"Sister Wives"

Corissa and I at dinner at Gordon Biersch.  Some dang good garlic fries.

The title of this post just makes me laugh. We call ourselves that just to be silly. So here are photos of a recent "retreat" that we took to Scottsdale. This funny group of ladies get together to watch "The Bachelor" late Monday nights. I just started going and find it quite entertaining. NOT the show...but the company.

 

Shelly and myself...taking a break from shopping for junk food.

 What is a girl's night without TONS of junk food!!!

 

 Okay these pics need some explaining.  Someone suggested blowing our lips together...like buzzing them and taking pictures.  We laughed so hard.  I had to take a bathroom break...just because it was soooo funny!!

Trying to get a group shot!

 Anyway, we mostly just ate, and laughed and ate some more.  Then we sat around like in the below pic and enjoyed being together.  I had a great time and I feel so lucky to have wonderful women in my life!

  

The next morning we went and got breakfast at "Crackers." It was my first time and it was so delish!  Thanks Jake for watching the kids (I think they went bowling) while I was away.  Thanks for having me my sweet Sister Wives! 

School Pictures and other stuff.

 I am one of those people who feels no shame in my NOT buying school pictures.  Sometimes I think I am the only mother on the planet who doesn't buy...but I will admit that I don't.  I have never and will never buy them.  I am just too cheap and practical. So the morning of school pics...I just took the kids outside and got a shot quick before school. 

I figure I take enough pictures of them...they will never have to be angry that I didn't buy them their school pics.  At least I hope so.  They are cute kids.  I will give you that.

Here is his school pic.  He is so handsome. 

The new paint color is supposed to be grey...it turned out more blue.  I like the new pots.  That is about it so far.  Blah.  What was I thinking???

A little more "Create!"

This is the ugly eyesore that was once in our kitchen...then got moved to the outside. It is soooo weathered and worn. It is warped and sad. We are having a baby shower here this weekend; so I had the idea to paint it. Just so it wasn't so disgusting. Usually I cover it with a table cloth. Anyway, here are the steps.

Step One: Start with wretched table.

Step Two: I decided to find a picture to stencil onto the table. My printer wasn't working...so I ended up drawing it free hand.

Step 3: Prime it with Kilz...hoping that the dry-rot dies.

Step 4: Work out with my buddy while primer dries. (See video below.) He actually tried to follow along most of the workout.

Step 5: Paint the table a baby blue color.

Step 6: Trace the stencil onto the table...then begin to paint the outline. I used the yellow leftover from my bright yellow door, but toned it down with some cream paint.

Three hours later and three coats later. Isn't it lovely!

It will be much nicer come Sat. for the shower and for the rest of Spring for outside eating. The whole time I painted I was humming this tune.

"I often go walking in meadows of clover,

and I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue.

I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over.

Dear "Sammy" all flowers remind me of you."

Then I cried a little when it was done. For some reason today I missed our first baby. Maybe it was the baby shower prep. Maybe it was because when I think of her I think of flowers... maybe because I used to sing this song to myself right after she died...and somehow it made me feel better. Who knows? But I will smile and maybe cry sometimes when I look at this table. It is so strange how emotions can come to the surface for no apparent reason. But they do. And today they did.

Question. Should I repeat the painting on the left side of the table? I had planned to just do the half, but now I don't know.

Valentine's Day 2012

V-day was good this year.  I spent the day with my little boyfriend Spencer. (Not to be confused with Corissa's little boyfriend Spencer.)  We cleaned and napped together...went to Fry's to get some ingredients etc.  The kids had heart shaped sandwiches and school parties. They showed me their cute little valentines and candy when they got home.  Then we had a few friends over to share in our growing tradition of heart shaped pizzas.  It was kind of last minute, but it was fun to share with someone.  In the end...I burned the pizza and didn't want to take the time to make them heart shaped.  They were still wonderful though!  I really liked the new chicken/spinach one! We will have to remember to do that one again.  We also had chocolate waffles with ice cream and whipped cream.  Thanks for coming friends.  Thanks for bringing your cute little faces and yummy food. 

Thanks for marrying me Jake. You are the perfect Valentine. We exchanged cards and kept it simple.  Good day!

Isn't Jake so handsome!

Corissa and Spencer

Shelly and Ron

Making the chocolate waffles.

Enjoying the dessert.

Yummy homemade pizza!  

I am AWESOME!

Spencer told me he had an "awesome idea!"  He was talking about his footwear.  He is such a little hoot!

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.)