:: WELCOME ::

Nightmare in Goodwill

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

I love going to Goodwill!

And ~~dragging~~ …. er taking my family with me!

Not only do I find great deals on things but sometimes I come across

a few little gems likt these……

This was amazing. I mean amazing.

Someone took the time to create this darling little scene inside this shell.

I feel like I am staring at a really bad iSpy picture.

CAN YOU SPOT THE PIG FAMILY?

CAN YOU SPOT THE GALLOPING HORSE?

CAN YOU SPOT THE MINI MIRROR POND STRANGELY OUTLINED BY A STRING OF PEARLS?

And to make this gorgeous shell centerpiece even more enticing, they added a music box to it. Yes, while searching for baby pigs and galloping horses you can relax to the soothing sounds of “it’s a small world” - ?????

This cookie jar totally creeps me out! If I was a granny wanting to make sure no sniveling little brats took any of my snickerdoodles, this is the jar I would keep them in! It’s like the four and twenty black birds got baked into Humpty Dumpty who then did some kind of kamikaze jump onto Peter Rabbit!
What did he ever do to you Dumpty? Sheesh!!!!

hair accessories. . .the bane of my existence

2011-06-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I am constantly finding Little Love’s hair accessories around the house. She is becoming better at leaving them in her hair for more than two seconds, but they somehow end up all over the place! She uses them to play with – as ropes to tie up a polly, as belts to hold up her handmade washcloth dresses for her barbies, as the reins on her horses! Why is it that we as parents spend the money on toys and accessories for the toys only to have them pushed away for something that is lying around the house?? It’s funny! But amazing that these children with all the modern conveniences and excessive toys we buy for them, still revert to the glorious gift of imagination that our Heavenly Father gave them! I find it hard to stay frustrated at the things I find around my home when that little voice reminds me of how special this little spirit is.

(stepping down from my soap box)

Anyway! I have wanted to make a cute hair bow holder for awhile, but I have not really found anything I like. Then I happened upon this adorable little mirror at Hobby Lobby in their clearance section – only $1.50! Can you believe that? I was so excited! And of course with my lovely obsession with ribbons, I knew I would be able to find something to attach to the bottom! I used some of my leftover flowers from my wreath and glued them on the front of the mirror. Then I glued the ribbons on the back!

How simple right?? And it looks co dang cute in her bathroom!

I made a wreath for my door a few months ago - I was not happy with how it turned out. And then someone mentioned that it looked like algae growing on my door which made me hate it even worse! So this time around - with a gentle reminder from Sweet Knees to take my time and plan out my project - I made a new spring wreath! I love it so much! The paper roses were time consuming but so much fun to make. Little Love made one too, she is very proud and keeps asking me which one it was after I had glued them on. My only worry is that the sun may fade away the colors - oh and the fact that monsoon season just started!! It might be tucked inside the house for a little bit before I feel safe enough to put it back outside - like say on the front door of our new house!!!

2011-06-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

My blog stopped working right in the middle of my Easter posts, I was infuriated! I had to take a step away from it for a bit, I almost threw my computer out the window!

But whatever was wrong has now been fixed!

These are just some random photos of what has been going on lately in our lives!

*****************************

Totally random I know! But check out those pancakes!

They weigh more than PhotOP’s does!!!

Little Love’s Girl Scout Troop went to a day camp that the older girls put on. It gave them a glimpse at all they fun they will have at the actual camps. The Daisy Troops are not old enough to attend the camps quite yet!!Caitlyn had a blast and came home with all kinds of goodies, she is especially found of her walking stick and tie-dyed bandana!

I am sad that another year of Girl Scouts is over. Little Love had the most amazing troop leader this year! Miss Anna was involved with the girls and let us know about all the extra activities to earn patches – Little Love got a lot of patches this year! When a Girl Scout moves from one level to the next they have a bridging ceremony for the girls to bridge from one to the next. We met at a park with the other troops in the area for pizza, drinks and a great – and tear jerking – ceremony! I am so proud of Little Love, she has come such a long way and Girl Scouts has helped her a lot. I was so emotional seeing her come around the corner with her troop and to hear them call her name and welcome her as a new Brownie. I hate that she is growing up, but so proud of the amazing little person she is becoming.

My supervisor at the school has the most amazing garden and orchard! We were invited to come and partake of her spoils!!! I learned so much about fruit and veg, it was wonderful! She kept filling our baskets with her garden goodness, we had a whole back seat full!! I had to call in some friends to take some of it off our hands! It all tastes so good, you just cannot compare the home grown to store bought! I made some delish patty-pan soup and stored it in the freezer for later – just wishing it truly became cold here in the desert so we could really enjoy a proper bowl of hot soup!! Little Love picked a mini patty pan and was so proud of it – those leaves are kind of itchy! As we were checking out our pickin’ and snapping pictures I glanced over at sweet innocent little Penny and saw her nibbling on something…..oh she had somehow undetected snuck Little Love’s little patty pan and was eating it! Little Love was in the depths of despair! We salvaged about half of it! We have been invited back for more when the corn is ripe and the grapes have turned purple – we cannot wait!

Ever since we took LittleLove to a local high school production of Seussical the Musical she has been playing the music and acting out the scenes! She loved it! The play that was put on was very done very simply, no elaborate costumes and no sets. It was a wonderful play, but I knew that I had to give her more! So when I saw that Seussical was being put on by a local dinner theater – and let in on a secret discount day – I knew I had to buy our family tickets. We did not tell Little Love about it, simply that “Dad was taking us someplace special for dinner tonight!” She thought we were taking her to McDonalds – we need to get out more!! We blind folded her and wouldn’t allow her to take it off until we were in the theater. They curtains on the stage had a huge Cat in the Hat on it and the words “Seussical” in giant letters across the top – prefect! She was so excited when she saw that hat! We had great seats, I knew the cast would come into the audience and different points and wanted us close enough for that! Little Love got to pet one of the strange circus animals – highlight! The food was good too! We had a great time! Next is Cinderella – Rodgers and Hammerstein style. I hope I can get us tickets!

Little Love and I were browsing through some craft ideas I had and we came across the soaps with little trinkets in them. It was love at first sight – she knew she wanted to make them for her Dad for Father’s Day! She was so funny about it all! Had her little shopping list, she insisted on smelling every scent to find the right one for her Dad, and nothing would be better than fish in his soap! We had a lot of fun crafting these little soaps and they were so stinkin’ easy!

Have I mentioned how much I am in love with Hobby Lobby?

Okay, I have a picture of Little Love and her gorgeous smile, but this picture just screams “HER” so I had to post this one! I love her toothless grin!!

A few of the soaps!

The diver’s legs are poking out of the soap or water! When turned over and looked at from the bottom there are little bubbles around him so it really looks like he is just diving into the sea!

A Christ-Centered Easter, Day 2 : Cleansing of the Temple

2011-04-18T19:10:00.001-07:00

Read Matthew 21:12-18 . The story of Jesus cleansing the temple }

The Savior came to the temple and found men who were selling animals for sacrifice and changing money on the temple grounds. This angered Christ and he rebuked the men. He then drove them off and exclaimed that they had made his Father’s house a den of thieves. While the acts of these men were somewhat necessary, the Savior rebuke was directed in part at them for allowing and profiting from such activities on temple grounds. Some pilgrims were not able to bring their own animals such a long distance or had foreign money that needed to be changed for coin that was acceptable for temple offerings.
The Savior entered the temple, cleansed it of activities that distracted from proper worship, and took the authority from those men who had abused it.
People then came to the Savior at the temple to be healed. He returned each day to the temple to teach and heal all who would hear him. Do you think the people who listened to the Savior were blessed for coming to him each day?
This is an important story from the life of our Savior because it applies so perfectly to our own lives:
·
* To purge the temple of unclean things
· * We try to keep ourselves clean and worthy
· * The Savior taught and healed all who were ready to hear him
· * We too can learn and be healed when we turn our hearts to him
· * The people at the temple received many blessings
· *As do we when we strive to live righteous and worthy lives

How would you have felt long ago if you had seen these things happen at such a holy place?
If the Savior came to our home today how would he feel here? How might he cleanse it? As a family choose one way to purify your home this week.

A Christ-Centered Easter, Day 1 : Palm Sunday

2011-04-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

{ Read Matthew 21: 1-11 }

The Sunday before Easter, often called Palm Sunday, reminds us of Christ entering Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. We picture Him riding a donkey, with crowds scattering palm branches along His path. Why did they do this, what was the symbolism of the palm branch?

The palm branch was the emblem for Jerusalem because of how important it was to their everyday survival. The palm branch appeared on the coins of that land, symbolizing one of the riches of that country. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, it was when the trees were in bloom, so in covering the way with palm branches, the people were offering a symbol of luxury. It was a symbol of necessity too. To the Jews, palm branches represented a gift from God because of its many uses in their lives.

The palm was so important to the people that if there was ever a war in the countries, they would cut down their enemies palm trees, causing loss of food and livelihood to the people.

No part was ever wasted on the palm tree. This important tree has many different species and many ranging sizes.The date palm supplied dates, of course. The coconut palm supplied both coconut and coconut milk. The sap of the sugar palm was dried, beaten, and ground into very fine sugar. Its leaves could also be boiled and used as a vegetable. The trunk of the sago palm supplied a strong starch that was ground into flour and made into unleavened bread.

Their coarse fiber was used to make brooms, mats, and baskets; their fine fiber was used to make sewing thread, and their heaviest fiber was used to make strong ropes for ships. Palm oils have been made into both butter and soap.

Coconut shells, too, were used. Fine bowls, cooking utensils, even tools were made from them. The timber of some palms was resistant to rot and salt water and was especially good for making boats.

The seeds of palms were boiled into a medicinal drink or were dried and eaten as nuts. If they were allowed to dry a long time, they became as hard as rock and transparent, and made durable beads and trinkets.

The palm’s yellowish-white flowers had an odor similar to that of violets, and they were made into perfume. The lovely, waxy flowers also were worn by the women as decorative headdresses.

Since the palm trees meant so much to the people of Jerusalem the act of placing this precious plant at the foot of our Savior meant giving up worldly goods, both necessary and luxury.

The people of Jerusalem shouted the words "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!" when Jesus entered their city. We still do this today at our Temple dedications and at other solemn events. The word Hosanna comes from the Hebrew word "Hoshanna" and means, in effect "save now" or "Lord, save us now".

