Big J's Work Party

This is the dress that I bought at JCPenny for the Schlumberger Christmas Party last Saturday. It was so fun. I got this dress for $30 can't get much cheaper than that. Well maybe it could have been $10 cheaper had I not forgotten my coupon in the car TWICE! But hey $30 is good too. There was only one problem. The dress had a slit in the back that was too high.

So I sewed a little "fun" in the back. Here it is.

The seams matched up perfectly so it was hard to tell that it wasn't there the whole time. Which is what I was aiming for. Little D took these pictures ...

First Hair Cut

At age 5! Yes it took us 5 years to get it just past her shoulders and its so thin. She has been begging me to cut her hair for a while now. Every time I cut the boy's hair she wants hers cut and she has only ever gotten a trim. I didn't want to make her have long hair, its just that it took so long to get any hair at all.


So I finally gave in.. I figured that the hair she cut a while ago would be the same length faster if it was shorter and maybe it would get thicker faster. Who knows? All I know is it was a little hard to sit there and watch my friend cut it all off. She wanted to go to Cool Cuts but I told her that for the first cut we had to go to someone I trusted. I told her once we had the style we might be able to go there for a trim. It turned out cute and she loves it. She flips it all over. SO... what do you think?


The little bits of bangs u can see are from her self given hair cut a while ago.

Ward Christmas Party 2010

We recently went to the Olive Knolls Ward Christmas Party and ate and sang and saw Santa. Here are some pictures of the kids with Santa.

Little D Asked for a Computer

Little A asked for a Kitty (its one of 2 things on her list. the other is a pillow pet)

Little C asked for something that no one could understand. (I'm sure that he was trying to say RC train)

Craft Fair 2010

The craft fair has come and gone. Which is sad and great all in one. Sad because its fun to have your things displayed and great because its always crazy around here before and during the fair. Here are some pictures of my things.

I made some dress forms this year to display my things on. Which I thought was a much better way to show of all my stuff. It was a pretty good turn out this year.

Even though the last day was painfully slow. I will still be doing it next year. For me its just fun. My mother even sent some of her stuff this year.

It was so fun to try and sell her stuff. Everyone just loved it and was amazed at her talent. She sent things last minute too and so next year hopefully we will be more prepared. My plan is to prepare throughout the year. So let see how that goes.

Happy Birthday to me!

Tanks everyone for all the birthday wishes! It was a good day. One of my good friends took me out to lunch. That was fun. We went to the Olive Garden because our husbands don't particularly like going there but we LOVE it!
My kids cleaned their room as a present for me.(And if any of you know us, you know how much of a challenge that is!)
Big J bought me a little camera that I can carry with me in my purse.
My parents bought be Miche bags which have been awesome!
And my darling sister bought me a custom cake from Cold Stone.
BEST ICE CREAM CAKE EVER!! You can create your own ice cream and put it in your cake. And of course I had my usual in there which I still have yet to name. It is french vanilla ice cream with raspberry and Oreos as the mix ins. Best thing ever!


My friend was asking me the other day what made me think to mix these together and I couldn't remember. But now having had time to think about it I remember. It was all because of an Oprah episode so long ago, where they featured Cold Stone. They were naming all the mix ins and I hadn't realized that there was a raspberry mix in. Then they mixed Oreos with peanut butter and some fruit and I thought about raspberries and Oreos. So the next time I went there I asked for that and get it every time since. The original order had nuts in it also which I get every once in a while but the main flavors are still awesome. I have always been thinking of a good name to call it and still need one. If anyone has any suggestions Ill take them.
My visiting teacher brought me these pretty yellow roses. So nice. Sorry about this pic. my son took the picture and I am too lazy to take another one.


Anyway we had pizza for lunch and then some cake and then I called my nail friend and she was able to fit me in, so I got my nails done too! So it was a pretty good day. Thanks!

Trunk-Or-Treat

Little A carved the cat, Little D carved the toothy one and I carved the ghost.

When I first started this post it was October 29th. I was waiting to get a picture of Little D in his costume but I have given up on ever getting one and decided to post it without one of him. you will just have to imagine what he looked like.

