The Terrys~ Living A Dream

2011-12-11T10:01:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Day we had to patiently wait for Daddy to get off work so we could drive to Utah. The kids were dressed up nice so we decided to do a little photo shoot in front of the Christmas tree to pass some time. They had both bought new toys with their own money at Walmart the night before so they wanted to show them off. The last picture is my favorite. Makes me realize that my babies are growing up!

Decorating the Trees

2011-12-11T09:45:00.001-08:00

Each year we put up 2 Christmas trees. We have a small one upstairs for the kids that has all of our old and new keepsake ornaments and we have our big tree in the livingroom. The kids decorated their tree the Saturday before Thanksgiving and then we decorated the big tree as a family that Monday.

St. George Carousel

2011-12-11T09:26:00.001-08:00

While we were in St. George for the shower we decided to go check out the new St. George Carousel. The kids absolutely loved it. We rode it twice and then walked over to Judds Store to get some candy and a root beer for Daddy.

Bouncing Baby Boys!

2011-12-11T08:59:00.001-08:00

About a month ago the kids and I were able to take a trip up to St. George to celebrate my sister-in-law Jessica's baby shower. Both of Jeff's sisters are due with baby boys soon! Rochelle's little Tyler Alex should be arriving any day now and Jessica's little Hadley Chad will be arriving in a few weeks! We are so excited for them.

While I am most certain my sister-in-laws will smother me in my sleep for sharing this picture, I just had to!

Rochelle really wanted a car seat cover so I got to work and made them each one. This is the one I did for Rochelle. I finished Jessica's late at night and left early the next morning so I wasn't able to get a picture of hers. It was super cute though with a blue tractor print on one side and a red bandanna-like print on the other.

I also made them these fun little wash cloth lolly pops.

Since the baby shower was cowboy themed Jessica brought a lot of Chad's cowboy gear with her to decorate for the party. Andie had a blast wearing Uncle Chad's favorite hat and riding grandma's rocking horse.

We had such a great weekend.

Halloween Fun!

2011-12-10T21:57:00.001-08:00

This year we decided to do a combined party for Andie's birthday and Halloween. We had about 25 kids from the neighborhood come and had so much fun!

I made a lot of fun food but forgot to get good pictures of it all. We had mini mummy pizzas, monster mouth apples, spider's eggs and witch's brew.

Thing 1 helped the kids with the bean bag toss.

My little Harry Potter

The cutest little cupcake ever!

Thing 2 with the birthday cake.

This kid seriously melts my heart!

That night we had a fun block party with all of our neighbors. We grilled, made homemade root beer and the kids played for hours. Afterwards we all went trick or treating around the neighborhood. It was by far the best Halloween I have ever had!

Daddy's Girl

2011-12-10T21:46:00.001-08:00

Daddy and his girl having fun with the camera.......

Fun With Pumpkins

2011-12-10T21:30:00.001-08:00

The kids were bored one afternoon so I decided to let them paint some of the pumpkins that they had picked at the pumpkin patch. They had a blast.

The day before Halloween we carved pumpkins with daddy.

My least favorite part is cleaning them out so we let him do all the dirty work!

Kaleb decided to do an Angry Bird which Jeff helped with and I helped Andie carve her Dora pumpkin.

Next was my turn to carve the huge pumpkin Jeff brought home from the Country Club. What did I carve on mine?

Harry Potter of course! I was really worried it wasn't going to turn out but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it looked when we put it outside with the candle in it.

Graduation

2011-12-10T21:01:00.001-08:00

I still haven't rounded up all the pictures that were taken on Jeff's graduation day but here are a few that were on my camera.

Jeff reaching down to give the kids a high five as he walked into his graduation ceremony.

Jeff with his classmates right after the ceremony finished.

Jeff's Aunt Karen has an amazing neighbor who designs and makes beautiful cake toppers. Karen had her make one especially for Jeff. My mom and I baked a cake and they presented it to him at dinner after the ceremony. He absolutely loved it. Thanks Karen!

Welcoming Fall

2011-12-10T20:51:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of October I decided to take the kids to the Gilcrease Orchard to pick out pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. We had so much fun! We bought lots of pumpkins in all different shapes and sizes and got daddy some fresh apple cider (his favorite!). We even got to sit on straw bales and listen to a band sing and play the banjo. Such a fun way to welcome Fall!

Thankful

2011-11-24T11:42:00.001-08:00

Today I am reminded just how blessed I am in my life. I have 2 beautiful children who are my world and a wonderful husband who would do anything for us. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends. I am so thankful for all of you and the part you play in my life. Love and blessings to all.

2011-10-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

My handsome, amazing, hardworking, funny, dedicated husband is now officially a chef!!!!! I can not believe it. We dreamed about graduation day for a very long time and it finally came. I am absolutely OOZING with pride right now. I will post more graduation pictures soon!

My Brave Boy!

2011-10-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Taken from my Facebook page Sept. 29th........Today I took Kaleb to see Dr. Christensen and he had to get a little silver crown on a molar and a filling. He was such a brave boy. In fact he giggled most of the time thanks to the nitrous. I was so proud of him. On the way home he said, "Mommy, when I grow up I think I want to be a dentist...... or a pizza maker. I still can't decide." I'm so glad we still have a few years to go before he has to make a final decission :)

Meet The Mortensens!

2011-09-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today my big sister got married. She is now Mrs. Trevor Mortensen. They decided to keep it small and simple so it was just Trevor, Toni, Alexia and Mathew there. I am sad I couldn't be there for her but I am still so happy for them. I wish them all the love and happiness in the world!

My First Sale!

2011-09-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

A while back I made my very first sale on my etsy shop!

This is the finished product. I love this fabric!

Chef McDang

2011-09-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

In Jeff's last 6 weeks at Le Cordon Bleu he was able to work at Technique, the restaurant attached to the school. He got to experience every area of the restaurant including cooking, serving, taking reservations, expediting orders and greeting customers as they arrived. While working there he was able to help with several banquets that were held in Technique. One of his favorites was held in honor of Chef Mcdang, one of Thailands leading food experts. It was a great experience for him.

This is what Chef Mcdang's biography says on his website: "ML Sirichalerm Svasti (Chef McDang) is Thailand’s leading food expert, chef and writer. Born into the Thai royal family, McDang completed his early education in the UK and USA and at the Culinary Institute of America, which led to a career as executive chef and restaurant owner and manager that saw him travel from Washington DC to Florida and California. Upon returning to Thailand in 1993, McDang began writing about food and cooking and appeared on TV cooking shows. Sixteen years later, McDang is Thailand’s most famous food expert and a respected ambassador for Thai cuisine. He is the author of several best-selling Thai language cook books, host of the popular weekly TV program, ‘McDang Show’, pens weekly food columns for leading Thai and English-language newspapers, and consults for a number of companies, including Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, Siam Winery, and Sodexo. At an international level, McDang has appeared on a number of TV shows and has performed lecture tours in Australia and New Zealand. Each year he is invited to lecture at culinary schools in the USA by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he has recently been appointed as an honorary chef instructor at Le Cordon Bleu, Las Vegas. It is the notes for these lectures that form the basis of his first English language cook book ‘The Principle of Thai Cookery’, with a dream of having Thailand and Thai cuisine become even better known internationally."

Jeff and Chef Mcdang

It's About Darn Time!

2011-09-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Since my sisters keep (lovingly) nagging me about updating my blog I figured it was about time I post something. Life has been a little hectic for us this summer. Jeff finished school in August and started working at the Red Rock Country club shortly after. He is still working at Costco in the morning as well so any free time we get together is precious. I have been babysitting full time (40 hrs a week) since July. I am exhausted but grateful that I can be home with my kids and still contribute financially to our family.

About a month ago we found out that our rental home had gone into foreclosure and would be sold at auction. It was a bit of a shock at first and added a lot of unwanted stress but we found a house that we absolutely love just one street over so we are grateful that things worked out the way they did. We will now have a small backyard, a fire place (yay!) and a fun play room that will be great for babysitting. We will also be living right by some great friends of ours. This whole experience has reconfirmed to me that everything happens for a reason. We move in one week and I can't wait!

One other reason I haven't posted lately is because my camera died :( I feel lost without it. These are the last pictures I took with it. Toni and Trevor came for a visit back in July. They were here the weekend of Jeff's birthday. This was their first trip to Vegas so we spent a day down on the strip showing them the sights.

{Rainforest Cafe}

Lexi loved the fish!

Cheers!

{Coke World}

Crazy Uncle Jeff and Mathew

{M&M World}

Toni, Trevor, Lexi and Mathew

{New York New York}

We also went to Circus Circus that afternoon. By then my camera had died so I wasn't able to get any pictures but we had a blast. That night Toni and I got to go do some shopping together while the guys stayed home and watched the kids. It was so nice to get to spend some time with her.

I'm hoping once we get settled into the new house I can get back to crafting and blogging regularly. I have a lot of projects in the works for the holidays. Jeff is also graduating in October so we will have a lot of family here to celebrate with us. I am looking forward to the next few months and all that they have in store.

Knight Play Set

2011-07-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago a friend of mine asked for my help with some presents for her son's 5th birthday. She sent me a couple pictures of what she had in mind for him and this is what I came up with.

I used 2 layers of thick cardboard and cut out the shape of the shield. I then cut out felt to cover it and attached it with spray adhesive. I hand stitched around the edge with embroidery floss to give it some detail. I also added an Old English font "M" for Michael. To do this I printed the letter on paper, cut it out and then traced it on my felt. I used a very small pair of embroidery scissors to cut it out of the felt. I then attached it with hot glue.

Next I created the sword. It took me a bit to decide what would be sturdy enough for a 5 year old and also what would be safe. I ended up using a small wrapping paper tube that was very thick. I wrapped felt around it and hot glued it, then tucked the ends in. Next I cut out 2 square pieces of cardboard, cut a hole in the center and covered it with felt as well. I also stitched around the edge again with the floss. It was a perfect fit and I was able to just slide it over the end and it stayed in place perfectly.

Finally for the crown I found a template on google images and traced it on 2 pieces of felt. I sewed around the edges adding a piece of elastic to the back. After that I sewed the star to the front. It's cute and simple and I love it.

I love how this project turned out. It only took a couple hours to make and didn't cost a dime because I used everything that I had on hand. I plan on making Kaleb one for Christmas this year and hope to come up with a princess set for Andrea to go along with it.

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Fun Father's Day Treats

2011-07-05T21:36:00.001-07:00

A while back I saw these adorable fast food Father's Day treats on Bakerella and I knew that I had to make them for Jeff this year. They were a little more complicated than I had anticipated and took about 5 hours of work. In the end though they turned out great and Jeff absolutely loved them. The kids did too as you can see in the pictures below.

A brownie burger on a cupcake bun with frosting ketchup, mustard and lettuce. And a side of sugar cookie fries.

The only thing I would do different next time is add a bit of peach colored frosting on the side to create "fry sauce".

5 hours of work and they were gone in a matter of minutes!

Daddy and Andie enjoying their treats!

Summer Trip 2011

2011-07-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well I think it's about darn time I do some updating on this poor blog! I'm not sure where the last few months have gone but I feel like things might be slowing down just enough for me to breathe and catch up a little.

We returned yesterday from an 11 day roadtrip! We started off the journey in Winnemucca for my sister Tiffany's wedding. It turned out beautifully and we had a great time.

From there we headed to Ennis, Montana to see my grandparents and many other relatives. We had a great week there fishing, going to the museum, visiting with family and old friends and relaxing!

After that we went to Salt Lake for 2 days where I came down with the stomach flu. Jeff and his sister took care of the kids while I slept. They got to go to Chuck E. Cheese and Cowabunga Bay water park and had a blast.

Yesterday on our way home we stopped off in St George to have lunch and spend a couple hours with Jeff's parents. I wish we could have spent more time with them but it was great for the short time we were there.

Overall it was a wonderful vacation. Now it's back to life as usual. Jeff is beginning his last six weeks of school and I am babysitting fulltime for the next couple of months.

Enjoy the pictures and be sure to click on each picture to enlarge.

{Forgive the huge spaces in between everything. Blogger just isn't cooperating with me today!}

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Mother's Day Fun!

2011-05-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day weekend we got to go to California to help surprise Jeff's Grandpa for his 80th birthday. It was so much fun to get all the kids together and spend a nice relaxing weekend together.

Kaleb and Andie with their cousins Kaitlyn and Kylie at Jack in the Box on the way to Fontana.

Grandma Bev gave all the kids fun little gift bags when we got there. Each of them got a pair of sunglasses and they had fun modeling them at Grandpa's birthday party at Sizzler.

Kaleb looking cute in Kaitlyn's glasses.

After the party we all went to Balboa beach with Jeff's dad. It was a little chilly but the kids played in the sand and water for a while and then we walked around on the boardwalk and had a yummy dinner at Newport Landing.

