Challenge using my What's Up kit. Sweet mama & baby bird!

Thanks gals for letting me share your Fabulous layouts!!

Check this out!!! DSO's 1st COLLAB kit! On SALE now for a limited time!

This kit is the first 2009 Collab by our DSO Designers. Contributing designers include: Beth Long, Andrea Dickinson, Jazzy, Kim Broedelet, Livia Yamada, Lynn Powell, Melanie Chynoweth, and Shannon Neparko.
This spring kit is all about the water. Both watery skies and water-colors! Gorgeous watercolored elements will make this one a fun one to work with for SURE!

I'm a little late posting about this, but Livia has been posting Gorgeous FREE QP's on the DSO BLOG - 1 each day. There's only ONE day left & if you hurry you can grab it! Then I think they're all going in the store.

I have the new Challenges posted at DSO.

Here's the Posting Bonus you can get FREE for participating in the Font Challenge:

And here's the Posting Bonus you can get FREE for participating in the Quote Challenge:

If you earn BOTH Posting Bonus prizes, then you'll have ONE whole kit because they are coordinating!

Whew! This has taken me a while. Ok now I gotta go celebrate my nephew's birthday. Poor guy fractured his foot playing at the park yesterday! And due to his injury & the uncooperating weather, we are having his party indoors.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!! Hope the Easter Bunny brings you lots of yummy treats!

AIMS Tests & Donuts

2009-04-01T16:27:00.001-07:00

Nathaniel & Felicia started their AIMS Tests today and go for a whole week. Felicia has been pretty nervous about the tests, yet she always does well. We had to keep reminding them that they will do well and just stay calm and focus. YAY First day is done!

Report cards came home last week. They all received Excellent grades! WOOHOOOO!!!

Earlier in the month, we had stopped at Krispy Kreme Donuts because Nathaniel had a coupon for 1 free donut. While we were there, a nice lady told us that if you bring in your report cards, Krispy Kreme will give you a donut for each 'A' up to 6 donuts.

So..............Look what the kids got after school today.......
6 FREE donuts each! Not just glazed, any kind they wanted!!! Well, I bought half a dozen glazed for Anson, Ben & me to share (since Anson's not in school & doesn't have a report card).

Look at all that yummy goodness!!! Can you believe they actually waited til we got home to eat one? Well, I told them they weren't allowed to open their boxes in the car because I wanted to take their pictures when we got home! LOL

GOOD JOB Nathaniel, Felicia & Ashley! You're doing GREAT at school!!!!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!

Whatcha waiting for? Go get your kids some FREE donuts for their good grades!!!

The BEST Day Ever

2009-03-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

Or is it?

First thing this morning I went to the dentist with Ashley for our teeth cleaning. It's always fun to feel the sharp pokey thing scraping your teeth! And to be reminded that I need a crown for one of my molars. Since I can't afford a beautiful shiny crown, the dentist recommended that I have my filling re-filled. So, they will drill out my filling that is chipped and then put in a new filling. Ashley has an infected tooth, so she needs it pulled. Wwe both go back on Monday to get our work done. YAY!!! NOT.

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I canNOT stand ANYTHING SpongeBob.

Why? UGH he is so ANNOYING to me! His voice especially drives nails into my brain. I honestly can't believe that show is still on.

So, you can imagine my DELIGHT when Ben shows me that he just downloaded THIS song (and THIS and THIS) for Rock Band 2. Now I get to listen to the kids singing those song over and over again. I have to admit that Anson was SO CUTE when he ran to tell me all about the newest songs and when he sang 'Best Day Ever' with the microphone. I think we may have to turn down the volume for these songs or I fear that my ears will begin to bleed. LOL

Ok onto something more fun. Yesterday we took the kids to the park to teach them to play basketball (half-court). Ben & I picked our teams, which of course went quickly because there aren't many to choose from. I ended up with the older kids and Ben had the youngers. Periodically, Anson & Ashley would take off to the slides leaving Ben by himself. Not like he needs more players but it was fun with all the kids. We ended up switching teams mid game, boys vs girls (the way the kids really wanted it). We had so much FUN!! The boys won 11-9. Then we played H-O-R-S-E. Ben & I kept giggling when the kids called each other by the letters they had earned. Nathaniel would say 'I'm a HO' and Felicia would say 'No you're not! You're a HOR and I'm a HO!' tee hee :) They kept asking what was so funny! HAHAHAHA We were dying! Anyway, it came down to Ben & me and I WON because Ben missed his last shot! WOOHOOO!!!!!!