How would you show your joy that Jesus is the Christ if he were to come today?

This week our family will be focusing on the last week of Christ's life. I hope to have the time to share each day with you and bring the spirit of Christ into your homes as well. We are encouraging each other to not only remember that Christ died for us but that he lived for us. He is the ultimate example to us all. Remember to continually ask and look for ways to serve those around you, and bring the light of Christ into other's lives. God sent his son so that we may live with Him again in heaven. I pray that you will remember Christ this week as we approach Easter Sunday and keep his light with you daily.

minced onions

2011-03-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Recently tried out a new recipe

{ homemade ranch dressing }

and y'all...

it. is. incredible.

I think I might just gag at the next bottle of ranch I see on the grocery store shelf!

Who do they think they are, posing as ranch dressing! PFFT!

the nerve

Here is the fantastic recipe, it is so easy and made with

things you have just hanging around in your kitchen waiting to be turned into something most fantastic....

well wait no longer pantry goods, your time has come!

Combine in blender

1 cup mayonnaise

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp parsley

1/8 tsp dill

1 clove garlic

1/4 chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp dried chives

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp dry mustard

Mix it all up! And that's all!

The recipe tells us to refrigerate for 4 hours for best results,

but we enjoyed it right out of the blender!

Now....enjoy your ranch dressing-gasm!

don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened

2011-03-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

{ Did you know that today is Dr. Seuss' birthday?

He would have been 107 years old!

He wrote 46 fanciful books which sold over

200 million copies in his lifetime!

There is a memorial garden in Springfield, Massachusetts that was sculpted by the author's stepdaughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, it features many of the odd and lovable characters Seuss invented!

His first book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, was rejected by 28 publishers before finally landing with

Random House in 1937!

We did a little celebrating at work today! We made green eggs and ham for elementary and in house kids! It was yummy!

Here is Precious Pearl getting into the spirit with her hat and bow tie!

Empty Nester dressed as the Cat in the Hat while helping serve lunch today, isn't she cute!

I made these today for our Supervisor's daughter, she shares the same birthday as Dr. Seuss.

Did you find some unique ways to celebrate this marvelous day???

inspiration

2011-02-25T15:35:00.001-08:00

I have been perusing so many diy blogs these past few weeks and I have caught the bug - oh goodness have I caught the bug! I love when bloggers post the before and after picture, it is startling to see. It amazes me to think of all the wonderful solid wood furniture that sits at a second hand store, being passed by again and again, just wanting to be given a second chance.

They have given me a new perspective.

Little Love has a table that was given to her by her grandma when she was two. She has grown a foot or two since then! We decided it was time for a more grown-up desk! Sweet Knees and I searched Goodwill until we found the perfect desk. I bought it for $10 on a half priced Saturday. Solid wood. Great condition. A good sanding, some new paint and hardware and we have a pretty little desk that can grow with her each year. I love, LOVE the fact that we can sand and paint it over and over again as her tastes change. The last time we did a diy project like this was my sewing desk and that was a long time ago. So I think for our second time it looks good! Little Love calls it her blue sky.

I need to hit up my friend Precious Pearl for some distressing lessons, I am not very good!

crafting is fun! (duh!)

2011-02-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

Hey remember this contest?

Remember how some people won some stuff?

Remember how it took me forever to find the items

I needed for my special prizes and thanks to one

amazing lady I was able to find them all?

(thanks miss b!)

Well.....remember how I finally sent them off to you four ladies?

You don't!

Well here is proof that I did....

{ thanks for your patience }

Look at this cute fabric I found for an amazing

deal at the fabric store....what to do with it?

What. To. Do.

Why, make some sweet little Valentine owls

for the ladies I work with

{ saving a cute little pink one for me of course! }

How cute are these? I mean seriously, how cute!

I want a family of them living in Little Loves bedroom

before the month is out.

I was a fool.

A fool to try another new cake recipe.

The recipes I have for my cakes are

P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

Moist. Flavorful.

They hold up well to the gallons of frosting I apply!

I could not resist. The cake in the photo looked amazing.

While the cake was good, it is not even close to my recipe. Not even close.

BUT!

I LOVED...LOVED...LOVED...

the roses all around the outside of the cake. Isn't it romantic looking? I had originally wanted to do a light spray of yellow on the roses and then cover that with the pink. But after testing it out a few times, even calling upon the powers of grayskull from my Sweet Knees, I still was unable to get the look I wanted - I need an airbrush. I think I am glad that it didn't work out. I love the white roses. What do you think?

...i think i need to attend a photo class for blogs....

Sock Hop

2011-02-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Little Love's school is holding a Daddy Daughter Sock Hop tonight!

She has been talking about it nonstop all week. Sweet Knees dropped by the florist shop last night and picked up a little pink carnation corsage for her.

She loves it, can you tell?

A night home to myself....what shall I do?

...craft...

...sew...

...bubble bath...

...read...

...blog...

...scrapbook...

...write a list of things i could do tonight...

2011-01-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

WHO WANTS ONE OF THESE

I was going to do a random drawing for the winner of my little blog contest and then I thought, hey only 4 people shared their stories, and there were all great, how can I choose between them.....I can't! So hurray, hurray, you are all winners!

Look for something fun in the mail coming to you soon!

{ julie i do not have your address, could you email it to me or message me on facebook? }

Should old acquaintance be forgot.....

2011-01-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

I hope that this holiday season has been wonderful for everyone and that you have felt the Spirit of the holidays in your homes. We have had a wonderful two weeks off of school and work! It has given me a lot of free time to reflect on myself and my family. The New Year of course brings the blessing of fresh starts, new beginnings, a chance to set new goals and try to keep them throughout the year. A friend of mine had a wonderful post on her blog describing some wonderful "goals" or "opportunities". I am in love with the description "opportunities" and the way she will execute them in this coming year. Each opportunity will strengthen her core and uplift each person around her. This perhaps is why so many of my "goals" fail. To look outside the inner circle of Aubrey and try to see how I can make those around me happier by executing these simple opportunities each day, for if missed there is no coming back. There will always be a bin somewhere that needs sorting, no matter how organized I try to make myself. My body will always carry more pounds than I think it needs. But my daughter will not always be six and want me to play Rescue Rangers with her. The person I should have shared a mile with may have been changed as I have been when a smile is shared with me. Sharing something I love with someone else cannot be achieved while making sure my toilet is methodically scrubbed on the same day each week. So for those of you who are still with me here, this is your prize ... a prize! Yes, a contest, what better way to begin the New Year! This is perhaps a little selfish as far as contests goes, but I need the inspiration! Tell me about an opportunity or goal that you have set and kept the whole year through and your experience! Contest ends on January 15th, two weeks from today!

Ding Bacon's Done! ( Carol of the Bells )

2010-12-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

Precious Pearl surprised me at our work party with this gorgeous Christmas wreath. At first I thought she had given it to me because I do not have a wreath for Christmas, then I took a closer look..........what do you see???

LITTLIE BACONS UPON MY CHRISTMAS WREATH!

HOW CUTE ARE THEY?

I KEEP WALKING PAST IT WAITING FOR THEM TO SING CHEERY CHRISTMAS SONGS TO ME!

I am trying to convince Sweet Knees to let me keep it up in our room....we shall see....for now my Bacon Wreath is hanging happily in my hallway and I smile each time I walk by. Grateful for my good friends here. It was a huge move for my little family to make and now that my sister has moved back to Utah, it makes it even harder not to have a family around. But my family at work is amazing! So, so amazing! They look past my annoying personality traits, have welcomed my family into their lives, made me feel like I am home. Wow, so much emotions brought on by this little bacon wreath....I won't even start into how I feel about this lovely pig product - bless you too little piggies!

GIVEAWAY!!!

2010-11-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

Check out my cousins blog for her fun giveaway!

{ click me! click me! click me! }

This is Halloween

2010-11-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

Halloween in Arizona was very different than what our little family is used to! The deep earth smells of autumn were missing, as were those cool mountain breezes. But we survived .... especially since we wore shorts and flip flops trick or treating .... while I noticed my Utah friends Halloween pictures were all framed by a lovely snowfall (tee hee)! We had Mae and Liss over for a visit to a local farm and pumpkin patch. Then after choosing the perfect pumpee-kins, a task I thought would be simple for a 4 and 6 year old, when they want a perfect pumpee-kin they mean a p.e.r.f.e.c.t. pumpee-kin! After carving and costume prep, it was off the the ward trunk or treat. We ate chili outside with delicious homemade cornbread. Then home for some Halloween movies! When we went trick or treating on Halloween is was awesome to see so many kids out, that is what this holiday should feel like! Kids running around, screaming, having a good time! Curtis and I were saying how awesome it was that for at least the next three Halloweens Caitlyn will not have to worry about wearing her winter coat to cover her costume, luckee girl! We had a great holiday! I even was brave enough to watch 10 minutes of one of those creepy Leprechaun movies....totally scared me! Riding on my bike to work the next morning in the dark I was terrified of those bushes, and then when that flock of birds took flight next to me, I thought I was going to die of absolute terror. I just can't handle it! BOO!

hayride @ the farm

carvin' the gourds

mae's pumpee-kin...hello kitty

caitlyn's pumpee-kin...daisy from girl scouts

aubrey's pumpee-kin...an attempt at something cool - FAIL!!

liss' pumpee-kin...named swirling twilight

curtis' pumpee-kin...i think it is some warhammer symbol

Mae and Caitlyn

caitlyn : Rapunzel from Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

..click here to check out Caitlyn's costume
spotlighted on Shannon Hale's blog..

curtis : Charlie Brown

aubrey : Tippi Hendren from Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS

I had so much fun putting this costume together, thank Liss for the awesome birds!

in a dark, dark house, there lived......

2010-10-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

..Pull out the blueprints..

..Get your team together..

..Boost that morale..

..WE'RE ALL SO EXCITED...

..Putting on the finishing touches..

..A few of our favorite bits..

{ mail-"boo"-x }

{ little friend }

..Looks like a done deal, lets check with the boss..

..ALL SMILES..
i think we're good!

Caitlyn keeps finding reasons to get out of bed and check out her Haunted House! She is very proud of it! I am just glad we had enough candy to put on it, between her and Curtis I thought we would run out!

blt + teddy + little cousins = weekend adventures

2010-09-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

I love the weekend!

