Kargis Family

Back to School lunch with the girls

2011-09-12T23:19:00.001-06:00

Well now that the kids are back in school I have a little more time for "me". I decided that since I hadn't done anything with my friends all summer that I would throw a "back to school" lunch. We had such a wonderful time just hanging out and talking. If I didn't have to put so much into my parties (I love it) I would have one every week. Here are some pictures. I realized that I am not very good at taking pictures of the actual party and my guests. I need to work on that.

My kids had a blast helping me with my table cloth (butcher paper).

I found this great downloadable subway art here. I think this is what really got me excited to have the party. It is so cute!

I also realized this time I didn't take pictures of the food :( We had delicious chicken florentine pasta, a fresh caprese salad, and a few other amazing little diddy's that I found via pinterest (my new favorite hobby).

Parmesan Knots

(click for recipe)

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

(Click for recipe)

And lets not forget this deliciousness!

Apple Nachos, YUMMY!

Thinkin' I might need to make this a tradition!

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-12T22:33:00.002-06:00

Unbelievable...Summer is over all ready. Where did the time go? Not only is summer over, but my little girl is in eighth grade now. Talk about time flying. It just goes faster as I get older.
Here's Maggie, first day of eighth grade. She loves babysitting, cooking/baking, hanging out with Lindz and Brookelle, Texting (but who doesn't?), Down East clothes and Toms (she bought two pairs with her own money after I had already bought her a new pair). Such an amazing girl! She always does what she is asked and helps out so much around the house (unless it involves cleaning her own room) and isn't she cute!

Dane and Emma...talk about energy! If we could harness it, we could easily power our house plus probably some of the neighbors as well. Gotta love it though! Dane started sixth grade this year. He loves Legos, Harry Potter, Legos, riding scooters with "the bald eagles" (the scooter club he made up with the neighbors and preston), Legos, SpongeBob, Legos and did I mention Legos? He is great with the younger kids and loves to take care of baby Sawyer. His hair has grown out quite a bit over the past year (much to my disapproval) but we made a deal that he could grow it until he turned 12 and then it's gone (can't wait, it drives me crazy).

Emma is our sweet and sassy little girl. She started 2nd grade and loves school. She's been in gymnastics for a year now and will compete on the team this fall. She has a love hate relationship with it, but has a natural talent I will fight "this" battle. She's good! She too, loves baby Sawyer (who doesn't?), loves to be in the water and pretend she is a mermaid and has become obsessed with sharks (this came from the movie soul surfer), not only is she obsessed with sharks, but loves the gore and excitement of a good shark attack (Can't wait to watch shark week with her). She turns eight soon and will be getting baptized. We are all excited for that to take place.

Then there is my baby(not really since Sawyer is the baby, but he was for so long, I can't let go). Off to Kindergarten this year. He is such a sweetie and I have a very soft place in my heart for this kid. He can do no wrong in my eyes (maybe it's because he has my eyes). Preston loves everything Dane loves including Legos (did I already mention how much my boys love Legos?). he also loves the Wii which we've had to control a little bit. It gets a little out of hand on those days he is home with me and I have a lot of things to get done. He had a great start at kindergarten already knowing most of the stuff they will be learning this year (He's a smartie!). I'm excited for him because he loves it, but I kinda miss having him around all the time. Good thing I have one more;). Isn't he handsome, watch out girls. Speaking of girls, he informed me that if you really want to get the girls, then you wear your backpack over one shoulder. How can they not love him?

It's nice to be back in the routine of school. We are busy and trying to keep up with everything but it's so fun to watch these kids learn and grow. I am one lucky Mom!

My little mermaids

2011-07-30T02:26:00.000-06:00

So my little Emma has been obsessed with an Australian TV show called "H2O". The girls in the show turn into mermaids whenever they touch water and they all have special water powers. So one day last week Emma told me that she needed a mermaid tail...not just a dress up mermaid tail (I could have easily bought one from the Disney store) but a real mermaid tail that she could swim with. So we rushed off to JoAnne and found some swimwear fabric and I went home and made up a mermaid tail. When I finished, she told me I also had to make one for her cousin Jaynie. They both wore them to Cowabunga the next day and everyone loved their tails and wanted to know where they got them. I may have just stumbled onto my next business venture (like I need anything else to do these days). Without further ado, here are my little mermaids.

the 4th

2011-07-06T02:29:00.000-06:00

Smile Box is a great way to get caught up!!! This year for the 4th of July weekend we went to a fun BBQ at our friends house and enjoyed good food, great company and spectacular fireworks. The girls spent some time at the Provo parade while the boys spent some time at the Duchesne Breakfast celebration and then we met up in Wallsburg for the Yarros amazing 4th of July party. We ended the day watching fireworks with the Kapps. We had a "BLAST"!

Personalize your own scrapbook design

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T01:37:00.000-06:00

Trick or Treat... It was a fun year for costumes. I made most of them and was quite happy with the results. My favorite by far was our collection of spongebob characters.

(didn't make the spongebob costume)

Picture collage customized with Smilebox

SpongeBob PrestonPants

2010-10-24T01:19:00.000-06:00

Preston's 5th birthday was a big hit with the inhabitants of bikini bottom. It was filled with lots of under the sea fun. We feasted on Crabby Patties and SpongeBob Macaroni and Cheese. We raced to build the fastest crabby patty and had a crab walk relay. The kids also got a little crazy making their very own "sponge"Bob. I love the creativity. And ended the party with the many faces of spongebob. Happy birthday to my amazing little butter. We love you!

This free scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

Summer at Cowabunga Bay

2010-09-30T02:07:00.000-06:00

This digital collage generated with Smilebox

Cool School 2010

2010-09-30T01:44:00.000-06:00

Birthday Party...To celebrate all the girls' birthdays. We decorated cupcakes, had a gift exchange, played party games, sang Happy Birthday to everyone and broke open a pinata.

Under the Sea...The girls created sea shell friends, made sea (lava like) bottles, enjoyed "fish" sandwiches, goldfish and swedish fish for lunch and went on an undersea treasure hunt.
Nature day... Painted and decorated bird houses, painted rock ladybugs, ate a butterfly wrap for lunch and finished off the day by making their own trail mix. YUM!

Emma's 7th birthday

2010-09-30T00:15:00.000-06:00

Emma's 7th birthday party at Gym Cats. I think this is what started her love for gymnastics.

A free digital collage by Smilebox

2010-09-19T16:09:00.001-06:00

Baby Showers

2010-09-04T18:23:00.005-06:00

Baby Showers

You know I can't pass up blogging about a great party so these go in for highlights of summer too. First is a baby shower that my great friends threw for me. We went to Thanksgiving point for dessert and had a fun night. Thanks to Harmony and Erin for the darling baby shower.

Then earlier in the spring, Harmony and I hosted a baby shower for Emily. It was so fun to plan a baby girl shower. It was cute and everyone had a great time.

Oh how I love my glass jars!!!

Summer Highlights

2010-09-04T16:33:00.020-06:00

I feel like I should try to catch up on all the blogging I haven't done, but there is no way that will ever happen. So here are a bunch of pictures from our summer. This will be one of my longest posts since pictures are worth 1000 words and the great part is you won't have to read all those words. (I'm not one for reading). Enjoy our summer!

Dane's Birthday at Cowabunga Bay

We had the park to ourselves for the first hour. It was a little chilly but the water was like a bathtub so no one even noticed the temp. They all had a great time.

Happy 10th birthday Dane! We love you!

Dane's Cowabunga Bay Sign

Graduations

6th Grade and Kindergarten

Mrs. Belnap and Emma

Mrs. O'very's 6th Grade Class 2010

Trek, Pinewood Derby and a Big Fat Eye

Maggie's 12th Birthday

A trip to Lagoon and Late Night at Cowabunga

I was just too big and pregnant and tired and hot to do anymore than this.

Happy birthday to Julie who shares the same birthday as Maggie and Calvin whose birthday is 2 days later.

Oh wait I did do something else. We went to lunch at Dear lizzie (the cutest store and restaurant ever) where the girls tried on prom dresses and then headed to Nordstrom for their first Mac makeover.
Before

After

Oh and she got her first phone and texted me all night from her bedroom. She's one happy tween!

To Be Continued...

Our Happy Little Preschooler

2010-09-04T16:19:00.006-06:00

Preston is in his 2nd year of preschool this year and he was so excited to start. He is in a wonderful preschool this year and already after meeting his teacher once, loves her. Emma had her a few years ago and she kept telling Preston all the fun things they would do and then just to help him feel at ease about his teacher, she would say, "Just pretend that she's me". She likes to play school with Preston and she's always the teacher although I don't know how that would help Preston feel good about his new teacher because when Emma's the teacher I am constantly getting notes from her that Preston needs to raise his hand and not speak out in class and sit in time out when he's told to. I'm surprised he wasn't scared to death thinking that his teacher would be like Emma. Anyway, he had a great first day and can't wait to go back.

This kid is so cool.

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-29T11:03:00.006-06:00

Summer went way too fast, well except for the 3 weeks right before I had Sawyer, and its back to school already. Yeah!!! I'll admit it, I am happy to have my kids back in school. I gives me a little bit of power back. I can't tell you how many times I heard "But Mom, it's summer and we can do whatever we want" well now it's not summer and they have to do whatever I want. Plus it's just nice to be able to do things again without 5 kids.

Maggie started Jr. High this year. She is turning into such a beautiful young woman. I asked her on the way to school how she was feeling, expecting "excited" or "nervous" or even "scared" and she answered me saying "tired, really tired" isn't that about par for jr. high. It kind of made me laugh. But her first day went well. She was chosen to be on leadership team this year and had already spent quite a few days touring the school and opening lockers so when the first day rolled around she was a pro. I'm a little overwhelmed with all the different papers to be signed and trying to remember what she needs for each class and where she has to be when and holy crap... the fees that come along with Jr. High. I guess I better start saving for next year. Anyway, I guess we'll figure it all out. Isn't she cute? Do I have to worry about boys now?

Dane started 5th grade this year. He's just as "Dane" as ever. All he worried about the first day was whether or not Abby was going to like him again this year. He's liked her since they were in the same class in 1st grade and even told me last year they were boyfriend/girlfriend. I think he even said they were going to get married. So the consensus was that she still liked him so that made him happy. Dane also loves to chat in class and he came home the first day informing me that his teacher would be calling me. Oh Dane...what are we going to do with you???
Emma started 1st grade this year and could not get to school soon enough. She was asking an hour and a half before school started when we could leave. We ended up walking to school so she wouldn't have to sit around and wait for another 30 minutes. She had a great first day. For the first time in her already 4 years of school she got to go for a full day and eat lunch at school, which by the way was the only thing she wanted to talk about when she got home. She loved being one of the big kids who got to eat lunch at school. Unfortunately her excitement ended quickly. On the third day of school, she came home telling me that she went to the principals office because she missed me so much and they wouldn't let her call me. She informed me that she wouldn't be going to school on Monday because she loved me and just wanted to stay home and be with me. How sweet, NOW GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!! Love that girl!My Crazy kids. Gotta get a silly picture in, in order to get the good ones.