Chad was a good sport and let us all bury him and then turn him into a mermaid (merman?).

We drove home on Mother's Day and this is what my sweet husband made me for dinner. Lobster tail, bacon rice pilaf and the best corn I have ever tasted!

It was an amazing Mother's Day weekend. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!

My First Skirt!

2011-05-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I decided I wanted to make Andie a cute skirt to wear to Grandpa's Birthday party. I guess it wasn't technically my first skirt if you count the hideous one I made once upon a time in 4-H. That one however was made with a difficult pattern and some super ugly denim print material. This one was made with a lot of guess work and a bright, fun summery print!

I basically just started out with a long rectangle piece of fabric. I hemmed both long ends and then used elastic thread to shir it.

I sewed four lines across with the elastic thread to create a waist band. Once I had that done I measured Andie's waist, cut off the extra fabric and sewed the two end pieces together creating a skirt! It was that simple! I later added some pink ric rac to the bottom to give it a little detail but never got around to taking a picture of it after that.

Once I was done with the skirt I use the extra piece I had cut off to make a little dress for Andie's favorite dolly.

Next I plan on making a skirt for myself using the same basic method and some super cute black and white polka dot fabric!

Mother's Day Gifts

2011-05-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

This year we spent Mother's Day down in Southern California celebrating Jeff's Grandpa's 80th Birthday. It was such a nice and relaxing weekend! I wanted to do something simple for Mother's Day gifts this year. I had tried making homemade fortune cookies for the first time a few weeks ago and a friend of mine thought they would make cute Mother's Day gifts. So she came over and we made them using the recipe found here. It took a little time to get the recipe just right but after some practice they turned out great!

I printed fortunes that said "Happy Mother's Day" and "We're so fortunate to have you in our lives!" and put them inside the cookies.

I bought Chinese take-out boxes at Michaels and put 7 cookies in each box.

To decorate them and make them look cute I made paper roses using the video tutorial found here. I added metal alligator clips to the back so they could be removed. I also tied some rafia around the box.

I really enjoyed making the roses. They were actually a lot less complicated than you would imagine them to be!

Oh, and the cookies were DELICIOUS! I probably ate about 20 of the ones that didn't turn out as well.

Family Pictures- Uncle Ken's Funeral

2011-05-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

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These pictures were taken at Uncle Ken's funeral, April 14, 2011.

It was the first time in almost 20 years that all of the grandchildren were together with Grandma and Grandpa(minus Heather who was unable to make the trip to Nevada but was missed.) We were able to get a lot of pictures which I will cherish forever. Most of these pictures were taken by Kaleb who snuck off with my camera while everyone else was trying to get coordinated for the pictures. He managed to get some pretty funny shots and I wanted to share them all, well minus the ones he took of dog poop, trees, backs of peoples heads, and many more random things. Hope you enjoy and get a laugh out of them. Be sure to click on "play" and zoom in on the pictures. The last one of the top collage is my favorite. I have no idea what is going on in it but I love the looks on everyones faces.

Spring Boutique

2011-04-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago my sister-in-laws hosted a spring boutique at Jeff's parents house in St. George. I was able to go up for a night by myself to help them. It was so nice to get away for a break even if it was just for a short time. Rochelle and Jessica worked so hard on all their projects. We stayed up most of the night before painting and sanding and cutting out vinyl to put on the wood blocks. We were exhausted the next day and didn't end up having a good turn out but it was still so much fun to get to spend some girly time together!

Jessica adding a vinyl quote to a tile.

Some of their many projects......

I love these family home evening boards. They came with chalk and the black part is painted with chalk board paint. (Notice the board says "Ernie". Well that just happens to be my family nickname and everyone but me seems to find it funny.)

They had cute Easter decor as well.

Lots of pretty flower arrangements and plates with vinyl.

We moved all of the furniture out of the living room and set up tables. In addition to our crafts they had someone selling Scentsy and Lia Sophia jewelry.

This was my table. I had been sick the week before and didn't have time to make much but I sold some hair bows and bow holders. I actually ended up spending twice as much as I made but I was ok with that. I got an adorable purse and some super cute jewelry.

Rochelle working on price tags.

California Trip- March 2011

2011-04-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to get some of the pictures together from our trip to California last month! Below is a slide show of some of my favorite pictures. Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them!

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Here are a few more pictures from the trip.....

Kaleb and Andie modeling the shirts I made them in Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's backyard.

Grandpa Anderson taking Kaleb for a ride on Grandma's scooter. I'm not sure which one of them enjoyed it more!

Andie and I playing some frisbee.

Kaleb modeling his shirt again.

We took the kids to see "Mars Needs Moms" while we were there. Kaleb was
so excited about this pirate skull!

Kaleb hamming it up on the Hot Air Balloon ride at Camp Snoopy.

Watching the Wild West Stunt Show in a covered wagon.

Snoopy and Charlie Brown Shirts!

2011-04-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

When we told the kids we were going to Knotts Berry Farm Kaleb knew right away that he wanted to go dressed like Charlie Brown. I searched for shirts online but didn't like the high prices so I decided to make them shirts myself for a fraction of the price.

For Andie's shirt I found a simple outline of Snoopy online. I bought the shirt on sale at Joann's for $2 and got the sequins there as well for $.50. I laid the shirt directly on my computer screen and traced the picture on lightly with a pen. I first used tacky glue and glued on each sequin. Much to my dismay they all fell off the next day when I picked it up. I knew I had to sew all the sequins on to get them to stay. It took FOREVER. I was literally sewing until midnight the night before we left trying to get it done. I was so happy with how it turned out though and she absolutely loved it!

Kaleb's Charlie Brown shirt was fairly simple. I bought the shirt at the 99 cent store and got some black fabric paint at Joann's for $1. I again found an image online and traced it onto the shirt. I painted the front first, let it dry over night and then painted the back. It was so simple! Kaleb thought it was the greatest thing in the world. He even had me buzz his hair and give him a "Charlie Brown haircut" before we left.

I am so glad we were able to take them and make some great memories. I know it was a trip they won't soon forget. I will post more pictures of the trip soon!

A Prayer Request

2011-04-05T23:03:00.001-07:00

Requesting prayers for my Uncle Ken. Today he suffered a massive heart attack and is in the hospital in Missoula Montana. My heart is aching for my grandparents, Aunt Memi and all the family that is there at his side. I wish more than anything that I could be there to comfort them.

I am praying over and over that this will not be his time to go. Though I am certain my mom (his little sister) would welcome him to Heaven with open arms, our family isn't ready for that. My greatest memories of Uncle Ken are the many fishing trips he has took me on. My children need that opportunity too. They need to know him and love him and laugh at his jokes.

So I am asking from the bottom of my heart that you will please pray for him. Pray for Aunt Memi and his children, Kenny, Christine, and Heather. And for all of his grandchildren who, I am sure, adore him just as much as the rest of our family does.

Peeps Bunny Bunting

2011-03-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

A while ago I spotted these adorable Peeps Bunny Buntings on MADE. I have favorite treats for every holiday (Valentine Candy Hearts, Cordial Cherries at Christmas, Candy Corn at Halloween) and Peeps just so happen to be my favorite Easter treat.

So I decided that I just had to have one to hang in my living room. I used this template for the bunnies and cut them out of felt scraps that I had. I followed most of the directions on Made except for attaching them to the ribbon. I took the easy way out and just hot glued them on.

I love how they look hanging in my living room. And as always the best part is that it was cheap and easy! Grand total for this project was $1 for the ribbon. I had everything else on hand.

( Bunny Door Hangers - Dana-made-it.com)

I think I will make a few more like these for Kaleb to give to all of his little friends at the Easter party he is having.

If You Don't Believe Me, Just Ask Me

2011-03-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I seriously have the cutest kids in the world!

While out yardsaling this weekend, my friend Savannah spotted this cute little suit. I couldn't pass it up. Kaleb was so excited to have a suit to wear to church on Sunday. I also got the dress that Andie is wearing at a yardsale a couple weeks ago for 25 cents! This picture is right before we left for church. The kids kept posing and I couldn't resist taking a ton of pictures of them. I think they know just how cute they are and they use it to their advantage all the time.

Kaleb's Room

2011-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

If I had to choose a favorite room in our house it would be Kaleb's room. It has a camping/fishing theme and is as "Boy'ish" as you can possibly get. In our house in Utah I had put up a cute wallpaper border that I got at Cabela's and painted the bottom of the walls dark green. It was adorable. Since we're renting this house I can't paint but I wanted to put the left over border to use. I decided to make some signs to go above his bed.

I started with 3 of these wooden signs I found at the 99 cent store. They were the perfect size and the edges were already painted black. I peeled off the paper that was on them and brushed them with mod podge. I then cut the wallpaper border to the size it would need to be to fit the signs. I then mod podged them on and brushed mod podge on top as well.

I love how they turned out. And also love that I only spent $3 to make them.

They look great above his bed. This quilt is one of my favorite things in the room. I purchased it at Target when he was just a baby. The moose rug is from Sportsman's Warehouse and the fish picture is from a thrift store.

Here are a few more pictures of the fun things in his room.
What fishing room would be complete without a fishing creel? Since my budget didn't allow for a real one, we settled for a cheap one from Walmart. The string of fish were given to Kaleb by my grandpa Stan.

I found this Pottery Barn oar at Down East Outfitters in St. George. One of the hooks was broken off so I got it for about 90% the original price! The fishing vest was given to Kaleb by Jeff's parents.

Last is this little shelf that I got from ABC Distributing. It is filled with little things that I have collected over the past couple of years.

Ironing Board Re-do: Take 2

2011-03-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Remember this cute little ironing board cover I made back in January?

Well, it turns out that the fabric I used wasn't quite as heat resistant as I thought. How did I discover this? Well I was ironing one of my husband's WHITE school uniforms and discovered it was turning blue with little polka dots. By the time I realized it I had burnt a hole all the way through the cover. Luckily I was able to bleach the uniform and all the blue came out but I was forced to make another cover.

I found this fabric at the DI (Thrift Store) a couple months ago. It was a huge piece, around 4 yards, and I got it all for $2! I cut the elastic out of the other cover and used the exact same method as I did when I made the other cover. You can see the original post here.

I actually think I like this cover more than the other one and it's 100% cotton so I won't have to worry about it melting!

Recent Projects

2011-03-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Lately it seems like I can't get anything finished. I keep starting projects and getting about half way done and then I put them in a pile to finish "someday". Well I have finally gotten a few of them done so I thought I would share them.

I'm still slightly obsessed with book page wreaths and I am always searching blogs for new ideas. I have seen several like this one lately and thought I would give it a try. I didn't like how the middle looked plain so I added a fabric rosette with felt and burlap leaves and some beads in the center. Right now it is hanging on my bedroom wall and though I am not 100% in love with it, it's starting to grow on me.

My sweet little Kaleb somehow got the idea that we should throw an Easter party for all of his friends. I was hoping to just do something small on Easter Sunday for our family but he has since invited just about every person he has seen, spent every night making "decorations" and "invitations" and will not stop talking about it. So we've decided to do a little lunch party sometime next month with all the kids in the neighborhood. I realized that I don't have a single Easter decoration so I hit up the Dollar Store to see what I could make on the cheap. I found these little eggs and this cute little white tree. I removed the eggs from the sticks, glued them on the branches, glued on the little bows and added a larger bow on the pot. It's cute and simple and Kaleb loves it.

We've been working hard on Kaleb's ABC's so we can hopefully put him in preschool soon. I wanted something to hang on the wall by our table so he could visualize the letters while he's writing. I printed the letters on the computer, cut them out and glued on card stock and covered them in contact paper. I then cut small strips of fabric, punched holes in the cards and tied them together. I think I will make another one soon with numbers so Andie can start working on them.

Kaleb.....

2011-03-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

All I can say about this little guy is that he is the funniest kid I have ever met. I am so glad he got his dad's sense of humor (most of the time). He is always coming up with the funniest ideas and knows exactly how to cheer me up when I am having a bad day.

Last weekend Jeff and I took him to see "Rango" at the theater. He's been wanting to see it for a while so we took Andie to my friend's house for the afternoon and took him out for a "Date". He was so excited to get to go alone with us. He just had to have his picture taken with the cardboard cut out of Rango.

I have been trying to work with him on his ABC's the last couple of weeks. This is his first attempt at writing his name. Pretty darn good if you ask his proud mama! We are hoping to get him into preschool this fall and he also has his heart set on being on a soccer team so we will be looking into that soon as well.

Andie......

2011-03-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I posted updated pictures of the kids so I thought I would post a few of Andie today. She is getting so big! I can't believe she is already almost 2 1/2.

She loves to be outside playing with the sidewalk chalk. And she is always sneaking out wearing mommy's shoes.

She is obsessed with having bows in her hair right now. She even has me put them in before she goes to bed. I let her stand on her dresser and she always chooses the bows she wants for the day. She is such a funny girl. She is going through a rough patch of terrible two's right now but I am hoping it will be over VERY soon!

