The Tomseth Family

Basement Remodel {in progress}

2012-01-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

Even those these are still "in progress pics", I'll share them anyway...'cause I couldn't wait. We {and by 'we', I mean my hot carpenter/handy man husband} have been working away trying to get rid of the dungon-feel of our basement. We did a bit of demo and also FINALLY got rid of that poop color paint that Jake painted years ago, insisting that it was "cozy".

Here are some "Befores":

Now onto the "Afters": But before I begin...just note that all of my pretty little drawn arrows are gone for some reason. {sniffle} & I'm so frustrated that I'm not even going to go back & fix it.

Aren't these the cutest little push-pins you've EVER seen? And check out the Antique mason jar that my MIL gave me. She really knows how to get a girl a present. :) I heart it. These will be going in my Craft Room/Office space. :)

The desk and Bookshelves got demo'd and we moved the bar over and added barstools (that are patiently awaiting thier make-over. WAY more open, huh?!

Oh the plans I have for you, honey... :) Leave it copper or paint it black?? She will recieve edison bulbs (or just super round bulbs) and they will be left exposed. Then maybe will will give her some crystal jewlery.

My desk will go along this wall and notice the window bench my sweetie built for me?? So...much...storage...{drool}

My own color mix. The color that I originally picked {Benjamin Moore's "Rockport Grey"} was too dark so I added a TON of white that we had leftover, then got it color matched'.

Here's the color combo from Home Depot if you want it. :)

My lovely Murphy bed. :) And I was SO excited to finally stage some bookshelves. When I was staging them, I really wanted it to be for my hubby. He LOVES Scrabble and board games, loves to read and he lived in Thailand for 2 years(on a misison for our church) so I kept all that in mind and this was the result:

Foosball anyone??

The Children's area has been reduced to this. Perfect. :) Now for some storage and bookshelves in that little space....hmmm....

No more projector. The flat screen has a much better picture and a much better life span. :)

This is the re-claimed wood coffe table that my hubby made out of cherry baseboard from a job that he demo. He's so dang handy. :) You'll notice the 'before' at the top of this post. We originally painted it black but Jake took it out and sanded it all down to expose the pretty wood...but not all the way. :) I think it looks pretty rad.

Don't mind that burn on the couch cushion... there will be a throw over the back eventually. One of my lovely children decided to remove the said cushion (after many times of telling him not to) and then shove it up against the space heater that Jake had just barely turned off. Needless to say the space heater is no longer in the basement. He has insulated and put a return air in so we actually don't even need it anymore. :) So happy.

Still haven't painted my craftroom/office. It will be the same grey, just a LOT lighter.

Can't wait to get this done....Unfourtunately, our budget ran out and I will only be able to paint for now. It'll come together eventually. :) Lizzy's craft area will be on the same wall that her door is on to the left.

And that's all for now, folks!! I'll keep you posted but it'll be slow-going due to budget constraints. :) I still need curtains, doors, rugs, a throw for the couch and a craftroom/office. :)

More fun with gifs

2012-01-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

Wait for it....

For Susan. :) We did a fun little photoshoot when she came to visit and in the middle of the mundane editing, I decided to make a little gif. :) Dont' worry about the grain, that's due to the gif. The rest of the photoshoot is soon to follow...you know, when I stop playing around with gifs. :)

Fun with gifs

2012-01-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Do you like the Kool-Aid stain around his mouth??...or the un-brushed teeth? Yup, that's how we roll. :)

The Best Daddy in the World Award

2011-12-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

Goes to..... This guy. The kids can't get enough of him. :) And yes...those are Super Mario Bro. pajama pants. The man loves his video games.

Busy busy!

2011-12-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

Wishing my nieghbors a Merry Christmas. :) No better way to do it than with homemade coconut cake bites.

Family Photo Shoot 2011

2011-12-01T22:50:00.000-08:00

While we were in Southern California, we had the WONDERFUL opportunity to be photographed by my very talented, very gracious sister, Crystal from Crystal Ruby Photography. She is phenomenal and produces stunning, emotional, tender images. I just love her style. These are just a few of my fav shots. I stole these images from her website {with permission of course} so they are not the best quality so you HAVE to head on over to http://blog.crystalruby.com/2011/12/proud-to-call-them-familytomseth-family.html to see more of our session. And while you are there, check out all of her other amazing photography. :)

A little Karaoke

2011-11-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

So evidently Karaoke is our favorite thing now. Lemme tell ya...we rock. :)

Such a fun group of friends. They are hillarious. Check out Cody's face. haha!

Cody. Hillarious.

Rich. Don't know where the glasses came from. I think he stole them from somebody for the song.

Back off ladies...the man in the rediculous pimp hat is mine.

Cody & Amy. Always a riot to hang out with. :)

One of my best friends here in UT, Sara {on the right} and her sister, Jane. {Yes, she's dressed as a pirate. Yes, it was Halloween.}
'Till next time, Folks...and Oh yes, there WILL be a next time. :)

Trevor turns 5!!

2011-11-29T15:19:00.000-08:00

The story behind why Trevor has a garbage truck cake is this: He reeeeeeally wanted a toy to go on top of his cake. Ugh. Putting plastic toys on cake is against my cake religion. But he flashed those dimples and I had no choice but to give in. We went to pick a toy out and this is what he came up with....??? K. So this cake was born from the garbage truck inspiration. He loves garbage trucks so I'm not suprised. Every Wednesday morning I hear his feet running down the entryway to get a look at the garbage truck that is picking up our trashcans. :)

Chuck-E-Cheese!!

He thought it was hilalrious to eat the fondant garbage cans. :)

Yes, the chant: "BITE THE CAKE!!" could be heard all throughout Chuck-E-Cheese.

Jake scored a bunch of tickets for him.

The "Roller Coaster" ride. They thought it was so funny.

Trev is blurry because he is jumping up and down at all the tickets his Daddy just won for him.

There was lots of dancing to be done in celebration of Mr. T's 5th B-day.

Trunk-or-treatin'

2011-10-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Lizzy went as a 'Vampire Cheerleader' this year. This was all her own concept. She specifically wanted hot pink and black. She knew exactly what she wanted to look like and looked over my shoulder through the entire costume-making process to make sure I got it right {in the sweetest way possible, of course}.
I bought the turtle-neck & black skirt from Wal-mart
Made the cheerleader vest. {Don't look too closely at my awful sewing skills. I am a very sloppy sewer. :)} Lizzy loved the pink sparkly material. We made the skirt more "cheerleader-ish" by glueing the matching white ribbon around the edge & cutting the toole to show it off.
Then I just made a hot pink tu-tu to go underneath the skirt to make it more "vampire-ish". The toole was on sale for only $2.50 a spool! Lizzy wanted zebra stripes incorperated for some reason so I grabbed my left-over zebra striped ribbon and tied them into cheer bows. :)

The coolest Ninja on the block. I was so happy with his choice because this costume was one of last year's Christmas presents. Score!

Ali went with the cheerleader theme as well. :) This was Lizzy's old costume. Another score! Mr. T originaly wanted to be a 'White Ninja" to go along with Ryan but while we were in the dollar store looking for Ninja wepons, he happened upon a gun and badge and so he became a cowboy. Totally fudged the vest. I'm not kidding when I say that I'm NOT a good seemstress. :) The trim was something I found at Hobby Lobby while looking for fabric for Lizzy's costume.

Mr. T with his BFF. Cowboys and Aliens!! Hahaha! Didn't even plan it. :)

One more with attitude. :)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls...{Drool}

2011-10-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

So...These are yummy. REALLY yummy. Like, "I had 3 of them in the same day" yummy. I took this picture because they just looked so pretty fresh out of the oven. After I applied the icing...well..I just didn't get another picture...I decided to share so that all of you can share in the fantastic fall goodness as well.
Here's the recipie : http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=17662360
I wasn't in LOVE with the icing so I thought the recipie below might work better. I haven't tried it yet so you'll have to let me know how it turned out. :)
Icing:
Try this:
4 oz. cream cheese (totally room temp)
1/4 C. softened butter
1/4 C. Crisco
3 T milk
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
*Beat all these together in a mixer until incorporated.
*Then slowly add:
1 1/2 lbs. powdered sugar.
*After that is incorperated, add:
2 teaspoons of GOOD vanilla
*Beat again.
* ~~Grab a spoon and dig in!!~~ Spread the icing on the cinnamon rolls and dig in. ;)

Pick-a-Pumpkin/Haunted House

2011-10-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

This year we went to Day farms. We got to take a tractor ride out to the HUMUNGO pumpkin patch and snatch our own GIGANTIC pumkins off the vine. It was...perfect. :)

Later that night, Jake & I took Lizzy to a Haunted House. Not just any Haunted House...it is one of the best in the country! She BEGGED and BEGGED us to take her. We tried to explain to her that it was way to scary for her. She was not to be pursuaded. So then we tried to prep her. We showed her behind-the-scenes videos from thier website and that made her more excited. She really liked the pre-show. She really liked the decor. She liked the Haunted House until about 3 steps in...then she turned to us and said: "I wanna go home." hahaha! This is what I was trying to avoid. This place is NOT cheap but we splurged to satisfy her fancy. I knew this would happen. Lol. So we laughed and Daddy carried her through the ENTIRE Haunted House. She got brave and strated looking around {still being held by daddy of course}. She really didn't like the actors coming up to her so she looked when we told her to look & hid her eyes in Daddy's neck when we told her to. She ended up having a good time and said at the end of the night: "It was really fun but it was really scary." She currently has not plans for a return trip in the near future and has not had any nightmares. I think she's learned to listen to mommy & daddy from now on. :)

Welcome Fall!!

2011-10-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

To really welcome in the Fall season, we had a super-fun-very-fall-ish FHE {Family Home Evening}.

First, we ate THIS for dinner:

mmmmmm....Potato Leek soup....
I may or may not have had ~~thirds~~ seconds of this.

Then we dipped these...

...and added these {spider sprinkles}...

