Enchanted Island

So forever a go...a few of us in our ward bought a groupon type thingy to a place called Enchanted Island.  I wasn't super excited to go because it was a long drive and I figured it would be ghetto.  However, we went today at it was sooo much fun!  There were no lines and it was the perfect size for my age kids.  The people there were so nice and we had great company with friends from our church. It even included lunch.  Here are some pics.

The bumper boats were Spencer's favorite ride. 

I think this roller coaster was another favorite.  Spencer kept telling me he was "awesome, and big."    Yeah for a fun Saturday! Yeah for dealchicken.com too.

Superbowl

I had to blog about our Superbowl Party just because this picture is soooo cute!  I love my little Weston and he has realized he has great friends who live right across the street.  They love to wrestle, and play Beyblades and play sports!  What more do you need when you are a 6 year old boy?

No one really wanted their picture taken. So this is all I have. We had a few families over last weekend and had LOTS of great food and fun together.  I watched the half time.  I think it was a good game to boot!

I wish I could take credit for these cuties...but it was sweet Elizabeth Brown.

C means Create

My Mother is wise; she always has, and will be.
When she was a young mother in the throngs of lots of children and chaos...she decided to create a creed if you will.  It was her...
CPR.
C stands for create
P for Prayer
and
R stands for reading.
I have been a little out of balance lately in my life.  So I thought I should start with the CREATE part first.  I started out making the above little craft for Jacob on Valentine's Day. The cost was 0 dollars.  I had the frame and took out the cheesy bridal photo of me.  I just printed the words on cute scrapbook paper and make the rosettes.  (My favorite part are the Flowers.) Super fun and it is a place we can take a dry erase marker and write little love notes and thoughts of gratitude to each other. 

Next I decided to make something for the kids for Easter.  I know I am early...I should have said Valentine's day.  I really thought I needed to give myself lots of time...I don't know why.  I had forgotten I like to start and finish projects quickly. 

I found this fabric at SAS for 2 bucks and loved it.  So I thought since this was my first dress I should keep it simple.  I just bought a clean white t-shirt from Walmart and cut it off mid waist.  I made the heart applique by making ruffles and sewing them onto a white backing fabric.  Then I just made box pleats in the skirt and attached it to the shirt.  I added a sash to tie it all together and compliment the boys ties. The sash also makes it fit really cute. 

Last I saw a tutorial on Pinterest.com that showed me how to make little boys ties from scratch.  I thought it was a lot harder to use the satin than the cotton.  I recommend the cotton. They were simple though and look cute on.  You just attach a button or Velcro on the back and you're done! Check back around Easter to see our cute little family matching for the first time!  I am so excited!

The best part of doing crafts for two days...I didn't have to shower and I had an excuse to let other household things go.  I promise they didn't get their feelings hurt and they were still there and ready for me when I was done with the fun stuff.  It was nice to do something that lasted longer than the dishes or laundry too.
 Do a craft ladies.
 Create.
 Paint.
 Write a story.
Blog...
I know you all PIN like crazy!  Take a week to do some of it! 
Then next week I am focusing on the READING! 
Thanks mom for your wisdom.  I had a great week! 

Spoiled Rotten

I am so grateful for the opportunity to BLOG.  I know that sounds silly; but let me explain.  Blogging has reminded me to take pictures of things.  I KNOW I wouldn't take half the photos...if I didn't think I could put them on the blog.  I am also grateful because it makes me see my life differently.  I notice small, silly, funny things and want to take a second and remember them.  I am also reminded each time I look through all the pictures again...how blessed and exciting my life really is.  This week I get to realize how truly spoiled rotten I am.  What scares me...is I found myself bored and ungrateful at times this week.  Why do I do that?  I have soooo much, but don't mind wanting more.  I want to be happy with the simple, mundane things...not just keep busy with the crazy fun stuff.  I am going to try really hard this week to keep it simple, and to be happy and peaceful with the simple life. 

So this last week...I was having a Horrible, no good, ROTTEN kind of day.  I was feeling sorry for myself and wanting to "get out!"  I knew I still had a free dinner to Benihanas...so I kind of FORCED everyone into the car and out to dinner.   I hadn't really given much thought to tired, cranky kids either.  Anyway, Benihana's is in Chandler...so we had to drive there...then there was a 50 minute wait.  I knew we should just leave, but I had already psyched the kids up too much.  So Jake left with Spencer and fed him and took him to target and I got to enjoy dinner with Aubrey and Weston.  They really were great...but I was exhausted by the end of the night.  We got there at 6:15pm and left after 8:30pm...so long dinner.  I shouldn't have pushed to MAKE it happen...but I did.  I do love the food there though...and the kids really LOVED it in the end.  Jake...in the car with Spencer...not so much.  I'm sorry honey!


