The life and times of the eisenbrandt family

scarf

2012-01-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

OK here's the deal. I'm about ready to enter my 3rd tri-mester and I'm ready to get things organized for this baby. Like...today. However, what I really want to do it go through my baby clothes, which I can't reach...in the garage...and I never remember to ask my hubby when he's actually around to do it. SO, instead today I decided to go through all my scrap fabric. Which really isn't much of anything. Just some old clothes that I thought I could maybe refashion into something else and some other randomness or small real scrap fabric. So, I cleaned it out and kept what I needed. I really wanted to make something. I've been wanted to get crafty again for awhile but it's too cold for my big projects (painting my table) and a few things like that. So I've been trying to come up with something else to do. After searching my pinterest boards of what I can do with some old t-shirts, I came up with these fun scarves.

I made one in black too, they were {super} easy...here's the link to the TUTORIAL I used. I like them. I think they will add some new life to my boring maternity clothes, which I'm already sick of wearing. Actually, I was sick of wearing them the moment I pulled them out of storage! Oh well!

Oakland Temple

2012-01-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we were able to drive down to the Oakland Temple to meet my family for Aubrey and Jardan's sealing. They've recently adopted 2 of the cutest kids ever, and finally were able to have them sealed to them in the Temple. We had tons of fun, including stopping at the Jelly Belly factory on the way up. My camera was acting bizarre {and may be broken} so I didn't get any pictures there and hardly any at the Temple as well.

Papa with the kids

Aubrey and her cute little family

Here's the whole group! Jardan's aunt and uncle came from Portland to be there as well.

After the sealing we went to the stake center that is on the temple grounds and had lunch. We stayed and visited until Aubrey and her family went back home and Tim and I went to dinner with my parents before we headed to a hotel for the night. We had a lot of fun and wish we had some more time to visit our friends in Sacramento while we were driving by

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was great. Having kids makes it so much more worth while. Kardyn got a new big girl bed this year! She's been sleeping in the toddler-bed crib, but we will be needing that for the new baby soon so we thought we'd start transitioning her to a big bed. She loves it.

Chase made me this ornament at school

Chase got lots of Lego's this year. He's had so much fun learning how to put them together all by himself! Him and Dad had lots of fun building lego's and watching Star Wars on Christmas Day.

Kardyn was so cute, she got me finger nail polish so I can paint her nails. She even told me what it was before I opened it :)

Nana and Papa gave Kardyn a "feeding baby" as she calls it. She loves this doll, carries it all day long.

Chase is a little obsessed with Nut Crackers. Don't know why, but we've started giving him one every year for Christmas and it hasn't gotten old yet. He was so excited when he pulled his Pirate Nut Cracker out of the box.

We didn't have any family visit this year but we had our brother-in-law set up his computer in his front room too so we could skype all morning. It was really fun to see everyone and grandma and grandpa were there too. We will have to do this more often, it was great.

Chase got so many lego's so Kardyn helped him sort them all out into storage bins.

We had a wonderful Christmas and we hope you did too. This weekend we are traveling up to California to see my sister and her family get sealed in the temple to their adopted kids. We are so excited! We'll post pictures when we get back. Happy New Year!

Baby's UltraSound

2011-12-19T15:13:00.001-08:00

Here is our baby's first photo! The ultrasound tech didn't catch the picture in time, but baby was sucking on it's toe! She said she has never seen a baby with it's foot all the way in it's mouth before. It was really cute, we could see it's mouth opening and everything. We didn't find out the gender so we will be surprised in April!

Cruise to the Bahamas

2011-12-19T14:25:00.000-08:00

Last week we took a cruise to the Bahamas for our 10th anniversary. We went with some friends of ours and left the kids at home!

These pics are just when we were still docked in Miami before we left

That night a storm blew threw and it was my first time being on a cruise ship. Let's just say we didn't mix. I felt awful that night! Luckily I took my medicine on time the next few days and was totally fine after that.

The first island we stopped at was called Freeport. We were kinda disappointed, there was not much there so we just shopped around the straw market and got back on the boat to catch some rays of what little sun we had that day.

Kathlene and I enjoying a pina colada

At Nassau we had more fun. This is a picture of the resort Atlantis behind us, but we didn't go there. Instead we decided to walk around the island on our own.

We walked to a few historical sights

This was called the Queen's staircase, it was carved out of this small canyon of limestone.

Then we decided to try and take a different way back to this ship hoping to run into some better shopping. Well, we got really lost in the slums of Nassau instead. This picture of the house was one of the better ones before it got worse. I was a little scared for my life. Luckily this super nice lady came out of nowhere and took us back to a main road but we were really far away. It makes me thankful that I have a house to live in, some of the people we saw didn't even have a real floor, just dirt, and no doors on the houses. Pretty sad. On our way back to the road, we ran into this warehouse where they were making costumes for the New Years Parade they have in town. Pretty cool.

The last day we went to the private island owned by Norwegian called Great Stirrup Cay. It was the nicest day we had, and the least windy! So we got to hang out for a bit before heading back to the ship.

Here is a picture of the front of our ship, the Norwegian Sky. We had so much fun, I mean what more could I ask for! We were waited on hand and foot and had all the food we wanted to eat, all the time, sun and good friends. What a great way to celebrate our anniversary! Oh and the kids had fun at home too. My mom came to stay with them and I think they were a little spoiled! Thanks for coming to help Nana, the kids loved it!

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-21T09:46:00.001-08:00

Last week was the midnight premier of the new movie in the Twilight Series, Breaking Dawn. Crissy and I have been going to the midnight movie since the beginning so we couldn't miss this one. For the very first Twilight movie, the following must have been much less because we were able to wait in the nice warm theater and they only showed it on 2 screens. This time, the line opened up OUTSIDE at 10am (we came at 6pm) and they were showing the movie on 11 screens! The line was huge, a little rediculas actually. We had to sit right next to a garbage can, luckily it was cold enough we couldn't smell it!

Here's a pic of about half of the people in front of us. It was worth it though, the movie was great. Of course the books are better but it's fun to see the books come to life on the big screen. Can't believe they are making us wait a whole year for the last movie!

Christmas Craft

2011-11-21T09:36:00.001-08:00

I've been making these cute felt bows and I haven't quite decided what I want to do with them yet, but I thought I'd share how to make them!

Start by cutting strips of felt. Thy need to be 3/4 of and inch wide. You will need 3-12inchs long, 3-11inches long, 2-10inches long and 1-3 1/2 inches long.

Next you have to twist each piece. This part is kinda tricky to explain, so I tried to take several pictures and hopefully you can figure it out.

Then start stacking them, largest to smallest. The tutorial I learned from said to use a needle and thread to hold them together. I tried that and mine just fell apart. So I used hot glue. Much better for me, but if your handy with a needle, maybe sewing it is your thing. I just felt mine held together better with glue.

Happy bow-making!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick shot of out Halloween lunch this year. They had frankenstein pudding, mummy dogs, swamp goo and eye balls.

Most of you know my Mother-in-law makes out kids' Halloween costumes each year. This year Chase decided he wanted to be Captian Hook.

Kardyn went as Rapunzel

Big Toy Book

2011-11-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

I had to take a picture when I saw the kids reading the toy magazines. We used to do this as kids too, so it was pretty cute.