CONGRATS Felicia!

2009-03-26T16:00:00.002-07:00

Remember this post & Felicia's artwork?

She just brought home a note telling us that her artwork has been posted to their school website! I didn't even know that they posted art on their site.

I'm so proud of my little artist!!!

Just wanted to share my daughter's good news!

It's Batman Day!!

2009-03-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

Did you know that? hahaha

Anson is informing me that TODAY is Batman Day!!

What does that mean?

Well, according to Anson, it means it's HIS day & he gets to play on Dad's computer for however long he wants! He wants to play on Webkinz and a Batman game on Nickelodeon.

He is one funny boy!

Just like about a week ago or so, Anson woke Ben & I up telling us that he woke up sneezing. Then he had snots & had to use a tissue. But he also had a yellow circle thing on his hand called a Fling-Flong. Ummm...A...what? A Fling-Flong. Ok...did you clean it off with a tissue or wash your hands? YES. Uh-Ok.

He definitely has some interesting stories & explanations! HAHAHAHA

We got home from our camping trip last night. We had so much FUN!!!

Our spot was beautiful. The weather was perfect. We all had a wonderful time.

Have you ever noticed how like half the dirt from the campsite sneaks home with you? I made everyone leave their shoes at the door before entering our house, then slowly walk into the bathroom (so they don't drop more dirt in the house) and leave all their dirty clothes in the hall, so I can sort them to start the laundry immediately. The boys took a shower & got all squeaky clean, then it was the girls' turn. Ben rinsed the dirt off the car, then took the dogs in the backyard and gave them each a bath using his yummy smelling shampoo. Both our dogs are black, but due to the amount of ash at our campsite & dirt plus the creek they waded in constantly, they were brownish gray. Now they are shiny black again! Thanks babe, you're Awesome!

Dontcha just love that dirty smokey camping smell when you get home? No one seems to stink until we get home and realize how dirty we really are. HAHAHA I'm still doing laundry trying to get that nasty smell out of the house. Last night, I washed all the kids' blankets, their pillows, all the supposed whites (they looked more like brown & black from dirt sticking to wet socks from playing in the creek), our pillows, and all the jeans. Now I need to finish the rest of the clothes and the dog blanket.

I took a bazillion pictures. I need to upload my camera, then I can sort and share some.

Gotta go. We got back from church about an hour and a half ago, but I still haven't eaten a real lunch yet. If you don't count a small handful of peanut m&m's, 3 pieces of dark chocolate covered honeycomb (kind of like toffee) and 4 Cheezits. LOL

Can you guess

2009-03-19T10:05:00.003-07:00

what we are doing this weekend????

Here's a hint:

Roasting Marshmallows
Sipping Hot Cocoa
Eating out of Foil
Admiring the Beautiful Starry Sky
NOT Watching TV
NOT Playing on the Computer
NOT Playing XBOX

Do you know what we're doing?

We're going CAMPING!!!!

We haven't gone camping in almost 2 years, even then it was at Camp LoMia in Payson (where I went to Girls' Camp with church as a teenager) and they have small one-room cabins (basically 4 walls or 3 1/2 walls and a roof). I haven't gone real camping like in tents since I was preggers with Felicia! Nathaniel has gone camping with Ben a couple times and Anson once with Ben, but the girls haven't ever gone in tents. We are SO EXCITED!!!!

Ok so I gotta go to the store for a few last minute items and finish chopping veggies for our foil dinners and packing so we can leave TODAY!!!

Have a FUN weekend!!

Anniversary, Birthdays, Bunko, Spring Break

2009-03-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Ben & I celebrated our 13th Anniversary! WOW I can't believe it's been that long already! And we dated for about a year and a half. Goodness! Look how YOUNG we look in our wedding photo!! And we thought we were so mature & grown up for barely being 21. HAHAHA

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BEN!!! I LOVE YOU so much! Here's to many more wonderful years with you!!!

Ok, now I'm going to back track a little. Since I haven't been posting regularly, I want to remember some of what's been going on these last 2 weeks.

