Conference Weekend

Sunday morning of conference, we always have the tradition of eating sticky buns. It was a little bittersweet as we watched because the last time we watched conference was right before we started packing up the house to move from Oregon. I did enjoy getting an extra hour of sleeping in since conference starts here at 10 am instead of 9 am. (O: I loved conference - always do, but they just seem to get better and better. I think it is really neat how every conference the speakers can choose their own topics, they don't know what everyone else is speaking on, and yet, there always seems to be a theme or two that run throughout. They are definitely inspired by the same source. (o: This time seemed to focus on service and charity. It was very uplifting and made me want to reach out to others more. I love our church leaders and their loving example. I am proud to be a member of our church, especially when I hear of all the good being done throughout the world by our church welfare program. It truly follows the example of the Savior and I believe He leads and inspires the efforts of our leaders to bless others.

During the break on Sunday, we took a little drive. I've really been wanting to drive past my old house I grew up in ever since we came back. Good old house. It looks so run down now. My dad used to take such good care of the yard.

We went by Frank's* house too. The funny thing about us is that we grew up just a few miles away from each other and our houses were the exact same floorplan only swapped and his had a carport.

Natalie has become quite the connoisseur of snow since we moved to Utah. (O:

A little game of Slamwich is always good on a Sunday afternoon!

More Fooling Around

Once again, a favorite resource, my Family Fun magazines, inspired this one. I always wanted to do it. I think it turned out pretty cute! Chocoloate Rice Krispie meatloaf and candy peas and carrots. (Those flavored Tootsie rolls did the trick.)

Angela was my little accomplist and helped make the veggies. She was so excited to trick the girls when it was time for snack!

Funny random story. Kassee - Sarah's friend on the left - ate the green peas and they actually pulled out one of her mollars that had been loose! It was so funny. The darn mollar had been bugging Kassee for days, so she was very grateful that she ate her peas that afternoon!

Jacqueline and natalie liked their tricky food!

April Fools Fun

This is a simple enough joke to play, but the girls got a kick out of it. When I made their lunches for them the morning of April Fool's I mixed up what was in the packaging. So in the granola bar package they found teddy grahams. In their chips, they found a different flavor than it was labeled.

Then you sneak in a little message and glue the packaging back together! (O:

St. Patrick's Day Troublemaker

Last year in Family Fun, they had some fun ideas for leprechaun traps that I wanted to try. My girls love trying to "catch" Lucky the leprechaun and see the mischief that he makes when he comes. We decided to try the funny hat trap. Lucky is lured to the gold on top of the hat and climbs the ladder. When he steps on top, the hat gives way and he gets stuck at the bottom.

The sign telling Lucky what NOT to do, tempts him to disobey because leprechauns are full of mischief.

The next morning the girls found green confetti all over and a mess in the kitchen. They were so excited to see if they trapped Lucky. Unfortunately, he got away, but he left golden treats behind.



As he often does, Lucky had to use the bathroom apparently. He always makes a little mess and forgets to flush. (O: (see the green toilet water - the girls' favorite part)

I love this funny mask Angela made at school. (O:

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I love Dr. Seuss and celebrating his birthday every March 2nd has become a tradition for us.

We listened to a CD with Jason Alexander reading Green Eggs and Ham, it's quite funny - he does a great job!

And of course, what else would we have for our snack that day?

Valentine's Day 2011

The girls looked so cute Valentine's morning all decked out in hearts. I think Sarah was not happy that I was taking a picture. (O:

As usual, I went to help with the class parties - I love the little parties at school. I led a heart matching game in Angela's class.

And in Natalie's class I helped run the donut eating contest. It was hilarious.



They also made carameled apples in Nat's class. I thought the room mom and teacher were brave for picking some pretty messy activities. (O: But the kids loved it.

Natalie's friend Janie - can you see why they get along so well? They are so silly. (O:

After school, we found daddy's car at his work and decorated it and left little presents for him.



Daddy gave each of the girls a cute stuffed animal.

And I got three of my most favorite things: flowers, chocolate and books!

We ended the night with a nice dinner and a family movie together. (Parent Trap)

I love Valentine's day!

