This Is The Year

Well, summer is winding down. Are you sad? Or are you excited like me? I love summer, but now is about the time I'm ready for the season to change. I LOVE fall, I love the smell, and the colors, and the cooler temperatures. Most of all I love the anticipation of the upcoming Holiday Season. I'm itchin' to start decorating for fall...how 'bout you? I'm especially excited to "Halloween-ify" my home! So for this month's Mod Podge Project, I decided to do a Halloween version of the Mod Podge blocks you may have seen in our very first edition of Mod Podge Mania. I found this adorable Halloween paper at Michaels, and I'm so pleased with how they turned out! I love how the little skeletons seem to be peeking out between the letters! All I did was spray paint some 2x4 scraps, then Mod Podge my paper on. Using Mod Podge on the wood to adhere the paper, then another couple of coats over the top. When the Mod Podge dried, I distressed the edges on the san...

Mod Podge Mania Tomorrow!

My baby is growing up! I really can't stand it! This past couple of weeks she just seems so...BIG! I have learned a few new Monkey-isms this week: For example when she was eating her apple the other day, she was dinking around as usual and dropped her apple. Miraculously, Cowgirl swooped in and caught it right before it hit the floor. Monkey's respons? "Oh. My. Almost . GOSH! I guess it's almost gosh because it didn't actually hit the floor. Later that day she was using the bathroom. She had a little bit of diarrhea. She looks down into the toilet while she's still sitting on it and says "Now my butt is a disaster." We couldn't stop laughing! She also taught me how to count in Spanish a couple of weeks ago: You always thought 4 was "cuatro" and 6 was "seis", right? Nope, it's "nacho" and "space-o". Duh. Yesterday the kids were watching a movie...I had my back to them because I was blogging working on th...

I keep getting lovely awards from fabulous bloggy friends, and I am SOOOOO bad at posting them and passing them on. So to begin, I am offering a heartfelt apology to anyone whom I may have offended by not posting about an award you gave me! It's not because I don't love you and I'm not flattered! 'Cause I really am! I can't believe all the amazing ladies I have met and made friends with through this world of blogging! It's because I'm lazy. That's all. I'm not promising to be better, because I know I'll probably still be just as flaky about doing this, but today I do have 2 awards to blog about. First my hilarious and adorable fellow Blockhead JennyKate gave me the Honest Scrap award. I'm supposed to list 10 honest things about myself! So, here goes, please don't leave me! 1 - I often feel like I'm not as good of an example as I should be, to my family, or to my friends. 2 - Although I am very involved in Education now, I didn't ...

So fess up. How many of you watch reality T.V.? You can be honest...there's no judgement here! I honestly haven't watched The Bachelor or Survivor for years. I do, however have a weakness for reality talent competitions. There's nothing like watching talented people to make you feel inadequate! Until last year, I watched American Idol faithfully to the end. I even went to American Idols Live twice! Once the year Carrie Underwood won, and again the year David Cook won (had to see David Archuleta...he's our hometown hero!). I missed this past season. I'm also a HUGE fan of So You Think You Can Dance . It amazes me what these dancers are able to accomplish. I have tickets to go see them on tour in November! I'm so excited! I've never really gotten hooked on Dancing With The Stars . I know it's a huge sensation, and I've watched a few episodes here and there and followed for awhile when my boy Joey was in the first season, but it never really sucked m...

Well, my absolutely adorable friend Amanda was thinking of me last week. She came across a treasure at the Salvation Army, and plucked it up for me! I got it in the mail today....isn't it so cute all wrapped up? Can you guess what's inside? ... Tada!!! Hubby and I popped it in. We are dying. These guys really can sing, but oh the HAIR and the CLOTHES! We are having a blast (from the past!). So I told Amanda maybe I'll learn a routine from the video and record it for her! How much will y'all pay me if I record myself dancin' to NKOTB and post it on my blog? Just wonderin'. Thanks Amanda...you totally made me smile today!

Well...I think I'm back. Sorta. My husband rigged up 2 computers and so far, so good with being able to post pictures, and view videos, and open attachments and stuff. I'll use it this way for as long as I have to, as long as I can get my blogging fix! Last Friday I enjoyed a funtastic girls' day out! It was me, my girls, my mom, my sister-in-law, and my sweet cousin who's staying with my parents while she goes to school here. We went mall-hopping, and started out downtown at the Gateway, a fabulous outdoor mall that has all the best stores, and great landscaping and outdoor attractions as well. Here's Monkey showin' off the bling she immediately found on walking into the first store. Here's the girls modeling the latest in headwear fashion. I turned my back for 2 seconds, and Monkey had herself decked out in these jewels. Should I be worried? Now time to model the fabulous eye-wear. First up...Monkey. She needed more than 1 take. Doesn't Cowgirl j...

