Done!

Phew! Done. I was very happy with the outcome of Saturdays boutique. It was a lot of work, but completely worth it! Teryn was my number one helper in all of this. I wouldn't of pulled it off as smoothly without her. I quickly took a few snaps of my set up but we were already getting customers so they aren't that great. It was very pretty thanks to Teryn! Her husband put up a beautiful tree for us and we decorated the tables just in time. Teryn worked so hard and graciously for me while still recovering from her accident. I am sure that she won't love the picture of her in her brace, but it's the only one I have of the tree. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Teryn! I couldn't of done this without your support.

I was busy every minute doing everything tassel related. Ry says "It's tassel-mania here" and I agree. Just look at my spare room! Scary!

It felt fantastic to come home and know that I didn't have to do anything. And I didn't. I let Mia paint my fingernails to match hers (left hand red, right hand hot pink) and left them that way. (She's so proud!) I read books and snuggled and sat on the sofa. I put my kids to bed with lots of kisses and started to settle in myself and just as I was about to crawl in bed, the phone rang. I had forgotten to call Mom to let her know I was home so I could do her hair. So, at 10:15pm last night, I set and styled Mom's hair and trimmed Dad's and finally crawled into bed, way too late but content.

Today, I slept in and went to church and came home and played with the kids. Did you know it's hilarious to have me step on your tummy? The kept giggling and yelling "Me! Me!! I'm next!". The I snuggled my Sammy in for a nap and snuck one in too. It was so relaxing.

Be sure to check out my Etsy shop in the next few days. I will be updating with the rest of my inventory soon. For now, I am off to bed. Good night!

Le Fabulous

I have to admit that Ryan and I are total dorks and go thrift shopping often. Thrift is such a nice word for it, isn't it?? Well today I made the trip to DI with the three kiddos and totally scored! I was beyond excited to see these Pottery Barn plaques that retail for $29.99 each for only $2 each!! TWO BUCKS EACH! Seriously excited and as a bonus, I really wanted these when they were in their catalog last year. Le darling, no?

And since it's now hot, hot, HOT! I bought a Slip N' Slide or maybe should be renamed "Run on it and maybe slide"-slide. Whatever works for you. Either way, it's been a blast and lots of friends were here to play on it. Mia's friend even packed a bag for the event. It was hilarious!! She brought sparkly shoes, a book, bracelets, mirror, sunglasses, sunscreen, jammies, towel a whole lot of other girly stuff. Her mom and I sat in the shade giggling over her cuteness as she pulled all of her gear out.

Spring has Sprung

Ahh, the sun is shining and the temperatures are lovely. It's finally feeling like Spring. However, I can't really see the nice weather because my allergies are killing me. My eyes are swollen and itchy and my nose is going crazy. The plus side is that I can't really see all the work that needs to be done in my yard. The negative side, I really can see all the work that needs to be done in the yard and don't want to do it. Anyway.....

Since it was so nice yesterday, I set up the new table that I just got from IKEA for $9.99. $9.99!! And the chairs were only $10 each! We have been looking for a table set for the patio for a while now and this one will work just fine. The kids and friends loved it and Sammy thought it was too much fun to be part of it all. Grill cheese and lemonade just taste better when eaten outside don't ya think?

Salt Dough Ornaments

It was such a nice, lazy Sunday afternoon yesterday. Perfect for a quick and easy Christmas craft. My kids LOVE to paint so they were especially thrilled to paint these salt dough ornaments from Montessori by Hand. It's funny that I have never made salt dough because it seemed like it was a big messy hassle. Not so. So very simple. I doubled the recipe she had listed and it made 14 ornaments. We could of made 20 more. While Mia enjoyed smearing on all of the colors onto her ornaments, Jake carefully painted a snowflake, Santa hat, reindeer, and two striped ornaments.

It was fun for me to paint too. I particularly enjoy the snowman I made. All in all, this was a quick and easy and cheap project. We will probably make these again soon. I think that I will double the batch yet again and get out the cookie cutters to make fun shapes. I am thinking about using these as decorations for our gifts we are making, which are coming along quite nicely I might add.

This project fit nicely into my theme for this holiday. Simplified, using what I have focusing on faith, family and feelings. Oh yes, speaking of faith and family, I do have a list of scriptures to read daily about the Savior. Feel free to follow along!

Nutcracker

As I briefly mentioned Saturday, I was able to get last minute tickets to the Nutcracker for the kids and I. The local ballet company puts on the Nutcracker early every year and the tickets are cheap. They hire professional dancers for the big parts and then have all those cute kids doing the rest. They do a pretty good job and for only $6 a ticket,
it's most definitely worth it.
I was more than excited to announce that we were going. It was a first for both kids. Mia immediately hugged me declaring me the best mother ever! We had an extremely busy Saturday, so nighttime came quickly. We dressed in our best clothes and off we went to the theater. The hustle and bustle was very exciting and both kids were awed by two-story high Nutcracker in the entry way. Hands held tight, we found our way to our seats that were surprisingly good. Middle of the balcony, just a few rows back. We could see into the orchestra pit and the stage perfectly. It was so fun for me to see members of the orchestra that I knew and went to college with. The overture started and I was so happy to share with my children this experience. They both did really well. Mia was thrilled with everything and was the first one to clap after each dance. She oohed and awed over every sparkly costume. My favorite comment of hers was when the orchestra swelled and she gasped and said "Oooo.....that tickled my tummy." Her favorite part of the ballet was sighed "everyffing." She was so darling and fun to take.
Jacob did well too. It's not surprising to me. He enjoys a good performance. Even cheesy stuff not that this was cheesy. He, of course, loved the battle between the Rat King and the Nutcracker. Those of you that know Jake I am sure can imagine the constant commentary going on during that scene. Still, he was at least half-way quiet and whispered mostly. Amazing for him. The battle was wonderful for him, but his favorite part was the snow dancers that danced with the Sugar Plum Fairy. His tumbling teacher was one of them and he was soooooo excited to see her. She danced wonderfully and it really was fun to see her. Both kids were losing interest during the waltz so I told them to find the instruments in the orchestra that they could hear playing. Mia really enjoyed the the timpani and imitated to him. Jake did well finding the different instruments. After the ballet, he wanted to wait for her to tell her that she did well and he was excited to see her. We waited for about ten minutes, but there was no telling if she had already made it out or not. We decided to leave, but he plans on telling her in class next week. I thanked them for letting me take them on a date and Jake, true to his nature, said that he actually kind of liked it and hoped that we could go again next year. It was a very good experience and plan on going next year. It's a tradition now. And, I must admit, I now have the tiniest bit of Christmas excitement started because of it.

Outakes

Because they are my children, I love all their photos but I especially love the ones that their personality shines through.

Sam's seriousness.

The funny squint Sam does when you blow on his face.


Mia kept striking poses.

Attacking the photographer with leaves. Look at Mia's hair! I can hear them. Mostly, I hear Jake 'cause he is kind of loud.


My Jake who is suddenly looking so grown up to me.

Sweet looks on all of their faces. They all look a like.

Photos

Look here.

I am thrilled with them!

I am a lucky girl to be friends with her.

Thanks Jess!

I love to the see the temple

I love how innocent my children still are. Jake with his dirty, baggy pants holding his little sisters hand enjoying the view of the Salt Lake temple. I hope that they will stand in that exact spot with their new spouses someday.

Everytime I see the temple, I think of Chantel singing in her sweet little girl lisp "I love to see the temple". It still makes me smile.