Saturday Hike

2011-11-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go on a hike. We hiked up to Rainey Falls hoping to see that the salmon were running up stream, but we must still be too early. It was fun to get some fresh air though, but we forgot how long of a hike it is. 2 miles both ways! We were a little tired to say the least! The kids did great though, Chase walked the entire way, Kardyn needed some help though, but they had fun.

Pumpkin picking

2011-11-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here is my attempt to catch up on all my blogging for this past month! We went a few saturday's back to pick our own pumpkins. The kids had fun, we tried a new farm this year, but probably will never go back! Our pumpkins rotted after 1 week and they wouldn't exchange them for us. We'll be sticking to 7 Oaks from now on.

what we've been up to

2011-09-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a pretty long time since I've updated our blog, but I have good reason. I'll get to that later. First here are some random pictures of what we've been up to.

Lowe's has these projects that you can do for free 2x a month. The first one dad just picked up the stuff at the store and brought it home for the kids to build. They went again yesterday to the store to build the project and they had a lot of fun. They give the kids an apron and badges you can sew onto it when you complete a project.

Chase also had his first day of Kindergarten on Sept.12th. He's adjusting really well and loves going to school everyday. He also loves getting to ride the bus to school, he thinks that's pretty cool.

The reason why I've been a bit behind around here is because....I'm pregnant! I'm only about 9 weeks, but have been sick for 3 of those so far. It's great that my kids are able to entertain themselves for the most part since most days I can't really get out of bed except to throw up. It's also craziness here because it's canning season and I have so much to do! The days I wake up feeling good I try and do as much as I can. I've been working on pears and applesauce and lots of jams. I have one more batch of applesauce to make and I hope I can get to them before they go bad!! Anyway, so that's what's been going on around here. We are definitely keeping busy and excited for the fall season, it's my favorite time of year.

maybe turning 30 isn't so bad

2011-08-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

My big 3-0 was last Saturday. I was told to dress up fancily. That was it. This is what I saw when I walked into Tim's office....

With the help of some awesome friends, Tim pulled off an amazing night.

Yes, Tim made the cake!

Tim thought of everything. We had some of my favorite foods for dinner, Ahi Tuna, italian sodas and gelato with our coconut cake. Everyone else brought a side to share.

Then we laughed until we cried playing a super fun game

I just had to put this picture on because Tim's face is Hilarious!

Tim also made me a stretched canvas print for my Birthday. We were married in the Manti Temple, so before we left Utah, we went and took some pictures so we could one day, have this! I love it.

So I guess turning 30 isn't that bad when you are surrounded by the best friends and family a girl could ask for. Thanks everyone for an amazing 30th birthday!

sewing

2011-08-08T00:21:00.000-07:00

A blog I read mentioned the cutest tutorial! I thought it looked pretty simple, so I ran to the fabric store (and called my friend who had a sewing machine because I still need to get mine fixed!) We found our jersey knit on sale for 50% off plus we had a coupon for an additional 20%. Can't beat that. We busted out one dress each in like an hour. I think it's so cute, I may have to make another!

Shosted's visit

2011-08-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have some more visitors this past week. My SIL and BIL and their family came out for a week to spend some time with us. We did the norm...rafting, coast ya know. The good stuff.

These next few pictures are of a desperate man on a quest to open his beer without a bottle opener. Yes, he's a dork.

seatbelt maybe?

Banana slugs in the redwoods, they are super cool, but super slimy! yuck

Thanks for spending time with us! We loved having you!!

girls night out

2011-07-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

Debbie took us out on her boat for a little girls time

It was much needed, we had a blast!

Tooth Fairy

2011-07-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

Chase lost his first tooth last tuesday! We were eating lunch that day and he told me it was kinda wiggly. I think he was a little bit freaked out. I then explained to him what happens and he told me that "the tooth fairy was going to bring him a shiny new penny!" awesome! Well, this tooth fairy's husband didn't think that was too fair. Anyway, after dinner that night, Chase came running up to me with his tooth in his hand telling us that he had pulled it out himself! I can't believe he pulled his first tooth out all by himself. So, that night the tooth fairy came, and for this first tooth, he got a silver dollar. I can't believe he is old enough to be loosing teeth!

most awesome picture frame EVER

2011-07-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is the frame I found at the DI before we left Utah with a huge price tag of....$4! My best find yet.

So I sanded it with fine steel wool and primed it

Then I had my hubby rig it up hanging from the overhang outside our house in Utah so I could make sure it got coated well with paint. I chose to paint it heirloom white. Rust-oleum brand spray paint.

Then I started antiquing it. I bought Valspar Antiquing glaze that was tinted already. Just paint it on thick

and wipe off with a damp cloth. I was really nervous about this step, but it proved to be as easy as it looks. You just have to paint and wipe off according to the look you want.

and tah-dah! All finished. I'm in love with it. I want to hang it up until I get a photo in it just so I can look at it everyday. I know, I'm a dork.

Redwoods and the Coast

2011-07-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

We also stopped to see the redwoods on the way to the coast while my family was here

Every time I see these trees they amaze me

Rafting the Rogue!

2011-07-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things to do in Oregon, is raft down the rogue river. It's so beautiful and so much fun!

This is a pic of the hellgate boat tours that you can take down the river. They are really fun, Tim and I have been once before. Maybe next time mom and dad come out we'll do this!

Zane and Tim also thought it would be fun to cliff jump! Hahaha! I can't believe they both did it! I would say they were about 20ish feet high? The river is super high this year too, so at least they had plenty of deep water to jump in!

Table Rock

2011-07-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

We also hiked up Table Rock, it was a short 3 mile hike but the kids did amazingly well!! Kardyn walked almost the entire time.

Applegate Lake

2011-07-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

While my parents were in town we decided to explore. We went to Applegate lake, which was fun and I think I'd only been one other time. It's only 30 minutes from home!

We found a cool little creek behind the lake to eat lunch at

They also had a day use area where you can pay $5 for the whole day and swim or soak up the sun! It was nice and grassy and lots of water to swim in! Apparently the lake has a 10 mph speed limit, which is nice because then you can just go out and float or fish or whatever you want to do without getting run over by a fast boat!

4th of July 2011

2011-07-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here is my project I was working on...I think they turned out super cute, not to mention they were free! Yup, paint chips are awesome.

Cute cakes in a jar I made

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

some of the weekend festivities...

2011-07-05T00:14:00.001-07:00

We met up with some friends this morning at a splash pad! The weather was wonderful and so was the company...

laziness or fun?

2011-07-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

I love project days...it's 11:06 am and none of us are dressed...

and I am working on a fun 4th of July project! If it turns out cute, I will post finished pictures

Hope everyone has a fun 4th of July!

Kardyn turns 3

2011-06-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

So even though we are moved and all settled in, I still feel stressed. I think it's because I haven't had much time to just sit. So for Kardyn's birthday this year, I just thought we'd take it easy. I wasn't in the mood for some gigantic cake or a huge party, so I made this instead. A cute little owl and it was super easy and fast. Plus she loved it, that's all the matters.

