Spiking Dinner Ritual

Ella is so funny. She is the pickiest eater I know, but when she does eat, she loves to take her dirty little hands and run them through her hair. Every time her hands are dirty with peanut butter, yogurt, or mashed potatoes she sleeks her hair into a nice little spike in the front. As a "non-mom" it is hilarious but as a mom (which I am) it is so messy and a little bit gross. Chris loves it.. .me not so much (especially right after her bath). But at least she is eating, right?

Outfit for Spring

I love this outfit! It is so springy and each piece has individuality and style. I seriously wish I could own it all! If you are interested in find out where to get any of the items, go to Making it Lovely, she put the outfit together and has links to shop online.

Invitations are Out

As I mentioned earlier, Hannah is have a Alice in Wonderland party for her birthday this week. I really need to start focusing on her party. I have purchased almost all that I need, but now i have to get it all together.

But the first item is done and I can cross it off the list. Her invitations are out and here they are. Each invitation is attached to a playing card (remember: the Queen of hearts and her subjects).

Hannah keeps asking when her party is and I am happy to be able to tell her it is this week!

Weekly Dinner Menu #14

Sunday - Lemon Cream Chicken with Champagne Risotto and AsparagusVery Time Consuming and a lot of dishes to clean up.*****

Thursday - Chicken Manicotti (I used a recipe very similar to this and I just added rotisserie chicken, salad and french bread.****

Friday - Shockingly Simple French Dip Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Fries****

vinyl bandwagon

So as many of you know, vinyl decals are the big thing right now. I have to admit I am drawn to it. But I have to remind myself not to go overboard. There are so many cute ideas and so many fun ways to use vinyl. I have two ideas where I will use vinyl in our new house, but that will probably be it.
1) is to do some kind of "Williams est. 2002" at our entry.
2) in our laundry room I am going to put up these coat hooks and our names above them.

But then I saw these cute milk cans and thought yet another cute way to use vinyl.

And then using them to label cute pantry containers for flour, sugar, rice, etc.

Pottery Barn has cute chalkboard oval tags to use on baskets... but one could easily use any other black surface cut into ovals and vinyl lettering instead of chalk. i think it would look much better anyway.

And for a den... to have different clocks on the wall with the city name underneath to represent all the family members scattered about the country or world. How fun and cute is that!

The possibilities are endless... so here are some cute ideas I have come across, just in case you want to join the bandwagon!

I'm Wishing

I wish I were in this beautiful, colorful German town. I dont' know where it is exactly, but it doesn't matter. We haven't gone on vacation for a long time now and we are feeling the itch. So, for now pictures like this will have to do.

As for my real life... sorry I haven't been very interesting or blogging daily for that matter. There is just so much going on in life between unpacking, fixing computer woes, Hannah's birthday coming up, cleaning our old house, trying to be a good mom (but feeling like I am not succeeding at the moment), and regular life... no time to do much else.

But hang in there, I will be back!

Moved In

We are moved into our new house... at least all the boxes are. What fun it is to be in a new house. There are always mixed feelings about leaving a house you have grown to love, but so much excitement to have a new house to make our own.

Having two homes to compare causes one to think about the pros and cons of each house.

Here are the pros of our old house.
1) nice big bedrooms
2) nice open floor plan with vaulted ceilings
3) our neighbors and all the kids. We will miss them.
4) loved our laminate wood floors... LOVED THEM!
5) our BIG playroom

CONS: it was too cramped, starting to get old and our backyard.

Here are the pros to this new house.
1) it is bigger, so more space for everything
2) it is new.. I know where every scatch and stain will come from and hopefully I can keep up with all the dirt (for awhile anyway).
3) the loft that replaces the playroom
4) extra cupboards and storage
5) my new kitchen appliances
(are you seeing a trend)... new and more space.

The cons... more to clean, smaller bedrooms, wanting more furniture that I can't have right now.

We are Family

My husband's side of the family has a family reunion every other year and this is the year. Everyone meets up in a small town in Utah and we do the traditional family reunion things... work on the family farm, family auction for the family trust, talent show night, fun run and such. I think it is every 4 years, each family creates a t-shirt for the reunion. So, yep, I am creating our family t-shirt.

I have come up with 3 concepts and thought I would share them here. Of course, the family will choose which shirt they want to go with, but I would love to hear from each of you which design you like best. So, let me know!

Also, I have to admit that the second shirt design I stole the back design from a family reunion t-shirt company. I thought it was so cute, that I redesigned it a bit, but definitely stole the idea from them.