Preston will be starting later this week so we will add him in later. He's excited for preschool to start up again. I guess Sawyer and I aren't that exciting and he's getting a little bored.

Welcome Baby Sawyer

2010-08-17T14:12:00.006-06:00

Oh... I have a blog??? Guess it's time to add a little post. My sister in law told me that if someone doesn't post on their blog for over a year that she takes them off her blog roll, Oh the pressure. I guess I'm good for another year after this.

So the most exciting thing of the summer is the arrival of our newest family member. Sawyer John Kargis was born on July 19th. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 in, he was the smallest of all of our babies. That was quite a surprise considering Preston was 9 lbs at a week early, I expected this baby to be even bigger. I was pleased with his size cause I just think anything bigger than 9 is not a baby for very long. This way I get to enjoy the infant size for a while. Labor, delivery and recovery could not have been easier. The most annoying thing was waiting for the doctor to break my water. I waited for almost 4 1/2 hours for him to get there only to find out he was home asleep. Hmmm... Once he finally got there and broke my water, things progressed quickly and when I was ready to deliver and the doctor got there I was told not to push at all because the baby was there and sliding right out. That's how I like it, nice and easy.

Everyone was so excited to welcome our new baby and he has been an amazing baby so far. How he puts up with all the kisses, hugs, touches and being woken up is beyond me. He is quite the trooper and just what we needed for our 5th baby. He just goes with the flow. It is nice to have so many helpers around and allows me to still get everything done that I need to do. We are so blessed to have this sweet spirit in our family and love him very much.

Make-ahead Breakfast Casserole

2009-11-21T12:31:00.003-07:00

I made this great breakfast casserole this morning for our Relief Society Birthday Brunch and posted it on our ward blog, but since that blog is private, I thought I would put it on here too. Seriously soooo good and easy to make. I'm not really sure how I am supposed to give credit for this recipe but know that it is not a Tina original.

Ham and Cheese Croissant Casserole

from Southern Living Magazine November 2009

recipe from Kimberly Denney

Makes: 6 servings Hands on Time: 15 min.

Total Time: 9Hr., 15 min.

You can substitute leftover bakes ham for chopped ham in this dish. Nutmeg is optional, but add a subtle touch of spice.

3 (5 inch) large croissants (I used the ones from Costco)

1 (8-oz.) package chopped cooked ham

1 (5-oz.) package shredded Swiss Cheese

6 Large eggs

1 cup half-and-half

1 Tbsp. dry mustard

2 Tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (optional)

1. Cut croissants in half lengthwise, and cut each half into 4-5 pieces. Place croissant pieces in a lightly greased 10-inch deep-dish pie plate. Top with ham and cheese.

2. Whisk together eggs, next 5 ingredients, and, if desired, nutmeg in a large bowl.

3. Pour egg mixture over mixture in pie plate, pressing croissants down to submerge in egg mixture. Cover tightly, and chill 8-24 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake, covered 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 25-30 minutes or until browned and set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This was such an easy recipe and would be great for Christmas morning cause it's all made the night before. I also think it would be really good ( I haven't tried this so if you do, let me know how it tastes) to substitute sausage and cheddar cheese for the ham and swiss. Anyway, delicious!!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-08T16:17:00.025-07:00

Cindy and Jan Brady, Skeleton and the Grim Reaper

Yes it's true, my girls wanted to be the Brady girls for Halloween. So many people asked me if they even knew who the Brady's were, well they are a favorite in our house. I think my kids can quote more lines from the Brady Bunch than I can. I think they looked pretty darn good.

Ward Party

Justin and I dressed up in an old stand-by. I made these Dutch costumes years ago and we have really go some use out of them. It's a good thing we both got wooden shoes on our missions.

Each of the Auxiliries were asked to do a booth at the carnival so here is the girls standing if front of our bowling alley. My husband didn't even complain when I made him create this spooky bowling lane for me. Next year... Bigger and Scarier. We also had a chili cook off. Wow!!! Amazing cooks we have in our ward.

School

Preston decided just for his school party that he wanted to be Batman. We altered Dane's costume from last year by cutting about 12 inches off the legs and he was good to go.
This is the epitomy of my little Emma. This is how she walked by us during her school parade. It almost looks like she is doing the "Thriller" dance

Decorations

I got really into decorating this year. We went very spooky this year and had a great time doing it. It took me almost the entire month to get it to look just the way I wanted.

Of course I need to have my great candy jars. Love them! I've started saving all my candy (that way we won't want to eat it next year) and I have boxes and boxes on the top shelf of my pantry. I'll take a picture of that sometime. Just remember when you come you my house not to eat the candy. It's sure to be at least a year old if not more.
I got these cool pictures at Big Lots and spray painted frames from Savers (feeling very DIY and thrifty at the same time). I had three they are totally like the ones in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Very cool addition to my decor this year.

Halloween Party

Of course I can't go through all the work of decorating without having a few friends over to enjoy it. We had Hot chocolate, cider and desserts after trick or treating.

I think next year I am going to require my friends to wear costumes. That might get me out of the party since none of them will come (except Becky). Party Poopers!!!I thought that I should probably dress up for my own party so when I saw the "Desperate Housewife" wig at the store I had to buy it. Unfortunately it didn't look quite like it did on the package, but I couldn't resist being Bree Van De Camp at my own party.

L-O-V-E, love this kid!!!

2009-11-08T14:34:00.019-07:00

I have to say I absolutely adore this little boy. Maybe it's because he's the baby of the family, or maybe it's because he is the only one of my kids that I can still consider a baby or maybe it's because he is so stinkin' good and cute. It's probably all three. Well he turned four a few weeks ago and I just need time to stop right now. I don't want him to get any older but everytime he asks to play the wii or spells a new word for me or reads a new book, I know that he's getting bigger. sniff sniff! Enough of the sappy stuff, Preston Rules and we had a fun Monster party.

He began by saying he wanted a lego party, well after repeating the Hello Kitty parties, I wasn't about to repeat the Lego party so one day we were walking through Target (my favorite place to be) we found the cutest monster stuff and I was able to talk him into the monster party. His birthday is only one week before Halloween so I've always tried to stay away for the whole "halloween" party thing and make it "birthday" but they have so many cute things around halloween, this was the perfect solution for me. Here's how the party went.

The Invite
Designed {using digital scrapbooking} by yours truly. I love doing this kind of stuff.

The birthday boy

The decorations

I guess I dropped the ball on this one and these were the only decorations that I actually took pictures of. These were just some little stuffed monsters we found at Target too then we had balloons. I have been looking at some blogs that have pretty amazing parties and am starting to realize that I need to step it up a little. I guess I'll have a lot of years to get there.

Games

We played Monster toss where they threw the stuffed monsters into buckets and then we also played pin the eye on the monster. I was surprised at how close they all got to the real eyes. I guess they had a pretty good chance seeing as the monster had three eyes instead of just one. Well everyone except Braxton who we tried to trick. He figured it out quickly and got back on track.

The presentsHis best (girl)friend Avery. We love this girl too. They could grow up and get married and we would be perfectly happy with that.
Our neighbors and lego buddies Braxton and Carson.
Our cute cousins Mae and Elle.
Our other cousin Jaynie.

We started a new tradition because everyone at a party always wants their present to be opened first so we let the birthday child choose the first person and then we give that person a ball or something to toss, in this case it was a stuffed monster and they get to toss it to the next person. It kind of becomes a game for everyone and so far no one has gotten upset about when their present gets opened. I had a few people ask me what Preston wanted for his birthday and I don't know if I have said this before, but this kid is obsessed with learning (I finally got one of me). I told everyone that he loves to write and read and those were some of his favorite gifts. Of course he loves Legos too, but we have so many legos in this house I couldn't tell anyone to get him those. Again, took lots of pictures of Preston opening up presents with friends, but not one single thank you note has come out of them yet. The guilt is building now that I have let out my secret. Maybe next year...

The cake

So proud of this one. I didn't even do a trial run and loved the way it turned out. This was definitely a fun party theme. So many ways to go with this. We also had some extra time after cake and ice cream and I let the kids decorate their own monster cupcakes. Everyone loved doing this except Preston all he wanted to do was watch Monsters vs. Aliens (at least he stayed with the theme). The cupcakes turned out really cute and this kids loved doing this.

Our guests

Of course before the party is over I always have to take a picture of all the kids who attended. They got into their goodie bags first and accessorized for one of the pictures. I love it.

The Goodie Bags

One of my favorite parts of a party is putting together a fun goodie bag. Thanks again to Target for all the great ideas and products (I don't know why I am thanking target, they should be thanking me for all the money I spend there).

So one of my very favorite things about Preston is when he tells me "Mom, I love you never ending" Nothing can put a smile on my face like that can.

Maggie's favorite thing about Preston, their private hand shake. "High five, knuckles, skin, eskimo kisses, isses, loves"

Emma's favorite thing about Preston "he likes to watch movies with me and I like to build stuff with him and I like to play legos with him and I like to do our hand shake."

Happy Birthday little butter!

Emma Turns 6

2009-10-29T10:46:00.016-06:00

So I am a total slacker!!! Emma's birthday was over a month ago and I haven't posted for so long it seems almost too late to do it. But if you know me, you know I can't pass up an opportunity to post about a party and since I've had Preston's too in the past month, I figured it was time to catch up.

So we had another Hello Kitty party (not so excited to do the same theme for 2 parties in one year. Maggie's was hello Kitty theme too). This one was a little more difficult because I couldn't just take them to Cowabunga Bay and let them play I actually had to come up with some activities and games to play. So here is how it went.

The Decor

The Party
When the girls arrived we gave them each some kitty ears and then my super fantastic party assistants, Maggie and Lindsey, painted their faces kitty style.We then played Musical Chairs and Hot Yarn Ball (Hot Potato). We tried to make it all kitty style, so while playing Musical Chairs, they had to crawl around on all fours like a cat. This was fairly amusing to watch. Not to mention they all meowed like kittys too.

Presents and Friends

I don't remember what Maggie and Lindsey were doing behind the camera, but it had the girls (and Preston in stitches). Well everyone except Rosalind who seemed to be able to keep a straight face through a series of 5-6 pictures
I take these pictures with good intentions. I always say I will make a cute little thank you post card from the picture and send it to their friend. I have been doing this for over 6 years now and have yet to send one thank you post card. I'm the worst at Thank You's. :(

The Cake

So I decided to do a Hello Kitty cake (big surprise) but luckily I did a trial one at our family party a few days before her real party. The first one was a disaster. I do this quite often, I have a great idea in my head and then when I go to execute it it turns out nothing like I imagined. This is the before cake.
Second time around I was much happier with the result. So glad I made mistakes so I knew what to do different.

The Goodie Bags

I so love the dollar spot at Target!!! They always have the best stuff for party goodie bags. Ours was filled with hello kitty treats and surprises.
All in all, I think Emma had a fabulously fun birthday party.

Birthday Breakfast...Pink Pancakes
Emma wanted a stroller for her birthday. She got that plus a baby and diaper bag to go with it.

She took them both to dinner with us that night and had quite a few people stop to admire her cute baby. She informed them all that her baby's name was Lizzie and that she was 6 months old. She also changed the baby's diaper at least 6 times during our dinner. I'm glad I'm not on diaper duty.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOOTER!