This past Wednesday was our Ward's Trunk-Or-Treat. It was a lot of fun. We invited some friends of ours who have 2 little girls and it was fun for the kids to be able to bring a friend. Little A was a Witch, Little D was Batman, and Little C was Robin. He was so cute. He hated the mask though.

He cried and pouted for this picture and would not sit with Little A for a picture.


When we first got there we ate and played games in the gym and then went outside for some Trunk-Or-Treating. They got a ton of candy and there was a haunted house. I asked Little A if she was going to go in there and she said no. (No surprise there) But then when we got around to it Little A insisted on going in. The man at the door told us to be sure and get some candy out of the box. Little A and her friend put their hands in to find no candy, just something grabbing their hand! They jumped a little. Once we were in all the way my friends little girl was screaming her guts out! I felt so bad. We went around the corner and a man jumped out and yelled at us. I swear that Little C jumped about 3 feet backwards. He wasn't crying though. Once we were through Little A and her friend said that it wasn't that scary. I was surprised. But the other little girl is probably traumatized for life. She was not liking it for sure.


In all I think that they had a good time. There was this one trunk that had this awesome bubble machine and the bubbles, when they came out, had fog in them. They were awesome. When you popped them the fog would go, Poof! It was cool. Little C had a favorite trunk, it had a scary looking head in a glass ball and it would move and talk to you. He just stood there and laughed. Every time it moved or talked her would laugh and laugh!



Little D ran around with his friends most of the time and I hardly saw him at all. I guess I had better get used to that.

Reason's for the lack of posting

I have been so busy getting everything ready for our Tremendous Thursday Activity that I haven't had an extra second to sit down and post. Here is what I have been working on. I am in charge of 3 crafts.

First is the Snow Family...


Next is the Gift Ornament...


Which accordion folds out and is the story of Christ's birth as told in the bible.


and then finally the 25 Stories Until Christmas Book which is not pictured because the sample I made took a beating while it was on display. It is a book of 25 different stories with coloring pages and songs. The ladies will be scrapbooking their own covers.

And then when this is done I will have a few weeks to get things ready to sell at the Annual Craft Fair, we put on in December. So I will be busy for sure. Hopefully I will be able to post about some of the things I am making for that.

GOAL!!!

Little D scored his first GOAL last night! It was the last game of the season and we were starting to think that it wasn't going to happen. Which would have been fine too. It was the first Goal for the team, he was standing in front of the goal when it was thrown back into play. As it was rolling by he kicked it in. He was so excited! You should have seen his face! We were cheering so loud! He put one fist in the air like Yeah! I did it! It was so cute. We had told him that if he scored a goal he would be able to go out for ice cream, so after the game we took a trip to Cold Stone for victory ice cream. His coach also told the team that they would get a dollar for each goal. So he also received a dollar. His team has the tournament games this next Friday, where they will play 2 games and then if they win those they go to the Sunday games I guess. We are going to be going out of town and wont be able to participate so I'm glad he got the goal last night.

Their practices are on Wednesdays and this last practice is where they told us about the Tournament. Big J had taken Little D to practice and he told me this story after they were home. After hearing about the tournament Little D was talking to Big J and said, "So they have games on Sunday?

And Big J said "Yes."

"Well Sunday is the Sabbath day and should we play soccer on Sunday's?"

Big J said, "Well, I don't take the boat out on Sundays."

And Little D said, "Yea, I don't think that I should play soccer on Sunday. Dad do you think I should skip those games?"

Big J said "probably" Followed by Little D with "That's what I thought too."

I was so proud of him when Big J told me this I almost cried. He is such a smart boy and so sweet. I do feel sad that we won't be able to be here on Friday to play in his tournament, but he already decided to skip Sunday so we might as well skip Friday. I told Big J that the only other option would be for him to stay home with Little D. He said well you should just go by yourself. I was tempted but told him that if I were to show up without kids my parents would freak out and tell me to go home! I had to take at least one. So far the plan is to all still go to AZ, but that could change I guess.

