all things simple

memory keeping: a simple dance scrapbook

2012-02-25T11:10:00.001-07:00

We call our Ella, "Ella Bella Tu Tu" because she loves to dance. She started taking lessons at The Dance Conservatory when she was two years old. Even more than dancing, she loves to perform.

Last month TDC had their winter concert at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. The dancers performed Mary Poppins.

There's Ella, third from the left.

At the end of the dance, the girls got to "strike a pose." Ella practiced hers over and over. :)

I found Ella thumbing through her "dance book" the other day. It's a simple scrapbook in a "half pint" or 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" album. I used the same size album for my family favorites recipe book.

After each dance concert, I add the program and individual and group photos to her scrapbook.

I've also included memorabilia (hair ribbons, tags from costumes and leotards, etc.).

And it's nice to have the card for the store we purchase dance apparel on hand. There's a postcard with the TDC information so she can always remember where she danced. DVDs of photos and filmed performances tuck nicely into the sheet protectors too.

I love this simple little album.

valentine's matchbooks 2012

2012-02-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

With all the candy Ella received, I feel like Valentine's has become the new Halloween! So did I send the girls off to their love day parties with Valentine's goodies too? Well, of course I did! :)

I used my matchbook template again (why mess with a good thing, right?), and some darling digital papers and clip art from Cocoa Mint I found on Etsy. This year I also added photos of the girls. They loved them. And I love that it makes them feel special.

I let Ella choose which clip art to use and turned the Valentine girl's hair to red for hers. We used small packages of conversation hearts as the filler.

Hope your Valentine's Day was love-ly too. :)

RS birthday celebration invitation

2012-02-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Relief Society! March 17th marks the 170th birthday of the largest women's organization in the world. All women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints belong to the Relief Society. It's purpose:

"The Relief Society prepares women for the blessings of eternal life by helping them increase their faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and help those in need."

The Relief Society has been a great blessing in my life.

This is the invitation I sent out for our birthday dinner/celebration. I love this little couple! (Found the photo on Pinterest.) The tape strips and fabric flag are free downloads from Pugly Pixel. (Love her digi stuff and inspiration. And she's got great tutorials.)

Our theme for our March meeting is "A Return to Simpler Times", all vintage-y. We're focusing on simplifying our lives. I'm loving it. And I've asked some amazing women to help out. I'm super excited and can't wait to share the details after the event.

Have a happy day. :)

party hearty: a valentine's craft

2012-02-14T17:19:00.002-07:00

Ella played the guilt card recently and won. :) She told me all the other mothers help at class parties and I don't. She was right. So I volunteered to do a craft for the kindergarten Valentine's party.

I decided on these Valentine's butterflies and called them "love bugs." They were a hit. The original idea came from Skip to my Lou (great blog!), but I also found the pattern at the on-line Silhouette store, so I didn't have to cut out all 30 by hand. Score! It was the first project I made using the Silhouette I received for Christmas. Can't wait to do more.

I created kits that included:

The butterfly cut-out with the sucker already inserted. The suckers are a bit hard to get through the holes and the paper will tear if you're not careful.
Googly eyes. I stuck them on glue dots so they already had adhesive on them and then cut between each set--big time saver.
A variety of punched shapes. I included hearts(8) and circles(12).
A little bling. I wasn't sure if the boys would go for the little gems, but they were the ones who asked if there was more. :) I included two small and two larger clear "sparkle-ys" that already had adhesive on them.

I also provided glue sticks.

I did a trial run with Ella and her BFF, Jordan, to see how long it would take them to complete one. Right about ten minutes. Perfect.

Of course all "love bugs" must kiss!

The entire party was great. There were five different stations the kids rotated to: bingo, decorating cookies, a coloring sheet, fishing with magnets, and my craft. I enjoyed seeing each of the children be so creative and I loved that Ella was excited for me to be there. She told me before school that she was not going to think about me coming because she was just too excited. :)

To complete the party, Ella's teacher Debbie Reiber, gave all the kids their Valentine keepers filled with the cards and candy they exchanged.

How darling is this? Mrs. Reiber made one for each of the kids and they all looked just like them! Elles was thrilled to get hers. The little people are attached to a kraft gift bag with handles so when they put goodies in the mouth, they drop right in. Love it.

cooking club: Oreo cake bites

2012-02-08T13:56:00.006-07:00

I had a bunch of friends ask where they could order the cake bites we served at Patrick and Ashlee's reception. Apparently they were amazingly delicious. I wouldn't know, I never got the time to taste one. Even more surprising, neither did Ashlee. And she helped make all 350 of them! She confessed she was on the LGN (look good naked) diet at the time. :) She cracks me up.

So, I convinced my new daughter-in-law (love saying that :)) to do a demo for our RS Cooking Club. At first she laughed because she said they were so simple to make they didn't need a demonstration. But that's what we love--simple and yummy. And chocolate. And samples to try. And just getting together to have a good time.

We had a "filled to capacity" crowd in my kitchen. Ashlee did a wonderful job. And yes, they were simple to make.

I don't know that I'd actually consider these "cake-y." The filling ingredients are Oreos and cream cheese, so they're more moist than a cake filling would be.

We placed a duo in mini red and white polka dot liners and packaged them in small cellophane bags. Then we tied them up with pink grosgrain ribbon. (I will forever love pink and red together.) They're the perfect little Valentine's goodie for the sisters we visit teach. Hope they make it that long (*wink*). The liners are from Wilton.

I get asked all the time how to tie a pretty knot. I just use a simple square knot--right over left, left over right. Give yourself plenty of ribbon to work with and then trim the excess off at an angle when you're done. Packaging always looks nicer when you don't scrimp on the ribbon.

Adding a sucker stick makes the perfect "cake pop" for the little (or big) ones. How darling would these be for a baby shower or any special occasion?

Here's the recipe Ashlee used:

OREO CAKE BITES
from the kitchen of: Ashlee McCrary
Yield: 30-35 bites

30 Oreo cookies (about 1 package)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. melting chocolate (I like Wilton brand)
2 squares vanilla almond bark

Using a food processor or placing cookies in a Ziploc bag, crush Oreos into a fine crumb. In mixer, combine softened cream cheese and Oreos. Mix until a soft dough forms. Chill in freezer 20-30 minutes or in fridge for an hour. Measure one tablespoon scoops and form into round balls. Place on wax paper on cookie sheet that will fit in freezer. Chill for 30-45 minutes until firm.

Melt chocolate, following directions on package.

Insert toothpick into frozen Oreo ball and dip in chocolate to cover. Let excess drip off, then place on cookie sheet covered with wax paper. When chocolate is no longer shiny, remove toothpick by twisting to leave only a very small hole. Fill hole with melted chocolate.

Melt almond bark, following package directions. Transfer to Ziploc bag. Make a very small cut in the corner of the bag. Drizzle back and forth over cake bites.

Store in airtight container in fridge.

Ashlee's Tips and Tricks:

Use only regular Oreos.
I prefer Wilton brand melting chocolates because they're made with real cocoa, instead of chocolate-flavored like other brands. (I've found them at Walmart in the craft department and at Joanne's.)
Don't be tempted to use regular chocolate chips to melt. They have a tendency to seize up and become lumpy. Melting chocolate is formulated for melting and dipping.
Make sure you measure when forming balls to make uniform cake bites.
As dipping chocolate starts to cool, it will get thick and start to clump. Simply put back in microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power to thin again.
White almond bark can be found in the baking section of your grocery store.

Thanks, Ashlee!

happy birthday, glade lynn mccrary

2012-02-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Lynn at 4 months old

Just want to wish my favorite guy in the entire world, the best birthday EVER! I love you more than chocolate, manicures, date night, shopping and even Target. :) Yep, you're loved a ton! Happy 55th Birthday, Hon!

cooking club: homemade yogurt + granola

2012-01-29T15:35:00.002-07:00

We held our second Cooking Club for Relief Society this week.

It was at the home of my friend, Breanna Smithson. She's known as "the foodie" in the ward/neighborhood. :)

She taught us to make homemade yogurt. (It was kind of a personal request from me.)

Oh. my. goodness.

If I had known it was so simple to make I would have been making it forever! I don't know if I can ever eat store-bought again. It's the perfect consistency, so much healthier, and just plain yummy. And it's so pretty in a canning jar.

Breanna brought over a jar later that night after it was done. I had Lynn try it the next morning (the real test), and he's asked me three times, "Are you going to make some yogurt?" He wants to take it to work with him for breakfast.

Breanna also mixed up a batch of her granola to sprinkle on top of the yogurt. The best granola I've ever tasted--really. And I love that it uses honey as the sweetener. No more looking, I found "the one."

BREANNA'S HOMEMADE GRANOLA

3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. chopped almonds
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
4 T. butter
1/3 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together oats, coconut, nuts, cinnamon, and salt. In a small saucepan melt butter with honey on low, stirring. Add vanilla and pour butter mixture over oat mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined.

On a large baking sheet, spread the granola evenly in a thin layer. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes to keep from sticking or burning, until golden brown and crisp (about 20 minutes). Do not overcook, the granola will become more crisp as it cools. Cool granola on baking sheet.

May be kept in an airtight container for up to one week.

Breanna's notes:

I always double the recipe and keep it in the freezer because I love really cold granola. (Oh, I need to try that!)
If you like dried fruit in your granola (I don't), stir in when you take the granola out of the oven to cool.

Thanks, Breanna!
Check out Breanna's blog for more great recipes.

wedding: the wishing tree

2012-01-26T13:06:00.001-07:00

Another one of my "assignments" for Patrick and Ashlee's wedding reception was the "wishing tree." It's a place guests can leave their advice and well-wishes for the couple on little cards and hang them on the tree. It ended up being one of my favorite things about the reception.

Traveling home from Costco one afternoon, I spied a huge pile of tree branches in a field. I yelled at Lynn to stop and turn around. The owners had just cut down part of an apple orchard, so the branches were still fresh and "living." Perfect.

I had purchased a few different jars because I wasn't sure which would work best. I also had an urn as an option, but it would have been more formal and I knew Ashlee wanted simple. After Lynn cut apart the branches, we arranged them and found the tall jar with a wide mouth allowed the branches to spread out best.

I liked it the way it was, but Lynn insisted it needed a filler in the jar. The next day he found a bag of smooth river rocks at Home Depot.

We set up the tree on a table in the foyer of the Bella Vista, which is just as you walk off the elevators. I had collected a variety of glass crystals in different shapes that we hung from the branches. The "wishing cards" matched Patrick and Ashlee's wedding announcements. We added a few to the tree and the rest were left on the table.

The entire reception was so much Patrick and Ashlee, and I loved that the bling of the tree was all about Ash and the "earthy" elements, Patrick. (He's a huge outdoor adventurer--rock climbing, hiking, snowshoeing, fishing, camping--and even manages an outdoor recreation store while going to school.) We added water to the jar to keep the rocks from looking faded. There were also an assortment of framed photos around the base.

The tree was simple and beautiful with all the cards hanging from it.

The wishes and advice ranged from sweet to silly. Here are a few of my favorites:

Have lots of adventures together!
Have lots of babies?!?! (No, I did not write that one!:))
I wish that 20 years from now you still get butterflies when you see each other!
Don't ever think your spouse knows what you're thinking, it could be completely the opposite of what you think.
Always put your companion first.
Good luck and many years of happiness. Enjoy your best friend.
Have a date every week, even if it's just popcorn and a DVD.
Congratulations! I hope you will love each other more in 40 years than you do today.
Look into each others eyes and tell each other that you love each other at least once a day.
Tell Ashlee you love her at least once a month. And never get naked around each other; it's the devil's work. (Yes, that was Austin! :))

sharing the love: valentine's matchbook download

2012-01-19T12:41:00.004-07:00

Remember these sweet Valentine's matchbook covers I made for the girls last year? Still love them. If I run out of time to make some new ones, I might actually have Ella use them again.

I got permission from Katie Pertiet (the designer of the darling Little Hearts Digital Kit I used to create them), to share with all of you! Thanks, Katie!

Click here to download. I printed mine on glossy cardstock purchased at a local copy shop. The colors are more vibrant on the glossy finish.

Steps to assemble:
1. Score between each pattern on the matchbox using a bone folder or X-acto knife. (Lightly and carefully with the X-acto.)
2. Insert a small treat in the bottom fold. (Any small, relatively flat candy will work. I found small packages of conversation hearts at Walmart.)
3. Staple at the lower part the bottom fold to secure (see photos) and tuck flap inside.

I hope your little girlies love sharing these as much as mine did.

wedding day: mr. + mrs. patrick mccrary

2012-01-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

I'm finally feeling like I'm back among the living. When the Dr. said it would take three weeks to recover from the influenza bug I had, I should have believed him.

Christmas was simple and wonderful. I only got half the decorations up and we ate off paper plates for Christmas dinner. Guess what? The world never stopped turning. Not once. :)

And we made it through the wedding. It was delightful and beautiful and perfect. Until we get the photographer's photos back, here are a few I quickly snapped . Can't wait to see the others.

We adore Ashlee's parents and family. She has four sisters, zero brothers.

Check out those blue skies and no snow. It's the middle of winter in Utah, people! Just a little chilly, but the sunshine was wonderful.

That is one. happy. boy. There is nothing more wonderful to this momma than to see her children make good choices and be so incredibly happy. Love him to pieces.

And this girl. We seriously scored in the daughter-in-law department. There's a list a mile long of things we love about her: she's beautiful and smart and fun and loves and lives the gospel. She's practical and wants to be a homemaker and is as excited as Patrick to have little ones. We couldn't love her more.

All the nieces (and sister, Ella) had matching outfits. They looked darling. (Ella and Madi didn't want to wait until the reception.)

Ella is thrilled to have a slew of new "cousins." (Not really, but we're all fine with letting her think they are.) And there are a lot of them! :)

Among the tears of joy and high fives, was silliness and laughter.

Seriously, it could not have been a more perfect day.

wedding word art

2011-12-27T13:57:00.001-07:00

My son, Patrick, and his fiancee, Ashlee, asked me to create a large framed custom word art to display at their reception. (Only ten more days!) Ashlee had a tear sheet in her "wedding ideas" notebook of a similar one. She's been so organized through the entire process. This is what I came up with.

They gave me a list of words to include. It has phrases, memories, places and words that have special meaning them. The print size will be 16x20. I'm going to frame it in a simple black frame because they want to hang it in their home after the reception.