Before Spencer left!

Later in the week me and the kids went to LoLo's Chicken and Waffles.  My cutie patootie friend Corissa says it is her FAVORITE so we just couldn't pass it up.  I was again solo with the kids...Jake had a work dinner.  It was really fun to be with this group of people.  I am loving them all!  The chicken really is delicious!  Fattening....but delicious!

And last, but not least...some more spoiling....Sat. I got to go to Last Chance with some girlfriends from our ward.  Beth swears by this place.  Anyway, I had never gone before and I was completely blown away with how BUSY it is!  People are crazy.  I was happy to find a cardigan that I have been looking for....for months to match a certain Goodwill dress.  It was lots of fun and I love these ladies too.  Again, I ate delicious food and enjoyed my time without kids...for this trip.  I must say....after 3 times eating out in 1 week.  Plus...not eating sugar...so that means actually eating TONS of other fattening stuff (to make up for my sugar urges.)  I have officially gained 6lbs!  Not in one week...but WAY too fast.  The exclamation points don't mean I am excited by the way...they are just shock exclamation points!  (To be fair...I had told myself that maybe I should gain a few lbs because we are trying to get pregnant...and I thought that might help.  I was just shocked to see how easy it is to gain weight.) 

Spirit Week

The kids school had a "Spirit Week."  My kids had a blast dressing up for different days of the week.  I should have gotten pictures of every day...but these were my favorite ones.  On the left we have "crazy hair" and then the other weird ones are supposed to be "100 years old" to celebrate being in school for 100 days so far.  I think Weston looks like Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite and Aubrey is just plain too realistic...haha! 

Family Karaoke Night Continues....

So we did a little TENNIS and KARAOKE this weekend.  I was excited to get some pics of Jake and I in honor of the BIRTHDAY KARAOKE night that I NEVER want to forget.  Anyway....here are some!

Our CUTE friends.

First we went and played tennis with the Huber family. It was fun and we all need to do it again so that we can actually get good.   Nuff said.  We came back to our house and had smoothies and yummy cheese and crackers.  Everyone sang...then the kids watched a movie and we sang and sang.  Even Ron graced us with a song or two.

The kids LOVE karaoke.

Oh yeah girls! Don't you just love our tennis outfits?

Shelly is always fun to be with; and sing with....that is just too much fun!!!

Shelly and myself.  Cute boys in the background.

Fun night for sure.  My kids were soooooo tired the next day!  When are they gonna be old enough to stay up past 8 o'clock?  haha

Middle Aged!

This is kind of a mixed up post about my birthday.  Sorry I don't have more pictures of what REALLY went down.  First off...let me start by saying my actual celebration was more on Monday.  So let's begin there.  Jacob (my Jake...I call him Jacob when I am loving on him....) Well, Jacob wanted to make me FISH TACOS for by birthday dinner and have some friends over to celebrate.  So we got all the supplies and prepared half the day.  Jacob said I could invite over TONS of people, but we had just had a girls night a few days before and I didn't want to be stressed about cleaning and stuff.  So we just invited over two friends...the Allens and the Smiths.  I texted the ladies of the family and asked if they liked fish tacos and BOTH said NO!  haha  It made me laugh.  We decided to do Cafe Rio chicken burritos for our guests...but still attempt the tacos.  I really wanted the fish tacos!!!
We rented a Karaoke system that you get online and borrowed the speaker and microphones for Grandma and Grandpa Watkins.  We had so much fun cooking and prepping.  Jake and I are kind of silly when it comes to getting ready for guests.  We LOVE it!!!  Anyway, the families came over and we ate the AMAZING food.  The ladies even LOVED the fish tacos!!!  Then we sang karaoke to our hearts content.  Then we ATE some more amazing food...homemade sweet cream ice cream and brownie sundaes.  It was a wonderful day and evening.  My kids are sooo funny singing too.  They love to sing.  I wish I would have recorded some of the performances. 
So now onto my REAL birthday.  The day started out kind of annoying (lady stuff...) so I was feeling quite lousy most of the day actually.  Kids were in school and I just hung out with my buddy Spencer.  We had a family party that night for my niece Cicily who has some health issues.  Make a Wish is sending their family to Walt Disney World to celebrate her life.  Anyway, they also planned a little BBQ/party for the extended family that night.  So we went to the park to have a family party.  I didn't know quite what to expect but they had a lady there...named Jungle Jill and she did a wonderful job showing our kids LOTS of cool animals.  I kept thinking what a great way to spend my birthday...seriously!  When you are mother there isn't anything you want more than to see your kids happy, engaged and NOT fighting.  The night was great.  My kids are still talking about THAT HUGE TURKEY!  Weston was super interested and wants to have all of the animals when "he grows up."  Anyway, we ate dinner and everyone there was nice and remembered it was my birthday too. 