...until they turned into these yummy Halloween creations. :)

Then we all snuggled up to see what Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were up to. It was a perfect night complete with rain and chilly weather. :)

Lil Miss Sassafrass. Entry #1

2011-10-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

ENTRY #1

Carni Kids. Entry #2

2011-10-10T13:21:00.001-07:00

ENTRY #2

Ten years...

2011-08-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago (on the 25th of August), I married the most wonderful man on the planet. He is unselfish, hard-working, kind, loving, compationate, super smart (there is not a thing that boy doesn't know), he is able and willing to build (or paint) me anything, and well...lets face it...he's pretty darn handsome too. I love him more today then the day we got married. How's that for cliche??...but it's true all the same. He has given me such a beautiful life. He has given me 4 beautiful babies. He is the best father I know. I don't know where he gets the energy to wrestle with them after a long, hard day at work then turn around and still do the dishes. They adore him. And so do I. He means the world to me. He will tell you that he is the lucky one. Then I will say that I don't deserve him.

After we drop the kiddos off at my Brother and SIL's house (who so very graciously agreed to take them for the night. THANK YOU, SIS! The 1st stop is Tucanos Bazilian Steak House for dinner

Mmmmm...This cake was to die for. And that's a pretty good way to go. We took it to the hotel room and ate it in bed. :)

The amazing hotel room that my husband picked out in Park City. It was beautiful!

We went swimming past the pool hours. Shhhh... it was fun being sneaky.

Breakfast at the Cafe

We went down to the old Historic District of Park City. SO cute. We found a really cute antique shop. I was in love with these tiny books.

Old houses in the Historic District of Park City.

Relaxing in the Hotel Room

Riding up the tram to go down the Extreme Zipline...this is where I start getting nervous.

I'm only smiling to hide the fear. The door in front of me flys open and I may or may not have screamed....really loud.

Look at those lips...and that scar on his chin gets me every time. {sigh}

Yes...we went to the shooting range for our anniversary...after spending hours shopping at the outlets in Park City of course. See? After 10 years, we've learned to comprimise. I was shooting a pistol here but I really hated it. It had too much recoil and I didn't feel like I had enough control. I tried the Glock next and really loved it. Glocks are what the police use. I felt way more comfortable using that.

There's my manly man shooting my Glock...actually that's a rental. My Glock is much smaller. And don't worry. Yes, we do have an actual gun safe that is impossible for the kids to break into.

Don't mess. You do NOT want to break into my house. Jake's is on the left & mine is on the right.

We stopped by to look at the beautiful South Jordan Temple on our way to see Matt Townsend. He is a relationship coach that puts on these "Date Nights." It is seriously, seriously hillarious. I think I may have peed a little. Even Jacob was rolling.

And that was our weekend get-a-way. It was perfect and I fell in love with my hubby all over again.

Carni Baby!!

2011-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower (with the help of my SIL, Lia) in honor of my other SIL, Emily. :) We had a great time...right up until a HUMUNGO windstorm showed up and started ripping everything down including huge branches from the tree. And even then...we had a blast running around trying to take everything down and go inside. It was the quickest clean-up in the history of baby showers, I'm sure. :) The theme was "Vintage carnival" and I wish I had a never-ending party budget but alas...all good things must come to an end. :) I wish that I could have bought that cool vintage-looking popcorn machine and rented that Cotton Candy maker and then added that cool golden raffle-spinner to the tab. Arial Dancers and Flame eaters would've been great too...ya know...IF there was no budget.
These pictures are in no particular order...because I ~~hate~~ am not fond of Blogger's picture-loading method and I find it extremely frustrating to put them all in order. :)
Let's start with the invites, shall we?? These were done by my wonderfully gracious and super-oober talented sister, Crystal Carlson with http://www.crystalruby.com/. This is the the version that I sent to the photo shop in a 5x7 then cut in half and mailed as "tickets" for the carnival. So fun.

Black Forest Cupcakes

My Kiddos loved the Photo Booth. I found this amazingly perfect red & creme ticking stripe fabric at Wal-Mart of all places. I just got 2 yards of fabric, stretched it over and staple-gunned it to some extra plywood that my hubby had...in fact...my hubby is so awesome that he actually stretched and tapled it FOR me. Aren't you jelous of my hubby??

Black Forest Cake. I went rustic because I wanted that 'Vintage' feel. The sign was made by digging this piece of wood that I already had from an earlier craft that never got finished out of my craft stuff. It was actually already painted the colors that I wanted so I simply printed a font off my computer, cut them out and glued them to the sign. I also grabbed some gold paint that I had in my craft stash and roughly outlined the letters then added flourishes around the edges.

This is my SIL's backyard. it was a great size and location. We used lots of ladder-back chairs and the photo booth is just around the corner. It's hard to see all of the mason jars in the picture but they really did make an impact in person.

Bubble Gum everywhere. I loved the color that they provided. They were put in baby jars because...well...it's a baby shower. :)

I was so thrilled when I found these popcorn bags at my local Kitchen supply store.

Me with the Lady of the Hour. Love her. K, so this is NOT a flattering picture of me but it was so fun taking it! :)

The 'BIG BROTHER"!!

Photo Booth Props: Hats, clown noses, paper mustaches & bow ties on skewers, chalkboard, chalk.

"Guess the Girth" booth. A new twist on an age-old baby shower game. The same process for the "Tickets" sign at the Dessert Table was basically repeated for this sign except that I had to start from scratch. I had my hubby cut the sign out of MDF then I found leftover paint in the colors that I needed (just a lucky coincidence) and painted away. Then I attatched the paper letters and added some gold detail.

I wanted the games to be baby-inspired. My Lizzy came up with this one. It was a hoot. I got these beautiful wooden spools from my local Electrical Supply store. I offered to pay for them but they just gave them to me. :)

Aaaaand...back to the food. Caramel Apples...need I say more? It's been way too long since I've had one. I picked the smallest apples that I could find then found these corn skewers in the produce section at Wal-Mart. They were so cute. I made them simple and rustic to go with the vintage theme.

Loved the dark glass bottles. In retrospect, this would've been a good opportunity to put a lovely little clever message to the little peanut on here instead of just the boring "Old Fashioned Root Beer". Everything is better in retrospect. :)

The dessert table minus the Churros. They were still in the oven.

Again with no Churros but now you can see the banner. ;)

Can't do "Carnival" without doing Nachos. I know it's not "dessert" but it is "yummy". ;)

Oh look the Churros made it. :) They should have been put in a cute container but oh well. The guests were eating by now and the light was getting bad.

Makes you hungry, huh? I totally want another Churro right now.

"Ambiance Lighting" :) Just Mason Jars that I wired and hung from the fence with tea lights from the dollar store!

I just added this picture because it was funny. ;) Don't worry...it's just root beer.

My sweet niece made these plus a pretty blue on for me. Super fun.

We invited these boys to the party to help us eat the food and to provide us some entertainment. ;)

This was what the party looked like after we all ran for cover from the wind storm. :)

The SLC

2011-07-30T17:22:00.001-07:00

Me and my baby crusin' the streets of the SLC. :)

Trev can ride his bike with no training wheels...no training wheels

2011-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

We went on a very special bike ride the other day...with no training wheels.

We had a few spills...

But we got back up with no tears.

We made a few adjustments with the support of the rest of the fam.
Ryan thinks he's so cool...and he is.

Almost there....

...And there it is. Sweet Freedom.
He is now informing the neighborhood of his newly acquired "Big Boy" status.

Rock on, Trevor...Rock on...

{Disclaimer: I had no part in choosing Trevor's outfit. He is quite independent these days. I think those shorts might "accidentally" end up in the trash.}

Help me...

2011-07-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

Poor thing puts up with a lot a' lovin'. :)

Spoiled

2011-07-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

...I'm sitting up here at the kitchen island...side by side with my hubby on our laptops. I'm listening to my playlist (and I may or may not have bought me a couple songs on I Tunes.) He's working...I'm playing. :) And eating an icecream cone. 'Cause it's summer, ya know. Ali will come up every once and a while to hand me a spoon so I can give her a taste. I'm so spoiled.

Moments...

2011-07-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

It is the candid moments like these that make me so sublimely happy. Sharing an evening thunderstorm with Daddy and then having my boys climb into my bed to play with their baby sister. They adore her. And I adore them...How did I get so blessed??

Summer Roses & Wildflowers...

2011-07-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Fresh flowers make me so happy. Especially when they grow right outside my kitchen window. I think I might just have to plant a few white rose bushes out in my front planter bed. They just give my home that lovely, luxurious feeling. Oh, I had to include a picture of my wonderful new kitchen in the evening. I think it looks best in the evening. :) I get to relax, watch my favortie DIY shows, blog-serf or read a great book to this view.... How blessed am I?

$1.00

2011-06-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

...Got me THIS at a garage sale. I'm a happy girl. :)

Kitchen/ Living Room/ Entry Way Reveal!!

2011-06-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

So I am FINALLY ready to post pics of the upstairs after so many decicion changes and re-painting and "style-searching" from within myself. I was so lost for so long. Then I started watching HGTV and looking at all these fabulous blogs and I think I've finally found MY style.

So, here are the 'Befores'...

And for some reason, I commited this paint attrocity to my walls...Asian phase?? Ugh. And that awful fake tree?? Lame.

And here is the 'After':

The style that I had in my head was sort of a "French-y, rustic style with a bit of Industial {pot rack, wood crate, sunburst mirror}

My husband made my WONDERFUL pot rack {complete with lighting}as an anniversary present last year. I was so in love with him for making this for me. ;)

If you are in the Utah area {Davis County} then go to: Tomseth.com and contact us for some wonderful CONCRETE countertops. For our kitchen, we did a faux Marble look and it turned out perfect! The flooring is also concrete, btw.

**Help NEEDED**

I'm not so sure about this {blue-ish}grey and green color combo...does it mesh well??

My hubby says he "likes" the green, but really, I think he just doesn't want to re-paint. I'm so stuck on what to do...

Sunburst Mirror tutorial HERE

So...What to do up here...I feel it needs somthing just to tie it all together. Maybe some moss??? HELP!