First Day of School

2009-09-29T13:18:00.004-06:00

(a little late)

Emma Kindergarten

Preston Pre-School

Dane 4th Grade

Maggie 6th Grade

Dutch Oven Dinner

2009-07-29T08:54:00.011-06:00

Last year when I was Enrichment Leader we planned as one of our Dinner groups to do a family Dutch Oven Night. It was such a big hit we decided to do it again this year. It was even a bigger hit. With 15 dutch oven dinners, at least 10 gallons of lemonade and some amazing desserts and s'mores we fed almost 120 people. It is sure nice to plan an activity and have that many people turn up. We all had such a great time and the food was delish!!! My husband is such a good sport to sit in the weeds with the hot charcoal and cook all that food, it sure is a good thing that's what he loves to do. Maybe next year we'll get 150.

Here are the recipes we used.

Byron's Dutch Oven Potatoes

1 lb. thick slice bacon
(1) 10 ½ oz. can cheddar cheese soup
2 med. yellow onions; sliced
1 cup sour cream
5 cloves garlic; minced
2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms; sliced
1 Tbs. Soy sauce
15 medium potatoes; peeled & sliced
salt and pepper to taste
(1) 10 ½ oz. can cream of chicken soup

Heat a 12" deep Dutch oven using 18-20 briquettes bottom until oven is hot. Cut bacon into 1 inch slices and place in oven and fry until brown. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Stir, then cover and cook until onions are translucent. Add potatoes. In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour soup mixture over potatoes and stir until all potatoes are coated. Cover and cook 60 minutes using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 12-14 briquettes top heat. Stir pot gently every 15 minutes.

Serves: 12
These were sooooo good and even better because I used frozen square cut potatoes so I didn't have to peel and cut 15 potatoes. Made things a little easier for me.

We also tried something a little less traditional and made a pasta dish. It was really good right after I finished it on the stove as directed, but lost a little of it's flavor as it reheated in the dutch oven. I would definitely make it again but just in my kitchen.

Creamy Pesto Rigatoni with Chunky Tomato Vinaigrette

4 c Diced fresh tomatoes
1/2 c Red onion; chopped
3 tb Balsamic vinegar
1 c Low sodium chicken broth
3/4 c Fresh basil leaves
2 tb Grated parmesan cheese
1/2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Ground black pepper
3 Cloves garlic
8 oz Fat free cream cheese; softened
1 lb Rigatoni pasta
1 tb Pine nuts
Combine first three ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Combine broth, basil, Parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper, garlic and cream cheese in a blender; process until smooth.
Cook rigatoni according to package directions. Drain and place in Dutch oven with basil-cream cheese mixture and cook over low heat until thoroughly heated.
Top pasta with tomato vinaigrette and pine nuts.

I also made a totally yummy dessert that I totally forgot about and now have a whole pan of gooey s'more bars for my family...Darn! Thanks to my sister-in-law for this recipe.

s'more cookie bars
ingredients:
1/2 c butter or margarine, softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c graham cracker crumbs
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
4 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
1 c marshmallow creme (or small handful of mini marshmallows)

directions:
1.heat oven to 350 degrees, grease 8" square pan. (you may want to line it with foil for easy lifting out & cutting.)
2. beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. add egg and vanilla; beat well. stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. press half of dough into prepared pan.
3. arrange chocolate bars over dough, breaking as needed to fit. spread with marshmallow cream (or mini mallows). scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows; carefully press to form top layer.
4. bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. cool completely in pan on wire rack. cut into bars. makes 16 very rich bars.

Cool School

2009-07-25T19:05:00.027-06:00

Years ago in Seattle, we had some youth in our ward host "Cool School". They plan a fun day for kids and then you pay them a few bucks to take your kids for a couple of hours and completely entertain them. I LOVED it! So the past few years I have tried to get some girls in my neighborhood to start it up but no one ever did it. Well this year as I was telling someone about it, I realized that Maggie was old enough to host it (with a little help and supervision from me). She was so excited about doing it. We quickly made a flier and planned 5 days to have 8-9, 4-7 year olds come over for crafts, games, activities and lunch. She was booked solid before we knew it. We have had 3 of the 5 so far and they have been a big hit.

4th of July Cool School
We started with Fireworks painting. Instructions here

Then made 4th of July Flip Flops (love the $1 spot at Target for the flip flops). We just tied cute red, white, and blue ribbons and tulle onto the flip flops and most of the girls could do this by themselves (Bonus!!!).

Lunch consisted of hot dogs, chips, grapes and fun patriotic popsicles (homemade by Maggie). Recipe here

Our last activity was decorating sugar cookies. Some of the girls went all out with frosting and Sugar. YUMMY!

And of course what activity would be complete with out a favor of some sort for the girls to take home. Maggie made these for each of the girls. Instructions here
We used scrapbook paper to wrap around life saver rolls (nearly impossible to find these. We went to about 4 different grocery stores before we finally found them at our local mini mart. Why don't they sell life savers anymore?)

Our first Cool School... pulled off fabulously with a big bang!!!

Teddy Bear Tea Party

This was the theme for our second day.
We started by making crowns. What kid doesn't love to squeeze out lots of glitter glue and stick foam stickers onto stuff.

We then made necklaces and bracelets. They lost interest before many of them finished so we ended up having necklaces for the stuffed animals they brought.

We then brought out all of our dress-ups and the girls chose their outfit for the tea party and then we proceeded to have a fashion show for each of them to show off their outfit. My favorite thing of the day was that Preston wanted to join in on the fun, so amongst all the princesses, rock stars, and cheerleaders, we had "BATMAN".

We then went into the Dinning Room for a "proper" tea party. We had flower shaped sandwiches, pretzels, fruit kabobs, pazookies for dessert and lemonade.

By far my favorite picture of the day. Batman having tea.

Our last activity was a foam princess paper doll craft.

Party Favor: Flower Suckers. Instructions here
A last fly by.

Second Cool School...I do declare it was a most enchanting day.

Spa Day

We had all the girls come today in their pajamas and had plans to pamper them. Maggie and Lindsey set up pedicure stations and as the girls worked on a fleece pillow (Instructions here) they took turns giving pedicures. We had candles and relaxing music playing. We were excited for this day.

After everyone had their toes done, we had an assortment of meats, cheeses, crackers and vegetables for lunch. We also served fresh fruit smoothies.

We finished off our spa/pajama day by making flower hair clips.

The party favor...bath sponges.

The girls were exhausted at the end of the day and had to relax at the spa themselves.

Spa Day Cool School...Relaxing, Rejuvenating, and Beautifying

Maggie's Birthday Party

2009-07-25T18:43:00.002-06:00

We had another birthday in the Kargis home. Maggie turned 11 a few weeks ago. She wanted to have a Hello Kitty party at Cowabunga Bay. I kept suggesting surf themes or beach themes but she insisted on Hello Kitty. We decorated the cabana the best we could and had a little decoration on top of the cake, but that was about it. It was one of the easiest parties I have ever given. The girls loved being at the water park and had totally tubular time!!! We gave little beach bags with hello kitty t-shirts and a few little other hello kitty things like pez dispensers, cupcake rings and stickers in the goodie bags. It was a fun 11th Birthday. Can't believe she's that old.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

4th of July

2009-07-25T17:52:00.004-06:00

We had such a fun filled 4th. We started the day off with a neighborhood breakfast and parade. The kids love to decorate their bikes and scooters every year and always do a great job. We had a great little parade with medals and prizes and then had a wonderful breakfast with waffle bar and all kinds of delicious dishes. Thanks to the Youngs for a great party. We look forward to doing it again next year. We then headed down to Grandma Lis' for a BBQ. The kids always love to go down there and hang out with their cousins. There is always so much to do and they are always entertained (I love that aspect of it). And finished off the day by going to Stadium of Fire. I wasn't too sure if I'd like it so many people have told me bad things about it, but I actually really enjoyed it and all the kids had a great time. They were especially excited to see the Jonas Brothers. But I have to say, my favorite part was the fireworks. It was an awesome show. We are so blessed to live in this great country and enjoy all the freedoms we do. I love the 4th and we had a great one this year.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Birthday Dane!!!

2009-05-31T17:27:00.001-06:00

Here's my little Dane 9 years ago. I was having some complications with high blood pressure, elevated heart rates and running the risk of having a 10+ lb baby, so the doctor decided to induce me 3 1/2 weeks early. After a fairly easy induction, Dane was born on May 22, 2000. Unfortunately his little lungs were not quite developed yet and after only holding him for a few minutes they took him to the nursery to give him oxygen and then shortly there after he was taken to the NICU and put on a ventilator. He definitely had size on his side. Weighing 8 lbs 4 oz, the nurses named him the king of the NICU. He got strong quickly and after only a week, we were able to take him home. Life with him over the past 9 years has been an adventure. Definitely highs and lows but I tell you, he is one of the sweetest, most loving, caring little boys that I know and I love that about him. Happy Birthday "Danegerous" "Danish" "Dane-o"!!! I hope you have a great year!

The Lego Party...

All right I have to admit when Dane told me that he wanted to have a Lego party I was a little bummed. What is the heck do you do for a Lego party??? I tried to talk him out of it, but that boy is obsessed with Legos and didn't want any other kind of party. So after some internet searching and creative thinking, I think I pulled off a dang good lego party. I have to say though that I could not have done it without Maggie, she was an awesome helper. I think she is following in my footsteps.

The Invite...I made envelopes out of colorful paper to resemble Legos and then glue dotted circles onto them to make them look like Legos. The invite was also printed using bright colors and invited the kids to a Lego Birthday Party at Dane's Legoland.

The Decorations...

I decorated using the same bright colors that I used on the invitations. We had colorful paper goods, streamers (which Maggie put up for me) and balloons. I then put some of his favorite Lego creations on the table as a center piece. he's been collecting all the pirate lego sets and had had most of them put together since Christmas which is quite an accomplishment.

Games...

We had some fun games planned. When the boys first came I gave them each a bowl and asked them to go up to Dane's Lego box and fill it with Legos. Then then had to come down and build something.

I swear for the first 30 minutes of the party I didn't hear a peep out of the boys. They loved it. We then gave each boy a prize for their creation. We had categories like the scariest, the biggest fleet, the sleekest, etc. then left them all out for display.

Our next game was one that Maggie came up with and lead the boys in. She had picked out about 20 Legos and then dumped a bucket of legos on the floor and holding up one at a time had the boys search for the pieces. Another very successful event.

Our third game, I had the boys take their bowl of legos and I gave them each a pair of chopsticks. They had to use the chop sticks to take out as many legos as they could in two minutes. It really was quite humorous watching some of them try to use the chop sticks.

The Cake...

I made some Lego cakes which even though I am now where near a professional cake decorator, I thought they turned out pretty good. Click here for complete instructions.

Presents...

And guess what Dane wanted for his birthday... LEGOS... and he got plenty. Thanks friends!!!

The Pinata...

Yes, we even had a Lego Pinata. Maggie made it for me all by herself. She is so creative. She came up with the idea on her own and carried it out till we had a wonderful pinata to smash.

