wackycathy

Securemama is BACK!

2012-02-10T08:00:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been a while, but YES I have a new post on my securemama site. www.securemama.com. It's a site to raise awareness about Internet Safety and give adults the tools to keep their kids safe on the computer and Internet. I am hoping to get this going again. If you like it, tell your friends. If you have a request for a certain topic, leave a comment here or on the site.

Here's the latest post - How to secure an iTouch, iPhone for kids and Teenagers.

Impromptu Photoshoot

2012-02-03T10:36:00.001-08:00

I needed to switch out pictures in my picture frames. My original idea was to have the kids hold wooden hearts for Valentines day. But ... since it was February 2nd, I just took their Portrait. I have very good afternoon light in our family room. (Thanks Bountiful windstorm!) I put two king size sheets on the couch opposite to the window. It was kind of crazy and I didn't get a shot of all four kids (I don't know if that is possible). Maybe I could try and switch heads on photoshop.

I started by bribing "Who wants a Doughnut?" (They really wanted a doughnut after seeing a segment on 'The Chew' about doughnuts). It was hard but it only took a half hour. AND I did make good on my promise and against reason bought doughnuts for the kids right before dinner.

I kept using my LONG experience of watching America's Next Top Model to help them have a good smile. Phillip kept having a goofy smile. In a moment of weakness I said, "Think of Money!" You can see the delight in his eyes below. Lily and Amelia I kept saying, "Beautiful!" "Princess" "Gorgeous!" and this then got Lily motivated to take more pictures. She got different outfits and had her own photo shoot.

I'm glad to capture their cute smiles along the way!

January 2012

2012-01-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy month of eating, sleeping, napping, & resting for both me and Henrie. I was glad to get a bunch of meals when Henrie was 3 weeks old. I got back into cooking and had the crazy idea to cook 10 pounds of pork. Ha! I had 5 pounds of Cuban pork and 5 pound of Cafe Rio pork. I think I prefer the Cuban. Here's the recipe. I think I was craving the Cuban food that we ate when we went to Florida! Very good!

Mouth of babes update - the kids have been saying funny things lately!

Amelia - Pete was talking to Amelia and said, "Amelia, are you my sweet sweet baby?" and Amelia in a decibel which she can only reach screamed, "I AM NOT YOUR SWEET BABY!!."

Amelia likes to play pretend with her dollies. Since I'm usually sitting on the couch feeding the baby I started playing pretend with the girls with my hand. Now she has taken to the idea and I catch her playing with her hands. The right hand is 'The Mommy' and her left had is the baby or "honey."

Lily - Lily was playing with one of her babies and started saying "this little piggie"

"This little piggie went to the store, This little piggie went to Costco, This little piggie went to Cathy Rio, This little piggie went to get pizza, and this little piggie had none." (very telling of what we have been eating lately!

Phillip - Phillip is still very inclined to build a mine shaft in our back yard. He is going to dig for gold to pay for his mission. He has drawn plans. A very accurate arial view of our back yard. He has a 12 step plan with a picture of each activity (1. Wait for Summer 2. Dig with my tools 3. Use Daddy's tools to dig deeper etc.) Phillip kept asking how much a mission costs. I guess he's trying to budget his future gains from our back yard. He ended up coming up with $50,000. He said that he would get $50,000 worth of gold in the back yard. However, by the time he goes on a mission gold will be worth 3 times as much, so he will share his money with other people. Here is his list of Beneficiaries: Poor People, Lily, Amelia, Henrie, and Grandpa Olsen. He will only give me and Pete a "Little Bit" because we don't really care about money.

Henrie - He reminds me a lot of how Phillip was. He often has a concerned look on his face. I guess he is trying to figure out this world as soon as he can.

Me - I keep spending too much time on Pinterest. I decided I should share one of my tips this month is an easy salad dressing recipe. See below.

What cute kids! Manufactured pose!

Natural Chaos!

Cute little kids! I feel like I have so many kids! I have to use the red-eye remover on 8 cute little eyes!

The girls playing "This little Piggie" with their Opa. They will have to share their new version.

Girls playing in the snow. It has been a dry month and we finally have snow on the ground. I have enjoyed having the warmer weather!

Easy salad dressing: Use an almost empty mustard jar. 1/3 vinegar (red wine, balsamic, regular) 2/3 Olive oil, 1 TBS of honey, salt and pepper. Shake and you are done!

Henrie Update

2012-01-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

So Henrie is more than 2 weeks old now! Can't believe it's only that much time! It seems he has always been a part of our family.

He is our 'Three-Pete." Phillip is sometimes referred to as 'Re-Pete' and this little guy reminds me a LOT of Phillip. He often has a furrowed brow as he is trying to figure out the world.

I have some great care-takers. Phillip held the baby for about a half hour yesterday as I was making dinner. I had to make sure the baby smelled o.k. because Phillip couldn't stand the smell of a messy diaper. Amelia has filled up bottles for him, full of tang, water, whatever she can find. A few times she has tried to 'feed' him. Lily asks to hold him first thing in the morning and patiently waits by me as I feed him for her turn. Overall, I would say he has a calm personality and such a great addition to the family.

Thank you to everyone who has sent presents and well-wishes! He is a cute little guy!

Presents made for the new baby (A car made out of stickers).

Wide awake and soaking it all in.

Henrie's biggest fans!

Happy Lucky Seven Anniversary!

2011-12-31T16:50:00.001-08:00

Has it really been 7 years?!! I like the picture above because I of course trip down the stairs at the exit of the Salt Lake temple.

We went to The Roof restaurant and had a great view of the Salt Lake Temple. We were also able to see the Mormon Tabernacle concert.

The most romantic gifts ever ... For me .. Gnomeo and Juliet. I'm already a yard 'accessory' collector and this takes it to a WHOLE 'Nother LEVEL!

For Pete .. In concert with the BEST singer song writer of ALL TIMES. Neil Diamond here we come!

Bountiful Wind Storm

2011-12-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

There were record wind speeds a week after Thanksgiving (95 mph in Bountiful!). The windstorm made national news! KSL article. We were without power for 44 hours. It was amazing how much we rely on electricity! Good thing I had a smart phone or else I would have felt REALLY cut off. Our heater uses gas, but the blower uses electricity. So we didn't have heat and our house quickly dropped to about 55 degrees that first night. Pete got the kitchen fire going and we had it up to about 67 by the time we went to bed. I went to my parents the next day and slept over my sister-in-laws house that night. My mom was on her stake emergency preparedness committee and gives us emergency prepardness items for christmas. We did pull out the 1,000 hour candle and the solar powered emergency radio.

The power came back on and we were SO glad to be back at home. But it didn't stop there. Our street alone lost 16 50-year-old trees. Pete was out all day Saturday and even Sunday cleaning up fallen trees and branches. They canceled church so that there would be more time for cleanup before another possible storm. Deseret article on the Sunday clean-up.

So did we get any damage? Yes, our 25ft flag pole that was staked in the ground by 36 strands of christmas lights snapped in half. You can see in the picture that the deer and santa look like a war zone. We tried to salvage what we could, but the ground was already frozen and we couldn't stake anything new into the ground. It was sad because there were a lot of people showing up to our house for a show. It will be up and going next year!!

I think what I learned from the wind storm and power outage how quickly circumstances can change with a disaster (this was a small one). We did go out and buy a generator prior to the second storm because we didn't want to have to leave our house again. We still had gas and running water, so we'll have to think through our recovery strategy for both of those!

Christmas Decor

2011-12-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

So, I am a little crazy ... or maybe a LOT crazy ...

When we were starting to talk to contractors for our exterior remodel I got REALLY excited when they said we could vault the ceiling in the Living room. Pete saw the glint and my eyes and knew it meant only one thing ... I was imagining a BIGGER Christmas tree.

Well, it required removing the roof, one custom curved steel beam and new dry wall, roof, etc .. and our Living room was ready for my new TREE!

By Day ...

By Night ...

I didn't get a picture of all of our trees. Here's my entry from last year. The only changes were we added another tree for Amelia (a PURPLE tree!). I also created a Jim Henson Wreath. It's already put away, but I'm tempted to get it out of the cover to get a picture of it. Ah well, we'll have to wait until next year. We also had a Christmas Carnival display with a Circus train. Again, I'll post a video next year!

Shelf of German Junk!

A new shelf to display Nutcrackers, matryoshkas, and nativities GALORE!

I only got this video of the Christmas Light show display. Sadly, our light show was only up for a week because of the wind storm. Excuse the background sniffles, I had a cold when I shot the video and meant to retake it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-12-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

I realize why I have been slacking with my blog ... we were really busy this Fall!

Thanksgiving was a LOT of fun. I think looking at the pictures it was more fun now than at the time. Both Pete and I had come down with a really bad cold, but we went ahead and showed up at family functions .. tried not to get anyone else sick.

Pete and Phillip got to have two football games. One in the morning after breakfast with the Olsens, and one at a park with the Wirthlin family. The Thanksgiving meal was great as always. I made the southern sweet potato casserole, apple pie, and 'my' green bean casserole. It's funny how you get 'type cast' with certain dishes.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to Breakfast with Santa! The kids loved it! Phillip especially LOVED it! He kept saying, "This is the best breakfast ever!" I think because he could have as much bacon as he wanted .. 11 pieces. My favorite part was the hot chocolate bar (there was REAL chocolate in it), the Santa photo shoot where they gave me the digital image (Christmas card RESCUE!), and really fancy coke bottles. I kept asking for more, then later explained to the waiter that I wanted to add the coke bottles to my coke Christmas tree!

Happy Rainbow Party Pete!

2011-12-31T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, Amelia and Lily couldn't decide on a 'color' for Pete's birthday party theme. They decided he needed ALL of the colors! Thus, the "Rainbow Birthday Party" for Pete. I think I went a little overboard, but Pete was a good sport.

We went to St. George over Pete's birthday weekend. It was a great day of hanging out at Becca and Paul's house. Becca was cooking non-stop all weekend. It was a very relaxing weekend. We even went to the "Glitter Hole" which is a pit of gypsum. The kids got to collect the 'glittery' rock.

My Purple Girl! Amelia!

2011-12-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

Amelia came up with her own Birthday theme this year. It was a PURPLE birthday party! (Weeks prior she kept changing the color, but I was able to get her to stick to one color). I think Amelia's purple designation started this spring when I got Lily & Amelia easter outfits, Lily=Pink Amelia=Purple. It's kind of translated to their room decor (pink and purple christmas trees), slippers, and piggy banks, etc. When asked, "whose birthday is it?" she would say, "My purple birday pawdee!!"

Amelia is a good little helper. It's amazing what she is able to do on her own. She is very ARTISTIC! She can wield a sharpie like no other. She did cover our couches, walls, end tables with her original art. Below is a picture of her all tuckered out after coloring my bathroom with lip and eye liner. She has a determined independent spirit. Her new saying is, "I do it MYSELF!"

Amelia, Lily, and their cousins Brinklee and Bryndee are all in purple dresses! I would like to say that I made the dresses myself.. but no .. Pete's mom made the dresses and the girls all wanted to wear them for the party!

Christmas Recap

2011-12-27T12:52:00.001-08:00

What a GREAT christmas we had! It was so sweet to have a brand new baby at home over Christmas. I was feeling pretty good and the kids were SO excited to have their baby brother home. Below is a picture of the kids SHOWERING Henrie with love. Phillip told me that he didn't want anything for christmas because he already got what he wanted ... a baby brother. But, on Christmas eve, he decided he wanted more ;-)

We went to Pete's Parents house for dinner, nativity, singing with the bells and much more fun! Henrie was the perfect baby Jesus.

It was nice to have everything done before the baby was born. I went to bed on Christmas eve at midnight! (it's usually 1 or 2 AM). Santa was nice enough to leave a note for the kids. You could tell it was from Santa because the edges were burned.

Phillip's Favorite part was "the whole entire day." When asked for specifics, he said, "EVERYTHING, I liked EVERYTHING about christmas." I think he was pretty excited to get the Nintendo Wii. It was an impulse buy, but Phillip and Pete played Lego Indiana Jones for 2 and half hours without noticing the time go by!

Lily's favorite part was when she opened presents, and Daddy opened presents, and everyone had their OWN presents. She said when opening a present, "OH Daddy you are SO Sweet!"

Amelia's favorite part was her big and little Lalaloopsy. When asked before christmas she would say, "My favowate pawt is TEENY TINY Lalaloopsy!!"

My favorite part was that both Pete and I gave each other foot baths. I know we are both a little weird, but at least we think alike!

Pete's favorite part was just staying home and being lazy with the family. First time we have stayed home on Christmas day and it was GREAT! I think we will also continue with my last minute meal plan. French Onion Soup and Fondue for dinner. It is comfort food, but it doesn't take too much effort to prepare.

I didn't get too many photographs this year, but I guess that means I was enjoying myself too much! Enjoy!

The kids and their early Christmas present!

Lily & Santa Henrie on Christmas Day

Amelia and her favorite item from Santa from her Stocking.

Phillip enjoying his Matchbox Race Track

Lily and all her new princesses, and Tangled bookshelf.

His and Hers Foot Bath!

Henrie, tired after a long day of sleeping and eating, had to sack out on the couch next to Homer.

Welcome Henrie!

2011-12-21T07:23:00.001-08:00

We are pleased to announce the birth of Henrie McEntire Olsen.

He weighed 6 pounds and 10 oz, 19 inches.

He looks a lot like Phillip as a baby. A little peanut!

I have most of the day with the baby, me, and my iPad. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to catch up on the happenings since October!

Halloween Party

2011-10-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm glad to say we successfully hosted our 4th Annual Halloween Family Party. It was a blast!

There was dancing! -- Here's Pete wearing Emily's Mortisha wig. It makes him look like a Hare Krishna!

There was a photo booth! Here are the kids enjoying the spotlight! Once there were more than 5 in the picture, everyone wanted to be in!

Of course apple bobbing and doughnuts on a string.

Fun costumes GaLORE! I like Pete's Yoda back-pack!

Minnie Mouse and a green M&M!

And the food! The skeleton was a cute idea for about 5 minutes. I kept on having to replace arms and legs. Within 10 minutes into the party it was a cutting board full of body parts.

Penny's Halloween bark. Thank you Pinterest!

So I don't have pictures of two of the highlights .. the Halloween show! I'll have to post a video soon! It was a rush to get the show together this year because it was raining all week until the day of the party!