I would love a Kitchen table that looks just like THIS one from RED HEN HOME. Wouldn't that be just SO perfect??!!

That empty frame up there will recieve a vintage map with pinpoints of our vacations together as a family.

Notice the tear in my newly re-covered barstools?? Yeah...that would be the work of my 4 year old...

I'm only 5 feet tall so please excuse the foot stool that I forgot to remove before taking this picture. ;) Also, that wierd, fake plant behind the chair will be removed promptly. ;)

Entry Way

Again...so in love with this backsplash!

My Lovelies

Disclaimer: These couches are NOT my first choice, but I have a hubby that loves them and prefers comfort above all else... If I had the green light, I would put these in the basement and get new couches in a heartbeat. But what to get??? I'm stuck on that too...

When buying fresh flowers every week is not an option, why not tame the crazy mint patch in the garden?!

Obviously, the frame wall needs to be filled...I'll get to that...

Ladder-Back Straw-Seat Chairs

2011-06-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

I get so excited when I find wonderful furniture finds!! I found these beauties on KSL (Utah's Craigslist) and COULD NOT pass them up. They warm up my dining room with their beautiful wood and textured straw seats. I'm not even going to TOUCH them with a speck of paint. I love their color and thier worn lovelieness. ;) I got 4 of them for only $45.00! It was a steal and we REALLY needed chairs for the dining room...we were sitting on folding chairs until I could find the 'Perfect' chairs. ;)...and I did. I'm new to the furniture world so if anybody knows what type of chairs these are or what time period they came from, I would love you forever for educating me. ;) For now, I am calling them: "My Beautiful, Wooden, Ladder-back, Straw-seat' chairs. It's a long name, so I'd appreciate knowing the correct term. ;)

Before and After Dresser

2011-06-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

{Sorry for the lame pics...}

I REALLY did not like this dresser and was actually about to throw it out.

I didn't even think D.I. would accept it...

UNTIL...
My Hubby got his hands on it...

I wanted more height to it so he built a box to put on top of it and then added a wooden embellishment to make it more {FANCY}. He even PAINTED it for me {and he really hates to paint-he must REALLY love me. ;) We didn't know what type of finish this dresser had on it so he used a oil-based primer which I LOOOOVE because it requires no sanding and you can use ANY top coat with it. I think it may be my new favorite thing...

I added some lovely little knobs {the knob on the door is actually shaped like a victorian rose)from my FAV store, Hobby Lobby and viola!

It went so lovely in my Baby Ali's Nursery.

My Wonderful SIL

2011-06-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

The other weekend, Jacob's sister came to visit. Let me tell you a little about this lady...

My kids {ADORE} her...She is just {BEAUTIFUL} {Ali loves her reflection so much that she decided to give herself a little kiss.}

She was such a {TROOPER} when she caught the flu from us... We are SOOOO Sorry, Court!

She makes my kids {GIGGLE} She brought this little {CUPCAKE} with her

She holds thier {HANDS}

She has the {Hottest} brother ever!

She is {Nae-Nae} to this little thing.

And the mommy to this {PERFECT} little thing. ;)

We had a litte bit of this... ;) {It was pretty funny}

A {LOT} of this...

And this... And some of this... {Uncle Jay feeding her apples}.

We loved to use Uncle Jay as a {JUNGLE GYM}. ;)

We had one of {THESE}.

{Court is gonna be so mad at me. She absolutely dispises snotty noses and I practically had to hold her down in order for her to let me take this picture. ;) }

Ali {along with the rest of us} were really sad to see them go...

*Thank you so much Courtney for always taking the time and opportunity to visit your family. We love you so much!

Rustic Wedding Cake Trio

2011-05-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Charlotte Cake". Cheesecake topped w. fresh berries and wrapped in Lady Fingers.

10", 8" & 6" tiers.

My wonderful, handsome hubby built me my cake stand and even stopped by my cake supply store to get my supplies! Thank you, honey for eating hotdogs and pizza for dinner for the past 3 nights! ;)

Chocolate Fudge cake w. Rassberry filling and Amaretto Buttercream. Garnished w. white chocolate 'Petals'.

4-layer 10" and 2-layer 7" tiers.

Red Velvet w. Cream Cheese Buttercream. Garnished w. fresh berries and red Gumpaste Leaves.
8", 6" and 4" tiers

MIni Haul

2011-05-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

I promise this won't turn into a coupon blog...promise. ;) But if I do get a REALLY good haul, {even if it is a mini-haul}I just HAVE to share it. ;)

{Ignore the Glade re-fill, it makes my haul look less impressive. ;)}

Total: $26.42

I PAID: $1.02...YUP!! ONE BUCK-A-ROO! Can't beat that.

Remember the Coupons that I got just from calling my favorite manufactures?? Here are the fruits of that 5 min of labor. ;)

EXTREME COUPONING!!

2011-05-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is my Coupon Binder...Don't touch it. I know you want to, but seriously...don't. ;)

Ok...well, maybe not as "Extreme" as the TLC show, but still, I made out with some REALLY good deals and a lot of FREEBIES! I saw this show and was definately HOOKED! I wanted to do it for the THRILL and to build up a beautiful STOCK pile for the 'food storage' that we never really think to store. ;) I started by going to a couponing seminar (of course it was located at the newspaper building) where they teach you how to use coupons and get the MAX amount of dollar out of them. I subscibed to 5 papers (because when there is a FANTASTIC deal or FREEBIE, you WANT to have a good pile of coupons ready. This came in VERY handy when I hit Smith's (a local Utah grocery store) that was having a "Buy 10, get $5.00 off" sale! Lots of "buy-on-get-one" and $X amount off 2 coupons came in REALLY handy!! :)
My first experience that got me hooked was actually an un-planned (and believe me, these take planning!) trip to Wal-mart after taking Ali to the Dr's due to some tummy troubles. He told me to get a certain acid reflux medication and also to grab some soy milk for her. ...Guess what?!! I HAD the coupons for it in my nicely {oh-so-beautiful}, handy-dandy Coupon Binder {shown above}! I immediatly saved $5.00 off something that I was going to buy anyway! I clip every coupon because you never know if you are gonna need it or if it's going to end up being free! In that shopping trip, I saved $50.00!!! just because I had my binder with me! I bought diapers, cheese, medicine, milk, ect!

After that...it was ALL OVER!! ...I was HOOKED!! I was...a 'Crazy Coupon Lady'.

It took me a few weeks to get the hang of it and to get the hang of it but I've found some super helpful resources. I use a website called: Savvy Shopper Deals.com

It takes all the work out of it. It compares the coupons to the current sales so you get the max savings. It ranks the deals into 3 catagories: "Wow, Great, and Good." I only look for the "Wow" deals. It also will link you to the online coupons that you need! Some other great websites that do the same thing are: The Krazy Coupon Lady and Coupon Mom.com. Coupon mom also has great tutorials on how to coupon and especially how to 'Drug Store' coupon, which is really tricky.

To get started:

I had to order my {5}, yes 5! newspapers. Then, I got a binder and also purchased baseball card holders (you need about 60 baseball card sleeve pages, so that means you buy about 2 packs...I think.) to fill the binder with along with dividers. I then organized my binder into 8 catagories with the 'Grocery' catagory having 8 sub-catagories.

Here are my catagories:

Grocery, Paper Goods, Hygiene, Beauty, Home (cleaning supplies and air fresheners), Baby, Health and Other (dog food, restraunts, craftstore coupons, ect.)

My 'Grocery' sub-catagories are: Bread & Cereal, Dairy, Desserts/Snacks/Beverages, Meat, Frozen, Canned Goods, Condiments, Baking supplies.

Here's how I do it:

Sunday: COUPONS COME!! Weeeee!

Monday: Clip Coupons/Make regular grocery list

Tuesday: More coupons come in the mail along with all the stores adds. I do a little more clipping and then I get on my savvyshopperdeals.com and also look through the adds to see what is on sale and what can be FREE. I make my next list and just add what produce I need from my list made on Monday. Savvy Shopper is great because as you are researching the deals, you can add each item onto a list that it will compile for you, then it prints it off, organized by STORE! It's pretty awesome. ;) Then...after the kids go to bed...I go SHOPPING!! I like to go on Tuesday because otherwise, all the other crazy couponers out there will take all the good deals!! My stores are 24 hrs. and I like to go at night so I don't have people behind me in line glaring at me. I always make sure I tell the person behind me: "Pick another checkout lane, honey." ;)Wednesday: If I don't get to go shopping on Tuesday, I will go this day. I also will make sure to send in any rebates on this day so that I don't forget!

Thurs.-Sunday: Relax and enjoy my spoils. ;)

TIPS:

*I've learned that drug stores are GREAT places to work the system and get FREEBIES. They usually will have sales combined with reward dollars (that print out at check-out), combined with in-store coupons that you can combine with your manufacture's coupon!

*Where I find all my coupons: Newspapers (biggest supply), online coupons, rebates, packaging coupons including instant coupons called 'peelies' that come on the prouduct that I am buying. Beer Rebates (no beer purchase nessesary. The beer companies will rebate you for buying stuff that you would buy along with beer such as chips, frozen wings, ect. Not sure if this is a UT thing or not. You find them in the Beer isle or up at customer service.) Catalinas (coupons printed off at the register based on your purchases).

Oh...and these pretty little coupons were delivered right to my mailbox today simply because I called my favorite manufactures and gave them feedback about their products. They love feedback and at the end of the conversation will offer to send you some awesome coupons!

**Warning: Be smart and know your prices. Sometimes the generic brand that you always buy is STILL cheaper then the sale with the coupon.

Heres what I got on my first Haul at Wal-greens:What I got:

*4 Tampax Pearl:$4.50/ea reg. $6.99/ea.