We went to a local park and had a few families come for a BBQ and cake. It was nice, and quiet! I honestly don't think I'm ready for the huge friend party thing yet anyway. I don't know what I'm going to do when it comes time for that.

On the way over to the park, she asked if she could eat his eye ball. Nice.

She got lots of barbies this year because....

we got an AMAZING deal on this barbie house before we left Utah. Seriously, KSL is the best ever.

She was so surprised. We had it set up for her to see when we came home after her party

At least it matches her yellow room! hahaha...anyway, I don't think a day has gone by this week that she hasn't spent at least an hour in her room playing with it. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old already!

since we've been back

2011-06-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

One of the first weekends here was free fishing weekend! We took the kids to Willow Lake, we didn't catch anything, but they had fun anyway.

Rogue Valley Tennis Club was doing a free Tennis camp thing for kids to see if they would be interested in playing tennis or not. So I took Chase and he had so much fun. He got to play for 2 hours. I'd like to sign him up for some classes this summer, so we'll see! Almost every morning he wakes up he asks if "it's a tennis day."

The pictures are kinda blurry b/c I was up in this room above to courts so he was pretty far away

Mesa Verde part 5

2011-06-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

we celebrated a few birthdays while in CO, so we stopped to get ice cream and open presents

where's the dog?

All in all we had a super fun time on vacation with our family. Once we got home it was a mad rush to load our moving truck and make the long trek to Oregon. We've been here about a week now and are mostly unpacked. This place is quite a bit smaller than our last, so it's been nice because I've actually left lots of boxes still packed. We've already had fun seeing our friends and the kids have been to the park a few times with them already. The weather here is beautiful and we even roasted marshmallows over a fire last night with the Skabelund's. We are so happy to be back!

Mesa Verde part 4

2011-06-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

I think this dwelling was called Balcony House, Chase loved going up the tall ladder

This pic is funny, Chase and Eve said that they were acting out the Shield Dance that we had seen the day before, kids are so cute

So the house we rented was pretty cool, but the books....were kinda creepy

Mesa Verde part 3

2011-06-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

This dwelling let you go into one of the Keva's

Mesa Verde part 2

2011-06-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

The first day we went to watch some ceremonial Indian dances.

This dwelling is called Cliff Palace

This hummingbird must have just been warming it's wings in the sun or something, the kids thought it was pretty cool

Jardan making his famous crepes for us for breakfast

Mesa Verde...part 1

2011-06-11T22:58:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend Tim's parents and our family met my parents and sister and her family, in Mesa Verde. We'd had the vacation planned way before we found out we were moving back to Oregon, so we left on Friday, May 27th and came back to Tooele on Tuesday, May 31st. Tim went to his last day of work on Wednesday and that night we picked up our moving truck. So We really had about a week to pack our house before we left on vacation. Needless to say, it was nice to take this time before we moved!

On our way we stopped in Moab at this cute little place to eat

This is the cabin we rented to stay in while we visited Mesa Verde. It was called The Shalako House and it sat on 80 acres. It was beautiful there!

Inside it was...well...colorful?! {Sorry, not sure why some of these pictures loaded up HUGE}

Eve and Kardyn showing off their polka-dot swim suits before they jumped in the hot tub!

before the move

2011-06-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that we have moved back to Oregon. It's all kind of complicated and a long story but for now we will say Tim is working with his old company again and we are happy about it. Being back in Oregon is great, it feels like we just took a 2 year vacation. We left lots of family in Utah but were welcomed with friends when we arrived here. I've finally got the house mostly unpacked and found my camera so I figured I'd take a break and post a few pictures from before we left Utah.

Kardyn doesn't usually sit with Uncle Jason so I had to take this picture

I wanted to give the kids mandarin oranges so that I didn't have to take as many cans, and realized I had actually packed the can opener minutes before. I'm retarded. So Tim found his leather man and opened it the old fashioned way. Yeah, it took forever.

Amy came and helped me pack so I took a pic with all the kids. We moved to Utah the week that Emery was born and look how big she is now!

Amy and I have been friends since before I was married! It was nice to be able to spend time with her and her family while we were back in Utah for a few years. We miss you already!

Chase and his cute neighbor friend Porter

I really wanted to go get Sushi at our fav place in SLC before we moved. So we went with our family and all the cousins.

Tabitha and I went out for dinner before I left, I'm really going to miss her. She is such an amazing friend! Stay tuned for pics from our trip to Mesa Verde!

the goings on....

2011-05-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

For Mothers Day, Chase made me his handprint at school. I love it! It was so cute because he had to make sure he hid it from me all week before it was time to give it to me. I also got to wear my new dress that Tim gave me for Mothers Day, I love it! I've been trying to find one FOREVER and last weekend he took me to one store in Trolly Square, and we found it!

never mind my super pasty white legs....

A few weeks ago Tim and Chase went to the Super Cross motorcycle races in SLC. They had so much fun, he thought it was the coolest thing ever.

best DI trip EVER

2011-04-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly replacing a lot of my picture frames with ones I find from the DI, I like the ones with detail so that when you paint them, and glaze them, the detail stands out. I'm ALWAYS keeping my eyes peeled for a really big one so I can put a family picture in it. Well today was the day! I found the most awesomeness frame EVER. Price tag....$4.00. I'm amazing...amazingly lucky! I'm so excited I can't wait to paint it. However, I'm currently trying to pick out some new colors for my decor. I've been painting some things and they just aren't quite the right color. So, I'm starting over. Oh, and that fabric-y part of the frame, it will pop right out so I don't have to keep that part!

Here is Kardyn's cute little owl that I finally painted. I love it. I was originally going to go more of a darker hot pink, but I figured if I ever painted her walls pink, it for sure wouldn't be this light pink, so I just stuck with that and I love it. So does she :)

spring wreath

2011-04-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

I saw this lady somewhere in blog land, paint her wood wreath and I loved it! So...I copied. And the flowers were super easy. This one starts with strips of felt about 1 inch wide and then it however long you want it. Cut slits down the length, like this.

Then, grab your glue gun and start rolling your felt up like a cinnamon roll. Dab some glue every once in awhile and in the end....

It will look like this! I also made some simple rosettes out of other colors of felt. I LOVE the way it came out, the colors make me happy!

add some soap

2011-04-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

My parents came into town for General Conference last weekend, which was amazing to actually ATTEND. We went to the Saturday morning session and then my Dad, Zane and Tim went to the priesthood session. Anyway, my mom and I went thrifting while she was here, and I totally scored. I've been looking for a way to add some color into my front room and these little pretties are just the thing! I've primed them already, I just need to head to Home Depot to look for some spray paint. I haven't decided what color to do them. Right now I'm loving turquoise and yellow so stay tuned!

So I've had this glass stand thing in my guest bathroom for a bit, and I painted it white. Well, I didn't prime it and it's been cracking for months now. So I thought I would spend some time and take the paint off and prime it and paint it again. Well, after I got ALL the paint off, I primed it, and just as I was getting ready to paint the final coat, I totally dropped it...outside...on the sidewalk. Oops, I was sad :( I've been collecting things to eventually make my guest bathroom all vintage-y and old and I just loved that piece. Oh well. Maybe by the time we have our own house again, I will find something better! Anyway, I needed to add something in there because it just looked empty, so I found a smaller mason jar. I loved the flat and the color of the lid it already had, so I kept them. Then I just used a nail punch and punched a hole in the flat until I could fit the pump in it. (I just used my pump from my cheap soap dispenser that I already had, but I know you can buy these at the craft store) Then I used Quick Grip glue, and glued the flat the the ring and then glued the pump to the flat. Then add your favorite soap!