One Year!

2011-03-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

February 15th marked one year since Jeff began school at Le Cordon Bleu. We can not believe how fast the time has gone by! His last day of school will be August 12th of this year so the end is in sight! I am so proud of him for all that he has accomplished in the last year. He has worked so hard both with school and Costco and has still managed to keep a 4.0 GPA. He is such a great daddy and husband and no matter how tired he may be he always makes time to play with the kids. Right now he is taking 3 classes. One is an English class in the morning and the others are Contemporary Cuisine and Wine and Beverage which he goes to at night. He leaves around 4 in the morning for work, then heads strait to school after that. He has a short break in the afternoon to nap and do homework and then heads back to school until 11 at night. We miss having him home but we know that our future is looking bright because of all the sacrifices we are making. We are looking forward to his spring break at the end of the month and plan on taking the kids to Knott's Berry Farm for a mini getaway.

My Night With The King of Country Music

2011-03-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

About a month ago George Strait, Reba McEntire and Leann Womack came to the MGM Grand. We weren't planning on going but that day I found an absolute steal on tickets on craigslist so I just couldn't pass it up. It was kind've a crazy day trying to get everything lined up, find a babysitter at the last minute and get down to the strip on time but we made it and I am so glad we did! I have wanted to see George Strait live for as long as I can remember. He was my mom's absolute favorite and I grew up listening to his music. I remember as a little girl I had a life size George Strait poster on my bedroom wall. I even had a huge George pillow on my bed. This concert was an absolute dream come true for me!

Once we got to the stadium we realized why we got such a good deal on the tickets. We were in the nose bleeds! See that wall behind us? We were up as high as you could possibly go. We were a little disappointed at first but it turned out to be kind've nice because we didn't have any drunkards behind us and we were right on the end of the row so it was easy to get in and out.

We arrived about 45 minutes early so we spent the time playing with Jeff's new Droid, taking horrible self portraits, watching 30 Rock episodes and playing with the fun features on his phone.

Wow, we were sooooooooo far away!

First up was Leann Womack. Her music reminds me most of a summer I spent in Montana with my grandparents when I was 14. My grandma loves her music and we listened to her CD all summer long. She is beautiful in person and has an amazing voice.

Next up was Reba. I had never given much thought to how great it would be to see her in person but she put on an unbelievable show. That woman can SING! She even came out to the stage in a little taxi cab when she sang "Fancy". It was awesome. I was just a tiny bit disappointed that her show went on for sooooooo long. We had to get home to the babysitter so we didn't want to stay too late. I think she sang about 20 songs or more so by the end of it I felt like standing up and chanting "We want George, We want George", but I didn't.

The King of Country wrapped up the evening. All I can say is I was in heaven. I don't know if you all are country fans but you have to admit that there is no one better than George Strait. His voice gives me chills and I don't know another 58 year old that can rock a pair of wranglers like that man can. We only could stay for about 8 of his songs since it was so late but I was so glad I got to hear him sing a few of the classics. He sang "Ocean Front Property"and "The Fireman" as well as "Sea Shores of Old Mexico" and some newer ones. Overall it was an amazing night and I hope he comes back again next year. I think I would definitely splurge to get seats a little closer to the stage!

Music That Makes Me Smile

2011-02-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

I've been in a bit of a blogging slump lately. I'm sitting on about 20 unfinished projects and the majority of them are gifts so I won't be able to share them with you for a while. We have had a few exciting things happen lately that I will eventually get around to blogging about but for now I just wanted to share something that makes me smile. I'm not a big American Idol fan but I have to say that this is my all time favorite song performed on the show. There are some songs (and singers) that give me chills when I hear them and this is one of them. I love to sit back and close my eyes and listen to Andrew sing this song. His voice just relaxes me. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

P.S. I love Usher and I love that he is in this video.

P.S.S. I can't stand Ryan Seacrest in this video. He is a nerd.

I Did It!

2011-01-27T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well I finally got my Etsy Shop up and running again. I'm slowly adding new items and trying to come up with more ideas to sell. I don't plan on getting rich with this but my hope is that I will be able to slowly save up some money for Jeff and I go on a vacation. A REAL vacation. Just the 2 of us! We have never had a night away together since we had the kids so I think it's about time we take a break. I don't know when it will happen or where we will go but I'm making it my goal.

Below are some of the items I have listed right now but please keep checking back for more!

You can go to my Etsy Shop by visiting this link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MommyOnTheMove?ref=pr_shop_more

Yo-Yo Hair Bows

Ribbon Flower Hair Bows

Felt Play Kitchens

Felt Food

Rag Wreaths

Bows Up The Wazoo!

2011-01-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a small preview of some of the bows I will be listing on my Etsy shop soon. At this point I have made over 100 bows and I still have more fabric cut and ready to be sewn. I think I will give my fingers a break for a few days though. I swear I could make these in my sleep now.

"More Diligent and Concerned at Home"

2011-01-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about how sad this world is becoming. I cringe everytime I watch the news. It's all so depressing. Rarely ever a good or happy story. I'm sad that this is the world my kids will be growing up in. It makes me sick to imagine what it will be like when they are in highschool. I can't believe how much things have changed since I began highschool 12 years ago. This is all leading me to focus heavily on creating a strong home. Jeff and I have to work together to build a foundation that will not be shaken when we let them out into the world on their own. I know we are not perfect but I am reminded each night that we are on the right track when Kaleb and Andie both kneel down to pray without me telling them to. As soon as I say it's bed time they are on their knees waiting for Jeff and I. That is a wonderful feeling. They may not be able to sit still in church and they probably don't remember the lessons that are taught but they see us praying consistently and they know it is right. I came across a talk by Elder David A. Bednar titled "More Dilligent and Concerned at Home" and wanted to share a part of it with you.

"In my office is a beautiful painting of a wheat field. The painting is a vast collection of individual brushstrokes—none of which in isolation is very interesting or impressive. In fact, if you stand close to the canvas, all you can see is a mass of seemingly unrelated and unattractive streaks of yellow and gold and brown paint. However, as you gradually move away from the canvas, all of the individual brushstrokes combine together and produce a magnificent landscape of a wheat field. Many ordinary, individual brushstrokes work together to create a captivating and beautiful painting.

Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results. “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33). Consistency is a key principle as we lay the foundation of a great work in our individual lives and as we become more diligent and concerned in our own homes. "

Lamp Shade Make Over

2011-01-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have an awesome friend named Jenny that used to work at Target. She also happens to be an amazing bargain shopper. She was always finding amazing deals at work and being her roommate at the time I would often reap the benefits of her bargaining. One item that sticks out in my mind is an electric griddle that she found for $4 on clearance. I bought it and have used it for the last 7 years. Another thing she found was a floor lamp. I can't remember exactly how much it was but I know it was CHEAP. It isn't anything fancy but it has moved with me 7 times since then and still works like a charm. I was looking at it a few days ago and realized how disgusting the shade was looking. It was dirty and dusty and had tons of cheeto fingerprints on it from my kids. The plastic on the inside was cracking and it just looked downright pitiful. I knew I didn't want to spend any money on a new one so I came up with a plan to cover it and make it cute.

I have a goal to use up all my fabric before I buy anymore so I went through my stash and found a large piece of linen fabric that I got from my mom. I had planned to use it to recover the leather ottoman our cat used as a scratching post but it wasn't quite big enough to cover it.

I measured the top and bottom of the shade and somehow used my little brain to come up with measurements for the fabric pieces. I really didn't know if I had measured it right so I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

I sewed all the pieces together and then ironed down the seams. I then sewed the last 2 pieces together and slipped it over my lamp shade. I pulled the ends around the top and bottom and hot glued them. I didn't take a picture after that step but it looked really plain. So I decided to use the left over fabric to make flowers to go around the bottom.

I cut long strips of the fabric, twisted them and wrapped them around 2 fingers to make my flowers. I then tucked the end of it through the middle and hot glued them together.

I don't like to toot my own horn but I love how it turned out. I also love that I didn't have to spend a dime to make it cute!

A Snow Day!

2011-01-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Boy were we surprised to wake up to snow a couple weeks ago! I'm feeling a little guilty that I didn't let the kids go out and play in it but they both had the sniffles and it melted within a couple hours. The weather has warmed up quite a bit here so it looks like we'll have to wait until next year before we see it again. It was fun while it lasted!

Puppet Theater

2011-01-12T13:33:00.001-08:00

The kids got this darling puppet theater from their Grandma Randi for Christmas and they absolutely love it. It hangs in a door way and is the perfect size for them. Jeffs mom got them a cute set of hand puppets. One puppet is a little owl so Kaleb has spent the last few days recreating the movie "The Owls of Ga'hoole".

Ironing Board Re-Do

2011-01-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

A while ago while searching Etsy I came across these beautiful ironing board covers made by CityChicCountryMouse. They have such an amazing selection of colors and fabrics and I want one soooooooo stinkin bad. Between school uniforms, church clothes, and all the fabric I use for projects, I do a lot of ironing. I want a cover that will make me happy and cheer me up a little because let's be honest, ironing makes me a little grumpy.

{Paisley in Blush ironing board cover by CityChicCountryMouse}

So here is the story of my new ironing board cover. I've had my eye on the cover above for a while now but couldn't justify it as a necessity. My old cover was hideous. I got it when Jeff and I got married 5 years ago. It used to be white with big green polka dots but it was now a yucky yellow. It was hard and crusty from all the starch I use and the padding was coming out the sides of it. I went to Joanns about a week ago to use a gift card I had gotten for Christmas. I looked around for a while but couldn't really find anything I wanted or needed at the moment. Then I spotted an ironing board cover in the clearance for 3.97. It wasn't anything fancy but it was cute and glittery and had a small pocket attached to keep my starch and stuff in. So I grabbed it and went to check out. When I got to the register I realized a mistake had been made and there wasn't any money on the gift card. I could have paid for it but decided it wasn't meant to be. That night I came home and went through my fabric to see if I had something I could make my own cover out of. This is what I came up with.

{Please forgive the dark pictures, I do most of my crafting at night when the kiddos are fast asleep and I can have some peace and quiet}

I had a cute blue fabric with white polka dots that my mom had given me when we visited them in October. I'm not sure what kind of fabric it is but it has some stretch to it so the first thing I did was let the hot iron sit on it for a bit to make sure it wouldn't melt! Once I decided it would work I took my ironing board and laid it on top of some paper. I traced it and created a stencil. I then pinned it to my fabric and cut it leaving about 2 inches all the way around. I then folded the fabric over and sewed all the way around leaving a small opening to thread elastic through. It is quite similar to the way I make crib sheets using the tutorial found here.

The whole project was done in about 30 minutes. It slips right over the ironing board and can be removed easily for cleaning.

Some day when the cash starts flowing again I will treat myself to a lovely cover from CityChicCountryMouse. Until then I will enjoy this one and perhaps smile a little more while I iron.

Christmas Break 2010

2011-01-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to describe the wonderful Christmas we had this year. The kids loved every moment of it and Jeff and I loved seeing the smiles on their sweet little faces. We spent a week in St. George with Jeff's family. While there we got to catch up with some friends, spent lots of time with family and we celebrated Kaleb's 4th birthday as well. I have hundreds of pictures to sort through but I wanted to share a few of my favorites and show some of the highlights of the trip.

Andie snuggling with Daddy next to the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve

Kaleb and Andie doing the "New Jammie Dance". It is a tradition for Jeff's grandparents to give everyone a new pair of pajamas to wear Christmas Eve.

Andie on Christmas morning wearing the cute tu-tu her Aunt Jessie made.

Christmas night the 4 of us went over to the temple to walk around and look at the lights and nativity. I love this picture of Jeff and Kaleb. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful holiday.

Kaleb turned 4 on the 30th. We had planned to go swimming but woke up to snow! So we changed plans and met some friends at Jumpin Jacks instead. Andie loved it. This was her first time being able to go on the bigger slides and houses.

My big boy blowing out his candle. I can't believe how fast the last 4 years have gone!

This little boy melts my heart. He is a mama's boy through and through and I love it! I am dreading the day that it's no longer cool for him to hug and kiss his mommy so I am soaking up every moment that I possibly can while he is little!

Magnetic Fishing Set

2010-12-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea somewhere online a while back and knew that Kaleb would love one.
I spray painted a wooden dowel and wrapped the ends with felt. The hook and fish all have magnets sewn into them so he can catch the fish. It was such a simple project and I had all the supplies on hand except the wooden dowel. I spent a total of 95 cents on this gift!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-19T21:51:00.001-08:00

Each year Jeff's grandma buys the kids a new Christmas outfit. Today before church I decided to get some pictures of them by the tree. These are some of my favorites.