Spook Alley! - The spook alley was even BETTER this year! WE had the "Dead Janitors" (one of the grandkids came up with that) in our heating closet ... Some talking skulls inside R2D2. Black lights, fog, strob lights, brains and eyeballs. The best part was we had one of the older grandkids dress up in a skeleton costume. You didn't notice the skeleton on the couch. while the kids touched the eyeballs and brains, the skeleton would get off the couch and scream at them! Pete was the skeleton the first couple of rounds. Phillip walked through the spook alley and was telling his cousins he wasn't scared. But when Pete scared them out of the spook alley, Phillip was freaked out. Phillip said, "DAD!! did you know there was a SKELETON in THERE!?

Not to give away any surprises, but I want to try these for next year ..

Glowing water

Dry Ice bubbles

The biggest miracle was that we had the house clean and babysitter ready within 12 hours. Here's a Picture of Pete and me at the M&M store on the Vegas Strip!

Happy Birthday to WackyCathy

2011-10-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I realized it is the 5 year anniversary to my blog! CRAZY!! Maybe I started the blog during the first week of October as a way to stretch out the celebration of my BIRTHDAY! hahahaha!

When I started the blog it was BEFORE Facebook. I think there was Friendster and MySpace, but I didn't really want to put my info on those sites. I started it mainly to stay in touch with friends and family. It now is probably the best source for a family history.

So what's happened in the last 5 years!!?

Lived it up in California

Moved to Utah and lived here for 4 years now!

Welcomed, Lily, Amelia, and now expecting little boy #4

Phillip started Kindergarten

House Projects GALORE

Cooking GALORE

Vacations: Disneyland, Disney World, Hawaii, San Diego, Michigan, Arizona

Lots of funny stories and pictures of the kids.

Here are some of my favorite posts:

Backyard Decathlon

Mother with Style

Family of Deer in Backyard

Fall Preparations & Birthday Week!

2011-10-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the fall! Probably because my birthday is in October. Growing up in a big family, I felt really special that I had the month of October all to myself. It was MY birthday MONTH!! Well, Phillip's birthday is a week and half before, Amelia's birthday is now 2 weeks after, so I get to relish my BIRTHDAY WEEK!!

I LOVE canning grape juice. It's SO EASY! You pick the grapes, wash them, put them in the juicer and fill the mason jar. My sister made grape juice this year and kept calling me for help. I couldn't answer many of her questions ... hmmm.. I finally realized why I LOVE making grape juice. It's because Pete does ALL THE WORK and I get ALL THE CREDIT!! Yesterday I was at work and I came home and Pete had already processed 17 quarts of grape juice. I did help with picking grapes, but our final total of 31 quarts of grape juice was juiced, processed and mess cleaned by Pete.

Our Halloween decorating is in full swing. Here is the latest picture of our mantel. Again, Pete pulled out all of the decorations. I did make some of the gourds a few years ago, but I don't know if they would see the light of day if it wasn't for Pete! He even picked up dinner for the rest of the week from Costco! What a great way to start my Birthday WEEK!

Now my only problem is to decide which halloween crafts/treats I want to get done for our family Halloween party. I'm addicted to Pinterest and I have 67 pins on my Halloween board. YIKES!!

Shiver me timbers! Phillip is 6!

2011-09-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe Phillip is already 6 years old! He has been counting down to his birthday since probably May. I had a countdown app on my phone and got the alarm today that he is turning 6! His official countdown started about 3 weeks ago .. every morning, "Dad, only 21 more days until my BIRTHDAY!" "Dad, only 20 more days until my BIRTHDAY!"

Phillip is such a great little guy. I don't know how we got so lucky. He is very obedient little guy. As long as he knows the rules and the reason behind them he will not break the rule. The problem is that he keeps me to the same standard. "MOM!! Remember only ONE treat at the grocery store!!" ... "MOM! you forgot to close the door!" "MOM!! you need to put your shoes away"

Favorite Phillip quotes:

"Mom how does the money go to Jesus? Does it go in space?" (I think he was wondering how his tithing money is spent)

Phillip was asking Pete a lot of questions after Pete got off work. ("what's the tallest point on earth? What's the deepest part of the ocean? What lives there?) Pete said he was tired and needed a break. Phillip said, "but DAD, I'm just little and I want to LEARN!"

Phillip wanted some bigger bills in his wallet. He had just gotten six ones in a wallet from his Grandma and Grandpa. So we traded him a five for five ones. Then Phillip had a big smile on his face. "Dad, guess what I want for Christmas?!" "What?"

"TWO BIG BAGS full of MONEY". Pete and I started cracking up. He didn't like that we were laughing. He said, "I'm SERIOUS!! and I don't just want one dollars. I want all kinds of money, 100's 20's .. all different kinds of money." I told him he could ask his grandparents for that for christmas. :-) I asked him why he wanted money and he said, "You can buy ANYTHING with a hundred dollars" "Even a house?" "yeah, I could even buy my own house, but I'll live next door. "

So we had a few talks on the matter and a few days ago he told Lily, "Christmas isn't about getting money. It's about getting one toy that you really want." Baby steps I guess! ;-)

BTW, Pinterest has helped me in more ways that one. I think I used 4 ideas from the site:

Invitation, Balloons, cake, goodie bags.

Crafting with Cathy - Indian Corn Wreaths

2011-09-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just joined Pinterest yesterday. I'm OBSESSED! All of those fun ideas, crafts, and all of that great food .. so little time!

Well, it inspired me to actually FINISH some of my craft ideas. I got a big box of mini indian corn from .. where else? a yard sale for one dollar. This box has been moving from the upstairs and downstairs .. then back downstairs .. until I finally got the stuff to finish it. I glue gunned it. All of the blogs said to use floral wire, but that was going to take FOREVER. So, I don't know how this will store. It's big and I have to wrap it to keep it away from potential rodents. But for here and now I HAVE A CRAFT!!

End of Summer - Beginning of School

2011-08-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

So another September month is upon us! I need to do a quick re-cap of the Summer.

I posted it on Facebook, but YES, we will have another BOY! Due date is December 20th. Phillip was so excited and said, "I'm going to bring my baby brother EVERYWHERE!" Lily and Amelia are excited as well. The kids have moved to their 'someday' beds and the baby's nursery is now ready.

Swimming Lessons! I was kind of crazy and signed up the kids for 3 sessions of swimming lessons. The hard work paid off and Phillip is on his way to the 'Learn to Swim' class. Both Lily and Phillip are pretty comfortable in the water and can 'swim' about 15 feet. I use quotation marks because they sometimes look like they are drowning when they are swimming. Good job guys! Amelia enjoyed walking around the indoor track during lessons.

Going up to the Cabin - we got to spend some time at Pete's parents cabin. Phillip and Lily decided they wanted to do some 'homework' before they went to bed.

Clowning around at home! Look at Phillip's trick! It reminds me of me and my brother and sisters growing up. We were always 'climbing' the walls. Amelia has a knack for artwork .. on the walls, cushions, and especially herself. The kids favorite craft this summer is painting rocks. We now have some great brightly colored rocks to match our gnome garden.

Take kids to work day! My laptop wasn't working on a day off and I asked the kids ... "who wants to go to Mommy's work?" They all wanted to come! It was pretty hilarious to see how people's heads would turn as I am corralling 3 little kids with 1 on the way. They did have fun spinning in the chair! Notice the hello-kitty toaster with toast shaped paper. Pretty Awesome!

First day of School! I can't believe Phillip is in school already. I cried after I dropped him off. He's getting so big! He has loved the first week of school and it has been fun walking him to school every morning.

The BIG Reveal!

2011-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

MOVE THAT BUS!!!

Just like the Extreme Home Makeover, I've waited to post a picture until it was done.

But here it is! Our Craftsman Cottage!

I am really excited how it turned out. It was nerve racking when we started demo-ing the house. Pete was VERY tense when we didn't have a roof in our living room. It turned out better than I had thought it would.

Below is a before picture of the house. I kept getting nervous because it did look good before .. but I LOVE how it looks now.

Here are the kids enjoying the new walkway. Pete got me the rocking chairs and porch swing for Easter and Mother's day. I think he realizes they are VERY expensive because it made me want to do this project even MORE.

Here is our living room with the barrel vault ceiling. I LOVE it. It is so peaceful to sit in the living room and look out the window. Pete loves how our living rooms stays fairly clean. Despite what is going on in the rest of the house .... there is at least ONE room of order. And yes, I was mostly excited to put a 12 foot christmas tree in this room come Christmas time.

This is the first time that we had a contractor. It was actually nice this time since this was a tricky project with city codes, structural changes, etc. They did a great job!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Another 4th of July weekend as come and gone. I really enjoyed this weekend because I got to do all of my favorite activities and they were spaced over a few days.

Friday: Centerville Bike Parade

Even though it can get a little hot, the kids LOVE to be part of the kids bike parade in Centerville. They have a fair with bounce machines, food stands at the park afterwards and fireworks. It usually is a late night for the kids but the fireworks make it worth the wait! Most of the night is spent lounging in camp chairs or laying on a blanket hanging out with family. Here is a great 'Blarbing' picture:

Above: Lily's First year riding a bike on her own. She went the whole way! YAY!

Below: Amelia is Queen of Sheba in the wagon that Pete pulled.

Neighborhood Breakfast - Monday Morning

This breakfast is an act of love for any of those who are in charge of food prep. Pete's parents were at the church at 5:30 AM to start cooking the eggs and sausage. I was glad that this weekend we had a good two day breather to just stay home and do projects.

Neighborhood parties

We had two parties this weekend with good food, friends and lots of fun for the kids. I wanted to make cupcakes. Thanks to Pete, he made the cupcakes Sunday night when I was too tired. It's not a holiday without some cute cupcakes!

Tonight we are lighting off fireworks at a neighbors house. I bought the newly legal aerial fireworks and Pete doesn't want to shoot them off by our house since we are almost done with our remodel. I'll upload some pictures of our house when it is ALL DONE. I was tempted to post a quick picture .. but I will wait for the BIG REVEAL! ;-)

I'm grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy to live in such a great country. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Nesting!

2011-06-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

Doesn't our living room look really nice with a view of the sky?!! I had to post a picture of our living room today as we are in the middle of another renovation.

My other announcement is that I am 15 weeks pregnant! wahooooo!! I will be due December 20th. I'll find out what I am having in about 5 weeks.

Pete's parents commented that we are usually in the middle of a big remodel while I'm pregnant (lily - Kitchen, family room; Amelia - Basement). Now with baby #4 we are modifying the look of our exterior and vaulting our living room ceiling. My kind of nesting! Below is a picture of the plans.

Today they pulled off the roof to get it ready for the eyebrow window and barrel-vault ceiling. Pete is freaking out and I am really excited!

Here's another cute picture of the kids. We had a huge downpour on the way to church. Phillip and Lily looked so cute walking into church with their rain gear. Phillip picked out his bow tie and wanted to wear a pencil behind his ear to complete the look. Pretty funny kid!

In process of submitting to AFV

2011-06-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is a really funny video I took last February of Lily dancing at DI. She had taken her skirt off and found some bright red shoes. I think the soggy diaper completes the look. By popular demand .. I am in the process of submitting this to America's Funniest Home Videos (AFV). HA!!! enjoy!

Hill Air force Base Museum

2011-06-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the kids to the Air Force museum today. It was a lot of fun! Phillip kept asking the veteran volunteers lots of questions. We got to sit in a helicopter. Amelia looked pretty cute next to one of the big planes outside. It's sad that we've lived here 4 years and this was our first visit. Definitely worth it!

Re-cap on the kids:

Phillip: He is enjoying more time at home playing and making up games. He finished up another season of T-ball. This year he chased the ball and got a few good hits right and left handed. He watched an episode about lice on Nova Science. He is obsessed with lice and now when he draws bad guys they usually have lice in their hair.

Lily: Lily is still as girly as ever. I loaded up on skirts and t-shirts for her this summer. I won't even try to put shorts on her. She has been walking around with a yellow and purple gift bag which was her purse. It was full of her treasures .. hair clipper guard to brush her dolly's hair, hello kitty tooth holder, and random dollies. She also LOVES to get into my make-up. The Stila under-eye all over her arms legs and face just doesn't look right, but to her she gets more and more beautiful the more she puts on!

Lily keeps saying, "This is the BEST DAY EVER!" She said this first when Pete let them sleep outside in a tent.

Amelia: Amelia and is talking and playing more and more everyday. I keep wondering what happened to my baby! Pete woke her up one day and said, "Amelia will you sing me a song?" She said, "DAddy Daddy ... PETE!! BUMBUM!!" It is not a family favorite. She also likes to do knock-knock jokes. This was my favorite, "Knock-knock" "who's there?" "Daddy" "Daddy Who?" "Daddy Daddy Bum-BUM!"

Phillip Graduates from Bountiful High! (pre-school)

2011-05-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Phillip has graduated from Bountiful High! Well, Bountiful High Pre-School. He'll wear the red gown again in what ... hmm... 13 years ... Class of 2024! I'm sure the time will continue to fly by. It seems like yesterday that he was just a little baby. Phillip has been going to the pre-school since I went back to work in 2007. Below is a picture that they took of him for a Mother's Day card. He's so little!

I can't say enough good things about the pre-school. The students and teachers go out of their way to make the little kids feel special and loved. The kids do a lot of fun crafts and activities .. I don't know how the teachers pull it off! The kids won't be going next year because I have cut back working to the point where it doesn't make sense to keep them enrolled. I will really miss everyone there!

Here is the recap of the end-of-year celebration!

Singing songs with Miss Jeri:

Amelia Joined in on the fun:

Spotlight on the graduating class from the pre-school. They each got to wear a gown, cap and got an engraved trophy.

Proud mom of her new graduate:

Bountiful High Triathlon: Each kid tossed a balloon to their parent (swimming) rode their bike around the track one lap, then ran one lap around the track. This has been a great tradition. Here is the triathlon with Amelia in my stomach, Lily in the stroller, and Phillip at 3 1/2 years old. Lily enjoyed doing it on her own this year. She was pretty good on the trike! Phillip completed the race after he "got his strength back."

Go Team!

Thank you Bountiful High for a great year!

Lay-over in Bountiful

2011-05-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

Suz raiding Pete's Grocery store in our storage room. Pudding anyone?

Suz was in Utah this weekend for the Ogden marathon. YAY Suz! I got to hang out with her today prior to her flight back home to Phoenix. Luckily she came after I had a get-together featuring some fun 'mock-tails'. We made virgin lava flow drinks. It's basically a margarita and pina colada mixed together. Here's a recipe. I didn't put in any rum. It was a great blarbing Sunday.

Quote of the day. Phillip walked up to me with a very serious face and said, "I'm smarter than you." I said, "you probably are." He said, "Yeah, because I have a fat brain and you have a skinny brain, so I am smarter." Suz asked Phillip if she was smarter. He paused for a moment and said, "You brain is skinnier, so I'm smarter."

