Guess What?!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My pool is now 77 degrees!  What?  What’d ya think I was gonna say?

March Madness

Okay, I’m totally into crafting.  I’m crazed!  I’ve been making t-shirts ever since I got my Pazzles.  Let me tell ya – I LOVE me some freezer paper.  You just put one of those puppies in the cutting machine and voila – instant design for ironing on to shirts.

I made shirts for both Presidents Day and St. Patrick’s after reading this tutorial on MADE.  Love, love, love making t-shirts.  Conor wants one that says “Jesus is my Homie” and “Emosaurus.”  Super cute and super fun!

 

How did I get here?

Saturday night, we were invited to a Gala at the hospital because they are opening a new cardiovascular center.  The event was black tie.  I was so stressed out because I haven’t gotten into a fancy dress since high school.  I was really nervous I would be over dressed.  I really hate that.  I would much rather be casual than over dressed.  Anyway, I was fine.  People were really decked out.  It was like prom for the middle aged.

They made this HUGE tent in the middle of the parking lot.  This thing was so big – it had girders.  There were two stages.  We were in a table right off the stage.  Patty Lupone (of Evita fame) sang as the entertainment.  It was awesome.  I had so much fun.  It was great to get dressed up.  And, don’t worry y’all, I had a shawl to cover my bare shoulders.

The Thursday before the gala we were invited to Disneyland by a friend of Victor’s.  There is a club inside Disneyland called Club 33.  The club was originally founded for the investors of Disneyland.  Basically, a meeting place where they could dine, hang out and drink – there is no alcohol allowed in Disneyland.  Then, they opened the club to the public but for a steep price.  Apparently, there used to be a wait list to become a member but now they aren’t accepting anybody new.  I guess the wait list was like 20 years long until they completely closed it.

Well, Victor’s friend has friend (blah blah blah) who is a member and put us on the guest list.  I was so excited!  My birthday is coming up and this was sort of a pre-birthday event for me.  I love Disneyland and this was the icing on the cake.

The club is really hard to see.  It is right outside the exit of pirates.  There is a call box next to the door and they won’t let you in unless your name is on the list.  Sounds like some N.Y. club doesn’t it?

It is really amazing inside.  Tons of memorabilia hang on the wall.  It looks like what I would imagine an old fancy restaurant looks like in the 20’s.  The drapery was absolutely stunning.  There was all this beautiful wood molding on the walls.  And, they had a very small old school elevator to take you up if you don’t want to climb the stairs.  I got in it but I can see how some people wouldn’t want to do it.

The food was amazing.  They had a huge buffet for the appetizer.  There was crab, lobster, grilled vegetables, tomato and basil salad….That was the best part of the meal.  Oh, and they had a dessert bar.  My goodness, every dessert you can imagine.

I can’t believe this past week.  Its been like some strange dream.  I am so truly grateful for my beautiful family anyways and then things like this come up and I think, how did I get here?  I am so grateful for my life and for the many blessings I have.  I know things aren’t perfect all the time but I am truly grateful for everything I’ve been given, big and small.

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

Normally I don’t do much for Valentine’s Day.  I’ve restricted holiday celebrating to just the fall ones – Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  However, the rest of the year seems like such a bummer with no good holidays to celebrate.  So, I decided to make the smaller holidays, well, bigger.

Last weekend, the boys and I made Valentine’s cookies.  I wasn’t really looking forward to it as I’m not much of a baker but I had SO much fun with them.  They were so cute and creative.  Henry slathered so much icing on his cookies, it was dripping off the edge.  He spread the excessive icing all over the cookies again and again, licking the butter knife in between.  Too funny!  Needless to say, nobody but Henry ate his cookies.

This year, I decided to make Valentine cards for Henry since I just got a Pazzles (die cutting machine).  Some of those Valentine’s you can buy at Target or Walmart are just awful.  Plus, the school won’t let the kids bring candy anymore, crazy huh?!?  So, I decided it would be better if we just made something super cute to make up for the candy embargo.

I saw a great tutorial at Craft Monkey for little boys' Valentine’s.  Of course you could use the idea for girls too, but I thought it was great for my little monster. 