Busy Bee

2010-12-18T22:29:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks I have spent every single free minute working on finishing up my homemade Christmas gifts. My sister-in-laws also had a holiday boutique in South Jordan and although I wasn't able to make it up there I made a few things for them to sell. It is safe to say that after this next week I will be taking a nice long break from being crafty.

I made several of these Christmas light garlands to sell at the boutique. I decided to keep one for myself to hang in the living room.

I made this wreath using some left over burlap from Halloween and some felt scraps. I have been making a lot of wreaths lately. I'm not sure why. For a while I was really into cutsie little signs with quotes on them. I have way too many in my house. I am now starting to think I have too many wreaths. Time to move onto a new obsession.

Another book page wreath. This one will find a new home Tuesday night. I am going to a Christmas party and we were instructed to bring a homemade white elephant gift.

Kaleb and I made this yarn ball snowman for his teacher at church. He absolutely adores her. Since tomorrow is his last day in her class before he moves on to the 4 year old class he wanted to take her a present.

Yet another wreath that I made for the boutique. My sister-in-law made one just like it when we were together for Thanksgiving and gave me all the extra scraps. Score! I never turn down free fabric!

Ok, I agree. The wreath obsession is getting ridiculous now. This one is made from coffee filters. I painted the edges before I separated them. Once they were dry I used massive amounts of hot glue and glued them on filter by filter......It took a while!

Here is another example of me not turning down free fabric. When I was at my parent's house back in October my mom let me go through boxes and bags full of fabric that had been given to her. Some came from a friend that was moving and needed to get rid of it and the rest came from a friend who is in a quilting group. I found all these cute little strips of fabric and knew that they would be perfect as a little doll quilt for Andie. This quilt just makes me smile. I love all the bright colors and can't wait for Andie to open it Christmas morning.

I have a few more projects in the works so hopefully I can get them all finished up in time to share before we head to St. George for Christmas. I am making Kaleb a little magnetic fishing set that I know he will love! I will try to post pictures of that soon.

My Thoughts About A Great Guy.....

2010-12-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight I wanted to take the chance to brag about a great guy that I know.......My Father-In-Law, Allen. For those of you who don't know him, you are truly missing out! I can honestly tell you that when I made the decission to marry Jeff after a VERY short time of dating a lot of it had to do with his family. From the very first time I met them they welcomed me into their home and made me feel like I belonged there.

(Allen on the bus to Disneyland, Oct. 2010)

3 years ago Allen received a calling to serve as the Temple Christmas Light Coordinator for the St. George, Utah LDS Temple. Since then he has spent countless hours checking and rechecking hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights and coordinating hundreds of volunteers to hang the lights. In addition to all that he drives by the temple every night from Thanksgiving until New Years to make sure all the lights are working. I'm not sure he knew exactly what he was getting himslef into but he has done an amazing job. And I have to add that my Mother-In-Law, Bev, has been right by his side every step of the way supporting him and helping in any way she can.

It has now become a family tradition to attend the Lighting Ceremony the day after Thanksgiving. It is an opportunity to welcome the holiday spirit into our lives by listening to wonderful speakers and choirs, then everyone sings Silent Night while the lights are turned on for all to see.

It is a beautiful sight to behold. These gorgeous pictures don't even do it justice!

We are so thankful for the opportunity we have had to be a part of this. I hope that Allen will be able to do it for many years to come. The temple already holds a very special place in our hearts and this has just added even more to the joy that we feel when we visit it.

Allen, I love you and I am so grateful that you knew long before anyone else did that I would one day be your daughter- in- law :). Thank you for all your love and support in all we do.

Feeling the Christmas Spirit

2010-12-12T13:07:00.000-08:00

A beautiful message from Thomas S. Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. May you watch this and be filled with the spirit as I have.

Christmas Activity Countdown

2010-12-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

To get the kids in the holiday spirit this year I decided to do an activity countdown to Christmas. Each morning when the kids wake up they run down stairs and pull out a paper to see what fun activity we have planned for that day. Then we countdown the days to Christmas. Some of the activities include: Writing a letter to Santa, baking cookies, making paper snowflakes, getting pictures taken with Santa, going to Toys-R-Us to look at toys, and much more.

I got this countdown calendar at the dollar store. I think next year I will sew one of my own but for now this one was cheap and easy. The kids love it and it has been a great way to bring holiday cheer into our home!

So Much to be Thankful For

2010-12-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can not believe it is already December! I swear I blinked and the last month was gone. I spent most of the last few weeks sick in bed so I had to put a lot of things on the back burner. My poor little blog was at the top of the list. As much as I love keeping everyone updated and sharing all my fun crafts I just had to put things into perspective and take care of the things that matter most. The greatest thing about the last month is the amount of time I was able to spend focusing on myself and on my kids. We spent a lot of time watching movies, reading books, playing wii and cuddling on the couch. It was great! Jeff came to the rescue on the days that I was so sick I couldn't even crawl out of bed. He cleaned the house and washed the dishes more than I think any man should ever have to and he didn't complain once. I can't tell you enough how much that meant to me.

After about a week of misery I went to the Dr. and was able to get on some medications that cured me just enough to celebrate and enjoy Thanksgiving. We went to St. George and had a wonderful time. Jeff and his mom made an amazing meal while I played with the kids and napped. We continued on with a fun filled weekend by attending the Christmas Lighting Ceremony at the St. George LDS Temple (More on that later), shopping at Santa's Workshop Craft Fair, going to the movies, playing games, and eating WAY too much yummy food.

I missed out on the chance to share what I am thankful for so I will do it now. I have a list about 50 miles long in my head but right at the top of that list is FAMILY. What would I do without them? The last few years have been filled with a lot of struggles for us. We've lost a lot, cried a lot and prayed A LOT. But along the way I have gained a knowledge that no matter what happens, no matter how tough things may be I am still the luckiest girl in the world. I have a family that loves me, and I mean LOVES me! It's an unconditional love that I hope each and every person in this world can feel.

Please enjoy this beautiful song....It will make you cry, in a good way

Pictures of our Thanksgiving Celebration!

Kaleb and Andie spent the morning decorating gingerbread houses while watching the Macy's Parade.

Andie just enjoyed eating the candy!

Jeff and our brother-in-law Alex grillin up the turkey.....YUM!
(Don't mind the construction zone in the background. It will soon be a fun playroom for the kids and an apartment for Jeff's grandma.)

Jeff's grilled turkey with a honey chipotle glaze.....AMAZING!
My mother-in-law also made a beautiful turkey that was devoured before I could get a picture.

Andie, Kaleb, Kaitlyn and Kylie patiently waiting for the feast to begin

On Friday Jeff's sister, Jessica, came for a visit. The kids are always excited to see her!

Kaleb, Jessica and Macey, the cutest little Puggle ever!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

I know this is a little late but I am trying hard to get caught up on all the blogging I've missed lately. Here are the pumpkins we carved at my parent's house on Halloween.

My little sister, Emma, carved this headless horseman and the cat in the background was my niece Lexi's.

Paige carved this Twilight pumpkin. She wanted to do Edward's face but I convinced her this would be much easier.

I carved this Mario pumpkin for Kaleb. I also carved a Thomas the Train and one with a racoon peeking it's head out of a jack-o-lantern. Unfortunately those pictures didn't turn out. My sister Toni carved the bat pumpkin with Mathew's name on it.
I love carving pumpkins. It is one of my favorite parts of Halloween!

Happy Birthday Andie!

2010-11-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Since Jeff had to return to Las Vegas the day before Andie's birthday we decided to celebrate it at my parents house on Halloween. We had such a great time. We celebrated with pizza and pumpkin pie and then carved pumpkins.

Andie patiently waiting for mommy to light the candles.

Blowing out the candles

My niece Lexi...always smiling!

Making some noise!

Opening presents

My mom made Andie 3 hat and scarf sets. Kaleb just had to model one of them. Someday I will get some pictures of him before he decides to strip down. I just can't keep clothes on this kid!

Trunk-Or-Treat

2010-11-10T05:00:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from the Trunk-Or-Treat we went to while at my parent's house. It was freezing cold but we still managed to have a great time.

Andie wasn't a fan of her costume to begin with. Once she started getting candy she realized it wasn't so bad!

Kaleb as a green M&M. Notice Paige in the background freezing in her cheerleader costume.

The kids waiting patiently for some candy. Kaleb was so polite and said "please" and "thank you" every time he got a candy.

Me and the bean bag toss. It ended up being a huge hit. We were the only ones who had an activity to do. I think each kid came back at least 4 times. Good thing we had brought a ton of prizes!

Andie holding onto her candy. She wouldn't let it out of her sight!

Jeff took over the bean bag toss for a while and the kids loved him. I am so lucky that I married a guy who loves to have fun and be goofy.

My darling grandma had to give then bean bag toss a try as well!

Baby Shower Fun!

2010-11-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I am finally back from a week long visit at my parent's house. It was such a fun, exhausting, jam packed week! Baby Shower, Trunk-Or-Treat, Birthday Party, Trick or Treating, Swimming, Park, Dairy Chores, Bowling, 4-H Banquet, Making Christmas Presents and lots of fun with family and friends. I got to see my grandparents who just so happen to be two of my favorite people in the world. They traveled all the way from Montana to see everyone so I was very grateful to be able to spend time with them.

The main reason for this trip was to throw a baby shower for my sister, Toni. Mathew came a little early and we weren't able to get up there before he was born so we thought it would be fun for everyone to come and visit and get to actually meet the new little guy. We had a bath time themed shower to get her stocked up on all the little necessities.

I talked my wonderful husband into making cookies for the shower.

Rubber Ducky Banks were given out as prizes for the games.

Cupcakes! Enough said!

Our food spread. Cupcakes, lemon cookies and toasted bread with tomato peel roses made by my sweet hubby. My mom made 2 delicious pots of homemade soup as well.

The diaper cake I made for Toni

I made this "Proud Big Sister" shirt for Alexia to wear to the shower. I cut out the letters from fabric scraps and sewed them onto the shirt leaving the edges raw so they would fray a little.

Alexia and Mathew

My sister Tiffany and niece Brooklynn

My adorable grandma Janice and my cousin's little boy Alex

Paige, Emma and their friend Megan

Toni and Mathew, the guests of honor!

My cousin Jenny and Aunt Tricia playing the baby food game.

Grandma Janice bought Mathew his "First Montana T-Shirt"

Aunt Tricia, Paige and Megan.

I made the "It's A Boy!" sign above their heads but this is the only picture I took of it :(

We had such a fun day celebrating the birth of little Mathew. It was so wonderful to get to spend time with family and friends and to show Toni just how much we love her!

Adding to My To-Do List

2010-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

As if my crafty to-do list isn't long enough I found another adorable project to add to it! I absolutely fell in love with this tea cup clock I found on Vintage Revivals. If you haven't checked out this blog, you need to! She has so many cute projects to share and is currently competing in "Crafting With the Stars" @ Sew Dang Cute. This week she was the winner of Round 1 with THIS cute lamp.

Below are a couple more examples of the tea cup clock that she shared on her blog. I'm sure it will take me a while to collect all the cups I want but I will be sure to post some pictures of my progress. Maybe I will consider it a Christmas present to myself!

Tea cup clock created by Retropolitan Hip

Original (very expensive) version by Umbra

Here's What's Happening in my Neck of the Woods

2010-10-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

As I said in my last post I am sorry for the lack of blogging. My life has been running in fast forward for the last few months and I am hoping to hit slow motion or pause very soon!

Here's just a few things that we have been up to......

Nothing says "I Love You" like a rose made from a tomato skin! Jeff has been in a buffet and catering class for the last 6 weeks and he has learned all kinds of fun tricks. A few nights ago he made me this rose. He has also been practicing making flowers out of radishes, turnips, cantaloupe, carrots and many other things. Last night he got to do ice carving for the first time. He made a beautiful angel fish. Hopefully I can get a picture of it to post soon.

Since we will be at my parent's house for Halloween this year and it falls on a Sunday we will be going to the Trunk Or Treat at their church Saturday night. I wanted to come up with something fun to make the kids "earn" their treats so I made this bean bag toss game. I made it using the bottom of a pop-up tent that my kids destroyed. I sewed around the edges of the holes with yarn so it wouldn't fray and added some points for fun. I like that it folds up nicely so I can keep it for future birthday parties. Costco marked down all their Halloween stuff early so I scored and got 80 containers of play dough and 60 packs of Disney card games all for $10! So we'll have some fun prizes to hand out.

My little sister Emma wanted to be a cowgirl this year. We were all very excited about this because she has been a witch for 4 or 5 years in a row! So this week I have been working hard to make her a cute cowgirl costume. I made these chaps from felt as well as a vest. She has an adorable pink cowboy hat and some fancy light up cowboy boots that will go perfectly with her costume.

Kaleb has had his heart set on being an M&M for Halloween. The original plan was to be Alvin and the Chipmunks so I am so happy that he changed his mind. These costumes were so simple to make. They may not be anything spectacular but the kids love them and they are sure to be the cutest little M&Ms ever!