All my "assignments" for the wedding have been in the works for awhile, I just need to finish them up. Wish me luck!

a little Christmas inspiration: it's all in the packaging

2011-12-21T10:34:00.001-07:00

Ella has had a difficult time with so many packages arriving on our porch and none of them being for her. Finally, the UPS man brought a great big box just for her and Madi. (It's from my brother, Mike, and his wife, Lynn. Thanks, guys!). As excited as she was, you'd have thought it was Christmas! Oh wait, it is. :) One of the things I love about the holidays, is having boxes arrive on my porch.

I, on the other hand, received a nice influenza bug for the holidays. Really? Really? REALLY? I went to Instacare on Sunday and the doctor loaded me up with meds and a "wait and see" prescription for an antibiotic. I can fill it on Christmas Eve if I'm not feeling better. In the meantime, I've watched every last Hallmark Channel Christmas movie EVER made and more HGTV than I need in a lifetime. (And I love HGTV.) This stinks! I have so much to do.

Thank goodness I had my shopping done the first week of December. My kids know they'd better have their finalized list done on Thanksgiving or they get what I choose. (And thank goodness the older ones wanted gift cards.)

I did manage to wrap a few more gifts today. I love wrapping gifts. And I love beautifully wrapped gifts.

Like these. I found this darling idea on Pinterest and when I went to the source listed on flickr, it said NanaCompany. Well, of course it did, because I love everything that girl (Amy) does. :) She sews and stitches beautifully. Here Amy used two different coordinating patterns on each wrapped package, tied them up with ribbon and/or fabric strips and adds a simple snowflake tag. So simple. So doable. So doing this.

photo by: Merissa Revestir

I may just wrap up some of those gift cards like this: white envelope, candy cane and baker's twine. Couldn't be simpler and so sweet.

How fun is this for a gift card? And very simple to make. There's a great tutorial on The Creative Mama.

To make your gift wrapping more fun, gather your supplies, make some hot cocoa and watch a Hallmark Channel Christmas special while cutting and taping. If you finish early and need to know how a story ends, let me know, I've seen them all! *cough, cough* :)

christmas: a sweet and simple craft

2011-12-17T06:45:00.003-07:00

Ella pulled a "do a craft with Mom" card from our activities advent the other day. I think it's her favorite one, besides "choose a holiday treat." Yep, the girl has a major sweet tooth.

So we twisted pipe cleaners together to make candy canes for Ella's tree. (Real ones would mysteriously disappear, I'm sure! :)) They look darling. Then we had fun forming letters and spelling words. Ella loved adding a little "whip-dee-do" at the end of each letter. :)

gifted: Christmas teacher gift

2011-12-16T11:35:00.003-07:00

When it comes to gifting others, I tend to give things I love or would love to receive.

I sent Ella off this morning with a set of six of these mini latte bowls from Anthropologie for her teacher, Mrs. Reiber. I packaged them in cellophane with a red ribbon bow and matching tags from Sass and Peril. I also used this set from Lemon Squeezy. (Both are free downloads.) When I came across the tags on Pinterest and they matched so perfectly, I knew it was meant to be. :)

I know I've shared these bowls before, but they are still a favorite and I use them for so many things. They're the perfect size for ice cream and sprinkles for Ella and I have them filled with buttons and baubles throughout my craft studio. It's fun to open my desk drawer and see them filled with paper clips and staples. I also use them when I pre-measure spices and ingredients when cooking or baking.

I had Lynn pick up an extra set for another special someone. I hope they both enjoy them as much as I do.

sweet moments and scripture advent download

2011-12-06T22:21:00.001-07:00

My experience has been, that recognizing and being grateful for those sweet and simple moments that touch our hearts is what makes life most meaningful and memorable. You can't make them happen, they just do. And you smile, offer a little prayer of thanks, take a picture with your heart, and know. And then they happen even more often. That's why I love Christmas so much. It's filled to the brim with opportunities to find and cherish those little moments.

I purchased this Fisher-Price nativity collection for the girls this year.

They love it and play with it often.

Madi had it all to herself a couple of weeks ago and I watched her hold the baby Jesus in her little hands and just look at him. I wondered what she was thinking until she asked me, "Grandma, is this 'a child of God'?" It was one of those sweet little moments when you want so much to say just the right thing. I simply replied, "Yes, that is Jesus and he is a child of God, and so are you."

I know that each December as I unpack the Little People nativity, I'll remember that moment.

Last year Ella went with our friends the Lindleys, to a live nativity up the road in Alpine, Utah. She talked about it all year and really wanted to go again, so we added it to our activities advent list. We took both girls this past weekend. Ella felt so important being the "leader" and showing us how things worked and where to go.

We walked up the hill with Roman soldiers on horses directing us that "all are to be counted." We walked through Bethlehem and saw live camels, llamas and donkeys. We met the three wise men who told us the significance of each of the gifts they gave to the infant Jesus. And we watched actors work with leather, metal and wool.

As we sipped hot cocoa, we walked to another barn where a quartet in the loft was playing Christmas music. I knew what was coming and the emotion began to surface. We were just outside the door and could hear a sweet newborn crying. I didn't even try to hold back the tears. The sight that welcomed us was so beautiful--Mary, Joseph and the newborn babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. It was so noisy outside, but in that humble little room in the corner of a barn, it was quiet, and everyone spoke in whispers.

I watched the sweet couple as they tried to comfort the crying baby. I could feel their anxiousness as their efforts, at first, were unsuccessful. And I realized, as first-time parents, Mary and Joseph would have had those same feelings. I took in the surroundings and felt humbled. It was a sweet moment witnessed and it brought the scripture account in the New Testament of the birth of our Savior to life.

I mentioned last year that one of the things I loved most about the Christmas season, was crawling into bed each night and reading a series of scriptures that followed of the life of Christ. I looked forward to that time and enjoyed feeling the Spirit as I read.

The list of scripture accounts is from a scripture advent our primary leaders handed out to each child to read with their family. It's a good one. I wanted my older children to have the same list, so I created a more "grown up" version just for them. (Truth be told, I also had a hard time reading the other versions--yes, this was the year for bi-focals and I love them!). If you'd like your own copy, download here. I know it's a little late, but you can easily catch up. (The original was found on Sugardoodle, taken from the December 2008 issue of the Friend magazine.)

I hope your Christmas season is filled with many sweet moments.

a little Christmas inspiration

2011-12-03T12:55:00.003-07:00

I was flat on my back with the stomach flu yesterday. Between all the nastiness, I looked through my Pinterest holiday board for a little inspiration. I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

I started collecting toddler size socks a few years ago when I saw this advent calendar from Martha Stewart. I'm going to use it as a garland.

The title for this post at White on Rice Couple reads: Chocolate Marshmallow Peppermint Pops--Holiday Happiness on a Stick. I know that would be true for my oldest son, Patrick. Might have to make him a few (or a dozen) for his hot cocoa obsession. The photos for this tutorial are beautiful--go check them out.

Wool felt balls + garland = delightful. It may take me awhile to collect all the balls (they're a bit pricey), but I'm going to make one--or ten--of these. I was at Pebbles in my Pocket the other day. They carry them in individual colors (yes!). There's a special tool you need to string them. Or you can make them with this great tutorial from Whipperberry.

I love this ruffle garland from A Field Journal. I have something similar in the works for my red and white tree.

This holiday punch--apple juice, cranberry juice, ginger ale and ice (sans the vodka, please)--sounds wonderful. It was made for a July 4th celebration, but I may try it for our family Christmas dinner.

Gingerbread heads from Bakerella. These make me happy just looking at them. I'd buy a dozen for my girlies in a second.

So simple for my holiday table. (Click on photo for link.)

A simple holiday place setting from BH&G--my favorite mag.

An all white dessert table at Chickabug--so beautiful. Go check out the rest of the table.

These knitted ornaments on Etsy are too sweet. I want a few of the cupcakes for Ella's tree, the snowman for mine and a whole collection of those acorns for my fall decor. I don't knit, but Ella's Grandma Connie does. Next Christmas, maybe? The pattern is here .

holiday favorites: cranberry sauce

2011-11-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

We had a quiet little family Thanksgiving with some of the kids and our granddaughter, Madi. It was wonderful.

For Family Night we made another gratitude garland. We took turns choosing a leaf and telling what we were thankful for. Ella sounded out each word and wrote them on the leaves. This year's list:

food
Jesus
family
Kate
our home
Madi
Mom
Dad
Patrick & Ashlee
Santa
the temple
Ella

A simple activity, but always a favorite. I purchased the pre-cut leaves at Pebbles in my Pocket, punched holes at the top of each with a micro circle punch and threaded them onto crochet thread.

A couple of weeks ago, Ella went to her friend David's house to play. I'm pretty sure the entire neighborhood was there. Later, David's mother told me they played house and Ella was the mom and David was the dad. They had family night, and each child had to tell one thing they were thankful for--so sweet.

Then Ella and David kissed. What? (Tawnie was laughing as she was telling me this.) I apologized and told her I'd talk to Ella. She said she told the little love birds they had a "no kissing" rule. Ella explained, "But my mom and dad kiss all the time!" Okay, kinda sweet.

Speaking of sweet things, my favorite thing about Thanksgiving (and Christmas) dinner is the cranberry sauce. I've found either you're a cranberry person or you're not. If you're not, this recipe could possibly change your mind. And if you already are, you'll never purchase a can of it again.

Years and years ago, our Relief Society had a professional chef, Glen Pincock, teach us how to make a complete holiday dinner, fancy schmancy-style. It was inspiring. I remember feeling so "Martha-ish" as I put herbs under the skin of the turkey and added orange slices to the cavity before cooking it. I still use many of the other tips and tricks, and this cranberry sauce recipe:

CRANBERRY SAUCE

12 oz. fresh cranberries

11 oz. can mandarin oranges

1 3/4 c. sugar (I use less, about 1 1/2 c., which makes it a little more tart)

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Combine cranberries, spices, sugar and liquid from mandarin oranges in a saucepan. Simmer on low. When cranberries begin to break down, add mandarin orange segments. Stir and cook to desired texture. Chill.

So simple to make and an absolute must for turkey sandwiches. It can be made early and kept in the fridge, just in case you decide to go see Breaking Dawn and have lunch with your girlfriends the day before Thanksgiving, instead of preparing food. Just in case. ;)

out and about: St. George, UT mini va-cay

2011-11-27T21:37:00.001-07:00

Every fall, Lynn and Patrick take a "boys" trip together. They've gone to Yellowstone several times and Zion's National Park. This year, they ~~sort of~~ invited the girls (me, Ashlee and Ella). We all headed to the condo in St. George and on Saturday we went our separate ways.

The boys took off for the day exploring back roads and visiting the site of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. They also visited a ghost town called Grafton.

The girls had some serious shopping to do at my favorite spots. Not before hitting the nail salon though. Ella and I got manicures. Since Ashlee was having her bridal photos the day after we arrived home, she got both a mani and a pedi. Ella asked me, "Hey, why does Ashlee get both?" :)

Our first stop was a consignment shop called Urban Renewal. It's right on St. George Blvd. They have housewares and clothing and other fun stuff. Ashlee bought the most darling vintage dress and a silk blouse. Patrick and Ashlee went back later and bought a coffee table.

I loved this green metal gate and those worn pots. I restrained myself and didn't buy either. Now looking at the photo, I wish I'd purchased some of those pots.

Elles Belles had a little visit with Brigham.

Our next stop was Lazy Daisy Cottage quilt shop. They always have great quilts and projects on display. I love the design of the quilt they had hanging on the porch. I bought a couple of fat quarters for a banner I'm making.

And of course we hit the Home Goods/TJ Maxx near the outlet mall.

The rest of the time we ate, swam and watched movies. Patrick and Ashlee also went to the St. George temple. (It's one of my absolute favorites because of the history.) They watched Ella so Lynn and I could have a date night. (Thanks tons, you two.)

It was pretty much the perfect little getaway.

Other favorites in St. George:

Dining at the Painted Pony. It's in Ancestor Square and has delicious gourmet food a.k.a "fussy food." Dinner is mucho pricey, but lunch is reasonable.
The kids always loved visiting the Thomas Judd store. It's an ice cream/soda shop filled with every vintage candy imaginable. Remember those wax lips? Got 'em. How about all chocolate Neccos? Yep, them too. Lynn found glass bottles of orange Nehi soda and Frosty root beer he loved as a kid. It's a fun little stroll down memory lane.
During the summer, the park next to the Tabernacle has the best little man-made river/splash pad. Grab a snack and your sunscreen and head over.

apple carrot muffins

2011-11-26T16:37:00.001-07:00

I had no intention of taking such a long break from blogging. I've been enjoying the fall weather, scents and palatable flavors tremendously this year. And I've been quite domestic. (What's up with that?) I actually enjoy it, but it does come in waves for me. So family, enjoy it while it lasts! :)

All the fun recipes and ideas on Pinterest inspire me. I know that's part of it. And then I got together with some friends to can apples. I asked my friend and neighbor, Natalie, to show me how and four other friends joined us. It was so enjoyable. Yep, I'm pretty sure that's were it started.

Natalie had extra Rome apples from her parent's trees, so she gave me a big box. I also borrowed her apple corer/peeler/slicer and now I want my own. It's very cool.

When I was done, I lined up my apples on the counter in plain sight and just kept walking by to admire them. :) They're just pretty and give me such a sense of accomplishment. We also made juice from the apples.

I made a batch of these yummy muffins to go with my tomato basil parmesan soup last week. My friend, Ginny, made them for a girls' getaway awhile back and they are delish. So sweet and moist they're almost like dessert. She pinned the recipe on Pinterest. It's from here.

APPLE CARROT MUFFINS

1 1/3 c. flour*
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tart green apple, peeled, cored and shredded
2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
2/3 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in apple, carrots, and coconut.

In another bowl, combine sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients, stirring sparingly.

Spray 12 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray (or use liners). Divide batter among the 12 cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

*I used part (1/2 cup) whole wheat flour, just because I like the taste better.

Enjoy!

relief society meeting: cooking club

2011-11-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

We're starting a new meeting for the Relief Society (the women's organization in our church) this month. It's called the Cooking Club. We're inviting sisters (or they can volunteer) to hold a meeting in their home to demonstrate and share a taste of one dish from their family favorites recipe file. The focus will be on simple and healthy dishes their family loves and that they enjoy making. They can share additional recipes on a handout if they'd like, and I'll help them with the entire process.

I'd much rather prepare a "tried and true" recipe I've actually tasted. I've been making a point of trying new recipes lately and have had a lot of misses--and some successes too. More misses though. We have some women in the ward who love to cook and are good at it.