Well really, who doesn't!

No school, no work, just family adventures! This weekend we added to Williams Family by one, little Mae Veon Johnson. She and Caitlyn get along so well. To hear them playing and giggling is one of my favorite sounds! We made homemade pizza's for dinner - delish! One of our favorites is my blt pizza. It disappears so fast.

The cousins love a good old fashioned cheese pizza, which they gobbled up!

But wait! What is this.....when did......memories from the past.....

(cue cheesy misty music from the 80's)

"Teddy? Teddy is-is that you? I-I can't......no I won't believe it is true...."

"and yet.....could it be true?"

"it is true.....oooooooooooooo......ooooooooooooooooo"

"oh Teddy I LOVE YOU!!!"

My sister surprised me with this Teddy Ruxpin doll!

OH DEAR GOODNESS!

Teddy was such a huge part of my childhood. My Mom made him closed and I had almost every tape and book that he came with. I slept with him every night, I can only imagine the batteries that my parents went through for Teddy. I had him until after I was married, then when I became sick and bills needed to be paid I had to sell him. This was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. My heart seriously aches just thinking about it. I have had to part with many things throughout my life and for the most part they were just things and it was no big deal, I probably could not name off more than three things out of the 100's of items that I have parted ways with. But Teddy, Teddy was different. I cannot explain the excitement that jolted through my body when my sister gave this to me. I love him and spent a good hour and a half on the computer checking out all the goodies I can buy on eBay for him!

Thank you Melissa, I am glad to have Teddy back!

A new generation of Teddy Ruxpin fans!

well it's been a long time

2010-09-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

I have been inspired by this woman to post again!

Arizona is treating the Williams' Family well! Hot and humid, but we are all doing well. Curtis is going to school, Caitlyn is going to school, I am working, our ward here is AWESOME! But we are missing family and friends a lot. Liss is close, but not close enough - stinker.

I know I have my little cake blog, but it's not updated all the way with my oldies, so I thought I would share the new ones here first. Besides, by the time I get completely updated on Spatula City you will all have forgotten these cakes and think they are brand new! hee hee!

I made these for two of the ladies I work with. I call them all my LOLs aka Ladies Of Lunch. They both have birthdays on the same day, so I made them mini hot lunches! They were so cute and tasted so yummy! I also made french fries from sugar cookie dough. I then put them in mini food boats. I didn't get a picture of them all together - sadness - but believe me they were adorable and a huge hit!

We drove up to Salt Lake the other weekend for a whirlwind trip to celebrate my MIL's 50th....er I mean 30th birthday. They planned a huge luau, it was awesome! We decided not to make her over the hill cake all black and deathy....so instead we made a beach scene that was all bright and deathy! Curtis made tikki torches out of candles, they turned out really well. The cake inside was a super moist banana cake and the frosting was pineapple. Oh! *drool* It tasted so good!

This cake was for my manager, the head LOL!! Nothing too fancy, but it was kind of last minute. I love it though. The green was perfect with the purple flowers and I had a lot of fun making all the swirls. Inside : my decedent chocolate cake with fresh sliced strawberries in the middle. Oh. I love it!

So here they are, three cake projects all within a week of each other - MADNESS! But I love it. I was sad today thinking about how I don't have anymore cakes coming up. Wish I could mail one to a certain little special someone in Hawaii........

Wreck's This? - A Parody

2010-08-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite sites in the world has done something amazing!

we're on our way!

2010-07-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone will miss me or anything....summer time....lack of blog activity from everyone.... but we are on our way to Arizona as of Tuesday so..... wish us luck, keep in contact puh-lease and we will see you soon!

Toothless

2010-07-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

Guess what happened tonight at 9:37??

My little love lost her first tooth!!

"hurray! hurray"

(she said!)

check out that cute grin!

She promptly set to work making a bag for the Tooth Fairy and then told us all about it for ten minutes! (anyone who really knows my little love knows exactly what i am talking about!)

. the C sticker is for her name

. the 6 sticker is to show how old she is

. the smiley face is to show she s a girl

. the blue sticker is for her favorite color

. the T sticker is for the Tooth Fairy

...and there is her wittle tooth chillin' on the bottom...

Now it's all I can do to get her to go to bed!

{ EXciTiNG }

2010-06-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

hey ya'll!

check out my new cake blog

and see how Curtis and I won

Cake Wrecks Cupcake Contest!

WOOT WOOT!

http://spatulacitycakes.blogspot.com

YUMMY SWEETS

2010-06-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Caitlyn found a littlest pet shop at the store and wanted to buy it. Her spending money was a few dollars short, so she decided to open a chocolate shop to earn the extra cash! She made just enough, two pennies left over after the toy was bought!

**********************************************

This is my latest cake. I took some gum paste flower classes and learned so much! The teacher was the same one who taught me almost 6 years ago. I was amazed - she remembered me and the cakes I made in her classes and that we moved to Springville!! It was nice to see her again. I was excited to practice my gum paste skills on this Under the Sea cake for little Olivia who is turning three! I am very happy with how these cakes turned out, very happy.

:: Next Cake Challenge ::

from taylar

chipettes in the hot air balloon

...always keeping me on my toes little niece...

oh sadness.....

2010-06-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Whilest working this last Saturday I was introduced to a new band. Now remember I work in a bakery so there are mixers, ovens, pans, dough throwing, fryers....meaning lots of noise. I wasn't able to really hear the lyrics of the songs, but I loved the trombone, guitars, saxaphones and the guy's voices were so different, kind of raspy and the harmonies were so on! The radio station played three songs in a row and I just feel in love with the music. I told one of the other bakers and he told me one of the songs to look up when I got home. I couldn't wait.

oh sadness....

the. songs. were. AWFUL!

Every sentence in all the songs are sexual inuendos! I couldn't believe that these men with so much talent could make such amazing music and pair it with such trash. It ruined my day! I was going to get their cd.....make copies for everyone I knew or had ever met in my entire life, this music was going to change the world as we knew it and finally end hunger and war and hate and violence....we were going to be Enoch 2010.

but no.

*sigh*

how do you spell bacon? Y.U.M.

2010-06-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Do you wanna know how good bacon is?

To improve other food they wrap it in bacon!

Today at work I made a special treat!

A BACON DOUGHNUT!

It was like breakfast.....

the pancake topped with the maple syrup topped with the bacon!

It was delish!

It is something I could only eat perhaps a few bites of - that maple glaze is awful sweet - but I did enjoy my bacon doughnut.

:: VOTING ::

Would you try my bacon doughnut?

to become a proper baker......

2010-05-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

OuCH!

..bakery burn..

my arm is sore it 'tis!

voting booth

2010-04-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

i would like your feelings on when you are shopping,

doesn't matter where, and the employee

calls you "sweetie" or "hun"..............

on this day

2010-04-29T03:36:00.001-07:00

Wishing you the happiest birthday bosom buddy! You truly are a kindred spirit and I love you! My life would be so different right now if not for your friendship,
love, patience and amazing example!
Thank you for being in my life!

your agenda please

2010-04-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

{ Wednesday, April 21, 2010 }

4:00 am - go to work
4:15 am - start frying to biggest load of donuts you have fried in your life
5:15 am - begin frosting, glazing, and sprinkling your biggest load of donuts
6:00 am - feel like your arms want to fall off and that you want nothing more than to go back to bed, but know that you still have the rest of your shift
6:01 am - GET GOING!
11:30 am - head home to care for family
12:30 pm - visit grandma and go get yummy burger with husband
2:30 pm - sit on the chair and wish you could go to sleep but knowing you can't
2:45 pm - start beggin' process on your husband to pick up your daughter from school for you because you don't have the energy
3:30 pm - find a little burst of energy from a small sugar induced burst to load the back of your van with donations for DI
4:25pm - find an accordion bathroom mirror at the DI brand new in the box from IKEA, the same one you have had your eye on for a long time for only $2.00 - happens every time I donate!
5:00 pm - pick up little love from Girl Scouts
5:30 pm - home to make dinner, pizza lovingly handmade for us from Diane
6:30 pm - a game of Clue Jr with the family - I WON! Professor Plum ate the cake at 2:00 with a glass of apple juice on the side
7:30 pm - put in Rubbadubbers and watched/slept with family
8:30 pm - sleepily crawl into bed, remember that you did not brush your teeth, get mad and shlump yourself to the bathroom
9:00 pm - ...........zzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

{ Thursday, April 22. 2010 }

6:30 am - wake up and remember that this is your day off! HURRAY!

6:31 am - try hard not to wake up husband and remind him that today Avatar comes out and that if he loves you, truly and with all his heart loves you, he would get up immediately and get out there to buy you this movie and then get back home so you can watch it before little love wakes up

8:30 am - still waiting for Avatar dvd...........bloggin'.............

Amazing Daisy

2010-03-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Look at these cute "capatillars" I found crawling around my garden...

my daisies are in full bloom...

the ladybugs are out too.....

don't they look good enough to eat?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A few months ago I started Caitlyn in Girl Scouts.

She loves it.

Her troops leaders are awesome and the girls in her troop are so cute! The Daisies, like the older Girl Scouts, earn patches, but the Daisy patches are very unique. Each patch you earn is actually a petal and when all patches are earned creates a multicolored daisy!! Each petal's color pairs with a Girl Scout Law; honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, etc. Caitlyn had her awards ceremony on Wednesday and we were in charge of the treat.

I HAD to make a cake!

isn't it cute!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

(if anyone cares)

I made the embellishments from homemade marzipan.

While very tasty, it was a little hard to work with. I think I know what I need to do for next time, so hopefully it will work out better!

random sweets

2010-03-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

just a few projects, nothing special, just thought I would share!

Please don't retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long to earn them.

2010-03-23T22:34:00.001-07:00

'twas me berfday on sunday

I had a wonderful day. Curtis let me relax all day.

My little love designed on paper - wish I could scan it - my birthday cake. Not only was this so awesome because she designed, helped cook and decorate it, but someone made me a cake for a change. (seriously people, how many years have I freely given my services to you!) She was so excited for it!

Look how awesome it is! What? What was that you asked? Oh the gorgeously stunning antique milkglass cake stand....where did I get that you ask? From Liss! Isn't it exquisite? I am so excited to add this to my collection. So, so pretty!

Thanks everyone for the gifts, the cards and the wishes!