I just love it so much! I'm going to make 2 more for my other bathrooms, and maybe one for my kitchen too!

And here is my door hanger all finished, I really like the way it turned out! It's just an old picture frame that I embellished. I love it too!

Thriftiness

2011-03-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

My husband says that I'm not blogging enough...yeah he's probably right. This post isn't much of anything, but I'll show you what we've been up to. Thrift store today was decent. I know this is totally ugly, but I have big plans for this cute little owl.

Some detailed frames, although they are pretty small. I can NEVER find the bigger ones

I'm working on something to hang on a door, might keep it, might sell it. We'll see how it turns out!

And these are our NCAA Tournament Brackets for March Madness. I totally sucked this year, Tim totally beat me. And it's pretty sad that I can already post this and the final games are on this weekend. We both got knocked out a few rounds ago. We always fill one out and I thought I was going to have a good one this year, guess not!!

ooohhhh

2011-03-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

Can a girl be more happy? A whole gallon of this stuff! love it.

Thank goodness I cleaned the bathrooms this morning huh? I guess she needed a place to sleep?
Also, a quick update on my wonderful wisdom teeth. Since I've blogged about them I've had another partial dry socket. I went back about 4 days after I found out about the first one, only to find out I had another one on the other side. Then this morning I went back to the dentist because I've still been having a lot of pain on the one side that has been giving me the most trouble. When I called yesterday to make the appt they said it's unlikely that it's dry socket because everything should be all healed up by now but if it's hurting that bad, they wanted me to come in. So after seeing the dentist AGAIN, he thinks I have an infection in there. Seriously! I'm so done with this! At least it's all healed up and I can stop being so careful about the things I eat. Not to mention I haven't drank anything from a straw in like a month! So now I have to get another round of antibiotics. So fun.
On a better note, I registered Chase for Kindergarten this morning. I can't believe it. He is super excited but it's going to be strange having a child in school. I mean, he's in pre-school and has been since he was 3, but next comes 1st grade!! He's getting so big.

Wisdom Teeth

2011-02-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

For posterity I decided to write a quick post about my wisdom teeth so feel free to skip it...no pictures anyway! I went in last Tuesday to get my teeth pulled. I've been needed them out now for about 10 years so I decided it was time (and we have decent insurance at the moment). I was super nervous and my appointment wasn't until 4pm so I had to fast all day. Once I got to the office, the last thing I remember was Tim kissing me on the head and leaving and the dentist saying "let's get this party started!" I felt a little woozy and that was it. I have one memory of being in my car looking out the drivers side window at a menu and that is it. Tim said he was buying me a smoothie and I kept telling him I wanted peanut butter, which they didn't have. He also said I had some interesting comments at the dentist office before I left, none of which I remember. And he said I kept trying to spit out the gauze in my mouth and the nurses kept laughing at me. I only remember waking up on my couch many hours later with ice on both sides of my face. Luckily I didn't have any swelling so I looked normal! yeah! No chipmunk cheeks! So I was starving for the first 3 days, since I couldn't eat anything, nothing hot, nothing solid, can't drink anything through a straw. So annoying. I though everything was getting better, until last night. My right side was in a lot of pain and I ended up taking my pain meds instead of my Ibuprofen which I've normally been taking. Then I woke up a few times in the night, and took another half of a pill. I called my dentist this morning and they got me in to see what was going on. He said I have partial dry socket on the one side. Wonderful. So he pulled out a stitch that hadn't dissolved all the way and packed the site with some NASTY tasting medicine that is supposed to protect it and help it to heal faster. Ugg, It tastes so gross, let's just hope I don't throw up. He said I should be feeling better in a few days, so I'm crossing my fingers! What a fun experience!

Pirate Island

2011-02-28T09:42:00.000-08:00

Groupon was having a great deal on Pirate Island in Orem, so we bought it and took the kids last Monday. We've been here once before with the Wood's and the kids had so much fun. They have food and then an arcade and games for the kids to play.

It was a fun way to spend one of Tim's days off!

consigning

2011-02-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

So I have been making some items to put in a new consignment store in SLC. I'm excited to see if they sell! This one is my favorite....

This mirror is cool, the picture is horrible, I wish I had a nicer camera.

I also took in another one I made that has numbers all over it, but I couldn't find the picture so I gave up. This should be fun and I'm hoping to keep making her stuff to put up in her store!

crazy hair

2011-02-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to capture Kardyn's hair and what happens when I don't fix it. Lovely

And Chase just wanted his picture taken too...but I thought I'd show how good my kids are at eating...that is asparagus on his plate! And yes he likes it!

new thing

2011-02-16T22:55:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would just kind of do a post tonight with no pictures. Mostly because I had an exhausting day and I feel horrible about it because it was also Chase's birthday. Day started well around 8:30 everyone up and getting dressed. We had a play date this morning at 10 at our house. Picking up and dressing everyone for the morning went well. However, I don't recall feeding my kids breakfast this morning, however, this must be because no one asked for it. Hmmm...strange. Anyway, fun play date this morning with an awesome friend who I feel bad about not seeing as much because we actually live in the same state this time. While she is over, I'm also texting another friend to set up a quick visit with for tomorrow around 10 while Chase is at school. Amy and I feed the kids lunch and they sadly leave around 12:30ish. My mom has also called by this time wanting to Skype with Chase seeing as how it's his birthday and I put her off this morning because we had company. Next we jump on the computer to talk to Nana for a minute, and I really mean a minute because she couldn't figure out why she could see us but not hear us. Said she would call back later when my Dad gets home to fix the problem. So then, the kids are off to play for 30 minutes until nap time while I take a quick break...online. Children go down fairly easy at 1:30 and I settle down to watch a recorded show, my guilty pleasure :) Kardyn took an unexpectedly long nap and my 1 show turned into 2 and then I felt bad because I have a library book on loan due in 9 days with 250 something pages left to go and felt I should be reading that instead. Oh well. Chase wakes up before Kardyn, which never happens, and he plays quietly in his room for a bit. Right after he wakes up I receive a phone call from a mystery person's husband whom which I have been communicating through email with his wife for quite some time now. She's opening a store in SLC and wants me to consign some of my items. However I was not aware that they were going to want me to bring things in TOMORROW because they are trying to fill the store before it opens. I hope they have a lot more people because I don't keep most of the items I make. So I find 1 item around my house I can take in and make a horrible last minute decision to make something fast. This puts me in my craft room pretty much the rest of the day. I have just finished my item and hope she likes it. I don't know, we'll see. However, while trying to finish my project, I take a million phone calls, one being from Tim saying he's not going to be home until late but I know Chase wants to eat his "birthday pizza" with Dad, so I quick run downstairs to feed them a snack of pears, peaches and cottage cheese to hold them over until Dad gets home around 7 for dinner. 7 is a super late dinner for us BTW. So get that taken care of and then my Dad calls and wants to Skype with Chase, so we do that, again. Then being the mean mom that I am, shew my kids off so I can finish my project. Tim comes home at 7 and I take a break to eat since I'm starving and then Chase and Dad play Kinect for a bit. He got a new game for his birthday, so they have fun doing that. I wish I could play. I'm upstairs finishing my project. I hope this is worth it I feel like the worst mom ever today. Kardyn goes to bed late, 30 minutes past bedtime and Chase goes right on time, around 9. Tim and I decide to sit down for an hour before he goes to bed and watch a show. Then I'm off to finish my project, upstairs, once again. I think that I will NEVER attempt a project in one day ever again. I'm super stressed out over nothing, oh and not to mention it's Chase's spotlight in pre-school tomorrow for his birthday so I decide to show the poster I made LAST YEAR for his spotlight and make brownies from a BOX (so not me) and call it good. Can I go to bed yet?