Our first Cooking Club meeting will be a little different. With the upcoming holiday season approaching, we thought it would be fun to get together to learn to make yummy pies. We have a sister in the ward, Tamsen, who has some mad skills in that department. Everyone I talk to says her pies are amazing! We sent out an ingredient and supplies list and we're all going to mix and roll our pie crust right along with Tamsen. Then we'll add our choice of filling and have a finished pie to take home and bake! How cool is that? We're going to have some very happy husbands in the neighborhood. :)

fall field trip 2011

2011-11-07T21:29:00.001-07:00

It snowed just a little today. Ella and I talked about the seasons. I told her I think fall is my favorite. She likes summer best because she gets to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

A couple of weeks ago the kindergarten class went on their fall field trip. Ella was a little anxious, but so excited.

E with friends, David and Ella B.

Her lunch was planned a week in advance. We packed her favorite things (a ham and cheese Lunchables with an Oreo, apple slices and juice), because it was a very special occasion.

Even more exciting than packing a special lunch, was riding the school bus. Finally! For a year before Ella started kindergarten, she would tell me how much she was looking forward to riding the bus to school. (We live one block away.) As thrilled as she was, Ella told me she cried when she first got on the bus, just a little, so no one could see. (Then I cried just a little, because it made me sad.) But then she forgot how scared she was and it was okay. :)

At the park in the canyon, each student received a paper bag with a list of items to collect. Being in the canyon + collecting = one happy little girl. Ella is an expert collector--mini princesses, rocks, Happy Meal toys, rocks, ponies, rocks, pennies from the Meadow Fairies (more on that later), rocks.

The "egg-corns" were Ella's favorite thing.

What a great collection, and what a fun activity. I'm thinking we should do this when we go to the canyon or the cabin.

Elles couldn't wait to show me each of her special treasures. She asked me to take a picture of them and then another when they were sorted. :)

Happy fall.

happy halloween 2011

2011-11-01T15:14:00.007-06:00

My day was wickedly busy! Which makes me laugh, because I have friends whose days are like this every day, and it's their norm. I just don't function well when I'm over-scheduled and can accomplish more when I keep things simple. I also give myself one day per week--Thursday--that I schedule nothing. It's a free day and it's my day to do the things I want. I have Lynn pick up dinner on the way home, so I don't even cook. It's one of those essentials in my life.

I started the day with attending the Halloween parade at school--so fun. I worked out, checked e-mails (and yes, Pinterest, but only for 15 minutes :)). I picked up Ella from school, got her lunch, got dressed and we headed to play therapy. I went into the play room with Ella this time. We're starting a new thing called "relationship enhancement," hoping it will help her with an issue she's struggling with right now.

Then I was off to the United Way of Utah County to be taped for a presentation at the "In Her Shoes" Gala, which is a fund raising event hosted by Women in Philanthropy. They support some of the programs at the Family Support and Treatment Center. I shared our experiences with the programs at FSTC and how they have benefited us.

I was behind the camera on occasion when I worked for Creating Keepsakes and Making Memories, but it has been a long time! I was definitely out of my comfort zone on this one. But it's been awhile since I challenged myself to do something that made me nervous and even a bit fearful. It ended up being very rewarding. And Karen and John were awesome. That made a huge difference. Of course I got a little emotional at the end. I always do when I'm talking about something so dear to my heart.

Another reason I agreed to do the taping, was because I love the Family Support and Treatment Center. We would not have made the progress we've made with Ella if not for their programs and resources. We know that. I wish I had a million dollars to throw at them, but I don't. So instead I will help them in any way I can.

On our way home, we stopped to see this display. Yes, I know it's juvenile, but it's silly and imaginative and Ella thinks it's hilarious. She calls them "the pumpkin bums."

Here's another part of the display. Spooky, but not too scary.

We thought we'd better buy more Halloween candy, so we stopped at Walmart. I already had five bags, so I bought five more. We were gone trick-or-treating during the "busy" part of the night, so we ended up with three bags left. (I'm really adding this so I can refer back to it next year. I always forget how much candy we bought the previous year. :)) Oh, and I bought all Skittles because I'm not the least bit tempted to eat them and can use them as rewards for E since she loves them.

After a "fiber-filled" dinner to off-set the coming sugar overload, we were off to go trick-or-treating.

And because Ella and Jordan are pretty much inseparable, our first stop was the Burns'. Lynn kept saying how much he loved this pink pony costume. I ordered it from Pottery Barn Kids. It's darling and warm.

The weather was perfect for the first time in I can't even remember how many years. The girls ran to every house and filled their bags to the brim.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween, too!

halloween fun: monster slime kit

2011-10-28T14:43:00.001-06:00

I went visiting teaching this morning (yes, I know it's the end of the month :)). I wanted to take along something fun for Halloween. We had such a good time and got so "freaked out" making magical monster slime yesterday, I thought I'd put together a kit with the supplies so Cami could make it with her own little monsters.

SUPPLIES:
4 oz. Elmer's glue
1 tsp. Borax powder in a little ziploc bag
green food coloring in a little ziploc bag
tri-fold how-to card (download below)
cellophane bag
halloween ribbon

Simply package up the supplies in a cellophane bag and tie with scary Halloween ribbon. I left the glitter out since Cami has three boys and I'm sure they don't think it's as amazing as little girls do. (But I did create a how-to card just for magical monster slime that includes adding glitter along with the food coloring.) Take your pick:

green monster slime how-to card (include green food coloring)
monster slime how-to card (include any color food coloring)
magical monster slime how-to card (add glitter to the kit)

Fold your how-to card on the lines into a tri-fold like this and it fits perfectly in front of the bag. So simple and I love a gift or favor that's also an activity.

Enjoy!

I almost forgot. The font I used for the how-to card is Shlop from Font Squirrel. Cool, huh?!

halloween fun: magical monster slime

2011-10-27T21:30:00.004-06:00

There are a variety of recipes floating around Pinterest for Slime or Gak. My boys loved the stuff when they were younger. They probably still would. :) There's one special ingredient that the recipe we used forgot to add, which makes the slime "magical."

Ella, Gentry and Kate

That's according to these three little monsters.

Ella and Kate wanted a play date this week. They both love to do crafts, so they dressed paper dolls with real fabric and made magical monster slime. Gentry (Kate's younger sister), hung out with us while her mom ran an errand.

MAGICAL MONSTER SLIME

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Borax powder
1 1/2 c. water, divided
4 oz. (or 1/2 cup) Elmer's glue--we used clear glue, but you can also use the white.
food coloring
glitter (the secret ingredient that makes it magical!)

Fill a small bowl (or measuring cup it you have two) with 1 cup of water and add 1 teaspoon of Borax powder. Mix until the Borax is dissolved and set aside.

Pour glue into a medium mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup of water.

Spend five minutes arguing about what color the slime should be. (Notice each girl has a different color food coloring?)

Once it's decided, add about four drops of food coloring to the glue mixture.

Stir it up a bit and add a bunch of glitter.

Now add the Borax mixture to the glue mixture and watch it begin to solidify--cool!

Stick your hands in and and start mixing it all up. The more hands the better.

Giggle at how "freaked out" you are by how it feels!

Pour out the excess water and knead the mixture until it becomes more firm and dry.

When you're done playing with it, store in a Ziplock bag or other air tight container. We used 2 oz. portion containers (also called souffles) I had left from this Halloween play dough project. You can find them at larger party supply stores or I've seen them on Amazon.com. They've also had them at Costco in the past. The cups and lids usually come separate, so be sure to check before ordering or purchasing.

My friend Mykel (also Kate and Gentry's mom), is making monster slime with the kids in Kate's class at their Halloween party. Cool mom, huh?! She's even going to wear a witches hat and cast a spell over it to turn it to slime. :) Yes you are Mykel, you said you would! ;) Fun stuff.

Hope you have a magical Halloween too.

10 tips for a successful super saturday

2011-10-27T16:32:00.004-06:00

Whew! Another successful Relief Society meeting under our belts. Super Saturday is an activity held once a year for the women in our church. We get together to socialize, craft, learn new skills, and eat. Yep, it's good times. I was on the Relief Society Board for this event and there's a lot of planning and work that goes into it. I've put together a simple list of things we've learned.

1. Choose simple, quality, up-to-date projects that fit the needs of the sisters in your ward.

We hold our Super Saturday in October each year, so we focus on projects that can be gifted for Christmas and decorate our homes for the holidays. We also try to choose projects that teach a new skill. Our ward has a huge number of children, so darling hair accessories are always a no-brainer.

After making fifteen hair accessories, Sandra started teaching Melissa. :)

Sandra's hair accessories (shhhh, they're Christmas gifts).

Projects that require painting add a level of mess and wait time. If you choose to include them, limit or (like us) avoid them. Also limit the number of projects (and color choices you offer) for simplicity sake, kit prep, and teaching purposes.

2. Use your blog.

Show projects and information at several meetings, but also on a board member's blog. We had several sisters go to this blog for photos, descriptions, and information. You can also include tutorials or instruction sheets to help those who were unable to attend Super Saturday or who need help remembering steps. An added bonus is that you can share your ideas with other RS boards. ;)

3. Delegate each project to a Relief Society board member or member.

Each sister assigned a project will be responsible for searching out pricing before the projects are displayed, ordering/purchasing supplies, compiling kits, and teaching the class. Work together for large orders on supplies that can be purchased from one site (you’ll save on shipping and can get quantity discounts). We use papermart.com a lot for ribbon and tins and used createforless.com for our wreath forms this time around. When pricing projects, we include a small buffer of about .10 for small projects and .25 for larger projects to account for price fluctuation and so no one ends up eating a price difference. We end up using it more often than not. If there are any extra funds, we use it to purchase snacks for the classrooms (we all know chocolate is a must while crafting!). If you get a killer deal on something you hadn’t planned to find on sale, just tuck a dollar (or whatever amount) back in project kits.

4. Give yourself plenty of time to order and kit projects.

Our time line is usually three weeks for showing projects and sign-ups and another three weeks to order and kit projects.

5. Kit and label each project.

Kitting all projects is a huge help with organization and will save you so much grief. (Plus everything looks so nice packaged all together. ;)) We include all the supplies for a single project in a Ziploc bag and write each sister's name on it. We box up the kits and each crafter can walk into the designated classroom or area, grab her kit and get right to work. Plus, it gives everyone a place keep supplies together. If someone was unable to attend Super Saturday, they can easily pick up their kits later.

Lily demonstrating how to make Kung Pao Chicken and Fried Rice.

Unbelievable!

6. Provide a simple lunch.

We all get a little cranky when we get hungry, so a simple lunch is always nice. Some of our sisters don’t do crafts, but join us for the free demo and lunch. We highly encourage this! We also invite the Laurels to join us, and many times married daughters come back with their mothers. The extra numbers can add up fast. Include a sign-up sheet for lunch with the other order forms to get an accurate head count. Keep lunch simple and something the sisters can serve up and take back to the tables and keep working. Our lunch included: crock pots of soup, a large salad, rolls, and cookies/bars. We also had samples from our cooking demo class. We asked RS sisters to sign-up for lunch items so the board members could focus on classes.

7. Have a trial run for board members and teachers.

Getting together with other board members (usually a week or two before Super Saturday) to teach each other the projects being offered is very useful and we have a blast. We fine tune instructions and details, have time to do the projects we signed-up for, and just in case someone gets the stomach flu (yes it happened!), we have substitute teachers who have already completed the project.

Cami pre-cut all her felt circles and completed her wreath at Super Saturday.

8. Allow time for pre-work.

One of the projects for our current Super Saturday was a wreath that involved cutting out between 150-200 felt circles. I sent out an e-mail letting the sisters know I had felt and templates ready to pick up if they wanted to get started cutting early. Those who did were able to complete the project at Super Saturday. This would be a great option for painted projects so the sisters don’t have to wait for items to dry.

9. Give sisters additional opportunities to complete projects.

We schedule an additional follow-up “finishing day or night” so sisters can bring their unfinished projects to work on. It extends the fun and it’s great to get our projects completed. We’ve held “finishing nights” as a Relief Society meeting in the past (not in conjunction with SS) or as just a neighborhood activity with a lot of success. Everyone brings whatever project they’re working on—quilting, organizing photos, and yes, I even brought my ironing once. Work is always more fun with friends.

9 1/2. Order extra supplies and kit extra projects.

This last tip isn’t necessary, but nice. (That’s why it only counts for ½ a tip. :)) Put together a few additional kits for each project if you have the time. The hair accessory project I taught has a covered button in the center. I love covered buttons! I knew the other sisters would too. I ordered more than what I needed in bulk and additional pusher tools at a great price and packaged them as a kit for those interested. They sold in the first hour. I also made up 15 extra hair accessory kits and sold them too. We offered empty tins from our chocolate tins project for those who were interested.

10. Have a follow-up meeting after the event.

While the experience is still fresh on everyone’s mind, have a quick board meeting to discuss both what went well and any changes you might make for next time. Then keep your notes for next year. Overall, we felt our Super Saturday was a huge success. But we’d also add or change a few things:

Next year we’d like to have all the projects together in the cultural hall instead of different classrooms. That will require meeting in a different building because of sports.
We want to inform the sisters of a realistic time commitment for each project so they can order/plan accordingly.

Uh...yeah.

We need to find a tactful way to tell many of the sisters to clean up after themselves! Too much of our time was spent throwing away scraps and packaging others left sitting on the tables and floor. It also extended our final clean-up time. Yes, there were multiple wastebaskets in each classroom. Any suggestions?

We love our Young Women. It was so fun having them join us, but we found that most of our teachers’ time was spent helping them with projects. We need to come up with a solution. Maybe suggest to the YW leaders that the girls have a separate mini Super Saturday? The girls would love it!

Overall, I think the key is to keep things simple. Simple, simple, simple. That way everyone gets to have an enjoyable time.

*Glad I took notes, I was called as the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator for our ward!

out and about: sundance, utah

2011-10-25T14:49:00.000-06:00

My sweet husband loves to plan surprises. And I love surprises. Yep, we make a great team. :) When we were first married, we spent a lot of time and weekends at Sundance. It's one of our favorite places to turn off the rest of the world and just breathe for awhile. I can literally feel the tension leave my neck and shoulders as we climb the hill to the resort.

About two week ago, Lynn told me, "Don't plan anything for this certain Saturday (last week)." He arranged for a babysitter and made reservations at my favorite place to eat at Sundance, The Foundry Grill. I had mentioned a couple of times that I really wanted to drive the Alpine Loop to see the fall colors. So after lunch, we did. It was a perfect day.