*2 (or 3, can't remeber) Always panty liners {same price as Tampax}

*6 packages of floss sticks... FREE! {Between rewards dollars and sale} reg: $2.oo

*6 Colgate toothbrushes: $0.50/ea reg: $2.99/ea

*4 Colgate total toothpaste: $0.75/ea (I shouldn't have bought them at this price because you can always get a better price or free but I was eager because this was my 1st trip.) reg: $2.99/ea

*2 CoverGirl's new Long Lash Mascara: $3.50/ea reg: $8.99/ea

*4 packs of AAA & AA batteries: BOGO= $3.50/ea reg: $6.99/ea

*Glade automatic spray kit: $1.99! reg: $12.99.

*4 'Right Guard' Deoderant: $0.99/ea reg: $2.99/ea

*5 Herbal Essance/Aussie Hair prouducts (shampoo, cond, styler): $1.50/ea reg:$2.99/ea

*4 of Gillete's new Fusion Razors: $o.89/ea reg: $9.89!

*2 Dawn dish detergent (10 oz.): $0.75/ea reg: $1.35/ea

*2 Morton Salt: $0.50/ea reg: $0.99/ea

*Frosted Flakes, large box: $1.99/ea reg: $2.??

*3 boxes of Kleenex: $0.99/ea reg: ??

*Vinyl gloves (for coloring my fondant): $2.99 reg. $5.99

*6 cans of Arizona drinks {a FAV at our house}: $0.50/ea reg: $0.99.

*5 pkgs. of Reeses pieces/Almond Joy pieces/Dove Chocolate cov. Almonds: $1.50/ea reg: $2.99

*I lrg bottle of Fish oil (1200 mg) {which I take every day}: $7.99 reg: $16.99

Total Savings: $200 buck-a-roos!!!

Smith's Haul: (Buy 10 of the same items, get $5.00 off sale)

*10 boxes pasta: The store PAID ME $0.04/ea to take them out of the store!!! reg: I don't even know/care! {I think reg: $1.50/ea}

*5 pkg. Carefree pantyliners (20ct): FREE reg: $1.09/ea

*10 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce: 6 of them were $0.14! and 4 of them were $0.49(ran out of coupons) reg: $1.09

*10 bags Quakes Mini rice cakes (I LOVE these): $0.52/ea reg: $1.29/ea??

*10 jars of Vlassic Dill relish (we eat a lot of dill relish at our house): $0.50/ea. reg: 1.82?/ea

*10 Bottles of Gatorade (I like to have it on hand for when we get sick and need hydration): $0.50/ea reg: $1.23/ea*16 Yoplait yougurts: $0.48/ea reg $0.58/ea

*Mother's Made Cereal: $0.49! reg: $2.84

*Propel flavored Water: $1.99 reg:$4.99

*3 pkg. Strawberry Eggo waffles: $1.79/ea reg: $2.29/ea

*Silk Soymilk: $2.69 reg: $3.69

*Sesame Dressing (my fav brand): $2.79 reg: $2.99

Total Savings: $77.00!!!

Wal mart Haul: {No sale, just Wal-Mart}

*2 BiC razors (4 pks): They PAID ME $0.12/ea to take them out of the store!! reg: $2.88/ea?

*4 cans of Similac Sensitive formula mix: They PAID ME $0.24/ea to take them out of the store! reg: $4.76/ea

2 bottles Sierra Mist Soda: FREE!

*Trial size Pronamel toothpaste: FREE!

*1 ladies BiC Twilight razor (4 pk): $1.47 reg. $4.47!

*5 Hormels kids microwave Noodles and Chicken meals: $0.66/ea reg: $1.76/ea

*Girard's Dressing (yummy): $1.98 reg: $2.98

*4 pkgs Tostidos (diff. variety): $1.98/ea reg: $2.98/ea

*4 pkgs Sun Chips (our FAV): $1.98/ea reg: $2.98/ea

**Ritz munchables: $1.50 reg: $2.50

*French's mustard: $0.78 reg: $1.08

*GV Pasta Sauce: $1.33 reg. $1.33

*GV Window Cleaner: $0.99 reg $0.99

Total Savings: $53.54

So, already, since I started this: I've built a good stock-pile and saved over $380.00!!! on groceries that are RELEVANT to my family. I'd say that's pretty darn good for one month!

I was FEATURED!!!!

2011-05-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

I was featured on my FAV blogs, EVER! TT&J even included it in her MOTHER'S DAY POST!! Eeeeek! And also on:

Gumpaste Flower Tutorial

2011-05-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

As promised in the "Soft Vintage Pink and White 1st Birthday Party" post, here is your

Gumpaste Tutorial:

{Here are a couple of other examples of other cakes that I have done using this fabulous flower.}

Gumpaste Tutorial:

Here's what you need:

1.A set of round cutters (close-up shown below) {or you can find concentric circular shapes around your house and use those as a template, cutting them out with an Exacto knife} 2.Cornstarch 3.Wilton Ready-to-Use Gumpaste {or mix} 4. 2 sizes of silver, metallic Dragees - close-up also shown below. (For the smaller size, I used the tiniest dragges that I could find!) 5.Wilton Piping Gel 6.Small rolling pin (again, from Wilton) 7.Tweezers 8.A fondant and gumpaste ball tool (2 are shown but you only need 1) 9. Thin foam pad (Wilton) 10.Wilton Practice board OR a ziploc baggie. 11. Small parchment paper bag filled with the said Piping gel. ;) Tutorial here {In the video, she cuts her triangle in half. I make mine even smaller by cutting it in half AGAIN to have more control of the bag}. *Food coloring is optional depending on what color you want your flowers. You just add it to your gumpaste and kneed it before beginning. ;)

To Begin:

*Select the size cutters that you want. {I used every other size in my set and you can make this flower with as many layers as you want!!}

*Get a boulder-sized {'boulder' as in way back in the day of playing marbles} ball of gumpaste.

*With a super-thin coat of cornstarch on your mat (or surface; you really don't need the mat) and rolling pin, roll out your gumpaste as THIN as you can get it. I'm talking, PAPER THIN.

* Cut out your circles and place them under the practice board (or ziploc baggie) to keep them from drying out.

*Kneed the excess gumpaste and place it back in it's original bag.

*Place the largest circle on your thin foam pad and place your ball tool half-way onto the foam and half-way onto the gumpaste.

*Make sure you have a thin layer of cornstarch on your ball tool and with a fluid motion, rub tool around your gumpaste's edge to create the ruffled edge.

*As you finish each circle, use your piping bag to adhere each circle to the next.

*To make the Dragge center, place a (very small) pea-sized drop of piping gel in the center of your smallest flower.

*With your tweezers, place a large dragge in the center of the piping gel drop.

* Through trial and error, I have found that the easiest way to place the teeny-tiny dragess in place is to pour a few around the center dragee...

*...then sort them with your tweezers.

*Let the flower dry at least 8 hours before assembling them on the cake {or cupcake! They make SUPER cute cupcake toppers!}.

Happy baking, everyone!

A Perfect Spring Friday Afternoon

2011-05-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

My Bleeding Heart plant is finally in full bloom! A Shaved Ice truck rollin' down the street and blaring Jamaican Music. AWESOME! Jake was pretty excited. He LOVES shaved ice.
What a BLESSED life we lead. ;)

Self-Serve flavors! Genius!

I love our street...

A perfect spring Friday afternoon wouldn't be complete without an afternoon nap while waiting for mamma to finish dinner. ;)

Trying to hang with the big kids. ;)

"Look, Mom! A Rolly-Polley!" {Drops it in my lap...} Thanks big guy...

Blue Sky. Blue Eyes

The Neighborhood "Biker-Gang". Sweet boys.

Typical Ryan. I LOVE this shot.

BFF's

My Sweet Ry-guy

My Sissy came to Play!!

2011-05-07T12:10:00.001-07:00

I had the most wonderful couple days with my sissy, Heather who came all the way from Virginia. We had a blast giggling, stuffing our faces with naughty snacks, making beautiful gumpaste roses, doing a photo shoot with her oober-cute baby, swapping recipies, eating more naughty snacks and more. Love you sister!

They totally look real, huh?!

Soft Vintage Pink and White 1st Birthday Party

2011-04-18T10:48:00.001-07:00

We had a WONDERFUL time! We ate lots of cake..

{To see the Birthday Girl's 1st Birthday photo shoot, complete with smash cake, go here.}

...and Cupcakes... ...We sang Happy Songs... ...opened lots of fun presents... ...played with our friends...

...had some belly laughs...

... and read pretty books. {Just LOOK at that little pointer finger!}

The Dessert Table.

I really wanted to do an "Amy Atlas" inspired dessert table. {http://amyatlas.com/ PLEASE don't compare my work to hers. She is AMAZING.) I just LOVE her work! While I am not a fan of contemporary design, I love her clean, symetrical, repetitive lines. She does a wonderful job of softening her contemporary lines and making a theme look fantastic. I went for a very soft, very feminine, vintage style with a tiny modern twist on it in a pallate of pinks, whites and creams.

Most of this wonderful serving-ware is from the thrift store! I think I REALLY lucked out that day and found some great pieces!

Great tissue Pom-pom tutorial from Martha Stewart here.

Party Favors {Ali's "kisses"}

These were strung on a White picture frame. Sorry for the lame picture. ;)

Cookies 'N Cream & Milk Chocolate Hershey Bars that read:

"Alice Rebecca, April 21st, One year filled with pure, SWEET joy."

FANTASTIC paper from Hobby Lobby. I cut the medalions with fancy scissors then took a stamp-pad to the edges.

Super cute marshmallows that I found at Wal-mart (of all places). They were really gross. But they were pretty. ;)

Meringues

{Recipie here. I just made mine fancy by piping them out of a piping bag with a fancy tip (Wilton 1M) }

Another Cake Stand made from Thrift-Store finds! 6 Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake
w. Whipped Ganache filling {Tutorial here. To make my life easier, I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips instead of chopping my own chocolate.} & Amaretto Swiss Meringue Buttercream {Tutorial here.}I followed this buttercream ruffle tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHYX0qXDVy0

My Gumpaste Flower tutorial here.

This Cake Stand was made from two FABULOUS pieces that I found at the Thrift Store!! I think it cost me a total of $2.75.