On Sunday I found out that a friend from church has cancer. She was one of the first people I met when we moved to Las Vegas. She introduced me to a lot of people and was so kind and welcoming to our family. She has been trying to have a baby and now will never be able to. My heart is breaking for her and her family. The women of our church are putting together a quilt for her to use when she starts her chemotherapy treatments. Everyone was asked to make an 8x8 quilt square. The only requirement was that we put our names on it so she would know who made each square. This is the square that I made for her. I got the idea HERE and changed it a little bit to make it my own. I hope that as she goes through this hard time in her life she will look at this quilt and know how many people love her and are praying for her. I hope you will keep her in your prayers too.

A Letter To My Neglected Blog.....

2010-10-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Dear little blog, I promise I haven't forgotten you. I have so much that I want to share with you but I feel like if I think about one more thing my brain might spontaneously combust. Please forgive me for neglecting you. I will be back soon with renewed energy and tons of projects to share. Thank you so much for your patience with me. Until we meet again............ Erin

Fun with Gerber Puffs Containers

2010-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

If you're a mom with young kids chances are you have some of these in the house, Gerber Puffs. For me they were a life saver. Once my kids were old enough to eat them I didn't go anywhere without them! They saved me from several meltdowns in the grocery store, on trips, at Dr. appointments, at church and the list goes on and on!

Since my kids were eating so many of these the empty containers started to pile up. I'm a bit of a pack rat and don't like to throw out things that could be useful "someday". Last Christmas I came up with an idea to put all the empty containers to good use.

I decided to make Kaleb a bowling set with them. A friend of mine gave me a few more containers so I had 10. Just enough for the set. I used red duct tape for the stripes. I put 1/2 cup rice in the bottom of each container to weigh them down a bit and then I glued the lids on with a hot glue gun.

For the bowling ball I got a Styrofoam ball and mod podged strips of fabric to cover it and make it hard. You can tell that a years worth of play has taken it's toll so I think it's about time to make him a new ball.

This bowling set was such an easy and inexpensive gift and it was one of his favorites.

A couple days ago I came across one more container in my craft supplies so I wanted to do something fun with it. I came up with this idea that I thought would be cute for kids to make for teachers, friends or neighbors. It can be filled with candy or any other kind of fun treat.
I used a lid from a can of spray starch, hot glued it to the lid and spray painted it black. Then I added some ribbon and a button. I used beads for the eyes and mouth, felt for the nose and some Christmas fabric (left over from making gift bags) for the scarf. I then hot glued buttons down the front.

This project only took me about 10 minutes and didn't cost a dime!

Inexpensive Nursery Wall Hangings

2010-10-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my little sisters came to stay with us for a week. We spent most of our time working on Christmas presents for friends and family and some baby shower gifts for our nephew Mathew. They wanted to make something to go in his room. We searched the Internet for some ideas and found some very cute wall hangings on Target.com. Afterwards we went through my craft supplies and this is what we came up with.

I had several sheets of brown foam that I had bought for another project and never got around to making. I also have more felt scraps than I know what to do with. We cut out all the shapes for the animals first. We then cut out the leaves and sewed the lines on them using a sewing machine.

Next we used hot glue to assemble the animals piece by piece.

We cut around the edges of the foam with pinking shears and used raffia to hang them.

It was such a simple and inexpensive project! You can find foam sheets at Joann's Crafts, Walmart and Michaels for less than a dollar. I think these will look adorable in little Mathew's jungle bedroom.

Come back tomorrow for some fun Christmas gifts and crafts made using.........

Gerber Puffs Containers!

Our Disneyland Vacation!

2010-10-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of posting pictures of our trip right after we got home. Well, a week has already gone by and I am just now getting around to it. Between being sick and our computer crashing (AGAIN!) I just haven't been able to get anything done. To be honest I spent almost the entire week in my pajamas :( But tomorrow begins another week and I am going to make the best of it! I have been working on tons of projects lately so hopefully I can take some pictures of them to share them all with you. Until then enjoy some of my favorite photos from the trip. Check back later this week to see more!

The entrance to Disneyland. It was so much fun to see everything in the park decorated for Halloween!

Our little family after riding the Winnie the Pooh ride. Kaleb is sitting in a honey pot.

Jeff and I waiting in line for Indiana Jones. My amazing in laws took the kids on some rides so we could enjoy some time together.

Andie eating breakfast at the hotel just before we left for Disneyland. Can you tell she's excited?

Kaleb working on a sand castle at Huntington Beach.

Kaleb and Andie getting ready to leave for Disneyland!

Jeff and Kaleb on the carousel. Out of all the fun rides we went on, this was Kaleb's favorite. I thought for sure Buzz Lightyear would be.

Andie playing in the sand at Huntington Beach (minutes before a giant wave came and took all of their sand toys).

Kaleb lounging on the beach. I love this picture!

Kaleb and daddy getting ready to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Kaleb was not smiling when he got off. He kept saying "I don't like the fast ones Mommy!"

Allen (my father-in-law), Kaleb and Jeff waiting for Finding Nemo. Another great picture!

A BIG thank you to Jeff's parents for making this trip possible for all of us. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and look forward to many more adventures with them. Love you all!

Vacations In A Jar

2010-10-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

A while ago I came across this amazing idea on Blue Cricket Design. It's called "Vacations in a Jar". It's a cute and creative way to preserve your memories of vacations, celebrations, holidays and more.

I love how they look all lined up on a shelf and I can't wait to get started on mine. For years I have been saving various treasures and pictures from our vacations and now they will finally have a home. Head over to Blue Cricket Design to find out how to make one of your own!

Happy 101

2010-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I received the Happy 101 blog award from Naptime Crafters. I now have the opportunity to share 10 things that I love and 10 blogs that I love. It was so hard for me to narrow it down to 10. I sat here for hours going through all my favorites. I chose the ones that made me smile the most and you will see why........

1.I love this little chef costume found on Polka Dots and Pizza . Kaleb always wants to dress up like a chef to be like daddy so I may have to make him this.

2. Dream Home created this beautiful Fall pillow cover.

3. Frou-FruGal took an old buffet and turned it into an amazing and beautiful piece of furniture. I would LOVE to have this in my home.

4. I absolutely love this owl ornament made by Whimsical Creations . It just makes me smile!

5. Revamped made this cute play kitchen for her daughter. I am working on one as well so I am always on the lookout for more ideas.

6.Simpsonized Crafts made this amazing pumpkin topiary.

7. Nap Time Journal made this adorable witch and spider banner.

8. You've been Boo'd! My Many Colored Days made these fun treats for the "Phantom Ghost" to deliver to neighbors. I always thought this was a Utah thing but I was so happy that someone "Boo'd" us a few nights ago. It made Las Vegas feel a little more like home!

9. KSSNNIKKEL created this darling upcycled hat for her adorable baby Drex.

10. Get the recipe for this rainbow Jello @ Awesome Family Fun.

Now for the 10 things that I love.........

1. The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints

2. My amazing, funny, crazy, adorable husband Jeff

3. My 2 beautiful children

4. The Harry Potter series (which I am currently reading for the 2nd time)

5. Fabric, Fabric and more Fabric

6. Disneyland

7. Christmas morning

8. Vanilla Coke

9. Twizzlers

10. Date nights with my husband

Now, if you received this award from me please pass it on to 10 more deserving women. It will put a smile on their face!

My First Blog Award!

2010-10-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was awarded my first blog award by Naptime Crafters! It made my day! I now have the opportunity to award this to 10 other bloggers and share 10 things that make me happy!There are so many amazing women out there that I think deserve a little pat on the back (and a big hug!) for their hard work. I'm excited to be included among them. As a busy stay at home mom, I cherish the time that I spend working on my blog, creating new projects and searching for other fun and inspiring blogs. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing more than just changing diapers, making meals and cleaning up messes.

Since we have taken a much needed break and fled to sunny California for the weekend I will not be selecting my 10 blogs until next week. I am going to need a lot of time to narrow them all down! Please check back next week to see who I have chosen.

Also, since Christmas is just around the corner (yay!) I will have some upcoming posts for easy, inexpensive Christmas gifts and crafts.

Fabric Fun Thursday

2010-10-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today I am linking up some of my Disney projects to Fabric Fun Thursday @ Cheap Chic Home. If you haven't checked out this blog then head over there and see all the wonderful things that Kim has to share. She is a wife, mother, interior designer and crafter. She has some wonderful ideas, tips and recipes so don't miss out! Click on the link above to see all the other Fabric Fun Thursday entries.

EXCITED!!!

2010-10-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today my Disney shirts and ears are being fetured on SOMEDAY CRAFTS !I am so excited! Use the link above to head over there and see my ideas as well as many other adorable Disney projects. There are also great giveaways that you don't want to miss out on. A BIG thank you to Michelle for sharing my projects with all your readers!

Andie's Doll House

2010-10-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

Remember this ugly little doll house I bought months ago at the DI? Well I have finally gotten around to working on it this past month. Andie's 2nd birthday is less than a month away so I knew I couldn't put it off any longer. Once I started sanding it down I realized it was in pretty bad shape. It had several layers of old paint on it and every time I sanded it the wood would crumble. So I just sanded as much as I could and put a couple coats of purple paint on it.
I used scrapbook paper to create the floors and wallpaper border. I cut the paper and mod podged it to the walls and floors. It now has a bedroom, nursery, kitchen and living room. I am still working on getting some more furniture and I am also making some pictures and fun things to hang on the walls.

Good Things to Come

2010-10-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

This week I'm feeling a little tired, maybe even a little discouraged. I've been trying hard lately to be positive and to be grateful for all have I been blessed with but I tend to let the bad times overshadow the good. I know there are a lot of you out there that are feeling the exact same way. I also know that many of you are suffering in ways I could never imagine. And for that reason I know that I need to count my blessings and press forward. This video is one of my favorites. It shares a beautiful message of hope. Whether you share my beliefs or not I urge you to watch it. It will brighten your day and maybe give you that little bit of push that you need to get through your day.

Fun Disney Inspired Crafts

2010-10-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to share some fun Disney inspired crafts that I found out in blogland. There are so many talented women out there with amazing ideas! It was hard to narrow it down to just a few but these are some of my favorites.

We have an old calendar hanging on our wall that we have been using to count down the days until our trip (only 8 more!). I wish I had come across these countdown calenders sooner! This one was can be found HERE at THE CRAFTING CHICKS. They even provide a free template so you can make your own!

Here's another adorable idea for a countdown calendar found at MY LITTLE GEMS. She uses Disney paint sample cards from the Home Depot and adds a fun Disney related activity to the back of each one for her children to do each day. Such a great idea!

I couldn't resist posting this Peter Pan costume found on MAKE IT AND LOVE IT. Doesn't that little boy just melt your heart!? She includes a great tutorial if you want to make one for your little cutie. Also, make sure you check out her fabulous Tinkerbell Tutorial.

I absolutely love these Mickey Mouse cookies found on HONEYSCRAP, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs. She has so many amazing ideas to share. Every time I read her blog I add something else to my To-Do list. I will definitely be making these for my mom who is the biggest Mickey Mouse fan ever.

My last craft to share are these fun little autograph books created by Rachelle of FINGERPRINTS ON THE FRIDGE. She bought 2 plain mini scrapbooks and some fun stickers and let her daughters decorate their own books. Such a great way to save money. Also check out her Disney link party with some more great Disney ideas.

Thanks for joining me for Disney Week. Don't forget some of my ideas will be featured on DISNEY DAYS @ Someday Crafts next week, so please use the link on my blog to head over there and check out all the other great ideas!

It's All About the Ears

2010-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our Disneyland trip would not be complete without some Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse ears for my kids to wear. I considered buying some while we were at the Disney Store in the mall a couple weeks ago but just couldn't let myself pay $15 each for them. I kept telling myself "They are cute, but not THAT cute." So I came home and searched the Internet again to come up with some ideas. And of course! One of my favorite bloggers came through for me again and she had just posted a tutorial to make Minnie Mouse Ears! So, I got to work and had these finished in about 20 minutes without spending a dime! Head over to Honey Scrap and check out the awesome tutorial.

Isn't she the cutest Minnie Mouse you've ever seen!?

Next I needed to come up with an idea for Mickey Mouse ears for Kaleb. Since his shirt has Pirate Mickey on it I wanted to make him some sort of pirate hat. I have had a few bandannas in my fabric pile for years so I thought this would be a perfect time to finally put one to use. I made the ears using the same method as in the tutorial above. I cut out 4 round pieces of felt and cut out 2 circles from a cereal box. I placed the cardboard pieces between 2 pieces of felt, then sewed around the outer edges of the felt to create the ear.