I love birthdays!

Monopoly

2010-03-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

My husband collects monopoly games. He loves them. He reads and studies how to play them. He kicks my butt every time we play, not just wins, I mean kicks my bottom, and my bottom is rather large! I usually end up totally broke. He found this story and posted it on his blog - that sounds so unmanly, they need a word for male bloggers. Since I don't have a lot to blog about lately I thought I would do a rerun of his post since it was so interesting. It would be so amazing to find one of these games for his collection. I can only imagine how much something like that would costs! YOUCH!

:: Monopoly Wins Wars ::

So, most of you know that I collect monopoly games. Here is something cool that you might not know, and I just recently found out.

Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape...

Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.

Paper maps had some real drawbacks -- they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush.
Someone in MI-5 (similar to America 's OSS ) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk. It's durable, can be scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever.

At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great Britain that had perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too happy to do its bit for the war effort.

By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular American board game, Monopoly. As it happened, 'games and pastimes' was a category of item qualified for insertion into 'CARE packages', dispatched by the International Red Cross to prisoners of war.

Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of Waddington's, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps were regional system). When processed, these maps could be folded into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a Monopoly playing piece.

As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Waddington's also managed to add:
1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic compass
2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed together
3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency, hidden within the piles of Monopoly money!

British and American air crews were advised, before taking off on their first mission, how to identify a 'rigged' Monopoly set -- by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the corner of the Free Parking square.

Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets.. Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since the British Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in still another, future war.

The story wasn't declassified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington's, as well as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public ceremony.

28 years

2010-03-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

Wishing you the happiest birthday sister!

but i don't want to go among mad people

2010-03-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am not going to spend a long time on this review.

I am not and am struggling to do so because it was amazing! I am a huge Tim Burton fan and thought he did an amazing job on this film.

Do not go into it thinking it will be the story of Alice in Wonderland. It is like Alice in Wonderland III. Noelle asked if I thought it was okay for kids. I think you will have to judge for yourself or for your kids. I think it would be okay for Caitlyn, but I do not know how other kids would react.

All the actors did a wonderful job and I loved the underlying character traits that were there. You saw only glimpses, but that made them so intriguing and real to me.

The effects were of course amazing.

He did a fantastic job of making the story good for both adults and children I thought. But again, would see for yourself first how it would be for your kids. Caitlyn loves Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride and his new Willy Wonka so she has been exposed to Tim Burtons world.

I will admit my two fears were Cripsin Glover - YUCK! - and that the theater would be full of little screaming Johnny Depp fans. Crispin Glover was great, perfect for the creepy right hand man of the queen. And if there were little screaming Johnny Depp fans they kept to themselves, thank you!

It was a great movie, I loved it!

And they left it open for a sequel............

{argh, still won't space right, what is up with that?}

No wonder you're late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow...

2010-03-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

OH. dear. GOODNESS

Do you know where I will be

tomorrow night?

i will have fallen down the rabbit hole

{ squeeeee }

i cannot wait

anyone else having trouble with the spacing on their blog? do you know how to fix it?

:: help ::

and the award goes to......

2010-02-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

First off let me just say how hard it was for me to choose a winner, every post was hilarious! I was in tears reading them! I decided to do a random drawing, because I wanted to make everyone a winner, that is how good they all were. Thanks everyone for participating, I really think this has been my favorite contest yet! So, the random winner is......

{ cousin alicia }

rollin' with the homies!

2010-01-26T17:19:00.001-08:00

I saw an add for this today in the mail and I cannot stop laughing at it!

I am a basic make-up person, not too many frills. I have a hard time spending over $5 of mascara if that will give you a better clue in! I recently saw a mascara wand that vibrates, yes, vibrates. I am unsure what purpose a vibrating mascara wand would serve, but again, I am not make-up savvy. I actually took a few minutes to look up reviews on the paint your face foundation and found that most reviews weren't bad. huh. But I am still laughing! So what a perfect time for a what? LET ME HEAR YOU!

{ CONTEST }

Write your pitch/one liners to me about this product, I will then post them all and we shall have a vote on the best one!

DEADLINE: February 4th

everyday food

2010-01-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

I enjoy food.

I just enjoy it.

Too much.

I am not really a sweets person, unless it is a homemade baked good. Let me specify, a GOOD homemade baked good! I am also addicted to food television. It's like my crack. Before we had the Food Network on our tv I would watch them on PBS. Some were good, others not so good. Then one Saturday I discovered Everyday Food on PBS. It is from Martha Stewart but she is not the host. I was hooked instantly. I purchased the book . It became my one and only cookbook, Martha could do no wrong on any of her recipes ( minus the ravioli bake, my marinara sauce is the much better, the best ). Then I discovered that there is also a monthly magazine by the same name.

Oh sweet mystery of love and life!

I don't want to bore anyone with my tellings of all the reasons I love this book and this magazine, so I will just say that with my recent lifestyle change this cookbook and magazine coincide so nicely it was like it was made just for me. I thought that having to eat this way, probably for the rest of my life, would be tough. But it has come easier than I expected, once I got the basics down.

I guess where I am going with this is to just put it out there, I am trying to exercise everyday and have been doing awesome. I am trying to eat better, and am doing pretty good. Funny thing, I don't really miss all the junk that was adding to my trunk.

I feel better.

So here is to a new year, a new me, a new baby!

2010-01-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

I am home.
I am missing my sister.
I am enjoying my new work schedule.
I am needing to unpack.
And I am definitely not looking forward to the
117 new blog posts I need to read.
{ i am enjoying my sweet husband lying next to me in bed }

m.i.a.

2009-12-29T21:43:00.001-08:00

m.i.a. stands for

"missing in arizona"

See ya in two weeks everybodee!!

2009-12-24T21:34:00.001-08:00

{ happy christmas }

MORMON THEMED RESTARAUNTS

2009-12-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

{ had to share }

There is an idea floating around Utah, Arizona, Idaho and California for a chain of non-pretentious Mormon-themed restaurants called "The Steak Center" (Where There's Never a Dry, Boring Meating!).

Each Steak Center will have one enormous dining area with basketball hoops at either end and folding metal chairs and long tables covered in plastic tablecloths.

The Steak Centers will not have hostesses, but greeters -- men in their seventies will meet you at the door and talk like they have known you all your life.

The main menu items for lunch and dinner will be:

Porterhouse Rockwell Steak

Primary Rib

Poor Wayfaring Pan of Beef

Parsley P. Pratt Funeral Potatoes

Eliza R. Snow crab (in season)

And It Came to Pasta

Kraft MacaMoroni and Cheese.

Breakfast items will include

Pearls of Great Rice

Frosted Minivans

Adam-ondi-Omelettes

Also available In Our Lovely Desserts:

Fast Sundaes

Gadianton Cobbler

Laman Meringue Pie (just sinful!) Our featured beverage of the month will be Grape Nephi.
The waiters will be 12-13 year-old boys wearing white shirts and their fathers' ties..

At the end of the night, the customers will be asked to help fold up the chairs and tables and vacuum the floor.

Franchises are selling faster than Sunbeams on Skittles! Get yours while they last!

parties, puddings, pirates.....oh my!

2009-12-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

{ PARTIES }

I was asked by a good friend of mine who lives in Springville to make a cake for her daughter's birthday! How could I say no! Now when Vikki throws a party, she throws a party! I am so excited to see how this whole Balloon Olympics is going to be! I hope parents can participate too! (hint hint) Vikki gave me the idea of what she wanted and in true awesome Vikki form told me that I had complete artistic reign! Here is what I cam up with! I think it turned out pretty darn cute and it's my favorite cake recipe, chocolate. I cannot wait until tomorrow to take this to the party. I hope Erica likes it.....eek!

{ PUDDING }

Do you ever get a craving for something that lasts for days...weeks....months....? I have been craving rice pudding so incredibly bad. So, when we were little and would make rice pudding, it was very simple: leftover rice, milk, cinnamon, sugar, heat in the microwave for a few minutes, and enjoy!. But last night I thought I might try a real rice pudding.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It was AMAZING! Basically it was the same ingredients, but it just took more time, and the use of the stove. I also added raisins to mine. Caitlyn actually tried it and liked it and ate more than one bite... (WHAT ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!) No, I kid you not she did! (WHAT THE GREAT SWIRLING ONION RINGS!!) I know! It was wonderful. Anyway, try it! Great way to use up that extra rice! So low fat! ( ha ha ha )

{ PIRATES }

Joey and Heather invited us and the Campbell family for a night with pirates! It was so much fun! I wasn't even bothered by the poor British accent from the hostess! (it was really bad, I mean worse than mine bad) The place was decked out from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. I felt like I was in Disneyland again. They have a really nice menu too, I was so impressed. The play area for the kids was amazing, and once those kids had their fancy balloon swords, they were in heaven! A battle broke out amongst those cousins that will go down in history. It was hilarious to watch them run up and down that ship hitting eachother with those balloons!

Here is Taylar giving a perfect reanactment from "ELF", remember that! BWA HA HA HA HA

It was horrible! Blood, guts, popped balloons...oh the HORROR!

It was so much fun, and so nice to get to know the Campbell's better! What a cool family! I hope we get a chance to go again soon!

good morning sunshine

2009-12-05T03:59:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 4:00 this morning from an oh so lovely bathroom dream - you ever have those? - anyhooooo, here I am, still awake at 5:00! I am really just enjoying the quiet house, my cozy slippers - those things don't leave me feet once those cold north winds start a blowin' - sipping homemade honey lemon tea from this young mans head,

and wondering if the sounds from my Dad's room overhead should be worrying me......m-m-m-m! Oh goooooody! Elise just walked in - hurray an early morning friend - she is wearing a most delicious frock! She has just told me the name of this piece from her early morning line, but I do not think I will share it. *blushes* OH GOODNESS! Well, drat, she has gone back to her room. I suppose I will go now too. Not off to bed, dear reader, oh no! I am going to perhaps do some things that I have been wanting to do and have just not had the time lately to really dive into.

a) train that baby hippo to jump through that ring of fire

b) finish learning that Cher song on the spoons

c) go yell at my patio furniture

d) finish wrapping those empty airplane sick bags for Christmas - you lucky friends you!

e) paint my roses red, I don't want to loose my head - eek!

f) sign up for those water sqaure dancing lessons

g) work on patenting my bra-less bra

Bless the early morning!