White Rassberry cupcakes w. edible feathers and "pearls"

{White cake (Box mix!!)w. Rassberry filling {from Orson Gygi's} and Fresh Rassberry American Buttercream

*The 'Pearls' were made by rolling white fondant in a ball, then rolling it around in 'Pearl dust' from Wilton. The 'Feathers' were actually made from rice paper! I found the rice paper at my favorite local kitchen supply store Orson Gygi's. I just cut it into the shape of a feather, then took my scissors and made the slits on the sides.
This Cupcake Stand was made from placing two glass stands from Wal-mart. They were on sale and cost me $9.00 total!

Cupcake wrappers were made from {Grease-proof} paper doilies!! Tutorial here from Intimateweddings.com.

Beaded Chandelier tutorial here from Dollar Store Crafts!

For more peeks at the photos hanging here, click here. Beverage dispenser: $6.00 from Wal-mart! Carrot Cake Cake Pops
Tutorial from Bakerell here.
My hubby from Tomseth Construction made this Barnwood flooring that I used as a photo prop in Ali's 1-year Photo Shoot. It was AMAZING in the photos. I ran to Hobby Lobby and grabbed 4.5 yards of their ruffled material from the spool [instead of making it myslef] and it saved me SO much time.

This lovely cream and sugar set were also a thrift-store find!

{Pssst, here's a secret. I made this Pink Lemonade (Crystal Light!) look extra fancy by adding the lemon slices!}

The nametags just added that extra fancy, put-together touch. ;)

The "Guess how old I am" game. You had to guess which month of her life each of these pics were taken in. Super hard! Lemme tell ya!

We had some wonderful family and friends come up! My brother, Scott and his awesome family came all the way from Payson. Our good friend, Mark ('Uncle Mark' to my kids) drove up from Saratoga Springs, my good friend, Sara and her kidlets came. GUESS WHO else came?!! My In-Laws!! It was such a {WONDERFUL} suprise! They came all the way from Cali JUST for Ali's 1st birthday!! What amazing parents and grandparents. I am so lucky to have them as family. ;) We had a great time eating, talking, laughing, eating and playing.

*A BIG 'Thank-You" to the lovely Jen from Tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com for the wonderful Mother's Day spotlight!*

1 year Photo shoot

2011-04-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Alice is turning 1!! I can't believe it. I don't {WANT} to believe it.
Let me tell you a little bit about this thing:

She's an absolute {DIVA}.

She will {TELL} you if she doesn't like how you conduct business. ;)

She completely rules the house...and our {HEARTS}.

She LOVES to {CUDDLE}

She is {DOTED} on by all she meets.

She has an infectious, toothless, One-dimpled {SMILE} that brightens up the room.

She {ADORES} her siblings.

{No one can make her giggle like Trevor}

She {LOVES} to {DANCE}. Any time, any place.

Daddy is her {FAVORITE}

She would eat {BANANAS} for every meal if she could.

We have had one year of pure, {SWEET} joy

She is just...{LOVELY}

This is seriously the messiest I could get her! She's such a Miss Priss.

She's learning to walk!

Don't you just LOVE the drool??!

She reeeeealy loved that spoon. ;)

The "Diva" face. It's totally fake...Don't give in.

Right after this shot, she cried because her hands were messy...Told ya. Miss Priss.

Seriously?!!

My FAV shot.

*A special thank you to my wonderful brother, Scott for recovering these from my corrupted memory card!!

*And a very special thank you to the lovely, amazingly talented, Crystal for not only editing these pictures for me but for putting together this BEAUTIFUL invitation. You are phenomenal. Go to: http://crystalruby.com/ to see her {BEAUTIFUL} photography!

In Love...

2011-04-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

I'm SOOOO making 2 of these?? For what??...I'll think of something. ;)

You can do it to. ;) http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2010/05/make-a-beaded-chandelier/

TV Debut

2011-04-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

So here is the link to my fancy-schmancy TV debut. ;) I also added pics of the rooms detail in more flattering light than was used with the video in the clip. http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=59&sid=15045928This is the birdcage that they focused on. The lovely milner's head and french cracker jar belonged to my Great-Grandmother Ardis. She was a professional hat maker by trade in the 1930's and the jar was a gift for her wedding in 1928.

Oh Happy Morning...

2011-04-03T09:56:00.001-07:00

There's nothing like Double Stuffed Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes and Strawberries on a Sunday General Conferance {http://lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng} Morning. She actually clapped and cheered for her breakfast. ;)

Get the recipe here: http://twopeasandtheirpod.com/cinnamon-streusel-pancakes/ No syrup needed. I just loaded mine with whipped cream. ;)

P.S. Thanks Auntie Jena for sharing this recipe and contributing to this smile. ;)

Sneak Peek...

2011-04-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Just a sneak peek of the cutest little one-year-old that you ever did see. More Birthday shots coming soon! ...IF my amazing brother, Scott is able to recover them from my corrupted memory card. :(

A special, loving thanks to Auntie Emily Whitman for the oober-adorable tu-tu!

Sunburst Mirror!

2011-03-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

See how lonely it is up there?? Viola! Problem solved. ;)

So...my dear, sweet, wonderful step-sister, Jenafer thought that I might enjoy this little tutorial on a sunburst mirror {from Flamingo Toes, a guest blogger at: http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2011/03/guest-post-sunburst-mirror-by-flamingo-toes.html#comment-47616} since I was stumped as to what to put on the wall in between my two clusters on top of my kitchen cabinets. DID I EVER?!!! It was the PERFECT solution!!! She has great taste and I totally value her opinion. I went out the NEXT DAY and bought all the supplies from the D.I. (and a mirror from Hobby Lobby) and assembled it in a matter of about 30 min. SO easy. SO stylin'. SO PERFECT. It added some great shine and glitz up there. (Once again...these are W.I.P photos of the kitchen...I just couldn't wait to share this tutorial with you.) ;) And yes, those darn speakers will be gone the next time I take a picture. ;)

The only thing that I did differently was that I used another piece of cardboard on top of the silverware and then used silicone glue to adhere the plate on top of the second cardboard piece. Happy crafting everyone!!

The best part: $6.00, people!

Designing with...Books????

2011-03-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

WARNING: WORK IN PROGRESS PHOTOS ;)

Okay, so I hesitate to show these because the kitchen is nowhere near being finished. Please ignore the yellow black splash (we couldn't re-paint because there is a silicone coating on it...long story...) and please ignore the counter-tops. They will be re-done in a beautiful faux white stone. My amazingly talented hubby (I swear, it's like living with one of those hot carpenters from all the home-improvement shows. ;) is going to do concrete counter tops for me. He's going to carry it all the way up the back splash too! I am also debating on wall-papering the wall above the cabinets {and I'm carrying it into the dining room on the "window wall"}. They have such fabulous wall-paper now-a-days. Maybe something like this?:

I am posting this because I just LOVE this concept of covered books in design. For a number or reasons:
1. It is SO inexpensive! I did this book project with books that were already on my book shelves and the paper costs next to nothing. Even if you didn't have books in your home that you could cover, thrift stores carry them for less than $3.00 each.
2. There are SO many options in paper these days. The brown books were covered with a very light butcher paper that I already had in my house but butcher paper is so inexpensive anyway. Hobby Lobby has a fantastic selection and so does Robert's crafts. My two favorites (the graphic newspaper-type prints) were from Robert's. They were the most expensive because they were double sided and super thick but they were still only $1.49? a piece. The others only ranged from about $0.35 a page. SUPER affordable!
3. I just love books. I love reading them and knowing that there is so much to discover inside of them.
4. The book design is so versatile. It can go in ANY room. Boys, Girls, Kitchen, Library, Bedroom. You just have to cover them accordingly.

This project could also be done very simply with plain butcher paper and you can stamp "titles" of the books on the sides to give a monochromatic, simple look that really makes a statement.

You could even make a LAMP out of covered books!! Just drill holes through them all, buy a lamp kit and a piece of conduit from Home Depot and viola!!

This next picture shows some treasures that I got. Now, I used to have a really hard time going into the D.I. because I just didn't know what to buy and then I wanted to buy everything that I saw potential in. I hated that thought I couldn't go home and think about a purchase because everything is non-returnable and everything goes so fast. I had to really focus my purchases and only go in there when there was a need for a specific item. ie: a chair, or a specific room in mind.
For this shopping trip, I was focused on the area above my kitchen cabinets. I had a super-specific color palette in mind: Ivory, white, wood tones, black, gold.
I found this super-cool item for only $8.00( I don't even know what it is!) and I had to get it. I'm not sure how "functional" it is but that's okay because I didn't need it to be functional sitting on top of my cabinets. The knobs are faux because the entire front opens and there are little shelves inside. I debated displaying it open and putting little knick-knacks in it but I loved the color palette of it with the knobs so much that I kept it closed and clean. The best part: It added the PERFECT amount of height that I needed in that corner!
Wood Crate with the word 'Grocery' on it (doesn't get any more "kitchen" than that) from Hobby Lobby. $10.00 on sale.
Black iron lantern: On sale from Hobby Lobby for $12.50

This is a shot just to show the height of my ceilings and the other pieces. Don't worry, the speakers in the middle will eventually be hidden. I am still racking my brain as to what to do/hang/mount in between these two clusters to tie them together. A series of hanging random bird cages in my color palate popped into my head at one time but I want it to say "Kitchen". Awesome print: Hobby Lobby. $10.00 LOVE it. It's such a fun, subtle "kitchen" statement in my color palette.
Vase: D.I. $1.50. Awesome. ;)
Cake stand: My amazing MIL. It had some BEAUTIFUL beads hanging from it but they were not the right colors and I love the simplicity of the beautiful gold.
Birdhouse/Box???: Don't know what it is but I had purchased it from a thrift store for about $6.00. It just looked cool and I'm glad I got it because it eventually worked so well in this space.
Anyway...Like I said, it's a work in progress. I'll keep working on it...