My Mom had her Birthday March 3rd. I made her a beaded necklace, so I asked her to model it for me. I Love my Mom and couldn't possibly name all the amazing & wonderful things she has done for me. She has ALWAYS been there for me and I think she's the BEST!!! Hope you had a Fantastic Birthday Mom!!!

Our Little Bunny had her Birthday on March 6th! Now Ashley is 7. She also got to have her first sleepover. We let her choose one friend to come spend the night. They were so cute together!

I took this pic before she left for school. She is growing so fast, and keeps getting prettier & prettier!

Ashley blowing out her '7' candle. Suddenly I couldn't find all of our little candles to go with it.

She wanted a white cake with purple frosting and strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting. For the last several years, I've made the kids a cake and cupcakes, but they get special cupcakes just for them. I put numbers on their cupcakes 1 for each year. Ashley loved her 7 pink cupcakes!

Last week, we bought a football to teach the kids how to play. So, for Family Home Evening, we played football in our front yard {Girls vs Boys}. Can you guess who won?

GIRLS!!!!! 35-28! WOOHOOOOO!!!!! They were such CUTE little footballers! Ashley did NOT want to catch the ball at all, but she enjoyed running, blocking & sometimes throwing the ball. Felicia did great too, throwing, catching, running, blocking, tagging! You name it, she did it! The boys did good too, but apparently not as good as the girls! HAHAHAHAA

The main thing is that we ALL had a Blast and they want to do it every Monday now!

Felicia had to finish up one of her art projects at home and was upset and thinking it wasn't turning out the way she had hoped. When I asked her to show me, I was STUNNED!

Seriously, she thought this looked like crap! I had to give her a little pep talk and remind her that anything she makes could never look bad! She is talented!

Another one bites the dust....LOL Anson has been trying his hand at guitar on Rock Band 2 lately. I saw him practicing with the girls and couldn't resist capturing this! He was also swaying with the music!

Ummm who does he think he is going shirtless....Aerosmith? HAHAA

Really, he's good at drums & now he loves singing too! His faves are the heavy metal songs! Cracks me up!!! We're teaching 'em at a young age! tee hee :)

Here's my beautiful Spring garland that Jen helped me make! I didn't notice until after I hung it, but somehow during all our chatting and laughing (while making it) I mixed up the paper for the 'n' and 'g' so it's not consistent with the alternating pattern. Oh well, I think it's still beautiful!

Well, my FIRST time hosting Bunko went surprisingly smoothly. My sister was going to have all the kids spend the night at her place, but she had been sick so she cancelled. Then my Mom said she would have the kids over to her house for a while to watch movies then Ben could pick them up when they were done. YAY!! So we didn't have to worry about what to do with the kids all evening. Thanks MOM!!!

We all had a great time & laughed tons! Dinner was delicious (if I say so myself - hahaha). We had Hawaiian Haystacks {big THANKS to all who brought items}, Hawaiian sweet rolls {sorry I didn't make them, bought them from Fry's}, unusually large fresh strawberries, tropical punch {made by Alicia}, soda, and lemonaide cake for dessert.

Oooh and I won HIGH Score! WOOHOOOO!!!! Here's the prize I chose:

I guess everything didn't go exactly as planned. Somehow, I miscounted the door prizes and was short one. Sorry Alicia (how did we miss that???) I will get another prize for you! Apparently, I'm not the only one who has done that before. Whew! Guess that means I'm not the only dork in the group. LOL

Friday evening my Sister had leave work to go to the Emergency Room for a serious asthma attack. {I'm guessing it wasn't toooooo scary because after my Dad picked her up from work they stopped at Filiberto's on the way to the hospital to get some Mexican food since they knew they would be at the ER a while & would probably miss dinner. What the heck??? Always thinking about food - those two crack me up!} She was able to come home Saturday afternoon and is doing better. They sent her home with several medications and hopefully she'll be feeling better soon! Love ya SIS!!!!

Saturday started our SPRING BREAK!!!! No school (Ben's off work too) for a whole week! YAY!! We have needed a break. Feel like we've all been going and going like that cute little Energizer Bunny!