Skating Fail

2009-11-21T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today we took Caitlyn skating. I wish I could pretend that we had an enjoyable family activity. I wish that these pictures were not a lie. She cried and whined almost the entire time . We left after about 45 minutes. I know that as parents we are supposed to present our children with opportunities to grow, to learn, to struggle, to love, to SKATE! I also know that our Father sometimes presents us with opportunities to grow (your first gray hair from stress), to learn (more & more & more & more patience), to struggle (not to punt your dear child across the skating rink), to love (that you have the power to say when it's time to get in Henry and GO HOME). Dear goodness. I tried, oh boy did I try, so many different paths with her today. None seemed to work. I am hoping that she will be willing to try skating again, and we just perhaps caught her on a bad day. I will be so sad if my daughter denies herself wonderful life experiences because she is too afraid to fail. I am sensing a good topic for Family Night tomorrow.......

a leetle snack attack

2009-11-19T02:50:00.000-08:00

fresh baked bread from the bakery + melt in your mouth capicolla ham + savory smoked provolone

.....all it needed was some sweet red grapes.....

The bread I made last night in the bakery smelled amazing, with my new regime I am not supposed to eat this delicious non-nutritional french bread, but I think we all know what that steaming-hot-right-out-of-the-oven smell does to us! I could not say no to its tantalizing scent. And the capicolla ham was just screaming to me. Have you tried this stuff? It's like the filet mignon of the prosciutto family. So scrumptious!

toot sweet **~

2009-09-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

So I guess blogs aren't about how many comments your receive....right? I am just going to enjoy posting things and be happy with that, or try. Self esteem failing.....needing comments to feel good about me.....instant happiness in a few little words.....!!! Okay, so my joke about my two readers is no longer a joke, I am ok with that. (sob) On with the shooooow........

:: Here are some of my latest cakes ::

This was a fun one, although I cannot take full credit, my sweet knees cut out all the fondant for me whilest I was cooking for the shower. I had our amazing decorator at work make the cake and cupcakes, she matched the color perfectly! So although I designed the cake, I had others execute it! (thanks guys!!) This was made for my sister in law for her baby shower. Her last name is Hooton, so owls are the thing with the family! So I ran with it. I had my sister make some sweet invitations, she is so talented. She made exactly what I wanted! The shower was such a success, Heather had an amazing turnout and received some really nice things.

I haven't had many opportunities to make cakes for the Williams side of my family, except for sweet little Taylar - these are usually my favorites to make, she really keeps me on my decorating toes! So I was thrilled when I was asked to make a cake for my mother in law. It can be really hard to decide on an idea when you have a million going through your mind. One day I came up - well perhaps inspired since I was in church - a PEEP, she loves those darn things. Everyone seemed to like it, so I made a gigantic PEEP. Other than the tail needing to be longer, I was very happy with it! And it tasted amazing! Thanks to two new recipes that are DEFINITELY keepers.

Oh Elise! You put it perfectly when you said you love how each year your cake matched your current obsession! If you can get past the upside down Star Trek insignia, you can probably guess what is on the wall for this year. SCOTTY ie. SIMON PEGG. So what else but a wedding cake for Elise and Scotty. She wants her wedding to be in the colors of green, white and black. This cake gave me a chance to practice some henna cake art. It was fun! And I can't wait for another chance to better my skills. There are some gorgeous henna cakes out there, if you have a minute check it out.....wait don't....you will laugh for hours about how ridiculous my henna is.....just enjoy the simplicity of my cake! This one was fun and I was thrilled with her reaction, which was perfect of course!

{ adu }

P.S. Elise is not engaged, sorry for any confusion!

Intervention

2009-09-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

I am feeling P.C.D.W. today. So to hopefully boost myself and my poor little blog, I am having a contest! Hurray! Hurray! So here is the deal-io, there are 9 questions below, answer them all correct and you will be entered into a drawing for some fun prizes! I am giving two weeks from today {September 30}.

:: GOOD LUCK ::

These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw," and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S"?

uh-huh

2009-08-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

This year will be my first year sending a child to public school. I am so excited for Caitlyn to start this new journey and giggle a little at the thought of the dread that will come at the end of the next twelve summers for her! So I guess I don't have a lot of experience yet as the parent in this video, but I DEFINITELY know how those poor kids feel!

sweet dreams

2009-08-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

{ good night }

i am tired

FRANKEN-CHAIR

2009-08-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

Today is wonderful!

Why?

Because it's Friday?

Maybe.

Because I get to take my little niece and daughter to

Movies in the Park for some Kung Fu Panda Action?

Could be.

Or perhaps because I paid off a whole credit card today

and more than half of another one!

YES! YES! YES!

That is the reason why!

It feels so good to have that card gone and to be so close to paying off the other one I can hardly stand it. We are getting so much closer to our own house, I love it!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

While visiting one of my favorite blogs I was invited to visit this fun site! I have such a side ache from laughing so hard at not only the photographs but the titles too. "Franken-Chair" - funny picture, but the title makes me laugh even harder! So I have decided to share a few of my favorites. Take a gander on the site if you have a few - is ever really that little? - minutes!

"hanes his way"

"fire alarm"

m-m-m-m-m tasty!

My one complaint about my cell phone is that it doesn't cradle in my neck very well, this is a perfect solution I think!

My friend has a White Trash BBQ every year, they are so much fun! But I am wondering why this little ingenius idea never occurred to anyone? Strange.

I am trying to decide if this is white trash or the start of one ingenius recycling program?

Any comments?

I wonder if the pioneers used this same idea to keep their food cold?

how did I miss that?

2009-08-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately I have failed to update my blog.....and my recent read "A Girl Named Zippy". Where to begin! We have been living back with Mom and Dad for over a month. It's nice to be home, but I do miss "my" space. I feel like I am an invader! I have been busy trying to catch up the house work that my poor little Mom just does not have the energy to do. Her cancer has increased and she is headed back to chemo and radiation this next week. Poor thing, please keep her and my Dad in your prayers. They need them. Caitlyn has been keeping busy with swimming lessons, she is such a fish! I cannot watch her swim, she does not hold still for one second, the doctor told me during her ultrasound that I needed to get my running shoes on and boy was he right. She just cracks me up when she is in her lessons and people stare at me because they have not idea what I am giggling at. I can just see what is going on through those coaches minds with her! I am currently working at Dan's Bakery. It is a night job, so basically I just make a few batches of french bread in the massive ovens and package all the yummy new creations the bakers have made that morning, but it's a job that works with our family schedule and my sweet sister Heather watches Caitlyn, even in her expecting state! (THANKS HEATHER!!!) Caitlyn will be in kindergarten next year, crazy how time flies. She is already asking me when she will be old enough for college.... please wait a little bit honey, please! You are growing up way too fast! On the side I am working on Heather's baby shower, which I am totally excited for! I am getting nephew! So exciting! It's hard not to pick up every little man's item of clothing and tiny sneaker I see! Curtis is working really hard on his little men (WarHammer) and has discovered the amazing things he can create from DI finds...watch out! We are enjoying our summer and are hopefully (cross your fingers) going to get a little family vacation in September/October to Washington to visit my cousins! We will see how things go. We might be having a mini-vacation to Cherry Hill when Caitlyn graduates from swimming. I hope! Also, I just got word from my college roommate that she and her family will be in town this next week, I am so excited to meet her family and to see her!

{ on to the review }

I loved this book! There are those who are writers and then there are those who are storytellers. Haven Kimmel is definitely a storyteller. To say this book is just a story of a girl growing up in the backwoods of Indiana would be an insult. Haven's stories are delicious and completely satisfying! You know how most books about childhood are told from the safety of adulthood? The stories can be funny, sure, but there is a definite distance between where the storyteller is and where the storyteller was. Haven takes you back in time to what was, you feel like her little, giddy childhood tag along. Her storytelling is from her 9 year old eyes. Each chapter is a vivid memory from her years in Indiana, each with a unique spirit and sentimentality for the people and places in her life. This is the perfect "Mom Book", each chapter is full of a rich story and is just the right length for a quick sit down in between kids and daily activities. I feel like I am way behind in finding and reading this book, most of you, from the comments I have received, have already read this! BUT! BUT! BUT! If there is some small chance you have not picked this treat up, go get it, devourer it, eat the dang thing up, it is wonderful!

finally.

2009-07-23T11:13:00.001-07:00

{ a job }

little green men

2009-07-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

For all the pointless stories, ideas, sentences, blah, blah, blah's that come out of my mouth each day, Curtis is surprisingly attentive and respectfully listens to me. He may not really get all "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OH ME DEAR GOODNESS" at say the wonderful grocery savings I found at the store, but he loves me enough to listen. And I in turn do him the same courtesy. I love and care about him, therefore I care to listen. But he has an amazing talent in his hands (cue the naughty giggle) and can create some amazing things. I do not full comprehend his excitement of these little green men, but I can appreciate it. For he would cannot comprehend my excitement as I find sweet fabric or take a few hours to "gaze" down the cake isle. In this we have found a balance. I am very proud of my husbands skills and creativity to see a piece of packing foam and imagine and then create from scraps around the house, and amazing building for his men. Below is the link to his second blog in which you can witness for yourself the amazing talent that is CURTIS!

http://bigmektek.blogspot.com/

my "me no likey" list

2009-07-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

I loved this post Alicia did here so I copied it!

Here is my list of ten things that people L.O.V.E. that I don't get why they do....

1. TWILIGHT: Don't get all the hype, sorry folks! Saw the movie.......thppptttt

2. BRAD PITT and TOM CRUISE: Not attractive, not one bit

3. FAMILIES THAT WEAR THE SAME COLORED SHIRT ON VACATION: Why?

4. EMO: Ugliest thing ever, your boyfriend should not be

a snappier dresser that you, nor should he have equal/more

hair products in his bathroom cabinet that you

5. DANE COOK: Not that funny and he steals peoples jokes

6. CLOTHE DIAPERS: I know, the earth is crying out,
but blech, can't do it, just can't, shorry :(

7. CAFE RIO: Not all that good, pretty eh to my taste buds

8. BIG MUSCLES: Totally gross! TOTALLY GROSS!

9. AMERICAN IDOL: Singing is a great talent, but they all sound the same, lets get some variety people!

10. FAMILY DECALS: Why? Never been huge fan of stickers

on cars anyway, but this just is strange to me.