Ruffle Cake

2011-03-17T21:32:00.001-07:00

...Cause I LOOOOVE me some ruffles. ;)

Before and After Desk and Chair

2011-03-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

The DESK: Before

And AFTER:I LOVE this DESK! This was a seriously fantastic find from the DI. (Always from the DI. ;) I walked by it and did one of those comical double takes complete with jaw dropping. I immediately fell in loVE! ;) It was so pretty and petite and ornate. (...swoon...) Since I had just moved the vanity desk that used to be in Ali's room down into Lizzy's room (a post of her room will follow) there was an empty space in Ali's room that needed to be filled. I seriously didn't think I would be able to find something to replace it. But I DID! And it is WAY better. ;) AND!!!!...it was ONLY $30!!!

I actually did like the ivory and gold colors that it came in because there is so much gold in the room. It also created depth and dimension to the desk. Unfortunately, there were some color variations on the desk and it was yellowed in some areas. It also had a few nicks and scratches. So I made the decision to paint it all a crisp white to match the armior (that was also re-vamped...a post will arrive shortly. ;) and to match the white guest bed in the room.

To do this, I had to use an oil-based primer first because I wasn't sure what type of finish was on the piece. Oil-based is wonderful because it adheres to ANYTHING. There is no sanding required (although I did it for good measure anyway) and you may use any top coat that you want. My sis, Ashley was visiting before leaving on her mission and we had fun doing this project together. Many thanks to her. ;) We added a top coat of crisp white and painted the hardware as well. One of the drawers was missing it's hardware so we moved the hardware that was on the top right drawer over to the top left drawer that was missing the hardware and replaced it with a crystal knob from Hobby Lobby.

I accented it with (...and this is my favorite part of the desk...)some books that had the shapes and widths that I wanted and just covered them with beautiful, coordinating scrapbook paper. I smile every time I see them. My favorite book is in the middle. It looks very "Jane-Austin-reminiscent" to me (and I'm a huge Jane Austin fan). I topped those books with a lovely little crystal vase (or candle holder???...not sure...) and added a silk peony flower ('cause I love them. :) Of course, the awesome phone that I got from DI (forever ago) is there to complete it. Oh! And I snagged that cute little flower frame from DI as well. It was kinda perfect and I put one of my favorite pictures of all time in it. It is a picture of Ali's cousin, Nate taking a taste of Ali just to see how sweet she really is. ;) My theory is that these are the personal touches that really make you fall in love with a room. My favorite things in a room are the things with history, sentimental value or if it's a super fabulous piece that also has a function to it.

DESK COSTS:

Desk: $30 stinkin' bucks. It was a steal!

Primer: $0.00 It was left-over from the Armior

Paint: $0.00 Again...it was left-over from the Armior

Books: $0.00 Found 'em in my own library

Crystal Vase: $0.75?- DI

Peony Flower: $3.00 - Hobby Lobby

Crystal Knob: $ 1.50 - On sale at Hobby Lobby

Flower Frame: $0.50? DI

Print of the cutest little cousins, ever: $0.13

Phone: $0.00 Because I already had it but I think I got it at DI forever ago for only $5.00

Total Cost: $35.88 for the cutest little desk in town. ;)

The CHAIR:

Before

So this chair actually belongs in Lizzy's room but I had it in Ali's room for the Studio 5 filming (because I have not found "the perfect chair" for Ali's desk yet). When I got this chair home from the DI, I immediately removed somebody's attempt at basket-weaving and made a little ruffle back for it. (I'm obsessed with ruffles...I mean...SERIOUSLY obsessed.) Since my dear sister was here (who is way better at sewing than I am) I let her have the project of the seat cushion. (Aren't I so kind? hehe) I explained to her that I wanted it round and that I wanted the ruffles from the back of the chair to be replicated in a circular pattern on the cushion to imitate a flower. I showed her how to do the ruffles out of chiffon (chiffon is hard to work with and you have to flame-finish ALL the edges...ugh. It's very tedious but it is worth it because it's so beautiful) I flamed, she sewed and she created a beautiful masterpiece. I really heart her. ;)

I decided not paint the chair because I loved the rustic wood and metal finishes on it. It makes it look like it has a history and a story behind it. My sister, Crystal was right...painting the chair would have "cheesed" it up. ;)

The best part: It was $5!! Man, I love the DI!
CHAIR COSTS:

Chair: $5.00 (Seriously?!)

Fabric: $0.00...Already had it in my stash but it would have only cost a couple bucks anyway.

Total Cost: $5.00 for the cutest little chair in town to match the cutest little desk in town. ;)

Before and After Demask Chair

2011-03-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

This first 'Before and After' is a fantasic treasure because it was FREEEEE! It is a chair that my wonderful friend just GAVE to me!! After pulling out HUNDREDS of staples, removing the ugly early 90's fabric and taking out quite a few studs... Here you go. I originally wanted to do a zebra print because I thought it would photograph so wonderfully but then I spotted this Demask pattern in the fabric store and gasped. It was quite the splurge at $14.99/yard (and that's on sale from $19.99!) but I think it was so worth it since the chair was free. I basically used the fabric that I pulled off the chair as a template for cutting out the Demask fabric. Also, you need to pay attention to your pattern when you are cutting so that you can center it on the chair.

Here is the before in all of it's early 90's glory. ;)After a coat of high-gloss black spray paint and the super-lovely Demask pattern, here she is:

Oh yeah, and I made an ubber-cute round pillow to add depth, texture and bling. The center is actually a belt buckle from a second hand store. hehe.

COSTS:

Chair: Free!
Fabric: $17.00
Trim: $4.00
Staples: $3.00
Total cost: $24.00 buck-a-roos, baby. ;)

I'm gonna be on TVeeeeee!!!

2011-03-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

Studio 5 is a local Utah lifestyle show that is on channel 5 (KSL) Mon.-Fri. at 11:00 am MST. They feature the latest in crafting, fashion, food, interior design and general lifestyle advice. Basically, it's my favorite show ever. ;)

Well, they feature a 'Happy Homes' segment once a month about what in your home makes you happy. GUESS WHO will be featured??!!! I'm SOOOO excited!! (eeeek!)

On their show, they asked viewers to submit pictures of a cool, unique feature in their home that makes them happy. So I submitted a picture of the tree mural in Alice's nursery because I thought it was possibly unique enough to get on the show.

A month or so later, I got a call from the one and only Jill Grover or "Jilly Willy". She is a wonderful interior designer and makes these (http://www.jilliewillie.com/) insanely adorable I-can't-stand-'em aprons that many of the stars have. ;) She informed me that Studio 5 loved the tree and that they would be coming to MY house the next week to film the Nursery!

It was a serious MAD rush to get ready just in case they filmed in any other area of the house.

They came and filmed on the 16th of February and it was tons of fun. It went a lot faster then I thought it would and she said it went really well so HOPEFULLY I didn't make a complete fool of myself. I have a lot of my great-grandmothers wonderful things displayed in Ali's room including her milliner's wooden head complete with pin marks still in it from the 1920's and also a French cracker jar from her wedding in 1928. I talked a lot about those things on camera because that really is the thing that makes me happy about the design of that room. The fact that Alice has so much heritage in her room makes me smile, literally, every time that I go in that room...along with the fact that there is the cutest baby in the world jumping and smiling at me from the crib.

It should be airing within the next couple of weeks so I will keep all of you posted. ;)

Meanwhile...I will be posting all of my fun 'Before and After' projects that I've been doing to beat the winter blues and get ready for the Studio 5 show. ;)

Lizzy's Baptism

2011-03-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

(WARNING: Lots of pictures. :)

My beautiful, sweet, loving, empethetic, unselfish not-so-little-girl got baptised on January 22nd. She was so excited.

I must tell you a little story about why she looks so beautiful in her baptism jumper... When she was being interviewed by her Primary President (along with 2 other girls) the Primary President had two baptism dresses availiable and one baptism jumper. Now, with three little girls getting baptised on the same day, only having two dresses might pose a problem. The Primary President asked who would like a dress and immedietly, Lizzy's hand went up and she asked "Oh, may I PLEASE have a dress??!!" (She REALLY wanted a dress.) We held the dresses up to the girls to see which girls they would fit then I put the dress back on the table because I didn't want to just take it. One other girl got a dress because it was long and she was the tallest. The Primary President then handed the second dress to Lizzy while she was talking and the third girl started to silently cry because she knew that she would have to wear the jumper. Lizzy noticed her crying and simply said (and remember...she REALLY wanted that dress!): "Oh...well, she can have the dress." Just like that! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I got choked up and it was all I could do not to cry. I explained to her in the car on the way home what a wonderful thing that was for her to do and she just shrugged and responded: "Well, I just wanted her to have a special Baptism Day." She was not trying to fish for praise or recognition. She just genuinely wanted her to have a special day and was not concerned about having her own special day. The Primary President called me later to see if I would like her to call around and try and find another dress from another Primary President but I told her not to because I knew that Lizzy would look the most beautiful in the jumper that she chose. What an example she is to me.

Of course a party with the best family and friends followed and we all had a very, very special day. ;)

Here are some shots from the Baptism Photo Shoot I did with her and then there are some pics of the fun get-together afterwards. ;)

Lizzy's 1st Ballet Performance

2010-12-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

I am just the proudest mamma bear in the world. I know the recording isn't the best but I just wanna watch it over and over again! ;)

Lizzy's Debut...

2010-12-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

She was the best darn little tree up there!! She absolutely LOVED the flowers that her handsome Daddy got for her. She thanked him over and over. SO cute!

Funny Side Story: Lizzy was originally in the Chorus However, a lot of the children were not showing up for practice so they disbanded the chorus. The distributed them throughout the cast and Lizzy was then cast as a tree. Lizzy evidently missunderstood because when she got in the car after rehersal, she said to me: "Mom...they fired me from the chorus...They made me a tree!" (with a very sad face, as if she was being punished.) I couldn't help but turn my head to laugh because it just sounded so dang funny. Poor thing. I explained the whole thing to her and she felt much better. :)

Bound and Determined...

2010-12-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

...to ENJOY this winter!

Ever since I have moved here, to Utah, I just DREAD winter...

EVERY year.

(I'm a true California girl at heart.)