Chase turns.....the big 5

2011-02-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Chase's birthday on Saturday, even though he turns 5 tomorrow. I've been asking him for awhile now what kind of cake he wants. He kept telling me over and over again, he wanted a blue and green triangle cake. Don't ask me what that means...this is what we came up with. Of course it's chocolate, his favorite, but I snuck in a layer of red velvet and butter peacan. It was yummy. Oh and he wanted the filling to have chocolate chips too, so it was bavarian creme filling with chocolate chips. Pretty good cake. I know my fondant skills are not the best, but as long as Chase thinks it's cool, that's all that matters :)

random

2011-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Just a few random photos that I thought were cute. Chase totally enthralled in Aspen's game on her phone.

Cute brother and sister photo. And it's been semi-warm here and Chase has been begging me to ride his bike. So we went for a quick walk the other day. Of course Kardyn has to push her stroller too.

Valentines Day pink pancakes!

Girl Time

2011-02-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Tabitha is about ready to have a baby...next week actually! So we went and got pedicures before her baby comes, it was fun to have some girl time!

Adoption

2011-01-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

If you know anyone who is considering putting a child up for adoption, please have them check out my sisters profile

Baby Maci

2011-01-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

Since about last November or so, I've been planning a secret trip. My friend (who lives in Medford) was going to be having her baby girl in January and I really wanted to surprise Crissy and come for a quick visit when she had the baby. So I've been plotting with her hubby Steve to keep it a secret. After talking to Crissy on Thursday, I just knew she was going to have that baby that weekend. So after Tim got home from work, we packed up and headed to Oregon. Before I get further into the story, I have to show you what I made for the baby. Crissy is an amazing seamstress and made a quilt for the baby. She had told me what fabric she was using, and what colors she was using to paint the walls, etc. So I came up with these cuties. They turned out fabulous {in my opinion} I loved the way they turned out!

So We drove to Reno the first night, and since it was a week night, we got an AMAZING deal on a Hotel, and decided it would be fun to stay at Circus Circus. Too bad we didn't pull in until super late so we couldn't take the kids around to see anything fun, but they still thought it was pretty cool.

So after texting Crissy pretty much the whole way there, I found out she had the baby an hour and a half before we pulled into town, how's that for timing! Perfect. Just what I wanted...I wanted to be able to surprise her while she was still in the hospital. It was an awesome reunion, tears and everything. It was so fun, I think my hands were shaking all the way to the hospital and for like an hour after I got there! And here is Steve with cute baby Maci.

Crissy had an amazing birth story, all natural, and she delivered Maci weighing in at 9 lbs 8 oz!

So I knew that I wasn't going to be able to spend the entire trip with The Woods, because having a baby is stressful enough, so our old Bishop was kinda enough to let us stay in an empty rental house that they had in Central Point. It worked out perfect. I am amazed at Chase's memory of this place. He was only 3 when we left, but being back must have jogged his memory. He wanted to drive by our old house, and he suddenly remember people when we were visiting their homes before they came to the door. Chase really wanted to see one of his buddies Cohen (and I wanted to see his mom) so we had lunch at the mall and then let the boys play, just like old times. It was so fun.

Tamara is going to have a baby too, any day now! Tamara, Crissy and I all have boys the same age (Feb, March and April) and then we were all pregnant with our next ones at the same time and now theses two have babies AGAIN right in a row!

We also got to visit our old ward on Sunday, it was nice to see familiar faces

Sunday night we had dinner with the Kings and Skabelunds. The kids had fun playing and it was fun to visit and catch up!

Baby Maci

Crissy has a new house since we've moved and I'm so sad we cant' be there to share all the fun things it has! Her backyard walks out into our favorite park and she has a pool!

On our way home we stayed at the same hotel, but this time we took a tram to the other tower, the kids thought it was pretty neat.

One of the things I miss a lot about being in a slightly bigger town, is a mall. Since I went to the mall often while I was living there, I was always able to find super cute clothes for my kids at nice stores for great clearance prices. I stopped in at a few while we were having lunch with Tamara, and look what I found. This dress from Baby Gap was $8.00 normally $50. They actually had 2 sizes left, I was tempted to buy the 5T as well...but decided against it.

And these shorts for Chase I think I only paid $1.50, also from Baby Gap.

It was a much needed trip and we had so much fun. Thanks for everyone who fed us and let us come play! We miss Medford like crazy, and it was especially hard to leave the sun and 60 degree weather in the middle of January!

xbox fun

2011-01-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

We got an Xbox Kinect for Christmas. It's kinda freaky and way futuristic....all you have to do is stand in front of it and you move your hands to toggle through the menu's and such. Have you ever seen the movie Minority Report? It's kinda like that. SCARY. Anyway, the kids love it. We got a sports game and I think it was made for my son. He can run races, throw a javalin, play soccer, bowling and much more, all in my living room. I LOVE IT.

Here is my cute Valentine's Day decor for my front door. I don't take credit for the idea, I just copied it. However, I am In Love with it.

my obsession

2011-01-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

For about a year now, I have been writing down (which takes forever btw) links to projects or things that I want to do, or anything I want to go back and check out later. Well, recently I have found a web site that can help me with my obsession. It's called Pintrest. I've only just started adding my favorites, but the coolest thing about it, is that as soon as I see something I like, I just click my "pin it" button in my bookmarks bar, and Pintrest let's me place it whatever category I want. It's completely addicting, so if you join (you have to have an invitation from the website to join) be careful. I think I've spent about 2 or 3 hours online today since I got my invitation!

Christmas Morning

2011-01-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a little bit behind putting up Christmas pictures. Oh well, I've been entertaining company then cleaning up after company and then trying to get settled back into our routine. This year the kids were fortunate enough to spend time with both sets of Grandparents. My parents and brother came into town a week before Christmas. Then we took them with us down south to see Tim's parents. We stayed an played for a few days and then after a visit from Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, we went home so we could spend Christmas morning at our house.

Love this action shot

Zane was super excited because he got A REAL gun from Mom and Dad. Later that week Tim took him and my Dad out shooting. He was stoked.

Nana got Chase this remote controlled Tarantulas. Yeah, big spiders...are not my favorite! It's funny though because Kardyn is kinda scared of it, and sometimes, while Chase is controlling it, he accidentally gets it to chase them, and then he gets scared too. Pretty funny to watch.