I took a picture of Henry in the backyard and printed it up from my computer.  I used the card option in Elements.  Then, I cut out 25 mustaches on my Pazzles and put them on the card with glue dots.  I bought the foam hearts at Michael’s and used glue dots again to secure the picture to the heart.  I tried double sided tape but it didn’t adhere at all.  Since the kids can’t have candy, I figured it would be fun to pull the mustache off the card and wear it for fun.  I’m sure his teacher is going to love me for this one.  Anyway, I hope its a hit. 

I had so much fun making Valentine’s decorations etc. this year.  I’m definitely going to try to keep the crafting up for the next holiday – President’s Day, watch out!

Christmas, better late than never

 

Yes, I am finally getting to my Christmas pictures.  But, as I said in the post title, better late than never!

We celebrate Christmas at our house on Christmas Eve.  I love to make Christmas Eve dinner.  Its so much easier than Thanksgiving!  We do the traditional prime rib and all the trimmings.

 

I know I look like a dork here but he wouldn’t take a picture of the food without me in the picture – bleh.

All the immediate family came over.  I do love the holidays because we are all able to get together, talk, and have fun at least a couple times a year.

Julia and her Deda

Cade and Henry playing as usual

 

Me and my brother

The kids got so many presents this year.  I thought we kept the amount down but all the relatives bought them so much stuff.  They made out like bandits.  It was like hyenas attacking the sick wildebeest.

We got the boys a bunch of camping gear for scouts.  We wanted to get them stuff they could use throughout the year.  Almost every Christmas they get a bunch of toys and 2 weeks later they are all broken.  So, this year we got them useful presents.

Cade was so sweet and got Victor an awesome tool belt.  It was such a thoughtful gift as he is always fixing something around the house.

I made some capes for the boys based on my friend Lynn’s awesome tutorial.  You can see it below.  He’s wearing it while riding his new bike in the house no less.

Julia was into everything.  She obviously didn’t know what was going on other than there was lots of pretty paper to rip up.  We did get her a baby doll in a stroller.  She was SO cute with it.  I love to see her play with and nurture her baby.  It really brings home to me how important it is that I am able to be with her everyday and how she is modeling my mothering.  It makes me feel so blessed.

 

It was an awesome day but I must say I’m glad all the Christmas craziness is over.  Now, its time to do some Spring cleaning!

I love to see the Temple…

Before Christmas we went to the Temple to see the lights.  I had never been there during Christmastime and was really excited to go!  It was so beautiful.  The Temple is already beautiful, but it was extra special at Christmas. 

There were two really beautiful nativity scenes set up on the lawns.  The lights were amazing.  My camera does not do them justice.  Unfortunately, it went a little wonky so most of the pictures I took there didn’t turn out so great.  But, the beauty of it is in my heart.

We decided to go to the Mormon Battalion afterward since it was pretty close to the Temple.

 

I had never been there either so it was a real treat.  We went on a weeknight and there was nobody there.  It was amazing!  I loved the movies and the themed rooms.  So kid friendly!  I love how they made the story so interactive.  It was like being at Disneyland.  Because nobody was really there that night, the boys got to try on all the cool gear the soldiers wore.  They had a ball.

We got there pretty late so we couldn’t pan for gold or look at the brick making equipment.  I’d love to go there some Saturday and then explore Old Town too.

We had a wonderful evening starting at the Temple and then learning all about the amazing pioneers of the Church.

Christmas Knock-offs

 So, I’ve been reading some awesome crafting blogs lately.  I’ve been inspired!  I love it when people share their thoughts and ideas on blogs.  What a wonderful way to share some great ideas with us lesser crafty folks!

I’ve wanted a Christmas Advent calendar for AGES but couldn’t find one that I really liked until I came across one I loved at Land of Nod.  Unfortunately, the picture is no longer available but I basically looked at the picture of it and did my own.  Here it is:

 

A good friend at Church held a crafting activity in which she showed us how to make a Thanksgiving advent calendar.  I used the same concept for this one.  I embroidered the “Merry Christmas” on a separate piece of felt and then attached it with the snowflake stitch on my machine.  I was too nervous to put it on the big piece of felt because it required moving the hoop.  I figured if I messed it up on the scrap piece, no big deal.  However, it turned out great and it wasn’t crooked!

I had so much fun doing this and my kids just loved getting their candies out of it every day.