It was so peaceful and nice to just sit and soak in the light.

I liked this design. It was the vent next to our table.

I had the chef grill--instead of lightly fry--the fish for my fish tacos. They were perfect.

For dessert, I told our waiter I wanted something "fall-ish." He suggested the apple pie with salted caramel-something ice cream--good stuff.

I did a little shopping after lunch. I'm loving wood bowls right now. I've been trying to find a long, wood tray for my kitchen table to arrange my candles in.

One of the things I love about fall is the pumpkins and squash--especially these mini versions.

This sign is a little rustic for me, but I loved the words.

Did I tell you I love wooden bowls and trays and plates?

Handmade pillows in a vintage-y chair--love.

With the Art Center now completed, there were two wedding receptions going on. I thought this sign was darling.

The Foundry Grill is right around that corner.

I had a friend tell me recently, that she thought all husbands should take husband lessons from Lynn. I agreed. :)

Happy fall.

i love you, mommy!

2011-10-05T19:13:00.001-06:00

Hi Mommy, I miss you so much. Are you feeling better?

Uncle Patrick bought me a new puppy with it's own cage!

I named him Andrew. I love him soooo much.

This is a heart. It means I love you.

Love, Madilyn

Our granddaughter, Madi, has been staying with us while our Kate is recovering from recent surgery and her Dad is in finals week. She's such a little sunshine in our lives, so sweet and happy (most of the time ;)). It's been fun to have one-on-one time with her while Ella is at school. We read Five Little Monkeys over and over, play "you be Madi and I be Grandma," buy pink gum at the store, go on walks, and color. She loves to sing to me. I'll miss the little stinker when she goes home.

an interest in pinterest: halloween goodness

2011-10-04T11:06:00.001-06:00

A friend in my neighborhood posted on our Google group, looking for ideas her kids could make each other for Christmas. I suggested she look on Pinterest. Here's a follow-up to my reply:

I agree with Pinterest, but be warned, it sucks you in like a giant crafty black hole, never to be heard from again. Evil. Awesome evil.

Denise

I busted up. It's true. And yes, I was the one who shared the "awesome evil" with Denise. I'm so ashamed. :)

Yep, I'm officially addicted to Pinterest. I refer to it all the time in my conversations and a couple of times, I've even dreamed I was pinning--really.

I'm always surprised by how many people don't know about it. If you're not familiar, it's a place to gather the things that interest and inspire you and "pin" them onto boards you create.

pin + interest = pinterest.

It's the perfect organizational tool. I used to have a million posts and websites "bookmarked" on my computer. But trying to find them again was a daunting and time consuming task. Now I simply go to Pinterest, open my boards, and the information is all there, attached with a photo. It's pure genius.

I get ideas for activity days and Relief Society meetings, recipes, tutorials, home decor, crafts, sewing, quilting etc., from the site. Here's a list of my personal boards (or categories):

buttons
celebrate
cupcakes
digi
ella's room
fashion love
garlands
health
hints
holidays
home
kate
kids
little fashion love
make
organization
it's all in the packaging
photography
pink
polka dots
ribbon
ruffles
salads and fruits
sew sweet
stuff i love

The boards pretty much sum up my lifestyle and the things I love.

Here are a few things I pinned for Halloween onto my "holidays" board:

1. fabric pumpkins pattern: retro mama etsy shop; 2. spider handprints: childsource.ca; 3. halloween wordart: coco prints etsy shop; 4. pumpkin-filled lanterns: inspiration for decoration blog; 5. halloween crackers: martha stewart; 6. halloween tablescape: gordon gossip blog; 7. trick-or-treat bucket: two sisters designs etsy shop; 8. halloween labels: blush printables etsy shop;
9. monogram pumpkin tutorial: butler's blog

Another great aspect of Pinterest, is that you get to see what everyone else is pinning and can pin them onto your own boards. That means there are a million other eyes out there looking for the best ideas and inspiration. It's a major time saver--unless you spend too much time pinning and that's when the evil comes in. :) You can also follow others boards who have similar tastes and styles to see just what they've added. I spend ten or fifteen minutes here or there pinning away. It's my un-guilty pleasure.

If you want to join in the fun, drop me an e-mail and I'll invite you. Or you can request an invite on the site, but it takes much longer.

So celebrate Halloween early and enjoy some awesome evil-ness. :) Get pinning!

activity days: secret service mission

2011-10-03T19:41:00.000-06:00

I found another great activity days idea over at the fickle pickle blog. I love when others make my calling so much simpler. I changed things up a bit to simplify and the girls LOVED the activity.

The idea was to send each girl on a mission to do secret service for seven days. I affixed fun labels I printed using a sheet of white address labels to 6x9 manila clasp envelopes. In the envelope I inserted:

Ms. Fickle's downloadable sheets--one of service ideas and the other explaining the mission and a tracking sheet--found here.
a new pen
a bag of Pop SECRET microwave popcorn.

We took turns reading the secret service ideas, and the girls (on their own) decided they wanted to assign numbers from one to five to each task based on how difficult they thought it would be. I thought it was a great idea. Anything that included the phrase "without complaining" received an automatic five rating. :) I seriously wanted to laugh every time.

I told the girls that at the end of the week, they could pop the popcorn and invite their family members to gather together and talk about their "mission accomplished."

Activity Day Leaders: to make your calling simpler too, I included a download of the labels I used for the manila envelopes. Print them out on Avery 8250 (or compatible) white address labels. They measure 1" x 2 5/8" and come 30 labels to a sheet.

Enjoy!

ideas for general conference

2011-09-30T17:34:00.004-06:00

I have been so cranky lately. I have a lot on my plate at the moment (though that will eventually pass, I know), Ella's transition into Kindergarten has not been as easy as we'd hoped, I'm being released from serving on the RS Board which I've loved, and I cleaned out the food storage room awhile back and am totally avoiding organizing that part of my life. Mostly, I think I just need some direction.

I've been reading Daughters in my Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society with the sisters in my ward. I'm having a hard time getting past the preface, because I keep re-reading parts. I know, that's good. I've been particularly pondering this quote by Belle S. Spafford:

"The average woman today, I believe, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluate the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be greatest and most enduring, and ridding herself of the less rewarding activities."

I think it's time to re-evaluate again. As with everything else in life, it's a process. I've felt a bit off balance lately. I thought I knew what I'd be doing next, but I was wrong. Which means there are most likely even greater blessings in store. I'm just not very good at waiting sometimes.

So I'm really looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I'm headin' in with some questions.

And because Miss Ella stays completely focused on each and every speaker all four sessions...ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! and ha! Yes, it's a rare photo.

What you don't see is this. Elles gets to eat those marshmallows when she gets a bingo and she LOVES marshmallows. I even caught her during the prayer very carefully placing those little bunnies on squares so no one would hear her moving. :) Her primary teacher brought her a little packet of goodies and this was part of it. It also had a notebook with the temple on it and a new pen. I can't remember the rest, but Ella loved it.

My friend, Jen, told me about the conference packets on SugarDoodle. They make one for each conference and they're great. Jen makes a conference binder for each of her kids and I thought it was such a great idea I did the same thing for E. The activities kept Elles busy for a long time. I love the First Presidency as toilet paper roll puppets, and even better with their "pets." I wonder if their wives print out these things and keep them in a scrapbook as part of their family history? I would if my husband showed up as an illustration--or toilet paper person. :)

Another thing Jen does with her kiddos is "conference cash." The kids can earn it by working hard, doing chores and for good behavior before conference and by completing pages from their conference packets and binder during conference. Jen sets up a store--special goodies, dollar store toys, etc.--where her little consumers can spend their cash. They LOVE it!

I found this Conference Squares game on lds.org. I printed one out for Patrick too. He and Elles are very competitive, even though there's a 23 year age difference. Yep, it's true! :)

We also have special "conference cookies" during the afternoon sessions on Saturday and Sunday. No special recipe, completely store-bought. So what makes them special? I don't normally buy store-bought cookies. We prefer homemade any day. But Ella looks forward to them. This package pretty much covers the three of us: I like the Nutter Butters, Lynn loves Chips Ahoy!, and Ella prefers the Oreos.

I used to diligently take notes during each conference address. I think it helped me focus better. Patrick once asked me why I had little hearts throughout my notes. I explained they were thoughts, feelings and inspiration that came to me during conference or scriptures I specifically wanted to ponder or read again. Knowing I'll soon have each address in print I now just jot down the inspiration so my hand doesn't get so tired. :) I also do this during Education Week and come away with pages of inspiration. It's the part I love most.

Lynn and Patrick look forward to the Priesthood Session of conference on Saturday evening. They go to dinner beforehand and Patrick's best friend and his father, along with our long-time friend and home teacher, Ron, join them. Ella and I have "girl time."

I love the simple things and traditions that make the weekend so enjoyable for all of us.

Have a great weekend.

celebrate: look who's three!

2011-09-29T16:57:00.001-06:00

Our sweet little granddaughter, Madilyn, turned three last week. She loves to have her nails done, so Kate decided to give her a nail spa party. She made arrangements with the nail place she has her own nails done to have each of the party guests get a manicure and pedicure.

It was quite a simple party since someone else was doing most of the work. Kate brought balloons and made up gift bags for each of the girls. How darling are those bags? They were filled with little girl make-up, nail polish, jewelry and ring pops. Each also had a crown for the princesses to wear while they were being pampered. :)

One of the highlights was choosing from all those nail polish colors. Of course, the more obnoxious and bright the color the more the girls liked it.

The nail artists didn't use any harsh chemicals like they do for grown-ups.

And some girls (uh hem...Ella), really enjoyed being pampered. E kept the vibrating chair going to entire time and was very relaxed. I think we're in trouble. :) I love the nail art on Ella's nails. When the artist added glitter, it was all over!

Madi loves purses--a slight understatement. She carries them around loaded with all her little treasures. She loves to play with Kate's wallet, so when asked what she wanted for her birthday, all she would say is, "A black wallet with three dollars and some coins." Okay. (And then she asked Grandma and Poppa for everything else.) :)

The girls enjoyed cupcakes with pink sprinkles (Madi's request). (Guess I should have waited until after the manicures to take the cupcake photo. Oh well.) Then Madi opened her gifts. It was a great little party and the girls had a delightful time.

tutorial: halloween thumbprint tags

2011-09-28T20:10:00.003-06:00

This one's for Allison. She's a reader who e-mailed me and asked if I'd be willing to share my template for the Halloween thumbprint tags we made for Ella's preschool last year.

Remember these? I still love them. Here's the original post.

When I started blogging way back when, it was mainly for my family and friends and the Relief Society in my church ward. Because of Pinterest, that has changed. I'm getting mega hits each day and so many nice e-mails and sweet comments. It's so fun. Thanks so much everyone, it really makes me happy. Because I posted projects--but not many tutorials or downloads--I am very open to sharing information, templates, creating tutorials, etc. Just be patient with me. :)

Okay, back to the project.

Originally I had Ella stamp her thumbprint multiple times on white cardstock. Then she made them into jack-o-lanterns by adding stems and silly faces. (It kept her very busy.) I chose my favorite one, scanned it, added words around it in Photoshop Elements, and duplicated it.

You can still use this process in an editing program, or to make things simpler, I created a blank template for you to create your own tags. Your little goblins can stamp their thumbprints in each circle and create jack-o-lanterns. Each tag will be an original work of art. I chose a variety of generic wording to choose from.

Help your little one stamp their thumbprint with a cheery orange ink pad in the lower part of the circle (this will leave room for the hole and string for hanging). Then they can add stems and faces. It's getting close to bedtime, per the sad faces.

Use a 2" hole punch upside down to center the circles and punch.

I used a micro circle punch for the hole and crochet thread for hanging. I love crochet thread for so many things. It's a nice lightweight string, very inexpensive and one skein lasts forever.

Now help your little Picaso tie their tags to a special bag of treats.

ss tutorial: felt flower hair accessory

2011-09-26T19:25:00.024-06:00

As promised, here's the first of our Super Saturday tutorials.

SUPPLY LIST:

sheet of felt
hair clips--I like the metal ones with a double prong.
fabric covered button--tutorial here.
glue gun and glue sticks

I used the Rainbow brand felt. I picked it up at JoAnne's.

Step 1: Cut six 3" circles and one 2" circle from felt.
Find (or make) some templates and trace circles onto felt with a Sharpie. Cut inside the lines so the ink won't show.

A 15 oz. can lid is three inches across. (Use the type of can opener that doesn't leave sharp edges!)
The other template I used was from a package of magnets. Just look around for something approximately 2" across.
I switched things up a bit and used pinking shears instead of regular scissors to cut out the circles for this hair clip. I love the texture it adds.

Step 2a: Fold felt circle in half.

Step 2b: Fold half forward.

Step 2c: Then fold the other half back so you end up with an "S" shape. That's your first petal.

Step 3: Add a drop of glue at the bottom of each fold of the petal (on both sides) to keep it from unfolding. I use an extra clip to keep it together while the glue dries.

Step 4: Center a hair clip on the 2" felt circle.

Step 5: Add a nice pool of glue to the center of the felt circle and adhere petals very close together. Almost done!

Step 6: Adhere a fabric-covered button to the center of the flower and fluff up the petals.

Of course you could also add a button or gem to the center of a flower instead of a fabric-covered button. I'm just crazy about them though.
And instead of a clip, a pin would be nice for attaching to a fabric bag.
I'm thinking I might make up a bunch of these to use as bows for gift packages. They're inexpensive to create and would be a gift on a gift. I would just clip them on the ribbon on the package.

As always, it's all about the packaging. :) If you're giving your felt flower as a gift, you can download and attach to these simple cards I designed. I think they look especially nice printed on glossy cardstock. Enjoy!

fabric-covered buttons tutorial

2011-09-21T20:57:00.001-06:00

I LOVE fabric-covered buttons. I've used them to make hair elastics and magnets and they embellish the center of our Super {Simple} Saturday flower hair accessory. I thought I'd share a quick tutorial on how to make them before posting the hair accessory tute.

Supplies:
fabrics with small prints
template
size 36 cover buttons (7/8")*
pusher tool*

Make a Template
You can purchase templates for all sizes of cover buttons, but it's simple to make one. For the size 36 cover buttons, punch a 1" hole in chipboard. Flip a 1 3/4" punch upside down and center the one inch hole inside and punch. You'll end up with a donut shape. Easy peasy.

*note: if you purchase a button cover kit at the fabric store, it will most likely have a template for you to cut out on the actual packaging (without the center hole). Since I order my button covers in bulk (much less expensive), I created my own.