Chase got Kardyn a stroller this year. She got one from Santa last year, but used it so much, the wheels fell off!

My mom got Kardyn this super soft leopard print coat! Love it. She looks adorable in it, she wears it ALL.THE.TIME.

My son is somewhat obsessed with Nut Crackers. Don't ask my why. It's kinda strange.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

the goings on....

2010-12-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

well...hasn't actually really been much. Getting ready for the Holidays have been pretty time consuming. However, a friend and I did sneak in some time and took the kids to Gardner Village to see some cute Christmas displays and try and do a little bit of shopping. I just love this picture of the boys.

I've also been working on another project to "update" my Christmas decor. I saw this idea floating around blog-land so I decided to see what kinda of fun glitter colors I could find and try it myself. I think they turned out fabulous! The colors are perfect! Just found these cone shaped styrofoam cones at my dollar store, got the stands from the DI (candle sticks I primed and painted white) and the glitter from my absolute favorite store...Hobby Lobby.

Here is where my cute trees found a home....I sure wish I could paint my walls

and my other trees found a home as well....I love them

We are super excited for Christmas this year. The kids are at a great age. Chase tells me Merry Christmas every single day and I couldn't love it more especially now that he has his sister saying it all the time too. The kids are going to get to see both set's of Grandparents for the holidays so I'm really excited about that. I think Christmas just gets better and better being a parent because I get to see the magic and excitement in my own kids. We are also trying to help the kids understand what Christmas is all about and try to remind them that we are really celebrating the birth of Christ. Sometimes that conversation get's a little carried away by my almost 5 year old, but he's just curious and loves to ask questions. Hopefully we have some fun pictures to post soon...Merry Christmas everyone!

my 3 favorite trees

2010-12-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

I'm always excited to put up my Christmas decor, but was somewhat unhappy this year when I realized how OLD my decorations really were. I mean, I have a few cute things, but most of them are these snowmen figures that I literally bought the first year of my marriage (that would be 9 years ago). So, I decided I would try and spruce things up a bit. I'm going to spare you the pictures of my old stuff, and just show you the new. Well, at least this project for now. More, maybe later. I found these LOVELY trees a few weeks ago at the DI, all three for less than $5.

Spray painted them white and gave them a super coat of glitter and tah-dah!

{lovely}

ps-I know my pictures suck, however, I finished them tonight and wanted to get them up online while I had a chance...thus...no lighting for a decent picture....oh well.

the cutting down of our christmas tree

2010-12-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Alright so I forgot to really take pictures with my camera this year. What can I say, it's hard to take pictures with HUMONGOUS gloves on. Here is my super sexy look this year for going out into the freezing cold.

Mom and Dad cut down a 12 1/2 foot tree, yeah...YOU try dragging that thing out of the forest. Not an easy task...at least I got a work out.

my children stole my camera

2010-11-29T12:30:00.001-08:00

girls with guns and thanksgiving decor

2010-11-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Cousin Eve came to visit for a few days...they all had fun...

Here is my Thanksgiving decor, nothing fancy. Just something to put up until it's time to decorate for Christmas!

I whipped this baby up in about 20 minutes using my Cricut...I think it turned out great

I bought this stuff called weathered wood medium...it's kind of like crackle paint, but gives you more of an old wood effect as the finish. I was happy with it, I've been wanting to try it out for awhile now. I've had this frame sitting around for a few months that I found at the DI and decided to try this technique out. I like the way it turned out.

Costumes

2010-11-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

If you didn't already know, Tim's mom makes all the grandkids their Halloween Costumes, and every year...they are AMAZING. This year Chase wanted to be Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon, and Karydn was a puppy.

Some of us adults dressed up too

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

The kids had fun carving pumpkins this year. We had all the cousins get together and do it all at once. It was pretty messy, but they had fun.

Halloween Cookies

2010-11-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

I know I should have posted this before Halloween, but...I didn't. Oh well. I decided to try my hand at decorating cookies this year! It was fun,they turned out great, but it's hard work. first, I made my favorite sugar cookie recipe. Then let the cookies cool for a few hours. Next, make your favorite royal icing recipe. Then separate the frosting into bowls according to how many colors you are using. Dye your icing. Remember, when flooding the cookies and outlining, you need the same color but 2 different consistencies, so make 2 bowls of icing for this color. (mine was the black) Using my smallest tip, I outlined my design on my cookie.

Next, after adding color to my icing, thin it out with some water and pour it into these lovely squeeze bottles.

Next you have to flood the cookies. Using the thinner black, squeeze it inside your outline and using a toothpick, spread it out to the edges.

Before it dries, you add the web (if you weren't using this technique, generally to add other colors, the bottom one must dry completely first) then pull the sides out using a toothpick. These have to set up for 24 hrs before you can package them, and don't worry, they won't dry out. The icing acts as more of a sealant.

Halloween Decor on a budget

2010-09-28T11:37:00.001-07:00

I love decorating for the Holidays, but hate spending the money. This year I decided to try and come up with some fun ideas using my favorite places....my local thrift store and the dollar store. I bought these skeleton heads at the dollar store (I bought 2 bags of them) and antiqued them a bit so they looked older. The ones on the right side are before, left...after. I had plans to put these guys in my Apothecary.

I found this lovely art work at my local thrift store for $1

My mother in law had given me this mirror a while back....I think I found the perfect use for it!

I took out the mirror and mod podged some spooky green paper onto it

Then I flipped it over and put it back in the frame, and traced it so I knew how much of the actual mirror would be showing. Then using my Cricut I cut out some cute Halloween phrases to make it into a cute subway art photo.

Turned it back over, and mod podged them all onto the front. I did a few extra layers of the mod podge to add some texture since there is no glass covering the art

I also had a straw wreath laying around and decided to try and come up with a Halloween wreath....

But I have a feeling I will be taking it apart next year...not my favorite. I added a spider to the right side of it in the end, but I still don't love it yet.

I also found these beauties at the DI...$1.50 each. I bought the 3 that they had. I could see their spooky potential

Here is the finished Subway art...I {love} this piece. It is pretty much my favorite

Here is the lovely frame I found for a $1.00 with a new make-over. I love it too.

Remember these guys? I found 2 of them at the DI, and a while later, found another. Well I painted it and just couldn't find a place to hang it up, so I stashed it away. Well, it's finally found it's purpose. I cut some black vinyl and placed it on the mirror. I {love} this too.

Here is the finished product. I love the spooky sconces and I found the candles at Wal-Mart (they had the best color selection) for 88 cents each. Then I cut out some more spooky things and added them onto the candles. Love those too. I got the spooky grey cloth at the dollar store, it's HUGE and I had plenty to cover where I needed it to go.

I found the apothecary labels online and printed them out and used rubber cement to ad hear them to the jars. All the jars I've just been collecting, so I have plenty. I have yet to fill some of them though.

That sign I also found at the dollar store, I just added some brown ink to make it more interesting

Those hanging spiders we made one year for Trunk-or-Treat at the church, and a few other things I just have made throughout the years. I painted some cute pumpkins to put up there as well, they turned out cute.