The Goodie Bags...

Of course no party is complete without the famous "Goodie Bag". It's what all the kids go to parties for right? Well I made up the bags similar to the invite envelope with the circles and then printed each child's name in Lego font and tied it onto the bag. They each got a small bag of Legos, a bag of Lego candy (I was so glad I found these. Kholers is the best for this kind of random stuff), a bag of Bubble Gum (because I loved the colors) and all the candy they could get from the pinata. It was a great party with a few extra minutes at the end when all the kids played and put together all Danes new Lego sets.

Thanks to all of Dane's friends who came and made this party a fun one and definitely one to remember. Happy Birthday Dane I hope you had a fun party!!!

Emma's Graduation

2009-05-31T02:07:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe that my little girl graduated (from pre-school that is). She is growing up so fast and it shows in many aspects of her life. She finished her third year of pre-school this year (Sept. baby) and spent the past year in two wonderful pre-schools where she has learned to read quite well (I'm so proud!)
At her Bright Beginnings pre-school they celebrated this happy day with a great program that the kids put on for their parents and then received their diploma.
She had an amazing teacher Mrs. Olsen whom we will miss dearly until Preston gets to go to her. She was great and spent many hours this year teaching the kids and preparing them for Kindergarten.

Emma got to go to school with her cousin Jaynie. I think the only two of the grandkids that will ever get to go to school together. Lucky girls.

All in all it was a wonderful graduation and I was a very proud mama when my little girl got up and took a bow! What a kid!!!

Dance Recital

2009-05-15T22:42:00.004-06:00

With the school year coming to an end our schedule is full of recitals, programs, graduations, and all sorts of fun activities. Last week the girls had their Dance Recital. "Dance Like a Princess". Both girls have throughly enjoyed their dance classes this year. Emma had a combination ballet/tap class and Maggie was in a jazz class. All their hard work and practice paid off at this great performance. Each of them even had a short solo in one of their dances.

Cowabunga Bay

2009-04-22T09:43:00.008-06:00

All my kids can talk about these days is "Cowabunga Bay". Cowabunga Bay is the new Huish adventure. It is the new water park that my brothers have been building and it is AWESOME! It's not like any other water park you've ever seen. Yesterday my brother Shane was on KSL News introducing the park and giving a little tour. Check out the video here http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6229355. The water park is in Draper, UT and everyday my kids want to drive by to see what's new. Tonight we get to go for a special preview tour. What's really cool too, is that my brothers have somewhere on the structure added each of the Grandkids names. They are all excited to see their names on a surfboard, direction sign, sand bucket or slide. The countdown is on and hopefully we will be enjoying water and splashes by early June.

Wicked Fun!

2009-03-31T17:28:00.007-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, Maggie and I had a chance to fly to Seattle, drive to Portland, see Wicked the Musical and spend time with our great friends. WE had such a fun time. Our friends called us and said they had two extra tickets and Maggie and I didn't have to think twice. The show was amazing! It was my third time seeing it and maggie's second. It was even better than the last time. Everyone loved it. A few of the young girls were having birthday's so when we got back to the hotel after the show, Tiffany had planned a fun sleepover for all the young girls. They painted toes, ate yummy treats, watched movies and stayed up way too late. Then they were up at 7:00 to go for a morning swim. I was lucky enough to not be in charge and get to sleep in til 9:00. We had lunch in Portland and then headed back to Seattle and spent the evening at the Family Fun Center. Just like old times. We had a wonderful trip and are so glad that even after being away for 3 years, we can still go back and it feels like home. Thanks friends!!!!

What's a Whopper?

2009-03-30T16:53:00.003-06:00

I was driving Emma and cousin Jaynie home from school today and we were watching a movie and the girl on it was singing a song about how she wanted to catch a "whopper". So the girls started asking me what a whopper was. I explained that they were talking about a really big fish. They said, "well, what does it look like?" I said "It's just really big." They kept asking what the really big fish called a Whopper looked like. I realized that they thought it was a type of fish, so I continued to explain that "Whopper" to used to describe something that is really big. I said if you had a gigantic ice cream sundae, that would be a whopper. Then Emma said, "So if someone is really fat they are a whopper?" I just had to laugh.

I told her that Maggie's butt yesterday was a Whopper (Pic to come later). We all laughed, and you will laugh too when you see Maggie's picture.

Six Happy Things

2009-02-18T22:40:00.004-07:00

So I've been tagged and since I haven't blogged for awhile I figured I should do this and try to get back into the groove. Plus lately I've had a lot of fun doing this kind of stuff on FaceBook. It really makes me think and I am rediscovering me. It's kind of fun. Tara tagged me.

Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Write down six things that make you happy.
Tag six other people and let them know you did it.
Post Rules
Let the tagger know when you are done.

1. I'm just going to get this one out of the way. It seems to be a given that family makes me happy. It makes most people happy. I love to be with all my family, my kids and my husband. It doesn't matter what we do I am happy to have them and to be able to spend time with them.

2. I absolutely love to walk through a really great scrapbook store. I remember the first one I ever went to, I had perm-a-grin for the rest of the day. It makes me happy!

3. I love any kind of spa treatment. I enjoy spoiling myself this way and I am always happy when I get to treat myself to something relaxing.

4. My morning drink. It used to be Diet Coke and for a while Dr. Pepper, but since I've stopped drinking carbonation, it is Lemonade Lite. I just seem to function better after I've got it and I am especially happy when it comes with a full cup of pellet ice (Sonic's my fav).

5. I'm happy when I have a good TV series to watch and I love it when my husband is into it as well. I'm happy when we find something that we both enjoy (since they are far and few between).

6. I'm happy when I get to be with good friends ( this kind of goes without say like the family thing). I've really learned to appreciate good friendships, the kind that can weather through anything. I love my friends that I can go to for anything and they are always willing to help out or support or take my side. I love the kind of friends that you can stay up with until 3 am and still not want to go to sleep. Being with my friends really makes me happy.

I tag Noelle S., Bianca C., Kira M., Tracie A., Becky T., Melissa D. and Harmony Y.

Deliciously Yummy Desserts

2009-01-27T10:16:00.006-07:00

Some of our friends own a bakery here in Utah valley and I just have to put in a little word for this amazing Bakery. Everything I have tried is AWESOME and if you check out their site, you'll see that everything looks AWESOME too. If you live in the Salt Lake or Utah valleys, and are ever in need of a great cake or delicious melt in your mouth cookies, call Ange and order something, you won't regret it (except maybe the few pounds you'll put on cause you won't be able to stop eating them). Check out The Chocolate. She also has some really good baking tips too. If you enjoy baking or eating baked goods, definitely check it out.Valentine's Sugar Cookies (these are my favorite!!!)

Valentine Cake for 2. I'm thinking I really need one of these (someone please tell my husband).

Random Stories

2009-01-18T14:28:00.007-07:00

So I guess I have had other things keeping me busy lately. It's been a while since I've posted anything. I don't know if it's pure laziness, just a lack of activities now that Christmas is over or my new found love of Facebook. Well whatever the case, I thought I would write a few random things.

First of all my little Preston. Growing up waaaay to fast. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't potty trained yet I would call him a kid and I would no longer have a baby. sniff sniff. We were at Emma's school tht other day and I was signing him up for pre-school when one of the ladies in the office said to him. "Oh Preston you are so cute." He in reply said, "No, I'm just cool."

He has also had a little obsession lately with coloring. At any given time he can be found with a crayon, marker and sometimes even a sharpie in hand. The only problem with this is, although he knows to only color on paper, he doesn't always stick to that. One day after 10 minute of silence I realized he was in the laundry room with the door closed this is what I found.

The Hulk...

Oh, by the way, it was all over the wall as well. Dry Erase Markers don't come off of skin or walls as quickly as they do off of white boards.

Then the other day he was coloring with his new Christmas box of crayons and I happened upon this site.

What goes through kids' minds? I never would have thought that a three year old would take the time to arrange his crayons so beautifully before beginning to color. I swear besides the fact that this kid is a boy, he is ALL me!

Emma had a big first this week. I don't know how long I have been trying to teach this little one how to blow a bubble, but it's been a long time and she just couldn't get it. So the other day, she came up to me while I was on the phone trying to get my attention. I kind of waved her out of the way. She refused to move to leave me alone and then I saw it her first bubble. She was so excited I had to "Look" probably a hundred times that day.

And now for the whopper of my week. Justin and I were asked two weeks ago to speak in church today. Our topic was agency and as I always do, I put it off until the last minute. Justin and I were up late last night researching and writing our talks. Everytime he asked me to do something I would say OK, but that takes a minute off how long I have to speak. We joked back and forth but one thing I always knew was that he would go after me and have to fill up whatever time I didn't take so really I could make my talk as long or short as I wanted. Well I typed it all out and I think I was good for about 10 minutes. I was feeling good about it except for the fact that I always get so nervous right before I have to speak but I knew there was nothing I could do about that.

Well we got up for our 9:00 church and we were ready to go. I folded my talk and put it in my scriptures (or so I thought) and then put my scriptures in my church bag (or so I thought). We then left for church. As we were getting to the end of the sacrament, I decided it was time to get my talk out as I was going first and would be getting up soon. I searched for my scriptures and they were no where to be found. I left all my kids alone on the bench and told Justin who was passing the sacrament that I left my talk at home. I rushed to the car rushed home and grabbed my scriptures and rushed back to church. I found Justin had already started his talk. There went all my hope for him taking up extra time. He did take a good share and I wasn't too worried until...the rest hymn was almost over and I decided it was time to get my talk out of my scriptures. It wasn't there. I was literally 30 seconds away from giving my talk and I didn't have it.

I thought I would die. Justin rushed home to get it for me and I stalled. I explained to everyone what had happened, I gave a long introduction and when he hadn't returned yet I knew I just had to wing it. Wow as if I wasn't already a nervous wreck. About 1/4 of the way into my talk, Justin came walking it I felt a little rush of peace until he came up to the pulpit and told me he couldn't find it. Well, fortunately he did find my notes and fortunately I was able to get enough from there to finish my talk. I really think with my circumstances I should have used my "agency" to just sit back down, but I pulled it together and gave about a 10 minute talk. Certainly an experience I will never forget.

And just a little piece of advice to all of you who will ever have to give a talk in church, make sure and double check that you have your talk with you when you leave. It's a very bad feeling to not know where it is. Of course I found it as soon as I walked in the door. I think I should be off the hook for a long while.

Our Christmas

2009-01-06T23:35:00.002-07:00

I am not even gonna try to catch up. We had a crazy busy holiday season. Lots of fun, activities, school programs, recitals, parties, family, friends, snow and presents. It was great and things have settled down again, so here is a little recap of our month of December.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Keepin up with the Jones'

2008-12-19T19:53:00.003-07:00

Actually the Dillons, Olsens and Parkers. We have officially joined the "Stitches" club. This was our first experience with stitches and kids. So today Preston was giving Emma (who is 2 years older but only 2 lbs heavier) a horsey ride. Well he decided to take her from the living room to the kitchen having to cross the entry way which is tiled. Well something happened and before I knew it, crying, screaming and then I saw it... the BLOOD. Initially I thought he just bit his tongue but then upon further investigation, I saw the deep slice in his chin. Luckily Justin was home because I panicked like any mother does in situations like these. He figured we could just stick a band aid on it and call it good, but after we stopped the bleeding and I calmed down a little, I decided to call the pediatrician. They said to bring him in cause cuts on the chin have a tendency to keep splitting open. So we took him in and WOW what a sport. No crying at all. He just laid on the table while they cleaned, numbed and stitched that little cut up. What a trooper. I don't know that I necessarily liked watching them stitch, but I wasn't about to leave my baby's side. He got a candy cane and a sticker and we were on our way.