Spring Baseball

2011-05-05T19:56:00.001-07:00

We had a great T-ball game today! It was 70 degrees, sunny, and breezy! Phillip has been having fun this second year of T-ball. He would get upset that some of the boys would field more balls. Phillip got a chance to play pitcher for an inning. He loved chasing for the ball ... even if one of his team members already got the ball. I'm a fair-weather-sport-watcher .. so it was nice to cheer on Phillip and enjoy the nice weather.

Phillip in ready position .. Coach Olsen in the background :-)

Phillip chasing the ball ...

Phillip grabing the ball ...

Phillip's Cheerleaders!

Easter Egg Hunts

2011-04-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

We went to the annual easter egg hunt in Mapleton. It was fun watching the kids rush around the yard with their cousins rushing to get eggs. Phillip has gotten into the 'egg hoarding' stage where he is worried about how many eggs he will get. (notice I could not get a picture of his face .. he was VERY determined). We were pretty close to getting in trouble for leaving all of the kids candy in Mapleton. Lily 'collects' eggs. She runs to get eggs, but doesn't seem too concerned about what she gets. Amelia is in the 'grab it, shake it, open it, eat it' stage. It was a great function and we had a chance to eat some great home-made bagels, cookies and blarb.

The kids had a short nap on the drive home and we went to another easter dinner and easter egg hunt at Pete's parents house. We told them not to expect us, but we came and were the last to leave! It's great to see family around the holidays!

Now I'm glad that the Easter Bunny has all of the baskets and treats ready!

Trip to the Zoo!

2011-04-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

It was April Fools and one of the first warm days this spring!

Here is a recap of our April Fools:

1st - Pete tipped over the table and set plates on an upside-down table. (this was my first clue that it was April Fools).

2nd - Pete went crazy with the Vaseline. I kept grabbing random handles all day long and getting caught with the nice feeling of sticky Vaseline. (side-note ... I did leave the Vaseline on the shower handle and Pete got stuck with it a day later! hahaha)

3rd - Pete told Phillip that he doesn't like BYU and only will route for Utah. Phillip was shocked!! April fools! Phillip reused this one a few times.

4th - I hid Pete's keys and phone in a crock pot and put ketchup packets in his coat. I wasn't very good at hiding my mischievousness!

5th - Pete wrote 'April Fool' on our bedroom mirror.

6th - Phillip played with my phone and happened to turn on the mute button. It wasn't intentional but it took me about a half hour to find my phone hidden in his bed covers!

It was great to get to the zoo. Below are some pictures. It quickly became a very crowded day at the zoo. Highlights were: seeing a chicken get a male peacock riled to the point of showing all of his feathers, seeing the Tigers walking around and actually swimming! The very best was to enjoy some sunshine and seeing the kids faces. Amelia loved seeing the animals and kept calling them 'Goggies!" We spent some time by the Peacock and Amelia has another word in her vocabulary, "Geegock!"

The things you can get at Costco!

2011-03-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

So it has been a year since I started tracking our spending at mint.com. I ran some quick queries to see where all of the money went. When I looked up the money that went to Costco ... it was EYE OPENING!!

I LOVE Costco. Where else can you walk out of the store with a king-sized mattress and a fountain diet coke? Where else can you buy a 3 year supply of ketchup and a wireless router? Needless to say, Costco has been my one-stop-shop. I would find any excuse to go to Costco ... um we are out of bread and I only like the Aspen-Mills brand .. got to go to Costco. I need cheese, I need paper towels ... the problem is that I ALWAYS leave with things that I don't need. Matching outfits for Lily & Amelia, large amounts of guacamole, quasi-healthy chips.

Well, I'm on a Costco diet right now. We are trying a milk delivery service. It's more expensive than the store, but I'm thinking I will end up saving money because it will keep me away from the store. So far I love it! I am also going to start getting the bountiful basket (www.bountifulbasket.org) every other week for produce.

It will be a good to send Pete for a few items and keep me away from that jungle gym set up high that is just taunting me!

Mommy Monster

2011-03-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Phillip came home with a 'Family Tree' journal from Joy School. I could not quit laughing! I asked, "Phillip is this a picture of me?" He said, "yeah" "Why am I so angry?" Phillip said, "oh yeah, that's a picture of a monster."

Whether he drew this as a picture of me or not, It's nice having a very honest insight from a 5-year-old.

First Yard Sale of the Season!

2011-03-11T11:13:00.001-08:00

Pete and I had a great day in the Sun at Canyons! We came upon a run that was called 'Yard Sale'!' Notice Pete is pointing to 'experts only' sign. Yes, it was a double black run, but it could have another meaning as well ... 'expert Yard Salers' only!

Do's and Don't's if yard saling.

1. Don't leave items unattended ... Even if you have paid for them! If you have to get a bigger car, leave someone with the stuff. If you have a pile of stuff .. keep someone buy it. Other 'expert' garage salers have bought and taken from our pile of 'treasures' many times! ;-)
2. Do get out there early. Early bird gets the best deal!
3. Don't forget to check in! Always have your cell phone with you in case a friend or neighbor calls you about the item that you might want.
4. Do make a wish list! And this is where I get philosophical ... Make a list of things you would like to find or get ... If you want, tell your fellow yard saler friends. Like Oprah says, put it out in the Universe and you will find it ... ;-)

5. Don't overspend or waste TOO much time! Keep a budget of time and money. Cash in hand is what you have to spend. Don't shop past 9:00 AM. Breaking either rule should have a REALLY good reason ;-)

6. Don't buy junk! If you won't use it or don't need it, it's not a good deal. However, someone's trash is another persons treasure. I say this to myself because I treasure SO MANY things! I think Pete and I are collectors of odd items and we have to stay clear of 'hoarding' ;-) My favorite thing to do to stop myself from hoarding is to surprise friends and family with some treasures: 5 foot tall stuffed Bugs Bunny and Yosemiti Sam, Playbill from Sigfried and Roy, Porcelain cat dressed in Victorian Clothes ... Treasures for sure!

Well, we are inching to yard sale season! May this be a good year of thrifting to you all!

Happy Birthday Lily!

2011-03-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

A little Belated, but I wanted to write a post about Lily's Birthday. Lily turned 3! I can't believe it! I bought Hello Kitty cupcakes for Amelia's 1-year-old birthday, and since October Lily wanted a Hello Kitty party for herself. I swear .. no persuasion by me .. well a little .. I LOVE Hello Kitty!

After the party Lily was playing with her dolly's and it was one of the dolls birthday and she said, "You need to get a big Heyo Kitty balloon." .. ok done. "then you have to get Hello Kitty cupcakes" .. ok. "then all the frwends sing happy birthday." It's great to see that she loved the party!

Lily has been our little princess since she was a baby. She always LOVES pretty sparkly things. She definitely has a sense of fashion that I will have to tread lightly as she gets older. I bought her some fleece outfits to wear this winter, but they haven't seen much action because she says, "NOT cozy clothes .. I want TIGHTS and a skirt!" They had pajama day at pre-school and the only way I got her to wear her pajamas was to do her hair, put on tights with a 'dress jammy.'

Lily loves to help me get ready and cook. It doesn't always turn out very good .. she rubbed my nice mascara all over her lips 5 minutes before church. She dumped a bunch a salt in a batch of pancakes. In the end, there's no harm done. My favorite is when she tries to pick out outfits for me. She hates my running shoes, "Not THOSE shoes mommy" then she'll get some ridiculous shoes that I still have that have a 5 inch heal "WEAR THESE!"

She has grown up so much! The night of her birthday she marched downstairs to her big-girl room and said she was going to sleep in her big-girl bed. She didn't stay there long, but I was amazed that in her head she thought, "I'm 3 now, I should sleep in my own room downstairs!"

Backyard Dacathlon!

2011-02-22T16:53:00.001-08:00

Another funny exercise video. This video makes me miss the Summer! Enjoy!

It's easier to watch in YouTube since it was shot in wide screen. Link

Counting

2011-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

So Phillip has figured out how to count past 100. He LOVES to count. I think the highest number he has counted to is 746! He will sometimes count in bed when he isn't very tired. He was excited when he learned to count by 5 and 10.

Today he wanted to count his piggy bank. This has been our house coin collection for about 4 years. We counted it together. $156.40 in quarters, nickels & dimes. $30 in paper money from Phillip's egg business. Pretty good for just extra change around the house.

Phillip kept trying to do eeny-meeny-miney-mo to decide which coins to give to Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Phillip's latest obsession is calendars and counting down dates. I guess it started with the advent calendar in December. He got a scripture reading chart and has been good about getting out the scriptures every night. Last night he wanted to have his scriptures for reading time in his bed. Lily wanted one of her board books. Phillip said, "Lily the scriptures are the most important book! It's more important than 'Lily's Chocolate Heart' book!"

It's great to have such a good little guy! ;-)

Hawaii :-)

2011-02-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

Trip to Hawaii!

We left and had a GREAT flight. I haven't flown without the kids since I was pregnant with Phillip. It was amazing to watch 2 1/2 movies on the Plane .. (BTW 'I Hate Vampires' was AMAZING!) ha! We got to the hotel and swam in the pool. We then walked around to find a place to eat. My eye caught a HUGE Hello Kitty stuffed animal in front of a restaurant. It was a Japanese Sushi & Seafood Buffett! What couldn't be better?! Hello Kitty AND all-you-can-eat sushi!! They had about a hundred Hello Kitty bobble-heads glued all over the restaurant. It was amazing! Too bad it gave Pete a stomach ache!

Garage Sale - We drove up to the North Shore. We saw a garage sale sign and just HAD to stop. Too bad we had just our carry-on bags. I could have bought some really good junk! We stopped at two different beaches along the North Shore. It took me a while to get the courage to get in the water. I got out of the water when the Life Guard said, "you cannot swim on your own! If you don't have fins, you can't swim in the water!" ha!

Infinity Edge pool - I looked through so many hotels, hotel reviews, but when I saw the infinity edge pool on expedia, I thought to myself, "I want to go to there!" It was GREAT! The bean bags were my favorite .. you could just read in the pool and not get the book drenched in water!

Polynesian Cultural Center

I posed next to the statue and stuck out my stomach. A lady said, "oh! I thought that was for real" Ummm ... I think she thought I was pregnant then was surprised when it was just a mushy stomach! ;-) I took a Polynesian Dance class at BYU. It was fun trying to imitate the different dances.

Hiking Diamond Head

We got up early and hiked up Diamond Head. Pete saw some whales at the top of the mountain. Pete and another couple kept talking about a crater. I said, "what crater?" ... "Ummm... the one you are standing on. I am wearing the T-shirt that Pete got when he went to Hawaii in 1984!

In all, it was a GREAT trip! We came home and the kids were having so much fun at Becca's house. They didn't want to leave! They had fun with the Grandma and Grandpa and saw Pari's family. Hung out with Penny's family. I don't know if they knew we were gone! It's great to have people to look out and make it a fun vacation for the kids as well!

Visit to the Dentist

2011-01-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

Last week we took a family field trip to the dental office. Phillip and Lily made for great assistants. Amelia looks great in Pete's lubes. I was an o.k. Patient. I have to go back for a filling.

The hygienist told Phillip right before lunch that he had to wait 30 minutes to eat. He told everyone in the office .. "I can't eat for 30 minutes!". We went to cafe rio and he kept telling people, "I can't eat for 30 minutes!". Luckily it had been 30 minutes by the time we sat down for lunch. :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2010-12-29T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a fun Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year this weekend!

Highlights:

Trips to see the lights at Temple Square
Going to the Bountiful Temple to see the artwork and read the gospel story. Phillip said that there is room for Joseph, Mary and Jesus in his room.
Seeing family Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas
Doing a kick line in matching plaid pajamas with Pete's Sisters
The kids faces Christmas Morning
Phillip amazed by the Lollypop that Santa brought him!
Smashing Gingerbread houses on the porch
Getting Christmas cards and taping them next to the fireplace
Gingerbread cookies and Sugar Cookies
Eating a LOT of good food!

Christmas Morning:

Phillip and Pete and the robot "RedMan"

Smashing Gingerbread Houses:

The beginning of the end of Christmas ... Now there is a nice family of deer on our porch. Please don't turn me into the "Hoarders" show. I promise we have room to store this AMAZING collection of Christmas junk.

Meltdown in December

2010-12-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

Neither me, nor the kids had a meltdown, (did I get ya?) but all of the snow is almost off the ground. Can you believe it!! There is no snow in December!! I was tempted to string some more lights ... (when is my Christmas Intervention scheduled?! ha!) Instead we went to the park with the kids.

Here's a quick update on the kids:

Amelia is walking now. She waddles around pretty good. She can go down the stairs which I think has opened up a whole new world for her. We kept all of the toys in the toy room and she never went down there unless I went with her. Now she is free to crawl down the stairs and dump out the madame alexander dollies whenever she wants! It's funny how she is turning into a little kid so quickly. EVERYTHING has to be fair. We now have to get 3 courtesy cones at Artic Circle.

Lily is potty trained!! YAY!! I was putting it off. Around when she turned 2 she started showing signs that she was ready .. but I wasn't ready. The Summer came and went so quickly. I even marked a week on my calendar (which kept getting pushed back). Anywho, I figured I wouldn't worry anymore and try again when she was 3. But one morning she managed to take off her jammies put her diaper in the garbage and was laying on the floor trying to put on a new diaper. That's when I thought to myself .. she's ready ... whether or not I am. She did pretty good the first week. Only a few accidents. Now she does really well. If we are out, she LOVES to announce that she has to go potty. It sometimes turns into a game, but I keep taking her to the bathroom as many times as she wants. Yay Lily! You are a BIG GIRL!!

Phillip is really excited for Christmas. My mom gave us an advent calendar and he moves the marker for the date first thing in the morning. He recently discovered the game cube downstairs and can play on it by himself. He said, "I am a video game guy." ha! I think at pre-school they had taught the kids about brains and other organs. I told Phillip he could play a video game if he played the toy room. He came back up stairs really frustrated, "MOM, I can't clean because when I go in the toy room, my brain tells me to play with toys and not clean!!"

I hope everyone is enjoying this fun season!

Cutting Cable!!

2010-12-06T13:17:00.001-08:00

Oh cable, you have been my friend for a LONG time. I remember going to friends' houses in elementary school and my eyes being glued to "Nickelodeon" & "The Disney Channel". The mom's would ask "Does your mom normally let you watch THIS much TV?!" We got cable in High School, I had cable through college, and living in Philadelphia. My studio apartment didn't have much furniture, but it had a HUGE arm chair that sat right in front of the TV. Ahhhh bliss! ;-)

So WHY cut the cable?! It all started when we switched to the Comcast bundle this past spring. I didn't like the TV program guide ... they make it so hard to find shows and half of the time you aren't subscribed to the show. They have On Demand, but a lot of the shows that you see on the guide you also have to pay additional charge. I felt like they were trying to gouge us for every additional charge .. etc. and I was a paying customer! We started looking into other options and realized we don't watch much shows that aren't on the broadcast channels.