We all slept in Saturday morning. Dang that felt good! {Well, except for Ben, poor guy still had to work then he has a week off} To my surprise, Nathaniel & Felicia wanted to pull weeds!!! I didn't even ask them or anything! Ok, seriously, don't judge...Ben pours weed killer around our pool every year but it doesn't seem to help with these monster weeds! They seriously pop up overnight and double in size daily!

Nathaniel and Felicia came running in the house and told me to 'come quick & bring the camera'! They were excited to pull these bad boys & kept assigning names according to the size of their roots! Apparently, this was a 'General' because the root was big and thick! HAHA

They had a name for each one they pulled, but I can't remember them now. They are funny!

Nathaniel is out there again today pulling more weeds.

My best friend, Karyn, sent me a gift card for Old Navy and a couple coupons last week. So I went shopping Saturday evening with Felicia and bought a few things for me! Thank You Karyn for the late birthday gift! That kind of gift is welcomed no matter how late!!!! ☺

Ooops this turned out way longer than I wanted. If you made it this far, Kudos to you! And Thanks!

Have a wonderful week! And if you're on Spring Break too, then have a FUN & SAFE Spring Break!!!

Leaving you with this funny video that reminds me of something Ashley would do. She also thought this was HILARIOUS!!!

Been Busy

2009-03-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to say Hello!!! I have been a very bad blogger lately. My poor sad neglected blog is calling out to me to post. Something. Anything.

I went to Jen's house yesterday and she helped me make a CUTE Spring Garland. Picture coming soon. No time to upload my camera at the moment.

I have been prepping my house for Bunko tonight. Yes I'm the hostess and it's my FIRST time hosting. Trying to squeeze in some spring cleaning & a little project I've been wanting to do for a little while. Nothing really fun or fancy, just touching up some of the stain on our concrete floors. Apparently in the 'heavy traffic' areas, the stain may need retouching. So, we finally did a spot that has been an eye sore (esp cuz it's right after you walk into the house). YAY!! Got the stain fixed, sealed and applied 3 coats of polish to the whole house. No more ghetto-looking living room!

The kids were afraid to leave their rooms this morning because the floor still looked wet. Nope, that's how it's supposed to look. Super shiny & glossy! I haven't polished the floor in a while, it desperately needed it plus I LOVE the glossy sheen!

I'm so excited for bunko but was also kind of nervous about making all the plans. Thank goodness for my super friend, Alicia, who helped me shop for all the prizes (which I want them all because they're so CUTE - got some smokin' deals at Real Deals), helped me plan the menu and is making some delicious punch. She's AMAZING!!! Thanks Alicia!!!

Oh and TONIGHT is the beginning of SPRING BREAK for the kids!!! WOOHOOOOO!!!!!

Ok gotta go finish getting things ready (including me). I will have to post pictures of all the prizes tomorrow! I hope I win one, even if I don't, the door prizes are darling too!!

I'm still here...

2009-02-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks for remembering me and asking if I'm ok since I haven't blogged in 2 weeks! Yikes! So sorry I haven't been checking in once in a while.

I have been busy dealing with family drama {well it's actually lasted for the past 7 1/2 years} and it is FINALLY all sorted out. YAY!!! What a huge relief! Every time a new issue comes up it gets so stressful for me & I don't want to even think about getting on the computer. I'm so HAPPY that things are BETTER now! WOOHOOO!!! Now we can all get on with our lives and enjoy each other. I know none of you know what I'm talking about & I'm not going into details, so please just be happy for me & my family. Thanks ☺

I know this is *old* news but thanks for all the complements on my kids' valentine cards. They loved them & were so excited to pass them out to their friends at school. I told them that next year they're making their own because that's a big part of the fun & I thought maybe they were missing out on that part. Oh my gosh! You would've thought I was telling them I was never giving them candy EVER! HAHAHA They said "NO!!! Mom we LOVED them & so did our friends! They kept saying 'Oh Cool! I want one!' So see Mom you have to make them again next year!" They're so funny & sweet. How could I possibly say NO to that? I'm a huge sap for my kids' gushy love. Of course I'll help them again next year since they put it that way.

Oh and Look what my hubby brought home on Valentine's Day (he had to work all day).

Isn't he the sweetest? Well I think so! They're beautiful Chrysanthemums and they're still alive! WOOHOOO!!