Aubrey holding a guinea pig

Spencer holding "Tiny"

Weston holding some rabbit...that looked kind of like a lion.

So onto the night. After trying to get the kids to bed...in what seemed like FOREVER...Jacob and I could finally do what we REALLY had been looking forward to all day!!! And what do you think it was????

KARAOKE! (You thought it was something else huh!)

  In honor of me and my love of singing. Jake said we could sing ALL night long....and we did. For about 3 1/2 hours we sang. We sang duets, pop songs, country, rock, oldies but goodies and I even ended the night singing sappy ol' Broadway show tunes. We kept looking at each other like...."we are such nerds aren't we?" But we didn't care! We would just bust out laughing...then sing some more.  It was soooo much fun. I kept saying..."I should take a picture....or record this. I want to remember this night forever!!!" I didn't though....we weren't dressed properly. My favorite part was when Jacob...(my sweet) dedicated a song to me and sang it...I actually cried the whole time. Sorry if anyone is still reading this LONG post...but these are the words and I loved it! I was imagining he wrote it just for my birthday. 

Making Memories of Us by Keith Urban.

I'm gonna be here for you baby
I'll be a man of my word
Speak the language in a voice
That you have never heard

I wanna sleep with you forever
And I wanna die in your arms
In a cabin by a meadow
Where the wild bees swarm

And I'm gonna love you
Like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust
Makin' memories of us

I wanna honor your mother ( this is when I started to cry)
And I wanna learn from your pa
I wanna steal your attention
Like a bad outlaw

And I wanna stand out in a crowd for you
A man among men
I wanna make your world better
Than it's ever been

And I'm gonna love you
Like nobody loves you

And I'll earn your trust
Makin' memories of us

We'll follow the rainbow
Wherever the four winds blow
And there'll be a new day
Comin' your way

I'm gonna be here for you from now on
This you know somehow
You've been stretched to the limits
But it's alright now

And I'm gonna make you a promise
If there's life after this
I'm gonna be there to meet you
With a warm, wet kiss

And I'm gonna love you
Like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust
Makin' memories of us. 

I went to bed that night feeling peace and happy.  I am a "middle aged" woman.  I am dealing with crazy hormones, growing children and all that comes with being a mother, and wife in her THIRTIES...but I have SO much to be grateful for.  Especially my wonderful man.  I love you Jake!!!

So the NEXT day my birthday continued.  Some of my dear friends in our church had a luncheon for me and for 2 other ladies that had a birthday this week.  We ate CAFE RIO and chit chatted.  I really am so lucky to feel so loved and at home here in Mesa.  Love you girls!  I was itching to buy myself something for my birthday...the vacuum although much needed...just wasn't enough for this selfish lady....so I took my birthday money that Norm and Sue gave me and headed to the mall.  I might even post me in my outfit at another date.  I got some cute jeans and a few tops!!  I love to shop!!!!! 

Crystal, Alice, Beth, Jeanne, Tina, Me, Ashlea  (b-day girl), Sabina,Amber, and Corissa!

Me, Tina and Beth

 So that is the end of my birthday post.  I forgot to mention going to my free lunch at Liberty Market too!  When I write it all down...I feel super blessed.  Yeah for being middle aged and happy!!!

Girlz Night!