All is well now and on Christmas eve we will be back in to have the stitches taken out. It seems that we aren't the only ones lately to have this happen. I guess I should just be grateful that it was only 3 stitches and nothing worse. Of course I am documenting this for my kids to read years from now, so there are pictures. This is a warning if you have a weak stomach. Too late though you've probably already seen them.

Emma was so sweet through the whole thing, so concerned for her little brother. Later after all the trauma, I found them like this.

Join in the fun!

2008-12-18T22:47:00.003-07:00

Join in the fun! Copy and paste the list. Bold the things you have done...
Found this on my friend Moira's blog. I love stuff like this.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain depends on what you consider a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo Karaoke in my family room with no one listening
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea Does watching it on the beach in Tahiti count?
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables No, but I can grow some mean basil
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight every night with Justin. Oh was that too much info (just kidding)
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill does ditching school to go shopping count?
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language Well kind of
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing Aspen Grove's Rock wall
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke Oh yeah baby
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa (hopefully soon)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance Yes... It was so "ER"ish
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud Wheelin' in my Pathfinder
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper Front page of the USA Today
85. Read the entire Bible (I tried on my mission but not completely)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous He wasn't famous when I knew him, but went on a date with Aaron Ekhart (two face from the new Batman movie)
92. Joined a book club (No thanks!)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Made amends with someone who offended you
101. Flew in a small Cessna plane with just you and the pilot
102. Ran out of gas While I was doing my drivers training.
103. Eaten fried okra
104. Swam in the Caribbean Sea
105. Peed in a swimming pool
106. Rented a beach house
107. Hosted an exchange student
108. Been a Secret Santa to a family in need
109. Worked on a political campaign I was president of my elementary school in 6th grade
110. Coached a sports team
111. Baked bread from scratch I don't know that it was edible though
112. Driven from coast to coast
113. Paid off all of your debt
114. Roast marshmallows over a campfire Nightly in our backyard in the summertime
115. Cut up a credit card Yeah, but then I taped it back together
116. Drove a car through a flood
117. Been on t.v
118. Seen the twin towers.
119. Been to ground zero
120. Been on top of the Empire State Building
121. Lived outside of the United States

Now add something that's not on this list and keep it going, if you'd like.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

2008-12-18T21:53:00.008-07:00

Wow! What a busy month. I really have not had time to do much blogging between yearbook yourself, elf yourself and photo booth I have been busy. I finally have a chance to post some serious stuff. I will just randomly try to cover the real stuff that I've been busy with. First off, because I want to enter a contest on Tip Junkie, here is a post about my Christmas tree.

Story behind the tree... I am a light fanatic! For the first 9 years of our marriage we bought a real tree and I spent hours wrapping every branch with 100's and 100's of lights. I begged every year to get a pre-lit tree and finally 3 years ago when we moved into a new house, my husband gave in (granted I had to promise we would still have a real tree in the other room). Well we have a tall vaulted ceiling in our living room and I though it was perfect for a 12' tree. Does anyone realize how tall and wide a 12' foot tree is? It's giant! It is a beautiful tree, but I don't know what's worse, wrapping a 8' tree with lights or fluffing and decorating every branch of a 12' tall, 6' wide tree. It is a love/hate relationship.

It is a beautiful tree though and as long as I can keep my kids away from decorating it, I love it once it's decorated.

We have a snowflake theme going on and I am very into the glitter this year. I have a hard time keeping the same theme every year so at the end of the season I buy new decorations on sale that go with some of my ornaments so that I can rotate and get a different look every year without having to buy all new ornaments.

The new additions this year include brown and blue stripe bows which I haven't had for years and my cute chandelier ornaments that I bought 75% off (thank you Tai Pan).

Oh, isn't it beautiful?

Of course I would feel bad if I didn't put a picture of our real tree on this post. This one is for the kids to decorate and is all theirs. The only way I participated in this was going to the store with them to buy it. The rest was them. They like it and take resposibility for it. They even remind us to water when we forget.

Another great combo

2008-12-17T23:22:00.001-07:00

My brother posted like 10 of these on his blog. I had to try out some his styles. They just keep our family laughing.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Combining two of my favorite things

2008-12-17T22:55:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

elf yourself

2008-12-12T16:12:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Photo Booth

2008-12-12T11:58:00.012-07:00

I can't find the cord for my camera to download pictures, so I haven't posted anything lately. But here I am and guess what, we have discovered photo booth. I don't know why I think this distorted pictures of my kids are so funny, but we just can't get enough. My kids come home from school and sit for an hour at a time and do this. Our computer is full of them.

Here's a few more

I guess Justin and I even have fun with it too.

Thankful Tree

2008-11-28T15:06:00.003-07:00

We had a "Thankful" family home evening last week. Each of the kids came up with an activity that had to do with Thanksgiving and being thankful. First Dane drew a picture of a turkey and we took turns hiding it and finding it. I was quite impressed with the hiding places they came up with. Maggie ended the game by making the paper into an airplane and hid it with the rest of the airplanes that my kids have been making (Dane has a whole laundry basket full of paper airplanes). We then did a Thankful tree (thanks Julie for the idea). Here are a few of the things we are thankful for this year:

Hugs

people that help me

trees, grass, flowers

rabbits

my house

food, water

kids who make me laugh (as opposed to those who make me mad Ha Ha)

family

army

the world and fun places to visit

beds

house

mama, dada

jobs, work

We ended the night by making hand turkeys. It was a really fun time and I loved that each of the kids played a part in the night and helped with this night.

At this time of year I am especially thankful for my family. For a husband who supports me and loves me unconditionally. For wonderful kids who make me happy. For parents, siblings and extended family to lean on, to laugh with and to go to during times of happiness or sadness. I'm thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunities it gives us to serve, to love, to grow and to learn. I'l thankful for health and the many blessings we enjoy. That we never seem to lack for the basic necessities of life. I'm grateful for friends (you all know who you are). For the many ways that you strengthen me and give of yourselves to me. I AM GRATEFUL!

OK, so that was a little out of character for me, but I got it out. I did my duty and now have cramps in my fingers for this long post that I have written. Signing off for now.

Fun with the Office

2008-11-25T18:20:00.004-07:00

So I hope I'm not the only one who wastes hours and hours on this stupid computer. I have a billion other things that I should be doing right now and instead, I am mixing up faces from the office on Photoshop. I have to admit, it has been very entertaing and I have had some great laughs, but really is not what I should be doing right now. Take a look.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Whooo Ahhhh

2008-11-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

This one is dedicated to Shane.

Twilight

2008-11-22T21:31:00.003-07:00

So I have to admit I was one of those twilight freaks who went and saw the midnight showing of the movie. It wasn't necessarily that I was counting down the days, as much as it was that I wanted to be part of the hype. My friend had rented out a whole theater and I bought 10 tickets from her and invited some friends to go. We went and had some appetizers first and then headed to the movie. It was a fight to stay awake and attentive through the whole thing, but I managed. I have read the first 3 and can't seem to find time to get through the 4th, but am really wanting to. I am a fan and I will say that I enjoyed the movie. It was entertaining, but I definitely think it could have been better. I thought Bella was great and Edward grew on me, but Carlisle and Jasper, what the heck? Did not care for them at all! I felt like they left out so many details, but I guess they couldn't make the movie too long. Over all, I liked it and would probably see it again.

I was just reading some blogs and I found this little quiz. I normally skip over these, but this one intrigued me.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I have to admit I think it is pretty much me. And I really liked her in the movie too. Thought Esme was great!

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be
sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and
appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

Here's something you don't see every day.

2008-11-18T16:51:00.002-07:00

So maybe I'm searching for something to write about, but this was so bizarre, I can't stop thinking about it. I was driving home yesterday and I slow down as I pass my neighbors yard. I notice some kind of black animal on the sidewalk in front of their house and as I get a little bit closer, I notice that it is not a dog or a cat but a Pig, a big black pig. What in the heck is a pig doing wandering around our neighborhood. Well as if that wasn't weird enough, we were coming home again today and low and behold, there it was again. I don't know why, but I think this is so strange. So there you have it, my weird thing for today.

Boutique Time

2008-11-11T21:36:00.013-07:00

I am preparing for two fun boutiques that emmie cakes will be participating in this week and thought it would e cool to highlight some of my favorite products from each. The first one is Sassy Mei which is held is Kent Washington, this weekend November 14-15. Check out these great things..Darling Dress by Maisy Daisy Great Baby blankets by Baby Crush Everyone can always use another clock. Great home decor from RMB Love this fun advent calendar from simple sprinkles
If you live in the Seattle area, be sure to make the trip to Sassy Mei
November 14 and 15th
Friday:10-8PM
Saturday:10-4PM
Kent, WA~Norris Model Home

Tom and Lucy's Art Shoppe is the next show on the calendar. This is a brand new show and looks like it will showcase some great products. Of course Emmie Cakeswill be there.But check out these other fabulous products...

I think these are awesome for little kids from Quite Sweet.

These are a great idea. Love these napkin rings from A is for Apple

I know everyone of you Twilight fans needs one of these. (Just in time for opening weekend.) Home Studio

These are just a few of the great things waiting for you at Tom and Lucy's Art Shoppe
Friday, November 21 9:30-7:00
Saturday, November 22 9:30-5:00

1889 N 1700 E Lehi, UT 84043 brand new beautiful home centrally located between Lehi, Highland, American Fork.

I'm so excited to participate in these shows. It is a fun new experience for me and I am learning so much. Wish me luck!!!

Happy Birthday Justin

2008-11-08T19:16:00.004-07:00

Happy Birthday to the greatest Dad and Husband in the world. Justin had to work late on his birthday which didn't leave us much time to celebrate, so the kids and I made a plan. He gets 3 hours for lunch, so I decided to pull the kids out of school early enough to get home before he did and then we would surprise him and take him out to lunch. Well I think he changed his plans about 3 times and I had to think fast and make adjustments and still try not to let him know anything was up.

Well after he said he would go get gas and meet me somewhere, I insisted that he just go straight home and then we would leave from there. He knew something was up, but he didn't know what, so he was still surprised when the kids jumped out from their hiding places. They thought it was so great.

We had a fun lunch together and then he took off yesterday to go ride quads with friends. Hope he had a fun birthday.

Happy Birthday!

We love you!!!

I loved Preston's hiding place. He just laid down the beanbag and covered his eyes. He's at that stage where if he can't see you, you can't see him. He does is all the time. He was right out in the open.