The Big Day

Today we are moving part of our stuff to the new house. Mostly just the living things like beds, computer, clothes, kitchen stuff... the rest is staying in the old house (to keep it furnished for showings). But moving day is big no matter how you slice it. Switching from one house to the other means a lot of flexibility and lack of access to things....like my computer. I will not have the internet for a few days... so that is where I will be... packing and unpacking boxes, taking down painter's tape, putting up drapes, finding a place for everything... sounds like fun huh? Wish me luck and see you next week.

Celebration Time

For most of the country the next few weeks, there isn't much going on as far as celebrations go, but in Kentucky this is the best time of the year. It is Derby Time! Since my parents are mission presidents in Louisville and my sister lives there, I have been to Louisville during this celebration season and it is a blast. It is really so much fun. There is so much energy and excitement.

The celebration starts weeks before the actual race. They have Thunder Over Louisville which is the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen (which means a lot since I have lived in Boston with the 4th of July Pops fireworks display). Then various other "festi-villes" happen leading up to the main event....... the running of the roses.

So, in honor of this great celebration, I thought I would share some fun ideas just in case you wanted to have a Derby party to watch the most excited 2 minutes in sports. Party accessories, Derby Pie and a real horseshoe from one of the horses that has run at Churchill Downs (how fun is that).

Cute Things around our house

Here are some cute things that have happened around our house.

1) Ella loves to dance. When music is on she will bounce up and down to the beat. The other day I was listening to some dance music and she came to the door and starting bouncing and making noise so I would come dance with her.

2) Hannah and I curled up in bed for a few mins today. Then Aunt Jamie called and Hannah and Walker talked on the phone for a long time. Hannah was so cute with Walker and trying to answer to his 2 year old "talking." She was laughing and the two had a cute little conversation.

3) Ella is so funny. Yesterday I was helping Hannah put on her shoes. As I was squatting on the ground, Ella came up to me and patted me on the back. She has been doing that a lot lately. When I hold her she pats me on the back. It makes me feel good :-)

4) Hannah is learning her dance recital piece and was very adamant that Chris learn the dance. She kept bringing it up every few hours. So, eventually she was able to teach her father the steps to her dance. She was a great teach and he a very good dance student.

5) Hannah wouldn't share with Ella, so she had to go to her room until she could share. While in the room crying, Ella had to join in. She was so sad that she couldn't be with Hannah that she too started crying. You could tell Ella was crying because Hannah was crying. It was quite sad and cute and funny all at the same time.

New Logo Designs

I was contacted by a wonderful mom and daughter duo to create a few things for their business (logo, blog banner, etc). The project is still in the works, but here are some of the initial concepts I came up with for their logo. I thought I would share.

I will share more once I have create all the pieces and the project is complete.

Sharing the Wealth

Yummy Dessert Recipes kinda wealth. I collect recipes I find online and have a huge electronic folder of recipes I need to try. The largest folder is of course Desserts! It is hard though, I don't really want desserts hanging out in our house every week, but I want to try all these recipes... so I have a moral dilemma every week. Do I try a new dessert or keep our house - dessert free.

Well, that debate rages each week, but I thought I would share some of these awesome dessert recipes with you...so you too can wage the war between DESSERTS vs SELF-CONTROL!

Here you go....

Nigellas Caramel Croissant pudding

Fancy Toffee Brownies

Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch

Snickery Squares

Smore Goodies and really anything from this blog...Blond Ambition in the Kitchen

Patricia's Lime Sugar Cookies

I will stop now... but I think you get the picture.

Some Springtime Favs

So, I am not usually drawn to things from Eddie Bauer. As we all know, I am more of a Banana Republic girl, but I got the EB catalog and there were a few things I fell in love with. And these are they!

Short-Sleeve Embroidered Gauze Tunic - it looks so soft, airy and fun!
Simple Satire Canvas - I love tennis shoes... I have a pair of black leather converse and LOVE THEM!
Cotton Ripstop Hoodie - love the color and the details.

Since I feel my life is on stand still until we move... not many projects going on, sorry about that. But hopefully sharing my favorites is just as interesting for the time being.

He Is the Cutest Thing Ever

My grandpa is 96 years old and about the cutest man you will ever meet. Seriously, everyone that meets him says so. Well, I don't get to see him as much as I wish I could (he living in Utah and me in California), but when we do, it is always the best time.

So, when I read my cousin Laurel's blog and her entry about our grandpa, I just had to share it here, mostly so I could have this memory preserved for his posterity. So, here you go!

