Put it on my Blog

First Haircut

2012-02-06T21:43:00.001-08:00

Seeing as how Max is almost 20 months old, we figured it was probably time for his first haircut. He hasn't had much hair to trim but it did start to get a little out of control on the top. Not the sides or the back, just the top of his head. It looked a little silly! So Yaya got the ole' trimmers out and went to town. He did great! Not a peep came out of his mouth, unlike Tommy's first haircutting experience, which was complete Terror!

Here's the photos, he really can be so cute at times. It helps to make up for all the days that he's a complete pill {which, sadly, is more often then not}!

My little man is getting so big! It goes by so fast, it really is crazy! He is walking all over the place and just wants to play like one of the big kids. He's a little pigeon toed as well as kinda bull legged, it cracks us up to watch him walk, especially when he's only in a diaper! He already knows exactly what he wants and when he wants it, food, toys, etc. He is a great little sleeper for us, which I am so grateful for! He'll go down so easy at night and sleep all night long in his own bed! That's such a blessing! He'll also take a 2 hour nap in the afternoons for me, awesome! He loves his bottles and playing around with his siblings, he's figured out how to get in and out of the kitchen cabinets {that have child locks on them} and basically just knows how to push all his mama's buttons!

We love you Max, life wouldn't be the same without you, so glad you're part of our family!

#JANphotoaday

2012-02-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

So, as some of you may know, I'm a little addicted to Instagram. This past month there was a photo challenge started by Fat Mum Slim and I thought it would be fun to play along. So, here you go....

My Month in photo's:

My Heart is Full...

2012-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

I've come across THIS blog tonight and can't believe her story. It is truly touching and is worth the read. It helps each of us to remember just how precious our lives are and how possibly easy our trials can be compared to others around us. She's an inspiration and I will be praying for her and her family for sure.

Snowman Daycare/Playdate

2012-01-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

My incredibly talented and good friend, Molly, decided to do a little drop in babysitting over the Holidays. Well, in true Molly fashion it wasn't just a drop off and let your kids watch TV the whole time. She went all out with a theme for each day, games, treats and lots of fun activities. I came along to help out and join in all the fun. I believe she may even do it again throughout the year, cause every momma needs a little break once in awhile, right!?!?
Anyway, here are some of the fun things we did. In no particular order...

First, a little playing in the snow {shaving cream}. The kids LOVED this! What child doesn't want to dive into a big pile of white goo?

Then onto a little Arts and Crafts time. Snowman style.

Lola's seemed a little down, but cute non-the-less.

Next, making a tasty treat. Snowmen cupcakes.
After that a little "Frosty The Snowman" cartoon to finish the fun up.

See what I mean, darling!

It was also great fun because the kiddos got to see each other all together again since last school year.
Tommy loves playing with these fun friends and we don't get to hang with them enough!

Thank you, Molly for hosting such a fun play date for these crazy kids.
A great memory to add to the books and possibly a new tradition in the making?

Tommy's Christmas Program

2012-01-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

Tommy's new Preschool this year puts on a big Holiday show for all the families to enjoy. They must have learned a good 15 songs for it, complete with props and actions. Too cute, right! He was beaming with joy to preform for the rather large audience, and we all loved it!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with that sparkly shirt he made.

Happenings

2012-01-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

We got a little after Christmas present.

A Couch! It's been a long time coming, 9 years to be exact. It's a great addition to the family and now we can all fit on the couch at once!

Lola got herself a new "Big Girl" bike! Thank you Aunt Yaya!

I cut bangs.

Tommy is starting to sound out letters and make words. He is learning so much in preschool and comes home every day so excited to learn more!

Our pew at church, on a good day.

Lola's hair honestly has it's own personality. Never telling what it's gonna do!

I found some of the coolest bowling chairs at a local thrift shop. They reside perfectly in the new play room we are working on {pics to come}.

Sneak Peek at the playroom. Yes, that is a swing in the house.

Lola had her very first visit to the dentist! She did great and everything looks good. Let's hope it stays that way!

Neighborhood kids building forts in the front yard. We are outside lots with this beautiful weather, I don't know how we survive in the summer, honestly!

The common cold has seriously hit us. Boo!

The crazy huge vine in the back yard finally got too big to stay on the wall. This will be a crazy huge project to clean up. Someday, right?

Anyway, lots of fun, a little bit of crazy and a whole lotta love around this time of year! Peace.

Instagram Mashup

2012-01-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

I was featured on Freshly-Picked! It was a few weeks ago, and I forgot to blog about it. Anyhoo, go on over HERE to see my IG photo. She featured me HERE too. So fun!
Thanks, Susan for the feature!

{While you're over there check out her darling baby Mocs, I'm kind off obsessed with them!}

Christmas Eve: a little back tracking

2012-01-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

We have to have the classic picture in front of the tree in our new jammies. How could I forget?

So sad this season is already over. I'm not ready for the new year, this is the second year in a row that I failed to make any resolutions, lame, I know. It's not too late. I need to have my new calendar year start in February. Then I'll be able to make my goals and possibly stick to them. Maybe?

Children's Museum of Phoenix

2012-01-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I was lucky enough to have Tyler working on projects all around the house so in order to keep him happy and the kids out of his way we went on a little field trip out to Phoenix. I thought I had a groupon for the Children's Museum {found out once we were there that it was for a completely different museum, lame} but alas, did not. So we payed our overpriced way to go inside for a little afternoon of fun. I really do love this place! I wish I could recreate piece's of it in my own home, I'm just crazy enough to TOTALLY have a noodle forrest in my living room!

Here are a few of the fun pictures I was able to capture from the day.

The Trike Wash: I love the reflective glass they have here. I would build an entire house with this kind of glass as my windows!

This fun little fabric forrest was new to me. I loved being able to find and make all sorts of different sentences with all the words. So darling!

The Noodle Forrest: an all time favorite!

Max was having a great time at the race track. He was right in everybody's way, but he didn't seem to mind.

Tommy was taking his cashiering job very seriously!

Search and Find: another cool idea I want to recreate in our home somewhere.

The giant tree house fort thing. The kids could walk all around this thing for hours. As could I because it's big enough for adults. A huge plus!

Max was loving the 3 year and under room, he would press a button and the doggie picture would bark at him. He was in heaven {even though he really hates dogs}.

This was fun to play with the sand and see the colors changing from underneath, however, I would NOT want this in my home. Sand is not my friend!

Art Studio: Max was cracking me up in his oversized smock. He was walking all around the room not sure what was going on. Finally we were able to direct him towards the paint and then, of course, we couldn't keep him away from it. Needless to say, we didn't spend too much time in this area, due to Max' screaming to paint more!

A very creative moose in the Art Studio. I love taking something and presenting it in a unique way. This was made from sweaters and wood sticks. Loved it!

One last group photo that I was trying to make look artsy {the random guy I asked to photograph it must not have had my same vision}.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

Are you ready? Here we go.......

It's Christmas morning and naturally Santa did not disappoint {neither did Lola's hair}! The kids were a little out of it seeing as how we had to wake them up a good 2 hours before their normal routine, but they promptly became wide eyed with excitement and wonder upon entering the family room.

With 2 princess dolls for Lola, a remote control quad for Tommy and a tool workbench for Max all their Christmas wishes were fulfilled.

It doesn't take much at this age to please them and for that we are grateful! It won't be long before their wish lists will include much pricier items, so we are taking advantage of being able to spend less and simply enjoy the moments we share together instead.

We planned on meeting out in Phoenix to attend church with my Mom and all my siblings, so in order to make the 9:00 sacrament meeting we needed to hustle and get ready.

Here I am wishing I was back in my warm comfortable bed on the way out to Phoenix.
You can see that Max was already taking a little snooze at 8:40 a.m.

After church we headed back to my Mom's house for 2nd Christmas. She, naturally, spoiled us all rotten. We ripped through our gifts then played til our fingers went numb. She prepared her traditional Christmas morning brunch for all to enjoy and then a little lounging around until it was time for our next stop.

Then...

A back to Mesa we shall go. Notice EVERYONE asleep. Naps were definitely in order for this crew!

After naps, by all, we stopped by Grandpa Toms house to celebrate with him for a few moments and open the gifts he so generously still gives. Fun Family T-Shirts for the kids and new G's and cash for the adults. Like I said, he's super generous and we all adore him {as does most of the greater Mesa population}!

Then... yes, there's still more! We head over to Tyler's family for 3rd Christmas. The gifts get distributed and then we open in order so everyone can see the fun stuff we all get.

{yes, that is Lola picking her nose, awesome!}

Note: not all these gifts were mine, but most of them! and Max was finally starting to get the hang of this gift thing, can you tell he was super excited!

The kids dive in and the gag gifts never disappoint! My In-Laws gifted each family with a week in Oceanside, CA this summer! Such a generous gift to give us a fun vacation with all the family at the same time. We can't wait to go!!!!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Thank you Kenney {er, Jill} for the fun new Mocs that I wanted from Nordstroms!

We then have a smorgeshxborg of food for dinner {ribs, tamales, soup, prime rib, etc.} with all the fun and laughter that follows. I then start to make the trek BACK out to Phoenix for the Christmas celebration with my Mom's side of the family while Tyler and the boys stay to relax a bit. So a 4th Christmas if you will.

It simply isn't Christmas for me without a Cream Puff {or 5}! and my cute Grandparents, oh how I love them! We hold the celebration at my Aunt Josephine's home up on Camelback Mountain, no big deal, you know. We get to overlook the valley while opening gifts and eating yummy foods and desserts made by my Grandparents. My Aunt is so generous and always buys gifts for all the children and has a little something for the adults as well. This year she gifted each couple with movie money and a $100 bill, designated specifically for date night! Sweet right? It helped out so much in the week to follow, as we went on three different dates including our New Years Eve fun {Go HERE to see the recap}. Every single penny of it went to a babysitter so it was nice to not have that come out of the budget!

Anyway, after a little visiting and picture taking we {lola, my niece's Gracie and Emma who decided to come along and me} started to make the trip back into Mesa. We stopped along the way at a house that was uber decorated for the Holiday. We even got out and walked around to look at all the decor. To say it was overdone would be a SERIOUS understatement!

So that was our day in a very large nutshell!

Lots of family, lots of presents, lots of driving and lots of great memories! That's what you get when you come from both sides of multiple generations of Arizonans. A lot of family to see and celebrate with! We love it and wouldn't have it any other way. Hope Santa and the Holidays were good to you too, what a wonderful time of year!