I so need to be done catching up

2008-11-07T16:20:00.005-07:00

So I am done with Halloween. But I feel this weight on my shoulders because I still have not even posted pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes. We had a fun night. We started at the church with trunk or treat, which I am so anti, yet I find myself there every year dumping candy into buckets. What happened to the good ol' fashioned trick or treat? Well we got back home and Justin decided the kids needed a real Halloween experience and they went around our neighborhood to all the same people who just gave them candy at the church and gave them more candy. We then invited some friends and neighbors over for Hot Chocolate and dessert (as if we needed any more sugar). We enjoyed a fun evening and I think by now, my kids have forgotten all about the candy that I've hid (unfortunately I haven't)Emma and Brooklyn
Alyssa, Camille, Maggie and Amber
I don't know if I'm just biased, but this has got to be the cutest girl ever!!!
Our Yee-ha guy. That's what he told me he was. This is the costume he picked out. I had nothing to do with it. He wanted to be a horse. It was pretty sweet.
The kids at the Trunk or Treat.

Still catching up

2008-11-04T17:19:00.008-07:00

So I bet you thought I was finished with my crazy week. Sorry, there is still more to come. I wanted to put some pictures of our halloween decor, I took pics of some of my favorite things, but should have included some of the kids favorite things like the talking crow that says... "Candy? Got anything rotten?" or the talking caldron that cackles like a crazy witch. Emma likes to open her mouth wide and act like she's the one laughing.

Catching up

2008-11-03T16:03:00.005-07:00

So much time, so little to post about. Strike that, reverse it. What a week. It has literally been one thing after the next. Since I'm not much of a writer, I think I'll just post a bunch of pics for you to enjoy and if I actually have some time to add in a few thoughts then extra bonus!!!
We went with Julie and kids to Cornbellys. The kids think this is a great place. They basically run from one fun activity to the next.

Maggie had a piano recital on Tuesday. She was asked to dress up in her Halloween costume to perform. What happened to my little princess. She's gone scary. She performed 3 numbers one of which she got to perform with Justin. They played Linus and Lucy from Charlie Brown, a favorite of our family. She did a great job and we are proud of how well she is playing.

Here we are at the Youngs. We were invited over to carve pumpkins. We had a great time. I actually enjoyed carving this year cause the older kids wanted to do it on their own, and the younger kids were totally happy just sticking Mr. Potato Head parts in theirs. Thanks Youngs for such a fun night.

Preston's Birthday

2008-10-28T22:36:00.003-06:00

Our little boy turned three last week. We had a small family party for him to celebrate. He's funny, everytime we told him it was his bithday, he would say "no, it's your birthday" For some reason he just didn't want it to be his birthday. But when we finally got to the presents and cake, he liked it. Although, I think he is the only 3 year old I know that asked for help when opening his presents. He was also the only one year old I know who didn't even want to touch his cake on his first birthday. This boy must have an aversion to birthdays.These glasses were in the goodie bags. He would put these on and scare me and then when I would act afraid, he would take them off and say, "It's just me, Preston."
I could not get him to look away from his cake. He would put his head up, but would not take his eyes off that next bite of cake.
Cute!!!
Make a wish little buddy.

Preston is such a blessing in our lives. He is one of the best, sweetest, smartest kids I know. We all love him to pieces. Here is a little scrapbook of his life. Wasn't he just the cutest baby?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Spooktacular Parties

2008-10-26T00:21:00.007-06:00

So we were fortunate enough to be invited to two halloween parties this weekend. Both of which were amazing. It was nice to be on the guest list this time and not on the hosting side of things. Although I have to admit, it is hard for me to just sit back and not help. Last night we went to my brothers house for a fun round of name that tune Halloween style and hilarious Seinfeld trivia. Dave and Corrie always do everything to the nines. Check out their amazing house decorations. I had to take a bunch of pictures so I can copy next year (ha ha).They had spiderwebs and cheesecloth all over to make it look old and spooky.
Test tubes and jars with tubes and dry ice.

Dave and Corrie as the Jolly Green Giant and a sea monster. Corrie makes the most amazing costumes too.
Mike and Julie as Fred and Wilma Flinstone. Love these.
Me and Justin. He picked our costumes this year because he was mad that I made him go as a cowboy two years ago. Samurai and Geisha
This is a self portrait that I took. It doesn't even look like me. I was pretty proud of my make-up job. It scared Preston a little bit, he didn't want to come near me. It actually made it easy to leave when the babysitter came because he didn't want to see me.

Then tonight we were invited to a party at one of our neighbors houses. They had it in their basement and had decorated with black plastic tarps, spiderwebs and white lights. This was so cool. We had a great time playing halloween cranium. Did you know the most popular halloween costume in 2004 was spiderman (I did) and that the average american ate 24 pounds of chocolate that year. We had such a fun time hanging out with friends. Justin and I even won the best overall costumes. I'm proud to say that is the second time that we've won the best costume contest.I thought this was a cool pic. I set it on a night time setting and it did some funky stuff to the lights.
Hydes and Kapps
This won for the funniest costume. Gotta love crack!
A.P. and the Boss'
Our gracious hostess.

Emily and Jamie
Kristin and Ryan. Prom Queen and King (Yes she really is prego) Darn that Homecoming dance(Ha Ha).
Josh playing name that tune (give said the little stream, don't know how that's halloweenish)
Tina, Emily and Harmony

Our trophy for best costumes.

Wacky Hair Day

2008-10-25T14:26:00.003-06:00

It was Red Ribbon week this past week at the kids school. Thursday was wacky hair day (the most anticipated school day for my daughter). Theme:Don't let drugs mess you up. This is what my kids came up with. Maggie was fully responsible for her own hair.

I need Help

2008-10-22T12:11:00.002-06:00

So this is a growing problem at my household. This is what I come home to everyday. I bought shelves thinking they have somewhere to put their shoes, but without fail, they end up in a big pile on the floor. It is overtaking our garage. Soon we won't be able to park in the garage cause their feet keep getting bigger. Justin says I have to stop buying them so many shoes, but I LOVE shoes. Especially little ones. What do I do? It's maddening!

Emma's Tea Party

2008-10-15T16:29:00.007-06:00

So it's been a long time since I've posted anything. When i first started blogging, I though I would be so good but it has been a crazy couple of weeks and time has slipped away from me.

I wanted to post about Emma's fun birthday party we had. We went back and forth trying to decide on a party theme and finally came up with the idea for a tea party.

We started with the lunch aspect of the party. I had set the table with little mini tea cups and plates. I found some cute mini cups at Ikea that I just had to have. We had pink roses as our table decor and some netting to enclose the table a little bit.
Dane decided he wanted to be the butler. He came straight home from school and got all dressed up ready to serve tea (pink lemonade) to Emma and all her party guests. He was so cute.
We served mini sandwiches cut in flower shapes, fruit kabobs, frosting covered brownies and chocolate covered strawberries plus anything pink that I could find.
We told the girls they were supposed to drink with their pinkies up. They all gave it a try, but then figured it was easier to not do it.
Jaynie, Mae, Kylee and Avery
When they were done eating, we went outside and decorated straw hats. We put on ribbon and they used foam stickers to decorate their hats.
We had some great helpers. Thanks Maggie, Lindsey, Cassie, Grandma Liz and Dane.
Aren't they so adorable. Emily, Allison, Brooklyn, Jaynie

Avery, Elle, Emma, Kylee, Mae
This was my sad attempt at a teapot cake. I should have put some eyes on it cause it really looked like Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast.

Make a wish. I thought the cake might be kind of hard to serve, so we offered cupcakes too.

Allison, Elle and Emily.
Right before the party ended, we played the freeze/dance game. We played princess music and let the girls freeze in funny positions when the music stopped. They loved this.

$500 fine for glittering

2008-09-30T18:11:00.002-06:00

So I just have to write this real quick. It's one of those things that you always want to remember so you can tell your kids some day how funny they were. We were driving home from dance today and Emma asked me to roll her window down, so I did and I rolled down Prestons as well. Well within about 30 seconds, he had thrown his cup out the window. In a very stern voice, I told him that we didn't do that, that it isn't good to throw our garbage out the window. Then Emma turned to him and said "Yeah Preston, we don't glitter." I thought I misunderstood her, but she went on to tell him that glittering isn't good and that he had just glittered and he shouldn't do that. I just laughed but let her think that Preston had just glittered. Good thing I didn't get pulled over for glittering.

While I am on the topic of funny things kids say, we were at church yesterday and the sacrament bread happened to be wheat. I guess we usually have white, but I didn't really notice. Well Emma did. She leaned over to my mom (who was visiting for the primary program) and said, "We usually have white bread, but I guess they toasted it today." We all had a good laugh at this too.

TV

2008-09-28T17:28:00.002-06:00

Don't you just love premiere week? Can you name all the TV show theme songs without looking at the answers? Just listen for a minute.

Bryce Canyon

2008-09-24T22:49:00.009-06:00

So we took a little trip with the kids this past weekend to Bryce Canyon. It was amazing and everyone had a great time. The first day, we hiked the Navajo Loop. It was a 1.3 mile hike half of it steep down and half of it steep uphill. I was impressed with how great all the kids did. The scenery was beautiful and these pictures don't even do it justice.Here is our little Presto overlooking this awesome canyon.

Here we are hiking down the canyon. We had fun looking at all the rock formations and telling each other what we thought we saw. The colors were breathtaking.

Taking a little break.

Can you say "Mini Justin"?

We made it!

The next day we set out for Calf Creek Falls. All I kept thinking this day was... "The things I do for love". I would never choose to do something like this on my own and certainly not with 5 kids but Justin talked me into it and I did it for him and the kids. We hiked @ 7 miles round trip. Talk about troopers, our kids did awesome. It only took about 5.5 hours to accomplish this amazing feat. But well worth every step.

Dane found a little lizard before we started the hike and thought it was cool when the tail came off and wiggled around in his hand.

Our little hikers. We only carried Preston and Emma for maybe a mile of the trip they did the rest on their own and even had enough energy to run some of the way.

Rest Stop

Another rest stop.

The Falls. The water was a little bit chilly, but it certainly didn't stop these kids from getting in and splashing around.

Right before the hike back to the car.

The last day of our trip, we headed over to Zions National Park. Another amazing sight.

We decided to do a shorter hike this day only about 2 miles up the river to the Narrows. Once we got to the end of the trail, Justin took the three older kids and hiked another mile in the river. I waited with Emma and Preston and almost got attacked by the psycho squirrel that was determined to get into our backpack and eat our easy cheese and crackers. It honestly would not leave us alone. The kids thought it was funny when it started chewing a hole in the backpack.

Sadly after this hike, our trip came to an end. The kids begged to stay one more day, but school and work beckoned us back. We all had a really fun time (I know I can't believe I said that but I actually did enjoy myself).

The enterance to the park.

Here's Dane just testing out the waters. This boy has Justin blood running through his veins. Next stop Aconcagua.
The kids hiking up the river. The girls did pretty good not getting wet, but when Dane came back, he was soaked head to toe. He just couldn't resist the adventure.