Be Mine

Ahhh, that time of year again. This time I had three girls in elementary school - which equals about 90 valentines to make! I prefer to do something a little more hand made than the ones you get at the store. I take many shortcuts in other areas of my life, but for Valentines, it just feels more special making something. Nothing fancy, mind you.

I found a bunch of foam on clearance at a store going out of business and some cute foam sticky hearts. See what we came up with . . . It was really pretty slick. The cutting took the longest, but we all worked on it while watching TV and it went pretty quick. The next steps were sticking on the hearts, writing names and then I hot glued the giant smarties on.

If you stick out your tongue, it turns out better.



This multi-layered heart design with sparkle hearts was for Angela's teacher.

Our Merry Little Christmas!!

Note: I am annoyed at all these big spaces and can't figure out the problem - it is driving me nuts! Sorry - this will require more scrolling...

From NovDecFavorites

The layout of our new house was a little tricky. Our tradition Christmas morning is that the girls come in our room and then we all go down to see what Santa left together. The girls had to walk past the room full of goodies to get to our bedroom this year, but they are so good - they blinded their eyes as they came downstairs and ran to our room still. They may have peeked a little, but they put on a good show of surprise when we walked into the family room together!

One funny thing Natalie wanted to do this year was try and "catch" Santa on our camcorder. We set it up before she went to bed and when we went back to look at it, we actually caught something! We heard Santa coming in the door with his big boots, and bells jingling. Then, that jolly old man is so smart - he must have seen the camcorder because right before we thought we'd see him in the camera, he must have turned it off! Maybe we'll catch him next year! Natalie also left several sweet notes for Santa. She is always so thoughtful.

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Santa left a gymnastics mat! A big hit in our house that day and since.

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Pillow Pets were all the rage this year. Natalie and Angela wanted one so bad it hurt. Sarah bought one with her birthday money a month before and her jealous sisters literally cried that they didn't get one too. They had to wait for what felt like forever, which made it so fun to see their reaction when they opened them up.

This was the first picture I took with my new present. I know - can you believe it? Another camera! Bill* knows I love camera stuff like some women like jewelry. I got a 5D and feel so fancy now!

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All the girls got bean bags with their names embroidered on them from Santa. Sarah is sitting in hers above. She was very excited about her sewing book and kit that I put together for her with fabric and everything. (It was a pretty cute gift set if I do say so myself. (o: )

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Angela and her long awaited Pillow Pet. She is also wearing her new Naartjie head band kind of kooky. (This is a new store my sister in law introduced me to that has the cutest kids clothes.)

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Angela asked Santa for a moving bear. The only moving bear I'd seen is Teddy Ruxbin, which was big in the 80's. So I don't know where the idea came from. Well, what do you know? Santa knew right where to find a moving bear, thus granting this 5 year old's wish. What a guy.

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We got a fun visit from Bill's* parents on Christmas. It was such a treat for the girls to share all their fun presents with grandma and grandpa. They even brought a little present for Twilight. So sweet. (o: Twilight LOVES Christmas. She runs around and hops in all the paper, ribbons and empty boxes like nobody's business.

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After a wonderful morning, we got to head over to my parents' house for more fun! Christmas back home is the BEST! Mom made wonderful food, as usual! And the house looked so festive!

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Grandma and grandpa and aunt Ann came too! Everything was perfect. Even our favorite Christmas show "A Christmas Story" was playing in the background!

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I love this cute picture. Even though it's a little underexposed - it just captures one of the things I love about being back. My kids are getting to know my extended family that I love so much. It makes me happy.

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The pretty snowflake lights hanging in the front yard at mom and dad's house.

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This was one of my favorite presents I found this year. Isn't that the cutest monster doll ever? I found it at The Quilted Bear - where people sell homemade gifts. It looks like Sammy appreciates it too!

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Cute Sarah in her new scarf and wearing her flower barrette from aunt Chrissy.

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I was so excited when I found these little kits to do the Mentos/Diet Coke explosion. I had to get them for my brothers and knew they'd want to try them out right away. (o:

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Funny how entertaining a little "explosion" can be! It was a big hit and since I have two brothers, we got to watch it twice!

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We finished off the evening playing the game I bought for my sister - Quelf. It is pretty silly and we laughed our heads off. The older kids really liked playing it too. I love my family. What a perfect day.