A little background.... my cousin took my grandpa to his brother's viewing/funeral (he died 99 years old). They were leaving the viewing and this is the conversation they had.

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There weren't many there. And as Grandpa and I walked out and got into the car, I said to him, "I'm not ready for that to be you yet, Grandpa." He reminded me he IS 96. I then said, "But, when it happens, do you have any idea how many people will be there? Do you realize how many love you? Do you see how many lives you've blessed and impacted?" (no disrespect to Harold, of course.)

Grandpa was quiet. I wondered if he knew what I said was true. I wondered if he was imagining how many would come to pay their respects when it's his time.

After a few moments of silence, Grandpa said, "I'm pretty sure my podiatrist and his wife would come. They really seem to like me. You know, they just can't seem to say enough good about me!"

I laughed out loud.
Hard.
Grandpa laughed too.

Weekly Dinner Menu #13

Sunday - Homemade Pizza and green salad. I bought the pizza dough from a local pizzeria. And we topped it with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, ham, red peppers and a combination of 3 cheese (cheddar, fontina and mozzarella).*****

Monday - Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs (whole wheat pancakes and eggs with cheese and ham)*****

Wednesday - Roasted Lamb Meatballs with Red Sauce and Polenta (but I used ground beef) and french bread.****

Friday - Shockingly Simple French Dip Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Fries****

Community Logos

I was asked to create two logos for Woodside Homes newest communities in Fresno. The Meadows and The Knolls. Here is what they decided on... very simple.

I'm Late. I'm Late

for a very important date. Hannah's birthday is coming up and she specifically asked for a Alice in Wonderland Party. I have less than a month and I have to get going on the details. There is so much I want to do, but with all that is going on in my life, I am not sure it will be as I envisioned.

But nevertheless, it is time to start getting this little party together. Let's see... paper lanterns, tea cups, invitations, sweets.. there is so much to do. But one thing I don't have to worry about is the Alice in Wonderland costume Hannah will be wearing on her birthday... thanks to my friend Jen. It really will be so cute.

So many ideas!

Since we have been showing our house (almost everyday), packing and moving (little by little) and now painting the girl's rooms. I haven't had the time or energy to start or complete any projects. I miss creating cute little things and the satisfaction that comes from it.

Well, the lack of projects on the blog doesn't mean I don't have a ton just waiting to get started. One of them is to decorate my new craft/play room. I have been looking at tons of cute ideas and wanted to share some of them with you.

I am not sure what the end product will look like, but here are some ideas that I am sure will make their way into the room.

Tired of Fees?

I have just the thing. So, Paypal is great. I use it a lot, but I have to say all the fees hurt a bit. Well, thanks to a friends I was told about a new competitor called Revolution Money Exchange. And guess what NO FEES. It doesn't cost anything to send, receive or transfer money. What an idea!

And they are doing other revolutionary things. If you sign--up (that's it) you get $25 automatically in your account to spend however you like. I did it and yes it the money is there. And if you sign up by clicking on this graphic link



I get a $10 for your referral. And then you can do the same.

I have to say I am so happy someone out there is giving Paypal a run for its money and benefiting me in the process. Check it out and get $25 bucks to spend! (Oh, the free $25 expires April 15th)

A few helpful tips

This weekend I made Sprinkle's cupcakes. While finding the recipe online I came across some helpful baking tips from the Sprinkles owner herself.

I typically bake with speed and efficiency in mind. I want the least amount of dishes to clean and the quickest method possible. But it finally hit me that good bakers enjoy the process and it takes patience and exactness to come up with a really good product. So, I have changed my thinking about baking and here is what I have learned to change.

1) Use ingredients at room temperature. (This helps when mixing, the ingredients don't have to mix as much when they are at room temperature.)
2) Sift flour and other dry ingredients. (Sifting flour removes lumps and aerates it so that when liquid is added the dry ingredients will be fully moistened.)
3) Don't over mix!
4) Use the best ingredients you can find.

I have to admit, I felt like a real baker and the end product was so much better. Lesson learned this weekend!

1st Grader Photo Shoot

I had so much fun taking pictures of the last kid in the W family. I have taken pictures of each kid and the mom has order wonderfully large canvases of each of the kids to hang in her house. This is the last one and her project is almost complete. I can't wait to see them all hung up on display!

Weekly Dinner Menu #12

Sunday - Chicken Enchiladas and green salad.*****

Tuesday - Chicken Marbella with rice and roasted butternut squash.****

Thursday - Shepherd's Pie

Saturday - homemade pizza (I bought the pizza dough from a local pizza shop) and we added all kinds of toppings.