This is what we did:

Phone:

Google Voice Phone Number - (Not a phone line) - This is a phone number that I give people. It has very good customized voicemail. (speech to text that is sent to your e-mail, personalized greetings depending on the caller). You can have it forward to all your phones at once. When people call it, my cell phone, home phone, and computer starts ringing. Good thing for me because I can never seem to find a phone before it goes to voicemail. You can text people on their phone. You can easily block numbers .. etc. It's free right now. There are apps that you can get on a smart phone and can call people for free (similar to skype).

Magic Jack - Home line - It's not ideal. It has to be plugged into your computer. $40 for the majic Jack and $70.00 for 5 years of service. I had to change my phone number because they don't port numbers. Other options: ooma - I didn't go with ooma because of the $250 up front fee. Ooma works like vonage, (plugged into your cable modem, then into your phone base) and has only $12.00/year fee. They can port your number for $40 fee.

TV:

We bought an antenna. ($60) Pete put it in the attic and attached it to the cable that runs to our TV.

Hulu.com (free) - you can watch a lot of shows online. I may look at paying for hulu+ which comes in HD and you don't have to watch commercials. We'll see though. I hook up my laptop to the TV if we want to watch a show.

Netflix ($9.99)- I LOVE netflix. We have one blueray player that can stream netflix and there are a TON of tv shows and movies that you can stream. I also like getting the DVD in the mail. It feels like a present.

(reading between the lines, I will NOT be watching LESS TV, I just will be watching it differently: Live TV, online, or streaming to the TV)

Internet:

Still with Comcast. Sadly, our town only has 2 options for high-speed Internet and Comcast has the faster speeds. The other companies that I would look at if they are in your area is: Utopia - Fiber options in your area; Clear - Internet & Phone wholesaler.

So now we only have our Internet bill & Netflix (I pre-paid for majic jack). Even though we did buy some new equipment, we will be saving $90 a month.

If I, a licensed TV bum, can cut cable, anyone can!!

I Believe

2010-11-30T01:34:00.001-08:00

Preface:

Our Relief Society group at church decided this year to think about what we believe and possibly share a 'belief' statement once a month throughout the year at church. I shared mine already at church and they will be printing a book for everyone in the ward. I was debating whether or not to share this, as it is close to my heart. A friend from High School who was battling cancer passed away yesterday. I realize that I can hopefully offer some words of comfort to those who are struggling with this loss.

I Believe

I believe that the trials and blessings in our life are all part of a greater plan or purpose.

When speaking of trials, I recently was struggling with the fact that there were so many people around me that had to go through such hard trials. My younger sister was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 16 and lost the battle when she passed away when she was 18. Other members of my family have struggled with cancer. And here I am, someone who has lived an almost perfectly healthy life. Why am I the one that is sparred this trial? I was struggling with feelings of guilt and doubt when the answer came to me, "Heavenly Father had a plan for each of us. We each have a part to play."

In the Book of Mormon, (Mosiah 18:9) the Prophet Alma spoke the people waiting to be baptized at the waters of Mormon. He said "are ye willing to bear each other's burdens? ..Are ye willing to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort?" I may not be in the hospital bed, but I know I can do my part to lighten the load to those that are suffering. I know that Heavenly Father places people in our lives that we are able to help or who can help us.

I know that my Heavenly Father has had a hand in blessing my life.

I bumbled my way through college. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I ended up going into computers. I was still single in the classes with 50 guys and 3 or 4 girls. My dad would ask,"why not date some of your classmates? There are so many of them?!" I told my dad," The odds may be good, but the goods are odd!" Pete and were at BYU at the same time, but I guess we had some growing up to do before we could meet .. I am still waiting to see when I will finally grow up! So here I was single and ready to graduate. What was I going to do? Go on a mission? Go to Law School? Get my masters? I eneded up interviewing for jobs in the fall and got a job offer in Philadelphia. I didn't know anyone there. It seemed completely random to move out there by myself but it somehow fell into place and felt right. About 6 months after I moved into the singles ward Pete and I started dating. The rest is History! That has to be one of the greatest blessings of my life.

We think that we are in control of our lives ... Trying to make the best decisions, exploring opportunities. Sometimes we follow the guidance of the Spirit and it just doesn't make sense. But looking back, I can see Heavenly Father's influence in my life. Because of this influence, I am more blessed than I would have ever hoped.

As I begin to contemplate how other people have played a role in my life ... How I have affected other peoples lives .. I believe more than ever that I have a loving Heavenly Father who guides and directs my life.

Festival of Trees

2010-11-22T21:13:00.001-08:00

WARNING ... there are a lot of pictures of christmas trees and decorations ... don't be stressed out for me! ... I'm a little crazy and a little obsessed with Christmas junk! ;-)

So, we started decorating a little early ... almost 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. I'm glad I did it early because now I get to enjoy the decorations and I don't have to worry about decorating the day after Thanksgiving.

So let me take you on a tour of my "FESTIVAL OF TREES!"

Living Room - Harvest Theme ;-) This Tree reminds me of the tree from the Christmas Carol, when Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present. I tried out some new decorating techniques that I saw at Thai Pan and Modern Display. I used green mesh fabric and some brown chiffon to fill the tree, along with ribbon. Joly ole' tree and I get to use my autumn decorations a little longer ;-)

Now, in the kitchen. We do have 'some' reference to Thanksgiving. (The little Thanksgiving tree that Pete's Aunt made us still has a spot by the sink. I love it!)

"The Turkey Tree"

The rest of the kitchen is a candy theme. I was crazy to try and do South Beach and live in a 'candy' kitchen. Here are wreath projects that we did last year. We got some styrofoam forms and glue-gunned candy to them. We were worried that all of the time was going to be a waste if it didn't 'keep' for another year. But, wrapped in a garbage bag, inside a wreath box, and they were good as new!

Almost 8 years ago me and some of my sisters submitted a small tree for Festival of Trees in honor of my little sister Julie. This fun little tree is now known as the "Julie Tree." This tree went from my sister's in-laws, to my sister, to my brother, to my mom's basement. It was looking a little sad and needed a little face lift. I was glad to help out this little tree!

"The Julie Tree"

Peppermint Garland

The kids rooms:

Phillip's M&M Tree

Lily & Amelia's Princess Tree

Now lets walk down to the basement where the craziness just gets crazier ...

Old fashioned Christmas Tree with Train Village. Pete has an almost complete collection of "The Christmas Story" village. He has his grandpa's train in working order that runs around the town ... complete with animated gondola and Santa. My favorite part of this tree are the animated soldier ornaments that play christmas songs with bells.

It's going to be a 'Coke Christmas' - I don't think I have posted a picture of our downstairs diner kitchen yet .. here it is! I even have have a cookie jar collection (I need to get a weekly dose of 'hoarders' on A&E!). We got some cute coke ornaments from ... you guessed it .. a garage sale. I thought it would be funny to have a diet coke garland. Guess how many days it took to collect the 8 'diet coke' ornaments.

And last but definitely not least, we have a 'Star Wars' tree in the movie room. I can just imagine the kids looking at this tree and asking, "Mom, what is the true meaning of Christmas?"

So there you have it, 8 trees, 2 garland (inside & outside), 4 wreaths, countless animated singing Christmas toys .. isn't it wonderful!!

HALLOWEEN!!

2010-11-02T16:58:00.001-07:00

Scary Pumpkin

M&M

Hello Kitty Witch!

What a MONTH! Well, I got a second-kick of Halloween energy and October went out with a BANG!

Food Drive - Last week the Scouts took the food and money that we collected. We filled almost 2 huge rubbermaid bins full of food and decent amount of cash donations. We will make this an annual tradition to "Scare off Hunger!"

Pumpkin Carving: Friday, I cleaned out the pumpkins. We roasted the pumpkins seeds and had a good salty snack all weekend. We cut out the pumpkins on Saturday. Which is your favorite? I may have to do some more pumpkins next year. Homer Simpson maybe? ha!

Doughnuts: We found a doughnut dispenser at a garage sale for the sole purpose of making doughnuts on Halloween. I was determined to get it to work. The Yeast doughnuts didn't taste very good, but it was the perfect application for the spiced cinnamon doughnuts. So GOOD! I didn't take a picture. I should have taken a picture of our kitchen (what a MESS!!) .. or captured the smell .. the deep fryer always makes our house smell like a chinese restaurant. ha! Next year I'll do it outside!

Early Birthday Surprise: Friday night, the cat was out of the bag and I decided to give Pete his Birthday present early. Below we used the new contraption as a Halloween costume in the rain. Little Amelia is R2D2 and is shielded from the elements. Here's the funny story behind this find. Emily told us that she saw a R2D2 refrigerator or something like that at a garage sale. It turned out that it wasn't for sale, but the wife said that her husband never used it. Emily was worried she didn't get me a birthday gift. I told her that in lieu of a birthday gift she could track down this guy and see if he would sell the R2D2 to me. She didn't know which house it was and it took 2 tries to find the right house. They weren't home when she stopped by a bunch of times. Finally she got the number from the wife. I happened to be in Mapleton for a Halloween spook alley. I was at Emily's house and her home number rang and Emily said, "It's for you Cathy." Pete said, "For Cathy?!" It was the guy and we figured out a price and I planned to go to his house to look at it. Anywho, I tried to be coy and said I had to run to my friend Melanie's house for something, but I knew that Pete knew, but he didn't know that I knew he knew (confusing?) ha! Now our life is complete. We have a drink cooler that rolls on casters and is the shape of R2D2.

Halloween photo shoot: The Ritz Camera store by us does free Halloween photoshoots and you can get a sheet of pictures for free as well. They do it from 10:00 to 3:00 PM, so I recommend doing when your kids are getting ansy for trick-or-treating. I am copying Emily's decorating idea and I'll switch out my picture frames with seasonal pictures. I'm trying to figure out how to set up a similar studio at home.

Trick or Treating: - We did trick-or-treating at one of the rest homes after the photoshoot. We took a break and tried trick-or-treating in the rain with just me, Phillip, and Lily and 2 umbrellas. I think we only got to 5 houses in an hour. We took the whole family to some of the houses in the neighborhood and called it a night.

Clean Up and Set Up: - Yesterday Pete worked from morning until night taking down Halloween inside and out. I helped, but often got distracted by other projects. Pete also sets up the Christmas lights the same day so we don't have to worry about doing it in the snow.

What a wonderful time of YEAR!!

Disney - Part III of III - Stay at John & Kaley's House

2010-10-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT relaxing weekend at John & Kaley's House. I give it a four star stay!!

We got babysitters and went to a Greek Restaurant. We happened upon some tourist shops in 'Tarpon Springs, FL" We found some great cat T-Shirts. I found a piece of Amethyst for $4. I had a funny idea. We'd bury it in the sand when we went to the beach. He LOVED IT!!

We also went to a close by beach where we all enjoyed the white sand. Don't worry, we stopped by a 'Flea Market' on the way. (had to fulfill my garage sale itch) We got to enjoy the amenities of John and Kaley's neighborhood. REALLY nice pool, playground... even a beach volleyball court. YAY!

I enjoyed Phillip's random questions and quotes ... He told Kaley, "You talk like a Princess."

He asked John, "What is hand in Spanish?"

IT was a FABULOUS TIME!! I apologize for the manic blogging, but I was restraining myself. Looking at all of the videos and pictures makes me want to go back. Am I CRAZY?!

Disney Trip Part II of III

2010-10-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

The Disney Celebration!

We went to the Magic Kingdom Halloween party. It was great! We got to see almost all of the park and meet all of the characters. I loved it! If you are planning a trip around October, I would look into it! We had 3 other full days at the parks!

Highlights

The Halloween Decorations, Halloween characters, Trick-or-treating, Halloween Parade and fireworks... Did I mention...I like Halloween?!
Phillip loving the Tower of Terror!
Epcot - German Dinner - Worth it! The kids danced to the polka music while we gorged ourselves on an all-you-can-eat German food buffet
Animal Kingdom - AMAZING! I love that park!
Stroller swap & fast passes - took us a while to figure it out, but we never waited through the full line
Parades & Firework shows
Meeting characters. Lily kept saying that she met all of her friends, "Mini, Donald, & Mickey ..."

Lowlights

Getting up the next morning after the Halloween party
Crowds at Disney Hollywood Studios - Gak!
Getting on the monorail after the firework show at Magic Kingdom

Family Picture with the 7 dwarfs!

Video of the kids Dancing at 11:30 PM! Are we 'good' parents for keeping them out so late?!

DISNEY Part I of III

2010-10-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially back from our trip. It was a LOT of fun! Wahoo!

Trip 1
Pete goes to ADA conference

Pete had to go to classes straight from a red eye flight. Gak! I got to hang out with John and Kaley over the weekend while we were recouping from the flight. Fun times! We ventured to downtown Disney which was fun and crazy.

We hung out at Kaley's grandma's house. It was fun racing the golf carts, eating a big lunch, and catching lizards. There was a 2 foot gnome that I was really jealous of! A home isn't a home without a gnome!

Fed the birds

Saw a gater!

We went to Chevys for dinner and ended up celebrating my birthday Again! We even carried the hat home in the plane. Phillip asked,"Is she 31?!". We said we were just singing happy birthday He said, "but we already sang Happy Birthday to her!"

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-10-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's the BIG 30. I can't believe it! Time flies!

I don't like to brag, but I'm really excited about my new toy. Pete gave it to me early so I could get it loaded with games and movies for our upcoming trip. I got the iPad! yay! I'm a sucker for gadgets. I would sometimes drool, sometimes make fun of the iPad. Deep down I was really jealous of anyone who had one. Pete got it for me to celebrate me passing my test (CISSP test) yay! and for my birthday.

Anywho, I was having a deep thought about the last 10 years. A lot has happened in my life. Your 20's are really pivotal years. As a teenager, I remember church leaders stressing making good decisions, finding a good husband/wife, keeping standards. But it's true. The decisions you make during those pivotal years affect the rest of your life!