Next I put the bandanna on his head to decide where the ears would go. I made a mark where I wanted them. I cut along one edge of the bandanna where it would go across his forehead and sewed a seam across. I also cut the opposite corner up towards the center and sewed seams to create ties for the back of the bandanna. After that I sewed the ears on where I had made my marks. I was concerned that they wouldn't stand up but once I put it on his head they stood up perfectly. Again this project only took about 20 minutes and didn't cost me anything!

"Yo ho, yo ho, a Pirate's life for Kaleb!"

My mother-in-law insists that we'll have the best dressed kids at Disneyland and I think I have to agree with her!

Budget Friendly Disney Shirts

2010-09-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm like every other mom out there. I want to give my children everything their little hearts desire. I will admit that if I had the money to do it they would probably be spoiled rotten. But since I don't have the money to do it I improvise, A LOT. I am always looking for ways to create new things on a budget. I have found that a little bit of creativity can go a long way.

I wanted my children and nieces to have some fun shirts to wear to Disneyland but I didn't want to spend a lot. I was so excited to find that our Dollar Store has a great selection of T-Shirts. They are actually name brand shirts like Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and I even found a Disney brand shirt. I purchased 4 of them and came home determined to create some fabulous shirts for these adorable kiddos. I originally wanted to do freezer paper stenciling but they didn't have any at our local grocery store so I decided to go through my felt stash and see what I could come up with. I searched the internet for ideas and this is what I came up with.......

Pirate Mickey Mouse for my son, Kaleb. Using this image as my inspiration I created this adorable shirt that he absolutely LOVES! I drew out my own Mickey pattern, cut it out of black felt and sewed it onto the shirt. I then cut out the pirate hat from red felt and sewed it on. I completed it with a gold button and even pierced Mickey's ear, making him one of the toughest pirates around.

Next was a Minnie Mouse shirt for my daughter, Andie. I again searched the Internet and found this image to inspire me. I had a terrible time cutting out the small polk-a-dots so I decided to use buttons. I sewed them onto the pink felt first, then sewed on a Minnie Head, which was actually the same pattern for the Mickey head. Then I sewed on the bow and other pink felt and it was done!

(Isn't my little model precious!?)

Next is a shirt for my sweet niece Kaitlyn. I have always called her "Princess". I found an amazing tutorial for this adorable Cinderella shirt on Honey Scrap. She made it for her daughter to wear to Disneyland as well. I made mine a little differently than she did but still love the way it turned out.

Next is a shirt for my niece Kylie who loves Winnie The Pooh. I used this picture to again cut the outline from felt. I sewed it to the shirt and then sewed the butterfly, or as Pooh would say "flutterby", by hand and sewed it to his nose using my sewing machine.

The best part about this whole project is that I only spent a total of $4! That is such a huge savings compared to how much they would have cost to purchase at Disneyland.

Please join me again tomorrow to learn how to make a Minnie Mouse ear headband and a Pirate Mickey hat!

Disney Time and Energy Saving Tips

2010-09-28T05:00:00.001-07:00

Now that we have a budget worked out, let's discuss some more tips that will help you save lots of time and energy while visiting Disneyland. It is The Happiest Place on Earth after all and you don't want to spend the entire vacation so stressed out that you forget to enjoy yourself.

The first item on the agenda....PACKING! This is probably the worst part of going on a vacation, especially if you have a large family. Even if your children are old enough to pack for themselves, chances are you will still end up going through their suitcases before you leave to make sure nothing gets left behind. Here's a couple tips to help you cut down on a little bit of stress when it comes to packing.

One thing that I always do when we travel is pack a small shoe box size tote full of essentials. Since someone in our family always ends up sick on vacation, I pack everything I can think of that we might need; pepto, gas-x, ibuprofen, tylenol, cough medicine, NyQuil etc. You name it, I pack it. Other items I have in my tote are q-tips, a manicure set, floss picks, mouth wash, razor, eye drops, band aids, neosporin and more. I keep most of the items in it at all times so I don't have to pack them every time we go somewhere. It helps out so much if we forget something or if we end up needing something in the middle of the night, in a city we're not familiar with and don't want to leave to find a store. As I said in my last post, many stores around Disneyland have a higher markup on products so it is smart to be prepared and bring items from home.

Here is a wonderful packing tip that I found at Rocks In My Dryer. She uses 2 gallon ziplock bags to lay out an entire days worth of clothes for each child. It makes it so simple to pull it out in the morning and not be worried about having to find clothes for everyone. Once you're back home just leave the used bags in your suitcase and use them again next time.

Next is a section I like to call....KNOW BEFORE YOU GO.

If this is your first visit to Disneyland then you will want to be familiar with the layout of the park before you go. Maps like the one below are very helpful. It gives you an idea of where all the major attractions are located so you can plan which ones you want to hit first without running all over the place from one end of the park to the other and wasting a lot of time. You can find several maps of Disneyland Park here.

There are several other wonderful resources dedicated to saving time and energy on your vacation. One that is fairly new is the Mobile Magic application available through Verizon Wireless. Mobile Magic provides FASTPASS return times, attraction wait times for the park you are in, information on character locations and more for Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks. Since we have not been to Disneyland for a couple years we will be using it for the first time when we visit in 2 weeks. I think the $9.99 download fee will be well worth the time it saves us since we will only be there one day and want to be able to see and do as much as possible.

Two more helpful time-saving features of Disneyland Park are the FASTPASS and Rider Swap Pass. Rider Swap is when Guests take turns waiting with children too small to ride a certain attraction, then "swap" with another adult Guest from their party to experience the ride without standing in line twice. You can ask a Cast Member at any ride entrance for a Rider Swap Pass. A FASTPASS is a ticket that holds your place in line for a ride. It lets you leave and do whatever you want and then come back during a specified time frame to avoid the line and get straight on the ride.

You will also want to visit disneyland.com before your trip to check park hours and the scheduled activities for the time you will be there. You may want to make up your own family schedule ahead of time so you don't miss out on any shows or special attractions that you or your children want to visit.

WHILE YOU'RE THERE........

I strongly suggest arriving to the park early. If the park opens at 8:00 you will probably want head there around 7:00 to ensure a good place in line. It may seem early with small children but I can assure you that the park is very crowded in the afternoon and you will be grateful that you beat the crowds and lines. If you are taking the Anaheim Resort Transit,it begins running 1 hour and 40 minutes before the park opens and runs every 20 minutes after that throughout the day. The last bus of the day runs 30 minutes after the park closes.

Once inside the park our family likes to get a locker right away. There is a limited amount and it is on a first come, first serve basis. It also saves us from having to carry extra bags around all day. After that we like to head to some of the more popular attractions and get FASTPASSES right away. We like to ride as many of the big rides as possible in the morning when the park isn't as crowded and the lines aren't quite so long.

Once we have ridden all of the larger rides we like to head over to Fantasyland
to ride the smaller rides. The lines aren't usually as long there in the afternoon and it's nice to slow down for a bit and recover from the busy morning. When the kids are in need of some rest we like to head over to the Enchanted Tiki Room and enjoy a show while resting our feet.

When it comes to choosing a time to eat, let me make a few suggestions. Don't go right at lunch time or right at dinner time. Brings snacks to hold you over and consider going mid-morning or mid-afternoon when the restaurants aren't quite as packed. We usually go to Pizza Port whenever we are there and we always end up standing there with our food like vultures waiting for a table to open up and then we swoop in on it. Since it is one of the more affordable restaurants in the park it is often very busy. You can also call in advance and make reservations for restaurants like theBlue Bayou and Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue.

I have one last tip to share that will hopefully save you some time and stress. There are several regularly scheduled events that take place throughout the day at Disneyland. Parades, shows, fireworks, and more. If you are staying there for a few days and don't mind missing these activities then head over to your favorite rides while everyone else is enjoying the show. The lines will be much shorter and you will be able to enjoy them without waiting for hours.

Well, that's all the tips I have for today. Thank you again for reading my blog and please come back tomorrow to see the shirts that I have made for my children and nieces to wear on our Disneyland adventure.

Disney on a Dime

2010-09-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be great to wake up one morning, load the kids up in the car, fill the tank with gas and just go? No worries in the world, an unlimited amount of money to spend, no set time that you have to be back home? Your destination, of course, Disneyland! You can ride all the rides, eat as many churros and turkey legs as you want, buy a different Mickey Mouse hat for each day you're there, eat some more churros and maybe a chocolate covered banana, purchase a $12 picture after you get off every single ride (which always seem to catch you at the worst moment), eat a $22 Monte Cristo Sandwich 3 meals a day and still have money left over to buy your son that $45 Buzz Lightyear costume that he will wear once and lose in the back of his closet as soon as you get home (He just HAD to have it)! I would probably also throw in a few meals at the Bengal Barbecue, a couple Dole Pineapple Whips at the Enchanted Tiki Room, and a chimichanga or two (or three).

The truth is, this is my dream. To be able to experience Disneyland WITHOUT a budget. Unfortunately it hasn't happened. Does this mean that I won't go back to Disneyland until it does? Absolutely not! I LOVE Disneyland. As I walk in the front gates I get the same feeling that I do waking up Christmas morning. It's the one place that I feel like I can let everything go and just be a kid again. The only word to describe it is MAGICAL!

My guess is that we are not the only ones who have to experience Disney on a budget and there's nothing wrong with that. With a little careful planning, a little creativity and a lot of patience you can plan a Disneyland Vacation that meets your every expectation without robbing your child's college fund. I want to share a few tips that we have learned throughout our Disney travels.

First of all, we are a family of four with two small children so a lot of my tips are centered around the smaller ones. I'm going to break this down into a few different categories: Tickets, Hotel, Meals, Parking/Transportation, Souvenirs, and Miscellaneous Expenses. Tomorrow I will be discussing time and energy saving tips to get the most bang for your buck and make your trip stress free. (If that's even possible when you're surrounded by hundreds of screaming children)

1. PARK TICKETS

There are a variety of ways to purchase tickets for Disneyland. The first and most obvious is to buy them at the gate the day you arrive. Unfortunately, this is also the most expensive way to buy them. A one day park hopper ticket which allows you access to both Disneyland and California Adventure costs $91 for children ages 3-9 and $101 for ages 10 and up. You can also purchase tickets online at disneyland.com They offer special online discounts when purchasing 3, 4, 5 and 6 day hopper passes. The more days you stay, the more money you will save.

Another way to save money on tickets is to check travel agencies in the Anaheim area. A simple google search lead me to several agencies like THIS one that would save you an additional $5 off the already discounted online rate. In addition you can look for package deals offered through companies like Costco and AAA.

A search on Ebay also turns up many possibilities for drastically reduced ticket fees. Sellers such as wiiwouldliketoplay, offer deals up to HALF OFF the ticket price! It may seem too good to be true but its well worth looking into if you have the opportunity to save that much money!

2. HOTEL:

There are many things to consider when choosing a hotel for your visit. While cost is probably the most important factor, you may also want to consider proximity to the parks, if a continental breakfast is served, room vs. suite and so on. While there are 3 hotels located within Disneyland they can end up costing you hundreds of dollars a night so I suggest that you search for a DISNEYLAND GOOD NEIGHBOR HOTEL or other budget hotels in the area. Websites such as PRICELINE and EXPEDIA often have very good deals on hotels that can save you hundreds of dollars.

3. MEALS:

Lets just face the facts, food is EXPENSIVE at Disneyland. There is no way that the average family on a budget could afford to eat every meal at the park and still be able to afford all the yummy snacks and drinks they offer. My first suggestion, as I said above, is to find a hotel that offers a continental breakfast. You will save a lot of money if you're paying for one less meal every day. Our family also likes to pack donuts, pop tarts, granola bars and juice to snack on while we're waiting in line for the park to open. Another option if you are driving to the park is to pick something up on the way. There are several fast food chains located near Disneyland.

Coolers are not allowed in the park but you are allowed to bring snacks. We like to bring a backpack full of snacks which we leave in a LOCKER on Main Street (more on those in a bit) for easy access whenever we are hungry. We bring things like bottled water, juice boxes for the kids, jerky, fruit snacks and so on. I like to find snacks for the kids that have Disney characters on them so they still feel like they are getting something from the park. You can find many different varieties of Disney fruit snacks, cookies, crackers, and dried fruit crisps at Walmart and other grocery stores.

There are several restaurants within the park that serve great food but also are quite pricey. My absolute favorite and probably one of the most expensive is the BLUE BAYOU which is located in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Lunch entrees cost an average of $20-$39! Another restaurant, located in Frontier Land, is the BIG THUNDER RANCH BARBECUE where the average plate ranges from $15-$39 per person. There are a couple more budget friendly restaurants that I recommend. THE HUNGRY BEAR RESTAURANT, located in Critter Country and PIZZA PORT,located in Tomorrowland both offer great food for less than $14 per person. Another personal favorite is the BENGAL BARBECUE which is located near the Jungle Cruise and Enchanted Tiki Room. It offers delicious beef and chicken skewers, as well as pretzels and yummy deserts. The average meal is around $10 a person.