I was so prepared this morning! I hauled my lazy butt outta bed super early so I could make sure the morning of the first day of school went off without a hitch! Got up, fixed the kids one of their favorite breakfasts, toasted english muffins with peanut butter, honey and cinnamon. They like bananas on them too, but we were out! Anyway... had it all laid out for them, little glasses of milk, and went to wake my sleepy-head darlings. Amazingly, there was no complaining or whining of "I'm tired", "Why does school have to start so early?", and other such nonsense. I started packing lunches for the kids, and realized I could not find a sandwich baggie anywhere! Last they had been seen was when we were packing for the reunion. Eeek. Called hubby who had a 5 a.m. job, but was planning on making it back to take the kids to school with me. He said, no prloblem, he'd pick up some baggies. Finished the sandwiches, left them on a plate, and went to work combing hair. E...

Do you ever have one of those Sundays? You know, the Sundays where you spend so much time telling your kids to "be quiet and listen" that you don't have time to listen to the speaker yourself? That was my day today. This was the worst week I can remember in a loooong time for my kids (not ALL of them) misbehaving so badly! It started out when we were getting in the car this morning. Out of nowhere Monkey starts wailing "I don't wanna go to noiswee (nursery)!" with big old crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks. She has never cried about nursery. Not once and she has been going for nearly a year and a half. Weird. In Sacrament Meeting , Pixie and Bookworm decided to act like 2 year olds and fight (tug o' war style) over the Hymn books! What the heck? It was very exasperating. But something I've learned through the years is that Satan works hardest to distract us when there is something important we are supposed to be learning, or doing. He didn't...

I'm such a loser...I forgot to post about Sare's giveaway! It ends today at noon...hurry, before it's too late! Go HERE !

So I got tagged by Alisa , she's an old, dear friend I recently got back in touch with. In fact she was instrumental in my meeting my husband! Anyway, she tagged me on Facebook, but I'm more of a friend to Blogger, so I thought I would share it here. It's supposed to be kind of hard, but I just wanted to try it out. I picked New Kids because, well...you know. Anyway, I wasy DYING at how easily I was able to find songs that fit these questions! If you have followed me for awhile...I think you'll agree. It was really fun...thanks Alisa ! Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions . Pass it on to 15 people you like and include me. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)". Psst... You may not want your boss to catch you doing this...... Pick your Artist: New Kids on the Block Are you a man or a woman: Big Girl Now (haha! This c...

If you're in a good mood, you probably shouldn't read this, because I'm not. Here's how I feel today. Our new (to us) car broke down. My husband is having a hard time working on with his arm in a cast. Last night our carpet cleaning equipment broke down. Our prayers for an abundance of work have been answered, but now we have no machine, and our friend who has been working for us until Hubby's arm heals is having his new baby arrive on Monday, so he's not available next week! So basically we have all this work that needs to get done, and aren't really sure how we're going to do it! GRRR! Also I know some of you lovely ladies LOVE Glenn Beck, so just to share the misery, THIS should make you really mad. Okay. I'm done. Be back with a smile later today, or tomorrow.

Hello my wonderful friends! I'm late to a party! But first I need to say a heartfelt thank you! Remember for my birthday I had some wonderful bloggy friends make me feel so special? I talked about each of those ladies here . But to my surprise...I wasn't finished feeling special! Look what came in the mail last week just before I headed out of town! The fabulous (and I DO mean fabulous) Shawn at Seriously made me this personalized message board! It's a glossy tile that I can write on! Perfect for my grocery lists! Thank you so much Shawn...I love it! I also received an EXTRA something from Sare who had already sent me two PERFECT cards. She made me an "X" pendant! Only I forgot to take a picture, but I will post that soon...because I have more to share about her coming up! Now on to the PAR-TAY! The most awesome Amanda at Serenity Now is hosting a Decorating Dilemmas party! You should totally party with us! Grab the button from her sidebar, share your dilemma ...

Okay, okay. I know Halloween is still more than 2 months away. But is anybody else so over summer? I mean...the kids are going back to school...but it's still so freakin' HOT! Doesn't the thought of the beautiful changing colors, cool Autumn nights and all the fun "togetherness" the fall and winter holidays bring just make you excited for the changing season? No? Well how about this...the thought of all the last minute cramming to get Halloween costumes made again this year just puts you in a BAD mood, and you're planning ahead to avoid repeating this scenario AGAIN this year!? I really am excited for the seasons changing, and once again I am vowing to plan ahead so I can be more prepared, and REALLY enjoy the holidays. I bet Vivienne NEVER stresses during the holidays because she's so ridiculously organized and prepared! I wan to be Vivienne this year! So I've been trying to decide what to do for the kids' costumes this year. Heres what we had g...

I'm back! And I've got some tales to tell! But first things first. I'm thrilled to announce the winner of my Mod Podge Mania Giveaway...it's Shortmama ! Congratulations! Well, our last hurrah for the summer is the family reunion for my mom's side of the family. We went to a little place in Idaho called Downata Hot Springs. We use the term "camping" loosely. We have my dad, and 2 uncles whose physical health does not allow for the more "rough" type of camping. So we "cabin" it. We reserved some small cabins, a ranch house, and several tent spots to fit our family. Downata isn't really in the mountains...but there are some trees! What they boast is a hot springs-heated pool, and some fun water slides. The kids were anxious to get on the road Thursday afternoon, but I made them pose for a picture anyway! They were so excited! This is the Ranch House we shared with my 2 brothers and 1 sis in law, my cousin and her hubby, and my parents...