Peek-A-Boo

2011-12-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

We love this time of year for many reasons. One of my favorite parts is bringing Peek-A-Boo into our home. He adds a little bit of magic to our every day life. Plus, it's a bonus to be able to use him as a threatening tool when the kids are acting naughty {which sadly is more then I'd like to admit}.

Here are a few of the fun spots he chose to perch himself during his month long stay:

That sneaky little guy, we're sure gonna miss him!

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

Here's to a wonderful Holiday Season, from ours to yours. Hope it's special!

Blessings

2011-12-11T11:09:00.001-08:00

#1, #2 and #3.

Thank you Ashley for taking our photos this year, and for squeezing us in last minute :) . I love them!

Because everyone loves a good Ugly Sweater.

2011-12-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we had the fun opportunity to go to our ward Elders Quorum "Ugly Sweater" Party. Although we did not win any "Best Sweater" prizes, we still had a great time dressing up and enjoying a night out with good friends and lots and lots of laughter!

Took Polaroid pictures, sweet.

Played some "Minute to Win it" games, awesome.

Made some sexually inappropriate conversation. {look closely at the detail on Tyler's sweater}

...and just had a joyfully good time. Thanks Mindy for throwing a great shindig and for letting us "High Priest's" join in all the fun. I'm a fan of the Ugly Sweater theme. Try it for your next Holiday party, it will not disappoint!

Daily Gratitude, November

2011-12-07T16:25:00.001-08:00

My favorite part of the Holidays? Recognizing what were grateful for.
{I'm also super excited for my new "Old School Chalkboard" that now resides on my family room wall}

Small Fashion

2011-12-07T16:07:00.001-08:00

We are very fashionable around here, inventing new accessories each and every day!

True Story.

I'm consistently inconsistent

2011-12-07T14:48:00.001-08:00

However, I'm realizing that with my discipline tactics, I need to be much more on the consistent side then the other. Sunday evening brought us to my In-Laws home for the weekly family gathering of dinner and conversation. The day had already been sketchy as I was assigned to bring rolls {that I undoubtedly burnt}, as I was getting the children ready for church {and naturally they were being monsters} and so on and so forth. Sitting in the congregation during sacrament wasn't any better, as normal, the kids were in and out numerous times and my patients was running dry.

Anyhoo, we are finally at dinner and Thomas wants to play outside. He continues to push his limits with me in the way he talks to me and the way he acts or rather, reacts to my answers. I simply stated that he must wear a jacket to go outside with the others. Me, having forgot to bring the jackets now needed to rely on the backup source in the back room. He naturally, was disappointed in my choosing and therefore started to throw his fit of fury and frustration by flailing his arms around and in perfect tantrum form throwing the jacket to the ground and running back outside to resume the game he had previously left. I then proceeded to run after him and remind him that he was unable to play outdoors without a jacket. He ran away from me, and thats when I had enough. I drug him back into the house through the family filled living room past the kitchen and out the back door, letting him know he had lost his privileges of being at Granny and Papa's and that we were heading home. He continued to freak out flailing his arms about and somehow make his way free of my grip. Then as he ran out side around to the front of the house nearing the busy street {brown road}, I lost it. Finally, after getting Tyler's help to catch him I took him straight home and threw him into the shower. Cold Shower that is! It was the first of what I'm sure will amount to many throughout his adolescent aged life. I think he got the picture, finally. I had to spray him down twice and then drag him back into the tub after being changed to threaten it once again. He calmed down and so did I.

I remember my dad advising my sister, Kristy to try this method with her children when they were acting out of control. I wish my dad was here now while I need his advise on such matters. I only have bits and pieces of what I remember him telling Kristy, as I was still young and far from these troubles of my own. I felt confident in my decision to take him home and make a "Big" deal out of him disrespecting me, but it's still hard to do. I just want him to be the good little obedient boy I once had. He really was such a good baby and even toddler, then somewhere we lost him. We lost his respect, and that's not cool! I'm not ok with that and so I'm finding that I need to be more consistent in my discipline methods. And even more then that, I need to get Tyler on the same page as me! I think that's a lot of the problem as well, sorry Babe, but it's true.

Se la vie, this is life and I know my troubles are far from over, in fact, I'm pretty sure they are just beginning. I'm becoming a true Mother now. One that needs to have rules and crap, lame. But without it all is lost and if I don't change things now before they get too out of hand, well, I can only imagine.

Wow, this turned out to be quite the serious post. That's not like me, but I needed to get my feelings down. As I was scrolling through my photo's I came across the Instagram's from that evening and knew I needed to jot down the journaling that goes with them. Thanks for listening, er...reading.

The remnants.

Apparently throwing such spouts is exhausting. Not 15 minutes later and he was conked out.

Disneyland {a.k.a. our life's savings}

2011-11-28T15:08:00.001-08:00

This year we chose to travel to Disneyland with the family for a weekend of dancing, singing, fun and memories. My niece's get to go to Disney each year in November to dance and/or sing in Disneyland. Therefore all the family usually makes the trip to see them preform. In years passed we've been unable to make it work, but this year we made the plunge and decided it would just take the place of Christmas gift's and such.
Well, we had a blast as one might expect and here's the proof to share and make everyone else jealous. I'm so thankful we got to go and the kids had a wonderful time. The drive home was long and not the greatest, but the trip as a whole was lots of fun and totally worth the effort.
Here's the trip through my iphone lens, prepare for picture overload, as if you would expect any less from me.

First thing on Thursday evening walking into the park. See Mickey and Minnie, Check!

Tommy going on Thunder Mountain. He loved it!

Waiting for "World of Color".

Friday morning walking to the park. We turned a double stroller into a triple, clever huh?

First stop, California Adventure.

Toy Story

Carousel, Max loved it!

Churro #1, the first of many.

Lots of line waiting

My favorite picture of Miss Lo. Love those baby blues!

Finally, Zonked out!

Where should we go next?

Classic nose picking picture.

Seeing lots of staples around the parks.

Deep fried Chimichangas. The lady selling them told us they deep fry these things for 10 minutes.

Dragging ourselves back to the hotel.
The next morning, Saturday, we took our time getting up and going. We were getting ready and starting to walk to the park when Tyler had to leave for the Football game that most of the guys were going to. ASU just happened to be playing over in Cali that same weekend so the boys were thrilled to be able to go to the ASU game instead of another day of Disneyland. So I was all alone to push the double stroller all the way to the park, and then throughout the entire park for the day. Needless to say, I was tired before I even started.
First stop...

...waiting for the girls to dance at California Adventure.

Kate singing with Miss Jenee's Musical Theatre, then...

Gracie getting ready to start the show. She was so cute and did such a great job.

Next up was Abbie. Too cute for words.

Then, a little Monsters Inc. and Playhouse Disney

Lunch at the Carnation Deli with Yaya.
Then off to the Mother's lounge to change diapers and

for the first time ever, Lola went poopoo on the big girl potty. It was just the right size for her, she loved it!

Then we walked past Sleeping Beauties Castle and "One Republic" was set up to play for the Christmas Day special that they were taping. Hope went off on her own to go see the show while I snuck into a few shops.

It was freezing out so we bought Max a new hat and even some jammies to wear under his outfit.

We went into Toon Town, of course!

and even rode on some rides that I have never even been on.

Took some fun pictures and then snacked on ice cream sundaes while waiting for "Fantasmic" to begin.
After the show we headed over to main street to do a little souvenir shopping.

I went ahead and got a silhouette done of the little's as my souvenir to remember this trip by. I love it!!
Then we were able to meet up with daddy in Downtown Disney and head over to the "Ride Makers" store for the kids to pick out what they wanted. It's the same idea as a Build-A-Bear only it's a build-a-car. Tommy wanted nothing else. Then once Toms had his we decided Lola would probably love that as well, so that was her special treat to take home.

I must admit, these were a lot cooler then a stuffed animal that we already have a million of.

We of course, walked through the Lego store and window shopped our way through Downtown Disney before heading back to the Hotel.

All in all a great time, exhausting, but great!

The next morning we all planned on meeting for a late Brunch at Mrs. Knott's. It was cold and rainy.

The whole gang waiting for our table.

Max going to town on a jelly packet

This was only half the table. I felt sorry for the waitress.

Photo Op before heading home.

Hitting the road.

Trying to keep the kids entertained with glow sticks, it didn't last long.

Capturing our frustration as the kids were not happy driving home. They weren't interested in anything. Movies, pez, coloring books, music, food. It was a long drive to say the least.
But alas, we finally made it home. Like 7 hours later.
It was so much fun, so happy to have been able to make the trip. Here are a few more pictures from the weekend to wrap things up.

Thanks for the Memories Disney! See you in another three years.

Halloween

2011-11-28T14:50:00.001-08:00

I never did post about Halloween.
So here are a few pictures to at least get some sort of journaling done about it.

A Pirate, Tinker Bell and Peter Pan.

{and that's all I have to say about that.}

Instagram October

2011-11-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

So if you didn't already know, I'm kinda addicted to my iphone! I could {and do} spend way too much time on it, searching my apps, checking my Facebook, Pinterest, Houzz... you get the idea. However, my main obsession has got to be Instagram. I'm hooked. It's basically the only way I take pictures anymore. My poor {might I add, lame} old camera has since got the boot. So to catch the ole' blog up to speed, here's the month of October through the eye's of an Instagram.

Enjoy.

If you are also on Instagram and would like to follow my feed, my username is mimimade. I'd love to follow you too!

Keep it Local

2011-11-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

My close friend's business has been spotlighted on the i heart mesa blog. Go on over HERE to check it out and enter for a chance to win some cool stuff!

Seriously, head on over to enter. HIS shop is awesome and he can make just about anything, check em' out!

Getting "Purse"onal

2011-10-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday mornings before church I take the time to clean out and reorganize my purse from the following weeks adventures. I thought I would document the contents of my bag, for informations sake {and cause I thought it was kind-off funny and random}. Plus, it's a good way to see what people are like, I think. I believe what's in a lady's purse can really speak volume's about them. No?

Note: I didn't edit or take anything out of this shot, so it's all here!