SO in order to change that...

I went a little nuts at Hobby Lobby buying Christmas decorations.

(okay, more than a little nuts...)

I have Christmas music on EVERY day.

And I am even done with my shopping early to ease the stress.

And I fully plan to see the beauty of the snow.

{Um...Make sure to check in on me come the end of January...K??}

Fall Family Shoot 2010

2010-11-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

So there was this girl who fell in love with this absolutely dreamy boy... They made 4 little angels and are living HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

I saw this old barn. On the side of the road. It made the most perfect photo session backdrop. I had such a fun time shooting and editing these! Gotta love the self-timer! ;)

My Sister, Rebecca...

2010-11-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

When I was little, I thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world (Why else would she have so many boyfriends??) Today, I think she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

She was always so sweet to me. I never remember her getting upset with me.

She was so smart! And so I wanted to be smart...just like her.

She taught me how to spell the word 'neaklace'. She helped me with my math homework. She taught me that you always need to do it correctly and not to be afraid to do it over until it was correct.

She loved me...and my siblings. She took us places all the time. I'm not sure where she took us, exactly, I just remember that she took me with her.

She taught me not to curse when she covered my ears because her roomate said a naughty word...which also taught me not to be afraid of my beliefs.

I was and am so tickled that I am her "clone". (After the first seven siblings, the genetics repeated themselves in the next seven.)

I've never stopped learning from her. She still teaches me to be passionate about something. She encourages my artistic desires. (I say 'desires' because I will never reach her level of talent.) She teaches me to be loyal to family and instills in me the responsibility and duty that I have to those that have passed on. (They are still family, ya know.) She teaches me to be generous and loving because of her generosity and her love.

She is fiercely loyal, devoted and loving and I am honored to be loved by her.
She is funny...

She is tender...

She is a woman of God.

She is my daughters namesake.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Warning: There are about 4 events taking place here, these pics are WAY out of order...but don't worry, I'll guide you through it...

Pumkin Carving: (Event #2)The rest are at the bottom but it really sucks trying to drag them all down there... so here you go.Ry started out the evening with a bandana on his head. You will see through the progression of the pictures that he looses that along with his shirt... (????) Trev REALLY loved his pumpkin. ;)

Pretty sweet pumpkins, I must say... My fav was the cupcake I did on Ali's pumpkin.

Trick or Treating!! (Event #4)
(on Saturday, the 30th. Cause that's how we roll in Utah...)

(Trev is pointing at the rest of our group and crying because they are already moving on to the next house and I am being a mean mom and making him take a picture instead. haha!)

Angela and I are troopers. Trick-or-treating in the rain and everything!

My little Ice princess... We changed up the make up from the Trunk-or-Treat. He original Tiara also broke so we had to swing by the Dollar store...

Our band of umbrella'd Trick-or-treaters!

Ward Trunk-or-Treat!!

Is this NOT THE CUTEST costume you've EVER seen?!! Thank you, Old Navy!!Even little Peacocks get hungry sometimes... ;)

(Excuse the wierd smile and slumppy-ness)

Just in case you are wondering... I was a cow-girl, Lizzy was an Ice Princess, The boys were Bumblebee and Optimus Prime and Jake was "Sam" from the Transformer movie. (hehe, He just put on a hoodie. ;) Ry's BFF, Jason. ;)It's tough being the cutest little Peacock on the planet.

Real tough...

PUMPKIN CARVING!!

(Event #2)

Look at that concentration!

We stopped at the fabulous Krispy Kreme for dessert after picking up our pumpkins. (Event #1) ( I don't have any pics from the pumpkin patch because I'm an idiot and accidently deleted them...I cried...)

K...back to pumpkin carving...

So Big...

2010-10-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

So...I'm kind of a big deal now. I'm 6 months old. I can roll over like nobody's business.

I try to talk already.

I'm super silly.

My daddy is the only man in my life...I cry at any other man that I see.

I have this adorable dimple in my right cheek that only shows when I crinkle my nose and do my silly smile.

And I have a ponytail...

So, yeah...like I said.... I'm kind of a big deal...

The "Cupcake Cake"

2010-10-19T19:25:00.001-07:00

Beloved...

2010-10-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

(Lizzy,Dad, Steven, Me, Rebecca, Scott)

I don't know why but I absolutely adore this shot. It's heart-wrenching and very raw but I think it is beautiful. It shows how very much we loved my Great Aunt Edith, and how much we love each other.

We released balloons in memorium of her. She always told us that she didn't want flowers at her service "because flowers die". "I want balloons, lots of balloons.", she said. So we released balloons...and sang "You are my Sunshine". How appropriate. She was quite absolutely sunshine in my life. And only she could take the sun out of Palm Springs that day...In all my childhood, I never once remember it raining in Palm Springs. It rained the day we laid her to rest.

She was Aunt Edith... "Just call me Aunt Edith", she would say. No one else had an Aunt Edith...but I did. And I am so proud that she was mine. She made me want to be my best. She kept every trinket and every picture that we colored for her. She was so proud of us and that made me feel so special. She laughed and sang, loved and lived with gusto. Life was a song to her. And it was in her beautiful Contralto voice. The smell of bacon and the taste of tangerines remind me of her. She always made us bacon and always let us explore in her yard and pick her tangerines. She was never ashamed...of anything. She told stories because she loved her sister and mother so much. We knew them because of her story-telling. She always made sure that all 14 of us had coats and shoes (with NO holes in them). She was kind to everyone...everyone. She (and Uncle James, of course) paid for weddings and missions. She supported us in everything we did. She would never get annoyed or tire of us. She loved us dearly...and she was deeply, deeply loved and adored in return. Edith Alice Ruffell-McDaniel. She is my daughter's namesake.

My wonderful, quiet, hansome Uncle James with my handsome brother, John. Her heart belonged to James.

Derek, Mom, Doug, Emily, Steven

My beautiful, talented, lovely sisters (excluding Crystal & Jena)

{Heather, Shelley, Mamma, Me, Ashley, Melissa, Rebecca}

These are some of my favorite people on this earth. My brothers and sisters. How did I get so lucky?

{1st row: Me, Shelley, Heather, Uncle James, Ashley, Melissa, Rebecca. 2nd row: John, Travis, Steven, Derek, Doug, Scott}

My Daddy and Kathy-Mamma.

My handsome, tough brothers.

Little Nate got a taste of his new cousin. The more slobber, the more love.

My beautiful sister, Rebecca. My Alice Rebecca's namesake...for so many reasons.

Heather, Jane-y, Travis

Me and my yummy little niece, JaneThis is what I LOVE about getting together with my fam. Story-telling and laughing.

My beautiful sister, Heather that I don't get to see NEARLY enough because she lives way too far away. I absolutely ADORE her. I talk to her at least once a week.

My brother Johnny, little Nate, Uncle James and a very fussy Ali.

My tough brother, Travis. (Not really, he's a big Teddy-Bear)

HAD to see Danny the Dinosaur and T-Rex on the way home...nastalgia, ya know.The "Rock". Had to do a pose. I remember taking many a pictures on this rock. :)

Old Town Temecula Girl's Trip!

We ate at the oh-so-yummy 'Rosa's Cantina Then headed out and browsed the shops. One of my FAVORITE days ever.

We really missed all the sisters that couldn't make it.

Heather REALLY liked her food...she's prego and she's been drooling for it ever since.Ali REALLY likes her reflection...and she smiles 10 times bigger when you tell her she's pretty...NO kidding. She loves to be pretty. ;)

That night we headed over to Shelley's (because she's on bed rest and couldn't come with us) and met up with the boys and Crystal too! We had a blast as always.

Doug wanted to try one of Shelley's pickled peppers...(yes, there were a lot of "Peter picked a Pepper attemps) Playing on Shelley's property

Laura (Shelley's), Trev, and Tyson (Crystal's) Hailey, Audrey (Shelley's) and Lizzy

Crystal attempting (notice I said "attempting"???) to show Doug a card trick. Hillarity ensued, as it always does.

Candid Laugh-out-loud shot. This is what we do as Whitmans. :)

Tellin' more stories!

Massaging the much deserving, bed-resting prego Shelley's feet.

*More Cali trip with the Tomseth Fam & the Lowe Fam to come*

YELLOWSTONE...

2010-09-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

WONDERFUL, INCREADIBLE, RELAXING BEAUTIFUL, AWE-INSIRING, FUN, SURREAL.

Pictures do not do these landscapes justice... They are larger than life and SO amazing. You have to see it in person. I know I'm a sap, but I would sometimes get emotional when we would suddenly come up on a landscape and it would just overwhelm me with how beautiful it was. Ryan would keep saying: "Mom, It looks like a painting!" Trevor just loved running around outdoors and seeing the animals. Lizzy just soaked up the entire experiance collecting a little something from everything we saw so that she would have something to remember it by. The best part was that all of them just couldn't wait to get back to the trailer and play games or sit by the campfire. ;) Going late in the season (Aug. 28-Sept.1) was wonderful because it was damp and crisp and during the day it was a perfect 60 degrees. We put on our fleece and sweaters and headed out into the most beautiful place on Earth. It was the PERFECT introduction to fall. On the last day, it actually snowed, so we headed out early and spent the day at Bear World in Rexburg which was SO fun! We drove through the bears (no fences!) and they had the most amazing petting zoo and even cute rides for the kids! We also had such a great time just as a family. We wanted to go with friends but it didn't work out and I am so glad that it didn't. We spent quality time together every night and shared the most amazing views and experiences with eachother. It was a perfect family vacation.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Lower Falls

OLD FAITHFUL
KEPLER CASCADES

Open Meadows

Mud Valcanos (very stinky, btw)

Fun and Games

Bridge Bay Campground (where we stayed)

WILDLIFE!

SCENERY

LeHarper's Landing(?)

New York, New YORK!

2010-09-07T19:34:00.001-07:00

I've sworn off doing cakes after spending 5 days doing this one... It was 32 inches tall and fed about 125.

Ryan's Ink...