Step 1: Trace around template on fabric with a water soluble pen (or whatever will show up) and cut. Don't worry about making the edges perfect, they'll be tucked inside the button shell and back.

I like having the hole in the center of the template, so I can move it around on certain fabrics that have images or designs I want centered on the button. Then I can trace around my template and "fussy cut" the fabric.

Step 2: Center the fabric circle on the bottom half of the pusher tool and place the rounded button shell on top. Push down all the way and tuck in the fabric edges.

Step 3: Place the button back over the fabric folds and use the pusher tool to push down and lock in place.

Remove your button and admire. I promise you can't make just one. ;)

*My favorite source for both the button covers and tools is Three Dancing Magpies Supply Etsy shop. I did a lot of research when I made the activity days hair elastic favors and they were the best price. They also have great customer service.

huge 75+ family yard sale, boutique, bake sale and farmers market

2011-09-19T11:35:00.001-06:00

For those of you in Utah, come on by!

digital elements: Crystal Wilkerson fonts: Century Gothic and Lobster Two

activity days: bookworm club

2011-09-15T22:11:00.003-06:00

I was able to read a lot this summer. More than I ever have in a three month period.

And my favorite bookmark held my place in each and every book.

I know it's nothing fancy, but I purchased the ribbon on my first trip to NYC (and it quickly became one of my favorite places in the world!). The shop was Tinsel Trading--an amazing place and always on my list of "must shop here" places on my subsequent trips. The buttons are by Making Memories, where I worked as education manager and a designer for four years. It was an awesome job and a great company to work for. Yep, I'm just a little sentimental that way. Or maybe it's just "mental." :P

I thought making ribbon bookmarks would be a simple and doable project for my 9-year-old activity days girls. Then I saw Rebecca's Cooper's back-to-school reading logs she created for her little ones, and it all came together. Love when that happens.

digi artwork: Rebecca Cooper fonts: Lobster 1.4 ; Century Gothic

I started by creating a simple invite using Rebecca's artwork. Love this little row of books. I get a lot of great ideas from Rebecca's blog, simple as that. She is amazing--really.

When the girls arrived, they each shared their favorite book and briefly told why they like it.

Next, we made bookmarks.

SUPPLIES:

ribbon--5/8"-7/8". I chose a variety of red ribbon to remind the girls to Read. Every. Day.

buttons--different sizes so they can be layered.

crochet thread--I use this for everything, but especially for tying tags onto things and stringing items together. It's a good weight and inexpensive.

needles--thicker embroidery needles work best since you'll be threading crochet thread. I pre-threaded the needles because I didn't want to have to do it when it came time to do sew our bookmarks.

DIRECTIONS: Cut ribbon 15" long. Fold in half, spreading slightly at the bottom. Trim bottom edges of ribbon at an angle. Layer buttons about 1/4" from top (folded edge) and stitch in place, leaving tails on each end of thread. Tie tails in double knot (right over left, left over right) and trim.

So simple it probably doesn't warrant directions, but I always like to know the little details instead of having to figure them out.

Thank you to my cutie model, Rachel Ostler.

To finish up, I used Rebecca's bag toppers for gummy worms (I re-sized them for smaller cellophane bags) and told the girls they could only eat them while reading. I'm sure each and every one of them listened. ;)

The best activities are always simple and fun.

super {simple} saturday

2011-09-11T10:10:00.038-06:00

Hey Sisters, it's time again for our fall Super Saturday. The board has been working hard to bring you some delightful (and simple) projects to pretty up your place (and peoples):) or to give as gifts for the upcoming holidays. Here's the line-up and information:

Thanks to our darling model, Kelsie Bybee. :)

gift cards available

{FELT FLOWER HAIR ACCESSORY}

Taught by: Kim McCrary and Ruthann Roberts

Cost: $1.50

These delightful felt flower hair accessories are accented with a covered button center. They come in a choice of four colors--grey, charcoal, hot pink and cream. We'll have a variety of fabrics to choose from for the center accent and you'll learn to create a covered button. Gift cards (shown above) will be available on Super Saturday for an additional 25 cents.

Supplies: scissors and/or pinking shears.

{BEADED BRACELETS}

Taught by: Barbara Paskett

Cost: $2

These beautiful beaded bracelets will be loved by both young and old(er) alike and are simple to create. Really! You'll choose from a wide variety of colors and options to match every outfit and occasion. (Please only order if you will be able to attend Super Saturday and make your bead choices, this project will not be kitted. Thanks.)

Supplies: All supplies are provided.

{CANDY TINS}

Taught by: Tana Olsen

Cost: $2.50 (or just the tins can be purchased for $1)

Well of course we have a project that involves chocolate! These sassy little tins with see-thru window are filled with Hershey's Nuggets wrapped in coordinating paper patterns. Add a tag and some ribbon and you've got the perfect little gift for someone special. Three embellishment themes available: Halloween, Christmas and Just Because.

Supplies: scissors

{OWL NOTEBOOK}

Taught by: Jen Ostler and Marina Jensen

Cost: $3.00

Designed by our own Jen Ostler using a darling owl pattern from Martha Stewart, this notebook with a stitched cover has endless possibilities. It's perfect for journaling, note taking, new moms to keep a record of baby's milestones, etc. The fabric and wool pieces are stitched on the osnaburg cover with a simple whip stitch--perfect for beginners. Two versions are available: girly and neutral.

Supplies: scissors

{PINCUSHIONS}

Taught by: Jen Ostler and Marina Jensen

Cost: $5

Oh my goodness! These stitched pincushions set in a ceramic bowl are so delicious, you might be tempted to eat them up! Amy at our local American Quilting (Orem) designed this project and gave us permission to use the pattern. Thanks, Amy! The wool flowers are attached using a simple whip stitch--great for beginners. This would make a great gift for your favorite seamstress or quilter.

Supplies: scissors

{FELT WREATH}

Taught by: Kim McCrary and Ruthann Roberts

Cost: $10

Looking for a simple project to spice up your holiday decor? This is it! Felt is all the rage and this wreath gets compliments from everyone who sees it. Choose from red for Christmas and/or Valentine's Day (we'll even provide both apple green satin ribbon for Christmas and white grosgrain ribbon for Valentine's in your kit) or orange with black grosgrain ribbon for Halloween (you add your own spider or bat).

Supplies: scissors or pinking shears

*If you'd like to cut out your felt circles before Super Saturday (I'd recommend it!), please contact me (Kim) and I'll get your felt and template to you before class.

{Tea Cup Pedestal}

Taught by:

Cost: varies

We've searched far and wide for the perfect cups and plates to assemble these teacup pedestals. Not only are they delightful, they're also useful! Add a sweet treat, wrap up and give as a gift, use to display a candle or pie pumpkin or on your counter for jewelry. Sets will be limited and sold on a first come basis at Super Saturday. We'll have the supplies ready for you to assemble your set. If you have your own set of dishes, bring 'em over and use our glue to assemble.

{COOKING DEMONSTRATION}

Taught by: Lily Li

Cost: free!

We're super excited to have Lily demo two simple and favorite Chinese dishes. Then guess what"s on the lunch menu? Please add your name to the list in the sign-up binder if you'll be joining us for a light meal (and dessert of course!), so we can get an accurate count. Thanks.

Are you excited? Here are the rest of the details:

The big day is Saturday, October 15th from 9-2 pm.
A light lunch will be served at 12:30-ish.
We will display the projects outside the Relief Society room on September 18th and 25th and at the Fall Social on September 15th.
All sign-ups and payments are due to Jen Ostler by September 25th.

UPDATE: Holey Moley! My e-mail box runneth over with requests for instructions and tutorials on our projects. We're in the process of creating them right now and will share with everyone when they're complete! For now, there's a tutorial on the felt wreath and tea cup pedestals under "tutorials" on the navigation bar at the top of the page. Enjoy!

reward chart

2011-09-06T20:13:00.003-06:00

It was one of those mornings. :) I decided it was time to bring out the old reward chart to see if we can do better. Just in case you need it too, I'm sharing.

digital flower: Crystal Wilkerson fonts: Garton & Century Gothic

To download this fill-in version, click here.

teacher favorites fill-able form & personalized notecards

2011-09-04T22:45:00.014-06:00

I laughed when Patrick told me he mentioned to Ashlee, that when I ask her about things (concerning their upcoming wedding) way ahead of time, it's not that I'm being pushy, it's that I like to be organized and prefer items checked off my "to do list" much sooner rather than later. (I also need time to shop, right?) I guess I never realized Patrick figured that out. :)

Before we went to meet Ella's new teacher before school started, I created a quick form for Mrs. Reiber to fill out when she had a few minutes. It asks about her favorite things. The form was completed and in Ella's backpack the first day of school. (Thanks, Mrs. Reiber!)

It's so hard to guess what someone would like, when you don't know them personally. I ran this idea past my teacher friends/family members and they all assured me they loved it and it was a great idea.

I wanted Ella to be involved, so I had her share her favorite things too.

I had some friends ask for a copy of the questionnaire, so I created a fill-able form you can tab through and add your child's own information. It's nothing fancy, but it's simple and helpful.

***My on-line file sharing site has been giving me fits with the Halloween downloads I added recently. I still haven't figured out what's going on, so please let me know if you can't download this document. Thanks.

I ran across these darling note cards by Rebecca Cooper, on her blog, simple as that. It's at the very top of my list of "must read" blogs. I get so many great ideas for both my girlies and activity days projects. And she's an amazing photographer!

Rebecca's cards are mini and meant to be attached to a bundle of pencils--love that idea! I wanted them just a bit larger though and decided to personalize some for Ella's teacher.

They measure 3" x 3", which I thought was a good size for a little note.

apple element: Crystal Wilkerson font: Garton

first day of kindergarten: a big thumbs up!

2011-09-04T22:44:00.004-06:00

sign from How Does She?

I can't believe how quickly this day has come. Elles told me for weeks she was excited, but also feeling a little nervous about starting Kindergarten.

She loaded up her pink backpack with her special supplies and we headed off to school.

I tried to get Elles to wear "real" shoes, but she says they make her feet too hot. She takes after me, so flip-flops it was.

Ella was one of the first students to arrive. She had already met her new teacher (who showed her around the classroom), so Ella knew just were to hang her backpack and store her supplies.

Ella and her teacher, Mrs. Reiber. I love, love, love her and it's only been a week! We have a months worth of homework assignments for Ella, a book to record it in, a list of everything the class is learning this month and a set of sight words. We know exactly what to work on and reinforce with Ella at home. She also has a great journal for each of the kids to draw pictures and write their own stories. You know I love that. She's known for being organized and structured and great with the children. Every single parent I talked to who has had Mrs. Reiber as their child's teacher goes on and on about how wonderful she is. We feel so lucky and blessed. She's an answer to our prayers. I also happen to know she loves to quilt. Organized, structured, quilting, loves teaching--I think we were cut from the same mold. And she's a grandma too!

The kids begin their day with different activities. Today it was reading.

This photo makes me smile. Before we left for school, Ella asked if I'd stay with her until she felt comfortable. I told her I would stay until it was time for class to start. We decided when she felt okay about me leaving, she would give me a "thumbs up." Ella then told me that if she didn't want me to leave yet, she would give me an "X".

It was time for school to start and I finally got the big "thumbs up." :) As excited as I was for Ella (and me ;)), I did get a little teary for about 17 seconds. :) I was both excited and anxious to pick E up after school to see how the day went. When I asked what she liked most about her day, she thought for awhile and said, "Everything!" Love. it. Patrick even called Elles to find out how her first day went. He's such a great big brother.

Halloween word art printable update

2011-08-23T09:41:00.003-06:00

You might remember this fun Halloween word art printable I created last year.

I still have a lot of people e-mailing me for it. To make things simpler, here are the three color combinations for you to download.

orange with white lettering

white with orange lettering

black with white lettering

Enjoy!

it's official!

2011-07-30T08:20:00.001-06:00

Ahhhhhhhhhh! Patrick and Ashlee were "officially" engaged last night after a romantic dinner at La Caille. We are beyond excited. We love, love, love Ashlee and it brings us so much joy to see Patrick so happy.

They've decided on January 6th as the date and will be married in the Salt Lake Temple since that's where both Lynn and I and Ashlee's parents were sealed. Love it.

More to come.

the green monster

2011-07-21T13:05:00.005-06:00

I'm still on my health-ier kick and doing well (except for this weekend when I went on a girlfriends' getaway). I ran across this blog and got some great recipes. I especially love this smoothie called "the green monster." It's packed with good, healthy stuff and best of all, Ella has been asking for one every day. EVERY DAY! The girl does not eat anything green because she says it's weeds and she does not eat weeds! Hmph!

I love that it uses ingredients we have around most of the time: bananas, spinach, ground flax seed, peanut butter and milk.

Just throw everything into a blender and pulse until mixed thoroughly.

Then watch your little monster gobble it up! I promise you cannot taste the spinach at all. (Love the bed head!)

Green Monster Drink (kid-friendly version)

1 frozen banana (or 1 banana + a few ice cubes)
2 handfuls of spinach
1-2 T. ground flax seed (good omega 3's)
1 T. Adam's peanut butter
milk (I add until it covers the other ingredients about 1/2 to 3/4)

Green Monster Drink (grown up version, though I also love the kid-friendly one)
1 frozen banana (or 1 banana + a few ice cubes)
2 handfuls of spinach
1-2 T. ground flax seed
1 T. ground almond butter or a handful of almonds
unsweetened almond milk

Enjoy!

P.S. This post is especially for Helen. She made my favorite green drink and put it in the blender instead of juicing and told me it was GROSS! I tried it in the blender and uhh...yeah, it was gross. I changed the recipe to only juice it. Sorry, Helen! But I promise this one is for the blender and very yummy! I will even bring you the ingredients to try if you don't believe me! :)

it's good to be home

2011-07-12T19:49:00.000-06:00

We spent the last ten days in Northern California with family. We had such a great time. My brother, Steve, and his wife, Deanna, and two of their kids--Jordan a.k.a "Joe" and Jessica came along for the first half of the trip. It was so fun to have them with us.

As fun as it is to get away, it's always nice to be home and get back to our regular routine and healthier eating. (Yes, I put on a few pounds. Way too many carbs for this girl!) I have a lot to share, but that'll come as I play catch up over the next little while. I haven't even finished documenting our first trip to California this summer yet!

For now, a few of my favorite healthy and super simple meals to share that I'll be using to get back on track:

egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, cheese, tomato and avocado.

