Christmas is over…

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?

News & Spring is almost here!

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!

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HAPPY SPRING and HAPPY SCRAPPING!

Have you heard of Fruitcake Lady?

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!!!

Been Busy

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!!

Jury Duty & Cleaning

Ben & I have successfully escaped Jury Duty {or even having to show up to see if we're chosen} any time we have received that dreaded notice in the mail.

However, Ben received one recently and just found out that his group has to appear next week. UGH! Luckily he already has the day off and it's a court near us. He's hoping he doesn't get picked.

To make things worse, I almost put my mail back into my mailbox yesterday when I saw the horrible *jury summons* with MY NAME on it! AND I'm supposed to report in the middle of DECEMBER! AAAAGHHHH! Apparently, you can only get out of it once then your name gets drawn again in 90 days. {which I recently got out of it so my time is up}

I know. I know. I should be happy to be a part of the jury process and do my civil duty. But I'm NOT. Sorry. I don't want someone else's fate in my hands right now. Especially right before Christmas! Like I'm not stressed out enough! So please please please cross your fingers for me that MY GROUP gets dismissed! {you know the phone call you have to make the night before to find out if you have to show up first thing in the morning or not}

In the meantime, I'm trying to get the kids to help clean up their messes around the house. I'm grateful that Nathaniel & Felicia are being great helpers! Thanks kiddos!

I also saw a pair of shoes sticking out from under the couch, so I did the unthinkable and moved the couch! Ummmm yah. Ewwww! What was I thinking? I found tons of kid papers, flip flops, dust, sand {leftover from school playgrounds in kid shoes}, dvds {in cases & out}, small toys & books, socks, candy wrappers, etc. At least there wasn't food. I have found old cereal or crackers before. Don't know how that happens because they're supposed to only eat at the table! I swept everything into one big pile and told the kids {since it was their stuff} to put it away or throw it away! Then I moved the other couch. Whew! Only a couple school papers. YAY! Have to confess that it was only clean under that couch because the kids knocked over a small lamp and broke the glass shade, so I had to move the couch to clean up the glass about a week or two ago.

Guess we have a new weekly chore added to the list...check under couches! Lucky me. The kids will be thrilled - - NOT! LOL

Hope you're having a fun filled Saturday!

Lotsa stuffs

I'm so happy that the kids had a great first week of school. It has also been a productive week for me!

{warning - kinda gross pics coming up}

Oh but look what my Dad did last month to his hand! Let's see, can't remember exactly what he did but ended up needing a few stitches! Ouch! It's healing quite nicely.
However, he got hurt again this week {while my Mom was working at the Mesa Temple in the evening} so he wrapped it a little til his *nurse* could home & help him out. Apparently, he slipped & fell onto some sheet metal in his workshop. OUCH!!! I touched it too, felt like snake skin! LOL
Hope you're feeling better DAD!!!

On a prettier note, I finished my cards for the DSO August Card Swap. Last month we each made 10 cards (all the same). This month not as many people could sign up, so we each made 2 different cards - 5 each.

For my first one, I used KimB's "Softly Sweet" kit. I also printed extra flowers, cut them out, used sticky foam to attach them (so they stand out) and added a little *bling*!
For my 2nd card set, I used a kit that I'm currently working on and also printed out the bird (using KimB's "tweeties" templates) separately and used sticky foam again to make it stand out & used a little bling for the eye, then added a flower & brad.
I think they both turned out cute, not super fancy but I like them. Oh and they're both blank on the inside.

Ok, SUPER THANKS to my Mom for helping me this week organizing my kids' rooms!

On Thursday we worked all day on the girls' room {it was a major disaster before}. Here's what we had left at the end. Only 1 basket & 1 box of things for them to go thru to decide what toys they wanted to keep or donate.

I've also been working on mountains of laundry. Yep, I was totally behind. But look what I found yesterday when I went to retrieve a basket from my room in the middle of emptying the dryer & reloading the washer! hahaha My sweet Ginger loves the basket! She got mighty comfy, so I let her have it for the day!

Bunko was last night and a total BLAST!!! We had so much FUN & Alicia was a fabulous hostess! We had some delicious food & she even gave us some leftover pulled pork. Mmmmmm!! Thanks, Alicia!!! Here's my *prize*! Isn't it CUTE?!!! {uh ummm don't look too closely, apparently I need to clean the mirror - ahahah}

Yesterday was the designated Boys' room cleaning day! While they were at school, my Mom and I were at it again. We had 3 big trash bags when we were done & a few clothes to donate. Nathaniel was thrilled when he saw the results when he came home from school!!

Here's how it looks NOW!!! {sorry no BEFORE pics - too bad to show LOL}
the two baskets under their backpacks have clothes I need to sort, more donations.

And their closet after major reorganizing!

Remember those two containers the girls needed to sort thru? Well, I just helped them today and we got it all taken care of. More trash & some donations. The rest we organized into their closet. Now look at their room!! {again no BEFORE pics - theirs was worse than the boys}
They still have a few little things to put away, but for the most part, it's so much BETTER than it was! YAY!!
Ashley's side of the closet {those boxes in the corner are more old stuff we need to figure out later}
Felicia's side of the closet. Well, the buckets are for both of them, just their clothes are separated.
The girls are LOVING their spacious bedroom!!! There's enough space for them to do cartwheels! hahaha

Like I said, both of the kids' rooms aren't completely done, but we're off to a great start. Just a few more little things to sort out & they should be done. Now they all just need to keep them clean, which should be easier for them now. They had too much stuff lingering and nowhere to put them. I swear clutter stresses me out. I don't know how I let it get so cluttered, but I feel

tons better now that they can walk in their rooms & see carpet! I think they are feeling less stressed now too. And they don't have me nagging them to do something with their rooms!

On to the next project - MY ROOM! hahhaah

Ben was sick part of this week too. I teased him and said that while he was sleeping Thursday & Friday, I was busy working! I said it's like *Freaky Friday* here! hahaha {cuz I'm usually the one still in bed by the time he leaves for work around 5am & has worked a couple hours by the time I get up in the morning.} Thank goodness he's feeling better - well enough to go back to work today anyway. Get better quickly babe. Luv ya :)

Great week

The kids had a FANTASTIC first day of school! They LOVE their teachers and are ecstatic for this new school year! Each day they come home SMILING :)

I have been uber productive too! YAY!!

Yesterday, my Mom came over and helped me tackle the girls' room! It has looked like several tornadoes hit it over & over again for the last several months! And you haven't been able to see carpet to even vacuum. But not anymore! We filled 2 huge trash bags, 1 bag of clothes & a small bag of baby toys (don't know why those were in their room). They still have 2 baskets of toys to go thru & pick out what they want to keep, the rest will be donated! I even vacuumed & their room is looking GOOD! They still have a few odds 'n ends to straighten up - like their desk & the tops of their dressers. Whew! Thanks MOM you're the BEST!!!

Oh and it gets better - my Mom is coming back today to help me sort out the boys' room too! They have mostly larger toys that don't fit anywhere, so we'll go thru & get rid of stuff they don't play with anymore (or broken) and sift thru their clothes too to donate anything that doesn't fit.

I'm so excited & it feels so good to get their rooms organized!

I didn't tell the girls we were going to work on their room and they were so HAPPY when they came home and saw the results!! Their big SMILES made it all worth the hard work!

{and tonight is BUNKO} WOOHOOO!!!