Check out my little guy who suddenly decided he wants to wear a tie to church. It's a little long and a clip-on but he loves it!

A couple weeks ago, guess it was Valentine's weekend (on Sunday) all my family came over for dinner, then we all played a little Rock Band. My Dad is so funny because he was really looking forward to jammin' on the guitar! I even got Christy to try it out! WOOHOO!!!
That was a FUN evening!!

Nathaniel got really silly and gave himself a mustache. You're lookin' at the next Rico Suave! LOL

Yesterday my Mom called to ask if we wanted to go to dinner at Native New Yorker with them because she had some discount certificates. The only catch was that we had to go to a particular location - all the way to Phoenix (it took us about 45 minutes to get there in traffic). Not a big deal because she heard that we should be able to get appetizers half off and the kids eat free if adults order entrees. There weren't very many people there, actually it was kind of quiet there. But the waitress didn't take our order until happy hour was already over. Ok fine, guess we didn't really need appetizers. So we get our drinks and finally order some dinner (we had already been there half hour & that's how we missed happy hour). It took forever to get our food - we had already been there an hour. Somehow, I got my side salad before anyone. Then the kids' dinners were ready before my Mom's Salad. The kids were almost done eating by the time our food finally arrived. Anyway, it was a huge disappointment and the food wasn't that great. It was a fun adventure though. And THANKS MOM & DAD for including us and trying to have a good evening. We can laugh about it now that my stomach isn't aching from eating so late at night. HAHAHA

I had Art Masterpiece again today. I am really enjoying visiting the kids' classes and being part of their day every 2 weeks. A BIG THANKS to my Mom who has been watching Anson during my presentations (and sometimes longer because Anson doesn't want to stop playing with Grandma)!

Ooooh I had this new season of LOST on my DVR and hadn't watched any yet. So earlier this week, Felicia stayed home from school Monday & Tuesday for upset stomach, and we watched all the new episodes together, well most of them together. She had to go to bed so I continued to watch til I saw them all. I LOVE this show!!! I haven't watched last night's episode yet and I'm dying to see it!!! Probably won't get to it til this weekend though. I have the hardest time waiting for new episodes, that's why I had waited to watch them all at once last summer. I saw the whole last season in a couple days online. I almost wish I waited so I could do that again because now I have to wait each week like everyone else. LOL

Ok that's enough rambling from me today. Guess that's what happens when I don't post for 2 whole weeks! In case I don't update again for a few days - HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

We have the school carnival this weekend! The kids are so excited!

Happy Valentine's Day & SALE

2009-02-14T01:10:00.003-07:00

That darn wagon! These silly kids keep loading it up with blankets & pillows, then sit & read outside! Even when it's COLD {cold for us}. Felicia & Ashley were bundled up reading some favorite books when Anson decided he wanted to join the party! HAHAHA {at least they're reading & having a good time}
Thursday after school, the kids had a candy assembly line to fill the goodie bags for their classes.

A scoop of candy conversation ♥s, some red hots & a couple Hershey kisses.

Here's what they look like all done with their cards attached {I stayed up late at night making the cards, printing, cutting, hole punching & lastly attaching them with twistie ties}. Aren't they darling?

Whew! It's a lot of work putting together nearly 100 of these! Can't wait til next year when Anson's in school too. Oh well, it's all worth it because the kids LOVED them when they woke up & saw them finished!

Thursday was also HEATHER's Birthday {my SIL}!!!! We enjoyed some cake & ice cream together last night at my MIL's house. Hope you had a WONDERFUL Birthday, Heather!!!

{this pic was taken on Christmas 2008}

I decided to make her card this year. Here's the front:

I used my 'Delightful' kit {the Posting Bonus for completing the DSO Quote Challenge this month} and the Flower Punches my Mom gave me for Christmas! YAY!! LOVE THEM!!

Here's the inside:

{I also used Jazzy's Birthday Card Sentiment wordart}

WOOHOOOO!!!!!

It's ♥Valentine's Day♥

I'm having a 30% off SALE

The sale starts TODAY and ends MONDAY at midnight!

My Bargain Bin items aren't included in the SALE

but they're ONLY 99 cents!

HAVE A STUPENDOUS WEEKEND!!!!