I made these this morning. I've never been great at making omelets, but my Dad made them for us when we visited Southern Cali in June and I watched closely. He made them much simpler--and tastier.

Spray an 8" skillet with Pam. Heat and add mushrooms and spinach. Cook until heated through.

Add eggs or egg whites. (I like the All Whites brand.) Cook until no longer jiggly.

Add cheese--Tillamook medium or a Mexican blend are both good--and let melt. Flip omelet in half and top with pepper, tomatoes and lots of avocado. So yummy!

turkey, baby swiss and avocado wrap

These are great for either a quick snack or lunch. Just wrap strips of avocado in slices of turkey (sun-dried tomato or pepper turkey taste great) and baby swiss cheese. Enjoy with some veggies or fruit and finish off with a Dove dark chocolate or two. :)

fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

Love me a good Caprese salad. Layer fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, fresh basil leaves (whole or chopped up) and drizzle with olive oil. Dee-vine. I get my fresh mozzarella and tomatoes at Costco. The mozzarella comes in a double pack, so you can share with a friend.

Enjoy!

father's day fun

2011-06-16T18:48:00.002-06:00

I told Lynn he couldn't read my blog until after Father's Day so I could share some fun ways to celebrate his special day. There are so many great ideas out in blogland for Father's Day, but these two are my favorite:

1. Lynn really wants an iPad and has been saving for one. He's close. Instead of giving him gifts, we're all pitching in to get him closer to his goal. He would be there, but Elles played with Grammy's iPad in California--for hours!--and now Lynn needs to get the more expensive one (at his MIL's insistance) so Ella and Grammy can talk together. Yes, we're all sad for him! :)

I saw this iDad giant candy bar wrapper on Nothing but Country and thought it was awesome and perfect for Lynn's gift. It's also a great price--you can download it for free! We'll tuck the cash into the wrapper along with the chocolate.

Decor, you ask?

2. I love this too. You know banners make me happy and this one is darling! It's another great freebie you can download on Shindig Parties to Go! She also offers the other ties for pokies or tags.

I'm always so impressed by bloggers generosity with their talents. Makes my life much simpler and fun.

out and about: 10 tips for Disneyland and travel

2011-06-11T21:33:00.008-06:00

1. We decided to look at some other airline options this year and saved almost $500 by flying Jet Blue into Long Beach Airport. We really enjoyed our flight and Jet Blue doesn't charge for your first piece of luggage (per person) or strollers and booster seats. Long Beach Airport is pretty small and nasty, but you're there all of what...15 minutes? Worth $500.

2. Ella still has troubles popping her ears when the airplane is landing, so we brought some ring pops to suck on during the descent. We got this tip from a flight attendant a couple years ago. She said even if it doesn't help with kids' ears, it distracts them enough they don't notice. :) It worked great.

The grounds at the Candy Cane Inn are beautiful.

3. We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn this trip ( rated #2 on Trip Advisor), which is only 250 yards from the entrance of Disneyland. We really liked it. From now on, we'll always stay close to the park. We were surprised at how quiet it was considering how close we were to the "action." And the grounds are beautiful.

The rooms at the CCI are a bit small (we got the middle size), but they are clean. We felt the amenities made up for the lack of space.

It was great to come back to our room or go swimming when it got too hot and then go back to D-land later. They have two pools and a hot tub. The second pool is a kiddie pool which was wonderful!
The hotel served a nice little free breakfast in the morning (so nice not to have to worry about that!). It included cereal, muffins, toast and bagels, pastries, fruit, yogurt, juice and milk. I had raisin bran (threw in a handful of almonds I brought along) and a banana each morning.
We did a couple loads of wash in the laundry facilities--nice.
There was also free Wi-fi for checking e-mail, etc. (Yes, Lynn had to work a bit.)
We had a small fridge in our room which is great for leftovers. (Not available in the smallest size room.)
On the first day there, Ella got a little Tinkerbell figurine from one of the employees. She loves it.
There are two convenience stores right next door for those little things you always forget (like your daughter's toothbrush).

Great experience--no complaints. We'll stay again.

4. We like to have one good meal a day and then snack and/or have smaller entrees throughout the rest of the day. It works great for us. We always end up at the Garden Walk for a nice meal. It's about a ten minute walk from the Candy Cane Inn or 15 minutes from Disneyland. It's right off South Harbor on Katella. They have a Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen and PF Changs. There are also a few other restaurants, but those are our favorites.

Haagan Daaz is right down from Tortilla Joes. Darling sundae, huh?

5. Another one of our favorite places to eat is Tortilla Joe's at Downtown Disney. We did go inside this visit, but we usually just go to the Tortilla Joe's Taquiria that's outside the building. They serve basic mexi stuff--burritos, tacos, nachos, etc. and it's a lot less expensive than going inside the restaurant. Lynn and I split nachos and we get Ella some tortillas (4/$1) and a side of refried beans with cheese ($2). It's something she'll actually eat. It's also fun to sit outside on the patio and people-watch.

6. This next idea came from my friend, Mykel. She actually got it from Jen F., who got it from...just kidding. Ella had birthday money to spend at Disneyland, so we put $20 on a gift card. We told her she could use it to buy treats or snacks. She LOVED it! When she saw something she wanted, she would ask if she had enough left on her card to buy it. Our little "sweet tooth fairy" actually chose to use her card to have her face painted over sugary goodies (not that there wasn't a whole lotta that being consumed).

7. Remember this simple idea from this post? I saved the shower caps from our room and used them to wrap my shoes in so my clothing didn't get dirty in the suitcase. Worked like a charm. I packed multiple white and black shirts/undershirts for both Ella and myself, then had to figure out which we'd already worn. I finally started turning our clothing inside out once they were worn--problem solved.

Yes, even princesses need a nap.

8. Hauling our stroller to Cali was kind of a pain. When we got to Disneyland, I checked out the strollers for next year and they looked great--very clean and a great size with good storage. The rental is $15 a day or you can get a "multiple days" price too.

In line for Dumbo again.

9. I mentioned in an earlier post that after Lynn spend many hours--okay, days--on the kiddie rides, I took E back to the hotel early one afternoon and told him to go ride some "grown-up" rides. While at the parade, we met a young man who has a Disney website. He told us about the "single rider" option. It's just like a fast pass, but for one person. You can tell a cast member at the ride that you're a "single rider," and you'll be let in a different way. Then when they need to fill just one extra spot on a ride, you're it. Lynn was on and off some rides in 15 minutes while the regular wait time was actually 45 minutes.

10. I always type up a quick vacation log when we return from an adventure that lists what we did, our favorite memories, places we stayed/ate, things we want to remember, etc. I'll compile them in a vacation scrapbook (right now they're all in a file on my computer). I've referred back to them for subsequent trips.

Happy traveling! Hope I've shared something you can use.

personalized father's day card

2011-06-06T20:07:00.003-06:00

I just ordered the most darling personalized Father's Day card for Lynn.

How delightful is this? It's from tiny prints. Love their designs. And it was just .99. Yep, you read right. I got a promo code from eighteen25 and it worked great! The code is GC99. You can personalize the message inside, so I had Ella tell me what she wanted to say. Head on over, there's still time to order your own.

I'm great at purchasing cards, but sending them? I stink. I'm seriously thinking about using this service. They'll send the card to you or directly to the recipient. Sure would be simple.

***Update: I received ours in the mail already (five days) and I love it!

out and about: disneyland 2011

2011-06-05T09:39:00.005-06:00

We spent last week goofin' off at Disneyland and had the. BEST. time. The weather was great and the crowds weren't too bad (less in the fall, but still okay).

Here are a few of our favorite

Yes, I had some extra time on my hands while Elles and Lynn waited in line for rides. I walked around the area finding "letters" in the architecture. It was a lot of fun for me. Can you see "memories" spelled out in the photos above?

Of course the princesses are still at the top of our favorites list. I figure I have at least another year of princess-mania and then it will end. :( Aurora is a definite favorite, but Ariel is right up there. When Ella walked up, Ariel said, "Well hello little twin sister." Oh my, she had Elle's heart from that point on. As we walked away, Ella whispered to me, "Mom, Ariel is real...I touched her skin!" So sweet. I loved it.

And Lynn loved riding Dumbo nine times! Woo hoo! (Add sarcasm as desired.) It had to be a pink one each time.

We may have broken our personal record with 11 times in a row on King Triton's Carousel. That doesn't include the carousel in Disneyland either. Lynn was looking a little nauseous at the end. :) To make up for it, I took Ella back to the hotel early that night and sent Lynn off to ride some grown-up rides.

Someone stole our bottled water from the stroller while we were on the carousel. Weird, huh? We had refilled our empty bottles from the day before and I'm sure there was plenty of backwash from a five year old, so they got what they deserved. :)

My favorite part of the Disney adventure is always the parades and shows. I LOVE them. I will admit that I actually got a bit teary the first time I saw the Lion King parade. I thought it was amazing. And I loved the Celebrate! parade two years ago with all the dancing and singing.

We were in the park for the first time EVER the new parade went down Main Street USA. How fun is that? Ella loved Disney Channel Rocks! (even though she was a bit cranky at the time) and wanted to go back again the next day. I know it's crazy that I know all the songs.

Our little fishy loves the water. This is the kiddie pool at the hotel were we stayed. It was GREAT! We walked all 250 yards from the Disneyland entrance back to our room in the afternoon and swam or relaxed for awhile. Then when it cooled down, we went back to the park.

Before we left on our trip, my friend Shauna, mentioned the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. She said Ella would LOVE it. Oh. my. goodness! Uh...yes! I can't believe I didn't know about the fairy godmothers-in-training who turned little girls into real princesses!

We made an appointment, and Ella kept asking every five minutes what time it was. She kept saying, "I'm going to miss my appointment!"

At the back of the boutique, they have a salon. Ella's hair was styled like a princess and sprinkled with fairy dust. She got to choose which tiara she wanted. Any guesses which color she chose? (Hint: if it's not pink, I don't want it!) Then they did her make-up (she chose purple and green eye shadow like Ariel) and applied fancy face gems. Oh she was delighted! She also got a sash and a giant pink gem ring. She left with a special bag (pink, of course) filled with the tools they used and all the leftover make-up, gems, etc. Ella is still using them.

What a happy memory! Every little girl should feel like a princess. Thanks, Shauna!

Besides Ella being older, there were some things that certainly made our Disney adventure more enjoyable this year. I'll share some and the second half of our trip in my next posts.

gifted: teacher gift trinket cup and matching magnets

2011-06-03T10:22:00.005-06:00

Ella had a great year in preschool. It's strange to think she'll be in Kindergarten next year.

Elle's teacher, Ginny Winters, has been perfect for her. She's loving but consistent and has kept things very structured. And she did the most darling crafts with the kids each week. You know Ella loved that! Elles learned a ton. I only hope we can find more teachers like Ginny in the coming years.

This is Ella with Ginny on her first day of preschool two years ago. She's so little!

Elles on her first day of preschool this year. Work it, girl! Just a little more confident, I'd say. :) I loved that little dress. I can't wait until Madi starts wearing it.

And on her last day of school this year (with only faint traces of her black eye).

As a small thank you for a great year, I found this darling trinket cup/pencil holder at a boutique a few weeks back. I love the beautiful fabric/ribbon bow and the button. And I love the colors. Ginny is a quilter, so I thought she might like it too. I was thinking I could use those bows for all sorts of other things. May have to make a few myself.

I made some button cover magnets in coordinating fabrics. Now I have to make some for me--love them. I had some cards left from the mother/daughter activity days activity, so I packaged them up pretty. I used small washers on the back to hold the magnets in place on the card. It worked perfectly!

hello from SUNNY california!

2011-05-26T08:56:00.000-06:00

We're kickin' it at Disneyland this week. Having a great time. Wish you were here!

three things thursday: jewelry, kitchen towels and organizing craft projects

2011-05-19T12:11:00.004-06:00

I saw a little girl's necklace on Etsy awhile back I thought was so sweet. It simply said, "loved." I knew I wanted one for Ella, but it was more than I was willing to spend for a five year old.

I was at a boutique a couple of weeks ago and came upon a booth named Lia Alana Originals. There was a a darling CTR (Choose the Right) necklace I loved and was going to get for Elles. Sheri, the owner and designer, mentioned that she could also stamp any other words on the pendants. In about 20 minutes I had a "loved" necklace for Ella. I was thrilled and Elles loves it.

Total cost, $10. That includes the stamped pendant, two charms (I chose the pink gem and filigree) and the chain. The necklaces are sterling silver plated, that's why they're less expensive than sterling. If you keep them in the little plastic bag they come in, they won't oxidize.

This is going to be my new go-to birthday/celebration gift for Ella's little friends. Sheri lives in Alpine (for you locals), so I can just order and pick it up.

Don't you just love a new stack of kitchen towels?

I'm a little ~~picky~~ particular about my kitchen towels. I search and search for one that won't snag, is a solid color (no lame pictures) and absorbent. I keep going back to the Sonoma brand at Kohl's. They meet my criteria and the price is right. Though they retail for $6.99, when they go on sale I get them for $3 and a little change (I sound like QVC :)) each. I buy a half dozen at a time. I do wish they came in more up-to-date colors, but I like the red.

Keeping things in order around here is a constant battle. Luckily I enjoy organizing, though in some of my spaces right now you'd never know it! I've had "project containers" for awhile now, but they were large plastic bins all the same size with non-latching lids. I used them mainly for quilting projects.

Many of my friends--Lisa, Michelle and Maggie--have used this style instead. I jumped on the bandwagon and have been using them for a few months now. I love them! Each one holds the supplies for a specific project I'm working on. The large one has Ella's quilt and the medium one is some button bracelets I was playing with for the AD girls. The smaller ones have supplies for the button cover ponytail holders I just made and the other is for more fabric flowers. I even keep any instructions and patterns in with the supplies. If I'm going to Maggie's for sewing/craft day, I can grab a container and go or if Ella is upstairs and wants me near her, I can work at the kitchen table instead of my studio.

These specific ones I purchased at Target (I liked the green handles :)). They're the RE: Room Essentials Target brand.

Happy Thursday!

activity days mother/daughter activity

2011-05-15T20:21:00.003-06:00

We had a very successful Mother/Daughter activity on Friday night. The theme was "spring picnic" and it was simple and enjoyable.

A light dinner was served--rolls, meat and cheese, potato salad, fruit, chips and a yummy variety of cookies and bars.

My assignment was to make a favor for the girls to take home. I chose button cover ponytail holders.