Contents:
1 Size 3 Diaper
1 Size 4 Diaper
Epic Receipt
Vintage Ephemera
Outback Giftcard
Wallet
Gum Wrapper
2 of Lola's clips
Loose Change
Water Bottle Lid
Bag of Crayons
Sharpie Pen
Sharpie Paint Pen
Top By: Karas Customs
Unopened Pack of Gum
Change Purse
Coupons
Hand Sanitizer
Fioricet {For Migraines}
Pill Box
Cosmetics Bag
Camera
Coupon
Part of a Shopping List
Crackers
Alba Lib Balm x3
Childrens Tylenol
Lib Bliss By: What's Your Virtue? x2
2 Packs of Half Eaten Gum
Bag of M&M's {Movie Last Night}
Receipt
Baby Wipes in Case
Bracelets {Under the Wallet}

I'm not picking favorites...

2011-10-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

But if I were I think it would be this one right now.

She has really became such a fun, sassy and cute little 2.5 year old. Once she moved
past the screaming stage and awnry spouts, she has become more and
more lovable and fun to have around.

She certainly still has her moments, where I'm ready to pull all of my {or her} hair out,
but for the most part she is just a fun little ball of energy to have around.

She has sass, spunk, spirit and tons of giggles she shares with us on a daily basis.
She loves following Tommy around and being able to do what he does.

She is discovering that she has her own opinion on which clothes to wear and
I've decided it's simply not worth the battle to fight this little fashionistas sense of style.

I love being able to tuck her into her bed each and every night. She is my best sleeper by far! We gather all the little things she needs when she sleeps, I sing her "sunshine", tell her how much I love her, and exchange a million different types of kisses. I love this routine we've made and look forward to our few moments of alone time in the evening.

She has this special "spot" we call it, where since she was under one she has made into a little nesting spot for her little fingers to rub as she drinks her bottles. To say she loves her blankie, is a serious understatement! I find it seriously so darling when at night she picks it up and puts it near my fingers so I can have a turn. She wants to share her special spot with me too, cause I'm that special!

Her bed head is such a big part of who she is right now, and I love it! She hardly
has much hair at all, but it suits her well. She rocks this look like the rock star she thinks she already is.

Miss Lo Boat, thank you for being such a sunshine in my every day life!
You bring so much joy and laughter into our home and we are so blessed to call you ours!

A room for baby.

2011-10-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

A few months back Tyler and I made a little trip out to Yuma to work on a clients house. I failed miserably at taking many photos of the after shots, so when my clients sister {another client} posted some pics, I knew I must share.
The space still isn't completely finished, but you'll get a good idea of where we're going with it. Enjoy!

I am still in the process of: Finding the perfect piece's to adorn the shelf. The metal house will stay but not the other items. A possible new lamp. It isn't my favorite but it works for the space right now.

We still need to buy a new mobile for over the crib, I've had THIS one in mind. We need to get the chair cushions made to properly fit the chair and match with some cute corresponding fabric. We are also waiting to receive three of THESE shelves to put somewhere in the space, pink of course!

I'm also planning on finding a cute way to display these vintage dresses. Possibly some cute knobs from Anthro will do the trick. We also have a curtain that will be hung in place of the closet doors and a few other odds and ends to fill in the space.

So what do you think? Couldn't you just die with this wallpaper? Possibly my favorite design to date!

Caramel Apple's

2011-10-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

This is something I've always wanted to do. Make Caramel Apple's. So about two weeks ago I purchased the ingredients to do it and finally tonight we got around to getting them made. It's one of my favorite treats to purchase at the fair and I thought it would be a fun FHE as well as a great little tradition I could start with my young ones. Here's the recap:

They turned out delicious, messy, but totally worth it! The kids had a blast {even Kate, my niece, was able to come over and join us} and loved the finished product. {I believe it's the first time for both of my kids to taste a caramel apple.} Even Tyler got to enjoy a few slices of one of them. Naturally he went ahead and cut a piece off of the stick, so to not get too dirty while he ate it, that's Tyler for ya!

A great memory and fun evening. What are some of your fall traditions? Do share!

A Welcome to Fall Living

2011-10-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

It's here! Even if the weather is still in the 90's, I don't care, Fall is here. If I wait for it to get cooler I'll miss the whole thing. Anyhoo, here is a little recap of the past weekend we had. Did I mention how excited I am that it's October?

Tommy's Preschool Art, Maxers impression on Lola's arm

Mr. Daredevil, Tommy's Birthday dinner at El Charro

Building Tommy's first set of Lego's

Costco trip, We made the decision to go to Disneyland in November with Tyler's family.

Our Christmas gift to us.

Playing with new hair style's at Bunko, Watching General Conference on my small computer. {I need a new one before the next conference!}

Love him! Sorting and organizing a ton of the kids clothing while listening to Conference. Been on the to do list for awhile. Feels great to have it done!

Met at my friend Jill's house to hang and eat dinner during the Priesthood session. Here's some of the cute kiddos.

After putting the two little's to bed {while Tommy and Tyler were still at the ASU game} I cuddled up into bed and watched a movie that I wanted to watch and did a little journaling. It was heaven! Tommy got to go to the ASU game with Tyler for the first time this season. He loved it, and we won! Bonus!

My first taste of Pumpkin pie this season! First of two slices and many more to come! Some of the little cousins hanging out together at Grandma's house in between conference sessions on Sunday. We didn't stage this photo. They were all sitting there on their own. Too cute!

My nephew Cooper, age 7, was taking notes during the morning and afternoon sessions of conference. These were some of his notes. I just thought it was the sweetest thing ever!

Where we found the babies getting into trouble. The craziness we endured during the afternoon session while trying to keep all the children quite. We didn't get much out of that session, or at least I didn't. But still nice to be with the family and feel of the spirit together.

Later Sunday evening we headed over to Spencer and Tiffani's house to share dinner with them. It was a decent enough night to sit outside and let the kids play on some of the bikes and such. I even took a little stroll through the neighborhood on Tiff's cruiser. Then we threw all the kids into their massive shower. After which we went to Granny and Papa's house to go for a little visit. The last picture is of Thomas sitting in my bed next to me as I was journaling. He wanted to journal too and I love watching him draw and come up with such cute little pictures so I was happy to have the company.

A great way to end an amazing weekend!

Me: a to z

2011-09-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Age: 33

Bedsize: king

Chores that you hate: bathrooms, ironing

Dogs: no thanks, wet noses are gross

Essential start to your day: kissing my kidlings

Favorite color: any hue of blue

Gold or Silver: both

Height: 5’2

Instruments you play: zilch

Job title: mother, wife, cleaner, cooker, boo boo fixer, washer, organizer, crafter, designer, lover, laundress, party planner, shopper, diaper changer, bottle maker, friend, sister, daughter, server.

Kids: three

Live: mesa, az

Mother’s Name: rosemary

Nicknames: cami, mimi, cambot, cams

Overnight hospital stays: three {labor and delivery}

Pet peeves: stupid people, stuff out of it's place {i now know how my father felt when the stapler or scissors weren't put back in their proper drawer}

Quote from a movie or tv show: modern family, seinfeld, tyler {he says some pretty funny stuff}

Right or Lefty: right

Siblings: 2 brothers, 2 sisters, 5 brother in laws, 6 sister in laws

Time you wake up: whenever lola wakes me up

Underwear: sometimes i miss it

Vegetable you hate: beets, brussel sprouts {i've also never tried them}

What makes you run late: children

X-Rays You’ve Had: head, back, abdomen, chest, you get the point {but never a broken bone!}

Yummy food you make: homemade strawberry pecan ice cream

Zoo Animal: deer

Houzz

2011-09-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

So, I found a new website that I thought I'd share. It's like an Interior Designer's version of Pinterest.

contemporary kitchen design by new york architect Chelsea Atelier Architect, PC

Warning: you may get lost for hours.
I sure do love this thing called the internet!

Go HERE to start your search!
Have fun!

My heart is full.

2011-09-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed to be able to spend my days with these sweet kiddos. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Hope you're having a great day too!

{and these were the good pictures! :)}

They still got it.

2011-09-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Maybe they can't figure out electronics, but they certainly are still in love {and a little feisty if you ask me}. It's just cute, so watch!

Bunked Over

2011-09-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I had the fun opportunity to take a little stay-cation with some of my closest friends. We did it for the first time last year and it was such a fun getaway that we plan on making it an annual event. Here's a little photo diary of some of the fun we had.

Driving in the car on the way there. Marlo and Nor TOTALLY surprised us all by not telling us Lenor was going to be able to make it to the outing. Her and her darling little fam recently relocated to another state, leaving us all very sad to see her go, but hopeful that she would make some fun trips home to hang and catch up. We were all under the impression that she wasn't able to make it to the overnighter due to a wedding she needed to attend the same weekend in California. Those little sly girls kept her coming a secret since April. Needless to say we were ALL ecstatic at her jumping in the car to join the fun!!!!

The layout. We booked a little two bedroom casita at The Pointe in Phoenix. Not the finest establishment within the vast number of Hotels in this here valley, but it was within our budget so it suited us fine.

Cicily decided to don the provided bathrobe for a quick laugh, it didn't last due to the hot weather we were unfortunately unable to escape.

Trying to get a group shot once everyone arrived. Minus yours truly.

However, we always come equipped with a photographer, so I was able to make it into the shot.

Thank you Jill! {Myself, Molly, Cicily, Lindsay, Ashley, Kizzy, Sheri, Sarah, Lenor, Darcy, Marlo and Jill}

It was dubbed Ashley's month to take over the dinner in place of hosting a night at her home. She {lucky for us} does a little business overseas in China and is always spoiling us with treasures she finds and brings back. This time she bought us all purses! We all love a new knockoff handbag!

We stayed up {well some of us} the entire night talking. I took this picture outside our window at 5:30 am. I haven't stayed up that late since I was single! It was awesome and a little silly of us, all at the same time. Jill and Darcy never even went to sleep. When I was heading to bed they were heading out to make a doughnut run, crazy ladies!

The next morning, I got up around 11:30 to everyone else just hanging around in their jammies. Lots of great conversation going on {unfortunately a lot that I missed between the hours of 8 and 11} and we were all totally happy with just lounging around and doing absolutely nothing all day! We had no kids, no schedule and no worries. {and on a side note, having 36 kids spread out between the 12 of us, is not an easy thing to plan a vacation around. So it made it all the better that we were all there and ready to relax and spend some good girl time together!}

We finally got out of the cave and did a little swimming in the pools. Which, come to find out, really wasn't all that refreshing in this AZ heat. But a fun change non-the-less.

Then back to the room to try and catch a little nap.