Post Pumpkins

Here is what Kathy and I have been up to for the last 2 days. We had to split it up between 2 days because of all our kids. But this project cost us about $14. It would have cost less but we bought a ton of paint. Way more than necessary. (Oops) But it was fun. We purchased the lumber peelers from Home Depot for about $8 and they cut them to our measurements for free. That was nice. All the other wood we needed came from my Garage/Yard. I have a vast amount of tree branches and scrap wood lying around. I also had all the raffia and leaves from various different projects. Anyway it was fun and I am excited to make all the other things on our list. Next up... Wood Pallet pumpkins.
Sorry about the poor picture... It was dark and rainy when I took this.
Little D keep trying to sell these to his friends when he gets off the bus I hear, "Pumpkins! 5 cents!"

"I've been singing since I was 2...

Even before I could talk.... " Is what the video spot will say when they are interviewing the newest American Idol. And this is the clip that will follow.

Double Vision

Everyone keeps saying how much Little C looks like Big J. But then they also say that Little D and Little C look the same. Well Little D looked just like Big J for a while too. He has the stronger genes. Anyway I got to thinking that I would post a blog with a picture of each at the same age, to see if people could tell them apart.

So here is the first one.
Baby pictures.
Which one is Little D and which is Little C?

Next is 2 and 1/2 years old.

This was actually hard for me to do. Just because all the pictures that I found I could totally tell who was who. I'm not sure if that is because I knew which was which or if its just because I am the Mom. But Big J couldn't tell them apart so I guess these are good. Its also harder to find a pic of Little C without one of his siblings in it also.

So there you have it can you tell them apart?

Another Project Completed

Well it's done! I've always wanted to start doing this. Taking old furniture and make it look new. I got this dresser from a good friend who didn't need it anymore. Here is what it looked like before.

The missing drawer is there I just had to glue the track a little so that it why I don't have it in this picture. And this was after I had sanded it once. If you look closely you can see that it used to be a yellow-ish cream.

I just painted Little A's room and she needed a dresser the most so I new that I would paint it white. I used the same color as her bed (that I will post as soon as her room is clean) and the tree on her wall. First I took off all the hardware and sanded the whole thing. Then I painted it white with 2 coats. Then I went to the expert on the matter and asked My Mom what I should do next and she told me to get some gel wax and put it on the top to give it a smooth feel. So I did. Then I put back on the hardware and VOILA!

Perfect dresser for Little A and matches her room perfectly! Oh and she also told me that she would be getting rid of the matching side table too!

As soon as she digs it out of her Garage. I can't wait to finish that one. Then Little A's room will be done. Then to start on the boys' room. Ugh...

Your American Idol 2029!

You saw it here first! Little C is going to be a vary famous singer! Last night I was watching a T.V. show and there were people singing. All the sudden I realized that there were 3 people singing instead of 2. Little C was belting out some sort of tune. I didn't understand one word but he seemed to know what he was doing. I watched him for about 5 minutes, the whole time wishing that I had a tape for my video camera. Then I thought that maybe I could sneak up on him and take some pictures. The minute I stood up he noticed and stopped singing. However I grabbed the camera anyway and waited... It only took about a minute before he picked back up his make-shift microphone and started singing again.

One of the funniest parts is that I don't think he has ever seen anyone sing with an actual microphone.

When I am singing in the car or at home I don't ever pretend to have one so it was funny to see that he had picked that up somehow.

(Here he is in mid note... after this shot he just about fell over and off the couch! He was getting a bit carried away I guess.)

I always thought that he would be more of a singer than the other 2 just because he is the only other one singing with me in church.

So American Idol, if you are still around or to whatever singing show follows yours, here he is! He has to go on a mission first that is why you will all have to wait until 2029!
Soon after smashing the competition on the show he will be buying his parents a nice house.

First Ever Soccer Game

Well as most of you know we signed Little D up for soccer this year. His team name is The FIREBALLS. He has been loving it and is excited every Wednesday when he gets to go to practice. He has a great Coach that seems to be pretty easy going about the whole thing which is nice since its his first year. They have had only 2 practices so far and he is still a little awkward but he will get it soon I'm sure. He wants to be able to bounce the ball off his knees. He thinks that is pretty cool. I told him that he just needs practice.

So Friday was there first game of the season. He was pretty excited.

He is number 4 and made me take this picture of the back of his Jersey.

Here he is practicing stopping and kicking the ball.

And here are a few pictures of the game. It was dark so these aren't the best.

(He is in the middle)
My camera wanted to use a flash but that didn't get me anywhere so I turned it off but then It wouldn't take them fast enough so this is as good as it gets this time.