There are several other ways to save money on food when visiting Disneyland. Consider only eating one meal a day in the park. If you are staying in a hotel suite with a kitchen you can easily head back to the hotel in the afternoon when the children are in need of a nap and prepare dinner for a fraction of the cost you would spend in the park. You can also go to one of the many fast food restaurants located close by. Saving money on large meals will allow you some extra cash to splurge on some of the yummy treats that I mentioned at the beginning.

4. PARKING/TRANSPORTATION

One of the great things about staying in a Good Neighbor Hotel or other hotel located close to the park is that they offer transportation to and from Disneyland. The ANAHEIM RESORT TRANSIT. will pick you up in front of your hotel and drop you off right outside the gates of Disneyland. It runs approximately every 20 minutes throughout the day so it is very convenient if you need to head back to your hotel for a little rest! It saves you time and eliminates the stress and headache of dealing with SELF PARKING and riding the tram into the park. The cost for a 1 day pass for unlimited use is $4 for ages 10 and up and $1 for ages 3-9. They also offer 3 and 5 day passes for a discounted rate. Parking your own vehicle for one day at Disneyland ranges from $15-$25.

5. SOUVENIRS

I can guarantee that at some point during the trip you will get so tired of your child saying "I want that!" " I need that!" "Will you buy me that?" that you will finally give in and spend a ridiculous amount of money on something they don't need just to shut them up. I know that sounds harsh but it is true. You may say, "We just won't go into the gift shops", but those Disney people are smarter than you. They won't let you avoid it. They suck you in by making you walk through the gift shops as you exit the rides. There's no other way out. They trap you and set you up for those "I want, I want, I want" moments. This is where your creativity comes into play.

There are several ways to save money on souvenirs. We are going to Disneyland in a couple weeks so I will share with you some of the ideas I have come up with. First of all, I made T-shirts for the kids to wear. I also made a Minnie Ear Headband for my daughter and a Mickey Ear Pirate Hat for my son which saved me about $12 for each if I were to buy them in the park. Using t-shirts I bought at the Dollar Store and all other materials that I already had on hand, I spent a whopping $4! I will have a separate post about them later in the week.

Remember before when I mentioned that $45 Buzz Lightyear costume?If your child insists on going to the park dressed up you can go HERE and find a similar Buzz costume for only $12. They also have a variety of Disney Princess costumes for $12-$19. Consider making your own autograph book by getting a small notebook and letting your child decorate it with Disney stickers. Another thing that I am doing for my kids is making them treat bags. A while back my church had a free yard sale and I hit the jackpot when I found some Winnie The Pooh and Piglet stuffed animals. They were brand new and still had the Disneyland tags on them. They are dressed in Halloween costumes and since we are going at Halloween time they are perfect for my kids. I will be putting them in the treat bags with other items like Disney coloring books, crayons, snacks, and many other Disney items found at the Dollar Store. I realize that this may not work for older kids but another idea to consider is giving them a Disney gift card that can be used at any location in the park. Once the have used it up, then no more souvenirs. You can purchase them on disneyland.com.

Now if you're not the crafty type and don't want to make shirts or hats there are still plenty of options for saving money. You can find Mickey, Minnie and many other Disney character t-shirts and sweatshirts at Walmart for as low as $5. You can also check party supply stores and websites such as THIS one for cheap Disney products.

5. MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES:

There are many other things that can make your trip to Disneyland very costly and you need to make sure you are prepared in advance. First of all, make sure you check the weather before you go. The first time my husband and I went it was beautiful during the day but turned cold very quickly as the sun went down. We ended up spending over $25 on 2 pairs of gloves at one of the gift shops. Don't make this same mistake! As I mentioned before, you can rent LOCKERS at Disneyland. They are located on Main Street back in the corner by the Ice Cream Shop. Prices run between $7 for a small one and $15 for a super jumbo one. I would suggest bringing a jacket, gloves, and maybe even an extra set of clothes for the kids in case they end up a little too wet on Splash Mountain! Which leads me to another item. Ponchos! You can purchase them at the Dollar Store and they come in very handy for people like me who don't like to get wet on rides! They also sell them for much more in the park.

A few more items you don't want to pay for at the park.....

-Extra Clothes

-Batteries

-Memory Cards

-Strollers

($15 for a one day rental. You might as well buy an umbrella stroller for the same price.)

-Medicines

(Tylenol for all the screaming kids!)

-Diapers

Also keep in mind that even the local stores outside of Disneyland still have a higher markup on many items so make sure you come prepared and purchase these items before you leave home.

Well, I hope I have given you some useful tips to make your next Disney vacation both affordable and enjoyable. It may take some time and energy to find good deals but it is well worth it in the end when you can give your children the trip of a lifetime without breaking the bank!

Thank you so much for reading my blog. Please come back tomorrow for some Disneyland time and energy saving tips!

Disney Week

2010-09-26T01:18:00.001-07:00

In a couple weeks one of my favorite blogs, Someday Crafts, will be hosting "Disney Days". It is a week packed full of Disney tips, crafts and much much more. I am excited that I will be contributing to this amazing blog and sharing tips for enjoying a Disneyland vacation on a budget. To get prepared for our upcoming Disneyland trip (less than 2 weeks away!) I will also be devoting my blog to all things Disney this week. Monday I will share my money saving tips, Tuesday will be time and energy saving tips, Wednesday I will show the shirts I have been working on for my children and nieces to wear to Disneyland, Thursday I will show the Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse ears I made for my children (without spending a dime!) and Friday I will show some fun craft ideas and activities you can do to enhance your Disney experience!

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I hope you will join me each day this week and share my excitement as we celebrate the happiest place on earth! Next week I will post a link to Someday Crafts so you can head over there and check out all the other great ideas that people have to share!

Introducing Mathew Parker!

2010-09-21T11:51:00.001-07:00

He's finally here! Yesterday we welcomed Mathew Parker Mortensen into our family! I am so excited for my sister and couldn't wait to share the news with everyone.

He was born at 1:35 PM on September 20th

Weight: 6 lbs. 7.5 oz.

Length: 20 inches

Toni had to spend a few days prior to his birth in the hospital due to high blood pressure. Lexi was very happy to get to visit her mommy. She spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Fretwell. She is very excited to have her little brother here finally. I think she will be very helpful to her mommy and Trevor, perhaps a little too helpful!

Introducing....Mathew Parker!

ADORABLE!!!

The happy family....Toni, Trevor, Alexia and Mathew!

I'm very sad that I can't be there to celebrate this exciting time with them. I can't wait for next month when we finally get to go for a visit!

Congratulations Toni and Trevor. We are all so happy for you!

Food, Food, and More Food!

2010-09-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have been neglecting my duty to brag about my amazing husband lately. I have been so caught up in everything else going on that I haven't posted any updates on his schooling. He has also had a hard time remembering to take pictures of all of his hard work so I will let him share some of the blame.

It's very hard to believe that he started school almost 7 months ago. He is still loving it which makes me so happy. He has taken several different cooking classes, a math and communications class and he is just finishing up his baking class this week. After a minor setback a couple weeks ago when he fractured his hand, he is all caught up and ready to continue on.

I thought I would share a few pictures of some of his DELICIOUS creations.

Key Lime Pie! It tasted even better than it looks, if you can believe that!

Chocolate and Hazelnut layered cake....AMAZING!

Let me just say that I devoured that Apple Pie as soon as he walked in the door. The eclairs and cream puffs were also delightful!

Words can not express how proud I am of Jeff. He is following his dream, working hard and still manages to be the same loving, wonderful father and husband that we love. The year has been a tad bit stressful on us but I know that we are working towards an amazing future and we will one day be very grateful for all the sacrifices we have made to make this possible.

Another Fun Halloween Banner

2010-09-14T10:35:00.001-07:00

I made another super cute felt Halloween banner with the tutorial found here @ Funky Polkadot Giraffe: http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com/2010/09/tutorial-candy-corn-bunting.html
I noticed after I had it finished that the pattern of a candy corn is actually white, orange, yellow. So lets just pretend that I meant to do it this way :)

My house is looking very festive now. We are getting so excited for the upcoming holiday season. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. It has finally started to cool off a bit here in Vegas and that makes me very happy!

I have a couple more fun ideas for holiday decorating that I will share soon. I am also going to make some shirts for the kids for our upcoming Disneyland Vacation. I will share pictures of them as soon as they are done.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

2010-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I made these homemade oreo cookies. They are so simple to make and are absolutely delicious! Here's the recipe....

You will need:

1 Chocolate Cake Mix

1/2 Cup Oil

2 Eggs

2 Tablespoons Flour

Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix all ingredients well. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on greased

cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cool and put cream cheese

frosting between 2 cookies. Enjoy!

Have You Forgotten?

2010-09-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

This song always gives me chills when I hear it. I will never forget that day.......

Craft Therapy

2010-09-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a friend over for some much needed craft therapy. Like me she is a stay at home mom and with only one car she spends her days at home taking care of her son while her husband attends school. We decided that we need to do a craft night at least once a week so we can relax and take a break from the stresses of everyday life!

I have seen a lot of great tutorials lately for fall and Halloween decorations. One of my favorites is this Halloween Banner by Army Wife Quilter: http://armywifequilter.blogspot.com/2010/09/halloween-banner.html

I wanted to make a banner too but didn't have the time to put as much detail into it so I came up with this very simple idea made using felt, hot glue and ribbon.

The project we did together was these cute burlap pumpkins. We used the tutorial found @ Middle Ground: http://my-middle-ground.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-have-fall-fever-i-am-sooo-ready-for.html

Both were very simple projects. It only took us about 2 hours and the best part was that I had all the supplies on hand, so it didn't cost a dime! Can't wait to do it again next week!

5 Years!

2010-09-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

5 years ago today I married my best friend.......

Some people thought I was crazy......

But I knew I was the luckiest girl in the world.....

He makes me laugh until I pee my pants.....

Holds me when I cry.....

And always treats me like a princess, even when I don't deserve it!

In the words of Julia Child's husband......
"You are the butter to my bread and the breath to my life"

I love you Jeff, more than you'll ever know.

Oh no! Not a chore chart!!!

2010-09-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

I remember absolutely dreading chore charts when I was younger. My mom was constantly coming up with new ideas to get us to help out around the house. They never lasted for long but I remember promising myself that I would NEVER make my kids use a chore chart!

Well......I am now breaking that promise. A certain 3 year old little boy that lives in this house has a very hard time listening to his mommy and cleaning up after himself! It is such a battle to get him to clean up his toys, brush his teeth and say his prayers at night. I have been searching blogs for a while trying to come up with ideas but I haven't found exactly what I was looking for. So yesterday I came up with a very simple idea to get him to start helping out around the house and to teach him a little responsibility.

I bought this magnet board for $1 at a thrift store a couple years ago. It has been sitting around collecting dust and now it finally has a purpose. I tried thinking of 5 main things that I want him to do everyday. I decided on making his bed, brushing his teeth, feeding the cat, picking up toys and saying his prayers. I just printed off basic clip art and colored them. I put contact paper on them so they wouldn't be damaged easily and I glued magnets to the backs.

To show that he has completed a chore I glued magnets to 5 pennies. We are going to Disneyland in a month and he is very excited to make a book of pressed pennies. He has been collecting them for months (from my wallet, in the car, out of daddy's pocket) and I thought this would be a perfect chance for him to start EARNING his pennies.

He was very excited when he woke up this morning to do his chores. He completed all 5 very quickly and when he was done he counted the pennies on the board that he had earned. I then counted out 5 pennies for him and he placed them in his bank. I sure hope his excitement continues and he is able to learn that we all have to pitch in around here to keep our home nice.

Homemade Christmas

2010-09-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a lot of Christmas presents lately but haven't gotten around to taking pictures of any of them. So far I have completed presents for 12 people. I have made everything my self including the gift bags and I have spent less than $30! I will post pictures soon if any of you are looking for cute but inexpensive ideas. This is the gift I made for my little sister Paige. (I really hope she doesn't look at my blog!) She's turning 12 this year and is getting quite obsessed with hair and clothes and nail polish and all that other fun stuff. So I made this to put on the back of her bedroom door. The mirror is removable, it has plenty of pockets for hairbrushes and makeup and the ribbon is to hang headbands and hair clips.

Other Christmas projects I have in the works:
Hand Warmers
Roll Up Chalkboard Mats
Roll Up Felt Kitchens
Felt Dr's Kit (For Kaleb)
Felt Garden (For Andie)
"Where the Wild Things Are" Hand Puppets
Tons of Felt Food
Ruffle Necklaces
and much much more!

Craft Time!