More talking and lots of snacking! Cicily was assigned to bring paper goods and totally bought us all our own cup! I felt like we were at girls camp or something, it was too cute! Next year I'm suggesting we do secret sisters {snicker}!

Later, after dinner, we decided to get out and take a little ride. We went to literally pig out on some ice cream at Mary Coyle's. We ordered the Hill, because when else would we ever do that? It was a literal hill of ice cream, five different flavors all packed one on top of another with three toppings on the side. I didn't get a picture of the before, this was taken after we all dove into the mess. But take my word, it was big!

Then I had the brilliant idea of going to teepee my brothers house who lived just around the corner. It was awesome! I haven't done that since High School, obviously, and it was just as fun as it was back then. We were really working on finding our inner child I guess. I'm pretty sure we found them and rocked it all weekend all!

Then we headed back to the pad for more girl talk and hanging out. We stayed up only till about midnight or so, knowing that most of us had to go to church the next day and needed to be back on our game for the kidlings.

It was a blast of a weekend and such a fun time to have spent with my girlfriends. We were all so very grateful to our husbands for so willingly taking over the households to let us all have a little girl time. I am especially thankful for a hubby who NEVER complains or makes me feel guilty for spending a little time away from the home front. He's a rock star when it comes to taking over and being the man and woman of the house!

A few things I must mention so I don't forget:

Surprise ala' Lenor
Darcy's story about her Aunt. Hookers, Care Bears and "chemistry, chemistry, chemistry"!
Trying to stay in one group at the lazy river
The drunk man in the pool who didn't like China, Talking Politics with Marlo and who was surprised when we all weren't married to the same man {being mormon and all}
Personalized cups by Cicily
Mama got a new bag!!!
Strawberry Coladas
Way too much snacking!
Lenor's Bib story, we were all crying with laughter
Teepeeing!
The Hill at Mary Coyle's
Laughing till it hurt.
Jill's side notes during her stories and Marlo's "and their parents were Leonard and Florence" comment
Squeezing into Marlo's car to get ice cream
Staying up until 5:30 am
Hummus and Spinach Dip
Finding a dead cockroach when we moved the table, nice right?
The Ants invading our kitchenette. lame!

Birthday Wishes

2011-09-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone may be wondering, here's a little wish list of a few things on my Birthday wish list this year. You know, in case you wanted to spoil me with pretties on my special day!

In with the new pump by Seychelles, could you just die?

Plastic Charm Necklace this seems random, but I used to have these when I was younger and I would just love to own one again to someday pass along to Lola. I was seriously obsessed with these!!!

DownEast Basics Gift Certificate, I could buy anything in that store! Some serious darling stuff right now and I'm in desperate need of some new under shirts!

New iPhone cover, I need a new cover and this would suit me perfectly!

I would also LOVE someone OTHER then me or my husband to clean my house!
I need to get more ram added to my computer somehow
A really good facial {not sure where, but I need one bad!}
I'm always in need of a good pedicure
I would also gladly accept Gift Certificates to any of the following establishments:

Blurb
Home Goods
Anthropologie
IKEA
Home Depot
Domestic Bliss

Again, just incase you were wondering. wink, wink!

One Voice

2011-08-23T16:35:00.001-07:00

It's always a party at the Wrights on Sunday nights, especially when we break out the Manilow!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

The Birthday Boy... er, Man

2011-08-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Tyler's Birthday. Where do I start?
As I contemplated this post and what I was going to write about this sweet Husband of mine, the words "It wouldn't work without him" kept coming back to me.
and that's the truth, our life simply wouldn't work without him!

He's such a blessing to me and I'm so lucky to call him mine!

I love you Babe! I'm sure as much as you love me, which we all know is a lot!

Here are some priceless pictures showing just how great a Husband and Dad he is.
I think we'll keep him around for awhile!

He loves spending time with the kids.

He takes me on fun new adventures!

He drives us everywhere, whether I like it or not.

He puts up with my incessant picture taking.

He's extremely helpful with the children, a very involved father!

He's super cute!

See, super cute!

He puts the babies to sleep, and even catches a few Z's when he gets the chance.

He loves to play and love on the kiddos.

He's VERY handy to have around the house!

He does the dishes, Every night!

He never complains about anything!

He's just a super guy all around! Some of the other things he does for me on a weekly if not daily basis: Cleans the floors, does laundry, takes out the trash, cleans up the dinner mess, changes diapers, helps with bathing the kids, dresses the kids for Church on Sunday, mows the lawn, calls to arrange babysitters, helps with putting the kids to bed every night, feeds Max early in the morning before leaving for work and then puts him back to sleep, trims nails, cleans out the cars, picks up toys and basically does anything he sees that needs to be done.

He is a super help to me on a daily basis and I promise I help a little bit too! Wink, Wink!
He's the best and again I'm so happy and grateful to call him mine!
Happy Birthday Babe! I know it's kind off a lame Birthday for you, having to work late and all, but I'll try and make up for it tomorrow night. I love you!

Gigi

2011-08-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

My heart is aching these past few weeks for my Grandmother. Her health has progressively gotten worse these past three or four years and recently the family decided she needed constant care. She has already been in a retirement center with her own two bedroom apartment and some help as she would need it. But now she's been moved to the other side of the building where she only has a bedroom of her own and a community living area, eating area and such.

She has had a number of falls that have lead her to this state of being. It has left her with basically no speech, so communicating with her has been a challenge for some time but progressively getting worse.

I had the opportunity to go and visit with her a few weekends ago and it was wonderful. We didn't say much to each other, but we could feel our thoughts through our eye contact. I know she can still understand things and her mind is seemingly still there, but she simply can't talk at all, and you can see the frustration in her eyes.

I told her about all the things going on in our life and I had Max with me so she could see her great grandchild crawling around her. I held her hand for a moment and even rubbed some lotion on her arms. This was just about the only service I could offer her. I felt so heart broken for her and her living conditions. I even got a little teary eyed as we sat there looking into one another's eyes. I felt her thoughts rushing through me and knew she was proud of the legacy she would leave behind. I felt her wanting to be reunited with her husband and her two sons, wanting to not live in her situation anymore, but not being able to do anything about it. I knew she was frustrated at not being able to communicate with me or anyone for that matter. She just sat there with this blank stare, knowing that she was unable to express her true feelings on any subject.

She has lived a beautiful life full of travel, family, service, music, love, laughter and even a little Broadway. She was always in great shape, doing yoga and exercise daily. She was able to live a very comfortable life of weekly massages, hair appointments, manicures, fine dinning and occasional shopping, I'm sure. She was certainly blessed in this way.

She is one amazing woman who has made everything she encounters a little bit prettier. Her home was always in style, she was always dressed to the nine's and doing something amazing with her musical talents.

I have been so blessed to have been a part of her life and pray that she lives her last days in peace and comfort. I love you Gigi and pray for your comfort every night. Thank you for all you have given me throughout my life.

Non First Day of School

2011-08-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

So Tommy's birthday is at the end of September, leaving him behind as all of his little friends start school today. We tried to get him tested in to be able to be the youngest in his class and start school this year with his group of friends, but alas, he didn't pass. Leaving him home today with little old me and the littles. I'm sure it will be best in the long run, but seeing all his little buddies get ready and start school today is making me a little blue for him. Luckily, he doesn't seem to know what's going on and his day is going just as normal.

To all you kids starting school today, good luck and hope it's a great year! While we sit at home sad because all our friends and cousins are back to school leaving us without any more play dates. :(

Yuma or Bust

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

I have had the opportunity to work with a darling family who lives in Yuma of all places. We've been working hard to get two of her kids rooms done. Here's a peek at our 20 hour adventure we took a few weeks ago to put it all together.

{Tyler was such a trooper taking a day off of work to join me and be my little man slave all day.

Babe, I seriously love you!!!}

Note: pictures aren't great because I only took my phone, the rooms aren't complete either,

but it's a good start. There's only so much two people can do in one day.

On our way.....

Starting to put up the vinyl in one room. The wallpaper in the other was already up, LOVE it!

Recovered chair from Ikea, end table from Home Goods, Anthropologie dresser, Antique mirror painted to match the color palette, wire topiary from Home Goods. Still to come: 2 Capiz lighting pendants from Pottery Barn over the chair and collectable heirloom plate arrangement over the end table.

Gracing this wall are two Ikea shelves with added antique brackets, Ferm living birdcage silhouette, Anthro vases, antiqued knick knacks, Home Goods white bird, thrifted children's books, Paris Envy turquoise wing, Home Goods frame and balloon animal amongst other things.

Misc. frame and mirror wall all painted in blues, raspberries and pink colors. Layla Grace bed frame, Anthro Bedding, Pillows and bed skirt in Amy Butler and Heather Bailey fabrics to come, end table from Home Goods, Vintage window frame in original color from her grandmothers old home and Giraffe sconce lighting from Jonathan Adler home. Vinyl pattern designed from a Heather Bailey fabric by DeCrow Designs and created by my friend Jill Wright {not sure what her Vinyl company's name is}.

The view of the other bed, and dinner, KFC.

This is the other room we started, but didn't finish. The baby's room. We spent hours flipping through book after book of random wallpapers {mostly junk} and came out with this. We had it hung on the two less prominent walls with it wrapping up and around the ceiling as well. I love the way it turned out! We purchased a dresser from good old Ikea, found the fun lamp at an antique shop in Phoenix then added the lamp shade from Anthro. We are combining ultra modern pieces with a splash of Vintage accessories. Still to come, A LOT!

Susan, my client, found these darling prints at Layla Grace. We hung a long modern shelf above the changing table/dresser that will hold a vintage metal playhouse among other treasures we find. The old scale works perfect for holding lotions and powder next to the changing pad. We also found this darling laundry basket at Urban Outfitters that I am in super love with, sorry it's no longer available.

A super blurry pic, again I only had my phone, but here is another corner of the room. We found an old metal patio chair for rocking the baby back to sleep at night. We still need to get a custom cushion made for that piece. The tuft is from Home Goods and can double as a small table space for a bottle. We hung some of Susan's heirloom baby dresses on the wall. We are still waiting for the bookshelves to come from Jennifer DeLonge, in pink of course! They will hang next to the crib, lower on the wall.
The next picture is of a small space she had at the top of her stairs. We're dubbing it as the reading nook now with custom canvas art decoupaged with Shel Silverstein poems {not all the pieces are shown}. The ultra comfy couch was purchased at Found, and the chandelier is a fun pop of color from an Antique store in Phoenix.