I'd LOVE to know what your Valentine plans are? Do you like to go out? We don't have any big plans this year because Ben has to work, as usual. But the kids have Monday off school {Presidents' Day} so we'll have some fun family time.

It's LATE I must go to bed.

I have so many things I need to get done in the morning.

Cleaning the house. YUCK!

Laundry. YUCK!

{well I don't mind doing the laundry, it's the folding, hanging up & putting everything away - or trying to get the kids to put their own stuff away - that I don't like}

Prearing my Primary Lesson.

Writing Anson's Talk for Primary.

Help Felicia write her Talk for Primary.

How did we get 2 talks in the same week?

And Nathaniel has the Article of Faith for Primary.

Dang.

We're taking over in Primary this week! HAHAHA

Grocery shopping. UGH!

Make ♥Valentine♥ treats for my Primary kiddos.

{that's the FUNNEST thing on my whole list}

My Family & a FREEBIE

2009-02-09T08:04:00.004-07:00

Wooohooooo!! I had a little time to do more scrapping! Here's a layout using our family picture taken in December 2008. I also made it for my Font Challenge at DSO.

I used my Valentine kit - LOVE LETTERS
And I have a gift for you too! I made a Quick Page from my layout.
It's FREE for a limited time.

* Sorry Link Has Expired *

Thanks for all the wonderful comments for my other freebies. I really appreciate it!

Update, Challenges, Layout & FREEBIE

2009-02-06T15:00:00.004-07:00

I am so bad at keeping up with laundry. I have the front-loading washer & dryer, so I can't seem to do small loads when I know that I can fit so much more in there. tee hee :)

I spent most of yesterday catching up on all the piles of laundry (boy the kids wear a LOT of clothes, not to mention socks & undies). I finished a load this morning and look who decided they like the pretty pink pile of clothes! {yep I do a separate load of just pinks because that's how many pink clothes the girls have! LOL}

She definitely likes her bed to be fluffy & soft! hahaha

We finally got Nathaniel his Webelos neckerchief and a ribbon on his shoulder to hold all his pins. So, I took these pictures this week because I think he looks so handsome (ok he's the CUTEST little scout isn't he? I guess he isn't so little anymore).

In case you didn't already know, when Nathaniel gets his homework done, he LOVES to ~~hog~~ play the XBOX360. The girls have to beg just to get their own time. They finally got a few minutes to play before bed last night and they chose Rock Band2 of course. Felicia's rockin' out on the drums and Ashley was singing! Oh yah, they have Eye of the Tiger memorized {or at least it sounds that way}! haha

Geesh, I just noticed they are both wearing their ROCKER (torn knees) jeans! LOL

I am still having a hard time grasping the fact that Anson will start school (Kindergarten) in August. Then 2 weeks later he will turn 5, just before the Sept 1st cut-off date. He will be a young one. But he is SO EXCITED to go to school like the big kids! Everytime I try to work with him or help learn how to write, he has no interest. {All my other kids were like that too, then suddenly one day they just got it all on their own} It's so frustrating. Anyway, we were playing with his magna-doodle this week and look what he was able to do:

WOOOHOOOO!!!! I showed him how and talked about the letters in his name and POOF, he wrote his own name!! GOOD JOB Anson!!! Look at his proud smile :)

I'm hosting 2 challenges at DSO this month again!

Here's the posting bonus if you join the FONT Challenge:

Just use the font on a layout anyway you want, then post it in the gallery and I'll send you a link to download this kit FREE!

And here's the posting bonus for the Quote Challenge:

All you have to do is use the selected quote on your layout & post it in the gallery, then I'll send you a link to download this kit FREE!

Look, I had a little time this afternoon to scrap!

The quote is from this month's Quote Challenge and I used my Valentine kit LOVE LETTERS.

{SAVE 25% off until Saturday at midnight}

I also made my layout into a Quick Page.

YOU can get it FREE! *Personal Use Only*

~ Sorry Link has Expired ~

Please leave a comment if you grab it. Thanks!

Tonight is Bunko!! Yippeeee!

So, I'm off to pick up the kiddos from school & get ready for tonight!

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!

I'd Rather Be...

2009-02-04T09:06:00.001-07:00

Doing this right now!

{our cat, Ginger - doesn't she look comfy?}