I love how they turned out. They were simple to make, but a bit time consuming. I made 45 sets, plus extras for Ella and her friends. They saw me making them and asked it I would make some for them. I let them choose the fabric they wanted and they were so excited.

For games at the activity, the girls and their moms did sidewalk chalk art, played freeze dance (Rachelle and Denise have got the moves! Owww!). Moms tend to get a little crazy when it's just the girls. :)

For the craft, there was a station for writing love notes to mom or daughter--so cute--and another for designing and coloring a cutout of toes and flip flops. The girls loved this activity! It was simple and fun--my favorite kind.

Marina drew the outline, colored some samples and set the girls loose with markers. I brought home some extras and Ella spent hours coloring them. I got a copy of the original and Marina said I could share!

Download your own flip flops here. Thanks, Marina!

feeling blue...

2011-05-11T10:21:00.005-06:00

...and black and purple.

I know I've shared a lot of family stuff lately, but I've got one more.

Lynn does this thing with Ella she thinks is hilarious. He lifts her up over his shoulder and carries her like a "sack of potatoes." In fact, that's what they call it. On Monday night at bedtime, Elles was running around the couch so Lynn couldn't catch her. She's fast. It usually takes both of us to corral her. Lynn finally caught her and lifted her up, but instead of landing on his shoulder, she kept going--right over his back and hitting the floor head first. It was the worst sound I've ever heard. I was positive we were headed to the emergency room.

Lynn scooped her up and we checked her head, nose, neck and pupils. A huge goose egg was forming so we got the ice pack. Then her eye started getting puffy..and black..and blue. We knew she was going to have a black eye.

We got Ella settled down and I grabbed my laptop to check WebMD. It listed all the symptoms to look for with a concussion. Ella didn't have any, but it said we needed to keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours. We took turns checking on her all night.

Lynn felt terrible. After my initial feelings of fear and concern, I was mad, so I let him wallow in it for awhile. I really had to keep my mouth shut. What I wanted to blurt out was, "What the h#** were you thinking?" But I knew it wouldn't help. Lynn stayed home yesterday in case we needed to take Ella to the doctor. Elles wanted him to stay by her most of the day. She told me she likes dad better. (She's a daddy's girl all the way and we all know it--no hurt feelings here.) But I did have to tease Lynn and quietly whispered, "She wants to be with you more, even though you dropped her?!"

Ella is doing well, but she's super self-conscious for her friends to see her.

Last night at bedtime, she hopped up off the couch and excitedly said, "Dad, let's do sack of potatoes. I'll hold on this time!"

Seriously? NO MORE "sack of potatoes!"

***Update***

Elle's eye is looking so much better. I'm surprised at how quickly it's healing! Every morning when she wakes up, the first words out of her mouth are, "Is my black eye gone?"

The day after "the incident," Ella didn't want to go to school. She called her BF, Jordan, when school was over, and this is the conversation I heard:

Jordan: Why didn't you come to school today?
Ella: I have a black eye. You should see it, it's SO embarrassing. My dad dropped me. Come over and I'll show it to you.

You'll notice she's sitting on the counter and not a chair. Geez!

pampered.

2011-05-09T15:53:00.005-06:00

It was a great day. Lynn and the kids spoiled me rotten...again. I used to hate Mother's Day because it was guilt-promoting. I've since learned that those "perfect mothers" I compared myself to are non-existent. And those who spend their time trying to paint a picture of being the perfect mother usually have the most issues. :) Just my own observation--don't blast me for it.

Now I love Mother's day. I've learned a few things. Someday I need to write them down. But for now, I'm still wallowing in the happiness of being pampered--and spoiled.

I do have to mention though, that our Bishop gave a short, sweet message to the sisters in the Relief Society yesterday that has really stuck with me. The part I remember most was when he said that our husbands/children love us--not because we are perfect--but because of how we love them. And that is something I can do perfectly--love them.

I also very much appreciated that the Sacrament Meeting talks were "business as usual" (great talks on the restoration) and not the usual talks about those non-existent perfect mothers (see above). The primary children singing was the best part--it always is.

Lynn told me Ella wanted to give me flowers for two weeks. She was so excited when Mother's Day finally came.

One of the best parts of doing this parenting thing the second time around, is that I get these sweet little handmade gifts again. I still have all the ones my other kiddos made me. Love them. Ella made the butterfly card at preschool and hid it from me for a whole week. She also made a pipe cleaner/bead bracelet and a book of things she loves in primary.

Lynn does not enjoy cooking, so it's quite a deal when he does. I chose loaded nachos for dinner. (You really can't mess them up too much :)) He did a great job on the homemade tortilla chips, but thought they were very labor intensive to make. It's worth it! :)

Patrick brought two darling "baby cakes" from Flour Girls and Dough Boys bakery--one chocolate and one vanilla--for dessert.

I got tickets to see the JG in concert in Salt Lake City in August. So excited!

(His latest album, Illuminations is great! I think it might just be my favorite. Check out Higher Window and Hidden Away on iTunes if you haven't heard them. And Love Only Knows.) It's going to be a great concert.

Lynn also took me to lunch on Saturday at Macaroni Grill. I always get the same thing--salmon. I miss the teriyaki salmon a lot, but I have them put the honey balsamic glaze on my salmon now and it's pretty good.

Kate picked out a beautiful bracelet at Chico's for me and added a gift card. Thanks, Kate! Love them. I think I'll use the gift card to buy some fabric and thread. I'll be needing them for some projects using my new serger! Ahhhhhhhh! It was a TOTAL surprise, since I pretty much knew about the Josh Groban tickets and wasn't expecting anything else. I've been hinting I wanted one, but was thinking maybe Christmas. Patrick and Lynn went in together and bought it. They love surprises...and I love getting them!!! You know I'll be making some fun projects with that little baby. I can't wait.

Yes, I'm feeling very spoiled.

I hope you were spoiled rotten too!

Better run, the girls are trying to see how high they can get the water in the toilet to rise. Back to the realities of motherhood! :)

blessed.

2011-05-08T10:49:00.000-06:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Love this. You can download your own 5x7 print at Amy Proffit's blog here. She designed it in four different colors: aqua, citrus, pink and red.

photos by Scott Hancock Photography

Here's most of my sweet little family: Lynn (husband); me; Ella (daughter); Kate (daughter); Patrick (son); Madilyn (granddaughter, Kate's daughter). My son, Sean, and his wife, Daniela and their son, Karson are missing.

Love this one! It's more realistic. :)

I love being a mom and grandma. I feel so blessed.

A special Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Barbara and Connie! We love you.

mother's day activity

2011-05-07T20:58:00.007-06:00

I know I've mentioned "activity days" in a couple of blog posts, but I never announced it's my new calling in the LDS church. Actually, it's an additional calling. I'm still also the Relief Society Family History Specialist which also makes me a board member. For activity days, I meet with a group of nine-year-old girls twice a month and we do activities to teach them skills and strengthen their testimonies. It's been so much fun. I have a great group of girls and Ella loves when they come over.

When I got the call, I had to think about it before answering. I've learned how much I can handle and was concerned about adding one more thing to my schedule. As I thought about it, the impression came very clearly to my mind, that Ella wants a big sister more than anything. Having eight older girls around would be a great way to expose her to siblings-of-sort. I called Wes and said, "Youbetcha."

I remember being promised very clearly in the beginning--when we knew we would be adopting Ella--that the Lord would help us and make up for any shortcomings in raising her. I can see now what that meant. I just keep doing my best and her needs are met. It happens every time. I'm so grateful.

For Mother's Day the girls in my activity days group made a mini banner to celebrate and surprise their mothers by hanging it somewhere in their home. The one pictured is the one Ella made. I love her writing and of course there's a rainbow and flower. She draws them all the time--along with bees and butterflies.

We also filled out this Mother's Day newspaper page from Martha Stewart.com.

Simple and fun. I'll share some of the other projects we make.

the flu has flown + easter fun

2011-05-07T19:44:00.002-06:00

I had the stomach flu for three days last week. I guess it was actually two weeks ago. Wow, it's been awhile. I've been trying to play catch-up on a long list of to-dos, which translated to no time for posting.

When I first started feeling sick, Ella really wanted to play. I told her I didn't feel well at all. She said, "Oh, oh!" and ran out of the room. A minute later she returned with these:

The throw-up container (gross) and a mask (hmmm...). :) Luckily I never had to use the container, but Elles kept checking on me to make sure I was wearing the mask. Is there possibly a career in nursing in her future?

Easter was delightful. We had a simple meal with the kids--Honeybaked ham, sweet potatoes, beans and rolls. Dessert was vanilla bean ice cream with toppings.

The girls wore new dresses to church and the Easter Bunny hid purses instead of baskets.

I purchased these little tin totes after Valentine's Day for half off and hid them away until Easter.

I really don't like to do the candy thing, so I filled them with girlie stuff from the dollar section at Target and other goodies I knew the girls would enjoy: stickers, jewelry, a mini coloring book, stamps, sunglasses, lip gloss, post-its (so they'll stop using all mine!), etc. And because I'm not the meanest mom in the world, I did give them an egg filled with Skittles (E's favorite). We also gave them each a movie they've been wanting--Ella's was Bambi and Madi's was Enchanted.

Patrick gave the girls bucking bronco rides on the trampoline. He's such a great big brother/uncle. Madi insisted on keeping her purse with her at all times and after a few bonks on the head, Patrick told her she couldn't jump if she didn't put it down. She wasn't happy.

The simple holiday celebrations are always my favorite. I hope yours was enjoyable too.

happy easter!

2011-04-23T20:26:00.003-06:00

easter basket and butterflies :: by ella m.

Wishing you a happy Easter.

sundae bar & hot fudge recipe

2011-04-20T11:11:00.002-06:00

In an earlier post I mentioned that Ella wanted a "family" party for her birthday instead of a "friends" party this year. She chose pink ice cream with toppings for the treat. The toppings included: sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and crushed Oreo cookies. I added nuts, hot fudge sauce and whipped cream.

A sundae bar is a super simple treat that feeds a lot of guests. We did one for Ella's adoption party two years ago. Boy, time flies!

Because we love ice cream so much, I've been collecting these sundae cups at thrift stores. They're very inexpensive (50 cents to 75 cents for most) and it makes the sundaes extra special to have them in a fancy cup. I run them through the extra hot cycle in the dishwasher and they're ready for scoops. I love the variety of styles.

This hot fudge sauce is a must for special occasions. When you see the ingredients you'll understand why I said special occasions. It's not something you'd want to eat often, but it's the best. Once you try it, you'll never buy store bought again. I also like that it doesn't have corn syrup like many of the recipes out there (gives me a headache) and it's super simple to make. I got it from my sister-in-law, Deanna.

Hot Fudge Sauce

1 cube butter
1 c. milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix ingredients and microwave one minute and stir; microwave 30 seconds and stir. Continue until ingredients are melted and combined. Do not let boil.

Enjoy!

shauna's quilt

2011-04-16T16:04:00.005-06:00

Our friend, Shauna, was recently diagnosed with cancer and had surgery this past Monday. It went well and the news was good, though she still has quite a road ahead of her. Shauna lost her mother to cancer at a young age, so she's been vigilant about having mammograms. Thank goodness.

The girls in our neighborhood/ward got together and made a quilt for Shauna. We want her to wrap up in it and feel our love and support for her. It's beautiful and many who have seen it finished commented that it's "so Shauna." I agree. Jen and Marina picked out the perfect fabric and Jen cut it all out. Those of us who sew took a stack of blocks to piece. Others contributed to pay for the quilt and Amber took the left over pieces and made a darling bag to match and fill with gift cards and other fun stuff to help Shauna in her recovery. It was definitely a group effort.

Here's a look at the finished quilt.

Isn't it beautiful?

This is the backing fabric.

Monica chose the binding fabric and stitched in on. It's perfect. Jen did all the quilting and added this special touch:

If I had to choose three words to describe Shauna, they would be: faithful, optimistic, strong, compassionate, obedient, intelligent and funny. So I can't count. :) My experience with Shauna is that her greatest gift is the strength of her testimony. She is a wonderful example to others and a great mother and wife. These qualities will help her get through the difficult times in her recovery. And we'll all be there for her too.

I love you Shauna and pray for you and your family every day. Big hugs!

marshmallow pops tutorial :: by ella and kate

2011-04-14T09:23:00.003-06:00

So simple a five year old can make them!

Step 1: Put a marshmallow on a sucker stick.

Step 2: Dip the marshmallow about half way in a cup of melted pink candy melts.

Step 3: Add an M&M to the top (optional, but very cute!)

Step 4: Add sprinkles (over a BIG bowl, they bounce). The girls liked the ones with the bunnies.

Step 5: Stand up straight and let chocolate dry. ( I put wheat in a deep bowl and we stuck the pops in. For a large number of pops, use sheets of styrofoam instead.)

Great job, girls! You deserve...a marshmallow pop!

Ella and I made these with nonpareils sprinkles for her preschool class. They look darling packaged up in a plastic candy bag and tied with pink grosgrain ribbon.

We're going to make them again for Activity Days next week. I think the girls will love it.

high five!

2011-04-14T09:12:00.002-06:00

Our Ella Bella turned five on Friday.

We may have to try the "five" photo again. :) But this is so her.

We kept things pretty low key, but here's the run-down.

We woke her up by singing "Happy Birthday." She moaned and rolled over. Then we reminded her there were gifts to open.

I re-purposed the banner from Ella's adoption party...

and added this one I'd made for a class display for Super Saturday.

Ella wanted Barbie stuff. Most of all she wanted the Barbie with the horse, so Grandpa Murph got her that. I must admit, I don't like Barbies. They are so hoochie. I really had to shop around to find some that were dressed modestly. Ella has been playing with them non-stop.

Elles has been asking for a trampoline for quite awhile. We've made some larger purchases lately, so I figured it wasn't in the budget. Lynn informed me he already had money set aside for something for the girls to play on in the backyard and thought he'd told me. He rocks! So we ordered a very nice trampoline and it should arrive next week.

For Ella's preschool birthday treat we made marshmallow pops together.

Super simple and fun. And of course we used pink candy melts.

After preschool we took Ella to lunch at the restaurant of her choice. (I know, brave.) She chose to have fajitas at Los Hermanos. She loves that she can make them herself. (She only puts beans on the tortillas--occasionally cheese.)

After lunch, Kate came over to play Barbies. We made more marshmallow pops.

I told Ella she could have a small birthday party if she wanted, but she chose to have a "family" party. Love it! On Sunday everyone came over and we had an ice cream sundae bar.