The open road, on our way to home sweet home!

I can't wait for the next trip to finish these two rooms up and start on the next ones and I promise I'll get MUCH better pictures while I'm at it!

Remember, I'm for hire too! Let me know if you have a space in your home you'd like a little tweaking with or help on, I always love a new project!

Maxwell

2011-07-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

I could just spend the whole day snuggling and loving this little man. He is the sweetest.

He loves to cuddle into you and give big hugs, he clings onto my side like a little monkey as we walk through the house, we snuggle up next to each other during nap time {something that needs to stop, but I just can't help myself} and honestly, I just can't seem to get enough of him.

It's very rare that we get any alone time, with the other crazies running around, but when we do it's pure bliss.

Thanks for being such a sweet bundle of joy, waiting for your chance to be held and cuddled by your momma. It's only right that your first word has been happy {pronounced: ahh-pi}, I love you, my little Baby Beau!
{stop growing up, I can't believe your already one, it passes so fast!}

Getting into trouble

2011-07-19T23:22:00.001-07:00

So, it's happening, little Maxers is starting to get curious. I finally took a minute today to move some display items from a console table I have in my kitchen nook. It wasn't two minutes later that he was coming over to see the changes and experiment with the new space. I can tell it's that time again in my life where I need to rebaby proof the place. It never ends!

Here's a few photos I got of the action.

Then, he turns himself around and plop, falls right off. But that still didn't stop him from climbing right back up. What a stink, at least he's cute!

Home

2011-07-09T20:33:00.001-07:00

Nothing like rollin' around in a
pile of dirty clothes.

This would pretty much be Tylers
worst nightmare.

Newport, so far

2011-07-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

iPhone love

2011-06-26T23:15:00.001-07:00

I totally blogged this post from my phone! Did you know there's an app for that?

respit

2011-06-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is my new way of getting the little man to take a snooze. Not really, but it could be. I looked over at him the other day to find this, I just had to pick him up and snuggle with his little sleeping limbs. I can hardly believe he's almost one. It goes so fast, where have I been?

Lolita

2011-06-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Where does a two year old learn to pose like this?
{I guess I better stop parading around in front of the mirrors in my bathing suits {ha, ha!}.}

New digs will make any one happy!

iPhone Glimpse

2011-06-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

I've found that since upgrading to a smart phone I fish for it instead of a camera. Thus the post about all the views from a phone.

Warning: heavy photo post to follow.

Morning Do

The first spend the night of the season

Nap time around the house

Grandma Ro reading stories to the little ones

Lots of slip n' slide fun

Trying to warm up

I love her little eye peeping over to the camera

Friday night out with the kids

First time the kids went to Buca, they loved looking all around at the craziness

Red Box to finish the night with

I spy...

A sweet baby boy who was lost in the clothes

Trying out a new do for Sunday. Go HERE for a tutorial.

The boy cousins playing dress up at Granny and Papa's.

Sweet baby boy smiles that melt your heart

The first day of Creativity Camp. Made hats out of paper.

Cutting ourselves in line to get a picture with Mater.

I was NOT about to spend two hours waiting in line for a photo op.

Enjoying a little Mojo yogurt after seeing the cars

Tripping at Grandpa Toms house and getting a goose egg. All part of being a kid I guess.

More slip n slide fun. It works great with the slide too!

Taking a breather in the mud puddle that builds up from the water overflow.

Playing with each other right before bed.

{no, none of their pj's match, but I can't be bothered with details like that right now.

At least they were clean.}

Projects

2011-05-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

This year for Mother's day I requested a little work around the house be done. Well, my man delivered. Not only did we finish up a few misc. projects but he also bought me a new one of these babies as a little extra Mother's Day gift! Of which I am in love with, almost as much as some of the newly redone areas of the house. Here's a little peek at why I've been missing from the blogging world.

Tyler painted the hallway. I'm still working on making a chalkboard for inside the frame. But I am tickled grey every time I walk down the hall {which is multiple times a day}. Thanks babe, your patience amazes me every time.

We worked on our master bedroom a little as well. I had Tyler hang another shelf that I've had for awhile, while I redecorated them. I'm a fan of the outcome.

Then, I got an itch to create something and went to town on a massive canvas I purchased at Michael's. Not sure if I'm completely done with it, but for now it will do. I will have Tyler hang it up sometime this weekend.

I've collected these fun butterflies throughout my excursions to Goodwill and such. I put a quick coat of spray paint on them and voila! A fun {and somewhat unique} display for another wall. I could use a few more, of which I'm sure will grow throughout the months as I find them. {Ignore the blue and white mirrors propped up on the side of my end table. I'm still searching for a spot to hang them}

I had a little paint so I decided I wanted to paint the inside of my pantry door. It's a fun little surprise that brightens my day each and every time I have to fish something up for the kidlings. {Still a few touchups needed towards the bottom, another thing to add to the weekend list}

I made this fun little sign for the door that leads us into our garage. Simple thrift store frame, spray paint, a little chalk board paint and instant cuteness.

We sold a few unused things lying around the house on craigslist and in return bought some storage pieces at Ikea. I've wanted these for awhile and it's nice to have them along with all the toys {for the most part} organized within them. I may end up regretting this in a few months, but for now it works great. Eventually I will get all matching bins.

I got my Family Rules poster made into a canvas and hung up on the wall. I'm loving it. I want to make a thousand more of these. So many ideas, so little time and money. I did make this one, however,

as my Bunko gift for this past weekend. It turned out cute and so easy to do.
I've also spent some time these past few weeks doing a little antiquing and misc. shopping for a client. During which time I found this little gem,

Very excited about that. I totally remember having this when I was growing up. The kids love it. Lola even tries to hide in it on a regular basis. I've come to terms with the fact that she is going to slowly destroy it. I wasn't really thinking of her destructive behavior towards anything of value when purchasing it. Til then, we'll enjoy the fantastic vintageness it brings to the family of toys in the house.

oh yeah, and the best part of the week has been this new addition to the back yard.

Summer is here and I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time in this little puppy, with or without swimming suits. As a mother to three children who don't know how to swim, this is a perfect solution {for now}.

I'm not dead

2011-05-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

Promise. Just a little preoccupied with life and projects galore. I have so many things to catch up on that it seems a bit overwhelming. So I've decided to just start fresh. Not gonna worry {for now} about posting all the previous memories. Just gonna start anew. Here we go.

We have a Preschool graduate! We are so proud of our little Tommy Boy. He suffered from a miner meltdown on the actual day, making photo taking nearly impossible. See insert:

But luckily he would stand still long enough for this shot.

We are excited to see what lies ahead for this little man. Congrats Tommy! We love you.

As Promised...

2011-05-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Due to an overwhelming response towards my "Family Rules" poster, I've decided to give a little freebie. It's my Mother's Day gift to all of you!

Just click on the Download button at the end of the post and "Bam" you'll have it!

I've included all the different options in one link, once downloaded you can choose the one you'd like.

I'm new to this, so bare with me. {Thanks Molly for hosting the download!}

Here are the different options, hopefully one will fit your decorating style.
The file is big enough to print up to a 16x20.

Leave me a little comment to let me know you've stopped by, oh yeah and
give credit where credit is due yo!
Don't go ripping me off!
Not that any of you would, it's just one of those things you have to say.
But DO feel free to share with others, pass it along through the blog world, I'm not greedy!

"DOWNLOAD"

I'm doing the 2nd option on a canvas for our family room, can't wait for it to arrive!
Thanks and Happy Late Mother's Day!

Thanks

2011-05-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Just wanting to throw out a little mention to the Wonderful Mom's in my life.

Thank you Mom for raising me to be the woman that I am. You have always been a great example of Strength, Perseverance, Beauty, Love, Forgiveness and Service {to name a few}. I love you and am so grateful for the service you've given me over the years. You're the best, have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Marilyn, Mom, thank you for being such a wonderful Mother to my Husband. Thank you for raising him with such strong qualities of Service, Strength, Dependability, Love, Sarcasm {a little bit is always good}, Faith, Loyalty and Dashingly Good Looks! He and I are who we are today because of our Mother's and for that we are and will be Eternally grateful.

...and I have a little gift for all you Mother's out there in Blog land. Sometime in the next few days I'll be getting you the link to download my Family Rules Poster. Stay tuned and have a very Happy {and hopefully pampering} Mother's Day!

The Family Rules

2011-05-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

A little something a whipped up tonight. Gonna get it printed out BIG and hang it in the Family Room.

Can't decide if the colors are too Springy?

That may be tweaked a bit, but other then that, what do ya think?

Creative Kids

2011-04-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

Check out this supah cool kids workshop program for the summer. I'm signing Toms up ASAP! What a fun unique idea, heck, forget about the kids, I want to do this!

Go HERE for more info. and tell them I sent ya, I'm family so I have an in!

Hippity Hop

2011-04-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Is the Easter bunny coming to your house tomorrow?

He's certainly ready at ours.

Have a wonderful Easter Holiday.

I know we will!
These little buddies will be celebrating their first Easter.
Their gonna kill me for this later, but look so darn cute right now.

Profile Pictures

2011-04-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

A big event happened yesterday. Tyler finally joined in the facebook parade. Crazy, right?

anyway, he's so silly. We had to get a profile picture and found that there wasn't a single picture of himself on our computer. Enter: the camera.

Here are a few of the rejected options. {it was too funny of a moment not to post about for all of us to remember for years to come}

P.S. He's gonna kill me, but I'm over it.

A New Do =

2011-04-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Happiness!

It's amazing what a fresh cut and color can do for a girl. Thanks Darcy!

Tea Party

2011-04-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

Would you care for a spot of Tea?

Yes, please.
{Gigantor, Elleree, Avery, Knuffle Bunny, Province, Tommy and Lola}

Yet another successful play date around here today. House filled with little footsteps and lots of loud voices. A few pouting spouts and toys spread everywhere.

In other words, Heaven to any two through five year old.

{Oh my gosh, they all totally just said a prayer to bless the tea party. Is that wrong?}

In other news,
This little man has been sleeping horribly.

I need to fix that pronto!!! But he's still darn cute, growing more and more every day.

Even Monsters...

2011-03-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

get hungry sometimes.

This is what I find when I leave Lola alone with her cereal in the mornings. Seems logical to me.