Here's a look at the past 10 years of my life

Year 20 - Sorting mail at BYU
Year 21 - Decided to go into Information Systems, worked as a balloon animator
Year 22 - Finally figured out what a computer does and worked at the BYU server room, got a job offer with PwC
Year 23 - Graduated, moved to Philadelphia, started working for PwC
Year 24 - Met Pete, Dated Pete, Got engaged to Pete
Year 25 - Got Married, Phillip was born, Moved to California
Year 26 - Moved to Utah
Year 27 - Lily was born
Year 28 - Pregnant with Amelia
Year 29 - Amelia was born
Year 30 - I got an iPad! ha! Just kidding!

A Crazy Week!

2010-10-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

So, I had a big project at work this week. I had to rely on a lot of people to help out .. THANK YOU to Pete, Merilyn, Penny, Paige, Mom & Becca! The week got even crazier when on Tuesday, Phillip in the kids were jumping around and BUMP!! Phillip cut his head. It was a pretty big cut. Pete took Phillip to Instacare. Phillip did really good and was conversing with the doctor like an adult. The doctor asked him what he was up to, and Phillip said, "Well, ... um I'm going to turn six." (his 5th birthday was last week). He asked Pete, "Why are they putting strings in my forehead?" .. he also said, "I feel like a fish" and made the motion of a hook pulling the skin of a fish. This was our first time getting stitches for someone in the family. I wasn't there for the commotion, but I'm glad that he was well taken care of! I'm excited for General Conference this weekend. :-) A great way to relax after a stressful week!

Happy Pumpkin Jack Birthday Phillip!

2010-09-24T15:08:00.001-07:00

Phillip blowing out the candles. When asked what he wished for, he said, "I wished that I can eat cake." Phillip is SO PRACTICAL!

Pumpkin Jack cake. Rolled fondant over buttercream. Do I dare take credit? It was late last night after I had spread the buttercream and I was getting the fondant dirty. Pete stepped in and was a lot better at this more precise type of decorating.

Spook Alley. It was a little too scary for some of the kids. I made them reach their hands in an african kist for 'eyeballs' (grapes) and 'brains' (spegetti).

Playing pumpkin ... pumpkin ... pumpkin ... pumpkin JACK!!

The wig and hat race. Who knew that I had a good collection of dress ups!

So here's a look at Phillip's 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th birthdays. All I can think is that he has grown up so quick. Or has he always been a grown up and his looks are just changing? He is always surprising me with the things that he says. He has such a mature personally for a now 5-year-old. We are pretty casual with shoes in the house. But, if friends come over Phillip, makes them take their shoes off. He only lets me get one treat at the grocery store. (since when does the 'ONLY ONE TREAT' rule apply to me?!)

Some funny Phillip Stories:

I was trying to get him to memorize or at least read the primary scripture for August. 2 Nephi 27:33. I told Phillip repeat after me ... "For behold, I am God, and I am a God of miracles..." Phillip: "For behold, I am God ... I'm NOT God." I tried to explain that the scripture was Heavenly Father speaking for himself to the prophet. I tried again. Phillip: "For Behold, I'm God ... Mommy, I'm NOT God. I know who God is ... He is my Heavenly Father".
Phillip refused cotton candy and a cookie one night because he had ice cream earlier and he said, "Only ONE treat!"
Phillip keeps talking about his baby brother 'Tardan' who is 0 years old. (THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT :-)
We had had a long day at church, both Lily and Amelia were screaming and we decided to leave 15 minutes early. Phillip said in the parking lot, "That is the LAST TIME! We are supposed to stay until it's finished!"
One time, when leaving sacrament meeting, Phillip announce really loud, "That was a good show."

Phillip we love you! You make life fun! You even make me more responsible ... can you imagine it!! "Mom, you forgot your purse!" he said as I left my purse in a shopping aisle at Smiths.

Braces are OFF!

2010-09-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

So ... I have to thank Pete for getting the ball rolling in getting my braces off. There were some scheduling problems and I wasn't going to get them off until October 18th. I told Pete that all I wanted for my birthday was to get my braces off and get my teeth whitened. SO, THANK YOU to the MONARCH Ortho Team and Thank you to PETE!! I'm so glad to have them off. What a great early birthday present.

It was weird to see those braces on the tray .. kind of gross with all of the food stuck in places you couldn't see. It kind of reminds me of getting a cast off. You feel like something is missing, yet is it is SO liberating!

It has been 2 years and 3 months. Here is the post when I originally blogged it.

So, I am pleased with the results. But having braces as an adult has its challenges. Spending an afternoon with a black bean on your front tooth. Having your picture taken when your teeth and braces are stained from a Popsicle. Eating corn on the cob and people thinking that you are using your teeth as food storage. Phillip told me that I have train tracks on my teeth. My nephew once called them 'robot teeth.' Even so, it was ALL worth it! Wahhooooo!!!

Contracted Craft Services

2010-09-13T20:03:00.001-07:00

So, I thought I would blog & brag, or blag about the Halloween bows that I got. I did NOT make them. I can sometimes be crafty, but I know my limits. I tried making bows once, and it didn't work out too good. Buying bows can be expensive. I was at the ribbon store and almost bought some ribbon to make bows ... they had really cute halloween ribbons. I called Bina and she said she'd make some Halloween bows for my girls. She went to TOWN!! They are REALLY cute! Don't worry, I'll have to share some with my Utah siblings. (or will I? ... I think I look pretty good with the Halloween bows!) ;-)

I guess the moral of the story is that we all have our strengths. You just need to figure out how to 'contract' services from those who know what they are doing ;-)

We are doing a Joy School and I started reading the lesson plan and I started into a cold sweat. I couldn't understand what I was supposed to do .. when .. ak! I called Pete's mom and Pete's sister penny who are a Kindergarten teachers. They gave me some good ideas. I told then that I probably felt the same way that they sometimes feel when they are figuring out a computer. It's great to help each other out.

Paige, who I have contracted time and again for organizing help, stopped by the other day. Our garage door was open, both of our cars were there and Rhino was in the back yard. She kept calling our names. Kitchen was covered in dishes and food. She couldn't figure out where we were and thought we had Carbon Monoxide poisoning. We had taken the truck to pick some fruit. I told her that in her mind, the only explanation of leaving your house in such a state is that we had DIED! Any other reason just didn't make sense in her mind. ha!

We had a Relief Society activity where we made quilted pillows. I made sure Pete's mom was coming so that she could help me. I would cut the pieces, pin and iron. I put her to work and we were one of the few that finished. I know Al got a kick out of seeing me sew a bib, and it took me 45 minutes to sew and turn out a seem. She was nice enough to alter a dress for our Family Reunion. :-)

I don't sew. I don't make cards. I don't make bows. I don't do flower arrangements. If you need help securing a computer, decorating a christmas tree, arranging lawn ornaments, or painting, I'll be there! (creative painting that is ... I'm not very 'good' and normal painting ... when i say 'good' I mean ... I don't like doing it :-)

Catching Up - Blank Canvas!

2010-08-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

So, I took a test last week and I feel like I wasn't doing much but study that last few weeks before the test. I don't know the results for 4 or 6 weeks, but at least I gave it my best shot. Now I'm trying to catch up on enjoying life!

Yesterday I was a LITTLE impulsive. Lets just say a LOT impulsive. Pete told me about a blank canvas at DI, but he said it was REALLY big. I ran into DI, and found it and thought .. hmmm... I don't have a place to store this, I don't have time to paint, but I WANT IT!! maybe it's all of the school supply ads, the fresh boxes of crayons that I have been meaning to buy, but this BLANK canvas is REALLY refreshing. I took it out to the mini-van .. thinking I could get it to fit .. NOPE! In the process I was almost blown away with some heavy gusts of wind in the parking lot trying to carry a HUGE canvas by myself. I did finally get it with the truck. Now I just need to figure out what to paint. Any suggestions? It's 6 ft by 5 ft. (It comes to about my nose when standing).

As a recap for the kids .. Phillip is funny as ever. Here he is in FULL get-up from the boots, racing outfit, guns, hat and belt. Another ACTION shot of him being batman. I asked him if he wanted to do Soccer or another activity in the fall in addition to pre-school and he said, "NO MOM! I just want to do letters and numbers. Just ONE ACTIVITY!" Phillip definitely keeps me in check .. pretty practical for a 4-year-old. Maybe we'll do soccer next year. He is so literal. Pete told him to not eat too many cherries or he will get sick. Phillip is now the cherry police and says, "Dad look at all of these!!" (pointing to the cherry pits) "You are GOING TO GET DIARRHEA!"

Lily is in a big girl bed, which means that naps are not necessarily on the schedule. She LOVES her "Gig girl bed." As always, she is a fashionista. If she doesn't want to wear something she'll pull and tug on it and say, "Mommy .. It dirty!"

Then there is Amelia and Rhino. ha! Funny that I pair them, but they are quite a pair! Amelia is crawling now. We have the baby gate up, but she is definitely testing the boundaries more than Lily and Phillip. She just wants to be a big kid!

Well, that's just a quick recap ... of kids.

Summer highlights:

Family reunions

Thrifting with family

Fireworks

Training for a triathlon on an old beach cruiser with a bell and basket

Swimming in our inflatable pool ;-)

Watching the kids jump on the tramp

Artic Circle (Chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, & reasus peanut butter cup)

Summer Lowlights:

Not getting highlights ... maybe tomorrow I won't have any more dark roots ;-)

Studying

Weeding my garden after neglecting it for 6 weeks

Two things that I have started that I LOVE!

2010-07-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

1. Bountiful Baskets

I already sent an e-mail out to family, but figured, I could get on a soap box and brag about the co-op that I have participated in.

It is a co-op where you donate $15 and get a basket of fruits and vegetables. They work to get local growers. You make your donation on Monday night (in Utah it's around 8:00 PM). You sign up for a pick-up time and location. On Saturday you pick up your produce at the determined time and location.

They are in the following states - AZ, CO, UT, WA, WY, NV, ID and TX.

I have paired up with two neighbors. I do the order and we switch off the pick up.

This is why I like it

1) Great quality - I've never had better corn on the cob

2) Great price - you get about 15 to 20 pounds of produce for $15

3) Convenience - it takes a little planning, but for the past few weeks my fridge has been STOCKED and I feel like I haven't been going to costco or the grocery store as much. (therefor saving MORE money because there is less chances for me to buy the latest promotional item!)

You don't choose what you get, but there is quite a variety, so if you don't like something (brussels sprouts), don't worry, you won't be eating them for every meal!

Check it out!

2. Mint.com - IT's FREE!

So, I've always struggled with managing finances, budgeting, and getting a CLEAR picture of where we are at. I would log into one checking account, get the balance, type that into excel, next account, excel, and so on .. then I'd try and figure out how much I had left after our regular spending each month .. This is just your basic checkbook drill to make sure you will be in the clear when that big check or mortgage hits the checking account.

Budgeting, don't get me started. I've started so many, and failed so many times. "We will spend only $400 on groceries, $50 on gas .. etc .. and look how much money we will SAVE!" The bad thing is that the budget is broken before I can hit 'SAVE' to my dumb excel spreadsheet. It was NOT realistic. Where is my fountain diet coke fund? What about home improvement .. ? What about going to DI .. on occasion.

Finances ... don't EVEN get me started. It would take me FOREVER, to figure out our NET WORTH ( student loans, mortgage, 401k, assets, savings, etc). I would literally spend hours trying to figure out my sign-on account at the various financial institutions, plug the numbers into excel .. have a small grasp of where we are and our goals, but knowing that this little 'yearly family statement' will be obsolete in one month.

Anywho, I just was curious about an old site I had joined (quicken-online). However, mint.com has taken over the current quicken-online accounts. This personal finance tool is AMAZING!! and it's free!

You aggregate your bank accounts in one spot (no need to log-in more than once).

**Security tip**

Use a VERY strong password for your mint.com account as it is an aggregation of your personal finances .. gold mine for someone attempting to perform Identity theft. Strong password is *more than 8 characters, Upper and lower case, numbers and Sp3ci@l characters. Use a passphrase to help out ... substitute a $ for 's' or a @ for 'a'. '$@vingM0n3y' - 329,000,000 days to crack. vs. 'SavingMoney' - 0 days to crack.
Use a different password than the old and trusty password as sometimes sites that you frequent do not encrypt user passwords.
DO NOT use the password 'password123' (do I need to explain?)

WHERE DID I SPEND MY MONEY?

They auto-assign the spending categories. It takes some tweaking, but it does a LOT of the work for you. With a click of a button I can see how much I have spent at Salt City Burger in the past 3 months. There are a ton of cool trending and pie charts. See below. BTW, the picture I pulled off the Internet. This is not MY spending. That's too embarrassing!

WHAT IS MY NET-WORTH?

As I mentioned before, you sync ALL of your bank accounts, this includes the bank that holds your mortgage, your investment firm that manages your 401K, credit cards, savings, checking, etc ... You list any assets or liabilities manually for accounts that can't be added (car, home, other loans). Any time you login, you can see where you are at!

WHAT IS MY BUDGET?

Since you have linked ALL of your bank accounts, it loads the payment history of the last 3 months. When you create a budget, you select a category which you want to budget ..ex. Food-groceries .. the web-app will automatically suggest a number which reflects your spending over the last 3 months. AMAZING!

WHAT CAN I DO WITH ANY EXTRA?

You have set up a realistic budget, you may have some money left over to set aside. They have different tools to help you decide how much you should set aside for a personal finance goal. How much to save for kids tuition? How much to save if we want to retire at 65? How much to save if we want to put in a pool with a tube slide coming from our master bedroom (will really increase our home value!)

Check it out! It's free!

The $40 Rule

2010-07-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

So, you may be thinking ... ga'ak! another picture of cupcakes?! What else does this girl do?! ha!

Well, I had to celebrate because I got something that I have wanted for more than 12 years. An air-brush kit! Let me explain. I decorated cakes for a Summer for Krogers when I was in high school (same as Smith's foods). I made some pretty good cakes, but I was always frustrated that I never had the materials to replicate what I did in the store. Namely, the air-brush kit. I haven't see one for less than $150 and it could be qualified as a uni-tasker, so that was too much money to spend on it.

Pete and I have a rule that if we are going to start a new hobby, we need to put a cap of $40. Once we have put some time into the hobby and feel like it is going to 'stick,' we can invest more into it. I can't tell you how many hobbies I've started and dropped. From weaving to scuba diving, I've done it all, just not very well.

So, we went to an estate sale that said in the sale description, "My Uncle was a hoarder." It was amazing! The nephew was yelling about certain items. "Air Brush compressor, New In BOX!" I about ran to it and had him hold it for me. I got it for $25 There was a price tag still on the box for $175 from the hobby lobby. YAY! It didn't have the gun portion, so we made a trip to Harbor Freight hardware, another great store, and I got the gun for $12. I got some of the food coloring for the air brush at Orsen Gygi for $4. So I am still under my $40 budget and I'm excited to see what else I can make.