..fame..

2009-07-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

LOOK! My cake is on a website!

http://icingimages.com/info.php?link=sc&menu=m

playing catch-up

2009-07-05T01:40:00.000-07:00

Loads of pictures coming up!

A few weekends ago, Curtis' cousin invited us to his restaraunts grand reopening! Who can say no to good Mexican Food and getting together with family? NOT THIS GIRL! So we met up with the Hootons and enjoyed a delish meal and a little superstar from Taylar. Then we all slipped into our jammies, grabbed some snacks and met back up at the drive-in movies to see "UP". Who doesn't love a drive-in movie? And why are things so much better when you are sharing them with your kids?

................................................................

Our 4th was nice and relaxing. I love holidays like this. Good food. Good company. Lots of laughs. And fireworks of course! Caitlyn made friends with the little neighbor Kelvin next door. They ran and ran! We had our Driveway of Fire 2009, it was awesome!

...........................................................................

If I were to look back at my cake posts I think I would probably start each one with "this is my favorite cake so far". Not wanting to break any kind of tradition I will say that this is my favorite cake so far. Since I received the sweet call from my little niece asking me for a shark cake for her birthday I have been so enjoying coming up with plans for this little beaut! I put a few ideas together for the end result. I.L.O.V.E.I.T......so much. Somewhere in the move I have misplaced my round cake pans, but I was able to pick-up a new and improved pan that gives me the results I really want. I can't wait for Taylar to see it! EEK!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

{authors note}

I must add a HUGE thanks to my sweet husband who spent over an hour cutting out each individual shark silhouette from fondant and molding each shark fin. They truly make the cake what it it. Also, the topper of this cake is made from a special paper that you feed through your computer printer with special cartridges that make it totally edible. I am doing another cake next week with this same technique, I cannot wait, it has been such a fun new toy!

i pledge allegiance....

2009-07-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

As we are enjoying our sumptuous barbeque's, our quickly melting popsicles and being with friends and family, I hope we can all remember to take a moment and remember those who gave so much for our freedoms and rights in this country. And for those who this day are still fighting for us. I hope we can all do our part big or small to help keep this country one nation under God.

:: happy independence day ::

:: happy birthday ::

2009-07-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

My sweet little niece Taylar turns 3 today!

We are all wishing you a wonderful birthday little Taylar!

Love,

Curtis, Aubrey, Caitlyn and Penny

2009-06-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

This gave me and Curtis a good laugh!

thanks.

2009-06-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Do you ever experience something so magnificent that afterwords you sigh and think : I needed that.

Last night two of my sisters came down and offered me a completely stress free night.

My wonderful husband watched two playful girls.

And I enjoyed every second of it.

thank you

i am refreshed today

Hangman

2009-06-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I totally wasted about 45 minutes on this super addicting game today, I needed a break from packing for sure! Then I made a personalized one, so enjoy!

Enter here: http://www.hangman.no/

Enter code: l36m89f4

Make one yourself and send me the link and code, I can't wait!

2009-06-23T17:05:00.001-07:00

{Williams Family Update}

For those not in the know yet!

As of July 1st we will be moved back to Salt Lake. We will be living with my gracious parents for a few months.

Also, I am in need of a job, so if anyone knows of any, I am pretty willing to do and learn!!

le sigh

2009-06-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

today i am wishing for this

but instead i am doing this.....

today

2009-06-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

cleaned the house. did the laundry. had dinner on the table on time.

amazing what a day without the internet can do

:: also::

i love to see the serving plates come back to the kitchen empty

SUCCESS

still glad i am a girl who likes surprise flowers from her sweet knees

elmo decided he had had enough i guess

miracle of miracles, i found my bottom twin......in my potatoe

i found those two missing library books, i was moments away from being taken away to jail by the book police, woo, that was a close one

i thought that princess camp would motivate my five year old to clean her room, i thought wrong

makes 11 days without any sugar

- minus the new cake recipe I had to try which I don't count-

i am ever so glad these little things can be bought sugar free

hit the sales racks at kohls and bought some cute - and much needed - summer clothes

"my dad said be an actor my son....."

2009-06-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

{ happy anniversay }

to me and curtis

One of the best things about celebrating anniversaries is spending alone time with your partner. I relish this time. Curtis and I don't get out as mich as we should, darn it, so any night out for us is really a special treat. I feel Curtis and I are pretty low key on our dates, which makes the ones that are "highbrow" all the more exciting! Like last night, Curtis surprised me with an evening with Don, Kathy and Cosmo. I about died when I saw the marquee above the theater with the words "Singin' in the Rain". I had no idea it was playing here! It was so fun. I am so grateful for a husband who enjoys plays. They were such a part of my life growing up and I am glad that we share that. Now a performance by the Utah Symphony might be a little tougher, but we are working on that! I had a wonderful anniversary, a night out with my sweet knees, a great play, some baklava - yum - and......well anyway, it was a wonderful 8 year anniversay!

::Question::

I often catch my self with this total dorky grin plastered on my face when I go see plays, I can't help but smile!

Anyone else have this issue?

{ another thank you to the hootons for bbs }

:: GNO ::

2009-05-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

a little birdie told me

that is was time for a girls night out

We are going to see A Night At The Museum 2

Place: Thanksgiving Point

Movie Time: 7:30 (starts)

Dinner Time: 6:00 @ the Deli & Bakery

Date: Saturday May 30

{ all girls invited }

Hope to see you and your friends there!

Contrary Collaborations

2009-05-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

My sisters are so talented. They amaze me with their skills! I just had to share this, I hope Elise does not mind, and if she does...too bad! She created a blog entitled Contrary Collaborations in which we take turns writing out a sentence. We all write a story or poem to include that bit in it and post it on the blog. (I must point out here that we are all slackers and she is the only one who has done anything so far, sorry dear sister) Elise started it with the sentence "With one final glance over his shoulder, Horace turned the corner and vowed to never walk down this street again."

What she wrote was splendid! If you have a few minutes read her version of Horace's story and where he vowed never to walk again........(pause for dramatic effect) you won't be sorry!

http://contrarycollaborations.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

goes on and on and on and on....

2009-05-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who attended my Scentsy Party, it was a lot of fun! If you were unable to attend but would still like to order something call me, I still have the testers through TUESDAY! Or if you would like to order online from my party click the link to go the Kimberlee Kunz's site @ https://www.scentsy.com/1669 and click on her "events" link on the left side of the page. My name should appear on her calender! Click me and then click "SHOP FOR EVENT" and this will link you to the store! THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

Call me with any questions!

Remember my party is open through TUESDAY!!!

i am pretty....oh so pretty...

2009-05-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Curtis went to have his haircut and Caitlyn tagged along. Our hairstylist Dawn is the most amazing woman, we love her! I could go on and on, but I won't! Anyway, Caitlyn and her were chatting and they decided that Caityln needed to come in and have some Dawn and Caitlyn time. So Curtis made the appointment and a few hours later I went back with her to get her hair styled. She loved every minute of it! And I loved watching her! Of course I totally forgot my camera so all I have are photographs after we arrived home.

Dawn is so great with kids! I have seen her in action before and she just knows how to work with them. She took this blue ribbon that was one long piece and wound it through Caitlyns hair and tied bows in it all without cutting it! AMAZING! Caitlyn loved her hair and felt so grownup sitting in the chair and chatting with Dawn.

Dawn was such a sweetheart and didn't even charge me for her time! The poor thing had fallen down her stairs a few weeks before and was in a lot of pain, limping and tired, I felt so bad. She loves what she does and knows her stuff. I don't ever want to leave Utah County without her.

So if you live down here and need someone amazing, do see Dawn, she works miracles! Plus she is so nice and friendly!

2009-05-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

:: happy mothers day ::

to all who are and all who will be

pip pip

2009-05-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

{ a sweet recipe to soothe the sore throat }

1 cup water

2 teaspoons natural honey

warm in microwave for one minute and thirty seconds

stir in

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

until honey is dissolved

add

1 teaspoon white sugar

to sweeten if desired

:: relax ::

{afterthought}

I came down with a very sore throat on thursday night

and was totally prepared for coughing and hacking much like

my little love has been doing all week. I started on this tea that

night and had three more cups yesterday, my sore throat is

gone and no coughing! This really helps and tastes wonderful!

Perfect for those expecting mommies.

apples and vampires and cakes...OH MY!

2009-04-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

I will start by saying that I have never read the Twilight series. I will someday. I think. My sisters hope. But I feel that even though I don't appreciate the Twilightness of this confectionary delight, I can appreciate the cake decorating skills. (Or lack thereof ) So when I saw this cake on my favorite cake site I had to share! I just can't stop laughing at this thing!

Easter

2009-04-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean for Caitlyn's Easter dress to be the first thing on this post, but I can not get blogger to copy and paste today - ARGH! I guess because I should be grocery shopping for my little family right now - hee hee hee! Oh well! This dress turned out amazingly well I thought. I am proud and very grateful for my Mom and her finishing the zipper whilest I was catching up on my lack of sleep from the past two weeks of sewing every night from 11:00 - 2:00 in the morning! THANKS MOM! Even at 28 my Mom still takes care of me! Caitlyn looked so cute in this dress and she loved all the tiers. I was so happy.

There is actually one more tier, but it made the dress waaaaay too long, but I am going to just add it on the bottom when the dress gets too short and hopefully it will last a little longer!

PARK PLAY

Finding eggs at the Carlson Egg Hunt

For Caitlyn's basket I bought her a little toy of the new Barbie Thumbelina Movie and some frosted animal crackers.

Caitlyn picked out this animal shirt for Curtis' basket. If you don't know Curtis very well, his favorite foods are canned ravioli and totinos pizza (YUM!) When I found this larger than life can I knew I had to get it for his basket! BWA HA HA!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I love this time of year when the flowers begin to push through the ground, the trees are beginning to bud and it's time to pull out the flip flops and capris! Spring is a time of renewal and reawakening. I love Easter! This year I tried to make Easter a little bit more about the gesture that was performed for me and all who choose to accept Christ as their Savior. Caitlyn and I had a discussion every night about the life of Christ, then we watched a video that would go into more detail. It was an amazing week. There is more to Easter than Christ suffering and dying for us. He lived for us. He set the ultimate example for us. Brought the true love of our Heavenly Father to us. I am truly grateful for the life he lived for me. For the suffering he did, alone. It was so nice to have the spirit all week in my home and to educate myself more about the life of Christ. I would like to continue this tradition in my family for the Easter holiday. With the holiday comes of course the family gatherings. I see my family almost every Sunday so no big deal. But we only see Curtis' extended family a few times a year. It's always fun to go to the big Carlson party. There is always a huge spread of food, tons of people and of course the egg hunt! Things are a lot more relaxed at the Williams house, a lot quieter too! I love the diversion between the families to really balance out the holiday. The salad I made for the Carlson party was a huge hit (which of course being the 30's housewife in a woman of 2009's body that I am) made me feel awesome! I had some people ask me for the recipe so here it is.