20 Pound Bundle

2011-03-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

of pure sweetness!

nine months old

three teeth {working on the fourth}

sitting up on his own

still not eating from a spoon {he's lazy like that}

picking things up and studies it {never sticks it in his mouth}

requiring a little more attention {likes to be held}

the best part of my day and sometimes the most work

Wow, can't believe my baby is 9 months already. Time flies!

Spring Break =

2011-03-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Cheap Labor

We Interrupt The Regularly Scheduled Program...

2011-02-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Getting sick never comes at a convenient time, this I know, but everyone at once? Really? What kind of sick joke is Mother Nature playing on us? Not cool!

I'm searching to find the Love for my "14 days of Love" program.
I'll let the pictures tell my story. Take a look and see if you can pick out the Love I'm feeling today. It shouldn't be hard.{just a little visual into what our house is experiencing today}

Counting what blessings I have left, pray for me and my children. We'll need it!

{or at least I will}

My 14 for Maxermus

2011-02-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

"Why I Love my Maxers"

He's nothing but perfection!
He's ALWAYS happy and very easy to please
I love the little smell he has. Each of my children have had their own scent. I just love smelling him and knowing he's unique in so many ways.
He will sit for hours at a time in his bumbo. What a blessing when the other two crazies are running circles around me.
He's a great sleeper. For the most part we are able to just lay him in his little play pen and he calms himself to sleep. Even if we have to rock him for a bit, he still sleeps great, only waking up once for an early morning feeding before going back to bed til about 9. Wonderful!
He will go to anyone and be happy. Some babies have real attachments to their parents and won't let other's hold them, not this kid. He's just happy to be held!
He's in no rush to grow up. He loves just lounging around and being a baby. He doesn't concern himself with bouncing on his legs, eating baby food, rolling over; you know the normal stuff a baby would do at nearly 8 months. He's perfectly content in being lazy, and right now I'm totally fine with that!
He gets the biggest smile when he sees me or his Daddy. He is starting to recognize us and it's the sweetest thing when he grabs ahold of your neck and pulls in as tight as he can. His mouth opens so wide and he try's his hardest to fit your whole face into his mouth. I guess it's his own little version of a bear hug and kiss, I love it!
I love the little hand jesters and movements he makes and how he looks at them while he is doing it. He gets mesmerized by the movement he is creating.
His little talk. All babies have the sweetest little voices and to hear him use his just melts my heart! I love to hear him try and keep up with the others.
He gets so excited when we wrap him up in his blanket to get ready to go to sleep. He gets the biggest smile on his face just knowing that we know what he needs at the perfect time.
He gets SO excited when he sees or hears us start to make a bottle. His little arms start flapping and his legs start kicking. If we don't get it to his mouth fast enough he starts to get very fussy at the thought of waiting for such goodness!
He's very content with whatever it is we are doing. Wether riding in the car, laying on the floor, strolling through the grocery store, being mauled by Lola or being held by a million little cousins. He's just happy to be alive and loves seeing everything that's going on.
He has brought a spirit to our home that wasn't here before. I'm not sure if it was him or the fact that I have three children now, but he has made me a better mother, wife and friend. I am taking more time to focus on my family and husband, that before I always took for granted and didn't worry about. I cook and clean and basically have realized the amount of responsibility I have with these children. It sounds crazy but I guess it took three kids for me to figure this out. For this change in my life I will forever be grateful to him.

Well, as you may have guessed, this list was easy! He is such a sweet blessing to have in our home right now. How lucky we are to have him!

Showgirl's 14

2011-02-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you, coming up with 14 things for this feisty little lady is gonna be a tough one, so bare with me here. Here goes nothing:

"Finding the Love for Lola"

She's got Sass! This is the understatement of the century! I love that you can just look at her and see the sassiness oozing out.
She's smart. Sometimes a little too much for her own good. But someday this will come in very handy and even though it makes life hard for me right now, I love how much she is learning and how easy it seems to come to her.
She's an AWESOME sleeper! We can put her right in her crib at night and she just turns over and falls asleep for usually a good 12 hours. Like I said, Awesome!
Her big blue eye's. Never in a million years did I imagine a blue eyed blondie for a child. But now that we have her, we wouldn't have it any other way!
She makes me laugh. Her silly antics can sometimes be a little frustrating as well as exhausting, but once the air clears I realize the hilarity of the moment and have to giggle.
Her curiosity for EVERYTHING! She wants to do it all on her own and figure things out all by herself.
She's a great eater. She'll eat almost anything and sit in her high chair to do it. This comes in very handy when I'm looking for a moment of rest and need to corral her for a bit.
Her sweet little voice. She is learning so many words and is so cute when she says them. She always asks me "Mommy, what you doing Mommy?" I love that. She is even learning how to count and her ABC's. She loves to sing, er, have me sing to her and her mumble along. This is one of the best parts of almost two year olds, hearing them try to speak and communicate with us. It's darling! Some of her other Darling words/phrases right now: I did it!, Erh's Lola's?, I Baynty{blankie} Mommy?, My Pretties{bracelets}, I color, my lip{chapstick}?, hold it mommy, sing it mommy, My Piylow Pet? and lots of others, too many to list.
Her little ponies. When we are getting ready each day she is always so good to let me sit her down and do her ponies. She runs over and sits in front of me and lets me wet her hair down and brush it out as she finds a pony for me to use.
I love her reaction to when her daddy gets home. She goes running towards the door screaming, "Daddy Home!" Sometimes it's the cutest part of the day.
She's GREAT in the nursery at church. She'll head right in and is a perfect angel the whole time she's in there. Hardly making a peep, just sitting at the little table playing with puzzles or reading books. A far cry from her time spent at home. So glad she's good for others even if she is a little stinker for me.
I LOVE that she LOVES books! She will sit and look at books all day long. She loves to sit and read the pages aloud. It's really too cute to watch. I hope she keeps that desire throughout her life, it's something I certainly lack!
I love all the little nick names we have for her. Yowda, Lo Boat, Showgirl, lalalalalola, Lo Ro, stink pot, you get the idea.
Her sweet little tootsie's when we polish them. Not very often are feet cute, but when she has polish on her little toe's {really even when they aren't polished too} they are too cute. I could just eat them up!

Wow, I did it, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Even Tyler was impressed that I was attempting this one. We love our sweet baby girl, but she certainly keeps us on our toes and busy, busy!

"Sorteen" things I Heart about Tommy

2011-02-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

What I love about Tommy:

His Laugh. He is a genuinely happy kid.
His Smile. It's never hard to find it, even when I'm mad at him, it's hard to stay mad when he flashes his pearly whites.
His Sense of Humor. Not sure if he realizes it yet, but the kid's hilarious! At least to us he is.
How sweet and kind he is towards his siblings. He has always been so gentle and loving towards the babies, I never had to worry about leaving him alone with either Lola or Max.
His obedience. For the most part he listens and obeys when we ask him to do something or to stop doing something. This has been such a blessing on numerous occasions.
His ability to learn. He is growing so fast and learning all the things that come with that. Counting, spelling, singing, writing, drawing, colors, etc.
His speaking slurs. His "F's" are S's and his "V's" are Z's, his "L's" are Y's and sometimes D's. If you help him sound it out he can usually get the correct sound, but it keeps him little so we aren't too concerned with it yet.
How he breaks out into song around the house. It really lightens the mood when you start to hear him sing "California Gurls" from the other room, and then follow that song with "I am a Child of God". He has a very wide range of musical knowledge.
He's very coordinated. I love that for Christmas he wanted a two wheel scooter and rode it like a champ since day one. He's also learning to ride his bike without training wheels, he's been able to swing a baseball bat since he was 1 1/5 and actually hit a ball since he was 2. He's got a great throwing arm and has some wicked moves on the dance floor.
He's usually pretty good at sharing with others. It makes me happy when he does it without being prompted. We are working on it, but like I said usually he's pretty good.
His Big Brown Eyes! He is just as I always imagined my kids would look. Dark hair, dark eyes glowing skin, great smile. Darling. {cause don't we all imagine our children to be darling?}
He loves to cuddle and give loves. I love that he'll ask me at night if we could cuddle together in my bed. He's so sweet when he wants to be.
His love for Church. He looks forward to Sunday every week, knowing that he gets to go to his class and see all of his friends, sing songs and learn about the scriptures. I pray he keeps this enthusiasm as he continues to grow.
His overall health. He has been a healthy kid since day one and I know he doesn't really have anything to do with that, just genetics, but it certainly helps me to love him a little more when the other kids are sick and he's doing just fine. I don't think he's ever been on antibiotics, what a blessing!

14 Days of Love

2011-02-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

I thought I would try and do something fun around the theme of Valentine's day. Seeing as how today is the 1st day of February, I find this as the perfect opportunity to start a little Lovin.

14 Reasons WHY I'm in Love with my man:

I'm a better person because of him
He attends each and every church meeting, he sings the hymns, he accepts every call and shows his love and faith towards the Lord through his service. He helps keep me going by the example he sets.
He works so hard for our little family. Continually striving to do his best for himself and his employer. He is dependable and never lets you down.
He works at improving himself every day {something I lack at times}. He tries new things and pushes himself to achieve goals he has set for himself.
He loves me without fail. No matter how rude I may be towards him at times or how lazy I get with the housework/cooking/kids, he would NEVER speak an ill word towards me or comment on my faults.
He is an AWESOME father! He does more then any other "dad" I know. He comes right in and helps out with whatever needs to be done. Bathing, feeding, playing, changing, dressing, helping, whatever the situation calls for, he steps up to help out. {and for the most part, he loves doing it.}
Somehow, he gives me everything I want {with a few exceptions}. With decorating ideas, date night decisions, travel plans or Tax return purchases, whatever it may be, he's very thoughtful in making me happy when the decisions are being made.
He cleans the house! Every night he does the dishes after dinner, he takes the trash out each morning before we wake up and he changes the Laundry most every night. He even folds and puts it away a lot of the time. He refills the water in the fridge so there is always a cold water bottle for me when I need one, he sets my alarm clock for me to make sure I get up to get Tommy ready for his carpool. He comes home on Sundays in between meetings to get each of the children dressed and ready for church, then takes Tommy back with him before church to get him out of my hair. He cleans the hall bathroom, does all the yard work and even mops the floors. He's a rockstar!
He keeps me Honest {except when it comes to photo radar tickets, we have an agreement about those}.
He's very good with our finances, keeping us in line and mostly out of debt.
He's very clean and likes things organized {this is something we are both obsessive about, which is a good thing. It keeps us both on our toes in keeping an organized home}.
He is great with our newborns, getting up each and every morning for the early feeding, and sometimes even in the middle of the night. He lets me sleep in and feeds Max every morning before getting ready for work, then puts him back to sleep, so as not to disturb me. AWESOME!
He is always a great example of how to act and react towards family members. When either of our siblings/parents/friends do something we don't necessarily agree with, he is really good at not saying anything about it and letting them make their own decisions {cause clearly it's none of our business} Where I have issue's with this, if it's my family, a lot of times I call them out on it, or say something that I'll usually regret saying later. I may even judge them and think I would handle a situation better, but Tyler helps bring me back down to the normal level at which I actually stand. Hey, I'm working on it, clearly I have a long way to go. He makes me strive to be better in this area.
Oh yeah, and he's pretty cute. That's gotta be somewhere on here, right?