2010-08-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

I finally found a little time to be crafty today. I have so many halfway finished projects it's ridiculous so I was determined to get one done while everyone was napping today. I made this fun pinwheel wreath. It was super easy to make and only took about 20 minutes. I used a foam wreath from the dollar store and some scrapbook paper that Jeff's mom gave me so it was a cheap project too! I plan on making a few more to give out as gifts and one to hang in Andie's room. You can find a tutorial for them here : http://www.creativekristi.com/2010/08/last-summer-project.html

My Karate Kid....

2010-08-28T14:45:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to the movies and Kaleb won a free week of karate lessons. He was so excited! Yesterday was his first lesson and he absolutely LOVED it! He is so proud of the t-shirt and headband they gave him.

Of course he had to do a silly face like daddy always does.

Here he is practicing some of his moves.....

Sitting up straight and saying " Yes I can!"

Showing off some more moves.....

I had a blonde moment and forgot to put the memory card in my camera :( So I took these from my phone. I wish I was able to get some more pictures but we'll give it another try next week.

After the lesson we sat down to go over prices and things to decide if I wanted to sign him up for it once the free week is finished. Let's just say I about had a heart attack when he told me how much it is. Lucky for Kaleb he was nice enough to extend his free week into a free month so he will get to go 2 days a week throughout September. I think he is going to have a great time with it and I hope that he's able to learn a little discipline!

2010-08-26T19:44:00.001-07:00

This is all it takes to cheer me up after a rather long and very disappointing day......

It's impossible to look at these 2 cuties without a smile on your face!

My Life Just Got A Whole Lot Easier!

2010-08-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I complained on facebook about ironing Jeff's school uniforms. It takes me over 2 hours to iron a weeks worth of clothes. That is a LONG time for someone who hates ironing as much as I do! Well lucky for me I have 2 of the best cousins in the world! Today I received a Rowenta Steamer in the mail from them. It was seriously like Christmas morning for me! I can't wait to break it out of the box tomorrow and put it to work. I've never used one before but I hear they are amazing!

And as if that wasn't enough Mandi sent me her beloved "Cabbage Patch Dreams" cassette tape. I can't believe she would part with it :) I have very fond memories of sitting with her in her room and listening to the Cabbage Patch theme song. You know the one...."Cabbage Patch Kids, growing in the garden, Cabbage Patch kids, growing in the sun, And the most amazing thing about a Cabbage Patch Kid, is that each one grows to be a special one."

So THANK YOU! Dusty and Mandi for making my life a little bit easier and for the trip down memory lane. Love you both!

I must make these!!!!!!!!

2010-08-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Aren't these the most adorable baby shoes you have ever seen? These are the kind of things that make me squeal with delight when I am searching craft blogs. Andie may be too big for them but I am making a pair 1st thing tomorrow. I just have to! Check out the tutorial over at "I Design" : http://jaclyndesigns.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-baby-booties.html

Taking a Break

2010-08-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon we decided we needed to escape the heat for a bit. We have spent most of the summer cooped up inside since it's so hot you can barely breath outside! We thought we would drive up to Mt. Charelston and take a picnic lunch. We drove around for a while just taking in the beautiful scenery, stopped at the lodge and walked around the gift shop and then

we headed up the canyon and found a perfect picnic spot. You have to hike a little to get there but the weather was beautiful and it felt so good to be outside again.

The kids had a great time splashing in the stream!

The water was FREEZING!

Jeff managed to sneak in another goofy face.

Andie enjoyed a popsicle, mixed with a little dirt.

It was so nice to get out as a family and just be together. Life has been so crazy lately we haven't had much time to just sit and relax and enjoy eachother's company.

It's hard to believe that 6 months has gone by since Jeff started school. In a little over a year he will be doing his externship and we'll be deciding where we want to officially call "home". That's a little exciting and scary at the same time but I know that as long as I have my family by my side everything will be ok.

Another Adorable Play Kitchen

2010-08-12T12:45:00.001-07:00

I came across another adorable idea for a play kitchen today.

This one is so simple and perfect if you don't want a bulky plastic one taking up a lot of space in your house. You can use a tv tray, small table, or even a nightstand. So cute!

Head over to La-Dee-Da Creations to check it out: http://creationsbyladeeda.blogspot.com/2010/08/play-and-take-kitchen.html

Guess What's in My Oven

2010-08-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

I don't think my house has ever smelled so divine! Right now I have this Nectarine Brown Butter Buckle in my oven and I can't wait to taste it!Last week we got a HUGE box of nectarines from a friend. We don't have any canning supplies so we just made a bunch of freezer jam. We still had a lot of nectarines in the fridge and I would feel horrible throwing them away so I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and thought I would give it a try. I also cut up a bunch to freeze for smoothies. If you want to give the recipe a try you can find it here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/07/nectarine-brown-butter-buckle/

I'll report back and let you know how it turns out!

* Update: Turned out absolutely delicious! I would suggest eating it warm with some vanilla icecream!!!

Pawn Stars

2010-08-08T22:38:00.001-07:00

Any Pawn Star fans out there? We are! I watched it for the first time a few months ago with my dad and now I am hooked. Jeff is too. We DVR it anytime it's on and watch it almost every night when we get in bed. It's amazing to see the things people will pawn and even more amazing what things are worth!

My little sisters love watching it with our dad too. When they were here a couple weeks ago we decided to take them down to the strip so they could see the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in real life. They were so excited! They were a little disappointed that they didn't get to see Chumlee or any of the guys that are on the show but they were still very excited. We got to see a lot of the items that have been featured on the show.

The coke machine behind them was featured in an episode. They had it completely restored and back to it's original condition. It was beautiful. (We're big Coca Cola fans too) We saw several other items that have been shown on TV including an old airplane propeller and a cannon.

If you want to check it out tune into the History Channel Monday nights!

2010-08-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

My little sisters came for a visit this week and we had a great time. This was their first trip to Las Vegas and the longest they have ever been away from home. What a fun filled but exhausting week! Here are some of the fun things we did....
{Facials}

{Sight-seeing}

{M&M World}

(They were not exactly happy that I made them take this picture)

{Circus Circus}

We had a great time playing games, snacking on yummy food and watching the clown and acrobat perform!

2010-07-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Now that I am babysitting and the kids are entertaining each other I have had a lot more time to get some sewing done. I have so many half finished projects laying around and I am so excited to finally get to finish some of them.

Andie got this stroller for her birthday last year and it was destroyed within a couple weeks. I just made this new cover for it and love how it turned out. My goal has been to use up all the fabric I already have before I buy anymore. I got a bunch of this fabric at the free yard sale that our church had a while back.
Kaleb still refuses to sleep in his own bed so I put a sleeping bag for him on our floor every night. He has a Mario stuffed animal that he got a couple years ago when he had surgery. He absolutely loves it and sleeps with it every night. I thought it would be fun to make Mario his own sleeping bag. I used fabric that I had left over from a rag quilt that I made years ago and I even had a zipper left over from Halloween costumes.

I have been trying to decorate Andie's room with out spending any money. I had a new twin size sheet that I had bought a while ago at the D.I.

I cut it up and made a crib sheet using the tutorial I found here:

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-crib-and-toddler-bed-sheets.html
I also made a pillow case to match it.

I used the rest of the sheet and made a valance for her window. Since we are renting I can't hang curtain rods. The top part of our blinds are removable so I took it off and ran a small bead of hot glue along the edge. That way once we move I can remove the valance without damaging anything.

My little sisters are here visiting for the week so today we are going to work on some more crafty projects. I am going to make a sleeping bag for Emma's stuffed horse, some Christmas ornaments, baby doll quilts for our nieces and who knows what else!

Birthday Fun

2010-07-28T21:34:00.001-07:00

Here's a little more of the fun we had on Jeff's birthday and throughout the weekend. Above is a picture of the cupcakes I made. I "borrowed" the picture in the previous post because I thought they looked a little bit better than mine. This one actually looks pretty good though.

So on Saturday Jeff had to work. His sister and her family came down to visit so we got to do a little shopping and hang out with them for a bit. Sunday we met my grandparents and picked up my little sisters. They have been in St. George for a week and now they are staying a week with us. They were excited to be here to celebrate Jeff's birthday.
Sunday night Jeff made an amazing meal. We splurged a little and got some crab legs and veal steaks which he cooked to perfection. He also made me some delicious green beans, bread, potatoes and brownies for desert! The pictures never do his food justice!

I love my husband but some times I wish he would take a serious picture! I'm sure this drove his mom crazy when he was younger too. So many family photos have him making a silly face like this! (And notice I couldn't get all the candles to light and he was bugged that they were dripping wax on his yummy brownies, so only a couple are lit)

This is one of the gifts I made him. I found this idea here at Homemade By Jill:

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2010/06/root-beer-sampler-happy-fathers-day.html

Jeff loves rootbeer so I wanted to do a sampler with a bunch of different ones. I had a hard time finding them individually though and I didn't want to have to buy that many cases of rootbeer. So I decided to do a soda sampler. It included Joe's Cola, Virgil's Rootbeer and Orange Cream Soda, Oogave Rootbeer, Death Valley Black Cherry Soda and a few others. I found them all at Whole Foods. He absolutely loved it!

Like Jill, I made a chart that showed what kind of sodas were in the crate. I didn't get quite as fancy as she did but it's nice to have so he doesn't have to take each soda out to choose one that he wants.

Overall he had a great birthday. He deserves it more than anyone I know. He has worked very hard this year to support our family and chase his dream and I couldn't be more proud!

French Toast Cupcakes

2010-07-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today my adorable little hubby turned 28! He had to work 2 shifts at Costco today so we won't technically be celebrating it until tomorrow but I wanted to have a nice breakfast made for him when he got home this morning. Breakfast is NOT my specialty so I wanted to do something easy but different. I came across this recipe for French Toast Cupcakes and wanted to give them a try. They turned out pretty tasty if I may say so and they got the approval of Chef Jeff which is always a plus! Here is the link if you want to give them a try! http//www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/story/French-Toast-cupcakes-with-Maple-Buttercream/cSqpExlmhECf-BG6fTO1wA.cspx

My Big Boy

2010-07-22T18:06:00.001-07:00

Here's one more picture from the trip we went on a couple weeks ago. Jeff's dad has always called Kaleb "Big Boy". A couple years ago he went to California and brought back a Bob's Big Boy bank for Kaleb which looks exactly like this statue. While driving home from Winnemucca we spotted this in Tonopah, Nevada. We thought it was funny since there isnt a Bob's Big Boy there. It's just in front of an old run down motel. Kaleb was so excited and had to have his picture taken with him!

Changing Things Up....

2010-07-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

I got on here today and realized that my background was about to expire. I figured it was time to change things up a little and try to do something new. Well, my lack of computer skills got the best of me and I ended up messing my blog up pretty bad! There were things everywhere and out of order and I couldn't figure out how to fix it or get it back to how it was before. So I ended up deleting a bunch of things and just going with a simple layout and background. I was originally trying to do 3 columns and make it look all fancy like everyone else but I failed, big time! However, I am thinking I kind've like this simple look. I am sure over time I will add more to it but for now I am just going to enjoy the hummingbirds. They hold a special place in my heart. My Great Grandma Ruth loved hummingbirds. She had a back porch that went along the whole back of her house and she had a bunch of hummingbird feeders on it. I used to love to sit at her kitchen table and watch them fluttering and drinking from the feeder. We would leave school and go to her house for lunch and she would make us cream tuna on toast and green jello. If we were lucky she would share her O'Boise chips with us. They were the best!
So for now, I hope you enjoy my hummingbirds. I am going to try to start posting more frequently. I have been working on a lot of crafts and projects lately and would love to show them off if you all don't mind.

A Decision Has Been Made!

2010-07-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

What? It's only July you say? Well here in the Terry home we like to plan ahead. Way ahead! Kaleb has been talking about this Halloween pretty much since November 1st last year! He has had his heart set on going as Alvin and the Chipmunks. I wasn't too thrilled about putting a whole lot of work into costumes this year but I have been trying to come up with a plan to get the costumes started. Well today I was searching online for some ideas and Kaleb spotted an M&M costume. His mind was changed in an instant. He now insists on being the green m&m. And yes I am fully aware that the green one is a girl but try explaining that to a 3 year old! So I found this pattern and I am thrilled at how much easier these costumes will be!

Last Halloween was fun because all of my family came to St. George to celebrate with us. We had a blast! This year we get to celebrate with them again in Winnemucca. We will be having a baby shower for my sister on October 30th and then we will go to the church trunk-or-treat that night. We should have a lot of extended family there as well so it should be a great time!

On another note I have a lot of little craft projects in the works. I have been wanting to post pictures so hopefully I will get around to doing it this week. I haven't done much to Andie's room since we moved here so I have been trying to decorate it a little without spending any money. It has actually worked out pretty well. I am amazed at all the things I have laying around that I can re-purpose and turn into something cute. So far I have made her a sheet and pillowcase set, a valance for her window, and I am also working on a cute picture for her wall. Lets hope I can finish most of it soon and then I will share pictures of the finished product.