Top 10 favorite things in my house

2008-09-18T14:35:00.012-06:00

So, it's funny. I have actually been wanting to do this for a while now. Then just this week I saw on Tip Junkie that she has this segment called "Talk to Me Tuesdays" and this week she is asking people to share their 10 favortie things in their house. What a good excuse for me to finally do this. So here you go and luckily my house is actually clean today so even better (If you know me, then you know I watied for my house to be clean before I took the pictures).

#1 I love my glass jars. They either sit on my kitchen island or behind my sink, but they are always filled with something fun. As you can see I rotate items for different occasions. Right now I have Halloween candy.

Last year my glass jars held skulls, bloody eyeballs, black licorice and a brain.

For Maggies Chocolate Party they had an assortment of chocolate candy. I love these jars.

#2 My home/family wall. When we moved in I started unpacking and realized I had a lot of signs that looked very similar. For a long time I had them spread throughout the house until one day, I had a vision. There is a little area above our lockers in our mud room that was just the perfect size for my collection. I loved the outcome.

#3 This one also came to me in a vision (just one of those crafty ideas that pops into my mind on occassion) It is my magnetic white board calendar. The best part of this is its hugeness. It is 4'x6' and hangs in my laundry room. Each days' square is 8"x 8" and easily holds party invites, appointment cards and flyers. I made it by myself which makes it even more fun for me.

#4 My houndstooth loveseat. Actually it is a chair and a half. I have two of these. I saw it in the store as is and I knew I had to have it. I bought one and went home and decided that I needed two. It is just the right size to sit with one or two kiddies and watch t.v. or read.

#5 My black and white wing chairs. I bought these beauties on a girls trip to Seattle. It is hard for me to invision what a completed chair will look like when I only have a 3" square of fabric. So if I see something finished and I love it, I have to have it, so was the case with these. I said in an earlier post that one of my quirks is that I have big purchase commitment fear well, these two furniture pieces were an exception to that. I have never had any buyers remorse for these or the houndstooth chairs.

#6 I am a sucker for tulips. I lived in Holland for 18 months and I think my love of tulips stems from that. I found these pots a Target a couple of years ago and splurged to buy all three at once. I was worried if I only bought one and went back for a second they would be gone. They sit on my black entry table and are a pleasure to set out in March when we are ready for spring to arrive.

#7 Tulips Again. These were a birthday gift from my Mom a few years ago. They are huge. The first picture is actually in our old house, but it gives you an idea of the size. I would have taken a picture of both of them where they are now, but they hang in my dining room and it is now emmie cakes central and I would be embarrassed to take a picture of that right at the moment.

#8 My pottery barn bedding. This was something that I waited a long time for. I love the red and tan with my brown walls. The thing I love most about this picture is that my bed is actually made. It doesn't happen often because even if I take the time to make it in the morning, my kids think it is funny to mess it up as soon as I do. I spend more time yelling at them than it is worth having my bed made, so now I just don't do it unless I am home alone.

#9 The faucet in my kids bathroom. We chose this not knowing if we would like it, but we thought it was a good choice, because they wouldn't have to turn two handles to get the right temp. The water comes out like a waterfall. I am absolutely pleased with our choice.
#10 It was a toss up so you're actually getting 11 favorite things. I love my big black front door. It is bigger that your normal size entry door. When we first bought our house it had been sitting all summer unstained and I told them I wanted it black and shortly thereafter the wood started to warp. We had to completely replace the door. Everyone tried to talk me out of the black again to avoid another problem, but I would not give in. So here stands my big black door and I love it!

#10 1/2 The picture of the San Diego temple that hangs above our piano. I grew up in San Diego and was married here so it has very special meaning to me. I saw this in a store and immediately came home and told Justin I wanted it for Christmas. Much to my surprise (since I usually don't get what I ask for) there is was Christmas Morning. I should have taken a picture of the piano too so you could see how well it fits here, but is about the same width as our piano and the frame is black like our piano so it really looks amazing.

So there you have it a little glimpse into our fun home. Glad to share with you all.

Tagged: 6 unspectacular quirks

2008-09-13T22:33:00.003-06:00

So, this is my first tag. Becky tagged me a few days ago, but I've been trying to think of these. I finally have 6.

1. I hate to talk on the phone. I don't listen to my messages and as many of my friends know, I don't usually return calls.

2. I love to go to sleep with the TV on especially if Justin isn't home, but I can't sleep with the light on. Why the light from the TV is any different I don't know, but for some reason it soothes me to sleep.

3. I love to shop online and add big purchase items to my cart (pottery barn furniture) but then I don't ever buy it. I guess it makes me feel good just to have it in my cart.

4. Along those same lines, I think I have big purchase commitment fear (I just made that up). I have no problem going out and any given day and spending $300 at Target or Gap, but ask me to spend$300 on a piece of furniture and I can't do it. I guess if I have buyers remorse on something small it's not a big deal, but if I actually spend money on something of substance I have to stew over it for weeks or even months.

5. I think there are many things that I do that are OK but if anyone else in my family does them it is unacceptable. For example, I can take off my shoes anywhere in the house and leave them there, but if my kids do it or Justin does it I am all over them. It drives me nuts. Same thing with keeping the house clean. I can leave it a total mess, but if I go out and come home to a mess they all hear it from me.

6. I hate to wear socks. I think I may have that restless leg syndrome and my feet feel so claustrophobic when I have to wear socks. I don't even like to wear them when I am out walking through snow.

I tag Julie, Emily, Cami, Harmony (when she feels up to blogging again, she just had a baby), Jennifer and Nicole.

Tag RULES:

Tell us about 6 unspectacular quirks that you have. Tag 6 following bloggers. Leave a comment on each of their blogs to let them know they’ve been tagged.

When Dad's away

2008-09-08T01:20:00.004-06:00

So Justin took the weekend off and flew to Seattle for the BYU football game and left me home alone with the kids. We had a great weekend but today was a long day. We had stake conference, and judge me if you must, but I was not about to take 4 kids to church for 2+ hours alone, so needless to say, it was a very long day at home. So anyways, sometimes my kids get out of control and I thought this might be a good way to deal with them while Dads away.

(BTW for those of you who really think I am a terrible mother, I didn't actually do this to Dane, they got into the tape themselves and had a heyday. Then when he was all done, he took it off his legs without tearing it added a bottom to it and made a little basket for himself to hold legos in.)

Tribute to Friends

2008-09-07T01:18:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I discovered Facebook, I know one more thing to keep me from doing what I should be doing. I jumped right into it searching for old friends, reading about their lives, looking at their family pictures and reconnecting with long lost friends. It is amazing to me how quickly I have been able to find friends from high school that I haven't seen or talked to in over 18 years (yes I have been out of high school for that long, thank goodness I don't feel that old). Friends that I grew up with that I had completely lost track of and friends that I knew in college that moved away and moved on. I have found them all (well a lot of them). Each day as I check my email a smile comes to my face to see who has accepted me as a friend and left a message for me. I am so lovin the fact that I am reconnecting with old friends (no I don't mean they're old, but you know).

I am so glad that I have been able to figure all this blogging and facebook stuff out so as to get in touch with you all again. You know how we all wrote in each others year books KIT, Keep in touch, well it's about time we did it. I don't know I guess I have had a happy week because of it and I just wanted to share it all with you. So if you are an old friend reading this for the first time, or a new friend just checking in, leave me a message so I can see how you are doing.

Thanks to all my friends who have made me laugh, who have made me smile, who have helped me through, who have struggled with me. Thanks to all my friends who have been stupid with me, who have listened to me and who have cried with me. Thanks to all my friends who have played with me, who have strengthened me, and to all my friends who have loved me. What a great blessing you have all been in my life.

"I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you:

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good"

-Wicked "For Good"

County Fair Enrichment

2008-09-04T22:57:00.008-06:00

So we had our big enrichment for this quarter. Our theme was County Fair, "Because I have been given much, I too must give". We had a good turn out and had a lot of fun. We served county fair food, good old BBQ chicken sandwiches, corn on the cob, watermelon and lemonade. We had sisters bring the dessert and then had a bake-off. Our wonderful presidency offered to be judges (like that was a big sacrifice). We had a display of wonderful talents that sisters in our ward have. Who knew the cool talents that existed right here in our ward. We also heard from our Stake Humanitarian Specialist and then topped it all off with an opportunity for service with our two humanitarian projects. It was a fun night and helped us all to get to know one another a little better than before.

Our great judges tasting all the delicious desserts entered in our bake-off.

Our winning entry. Erin Parkers amazing Chocolate Layer Cake. Yummy!

Our centerpieces included homemade white chocolate popcorn, and a variety of fair snacks, taffy, peanuts and circus peanuts all placed in galvanized buckets.

Freshly picked Corn on the Cob.
Good old Fashioned Lemonade served with pellet ice in a classic Glass jar.

Berry Pie
Our array of delicious desserts waiting to be tested and judged.

More yummy entries for the bake-off.

Swiss Days

2008-08-31T19:33:00.004-06:00

So I had the great opportunity this weekend to sell some of my emmie cakes banners at the biggest craft fair in Utah, Swiss Days. Thanks to my cousin and her friend, I was able to add them to a booth that she has. The banners sold great. I have even already had some inquiries from people who saw them there. I only started this little project 2 weeks ago and it has taken off more than I could have ever expected or hoped for it to. It has been a fun learning process and I am throughly enjoying the fact that I have pretty much done this all on my own.

A couple of my friends and I went up to enjoy the show and couldn't help walking by the booth 3-4 times to see how things were going. From what I understand, the Simply Splendid booth (the one that sold my banners) got voted best in show. Yeah for them. It was really cute and they had some great stuff. We had a fun time at Swiss days, bought some really cute stuff and also got some great ideas for stuff that we want to try and make ourselves.

After our day in Midway, we got to have a little girls night in Park City. We shopped, ate good food, stayed up late laughing and talking and had an all around much needed and well deserved night out with just the girls.

Mom then and now

2008-08-29T11:32:00.004-06:00

So I have been thinking lately since my kids started school about how my life has changed over the past 10 years. I've been trying to get my business up and going and it has taken a lot of time away from other things and as I sat working the other day with Preston watching his third run of the Dora DVD, I compared my parenting with four kids to my parenting with just one and how times have changed.

I remember rocking Maggie to sleep every night and letting her stay up as late as we did because I wanted to spend every waking moment with her. Now I put my kids in bed at 9:00 and tell them that if I see them again or hear them, they are grounded. It's my time and I am done with them.

I used to take Maggie everywhere. We even continued to take her to the movies with us until she was about 2. I shopped at the Mall for hours with her in the stroller, we went out to eat in real restaurants and actually enjoyed it. Now I live for the moment the babysitter gets there and thinks it's a real treat when I actually get to go to the grocery store by myself or go into the mini-mart to get my drink. I only shop at stores with carts that have buckles (and that won't last much longer) and our yummy dinner at a resaurant, well that doesn't exist any more. If they don't have drive-thru or a play structure we just don't go.

I remember doing craft projects with maggie. Paint and glitter was not a big deal. Now if they even think about getting out the crayons and paper I stress out. Just one more mess to clean up. Can't they just do that stuff at school.