Happy Birthday sweet girl. We love you so much!

ella's yellow drink

2011-04-09T17:35:00.004-06:00

Ella saw the post about my favorite green drink. She asked, "What about my yellow drink?" Yellow drink? Then it dawned on me she meant one of her favorite treats--a banana shake. It's three of my favorite things--yummy, healthy and super simple.

ELLA'S BANANA SHAKE

Half a frozen banana
milk
vanilla

Put in blender and mix until smooth.

That's it! When bananas start to get soft, just peel, slice in half and throw them in the freezer in a container or freezer bag to use later.

Ella had a shake for breakfast yesterday with a "peanut butter and jelly toast with no jelly."

Enjoy!

three things thursday: polka dots and princesses

2011-04-07T09:18:00.004-06:00

Three sweet and simple things I'm loving right now.

image source: MADE blog

One. This little polka dot skirt--especially with those pink tennies. There's a great tutorial on how to make it here. If you don't have a little one, at least click over to see Dana's photos--they'll make you happy.

P.S. Jen and I talked about doing a mini class on making a skirt like this. Sound fun?

image source: Sweet Paul magazine

Two. A PINK POLKA DOT shake. You know I love polka dots and pink and ice cream. When Ella saw this photo, she asked if she could have it for her birthday. Oh yes! Perfection. Check out how simple the recipe is and the rest of the e-zine here. You. will. LOVE. it!

Darling straws are a must! Go here.

image source: Pebbles in my Pocket blog

Three. The most darling craft project I've seen in forever! There's a tutorial on how to make these magical princess wands here. I have to make one for Elles and Madi and I'm thinking it would be a great project for my Activity Days girlies.

Have a simply sweet day!

easter egg garland

2011-04-04T14:23:00.004-06:00

This past weekend was General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On Saturday night there's a Priesthood Session for the men. When the boys were younger, Lynn used to take them (and their friends) for milkshakes at Purple Turtle after each session. They've now graduated to dinner before each session. It's a fun tradition they've had for 15 years now.

Ella and I decided we'd make it a girl's night too. I told her she could choose what we'd have for dinner and then we could do something special together. She chose pizza for dinner and then to do a craft (no surprise there).

Our craft was this simple Easter egg garland. I got the idea from the blog eighteen25.

Have you ever noticed there are holes at each end of plastic eggs? It makes them super simple to string together. We used crochet thread on a needle.

You can leave an extra length of string at each end for hanging or I ran it through the holes a couple of times and tied it off...

so we could hang it on our mantle. Now Elles wants to make a garland for her room.

Ella and I decided to repeat the same color combination throughout the entire garland. I asked her what color was next after the pink one. She answered, "You mean what color comes next in the pattern?" Uh...yes, that's exactly what I meant. I'm sure that's Miss Ginny's doing. :) Love it.

my favorite green drink

2011-04-02T08:45:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of the year Lynn and I decided we wanted to add more veggies to our diet. I'm pleased to report we've been doing well. :) When that afternoon slump hits (for me it's between 3:00 and 4:00 pm), I like to mix up a healthy green drink--followed by a piece of Dove dark chocolate of course (the green drink cancels it out :)). It does the trick and usually tides me over until dinner.

Not only does this recipe taste good, but it's my favorite because it only uses five ingredients--celery, cucumber, apple, fresh ginger and spinach.

I've been cutting everything up ahead of time and storing the ingredients for one drink (half the recipe) in a Ziploc bag. Super simple to throw into the juicer.

And the polka dot glass makes it even more delightful. :)

Here's the recipe:

OPRAH'S GREEN DRINK

3 stalks celery
2 cucumbers
1 apple
1 chunk fresh ginger
1 c. spinach (I usually add a bit more)

Combine all the ingredients in a juicer. Blend until smooth. Makes 2 glasses.

Enjoy!

Investment of a Lifetime

2011-03-29T09:34:00.007-06:00

Lynn and I were asked to speak at the "Investment of a Lifetime" breakfast and fundraiser for Family Support and Treatment Center on Saturday morning. We shared a bit of our experience with Ella and how the agency has benefited us. I love what Lynn shared:

All children who come to Family Support and Treatment Center have their own stories to tell. Their stories are not happy. They are stories of neglect, physical and sexual abuse and other unspeakable trauma. These little ones need to tell their stories so they can heal. Without healing, these stories become the storyline of their lives. Most adults do not know how to understand these stories. The staff at FSTC does. They listen to the stories of pain, horror and shame; they do not turn away in shock, but give the child love, compassion and safety, and guide them to change their stories.

This is what has happened with Ella. Through the efforts of Jessica and Erin, Ella’s story is changing. Pain and fear have been replaced with peace, comfort and safety. Kim and I know that Ella’s early years will not be her destiny. Because of FSTC, her early years will be but one chapter of her life, followed by many chapters of peace and happiness. Ella’s story will have a happy ending.

We were told we could bring Ella to introduce her, but decided that wouldn't be a good idea. She doesn't do mornings and she only eats Grape Nuts for breakfast. :) But I did put together a slide show to introduce Elles to everyone and share a few of our "thousand small moments."

tinkerbell photos by Tracie Ruffner | temple photos by Tracy Wagstaff

Click on photo or here to see the slide show. (The photos are grainy shown here, but not in real life. Not sure why that happens.)

Some of our great friends joined us.

Yes, Jen always acts that way. She's our special friend! :P Amy Hanson is next to Lynn, then Debbie Hanson, Jen Ostler, RuthAnn Roberts, Sharlene Richards (you can't see her) and Jenn Strauss. We have such great friends who are willing to support us on a Saturday morning. Thank you, again!

Oh, there's Sharlene with Jenn.

Stuart Harper is the coordinator at FSTC.

Carrie did a wonderful job with the event.

Rachelle is our "personal parenting coach." She's awesome!

Erin (Ella's therapist--and ours :))--wasn't able to attend. We missed her.

The entire staff at Family Support and Treatment Center is amazing! They provide services for children and families who have experienced abuse, trauma and/or neglect. They are the most experienced and exceptional agency for play therapy, and also have a respite and crisis nursery. They provide in-home respite care, prevention training to schools and the community, parenting classes and in-home parenting sessions. Besides donations, there are also plenty of service opportunities available. They are an incredible resource for families and have been instrumental in helping Ella heal and in providing us with the tools to help her heal. If you're looking for a worthwhile cause to support, this is it!

spring quarterly Relief Society meeting

2011-03-20T10:14:00.009-06:00

Our quarterly RS meeting was delightful! We ALL had a great time, including the board. We kept it super simple--love it!--and were able to visit and join in too. Marina told a funny story and oh my goodness, I laughed so hard I pulled a muscle in my neck. :) Good times.

This was our invitation:

flower designs: Crystal Wilkerson

I'll create more invites using this format--super simple and I love it.

For the tables, Jen grew wheat grass in these plastic trays that go under plants (not sure of the real name :P). She purchased them at the dollar store.

Lisa B. cut some butterflies on her Cricut machine for us. I made the celebrate circle using Photoshop Elements and punched them out using my 3" scalloped circle punch. We adhered both to skewers to make plant stakes. We added a
2 1/2" strip of patterned paper around the bottom of the grass to hide the not so pretty part. So fresh!

For dinner we had a delish salad bar, an assortment of homemade dressings and homemade rolls.

Our drink was infused water. (Okay, it's lemon water, but infused water sounds so much fancier and more refreshing--*wink*)

Sharlene (our wonderful RS President--she rocks!) gave a simple and sweet message about taking care of each other and visiting teaching. It was perfect.

During dinner we also played a RS trivia game that was so fun. Audrey and Louise came up with ten questions and each table wrote down their answers. My table won--whoo hoo! Okay, we wouldn't have won if Ruth wasn't sitting with us. She's pretty smart.

For dessert, we had this:

digital flower and label design: Crystal Wilkerson

It's the "grown up" version of dirt pudding. It was so yummy and worked great with our gardening theme. There are layers of cake, pudding and a cream cheese filling.

I made little cupcake pokies to plant in the "dirt."

JEN'S CHOCOLATE DIRT CAKE

The cake layer is the "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa container, but with the addition of one cup of sour cream. This cake is what totally makes the recipe, so don't go with a boxed mix.

The pudding layer is just instant pudding. Jen used 2 large boxes per batch.

The cream cheese layer is:

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. real whipping cream, whipped

Layer the following: cake pieces, pudding, cream cheese filling, cake pieces, then pudding.

Sprinkle top with crushed Oreos if desired for a "dirt" look.

Each batch made 24 cups.

For our activity, we tied Morgan Winters' quilt. She's our only graduating senior this year. Yeah, Morgan! And we made fabric flower clips.

They turned out great and were so simple to assemble, except for Tracy B., whose ended up perfect! :) There were six different fabric combinations to choose from.

Next month, Louanne Tillman, our new Homemaking Specialist, will be teaching a class on healthy smoothies and snacks. I can't wait!

food storage made simple

2011-03-17T08:39:00.002-06:00

The new simplified approach to food storage suggests we gradually build a three month supply of the foods that are part of our normal, daily diet. Instead of randomly purchasing food, I've developed a method that makes sense and simplifies the process for me. Here's what I'm doing:

Step 1: Choose seven to nine of your family's favorite recipes.
This is one of the reasons I was so excited to get my Family Favorites Recipe Book project completed. My recipes are all compiled in one spot for easy access and meal preparation.

Step 2: Choose one recipe at a time and purchase the ingredients for three months worth of that meal.
I started with my Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. If I fix it once a week for three months, that would be 12 meals. So then, I multiply each ingredient times twelve. The recipes calls for one can of diced green chiles, so I need 12 cans. The ingredients include three cans of chicken broth, so I need 36 cans for twelve meals. Simple, huh?

I was trying to wait for my food storage items to go on sale, but I found I wasn't getting anything done. Now I just go to the Walmart around the corner or Costco and purchase what I need. I still shop the sales, but I want to work faster.

Step 3: Store it all together in one place.
I have shelves in my food/cold storage rooms, so I'll put each meal on one shelf and label it. That way, I can "shop" for my items and they're all in one spot.

By storing specific family favorite meals, it's easy to rotate my storage because we eat them often. I have items like dehydrated onions and spices in bulk for multiple recipes. Of course I'm also purchasing things like cereal and peanut butter, etc. for other meals. For Ella, we store Grape Nuts. She eats them for every meal and snacks. She even named the stuffed cat we got her after surgery a couple of years ago, Grape Nuts. :)

We had a yard sale awhile back and made $600 (wow!). We decided to use it for food storage. We also allocate $50 of our grocery budget each month specifically for food storage.

Just keepin' it simple. :)

St. Patrick's Day projects

2011-03-11T09:48:00.007-07:00

I wasn't going to decorate for St. Patrick's Day since I actually thought it was this week (yep, duh!). I even dressed Ella is green for preschool--got her all excited. She's upset that our Patrick has a day and she doesn't. I told her big brothers have to share their day with little sisters. She thinks that's great. :)

I found these simple and delightful St. Patty's Day projects over at The Tomkat Studio. I've seen a lot of fun ideas for goin' with the green lately, but these are my favorite. LOVE them!

photo source: The Tomkat Studio

I'll have just enough time to make them. Kim Stoegbauer (designer/editor of TTS) designed them for HGTV. There are tutorials and free downloads for both projects, and some other great projects on the post too. I LOVE Kim's simple design style--both projects and styling. Her princess party is my favorite.

Congratulations, Kate!

2011-03-06T22:33:00.001-07:00

Warning: Major Momma gushing and bragging post!

vintage fabric tape from Pugly Pixel

Kate completed her classes and passed her CNA test this week. And she got the highest score in the class. A family looking for home health for their parents called the school and asked who their best student was. Kate's teacher recommended her. She interviewed with eight other applicants and got the job! She works on weekends and makes double what she was making at her last job in a week. Woo hoo! She'll have down time while caring for a darling little couple, so she'll be able to study for her LPN. She also loves that she has the week to be with Madi. We're very proud!

XOX,
Mom and Dad

Ella's room: lamp

2011-03-03T14:40:00.001-07:00

It's no secret I love a good deal. Who doesn't?

I've had my eye on this lamp for Ella's room redo for awhile now. I was waiting to see what fabrics I chose for her bed quilt before choosing a shade. I consider it a splurge at $49.00 for just the base.

I was at Deseret Industries (a local thrift store) today, looking for a mirror with a frame I could paint that might work above her dresser. I didn't find a mirror, but I did find this:

The price tag: $7. Score! I'm pretty excited. It needs a new shade, but Target has some pretty darling ones. Yep, I got my rush for the day! :)

chicky-boo meet ella-phant

2011-02-28T12:45:00.001-07:00

I had a GREAT birthday! Friday I went to lunch at Rubio's (yummy fish tacos!) and a quilt shop in Payson I'd never been to (Gracie Lou's) with my girlie friends, Marci, Jen and Marina. (Yes, the same-same goofy ones from the girls' getaway. Love them!) Then on Saturday Lynn and I went to lunch at PF Chang's with my brother, Steve, his wife, Deanna, and my niece, Jessica. They'd never been (can you believe it?) and it's one of my favorite places to eat. It was great to catch up with them. So many birthday wishes on Facebook, text and e-mail. Thanks so much everyone, it made my day extra special.

I've looked at Heather Bailey's pincushion patterns so many times and couldn't get over how darling they are. Seriously, I've wanted one so much. I've considered making one, but there are a lot of small pieces so I haven't. Even better...check it out!

Jen gave it to me for my birthday and I LOVE it. It couldn't be more darling. I love it even more because she made it for me. And it's so me. Thanks, Jen! Big hugs.

Oh my goodness, check out this little tail.

In the first photo you can see a little chicken pincushion I made in a class Lori Wilson taught forever ago. Her name is Chicky-boo (what I call Madi sometimes). She sits on a stash of polka dot fat quarters in my craft studio. I've named my new little friend, Ella-phant. Ella thinks since I named it that, it should be hers. Uh...no. Not sure where she's going yet, but it'll be somewhere I can see her often.

family word art collage & phrases download

2011-02-24T14:11:00.007-07:00

Here's the word art collage I created for the Design on a Dime: Decorating Your Walls class for our Relief Society meeting.

I'm having a hard time deciding which colors I like best. Download the collage here. Just click and choose your color(s).

Here's the LDS word art phrases I created:

Loving this blue. Download here. Just click and choose your color(s).

Remember to have your photo processor turn OFF the auto enhance before printing or the colors will change a lot.

These are for your own personal use or to give as gifts. Please don't print them for a profit--I'm not. Thanks.

Enjoy!