Happy Halloween!

first time for everything

2010-09-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

This was my summer project. I've been wanting to try my hand at refinishing a small piece of furniture. I have a small TV upstairs in the loft area for the kids and it's sitting pretty much just on the floor. So I thought I'd keep my eye out at the DI for a dresser or end table of some kind with drawers so I could also use it to keep kids movies in. Well I found this beauty for $8. I wanted it to have more detail since I wanted to try and glaze it, but this one was in great condition and figured it would have to do. Here it is before any sanding and painting.

After 2 coats of paint...I {love} the color

I hand sanded it after it was painted to distress it a bit, this proves to be much harder than I thought it would be. It turned out really cool though and was tempted NOT to put my black glaze on it, but I really wanted to try it out. So I did it.

And I'm glad I did. I left quite a good amount of the glaze on because the piece didn't have much detail, so I thought it would make it more interesting. I do have to say the glaze was the easiest part. It dried fast too!

My lighting was not great inside when I took the complete picture, so the color is more accurate in the outside pictures. But I'm really happy with it, Chase told me "it's pretty mom, I like it!"

more treats

2010-09-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

My husband is the best! See while I was in AZ, he was working in California, but it just so happens that the Medford airport was the closest place for them to fly into. SO, he was able to stay and visit with friends {jealous} anyway, he brought me back some of my favorite treats! The truffles are yummy and chocolate covered bacon is divine. Don't knock it unless you've tried it, it's amazing.

treats

2010-09-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

While in AZ I tried a new recipe. Lemon Basil Cupcakes. They are heavenly. The frosting is {perfect} not too sweet, and light. Give them a try:

1 C butter, softened

2 C sugar

3 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp lemon zest

3 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 C sour cream {I replaced this with greek yogart}

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins and set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredient mixture in thirds, alternating with 2 additions of sour cream. The batter will be thick. Scoop 1/4 C batter into each liner. Bake for 16-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Lemon Basil Syrup

1 C water

3/4 C sugar

1/3 C lemon juice

8 fresh basil leaves { I would double this, I did not taste any basil in final product using only 8}

1 strip lemon peel

In saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Strain and discard peel and basil. Allow to cool completely. Using a toothpick, poke holes into the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Once the syrup has reached room temp. spoon 1 tsp syrup over each cupcake. Allow to soak in and repeat. Reserve 3 TBSP for frosting.

Lemon Mousse Frosting

2 C powdered sugar

3 Tbsp butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp grated lemon zest

3 Tbsp lemon basil syrup

1 1/4 C heavy whipping cream, whipped

In large bowl, beat together powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon basil syrup until smooth. Whisk into the already whipped cream until well blended. Frost.

We also made sweet pepper jelly, but it's a family secret recipe....sorry, this one I have to keep to myself

dragonfly's and butterfly's

2010-09-15T22:26:00.001-07:00

I was going to help out with Super Saturday in our ward, but ended up making these before I found out that I was going to be out of town. Bummer. I didn't get to teach my projects, but they turned out cute don't you think?

best parts of vacation

2010-09-15T22:12:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite parts of visiting my family in Arizona, is getting to see all my friends. I love that they live so close to my parents, I pretty much get to see all of them, every time I visit!

Jill took me to this fun place called Pump it Up. Pretty much two big rooms full of bounce houses....I think my kids were in heaven! We had fun visiting, her kids are growing like crazy!!

This is what one of the rooms liked like

I also visited with {Monica}, one of my room mates from college, I love this girl to death!!

and I visited with the Spindles for a few days. Kardyn just {loves} baby Porter

I had so much fun, thanks all!

Sewing with Mom

2010-09-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Before I left for Arizona, I found this. It's a king size sheet I bought at the DI for $4! I {love} it

I looked online and found a simple pattern

and here's what we got! It was sooo easy, and my Mom is a great teacher because she makes me to EVERYTHING. She just helps me read the pattern and set up the sewing machine. It was fun and I can't wait to see Kardyn wearing it next summer!

UPDATE: I went to the Doctor on Monday to have my elbow looked at again because it was still hurting so much, and turns out it is fractured. My first broken bone ever! It's a fracture in my radial head, and they say it doesn't require a cast, but my ROM is still limited and I can't life heavy things. It's also supposed to hurt for a few months! NICE

We also made this! I bought 2 shirts for $1 each and used one to embellish the other! All I did was cut up the first shirt into strips. Sew a basting stitch and gathered the strips up. Pin them on my shirt and sew them on.

great week

2010-09-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

We all had fun with Uncle Austin, it was sad to see them leave

Kardyn was attatched to Austin's GF, Allysa all week :)

stay tuned for more pics from our trip next week when we get home!

Slide Rock

2010-09-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

One of the days we went up to Sadona to this national park called Slide Rock. It was pretty cool, it has natural water slides in this little river

Well Just about everybody fell becuase it was so slippery, my dad caught me right after I fell! However, I hurt my arm pretty bad, and have been seeing a Chiropractor for it. It's still pretty painfull and I don't have full range of motion, so I've made an appt with an Orthopedic when I get back to SLC.

Kardyn didn't like slipping on the rocks so much, so she ended up sitting on the side most of the time

Chase went down a smaller slide all by himself...and more than once!

Cabana Day

2010-09-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

My parents have this pretty fancy hotel by them where you can rent Cabana's and swim in their pool that is normally just for guests only. So we rented 2 for the day, and the pool was awesome! They actually had 2 pools and a waterslide.

First Day in the hot hot sun

2010-09-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

I've been in Arizona visiting my family. Most of the reason for my trip at the hottest time of the year is because my brother Austin came to visit from Wisconsin. Him and his GF stayed for the week. So we packed LOTS of fun into that week. We took my parents jetskii out on a lake ( I'm not sure what the name of it was) Anyway, the kids had fun.

If any of you were wondering what a lake in the middle of the desert looks like, well here ya go

Dave Matthews Band Concert

2010-08-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

So things have pretty much been a blur these past few weeks. I'm currently visiting my family in Arizona. I've been here for a little over a week, and before that, we had company staying with us from Oregon, and I still will be in Arizona another 2 weeks! So I'm trying to blog from my parents computer, which is a chore in itself. They have a PC, I'm used to my MAC so putting my pictures on here is a bit challenging. They are all out of order and I'm not about to try and spend 20 more minutes fixing them! Anyway, before I left for AZ, Tim and I went to see DMB in SLC. It was amazing, considering Tim has never seen them live and I'm pretty sure the last time I saw them was in Chicago in 2000.

We had lawn seats, but I have never been to this venue before. I was pleasantly suprised at how close we actually were!

Amy and Tim came with us

I enjoyed the concert A LOT, Dave is my favorite band and I LOVE to see them perform, and their music is AMAZING live. Can't wait until I can go again!!!

favorite project yet

2010-08-09T09:48:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to put something above my bed for a long time. I have found several versions of this that I really like, but can't afford. So I decided to make my own instead.

I bought some contact paper at Wal-Mart and cut some designs out with it using my Cricut. Then I arranged them on the canvas that I had found awhile back at the DI. Then, I used my favorite color for my bedroom and sprayed the whole thing.

Take off the contact paper, and this is what you get!