(Here he is in the front #4)
His next couple games are earlier in the day and should mean better pictures.

He did well for his first game and is still a little timid and unsure when he gets to the ball he is not sure what to do yet. He was able to kick it a few times. I told him to just be more aggressive and when he gets the ball just kick it to his goal. He was proud of himself for getting the ball a few times.

So this Friday is another game and I will post about it then and hopefully have some better pictures.

First Annual Mossy Cup

I was in charge of the game this year and ever since first seeing Minute to Win It I have wanted to play it at the reunion. So I also wanted to start a tradition of sorts also. Not for the game but with the prize. I wanted to be able to have the prize be something that we would compete for every year. I wanted people to want to compete for the Mossy title every year. So I searched for just the right trophy. We found one at a shop in Portland and even engraved it for free! So here is the Mossy Cup....

We divided into 2 teams of 6, Blue and White. We played 12 rounds, and the winning team had to compete against each other for the Cup. First was Hanky Panky. In this game each player has a box of tissues. When the timer starts each player pulls out the tissues on and a time. The team that empties their box first wins. There was a little cheating from the Blue team because they were not supposed to reach in and grab out the pile of tissues. But we gave them the point because it was our youngest player and everyone was telling him to pull them out.



Next was Bobble Head. In this game each player has a pedometer strapped to their head. When the timer starts they start head banging. At the end of the minute whoever has the most steps wins. I wasted everyone on this one. First the Blue team went and only got 4 steps.

His head shaking motions were to small and quick. Next I went and got 50.

Since I won by such a large margin. I let the Blue team try again with a new strategy. Jason went and had more of a Chicken pecking motion and only got about 9 or so. You had to jerk it. Not good for the brain but so funny to watch!

So we won that round.

Next round was Junk in the Trunk. This is where you take the empty tissue box and strap it to the players backs. Then you put 8 ping pong balls inside and whoever gets all the balls out first wins. This was a close call but in the end I think that we gave it to the Blue team.


Next we played Roll With It. In this each player has 2 rolls of toilet paper on rods. Each player winds the toilet paper around their arms and whoever unrolls both their rolls first wins. Blue team won this one also.



Then came Moving on Up. Its played with each player getting 39 red cups and one different color cup. Each player must take the top cup and move it to the bottom of the stack alternating hands with each cup. the person to move their odd colored cup from the bottom up to the top and then place it back on the bottom is the winner.


This Blows was next. Each player had to blow up a balloon and use the air inside to knock 15 cups off a table. Fastest time wins. This was funny because Jason went first and got done with only having to blow the balloon about 2 times, Janessa however was a different story. Watch and see....



Elephant March was on of the funniest. Each player had 2 rows of water bottles the same distance apart. Each player had a pair of panty hose on their heads with a base ball in the end. Each player had to swing the ball using their body motion to knock over all the water bottles. There is also a line that their feet cannot cross.



Next... Sticky Situation. Each player was to toss ping pong balls across the deck making it bounce at least once and then landing on a piece of Peanut Buttered bread.



Face the Cookie was next. Each player started with a cookie on their forehead and had to use their head and face to work the cookie into their mouths.


Paper Dragon was a fun one. Each player had 2 rolls of streamers and when the timer starts you have to try and wind the streamers around your arms. First player to get them all unwound first wins. I totally won this one. Kylene wasn't even close.


Sticker Picker Upper made me nervous. I was sure that they were going to drop these eggs. Its played by placing 3 sticky side up stickers on a tray then placing the egg in the middle. When the time starts they pick up the tray with one hand and have to get all the stickers to stick on the egg. First one to do this wins.


Penny Hose was by far the funniest. So funny watching these guys try and get the pantyhose off. Its played by each player placing their hands in the hose and when the time starts they have to try and get down to the pennies in each leg and then get them out. So funny...



So the white team ended up winning. So we all competed against each other in the same challenge and the fastest player won. The game was called Nut Stacker. Its played with a chopstick and 5 nuts. Each player lifts their chopstick at the start of the game and has to stack all 5 nuts on top of one another with out toppling the stack.



Alas. I was beaten by a fraction of a second. Next year mom better watch out! I'm coming for the CUP!