Big Boy

2011-01-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

Tommy must think he's some kind-off big boy or something.

He's diaper free {not accident free, but diaper free}
He can count up to 30 {and only misses the number 15 every time}
He knows his days of the week {no necessarily in order, but still}
He used the word "often" while talking to me in the car tonight {properly too!}
He can easily ride a two wheel scooter {no falls yet!}
He knows the pledge of allegiance by heart {and can be heard reciting it when he thinks he's alone}
He knows how to spell and write Tommy {with the exception of adding QST when he spells it out for you}
He can ride his bike WITHOUT his training wheels! {not all the time, but when Daddy's there to help, he's a champ!}

I guess being FOUR automatically made him a big boy!

Way to go Buddy! You're learning so much, it's so fun to see what you'll do for us next.
We are so proud of you!

Silly Swingers

2011-01-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a little trip with the kiddos to the park. Max had his first taste of the swings, he loved it {as he seems to love everything}. Then I had a silly idea.

Max still loved it, but Lola wasn't too excited with the thought of sharing her swing time.
It was short lived! But cute enough to capture a pic.

Cool Cars

2011-01-25T21:57:00.000-08:00

Well, once again my Aunt and Uncle put a spectacular show on in Scottsdale this past weekend, with their Russo and Steele Collector Car Auction. We had the privilege of going out to see it all.

It's been a fun date night activity for the past few years with "our gang"{seen HERE, HERE and HERE}, and this year was no exception. {note: we did miss the presence of Molly, she was in LA for other reasons concerning her little lip gloss company} But we had a great time non-the-less.

Here's a little preview of what we saw:

{sitting in the stands watching the cars come up to the Auction block}

{getting a bite to eat after walking through rows and rows of collector cars, it can be exhausting}

{Darren made a little cameo in our pic, so glad you could make it man!}

Then the next day I talked Tyler into going back out to let the kids see the excitement. Tommy LOVED looking at all the cars and had a hard time picking his favorite. He finally settled on this one, but refused to get in front of it to get his picture taken.

{after a little coaxing he agreed to let us take his picture, pill.}

{he loved that this one was his size}

{we snacked on all sorts of goodies like mini donuts, ice cream, canoles and cream puffs!}

and now for my favorite car {probably EVER} that I've seen at these auctions:

wait for it...

1960 Volkswagen Custom Bus
How pimp is that? It was the cutest thing I've ever seen! Loved it!

Then Saturday evening, the night we didn't go, they sold THIS car for $1,705,000.00.

Nothin' but Funny Money there!

Anyway, a great time all around.

Thanks for the fun and Congrats on such a successful event!

Can't wait for next year.

Things were too quiet...

2011-01-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

and then I realized why.

Miss Lo Boat had gotta into her pony box and accidentally spilled them all over the place. She was working hard to clean them up before I found her.

Busted. {sorry about the blurry pic, my camera sucks!}

The Friendlies

2011-01-14T23:44:00.000-08:00

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friendships in our lives. We're also blessed that a lot of us happened to have kids all around the same time that also happen to go to preschool together, and will more then likely attend Kindergarten together too!
{It's late and that was a screwy sentence, but you get the point}

One of said "friends" happened to catch this shot during the play group this week.
Loved it so much, I had to share!

I hope someday they'll all look back and realize just how lucky they are.

I'm Spoiled

2011-01-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

{but SO grateful!}

Mr. Max has a new sleeping space.

Sunday night, after a LONG day of potty training disasters, headaches and emotional breakdowns I decided I needed to get Max's sleeping habits under control. I needed one less thing to worry about, so I fed him, changed him, played a little to get him sleepy and at about 11:00 p.m. wrapped him, laid him in his mock crib, turned on the sound machine and night light, closed the curtains and shut the door behind me. I was praying he wouldn't scream for hours like Lola did, and sure enough, my prayers were answered. We didn't hear from him til 5:30 a.m.. Awesome! Then Tyler fed him for me and put him back to sleep until he woke up again at 9:15 a.m.. Double Awesome! Then Monday night we had the same routine and what do you know, same awesomeness! This morning Tyler actually had to wake him up to feed him around 6:30 a.m. then he slept in for me until 10:00 a.m.!!!
So yes, I know I'm spoiled, in many ways.

It's Awesome!

I love this kid! {He also doesn't seem to mind the pink hand me downs from Lola,

he's secure in his masculinity}

New Years Eve

2010-12-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a RADICAL New Years like we did!

Here's to 2011! Can't wait to see what this year brings!

Christmas Memories

2010-12-31T22:49:00.003-08:00

Well, as you probably know, there are always LOTS of memories made around the Holidays. Our family is no exception. Here are a few of such activities I was able to capture with the camera.

Scottsdale Train Park 2010

FREEZING at the Train Park, cold but fun with all the cousins, a tradition we try and keep each year. It's cheap and the kids love going with everyone. The first year we went we waited in line for like and hour+, we got smart and showed up right as it opened on a week day instead of the weekend.

I forced everyone to stop and take a group shot,

promising them that some day they will thank me for capturing all these memories.

Naturally, I got a lot of annoying grippes and yawns. Just wait, you'll see.

Luckily, we got right on the train, no wait.
This was a good thing considering our fingers were about to fall off from the extreme cold.

If I didn't take these self portraits shots, I don't think I'd ever be in any pictures.

Next up,

Wright Family Christmas Party 2010

The Sunday night after Christmas we had our annual Family Program and Dinner. Fun had by all, lots of silly acts {even an homage to the swagger wagon videos} preceded by a Traditional Mexican Dinner. I guess I take a lot of pictures of Lola. My favorite was capturing the little boys taking a self portrait of themselves. I want a copy of that picture!

Then....One of my favorite things around Christmas is receiving all the fun Holiday cards from loved ones and dear friends. I love looking at my front entry and seeing the cards pile up day after day. It's like a little present from everyone you care about. When Tyler tries to make me cut my list down and send less, I simply refuse, it's far too special of a thing for me to receive, so why should I deny others of such a fun tradition.

Well, that's good enough for now. I know we did a million other things, but I'm having a hard time remembering, this darn Mommy brain. I swear with each child I get a little dumber!

Christmas Day

2010-12-31T22:49:00.001-08:00

Twas' The Night Before Christmas

2010-12-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all,

and to all a good night!

{hope Santa is good to you!}

Ketchup

2010-12-23T23:10:00.000-08:00

In the past month we've done a lot. I've found that my camera has not made it out as much as normal, but here's an update of what I did document.

{if I don't do this now, it will never happen, with Christmas in one day and all}

Playdates,

and yes, I did take SIX kids, four and under to the mall by myself.

With a baby as good as this, I can do just about anything. Sweetest Boy EVER!

Where this one.........Never stops!

This was our first year going to see the Tempe Boat Parade of Lights. Lots of cute ideas, maybe we'll need to put Hope's boat in it next year. What a fun tradition we should start!

There were lots of us there. The kids loved getting together and riding the left over pizza boxes down the hill. Even Max got a turn.

Lola spent most of the evening in the stroller, her choice. That was just fine by me!

One afternoon I decide that the kids needed to make a Christmas ornament to help remember the year with. I broke out the paints and hot glue and came up with this. All from stuff I had around the house. They loved the project and were finished in less then a half hour. Stopping all the things I'm doing and spending some "fun" time with them helps me feel a little less guilty of how often I ignore them.

Lola's chunky fingers and the finished project. {I had to help a little with Max's, shhh}

Next, Tommy got to play the part of Joseph in the Primary Nativity, they had gum back then, right?

Not too bad for a kid who had no idea who Joseph was {my bad}.

Sweet sleeping babies! This boy is such a pleasure to have around, even when he's sick, he's happy. Can't ask for more then that. However, it makes detecting an ear infection, near impossible.
Luckily he had a well check scheduled already and the doctor was able to catch it.
Sweet thing, never a complaint.

He's also been working really hard on his first two teeth. Good job Buddy!

Lola is just a funny girl. I need to add a few photos that I think are just too funny/cute to keep to myself.

{I think she singing "Stayin' Alive" in her head}

{She loves playing outside like one of the big kids}

{Looks like she's done with my obsessive picture taking}

I also had the opportunity to borrow my SIL's camera {drool and a little giggle}. Here are a few of the shots I took. I want a new camera SO badly! I love the clarity it gives and the emotion that I am able to capture at the exact moment I want to catch it. Someday.......
Check out the pics while I continue to dream.

I love how happy they are. They love being with each other, and have so much fun just playing on the couch. Lola's look in the first picture is priceless, you can tell she loves her older brother and just wants to be with him. Such a fun memory to capture.
Thanks Amy for lending us the camera for a bit. I may be calling you again.

So there we have it, a few bits and piece's of our Month.

Still more to come, but little man will be up soon, so I need to go down before that happens!

Clearly,

2010-12-23T23:07:00.000-08:00

...Lola cannot be trusted with the markers yet.

Soon, but not yet.

and in other news... We hosted a "spend the night" this past weekend. Call me crazy, but these kids are only young once. We had Chloe, Buffy, Emma, Janie, Kate and Gracie; as well as our three seedlings. Tommy was in girly, girl heaven!

They {amongst other things}:

called the Justin Beiber Hotline {no answer, boo}

We went for a walk/ride/stroll

Stopped to pet the Horses

Enjoyed a picnic on the front driveway

and LOTS of passing Max around, playing house with him as the baby.

Lots of fun girly things. Tommy loves his cousins and would host "Spend the Nights" every week if he could. Lets be grateful he's not in charge.

Can you tell?