Aubreys Famous BLT Salad.....too much? Yes I think so!!

{ BLT SALAD }

What I love about this salad that you can add or subtract the veggies! I do not care for raw onions so I leave them out and add onion powder to the dressing.

So be creative!

Also, I do not have specific measurements for the veg simply because I add how ever much I want or do not want. I saw this salad once prepared in a gorgeous straight-sided serving bowl. I tried this once and as much as I feel the look of food is part of serving your dish, this wasn't a very friendly way to serve it. I have found the 9x13 pan works excellent!

:: layers ::

~Chopped iceberg lettuce

~Sliced red onions

~Sliced celery

~Sliced mushrooms

~Can of sliced waterchestnuts

~Bag of sweet peas defrosted

~Sprouts

~Sliced ham for the layers or bacon bits for topping

:: dressing ::

Mix 2 cups mayo with 1/8-1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste really!)

I like to add salt and onion and garlic powder to taste as well.

Spread over the top of your salad layers. Cover with sliced tomatoes (bacon bits?) and sprinkle parmasen cheese over the top. I sometime omit the salt in the dressing and sprinkle a little seasoning salt on top to add a little color and flavor.

...enjoy...

::disclaimer::

2009-04-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

The following post entitled "IN OTHER NEWS" has many grammar and spelling errors. Also, the way the sentence lines flow on the page is not very pretty. We here at the Tattered Pages appologize for these errors and ask the readers forgivness.

But I am too dang tires to go back and fix them all!

{ SO DEAL WITH IT }

Seriously though, it looks a mess, but I spent almost two precious sewing hours trying to get the photos to load right so I am bloggie burned out tonight!

and in other news

2009-04-07T21:21:00.001-07:00

WE GOT A PUPPY!

(thanks aunt heidi)

What am a saying!

THANKS AUNT HEIDI!!!

Caitlyn named her Penny from the movie Bolt since she is a girl. She is such a sweetie!

My new baby girl - total snuggler

Caitlyn put Penny to bed when we arrived at Grandma Jenny's house

Just some photos of Conference Sunday at the Peterson's

That is bacon, not his tongue!

Grandpa Wally joins the fam

Grandma Jenny, Winnie (Winifred the Woe Begone) and Penny (Pennies Full of Luck)

Penny has her first bath at home, she even received a new towel just for her!

($2.00 clearance at K.Mart - love that place)

Warming up on the heating pad - sigh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well we made it to and from Arizona in one piece!

LeeSee and I are both nervous flyers, but I think we did pretty good on our first plane trip with out Mom and Dad. I felt so grown-up! (hee hee) If Elise is willing you must ask her the story of how I distracted her with my bladder on the trip home. It was such a nice vacation away from work and household chores and bills and life! I of course missed my family but sometimes we need that little vacation from them too! Right Mom's! Mae was kind enough to give up her room for us. Or should I say Liss and Ton were kind enough to sacrifice their privacy for use to have Mae's room! The pictures I have are totally sparatic, but it seems that for the times I missed taking a picture Liss or LeeSee were ready! So check out the missing links on their pages for realsies!

Mae-Mae's little pose! She was so cute and fun to play with!

These gigantic mallows were everywhere! Dear goodness, how could I not snap a shot of them! I was extremely tempted to buy these and bring them home just to show them off! But I didn't think they would fit in my bag....oh well!

Melissa the old woman and Mae the backseat driver from hell - "myself! myself"

(you know I kid Liss, she was adorable!)

Liss took a nap and LeeSee and I decided to make ourselves boo-tiful. LeeSee chose the macaroni and cheese yellow for her nails. (She swore it was going to protect her on the plane ride home!)

Liss gets a back "massage" from LeeSee and Mae

Mae is a big girl

I loved that Mae was naked most the time we were there, so cute with her little crooked bottome crack (good job Tom). We were playing hide and go seek here and she was so cute at counting, she can count all the way to 10 from what I could here! WAY TO GO MAE!

LeeSee and I arrive safely at the Pheonix Airport excited to start our 6 day vaca with nothing but sisters, farts, pools, food, cards, and rice crackers.

After a delish dinner our first night there. YUM! Liss is a good cook!

What good is a girly vaca without a girly movie?

NOTHING I TELL YOU! NOTHING!

We went and say Shopaholic which was really cute! I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but I did. There was no sex in it either which always makes for a great movie.

And of course what else would come next but dorky photos around the movie theater! Glad to see that the high society of Peoria hasn't tainted Liss!

JEEPERS CREEPERS!

WHERE'D YOU GET THOSE PEEPERS!

um..........you had the be there........I swear it was really funny......

Waiting outside Oreganos for a little birthday Italian food. This place was packed, and even though the wait was really long, it was totally worth it. The food was excellent, they make everything fresh when you order, so your pizza or lasagna will take about 30 - 40 minutes to make. Josh Egan joined us, it was fun to see him and catch up. Crazy kid! Then.....

then................

then................................

then.....................................

we got in and they gave Mae some dough to play with. I think the adults had more fun with it than anything!

I totally made that smiley face, I am so talented - SHA!

For dessert we had a SKOOKIE

and dear goodness people if you have not sampled this delight

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!

Go now and find a SKOOKIE

Stop reading this bloggie and go get a SKOOKIE

Are you still here?

GET A SKOOKIE!

Mae and Liss took us to the Pheonix Zoo. It was amazing! Simply Amazing. We spent over 5 hours there and still missed I think 3 exhibits. WOW!

I love this photo of Mae, she was telling me about the monkey on my ticket!

This was the side view of the entrance

So enthrolling I know

Oh!! This place was fun! You actually go into the cage of these little spider monkeys and they are all around you! Jumping! Playing! I reached a point at the zoo that I stopped taking photos and started taking video to showmy family, I won't bore you with those, but know that the monkeys were really something.

According to Liss this is Mae's favorite part of the zoo

I can see why

PETTING ZOO

Liss and LeeSee were petting a goat and it started to have it's afternoon constitutional. I have it on video, it's great when all the kids starting screaming and running away!

I petted a goat

j.e.a.l.o.u.s.

It truly was the best photo opportunity in the whole zoo....truly

LeeSee's Pretty pose

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so it ends

Super fun!

Super sisters!

Super farts!

Super sad to leave

But I finally recieved a nickname

:: P-squared ::

long and over do....

2009-04-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

What draws me to these books is the history. When Sylvia takes us back in time to her youth at the Bergstrom Manor you can feel the warmth and love that permeated through the home. Jennifer Chiaverini is a simple but thick writer. Each character has had her story written out for her since birth! You feel you know these women and connect with them all on different levels. And wish you too could be part of Elm Creek Quilts. I know that if not limited by editing, these books could be a mile thick.

In this book we join with Anna and Sylvia as they ready the manor for a major remodeling in the kitchen. The manor itself is a treasure trove of memories and forgotten items waiting to be discoved and have their stories told. As the two women explore the long neglected corners of the kitchen they discover treasure after treasure and the stories begin to spring to life. From old family traditions to community dances and potluck suppers, Sylvia again brings us back in time for a little taste of her part in history. Soon Anna's mind is awhirl with menu plans and new savory dishes to be served from the new kitchen to bring back and honor the women who made Bergstrom Manor what is is today.

“We need to find a way to make this kitchen serve up the spirit of Elm Creek Quilts just as it serves delicious meals,” Anna muses to Sylvia as they begin the project. “I want to honor all the traditions of the Bergstrom family as well as all the people, Elm Creek Quilters and campers alike, who make Elm Creek Quilt Camp such a unique place.”

The book is generously stuffed with over 100 recipes. Some from the Bergstrom family kitchen, Gerda's Apple Strudel, and some from Anna, Tomato Mushroom Ragout. I myself cannot wait to try the apple strudel, which has played a role in so many of the Quilters books.

Once again Jennifer Chiaverini has written a fireplace book. The family traditions, tales of friendship, and delicious recipes make this book a perfect dish!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

::Final Note::

There will be a new addition to our family soon!

Pictures coming soon!

::ATTENTION EVERYONE::

2009-03-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

I think that I have waited long enough for my contest!

Thanks everyone for your comments and stories!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

....and....

....the winner....

....is....

{ erica }

congratulations dear friend!

::just email me your addy so I know where to send your prize::

[on another note]

I was so excited when this sweet girl showed up at my door today.....

....with this wonderful treat....

....stuffed full of these little goodies....

....that made me SQUEEEEE excited.....

....to take one of these....

....to go see this girl...

....with this girl....

....all the way here....

.I.AM.SO.EXCITED.FOR.MY.TRIP.

:: one hundred :: (i made it)

2009-03-03T08:58:00.001-08:00

I don't know if anyone out there has seen the 100th episode of Blue Clues, but they sing this really cute song and it has been going through my head all morning as I have been getting this post ready.

.:I finally hit my 100th post:.

And that of course means GIVE*AWAY time!

"they call me give-away bob 'cause i'm just given 'em away"

So in lue of Caitlyn's birthday post I am wanting all those who wish to participate to share a gooooooood birthday story! It can be one you hosted, one you attended, one that was given for you, anything really, as long as you were somehow involved! The winner will be sent a wonderful prize in the mail! Good luck!

========================================

Caitlyn has started showing an interst in sewing. "Sew" with a few helpful ideas from my friend Viki, I made some simple shapes on some leftover fabric I had and let her go! She had so much fun! And I thought she did very well for her first time. She is now working on a little cat, she is very excited to be a big sewing girl!

Mom and Dad are always so gracious to share their home with us for our parties. It just works better since all our family is up in Salt Lake.