Anyway, I probably sound like my kids drive me crazy, and trust me sometimes they do, but I guess we all just adjust to changing times. I would love to hear what things have changed with you since your families have grown bigger.

First week of school

2008-08-22T17:12:00.003-06:00

We survived the first week of school. No problems as of yet.

Maggie is in 5th grade this year and fortunately in not acting like a 5th grader, yet (She still is sweet as can be).

Dane started third grade, I can't believe it. He was excited to have some of his friends from his class last year in his class again this year.

Emma started her third year of preschool this year, its a bummer when they miss the deadline by only a few weeks. She is thrilled to be back, but it isn't quite enough so we have signed her up for a second preschool with the hopes of passing her into first grade next year. Keep for fingers crossed, I think I am ready for her to be gone during the day. She gets so bored and requires lots of attention that I don't know if I have the patience to give her right now.

Preston couldn't start this year although I think he would love to go. He is obsessed with letters and can recognize upper and lowercase and knows all the sounds. Did I mention that he isn't even 3 yet. I am so proud. It is nice to still have someone home with me to make noise in the car use up any free time I might have. I honestly can't believe summer is over why does time have to go by faster and faster the older you get?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Timpanogos Cave

2008-08-19T21:56:00.003-06:00

So we decided to send the summer off with a bang. We took our last Saturday and hiked up to Timplanogos Cave. It is about a 1.5 mile hike up and an elevation gain of about 1000 feet. I didn't know if I could make it and I especially didn't think my little ones would make it, but to my great surprise we all took the hike very well. There was some complaining, but for the most part they all did awesome. It was well worth the hike. The cave was so cool. I had been there once before when I was a teenager, but didn't remember much. It was fun to see the kids enjoy it so much. We all had a really good time.

So School in back in session. Yeah! Need I say more.

Our funny girl Emma

2008-08-13T17:18:00.005-06:00

So I feel like my life is boring. I don't have much to post about. This is the last week of summer and I am burned out. It will be nice to have a little more free time and have the kids back in school for a while. Hopefully it will give me a little more time to work on Emmie Cakes.

So I was thinking about what I would write and I thought of something funny that Emma said the other night that made us all laugh. She had on a BYU shirt and was saying how she loved BYU, so I asked her if she knew what BYU was and she said no. So I proceeded to tell her that it is a college and that Mom and Dad met while we were going to school there. She then asked me if Dad thought I was cute when he first met me and I told her to ask him. So she turned to Justin and said, "Dad when you first met Mom, did you think she was hot?" We all busted up that this almost 5 year old would ask such a funny question. She is always cracking us up. She says the funniest things and is always making funny faces.

2008-08-10T03:05:00.004-06:00

So things have been a little fun and crazy lately. Justin took the three younger kids out to his parents house this weekend for some goods times at the Duchesne County Fair. I talked to them tonight and and Preston told me that he got all dirty at the rodeo because he walked through some "cow mud". I guess its a good thing I wasn't there, I would have freaked out. Anyway, they are having a good time and I've been at home with Maggie just crafting away. We stayed up until 2:30 last night and well I writing this at 3:10, while the boys are away, the girls will...craft. We have been going crazy making banners for our new Emmie Cakes and other fun projects that are still in the works. That girl is following in my footsteps. I love having someone as excited about scrapbook paper and embellishments as me. It's been fun just the two of us.See, we've been busy.

I also hosted a fabulous enrichment activity this week. We had a girl from our ward come and teach us some great cupcake baking and decorating techniques. She had some easy, smart tips and I will never decorate cupcakes the same way again. Here are just a few of the great cupcakes she decorated. Thanks Cake Expectations for the lessons. Yummy Yummy.

Got Templates?

2008-08-07T23:23:00.002-06:00

So I've been on many of your blogs and have seen such cute templates, but I myself, can't seem to find anything that great. So I am reaching out to all of you, where are you getting them? Is it pretty self-explanatory when I do find a background that I like? I would appreciate any input on this topic. I'd really like to spice things up a little. Thanks to all you fellow bloggers.

Aspen Grove Family Camp

2008-08-06T21:49:00.010-06:00

We just spent a week at Aspen Grove family Camp up the Provo Canyon. This is something we do about every other year and look forward to every time. The kids absolutely love it. There are so many fun activities and we are with all our cousins. It is a week full of fun and almost no rules. They go where they want when the want, eat all the junk they want, stay up until midnight. Its a week long craziness.

We go with my dad, all my siblings and their families, and some of my cousins from my dads side and their families. Of course there are always a few extra a long for the ride. I think this year we had almost 70 so you can imagine the fun.

Some highlights from the week. We had major thunderstorms about 3 nights and the kids loved playing and getting wet in the rain. We had our first Huish Music recital where many of the kids performed and a few of the adults too. Justin played "Campfire song song" (from SpongeBob) on the guitar and had about 15 kids sing along. It was sweet. Of course we love the late night games of signs and Mofia. This year we also did a craft day which was really fun. A few highlights for me were making it to the pool in the morning to swim a mile and climbing the rock wall which I did 20 years ago and never thought I would make it to the top now. I almost turned back but with the encouragement of my husband and many family members, I made it to the top. One of the most physically difficult things I have ever done. Yeah me.

Anyway, we really had a fun time and now that I have finally finished the laundry, I am able to write a little bit about it.
Maggie and Lindsey playing in the rain.

Preston and Emma splashing in the pool.

Here I am on my way up and wanting so bad just to come back down.

I love this picture

Emmie Cakes

2008-08-04T22:28:00.003-06:00

So I've had a few people inquire about my Halloween Banners. Well I have started a blog for my new company "emmie cakes" and within in the next week or so I will have information on how you can purchase them. I am also working on some new designs and will post those as well. So keep checking back and I'll let you know when things get going. Thanks for those who asked about it. Are there other banners that you would like to see? I have done custom Birthday banners to match colors and am working on a christmas one. Check out the new blog at myemmiecakes.blogspot.com

2008-07-26T01:11:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to see if I could figure this one out. This was last year right after he turned 2, but it makes me laugh everytime I see it.

2008-07-26T00:54:00.004-06:00

So here I am up late again. I don't know what my deal is lately. I just can't sleep. Anyhow, I am printing some flyers up for my Dad for our family reunion at Aspen Grove tomorrow and while I was waiting, I got caught up on some of my catalogs. I just love Pottery Barn Kids (well all Pottery Barns) and Land of Nod. Just thought I would give you some insight into my dream world. Which by the way if it ever becomes a reality, my kids will be too old to enjoy it. I just have to wonder, do people actually live this way? My play room is piles of toys dumped out and then abandoned because the room is too messy to play in.Why oh Why can't my world be cute and clean and organized. I guess that's just part of having kids.

How awesome would these rooms be? I think I would just sit in them all day and let my creative juices flow.

Thanks and accomplishments

2008-07-25T13:14:00.005-06:00

Thank you to all who commented on my post last night. I sat right down and was able to move the pictures easily. And the whole typing thing, I guess is makes sense that if I want something to come after then I should type below and not above. Duh! I guess I should maybe just post during the day when I can think straight.
Just a little accomplishment I need to post. Maybe I need some praise, or it is just such a long time coming that I have to say something. For the first time in my entire driving career, I weigh less than the weight on my drivers license. I don't know about anyone else, but I have always said that I weigh about 15 lbs less and at times almost 30 less on my license than my actual weight. So to be at the actual weight and below it even, it is one happy day.

2008-07-24T23:12:00.002-06:00

I need help! Who knows... why does the first thing that I enter into my post automatically go to the bottom. I wanted my story about Liberty Land to be first and then the dutch oven and then my day with Joy. Doesn't it seemed messed?
Also, how in the heck am I supposed to move my pictures around? Blog Frustration!!!!! Maybe this isn't as cool as I thought.

2008-07-24T22:17:00.008-06:00

We also had a Family Dutch Oven Dinner night at our house. I am the Enrichment leader in our ward and once a month we do a dinner group. Some of our nights have been "Dinner and a Movie", Fondue, Basic Grilling Instruction, and Recipe Exchanges. This month in celebration of summer and pioneer day, we did a dutch oven night. We usually only invite the women, but this time we invited families. We had a great turn out about 70 people. I think we had about 10 dutch ovens cooking. The food was delish! Then we topped it off with s'mores. It was awesome.

Yesterday I got to go spend time with my cousin Joy. She is absolutely amazing. We did some planning. We are headed off to Aspen Grove this weekend for the much anticipated Huish Family reunion and Joy and I got craft projects together for the moms and girls to do while we are there. She has so many cool ideas and so fun to hang out with. Everytime I leave her, I wonder why we don't hang out more. Here is one the crafts we are working on for next week. The Halloween banner. I made one for Maggies birthday and now have to make one for every holiday. Love 'em.

We've had a pretty busy week. I went with my Mom and my kids and some of our cousins to a new little fun center here in Lehi called Liberty Land. I have to say I actually enjoyed it. It was very kid friendly. It just recently opened and it wasn't too crowded. It's small and not a lot of places that kids could get lost. There weren't a lot of height restrictions except that parents weren't aloud to go on some things, the kids could do everything. At one point, I had the older boys on the rock wall and my mom had the girls and Preston, when I went to meet up with them, I asked where Preston was she pointed to the side. When I didn't see him and walked over to the roller coaster where the girls were and low and behold he was on it with them. No height restrictions. I don't think he liked it too much he didn't want to go again. We really had fun and I think it is a place that I might actually take my kids to alone, that says alot.

Preston was lovin the merry go round.Oh, the many faces of Emma.Indiana Dane scaled the rock wall with great ease (about 10 times)Maggie is such a good little helper, especially with this one. She loves her little Pesto.

2008-07-19T01:28:00.003-06:00

What is my deal? I am having so much fun with this stupid thing I can't get off my computer and go to bed. It's a good thing Justin is on his scout campout, he would be having a fit if he knew I was up this late making scrapbooks and blogging. I was just looking at all my pictures and saw these great ones from the 4th and just had to make a fun little scrapbook. We spent the forth all over the place. First to the annual Astle bike parade then off to the Yarros big celebration, and then back to our ward activity for watermelon and fireworks. I just love the forth. I honestly think it is my favorite holiday, and oh how blessed we are to be living in this amazing country. I still can't sing the star spangled banner with out getting tears in my eyes. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

2008-07-18T23:47:00.003-06:00

Dang, this is kind of addicting. I just made this cute little scrapbook of one of our fun summer days. We had friends from our ward over for water frolics in our backyard. It was a lot of fun. We ate lunch together and enjoyed a hot day in the cool pool.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Dane's Birthday Party

2008-07-16T19:25:00.002-06:00

So I decided that I needed to post pictures of Dane's great party since I took the time to do Maggie's. Dane was really into Indiana Jones this year, the new movie came out on his birthday so we decided to take 8, 8 year olds to the movie. The boys absolutely loved the movie although I thought it was a little cheesy. Not quite true to the Indie I love. But the boys thought it was the best movie they had ever seen and that's all that matters. We came back to our house for dinner presents and cake. We had an awesome Indiana Jones cake which I have to thank my sister-in-law Corrie for the amazing idea. She made a cake like this for our family party and I just had to copy it. All in all it was an awesome party.