2010-08-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Ryan has announced that he will be opening a tatoo shop (actually he said "Body shop")
...So come on by if you want some "Ink".

Yeah, He's pretty good.

Ryan is obsessed with drawing tatoos on his body with marker lately...

...even on his face....

He thinks its so "Cool, Mom".

He is limited to washable markers only....

Good thing school is out...

He let me do this one because he loves me...and because I give him cookies and cupcakes. ;)

Just a little different...

2010-08-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

...and that's okay. ;) I found this flower in my garden this morning and couldn't help but fall in love with this little white pedal for daring to be pure and different amongst the rest. She sure does stand out...but isn't she beautiful?

Lovely...

2010-08-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

So this is really no suprise but Trevor sprained his elbow pretty good last week. All he was doing was jumping up and down in the living room, then fell. He wouldn't stop crying, wouldn't use it or let anyone touch it so I took him to the Urgent Care. It was x-rayed and determined that there was no fracture but since there was so much swelling and pain, the Dr. wanted to send him to the Orthopedic specialist up at Primary Children's Hospital because he thought that his elbow was out of place. We waited a couple days with the splint on because Trevor was much more comfortable when he couldn't bend his elbow and THANK HEAVENS the pain went away and he now has full use of his elbow. Whew... That kid is going to give me a heart-attack one of these days!

"Ohhhhhh...Back to School..."

2010-07-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

‎"Ohhhhhhh Back To School, Back To School... To Prove To Dad That I'm Not A Fool. I've Got My Lunch Packed Up My Boots Tied Tight. I Hope I Don't Get In A Fight. Ohhhh Back To School Back To School..."

My big girl is in 2nd grade! I can't believe it. She absolutely ADORES school and was so excited to start again. I think the thing she loves most about school is the social interaction. haha! I think she's like her Mamma, in that way. She loves to laugh, play, joke and share in good times with others.

Ryan is in 1st grade and in his 2nd year of his Chinese Immersion Program He just can't get enough of it. He is so facinated with it and just LOVES learning. Lol! Can't you just see his first-day-of-school-nerves showing in his face ??

SERIOUSLY...

2010-07-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

Would YOU be able to resist taking pictures of this ADORABLE little face??

***

She is full of sweetness and love and light. My favorite is her little side-smile. :) When she smiles, her whole face smiles.. her cheeks, forehead, chin and especially her eyes smile. It's a little bit of Heaven to experiance in person, I must say.

***

She has a world of potential in that face. I can't wait to see it come to fruition.

***

Ali's Blessing Day

2010-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

So I copied my sister, Crystal and had a video running while we enjoyed brunch. It was such a beautiful blessing and a beautiful day filled with good food and family. A HUGE thank you to Mom Tomseth, Lia and Tiani, Angela and Emily for helping getting everything set up and ready to go!! OH! And a HUGE, HUGE thank you to my sis, Rebecca for the AMAZING, GORGEOUS blessing dress! It was all Silk with hand beading and hand done ribbon roses and french knots on the lapel!! She even sewed on buttons from my Great-Great Grandma Ardis' button collection!! It was perfection. She is so talented! The first half of the video was what was playing (I took some pics of her in her blessing dress before-hand) and then I added pics of the actual blessing day to it.

Spring Fling

2010-07-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Every year, at the end of the school year, the kids put on a "Spring Fling" at school. It's always fun to go and watch. Lizzy prepped me by telling me that she was "really good" at her dance...and she was. ;) Ryan cracked me up because he was trying SO hard to get under that Dragon!

I'm Baaaaack!

2010-06-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

As you can see, there is a direct correlation with when I announced my pregnancy and the lack of blogging. Everything that had to do with blogging made me nauseous. In fact, even thinking about it made me completely exhausted! But...now I'm back and I'm ready to go. Especially for my Mother in Law. She's been dying for me to start up again so she can pics of her grand babies everyday! I'm gonna have to back track for a little bit and blog the past 10 months so bear with me and just skip through if you get bored of reading old news. It's for posterity's sake. :)

Starwars and Rockstars...

2009-10-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

This year Jacob had it in his head that he wanted the whole family to go as a Star Wars group. I told him that I couldn't because I'm not a geek so we comprimised and the boys went Starwars and Lizzy and I went as Rock Stars (much cooler). Here we are proudly showing our "Fists of Rock". I went a litte 80's retro by sporting some neon orange fishnet gloves and stockings to match to wig. Jake was Han Solo ( I made his vest and hand-sewed a red ribbon stripe onto the sides of his pants) , Ryan was a Storm Trooper (and wears his costume every day!) and I made Trevor's costume in like, 30 min with as little sewing as I could get away with so he was a generic Jedi. :) Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

The Mamma Test...

2009-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of those stupid e-mail forwards that I never read but I thought it was so dang funny (and short enough) that I had to post it so you could have a good laugh.

THE MAMA TEST
I was out walking with my 4-year-old daughter. She picked up something off of the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that. 'Why?' my daughter asked.'Because it's been on the ground; you don't know where it's been, it's dirty, and probably has germs,' I replied. At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, 'Mama, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart.' I was thinking quickly. 'All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mama Test. You have to know it, or they don'tlet you be a Mama.' We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. 'Oh.....I get it!' she beamed, 'So if you don't pass the test you have to be the dad.''Exactly,' I replied with a big smile on my face.

2009-09-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

All Natural!!

2009-08-30T22:16:00.001-07:00

Yup...No more spending a ton of money on bleach jobs anymore! My amazing friend, Dena did my hair on Friday. I'm going back to my roots...get it?!..roots! Ha ha (wipe tear).

CALI TRIP...finally!

2009-08-06T17:19:00.001-07:00

So we hopped in the car and headed back home to good 'ol California for a little sunshine. The drive went well and we had a blast visiting with old friends and family. Then we spent our last 4 days there camping in Mission Bay, San Diego with Jacob's family. It was such a wonderful vacation!

While traveling down to Cali with my sister, Melissa and her gang in tow, we ran into my step-sista, Jenafer and her hubby, Dave at In 'n Out! How Random!

Water Park in Corona with Violet & Melonie after meeting up with Dottie at Violet's house.

Visiting Jacob's Grandparents. :)

Got to see Memory too!

Girl's night at my sister, Crystal's house! I even got to see my beloved Aunt Edith and Uncle James. I love listening to her stories.

We even got to meet up with Dave and Wendy for dinner!

Me and my bros. I didn't get to see John :( I should have made him come to girl's night with his wifey. Mission Bay, San Diego. Tomseth Family Reunion. :)

MY NEW POT RACK!!

2009-08-04T10:55:00.001-07:00

My amazing husband made me the best gift EVER for our upcoming anniversary on the 25th of this month. He made me a beautiful, modern POT RACK!!!! It looks SO amazing in my kitchen. The wood and the black metal match the kitchen perfectly. He even put lights in it to make it just over the top! I am so glad that he got that welder earlier this year! And he did all of this in less than 3 days! I'm telling you, when he gets started on a project, there is no stopping him. Now all I need is a new set of pretty pots! :) Here are some pics of it along with all the other amazing projects that Jacob has done to make our house a home. The Concrete Floors!

This is the truest to color that I'm gonna get with my camera...

The Beams that Jacob put in the basement...

The awesome faux Granite table that Jacob made for me ...

4th of July Fun 2009!

2009-07-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

The day consisted of:

*The Provo Parade (which my brother, Quinn was in with his bag-pipe band represenin' our Scottish herritage!)

*Picnic Lunch (with the BEST chicken salad, thank you very much!)

*Rafting down the Provo River (FREEZING!)

*Fun with Cousins

*BBQ and Fireworks at my brother, Scott's house. (Thanks sis for the AWESOME dinner!)

***

I LOVE good FOOD.

I LOVE my FAMILY.

I LOVE my FREEDOM.

I LOVE this COUNRTY.

Jacob hit the BIG 3-0!!!!

2009-06-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Yup, Jacob is finally 30! He said that he actually really felt this birthday. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he is no longer in his 20's. :) I got him a GPS system, made him a cake and threw him a suprise B-Day party with a ton of our closest friends. The party was a TON of fun. We had a Luau theme. I made pulled pork sandwiches, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, watermellon, pineapple, ect. Of course, no Luau is complete without a proper "Roast"...comedy central style, that is! A bunch of our friends prepared "Roast" speeches to give to the old geezer. We were dying laughing. Then we had a special preformance from one of Jacob's closest friends, Rich. I asked him to sing "Brett, you've got it going on" from Fight of the Concohrds (You Tube it!!)...you know, to make him feel better about turning 30. :) Except, of course he changed the name from Brett to Jacob. It was hillarious! He's from Australia so his accent made it even better! (Flight of the Concohrds are from New Zeland) Rich even went the extra mile and sang a second 'Flight of the Conchords' song about how "Jacob and I met". The song was called "The most beautiful girl". SO funny! Then we had an "Explination of the Cake" and all dug into it. (Explination can be found on http://www.whitmansugarmammas.blogspot.com/) I had even made a poster listing random facts, headlines and cost of living from WAY back in 1979 and posted it on the fence. :) Jacob loves random trivia. :) After that, we all headed down to the basement to watch the hillarious video that my friend, Phil helped me put together. It was basically a "Dateline Special Report" of Jacob's life...with some fiction added in. :) What a fun night. Thank you to everyone who came and a HUGE thank you to everyone that helped out! Happy Birthday honey! I love you more than anything!

Relay for Life...

2009-06-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

My beautiful sister-in-law was part of a huge "Relay for Life" Cure for Cancer event down in Payson, UT this past weekend. It was a 12 hour run/walk from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. We stayed up all night running, walking, resting, eating and talking. They had live entertainment and we even performed a little skit. Speaking of the entertainment...David Fritch performed and he was amazing! He sang some Josh Grobin (sp?) , Andrea Bochelli and some other pop and theatre songs. Here's a link to his website. www.davidjamesfritch.com. He's very new but mark my words: He's gonna be big.

Thanks sis, for the opportunity! (This is me and my bro, Scott right before the "race". )

(This is me at about 5 in the morning!)