So after I made my wreath and posted it on facebook...I had quite the response.  I had been wanting to have a little "get together" ...and a "GIRLZ NIGHT" seemed just the ticket.  I invited everyone I knew and planned to do the heart wreaths as well as these cute blocks.  The blocks were a lot more work...but fun.  I just bought 4x4's and had them cut to be square.  Then painted and applied vinyl lettering. I never could have done it without my friends the Gardners!  They did most of the prep work for me.  I think we had 28 ladies here that night.  I CANNOT believe I didn't take a picture.  I wanted to document the craziness...but it was just so busy...it didn't get done.  Everyone brought goodies and their was laughter and crafting to be had.  I love getting together with friends...thanks to everyone who came!

A quick decor...I cut the hearts out of paint strips and then strung them together
with needle and thread.

 I also decorated with red shiny hearts all over...but it wasn't special enough to get picture I guess.  haha

Fun Girls Night!

So tonight Aubrey and I went out for dinner...I am in LOVE with Red Lobster's biscuits by the way.  Anyway, we wanted to do a little craft and after some searching on the Internet. I found this site Heart Wreath tutorial and then made it!  It turned out so cute.  I am going to buy a new more Valentine type ribbon, but other than that I love it!  I love Aubrey and after the day I had (another post) it is just what I needed.

The Christmas Blur

 Not only is this NOT going to be well written. I don't even know if the pictures will make much sense.  Christmas has come and GONE In a flash and I don't know how to write about it.  Here are pictures...not in any order and hopefully I will remember this holiday by looking back at this someday.  I didn't even take any pictures of some events.  I guess that is what happens when you aren't feeling well and you have a sick dog...and it is CRAZY time!

This pic was taken on Christmas Eve right before the children got their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Watkins.  Christmas Eve was a great night.  We went to Watkins in our pajamas and had a nice dinner, games and gifts.

Aubrey and Weston got PAPER JAMZ and are having so much fun singing and playing the drums and guitar together.

Weston "bumped" Aubrey while opening presents...so she got a black eye for Christmas.  haha. She says it didn't even hurt.

This is my favorite gift from Jake.  It is proudly hung in our living room.  It is taken from a photo and made out of metal.  It looks even cooler in person. Jake also got me tickets to "Vocal Point" and Lightroom and a Kindle.  I was spoiled.

These pictures are from our Annual "Chowder Fest" with the Watkins/Bluth/Headly party.  The food was wonderful but my favorite part was acting out the Christmas Story.  I missed Grammps a lot this year.  He passed away around this time last year. 

Little Max is so cute.

This next picture is Weston on Christmas Eve.  We set out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.

After Santa came.

To help us remember I want to write a few of the top gifts.  Aubrey: Justin Bieber stuff (watch, calendar, poster) alarm radio, Buddha board, bb pistol.  Weston: remote control car, helicopter, bb gun, sports stuff.  Spencer: bike, train set, remote control car.  Dad: tools, paper shredder...I did bad this year! haha

Ok...these pictures are from our annual HOT chocolate night.  We had hot cocoa for and a bonfire for our neighbors and friends.  We really had a lot of fun and turnout.  But I was busy and didn't really take pictures. 

Here I am with one of my favorite people Jeanie Morris.  She hates this pic of her...but it is the only one I have and I wanted to have her in my memories! 

So I haven't posted the pictures of my kids singing their Christmas songs at the school Christmas Party.  I dont' know if I will get around to it.  But they really were soooo cute and wonderful.  It really got me in the mood for the holidays.  I love hearing and seeing them perform.  The other thing that we don't have pics of is New Year's Eve.  We ended up going back to The Watkins to ring in the New Year.  We had wonderful food and Karaoke and sparklers and CLR.  We are so lucky to be close to family and have them to share the holidays with.  Jake and I really wanted to do something for New Years ourselves...but Joey was SUPER sick so we didn't.  However, on Monday we had a HOT DOG BBQ at the park.  We invited neighbors and church friends and ended up having 60 people (counting kids) join us.  I LOVE that Jake made something happen.  I was so tired because I had been up a couple nights taking my puppy "potty."  I never knew how much work it would require to get a dog.  The problem is now I LOVE him even more.  He is feeling much better today and I hope makes a full recovery soon. 

Anyhow, that is a Christmas/New Years in a nutshell.  Highlights were being with my family here, and having Jake have so much time home with us. Low points were...sick dog, being homesick for Idaho and praying to be pregnant and finding out I am NOT on Christmas Eve.  Oh well.  We are very blessed and I know it.  Hopefully Jan. slows down a bit and we can have a wonderful 2012!  Love you all!