These were my favorite cakes I made at Krogers with the air-brush set:

Smiley face cake

Watermelon cake

Hamburger cake (my favorite)

Tye - die cake

Dragon cake

There is no END to the possibilities!!

I also want to investigate the potential for face painting with the airbrush and stencils. :-)

Summer 2010

2010-07-15T06:22:00.001-07:00

Summer Update

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. It's been a WHIRLWIND of a Summer. I have the kids in two activities and still feel overwhelmed! I don't know how people do it!

The kids:

Amelia is getting so BIG! She is starting to rock back and forth on her hands and knees. She will probably be crawling within a month. CRAZY! She LOVES big kid food and will have almost nothing to do with bottles. (don't worry, she's getting enough). Lily is talking a lot lately. She doesn't talk in nursery or around other people. She says funny things like, blaming the poopy smell on Rhino. ... or.. she wanted to wear make-up and I said, "maybe when you are older." She said, "I TWO, IT's MINE!" Phillip is my funny little guy. This morning he was bribing me saying, "If you let me, I'll let you come to my Pumpkin Jack Party!"

Biking:

The kids have had fun riding bikes outside. I was a little naive and rode my bike with Phillip down our street. I didn't realize we had a gradual hill AND Phillip didn't know how to brake. (he had practiced on our driveway which is flat). Luckily one of my neighbors caught him with one hand. We broke out the bike trailer one night. It was a lot of fun! Pete and I are signed up for a Triathlon sprint in August. I'm excited to do it with some type of costume.

Swimming:

I haven't figured out a GREAT swimming option for the kids. I did take them to the Bountiful recreation center once, but it was a little crazy there to take 3 kids by myself. Pete bought one of those inflatable kid pools. It's on our patio, and the kids had fun swimming in it! We'll have to jump in once it gets really hot.

Wirthlin Reunion:

We had a fun reunion over the 4th of July for my Parents 50th anniversary. It was a LOT of fun. Was it 104 people there? All immediate family and grandkids. I sometimes take it for granted what my parents were able to do with all of us kids. It is quite the accomplishment.

Hotel Bountiful

We got to have Al and her family stay with us. It was a lot of fun and a good excuse to finish our basement bathrooms. The kids had fun watching movies, eating popcorn, and either chasing or being chased by Rhino. Here are some sparkler pictures from our little driveway fireworks show.

Dance:

I got Lily into a one-week dance camp. She really liked it. She froze for the recital today, but what can I expect .. she's two! It was fun that she got to do the class with her cousin. I think I'll download the princess and the frog song and see if she'll do the dance for me!

T-Ball

Phillip started T-ball this summer. Phillip is one of the younger players on the team. He's getting better and running to get the ball and insists on trying to hit a pitched ball.

Here's the play-by-play ..

Batter UP!!

Safe on First!

playing in the dirt on second ..

... Running to third ...

The third base-man was making sure Phillip was O.K.

Phillip running home.

He does exaggerated arm movements so he can run fast like 'Dash' on the Incredibles.

Cupcakes

2010-06-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

So, I found a better buttercream recipe and thought I would share. I modified it a bit ..

1 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

6 cups powdered sugar

2 t. clear vanilla extract

1/2 t. almond extract

1/4 t. salt

4 oz heavy whipping cream

Cream butter and shortening until fluffy. Add confectioners sugar (1/2 cup at a time) until well blended.
Add rest of ingredients to whipping cream. Add 2 oz of whipping cream. Add additional whipping cream if you like a more 'wet' look of frosting. (sometimes you may want a stiffer texture for decorating. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

So .. I tried out making mini cupcakes. They sell liners for the mini muffin size cupcake at walmart (about $1.50 for 100 liners). I tried mini cupcakes before, and they didn't come out of the pan very well without the liners. So, I signed up to bring a treat for a shower. I tried the mini cupcakes and ONE box of yellow cake mix made 96 cupcakes. Woah! The frosting recipe above was PLENTY of icing to ice all of the cupcakes. So I show up to the shower with almost a 100 cupcakes and about 15 to 20 people show up. OVERKILL! ha! Anywho, I got to keep some at home. I may switch to mini-cupcakes for parties with kids because the cupcakes are stretched farther and there is less waste. (BTW, the patriotic cupcakes caused me to set up some memorial day plans just so that I could use the flag picks I got at Osen Gygi for a dollar!)

Tips for baking mini cupcakes:

Use a small cookie scoop to put batter into cupcake tins. Watch the baking time. My oven was about 10 to 12 minutes.
You want to pull them out before there is any brown on the edges but after the middle ones are done.

Tips for cupcakes in general:

Make sure the cupcakes are thoroughly cooled before decorating.
Keep it simple. It's fun to use different decorating techniques, but they look better if all of the cupcakes are uniform with some slight differences.
Make the frosting. I've tried box cake and from scratch cupcake recipes. I don't know if you could taste a HUGE difference. However, I think the frosting makes a big difference, especially for cupcakes.
You can bake now and use them later. You can use freeze baked cupcakes for up to 3 months. When I worked at the bakery at Kroger, the cupcakes would sit in the back freezer for I don't know how long. Once decorated they could stay in a freezer for one month. The baked cupcakes only need to sit on the counter for a few hours to thaw. For decorated, they would need about a day to thaw the frosting and cake.
Transportation can be tricky. I've yet to buy a cupcake carrier. I have a plastic box that was the packaging for a make-up kit from Costco. I don't use the makeup much, but that plastic box has gotten a LOT of use for carrying cupcakes. My sister saves the cupcake containers from the store.
Make your own picks. Becca gave me this idea. I did this for one of Phillip's birthdays. Just print some images on card stock or paper and glue to a tooth pick.
You don't have to go to a specialty store. You don't need a fancy tip. Use the end of a bag, or just a knife to spread the icing. If you like sprinkles that you see on the bakery cakes see if they will sell you some. I did this for 4th of July 2 years ago at Dicks and still have some sprinkles left. You could even see if you could buy the cupcake carrier from the bakery.
Have fun! It's cupcakes!

Chickens on the Move!

2010-06-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

So, our neighborhood has seen an increase in the rat population. We have set out traps and Pete even got a pellet gun and was successful in one hit and one possible wound. (Pete's a great shot!). Even with our successes, we thought it better to move the chickens to a more rural location until we build a better chicken coupe.

My sister Becca got chickens this easter and is moving up to Charleston, UT (near Heber and Midway). It's a farm property equipped with a chicken coupe and she was nice enough to take our 10 chickens.

I know the chickens have been our schtick, but I guess we can't be defined by our livestock.

Here's a funny video of our minivan packed with 10 chickens, 1 puppy, 3 kids, and 2 adults. We even went to Wingers for dinner. I kept on thinking of funny pranks I could play with the waitress. "Could you fry this one up and take $4 off our check?" After waiting 45 minutes for our meal, we left Wingers without eating ... I kept saying "It would have been faster to pluck and cook our own chicken!" Anyway, here is a tribute to our chickens and "Keepin' it Rural" in Bountiful Utah.

Girl's Night at Primary Medical Center

2010-05-21T09:34:00.001-07:00

We had a little hiccup in our life the past few days. Lily had an infection in her upper eyelid, (orbital cellulitis). We had her on anti-biotics, but the infection was still progressing and her eye was closed shut on Thursday. I was glad to find this morning that the IV anti-biotics had made some progress and the swelling has gone down. One more dose of the IV anti-biotics and they are sending us home. Yay!

Lily has enjoyed her stay here. She has felt fine (minus the swollen eye) and has thoroughly enjoyed the play room and all of the prizes that she has gotten. She did amazing for the CT-scan. They normally have to sedate children her age to get a clear image, but she did great! Right now she is sitting in the bed eating m&m's (happy's) and watching Little Mermaid. We painted pictures and decorated t-shirts in the playroom this morning. She is in hog heaven.

I was glad that Pete's sister Paige was working at Primary's yesterday and today. She was able to find some good prizes for Lily, got her to take a nap, and made this a four-star hospital stay! Thanks Paige!!

Well, it looks like she is on the mend! I'm glad that we were able to treat the infection and get it under control. Lily you are a trooper!

We may be crazy, but he is REALLY cute!

2010-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

So, if you saw my sister's picture of our new puppies on Facebook, you must be wondering... Wahhh? they got a dog? A puppy?!

Well, I was down in St. George with my sister. Pete and Paul went on errands. When they got back, Pete came back with a surprise. A 8 week old Shitzu! He is SO cute! Becca and Paul went back and bought the sister. The kids were in love with the puppies. The puppies did pretty good down in St. George because they had each other.

We decided to name our puppy Rhino. We were inspired by his little waddle in his walk AND fearless personality. (He jumped in the pool down in St. George). He reminded us of the hamster on the movie Bolt named Rhino. "THIS IS MY DESTINY!!" His full name is "Rhino the Killer. " We may have to get "Beware of Dog" signs. ha!

Below are some cute pictures of the puppy. He has taken a liking to Amelia. He loves to cuddle next to her. They were both laying asleep on the couch and Pete saw that Rhino had cuddled up to Amelia. I was getting the kids out the door this morning and saw that he had cuddled up next to her in her car seat. She likes him as long as he doesn't lick her too much. None of the pictures are staged. (Except for the one with the puppy in the exersaucer). Phillip and Lily love him. I need to get a picture of Lily holding him like a baby. It took only a day or so and she now is FEARLESS around the puppy. Phillip calls Rhino his buddy and brother dog.

A Mother's Day Tribute - Mother with Style

2010-05-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever I get frustrated with my looks, my tired eyes, my dry hair … my wardrobe .. I think of this quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley, wife of the late President Gordon B. Hinckley:

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

When I think about ‘living life’ I can’t think of anyone but my mom. She raised 17 kids and helped us with everything. So here is a tribute to my mom. As a background here are some stories that I reference in the poem:

My mom insisted that my dad dig up some good horse manure compost for her vegetable garden and flower beds!
My mom was at a charity benefit and they had oysters on the hard shell. She felt so bad that my dad couldn’t come and eat it, she wrapped them up in a napkin and put them in her purse! Her purse smelled like a rotten fish for weeks!
My mom was a church leader and one of my friends came straight from her caddying job to an activity at a skating rink. She had been walking in puddles and mud. My mom felt bad that her feet would get cold so she made my friend put her wet muddy shoes in her purse!

Mother with Style

I know an old women

Who lived in a shoe

She had so many kids

She didn’t know what to do …

… but for real …

I know a great women

Who lived in a house.

She raised 17 kids

While wearing a jean blouse.

French toast, oatmeal,

eggs, and pancakes to share.

Mom took us to school

With curlers in her hair.

Dark pants, turtleneck

A jean button-down shirt.

Her outfits were ready for anything

Even manure-filled dirt.

Schools, sports, church,

Errands and more.

Heals, shoes and socks

Were more of a chore

Bobby Socks, squashed heals,

No time to waste.

My mom had class,

She had great taste!

Working, cleaning, helping

Sharing.

Instead of pampering her self

She was always caring.

No time for salons,

She permed her own hair.

Although life was crazy,

She always made time for prayer.

Lipstick at a stoplight,

For lips and rouge.

Her mouth was always kind,

She never was rude.

A women’s purse,

Full of treasures to choose.

My mom shared her purse

With fresh oysters and muddy shoes!

She may be Silly.

She may be Tired.

But when I think of my mom

I feel Inspired.

I know a great women

Who lived in Style.

She raised 17 kids

While wearing a Smile!

Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thank you for all that you have done! We love you!

A Spring Time Update!

2010-05-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks. Pete and I have been working a lot in the yard to get it spruced up this year. It's nice to be outside and enjoy the sun! The mature trees are great for landscaping, but the winter clean up takes forever. We got a LOT of compost and wood chips to spruce up the beds. We've cut down branches and probably will have gone to the dump at least 7 times (to drop off garbage and to pick up mulch). When I say 'we' I mean Pete. Yard work is so easy when I don't do that much work! ha!

The pictures I took were the week after easter. I didn't get the kids dressed up for Easter because it was General Conference. So above is the "Fake Easter" pictures. Amelia was asleep in her car seat, so I didn't get any pictures of her. Another time! I like the 'surprised' look on Phillip's picture. I also like the portrait I got of Lily. It was hard to get her to look at the camera because she kept looking at her "pretty shoes" and "pretty dress." If you have either the nikon or Canon digital camera, the larger lens is great for portraits, you just have to stand back further and hope for your kids cooperate and look at you.

Phillip is keeps saying funny things. We've gone over and over about 'but' and 'butt.' If I said 'but' in a sentence, he would say, "mommy that is a naughty word, we don't say butt." I have tried to explain to him that one 'but' is a transition word and the other 'butt' is the name for your behind. Yesterday he said, "Sit on your But! ... Mommy I said 'but'. It's o.k. because it was a transition 'but'."

I took a picture of one of his latest creations. He is starting to write his letters pretty good. Is it because of the iTouch letter trace program? Or from pre-school? We'll never know, but he loves to write "BYU" on almost everything.

What else have we been up to? Phillip has been selling the chicken eggs. When I say Phillip, he at least comes with me to deliver them. We are still doing most of the work. We have 5 more baby chicks. Two black chickens with feathers on their feet - "Darth Maul" and "Darth Vader". Two Buff Ophingtons "Ginger" and "Maryanne" (Giligans Island) and a Road Island Red "Sabre." I was glad that Becca joined the chicken club. I have to say they are great pets. We did have an unfortunate event and two of our chickens got killed by a dog. Ah well, it's the circle of life. Pete kept making jokes about making a chicken dinner. Maybe sometime. I just don't know if it's worth it to boil the chicken, remove the feathers, brine, and then roast the chicken when I can get a rotisserie chicken at Costco for 5.99! Plus it's kind of weird as they are our only pets.

We have gone to garage sales and made trips to DI as usual. I was pretty excited for the hamburger cookie jar that Pete found for me! Pete did get his parents the banana to pull behind their boat. (There's a link for those who don't know what I'm talking about) What a great DI special!

Trip to AZ!

2010-04-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Highlights

Free Upgrade to a Penthouse suite at the Palazzo in Vegas .. let me just tell you ... 3 huge flat screen TV's, 2 small TV's in the bathroom. Automatic blinds. HUGE olympic size pool heated to 90 degrees .. Billiard table in the room. I think I'm ruined for life. It must have been my Snoopy shirt I was wearing when I checked in.
Hanging out with sisters and the kids ... Matilda made quick friends with her cousins when she gave them Bakugons from the prize closet. ;-)
Garage Saling - SO GOOD! - Arizona is like the Neaman Marcus of Garage saling!
Shooting rockets - Using pvc pipes and an air compressor
Drive -in - We saw two movies we wanted to see in the theatre with the kids for $14. We set up camping chairs, had little cesears .. So much fun!! Phillip insisted on sitting 14 feet away from us because he thought it was a better seat and he could see better.
Chevys ... mmmmh .. we smuggled in some diet coke
Maggiano's (family style is the way to go!)
Picking Grapefruit and lemons and smuggling 2 boxes back to Utah
Phillip's Highlight: He got to go on the side of the road. His Pre-school teacher asked him about his vacation and all she could get from him was that he had to make sure to stay dry and he went pee on the side of the road.