{I am in love with it}

here is the cost:

Contact paper @ wal-mart: $5.97

canvas from the DI: $2.00

spray paint: free (already had it)

for a grand total of $7.97!!

(I still wish we could paint, but being in a rental makes that a little bit harder)

Derby

2010-08-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to the derby here in town on Saturday. They had a blast!

It was so much fun, I haven't been to one in probably 7 years!

It was a fun weekend, we also went to eat Sushi for my birthday before the Derby. And after all the cars were crashed up, they had a fireworks show. We had fun, thanks for a fun day!

29 FOREVER

2010-08-09T09:18:00.001-07:00

Let it be known that I intend to be 29 Forever! This weekend was my birthday and I don't intend to admit to ever being older than I am now. Anyway, we had a great weekend starting with my cake! My husband made me a coconut cake which we tried for the first time last year and I {loved} it so I asked him to make it again for me. mmmm....

Then Tim lit the candles and I think we almost started the house on fire

Staci brought over her new soft serve ice cream machine too, it was yummy....

Brandt loved it too

kids

2010-08-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

The other day I found Chase playing with Kardyn's tree house....

and came upstairs to find Kardyn playing with Chase's cars

embellishing an old shirt

2010-07-29T14:49:00.001-07:00

I came across a tutorial online on how to embellish a shirt. I thought it was a cute idea. I searched through my closet and found 2 shirts that never get worn (imagine that!) I figured I could cut up the cream colored one (which is backwards just in case it looks funny to you) and embellish the black one that I never wear anymore.

I started with these circles for patterns that I cut out with my Cricut.

Then I kind of made a rough sketch of where I wanted to put them on my shirt. Of course once I started cutting them out and laying them out, I changed it up a bit.

Then I started cutting the circles out by just pining the pattern onto the material.

I laid them out just to see if I thought I was going to need more or not. {note...if I ever do this again, I would pin them on my shirt and then try it on, your shirt will lay differently on you then it will on the table. I didn't think about that and ended up making an extra flower in the end to add on. I still might add more after it's all said and done}

To sew your flowers together, fold them in half, and just use 3 or 4 stitches to hold it. Then open your circle back up, fold it the other way, and do the same thing. This adds a little bit of character to the flower.

see...

Then I used a few beads that I just had gotten at Wal-mart to embellish the flower a little bit.

Then stitch them on! My picture is not the greatest for the end result but I didn't want to take another one {it looks better in real life} Anyway, it was a pretty simple project and it didn't cost me a thing!

paper wreath

2010-07-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Jamie and I have been working on this project, I'm so happy with the way it turned out, so cute! It's just an easy paper wreath. I know what your thinking, paper wreath? Really? Won't it get ruined? But it's summer, it doesn't rain much here, plus you can put this inside as well. We started with a cardboard circle that I cut out of some cardboard. I used a mixing bowl as my pattern. Then I found some cute scrap booking paper to use for my flowers.

Then I used my Cricut to cut a shape out, we used Accent Essentials. The blog where I saw this idea used a star shape from Plantin Schoolbook. Then you just fold these flowers in half, on each petal, so you have a point in the middle. Then fold the corners in, kinda like a tent if that makes sense.

Then start gluing! Glue as much as you can so that they stay down and stay 3-D too!

Here is my finished wreath...I love it because it matches the cute colors that I painted my flower pots earlier this summer :)

And this is Jamie's....Love them!!

splash pad

2010-07-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

While Crissy was in town we were able to get together and let the kids play. We went up to the Gateway and took advantage of the nice weather. These boys are so silly, I asked them to hold still so I could take their picture, and they started posing! It was funny

We sure miss spending time with these guys!

B7 Forever!

2010-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get to see some of my roomies from college this past week also. Monica was visiting Utah from AZ so we got a few of us together and went out for a night on the town. Well, not really, but we had fun!

4th of July Parade

2010-07-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Tooele has a little community type parade here on the 4th of July. It's really pretty lame but the kids love it, so we go. They usually get tons of candy

Every time Kardyn would get some candy she would go up to EVERYBODY and say "open it, open it" she has quite the sweet tooth!

Chase loved seeing the "army guys"

and he loved this old fire engine because it looks like Red from the movie Cars

We had a great 4th of July weekend. The kids had fun, we went to several BBQ's (our favorite), but the holidays really make us miss Oregon! We miss having our BBQ's with the Skabelunds and watching Travis and Jeremy set the trees on fire with our huge fireworks display in the driveway, fun times!

Easiest project ever!

2010-07-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea in blog land this week and decided "why the heck not." It's super easy. Me and my sister in law went to Wal-Mart and bought solid colored shirts for the kids. They were $3 each. We only ended up getting red because most of the blue ones just weren't quite the right color of "4th of July" blue.

All you do is make a bleach mixture of about 70% bleach and 30% water, and pour it into a spray bottle. I cut the stars out on my Cricut, but I've seen it done with lots of other things like glow in the dark stars, those foam sticky stars, I'm sure you could use just about anything. Then we simply laid the stars out on the shirt and sprayed away! We did have one old shirt as practice, just to get the hang of it, but I'm so happy with the end result!

These 2 are Chase and Kardyn's. Then you just throw them in the washer and dryer and tah-dah! I can't wait to see them in them on the 4th of July!

I've also seen some really cute ones done for adults using different stencils. I think I want to try one, so stay tuned!

Eclipse

2010-06-30T12:19:00.001-07:00

Crissy and I went to the midnight showing of Eclipse last night! It was so fun because I was still living in Oregon when Twilight came out and we went to the midnight showing there and stood in line for hours and watched the older ladies in front of us get drunk :) We weren't able to see New Moon together...sad. But she's in Utah for a visit so we met up in Salt Lake and went to see Eclipse last night! It was awesome and so fun to spend all night together and catch up. I miss her so much!

Cute kiddos

2010-06-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

My sister and her family came into town for a quick trip this past weekend We took my niece into Lagoon with us on Saturday because they had some things they needed to do. We also met some of our friends there that are visiting Utah from Oregon.

Cute cousins

I miss this girl

I just had to post this last picture, I {LOVE} the bed head :)

My baby turned 2!

2010-06-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kardyn's second birthday this weekend, I can't believe it. On Saturday we took the kids to see Toy Story 3 with our good friend Amy and her son Jackson. The kids {loved} it

Kardyn got a Cabbage Patch from Amy and Jackson, she loves dolls

Displaying the hat Grandma made for her

Kardyn is so funny, she always has this somber look on her face when others are around. Hardly ever cracks a smile.

She definitely got spoiled, lots of clothes and coloring books, which is one of her favorite things to do, she loves to color. Happy Birthday Kardyn!

Happy Birthday

2010-06-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom! I made her this cute necklace

{it was fun to try and make something different}

Best thing ever

2010-06-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

This summer we decided to buy season passes to Lagoon. I think it was the best decision we've made in a long time. It's so nice to take a break, get the kids out of the house and do something fun. The nice part about it is, we can go for a few hours and leave and not feel guilty about not getting on all the rides. The kids love it, and Tim and I are looking forward to having date nights there this summer. A few of my friends also got season passes, so that makes it even better. The kids have had so much fun already. Now, we just need the weather to cooperate!