Mom made this sweet doctors jacket for Caitlyn and even had her name embroidered on the front so she could be completely official! She loves it!

Caitlyn requested a Handy Manny cake for her party. This is about as good as I could do. I was going to be brave and make all the tools from fondant, but time just ran out. But on the plus side I was able to complete her tool set. She is a HUGE helper around the house!

These are some photos from her actual birthday. She wanted Mac n' Cheese for dinner with fruit and corn on the cob. YUMMY! After opening her presents we played Pictionary Man. If you don't have this game, get it! It such a fun game.

The soundtrack to Kung Fu Panda. For those of you who do not know, Caitlyn is a Kung Fu Master and if asked to demonstrate her skills, she is more than happy to oblige!

To see some of her skills click {here}

...boring old tissue paper...

a little pixie dust

{ fairy flowers }

...boring old front room...

a little pixie dust

{ a fairy garden }

I was totally burned out from the Handy Manny cake so we made some fairy cupcakes with little butterfly clips for the little fairies to take home. In the end this was really a smart thing for me to do, most of the little fairies ate about two or three bites of their cupcakes and then ran off to play. I am glad I didn't spend hours on a Tinkerbell cake!

It was really hard to cut back on all the pictures I wanted to post of her party! Really hard! I am opting for journaling instead! Caitlyn and I came up with a few games to play, one of which was "Fairy, Fairy, Troll " aka "Duck, Duck, Goose". Most of the little fairies loved it! Some just wanted to play in Caitlyn's room. We also planned a scavenger hunt. I made up a story that the Fairy Queen needed items for her Fairy Ball and had left clues for the little fairies to find. They had to find small pebbles from her garden that some squirrels thought were nuts and had hidden them away for winter. A large red button that was the door knob to her fairy house and without it she couldn't let her guests in. Her new party wings and headband she had misplaced. And of course her tiny bottles of fairy dust. After they found the last item they were to put them on the window sill where the Fairy Queen would pick them up. I had Curtis sneak into the room and replace the items with the gift bags from the Fairy Queen. I was planning on making up that I had heard a noise in the art room where the bags were, but Brooke saw them and got all excited screaming "Look everyone! Look at that!" It was PERFECT! The little fairies all went running and couldn't believe the Fairy Queen had left them something! Curtis even went as far as to open the window so it looked liked she had just flown off!

I found some really cute fairy wands at Joann's for a dollar! A DOLLAR! They had little butterflies which went perfect with our Garden Fairy Party. They all had a lot of fun designing their butterflies, but I think the little fairy who was the most proud was Aunt Heather!!

And what is a party without opening gifts! It was so nice to see how well all the little fairies were with sharing and giving! And Caitlyn too! I was worried about her, but she has become so much better in the last year. I was very proud. After the gifts were opened they all just ran around and played until their parents came. I feel pretty good about my first friends birthday party. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really fun! And a little tiring! I am glad birthday's come once a year!

{ a day for love }

2009-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

.: happy valentines day :.

Before I really start into my Valentines Day Post, I have to share something. I woke this morning as I do every other Saturday at 6:00 to go grocery shopping. When I arrived at the store there was alarmingly large amount of cars there. "That's so strange," I thought to myself. As I walked through the doors I began to notice something, a trend I guess you could call it. Not only was the store full of eager men in search for their incredbily last minute gifts, but they all seemed to have big, ready to burst, heart balloons, bearing such unique phrases that would let any woman know exactly how special she really was. Along with these slogon covered dirigibles, some men carried a cheap box of chocolates - "chocolate covered peanuts, unshelled" - or a beautiful yellow or white rose covered in what looked like saran wrap. And I can't even begin to describe the topsy-turviness of the card section. I guess what I am trying to get to is that on a day that is supposed to celebrate the love we have for one another, a day to express your feelings in actions and perhaps a small gift, does a mylar balloon purchased at 6:00 on Valentines morning really do it? I don't feel like I am being high maintence here, I truly don't. For me a simple gesture of service someone performs for me makes me feel so loved and appreciated. And maybe for some a little stuffed bear really does it for them, but to me it will always represent exactly what I saw this morning at 6:00 am.

And all this got me to thinking about Valentines Day. Where did this tradition come from? Who was St. Valentines and what exactly did he do to procure a day named after him? I did a little research and was a little disapointed in what I found out. Nothing. No one really has any clear answers for my quetions. There were far to many "legend has it...." lines for my liking. Even though I found nothing to satisfy my queries, this did nothing to dissolve my enjoyment in a day devoted to our loved ones, to finding a small way to go the extra mile for them. Cards go in the bins, flowers wilt, bears get lost or ruined, chocolate...no chocolate is always good! But a service performed will always be remembered and treasured. My friend Vikki was baptized and a year later sealed to her family on Valentines Day. She told me they devoted the day to their family. I thought this was such a sweet and wonderful way to spend a day like Valentines Day! Of course as an adult there is always the naughty side to be enjoyed, but to have the day as a family day is marvelous! So enjoy your family, show them you love them today by your actions.....and perhaps some nice chocolate for your wife *hint hint*

birthday! birthday! birthday!

2009-02-13T11:06:00.001-08:00

to my sweet sister in law Heather

:: wishing you the happiest ::

"Dear Aunt Heather, I want you to know that I love you and wish you a happy birthday. We bought you a special present, but we can't give it to you right now, later instead I think.

Love Caitlyn"

Help! I Need Somebody Help!

2009-02-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

WHY IN THE NAME OF SWIRLING ONION RINGS DOES AUBREY HAVE PHOTOS OF PARIS HILTON ON HER BLOG?

Okay forgive the photos, I know, but lets ignore the person and check out the hair! I was thinking of going a little shorter, but I want to know what people think?

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

2009-02-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a little bit since I did a post, so I am going to sum up the past two weeks in a Top Ten List. This is more the Top Ten Things That Have Been Going On The Past Two Weeks, rather than a Top Ten Count Down Of Worse To Best Things That Have Been Going On The Past Two Weeks!

{10} The amount of days my little love has to take her amoxicillin to get over this strep throat

{9} How many days I have had this stupid cough and sore throat and am now just getting over it

{8} + 74 = 82 which is the number that Mom's tumor markers have gone down to from 280! This is miraculous news!

{7} How many nights in a row my little love has gone all night without an accident!

{6} The amount of times in one day I went to turn the light on in my closet by flipping a switch, only to realize -yet again - that we have a chain pull light! How long have I lived in this house?

{5} How many more weeks until I get to drive to Arizona with LeeSee to visit Lissa and fam

{4} How many of us sat around a table at a really nice families house and played a fun new game called 5 Crowns. They totally beat the pants off this family!!

{3} How many little cousins will soon be in the Williams Family! Little Baby Hooton - HURRAH!

{2} or $200 for the amount Curtis sold some things for the other night, he was so excited, until we both realized that as adults most the extra money you get goes towards bills that need to be paid off......dang.....

{1} Big house to clean today...totally slacked off the past two weeks - GROSS! BLECH! DON'T COME VISIT ME TODAY!

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i do not like green eggs and ham i do not like them sam i am

2009-01-29T15:18:00.000-08:00

:: It's all about being green today ::

Not in the sense of being all earthy and tree loving, although that is a good way to use ones day as well!

Nope today is green because of a little surprise that I received today from my adorable husband who was waiting until my birthday which is still two months away, then changed to Valentines, then decided he just could not wait one more stinkin' day! And also from my tender hearted daughter who had been crying because she loves my old computer to much and does not want to get rid of it even though we have told her and showed her that is has thpppptttt and does not work anymore! She wants to save it as a decoration, so if anyone has any DYI ideas for old, broken computer let me know!

"Wait....back up the blogging train for one minute, did she say old computer?" This is no doubt what is -or should be - passing through you lips at this moment. If not, say it to build some suspense for yourself or this next sentence will be meaningless....I will wait a moment.....are we good?

CURTIS and CAITLYN BOUGHT ME MY VERY OWN LAPTOP!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

oh and did I mention

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I was totally shocked. 100% as Caitlyn would say! I could not believe it when I opened the wrapping paper to find this little beauty on my lap. I was wiping drool off the poor thing for the next hour! Dear goodness! Curtis and I were laughing because last night my computer totally crashed, he didn't tell me until after he gave my the laptop, but hee hee! I don't care! Is that horrid of me? I am still kind of in shock as to why I have a laptop. I feel so computer geekish and like I don't deserve something this big. But I am working on accepting things better and boy oh boy I think I have made a break through with this little baby!

Anyway, I had to be annoying and share!

{ I named it greensleeves }

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01.30.09
A little after post about the thppppptttt computer. Curtis was trying so desperately to get my hard drive to boot yesterday, so, so hard. When suddenly he threw his head forward and started to laugh. I turned to him and asked him what was so funny, and he pointed out through his fits of laughter that the reason the hard drive was not being sensed by the mother board and therefor telling us it was broken was because the hard drive was not in anyway connected to the mother board!!! So, the little thing is fine and Caitlyn is happy now!

Aubrey White and the Seven Randoms

2009-01-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Michelle @ Two for the Road
and Heather @ Life's A Hoot

I am supposed to name 7 random things about myself, I don't know if I can come up with 7 cause I'm boring.

Seven Random Things About Me

1. I have a terrible fear of horses. Just going up to a fence to pet one is so very, very hard for me.

2. I have to buy my fruit and veg in odd numbers and I hate those little stickers on them, so I remove them right when I get home.

3. I hate going to the bathroom, it is the most annoying thing in the world to me.

4. I have a crush on Mike Rowe.

5. Once when I was a vegetarian I drove to the other side of town, bought a chicken sandwich and then hide and ate it!!! (PATHETIC)

6. A movie I could watch everyday is Neil Simon's The Odd Couple with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon

7. I hate shopping for clothes and shoes and make-up and jewelry....HATE IT!

See, told you I was SNORING BORING!

*The rules are:- Link to the person who tagged you.-
Post the rules on your blog.-
Write 7 random things about yourself.-
Tag 7 people at the end of your post and link to them.-
Let each person know that they have been tagged.

1. Allison @ Allison and Evan
2. Megan L @ The Coop
3. Erica @ Finlay Family
4. Noelle @ Number 1 Sandy Place
5. Kamee @ Memories in the Making
6. Safire @ Living in Maryland
7. Melanie @ I Can't Think of a Name

Can't wait to see what you do!