Lowlights

Getting sick on the way home (it seemed like everyone got some kind of head cold).
Stopping for potty breaks. The fiber one bar was not a good idea to give to Phillip.
Too short! I wish I could just play all the time.

Craving Spring

2010-03-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

It snowed about 5 inches today in Bountiful. Uuuuggh! Gaaakers!!! Yikes!! ... Dough!!!

So I thought I'd spread a little springtime to those who need it.

Above is a REALLY random project that I did this year. This was an idea I saw in a magazine about 2 years ago. I finally did it. You can take some branches from outside. (maybe while you are doing your early spring pruning? I just took some branches from a really full bush). I got some blossoms from Walmart and glued them randomly where the buds appear on the branch. I put the branches in the white pot and weighted them down with white stones. (same trick I did for the topiaries ). The eggs are from the dollar tree. I'm excited that I can pull this out and enjoy it year after year without the work.

The JOGGER! I feel bad I haven't kept my double jogger very nice. Ah well ... it still does the job. Amelia and Lily enjoyed a nice family walk on Sunday.

Another random project: I made an easter wreath - Twig Wreath - Garage sale about $3, ribbon and chicks from Thai Pan - $15. Easter Wreath with silly chicks .. PRICELESS!!

Garage Sale Clothes!

2010-03-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've always been jealous of my sister Emily who gets great clothes at garage sales. 7 Jeans, True Religion all for pennies.

I went to the mall last night because I had a Banana gift card and they have a 30% of sale for everything in the store (sale goes through today for also Gap and Old Navy). I was excited to get a shirt which cost about $30.

Last night I was looking for garage sales and I even looked in Farmington, thinking that there are younger people there and I would have better luck getting clothes. I got out the door this morning to look at an estate sale in the older part of Bountiful. I was expecting vintage knick knacks. I got there and there were clothes ... clothes .. CLOTHES!! They were all my size. She had my same coloring. We have the same style! It's like I had a personal shopper, but she wore the clothes first and then gave them to me for pennies.

This is what I spent $25:
BCBG lounge suit
Juicy lounge suit
Two sweaters from Anthropology
7 Jeans (they are skinny jeans, I need to figure out that look)
some baby-doll tees
some printed tees
scarf
3 or 4 more blouses
white peddle pusher shorts
bracelet, scarf
and a few more items, I can't remember.

Now I'm rethinking that Banana shirt ... hmmm...

My sister was joking that these clothes are probably 2 to 3 years behind fashion (let's face it we live and Utah and I bought the clothes at a garage sale). But for me, most of my clothes are circa 2002, 2003. So, a pile of clothes from 2007, or 2008 is GREAT!!

I'll have to write a post about it at our new mom style blog. It's a blog where we have multiple contributors and talk and laugh about our "Mom Style." The Mom Look. Check it out!

Cheer-up Aerobics!

2010-03-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Cheer-up aerobics are a long standing tradition in my life. I always have dress-ups in an easy-to-access location. It's great exercise, and LOTS of fun. Thanks to my friend Melanie who likes to make silly videos as much as I do! :-)

Enjoy the show!

If you give me a lighted shamrock ...

2010-03-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Like the book, "If you give a mouse a cookie..." It all started with the clearance lighted shamrocks. Pete bought them last year at his favorite place to get clearance holiday items: Rite Aide.

I saw the shamrocks and thought, "hmm I ought to hang those up somewhere." I was going to hang them inside, but they were a little bright. So I looked outside. "Hmmm... I also have the 20 yards of green rope light .. I should pull that out."

Then, and this is the best part, I realized that we still have the roof lights on the house from Christmas and plugged in the green lights. I set it all up on March 1st. It was a little obnoxious so I haven't turned it on until tonight.

So the next two days we will pretend we are proud Irish. Don't worry, I'll pull it down in a few days to get ready for our EASTER LIGHTS!! (Just kidding!)

Disney On Ice

2010-03-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

We took all three kids to Disney On Ice yesterday. It was fun to see Phillip's reaction. He was really excited to see the Pixar cars. He said, "Dad! That's the REAL Lightning McQueen!" But, he said that the Little Mermaid wasn't real.

Pete was smart to get the light up whirly-gig toys from DI last year before we went to Disneyland. (We spent $2 on two toys and they were $15 each at Disneyland). Pete remembered again and we brought our light up toys to Disney on Ice. The entire complex was surrounded by light-up toys that started at $20 each! We did get the cotton candy that came with the stylish flower hat. Who knows! Maybe I can wear it when I garden this spring!

It was a fun family outing!

I Need a Hero!

2010-03-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

I came across this video. It's very moving. I hope you enjoy it!

Did you recognize the hero? This is one of the virals of the week!

Digital Flop

2010-03-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I tried to upgrade my RAM on my computer. It didn't work out. Here's a link to the post.

I was so frustrated. Also, my nano ipod konked out on me. (I'm not very easy on my electronics). It makes me a little sad ... Pete bought it for me when Phillip was born! Weird! (I guess that's what happens when you prefer techie gadgets instead of things that last). I went to Walmart to get a little pick-me-up: a new shuffle. "An Apple a day keeps the Dr. away!"

My favorite aspect of the shuffle is the voice commands that helps you navigate your playlists. Here are a few of my favorite play list titles: "Running like a cool cat" "Running like a spaz" "Teenybopper mix" "Cathys 35 minute trim down" "Ultimate Cleaning mix." It's really funny to hear the computer voice recite all of my silly play lists.

Here's my problem... I'm a techie junky. I love to find good solutions to replace or add to my array of gadgets. The problem is I usually buy the gadget before everyone else does. Then, I tell everyone how great it is. Then ... (here's the kicker) a few months later everyone gets the same gadget that is BETTER and is CHEAPER than what I had already paid.

I think there are 8 family members that have bought MAC computers. It was a little bit sad when my mom had a much faster Mac computer than me! I can't even count how many people have bought the flip. And you know what .. It is ALL because of me!! It's not that they are good products. It's because of MEEE!! ha!

Just so you know I fully endorse "The Flip" for a video camera for moms. You can get a Flip Mino which is the size of a cell phone and shoot in HD. It's about $100 at Costco. Please let me know if you buy a flip so I can send them a bill.

Happy Birthday Lily!

2010-02-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

We had a fun celebration for Lily's Two-year-old birthday. I think this party was more for me than for her. It was a lot of fun to do.

We did a Tinkerbell theme. We did ring-around-the-rosy, (Lily's favorite game), We had a bubble machine and popped the bubbles with wands. We also danced to the music from the new Tinkerbell movies. I made everyone balloon butterflies. I also had some cupcakes frozen from a family February Birthday Party. I just thawed them the night before. We got some light up Fairies from the dollar store for the cake decoration and party favors.

It was such a fun party and you can tell from Lily's expression that she was really excited.

Lily's actual birthday was on a Sunday, so I made her favorite, chocolate chip pancakes. I added the smile and strawberries for her birthday. She ate only the whipped cream smile and kept asking for more cream!

I can't believe that Lily is already 2 years old! She is such a fun little girl. She is ALL girl. She is always carrying around a menagerie of dolls, barbies, and girl characters. (We have a collection of Star Wars bobble heads and she ALWAYS can pick out princess Leah from the bunch). She is a very nice big sister. When Amelia is crying and I can't get to her right away, Lily starts sharing her toys. I came back to find Amelia in the swing with three dolls, princess leah, and dress up shoes. All the things that make Lily happy, so of course it should work for Amelia? Right?

She is starting to talk a lot more now. Pete told her once, "Lily you're stinky." She said, "I Not Stinky, I Cute." She is quite the character!

Sugar Cookies

2010-02-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

So my sisters wanted me to blog about my sugar cookies. Cathy's DO's and DON'Ts for sugar cookie decorating:

1) DON'T do it all in one day - make the dough, bake, and decorate on different days. Unless you are a neat freak and really organized, it makes a huge mess and it gets more stressful and less fun to decorate.

2) DO roll the dough after making the cookie dough to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick on parchment paper. Roll out other portions of dough in the same fashion and store them stacked on top of each other in a covered jelly pan. This will keep for about a week. (I have left it longer, and the dough gets a little dried out, but I couldn't tell a difference once they are baked). Once I am ready to bake the cookies, I pull out a sheet at a time and roll lightly to make sure it is even. Then I cut away! It's really easy this way because the dough is still cold from not having to work it too much.

3) DON'T skimp on the thickness of the dough. I used to always roll out the dough as thin as I could in order to make MORE cookies. Not until I went to my sister's BeccaCrockers house to decorate cookies, did I realize I was rolling them out too thin. Keep to 1/4 inch thick, no less. They will taste better and keep longer without getting stale. I usually double the recipe below so I'm not tempted to make the cookies too thin.

4) DO turn the pan half-way in baking. I know this is a general rule. Depending on the oven, it may not matter, but I know that if I forget, half of the sheet is under cooked and half is over cooked. (You want to look for a slight tint at the bottom of the cookie - that means it's done. Any brown on the top means it's overbaked).

5) DON'T take the cookie off the sheet right out of the oven. Let the cookie finish cooking and harden on the tray for at least a few minutes before putting on the cooling rack. How many times have I broken a VERY hot cookie when I'm over anxious?!

6) DO some decorating on the cookies before baking. It's fun to try new things and you won't get as 'burnt out' with decorating. See the video below for some ideas.

7) DON'T waste scraps. Clump them all together and roll them out on one of the parchment sheets. If I have the energy I cut and bake the new dough after it has cooled in the freezer for 10 minutes or fridge for 20 minutes. Or, I'd save the dough for a fun cookie day with the kids the next week.

8) Do use light cookie sheets. I find that any non-stick or dark surface sheet ends up overcooking the bottom.

9) DON'T decorate hot or warm cookies. Let the cookies cool COMPLETELY before decorating. I usually will bake and then wait a few hours or until the next morning to decorate.

10) DO try some new techniques! Sanding is my favorite. You get sanding sugar and tint the icing to match. Put the glaze on the cookie. Pour the sanding suger on the cookie over a bowl. The bowl will catch the excess. You can get Sanding sugar at a baking store, or for the different holidays they sell sanding sugar in combo packs at Target and Walmart.

11) DON'T attack a messy counter with a wet towel. I get out my bench scrapper and scrape up all of the excess glaze and sugar. Then I go to town with the counter spray.

12) DO have fun! This isn't rocket science! Any 'mistakes' still taste good!

Sugar Cookie recipe: (Al's Recipe from our family cook book)

Sugar Cookies – Alison

1 cup butter ** ¼ tsp. almond extract (optional)

1 ¼ cup sugar 3 ½ cups flour

2 eggs 1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla ½ tsp. salt

Beat butter until creamy. Beat in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. In a separate bowl, combine flour baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Form into a large blob and wrap in saran wrap and chill for at least one hour. Roll out and cut into shapes. Cook at 400° for 6-8 minutes, but check them at 4 or 5 minutes if you have small shapes.

** Reading the cookie blogs, some people use butter others use shortening. I use half and half. Butter for flavor, shortening for the flakiness

Almond Glaze

Ingredients

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp Almond extract

Stir confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, extract and milk together. This glaze must be stirred each time you use it. If it is not stirred before each use it will dry with a mottled look instead of a solid color.

(This recipe I play with until I get the consistency that I want).

Royal Icing - (For details that you add after glazing and sugaring)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.

Most bakeries use Royal Icing for the glaze as well, (a little more watered down). But, I don't like the taste of SO MUCH royal icing.

Here's a video I liked from YouTube. Enjoy!

How To Decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies on Howcast

Healthy Recipes Experiments

2010-02-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

Ahi Tuna - I thought I should blog my recipe above. Pete surprised me and bought an Ahi tuna steak from Costco. My new way of looking for recipes is to do a google image search. I like things that LOOK good to eat. You eat first with your eyes. I found this blog and tried out the recipe. FormerChef. I didn't have a spice grinder for the coriander, so I did a Seseme seed crust instead. It turned out really good. It tasted like really good sashimi. So, the $11 we spent at Costco went to good use since it usually costs $50 if we go out to sushi. The only problem with this meal is I was the only one that liked it. Pete liked the salad but any kind of raw fish makes him queasy.

Shrimp, pasta, & vegetables - I found a good cooking blog - CafeLynnLu - I modified the recipe a bit. I combined this recipe and the basic recipe for shrimp scampi. (A little butter oil, garlic, lemon juice, cook shrimp, then I followed the recipe for cooking the vegetables). This one the kids actually liked.

Wasabi mashed Cauliflower – I had this with a Teriyaki salmon. Very good, but not kid friendly. Lily did like the mashed cauliflower without the wasabi.

Lentil Soup – Cuisinart Pressure Cooker Recipe – This is my lunch staple. Lily will eat this soup as well.

So, this is the 3^rd time that I am trying to lose baby weight. It seems to be a lot harder this time around. First we had the holidays .. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Birthdays (Amelia, Me, Pete, and our anniversary). Now it’s February, and I’ve traded in the fried cheese curds, (yes it is a real thing, it’s at A&W .. Really Good!) for whole wheat bread and salads. My problem, as always, is the FOOD.

So here is my problem, I like to try new things and experiment. However, with kids they just like really simple foods.

Calling for Healthy recipes that kids will eat! (Something that doesn't have cream of chicken soup as the main ingredient).

Flyin' Free in St. George!

2010-01-31T07:18:00.000-08:00

We were able to get away this weekend and go to St. George! Yay! I guess we missed a big snow storm today. It has been really theraputic to be outside and in the sun. I love the expression on the kids faces ;-)

So I have had my website up for 3 weeks. I have made almost $20 with the Google Adsense. Yay! (The funny thing is that I've spent way more than 20 hours on it!)

Everyone has been asking how it works. I created an entry on how to add Google Adsense to your blog. Anywho, you sign up for a Google Adsense account and add the Google Adsensewidget to your blog. The Adsense account tracks how many times people click on your ads. Companies pay google to insert text or picture ads. Google then matches the ads to the type of content on the page.