2010-12-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

Can you spot the person who was Photoshopped into the picture? The winner may or may not win a prize!

Not too shabby for an amateur!

Sending you...

2010-12-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

Holiday Wishes.

Holiday Amazement

2010-12-21T10:19:00.001-08:00

This is sure to get you in the Holiday spirit!

I want to learn this! So fun!

Sale

2010-12-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

Come on by this weekend and see us! Get some great last minute, one-of-a-kind Holiday gifts for that certain someone who has everything!

Go HERE for more info!

Seriously.

2010-12-12T23:05:00.000-08:00

When did I get so fat?
uhg.

The things we do for kids.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2010-12-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas!
This past weekend {after debating whether or not to put decorations up this year} I decided to go ahead and decorate the house in the normal Holiday fashion. Putting aside all the other things on my list, I went to work. Tyler strung the lights {the colored variety this year} while I dug through box after box of decorations, picking just the right amount of trim and holly to display.

In Christmas past I've decorated in a specific color scheme, making sure everything matched the house and looked absolutely perfect before being viewed by others.
This year is a little different.
I decided to do a "family" tree.

Displaying all the fun homemade ornaments and special findings from our childhood. This is what Christmas is supposed to be with little kids around the house. Someday I plan on displaying two trees in our home. A "family" tree as well as my tree. But for now this is perfect. Tommy helped me fill the branches with all our goodies while "A Christmas Story" played in the background. What a sweet memory it made for me.

I knew I was having all my family members over on Sunday night for dinner, so I was determined to get as much up around the house as possible. I continued on all through the night putting up as much as I could handle, til I finally crashed, well after midnight. I'm so glad it's up though and now I can focus on all the other things on my To Do List.

Here's a little peek at what our home looks like before snuggling into bed.

My Christopher Radko Collection. Is usually displayed on a special tree in the front entry, but in fear of little miss Lola's wondering hands, I decided to display them up and out of her reach.

Miscellaneous Snowmen and Santa's piled into one big display.

The Santa's Mail Bag was my Mother's, always hanging in the front hallway behind the door.

Dawning all the Christmas cards and letters we would receive from friends and family.

A few of my fun Vintage finds.

Our stockings look purple and blue in this picture, but are actually soft blue and teal.

The boys right before bed. Snuggling up to daddy on the couch.

We also welcomed a new little member into our home this Holiday season. He's our "Elf on the Shelf", Peek-A-Boo, who keeps track of all the happenings in our home. He reports back to Santa each night to make sure everyone is still on the "nice" list.

-and let me tell you, so far..... he's been worth every 3200 pennies we paid for him! Tommy has caught his "attitude" issues and corrected them on a number of different occasions in fear that Peek-A-Boo will tell Santa about his naughtiness!

Each night after returning back from the North Pole he positions himself

on a new shelf somewhere throughout the home.

Toms loves waking up and searching through the rooms to see if he can spot him first.

A fun new tradition we plan on having for years to come!

Welcome into our lives, Peek-A-Boo.

ok,

I'm off to work on some Christmas orders, not a lot of time, but a LOT to do! Wish me luck in getting it all done, as I'm sure each of you need luck in doing all of your things too!

Such a busy time of year, but we all love it!

Halloween

2010-11-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

I figured I should post about our Halloween fun, before posting Thanksgiving memories.

So I'm a little behind, what are ya gonna do?

{thomas in his preschool parade}

{riff raff chillin' in the corner}

{Ya,Ya and Lo Boat came to watch too}

{Granny and Papa's Trunk or Treat. Toms the race car driver and Lola a cupcake princess}

{seriously WAY too many treats for this girl!}

{toms and jack}

{the sleeping chicken Max}

{some of the crazy cousins}

{more of the cute cousins looking oh so darling!}

{Snooki and The Situation on their way to an Adult only party!}

{Tyler's tan is filthy!}

{the cute and a little scary red heads}

{gypsy mammas}

{death, or at least something that looks a lot like it! and the teenagers}

A fun Halloween, it lasted longer then any other Halloween I think.

I want to petition a mandatory Halloween always on the last Friday of October.

It would be a lot easier for everyone, just a thought.

Girls Night In

2010-11-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of hosting our "Girls Night Out" with my friends. It was once a Bunco group but for the past three years or so we've just met once a month to chat and enjoy good company.

I ADORE my girlfriends! We have such a random mix of personalities and come from all over the place, it's amazing how we ever found each other. But we did, and we love it! I only get the chance to host once a year so I knew I wanted to do something fun. I could have chosen the easy way out {pizza or something quick} but I decided last minute to make a yummy breakfast.

We had Pop-up Pancakes with Fresh Whipped Cream and Berries in individual sized trifle bowls, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Blueberry Muffins, Yogurt and Granola.

Then I made Hot Chocolate and Orange Juice to sip on. We dined outside under the soft twinkling lights draped over our porch, and later would light a fire and enjoy the chilly fall breeze. It was perfect {if I do say so}.

Great company, conversations, weather, food and treats! It's a night each one of us look forward to sharing each month. I feel like EVERYONE needs good friends to share their lives with and help them get through motherhood as well as marriage, sometimes!

Thanks girlies for being such great company, love ya!

In The Past...

2010-11-21T22:57:00.000-08:00

few weeks, we've been busy. I'm working on getting my Mimi Made Etsy shop up and running, getting a new blog together, hosted Bunco at my house, had a boutique I was preparing for, always lots of Family time and random activities, Tyler hurt his foot {so he's been less help then normal}, then Tyler hurt his back {forget about the foot, the back is much worse} and so on and so forth. You get the point.

So here's a {not so little} display of what we've been up to.

Warning: Picture Post! ...and lots of them!

Play dates at the mall.

Max starting rice cereal. He's still not totally sure if he likes it.

Lots of crazy Lola stunts!

A fun drive down to Tucson with just my Brother's and Sister's. We had such a blast, we need more reasons to drive all together for semi long distances. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

FHE with my family. Started at In-N-Out for a quick dinner,

Then we all drove out to my Mom's friend, Jennifer's house to see her AMAZING display of the Halloween Department 56 Houses. Seriously, so much work goes into this display, it's a fun tradition to come out and see all the piece's. Thank you Jennifer for so graciously hosting us and all the crazy kids!

A close up {sorry, my camera sucks, but you get the point}.

Lola enjoying the yummy {and darling} cupcakes Jennifer made for us.

Just a cute pic of little miss Lo Boat. I love this girl and the sassiness that comes with her.

Of course, we got the two littles together for some play time.

I love how similar they are, yet TOTALLY different.

Scotty is a little overachiever.

He's standing, rolling over, eating cereal and baby food.

Max, well, Max likes to chill most of the time.

He still can't figure out that his legs are actually useful, he's not getting the whole eating off a spoon thing, and he's certainly way too lazy to try and roll himself over.

Way to go Scotty, you are more then welcome to teach your cuz a thing or two!

Toms is getting so big, he had his very first visit in the Dentist chair! He was perfect! He left there commenting on how nice those people were. He got to pick a prize {silly band} from the treasure chest, play a video game, watch a little bit of "Bugs Life". He did so well getting his cleaning and taking the x-rays. It was a small dream come true for me. If only he didn't have $1,200.00 worth of work needed. Uhg, apparently Pediatric Dentists are in a VERY profitable business.

Mr. Maxwell decided one evening to stay up and hang with his Momma.

I think it was close to 12:30 when he finally crashed.

Lola waiting for the Mesa, Veterans Day parade to start. My SIL Alyson is the AZ Young Mother of The Year, so she was on in the parade. She let Tommy walk along with all her kids in the parade. He was thrilled, and we went to watch!

Kate, Lola and Gracie enjoying the beautiful weather and waiting to see the cousins.

Thomas and Jack running alongside the carriage. They were throwing out candy to the crowd, running around and having a great time. Needless to say, Toms was exhausted by the end of the day from all the walking around. Lots of fun, but lots of crazy confusion and waiting around.

Never the less, great memories all around.

Girl's Night Out with my Mom and Sister's. We took about 10 pictures trying to get each one of us in it. Finally, we got one or two that worked, I don't even care what I look like, at least we're all in the shot! Dinner at Mi Amigos, saw the movie "Morning Glory", then splurged on some Cold Stone ice cream to wrap it all up. I love my family, it was a great night to hang out and laugh with one another.

Thanks Mom for treating!

Another FHE, this time with the other side of the family at DQ.

Lola feels the need to infringe on Max's playtime whenever he's on the floor.

Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind it.

The weekly play group.

This past week we had a little picnic on the driveway with a good old hot-n-ready.

Can't beat the convenience and cost of Little Caesar's.

Morning time around our house can be really cute and cuddly,

as well as...

...a little crazy! and I'm not just talking about the hair!

Wow, told you a had a lot of pictures. I feel as though I have sufficiently documented the past few weeks of our life. Now I need to sleep so I can start it all over again tomorrow. With the Holidays literally right around the corner, things will only get busier.

...and I can't wait to see what memories we'll make tomorrow!

night, night.

Dear Max,

2010-11-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

It would be super great if you would learn how to hold your Binky in without my help. If you would sleep a little longer at a time in the night. If you could figure out how to either hold your bottle or keep your hands out of the way while we are feeding you. If you could be a little more patient with me when I'm getting your bottle ready to feed you, I know it must seem like forever and that you're going to starve, but I promise you'll be ok.

{Halloween Chicken 2010}

...and if you could stop being so darn cute everyday, I'm getting less and less done as the days go by.

Love, Mom

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2010-11-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

and the winner is... number 10,

Abbie

{who happens to be my neighbor, and has a few ETSY shops of her own!}

Congrats and we'll see each other soon

so you can pick something fun!

Thank you to ALL who entered and gave me your votes for my new Mimi Made header.

According to your comments,

#5 got 9 votes

#3 got 8 votes

#4 got 5 votes

#2 got 2 votes

SOOOO, since I never actually voted

{but I really liked #3}

I may go with number 3 or retweek the two and see if I can come up with something that has a little bit of both in it. IDK. I'm still so indecisive. But THANK YOU to everyone for you opinions. I needed to get another opinion other then my own.

Thanks again for following me and stay tuned for more exciting news on the my shops Grand Opening! Just in time for the Holidays!

ahh, the life we lead

2010-11-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.
...and what a wonderful life it is!!!

Mommy Rhapsody from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

Totally worth it. I would love to preform this somewhere, maybe our christmas family evening talent show, that would be hilarious!