I just posted an entry, Anti-Virus Explained: Does your computer have a cold? . My sister Al thought I needed to better explain the Anti-Virus in general ... dumb it down a big :-) I'd like to get feedback. Let me know if you have any questions you'd like me to research. I'm going to try and update the site 1 to 2 times a week. Send the link to those who you think would be interested. www.securemama.com :-)

Vintage Amelia

2010-01-24T18:08:00.001-08:00

I had to blog this picture.

The dress was Pete's Grandma's (Leona Olsen) when she was a baby. I first found the bonnet and a little baby slip at a garage sale. Pete's mom then found the dress and shall to match.

I got her dressed up for church this morning. She did pretty good during Relief Society. During Sunday School she started SCREAMING!! She was really backed up and I was running back and forth getting diapers and wipes. Gaak! Everyone kept asking what was wrong. Anywho, after getting poop on me and the beginnings of a migraine, we called it quits.

I was able to take some pictures when she was in a better mood. She's pretty cute!

Quick Update - Under Pressure Cooking

2010-01-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

My new website is a fun new hobby. I checked my Google Adsense account and I have an estimated earnings of $6.20. That's about maybe 50 cents an hour not including the cost to host my site. ha! I will post an blog entry on how to make money on your blog.

I just posted an article on how to optimize your mac. I have convinced many family members to purchase Macs for their home computers. Mine was starting to run a little slow (4 years old). I tried out a few of the tips that I read online.

Amelia is now 3 months old! She is smiling and giggling. I told Phillip that a fairy was born when she giggled for the first time (from the Tinkerbell movie) ha!

Phillip and Lily are funny as usual. Here they are wearing a pair of our shoes. Lily finally figured out how to put on my knee-high boots.

Phillip has been asking really thought provoking questions. I think he saw a show about astronauts and he asked, "How come we don't fall off the earth into space?" I tried to give him a simple answer but he kept asking, "but HOW do we NOT FALL INTO SPACE?!" I then had to explain gravity and that's how things fall. He's a pretty smart kid! ha!

Phillip really likes playing with my iTouch. I've set boundaries so that he doesn't download anything. He used a doodle application to 'enhance' and picture of Pete and Amelia.

Soooo... yesterday I was doing cooking projects. I was going to blog them as under pressure cooking. I made a chicken noodle soup with my pressure cooker. I was planning on making chicken stock from the chicken back and wings. I put all of the ingredients in the pot and was about to add the water when I realized, I didn't put it in the pot but on the HEATING ELEMENT. Ga'ak! Soo... I got all of the ingredients out .. no harm done. I won't make that mistake again. I had two chicken breasts and thighs that I was going to cook, but I put them in the oven while I was making the chicken stock. I forgot to set a timer and I ended up roasting them for an hour and half. G'ak!! I kept thinking of what Pete's Mom (a kindergarten teacher) would say to her students, "It's o.k. to make mistakes while you are learning." Well, I did learn that I need to set timers, and take things slowly if I'm going to do cooking projects. I also learned that cooking projects are a lot better if Becca is in the kitchen.

But, I will use every last bit of those two chickens I bought from Costco

2 thighs and 2 breasts -> chicken noodle soup
2 thighs and 2 breasts -> cooked chicken meat (a little overcooked :-)
back, wings -> chicken stock -> lentil soup and future soups
drumsticks -> terriyaki chicken

Securemama weighs in on Free McAfee

2010-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to my latest posting. I was interested to see that McAfee was offering free anti-virus for 6 months. There's more to this story .. to read more go to my site.

Karpe Diem

2010-01-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

Seize the DAY!!

So.... I thought it is now or never that I attack the idea that I've had in my head for the past two months. Write computer-security content that is geared to moms.

I mentioned before that I wanted to write a book. Well, the problem is that I would actually have to "write" it. So I decided to create a website to share the content. I have submitted my application to Google Adsense and have a donation page. I figure I can help people now, and if I ever turn the blog/site into a book .. then great!

So... Please check out the site. Let me know what you think!

www.securemama.com

I Can't Leave DI empty handed

2010-01-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

So, after cleaning out our closets, Pete and I had about 8 garbage bags full of clothes. It was SO nice to get rid of stuff and feel less cluttered. When we took the stuff to DI I thought, "I don't think we should get anything, since we JUST cleaned out."

Pete walked through the store. He said, there is a Federalist dining table. My eyes got really big. I may have inherited my mom's gene of loving antiques. I went in and ran back to the car and told Pete I wanted it. I held onto the table while Pete brought the kids inside. Pete said that I was glaring at anyone who was looking at the table. (a little territorial?) So, for $75 we got a Federalist dining table which can seat 12 people once the leaves are in. Right now it's in the corner of our living room.

Screaming in the New Year

2010-01-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post that funny picture of Amelia, our New Years Baby, screaming with all of the New Year's paraphernalia.

So we are already 10 days into the NEW YEAR! I was cleaning out my documents on my computer and I found a eating journal with one entry from January 9, 2009. (the file name was 'eating log star date 1.9.2009' I am a nerd! I thought .. that's funny I was trying to lose weight right before I got pregnant.

So I think I will share my New Years goals, so that maybe I will have a better chance of completing them. In no particular order:

1) Running - I want to run the Provo Half Marathon. I should have enough time to build up mileage by the end of summer. The only problem will be on Saturdays will be, do I go on a long run? or do I go garage saling? ... Probably garage saling

2) CISSP - I've had these HUGE study books on my shelf or almost a year now. I think it's now or never that I become a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. I'm already a CISM (Certified Insane Silly Mommy) :-)

3) Paint - I want to paint at least one picture this year. Last year with the remodel, I didn't have a painting spot. Right now Pete is fixing up the downstairs kitchen which will be a great spot with enough light and ventilation to paint. I may take a class at the Bountiful Art Center. We'll See.

4) Write a book about computer security

These are pretty ambitious goals. I will be glad to check one goal off my list. :-) I guess I should have baby steps with the 3 kids - shower, eat, and make sure the laundry pile doesn't get taller than me. (It's not very hard, I'm kind of short) ha!

Swimming in the New Year

2009-12-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we are still homeward bound with all of the snow. I thought to take the older two out in the snow. But Lily cries anytime the snow even touches her skin. Sooo ... I thought it would be fun to get the kids in the hot tub. They had a lot of fun :-) Lily looks so funny in the goggles!

Here's a picture of Lily's Dollhouse. Pete 'renovated' the Doll House. He found it at DI for $14. It's really cute and in good condition. We got the Madame Alexander dolls from DI and from a garage sale that Emily went to. I got the doll clothes at a garage sale for 10 cents each. I guess our garage sale habit pays off around Christmas! :-)

A Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

We have had a GREAT Christmas. We loved seeing the kids' reactions and opening the toys. We also have enjoyed being the "Griswolds" of the neighborhood.

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas!

My Favorite Kind of Jewelry

2009-12-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

We had a great Anniversary Celebration this year. Pete tricked me and told me to wear a nice outfit (I was showered and wearing jeans which is REALLY nice for me these days). I put on tights and a skirt. We kept joking about where we were going. Then he pulled into the A&W restaurant which is attached to a gas station. I tried to be nice, but Pete said I gave him the look of death. He got the door and I said, "are you SERIOUS?" Anywho, he ordered two A&W freezes and fried cheese curds. (I thought I heard him say "cheeseburgers" and thought this was the real deal). We opened our presents. Then we got up to go, and I was a little disappointed that we didn't get the cheeseburgers.

Anywho, I didn't know where we were going, and I wasn't going to make any guesses after that trick. He took me to LaCaille, which was really good and really fancy. He had planned to take me to A&W first all along to trick me and to make sure I had something in my stomach because I wouldn't last until the late reservations. It was a great dinner and the lights there were beautiful!

Pete got me an ipod touch. Yay!! it is so much fun!! I wanted to post links to a tutorial I found to convert DVD for an ipod. If you are getting an ipod or mp4 player for someone you can load some movies on it for them before christmas. Pete was laughing at me because I got so excited about the ipod touch. I probably wouldn't get as excited about a piece of jewelry. Terrible! I guess I love gadgets!

Tutorial link

Handbrake software link

I made Pete a compilation of our e-mails, journal entries, and notes while we were dating. Not as fun, but as Pete said, we will probably have that in 10 years and not my ipod touch :-)

Happy 5th anniversary Pete!

Christmas Light show

2009-12-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

By popular request here is a video of our light show. Pete did the sequence to the "Main Street Light Parade" song. This was the song they played for the DisneyLand Light parade and is the intro to our program.

We have the show running from 6PM to 9PM on weeknights, and until 10:00 PM on the weekend. Tune to 99.9 FM!!! The Cathy Classic Station!

I'll keep posting some more videos. They take forever to upload :-)

Amelia's Baby Blessing

2009-12-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

We had a great family day yesterday. We had Amelia's baby blessing in our ward. Pete gave her a very sweet blessing. Following church we went to Pete's parents house for brunch/lunch.

I delegated the whole meal. Becca brought her Cinnamon rolls, we had every possible type of breakfast casserole from Pete's sisters and mom. We even had home-made chocolates. Mom made a really fancy fruit plate with mangoes, kiwi, strawberries and Cheryl brought some danish wheels and flowers. I did make one sausage casserole, but I didn't set the oven timer right, so it was ready an hour after everyone had started eating. ha! Anywho, thanks to everyone that was able to come and help out!

Everyone had fun at Pete's parents house. Pete's mom has all of her kindergarten stuff in their basement and the kids loved it. They also have a "Chi" machine, which is supposed to redistribute your chi ... Here's Doug trying to redistribute his "Chi" while kids are crawling on him:

Proud Grandma's:

Family Photo: A little strained as Phillip didn't want to take a picture :-)

Feeding Frenzy!

Impromptu Photoshoot

2009-12-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get a picture of Amelia in her blessing dress for her blessing this Sunday. Again, I thought about going to Target .. but after yesterday's Artic Circle Fiasco I decided not to.

Artic Circle story: I wanted to take the kids somewhere that had an indoor gym. I took them to Artic Circle. We first went to the bathroom, then ordered food ... I was a little scatter brained and left the baby's blanket and purse on the counter where you order food.. ."ma'm is this yours?" Ga'ak! I got the food and the kids settled. By this point Amelia was screaming. I got her latched on with my blanket and thought everything would be fine. Then Phillip asked "Do they have a potty by this park?" He had to go number 2. So I plopped the baby back in the car seat, kept Lily in her high chair and ran Phillip to the bathroom. I kept running back and forth because I didn't want to drag the girls into the bathroom to wait for Phillip to be done. I finally heard what I usually hear at home. Phillip screaming at the top of his lungs, "I'm DONE!!" I could only laugh at my self. I was probably showing my plumber crack half of the time while bending over and taking care of the kids. It's funny how simple things can be really hard to do with 3 kids. Once it was all said and done, the kids had a lot of fun in the indoor play structure. :-)

Sooo...my sink and counter were full of dirty dishes. My hair was greasy and the house was a wreck, but I decided to take a photoshot of Amelia in her blessing dress. This time I put the bouncer in the crib and then draped a blanket over it. Pete's mom made the dress. She looks pretty cute.

Fall Art

2009-11-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving behind us, we are in FULL SWING of our Christmas festivities. I took a picture of one of my projects and wanted to post it before it isn't relevant. I made leaf art for Pete's birthday present. Before Amelia was born, the trees in our back yard were really pretty. Here's a link to a picture. Phillip and I collected a lot of leaves. I think in all we collected about 50. I tried to get varying shades of color in the same kind of leaf. I don't think you can collect too much.

We put the leaves within 4 of our Harry Potter books. I think it was about 4 weeks time and they were dry by Pete's birthday.

Once they were dry, I glued the dry leaves onto white paper with Elmer's glue. I had a nice frame with a matte (for kids pictures) and stuck the leaf art in the frame. It was a fun project. Now we can pull it out next fall.

Here's a picture of me and the kids decorating for Christmas. I finally cleaned up my mess yesterday. I'll post some videos of our Christmas show soon!

Happy One Month Amelia!

2009-11-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

Well, It has already been one month! Crazy! For the occassion I put Amelia in an actual outfit and not a sleeper. :-) Amelia is a good baby. She is on the wake up at 3 AM and 6 AM schedule. Hopefully she can start waking up at 4 AM. That extra hour makes a big difference. She has a lot of the same expressions as Phillip did. She likes to furrow her brow and look around.

Lily loves to help her. She says, "SAD!" if the baby is crying and will say "Ginkee" to tell me that the baby needs her binky. Lily also comments on Amelia's hang-nails and spit-up and says, "Eeeeew!"

Olsen Girls :-)

Phillip is funny and likes it when he goes on outings with Pete. He says, "Only boys can go!" Right now he says "Boys are funny and girls are silly." I told him that Pete only had sisters and no brothers. Phillip said, "I have brothers. Anthony and Andrew. They just don't live at my house."

Here is Phillip, Pete and Grandpa Olsen at Pete's Transformer birthday party. Phillip helped me plan the birthday party. He got a Bumblebee Costume out of the deal. (smart boy). I made a good Carrot cake for Pete. Here is a link to the recipe. (This is one of my favorite recipe blogs. Everything I have tried turns out really good).

Anywho, just taking it a day at a time. I used to make big lists for each day, but right now I try to limit it to 1) Take a shower 2) Take care of kids :-)

NewBorn Photo Shoot - How To

2009-11-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

I sometimes feel guilty that I don't take my kids to get their picture taken that often. However, the cost and the stress of it all makes me think I can do it on my own at home. I did get some cute pictures of Amelia the other day. Here are some of my tips :-)

1. Align the stars -

Make sure:

Older kids are away or occupied
You are rested and not too tired (you don't want to start bawling because of a bad photo-shoot :-)
The baby is fed and burped
If possible, get a helper

I took my pictures while Pete took Phillip and Lily to church. :-) Thanks Pete!

2. Find a good location

I got this idea after paying for a photo-shoot at Kiddie Kandids. I pulled the bottom cushion away from the couch and added extra pillows for support:

Once the Pillows were set up, I draped a sheet over the couch and propped Amelia in the corner of the couch.

3. Have good lighting

A flash never looks very good for portraits:

Use a couch that is close to a window that gets a lot of light. If there isn't a couch, you can always drape a blanket or sheet over a car seat and put the baby where there is good lighting.

Use a reflector to fill in face shadows. I tried to do this by myself, but it was a little difficult. Get a helper to hold a mirror or piece of tin-foil to bounce the natural light onto the face.

4. Use the continuous shutter option

If your camera has the option, take the picture with the continuous shutter enabled. Little babies are cute but they can do some funny things with their hands in a split second:

4. Delete bad pictures. Pick out your favorite and add any effects. I always like black and white pictures.