Paper Dolls

On the Cricut there is an awesome cartridge called Paper Dolls!!! It is so worth the money, you can do so many different things on it. (Thanks Karri for buying it!!!) Last weekend my mom spent a few hours playing with it and made this cute pair:

She has since made a Prince, Princess, & Ballerina for the granddaughters, and a Pirate and Cowboy for the boys! They are so cute!!

Finally this past week I got out my scrapbook stuff to work on the pictures that I have had sitting for over 6 months, probably longer. I found pictures from Halloween of 2007 when my kids were Minnie Mouse and Black Spiderman. So of course I went to the Paper Dolls and made these beauties!!

I still need to scrapbook my girls Disneyland trip from almost 2 years ago, so I decided to make a Minnie & Mickey for myself and a set for Karri! They turned out so cute! It just makes me giddy :)

So if you have a Cricut and don't have the Paper Dolls cartridge, I recommend going out and getting it!!! Along with the little people that you can make there are so many other accessories too!! It is by far the best one out there!! I just want to make more :)

What Will You Celebrate?

This morning, after I took Xander to my neighbors, (because he had school while I was going to be gone. Thanks again Stacy!!) Me, Mara, Karri, & JD drove to the South Towne Mall for the Disney Parks "What Will You Celebrate?" event!! (If you don't know what it's about go here, if you register, you can get into the park for free on your birthday!)

This is the car we found in the parking lot!

They were all camped out in the middle of the mall!With balloons ready for the taking!! Most of them were attached to Invitations, so they stayed on the floor.
Mara picked out a Pink balloon, of course!

Disney Parks new logo for 2009!
Mara loved that there was a castle!
I love this picture, but had to edit out my backend!
This one is sweet, but it was a little blurry.
But oh how I love Picasa!
A view from above.Mara & Karri
Me & My Mara
I love having more then one camera at events, because you get great pictures! Karri took this one, and I love it!

And this one too!

It was a fun few hours. Thanks Karri for driving and inviting us to go with you! This will be as close as I'm going to get to going to Disneyland for the next while. We probably won't go back for a few years, and I'm okay with it :)

What Will You Celebrate?

Nameless Cake recipe

Nameless Cake

3/4 cup Shortening (if you want it fluffy) or
3/4 cup Oil (if you want it heavy) I use the oil!
3 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp Cocoa
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Lemon
3/4 cup Milk
1 Tbsp Vinegar

Mix together until creamy. Pour into a greased cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Frosting

4-5 Tbsp Butter (softened)
1 Egg Yolk
1 1/2 Tbsp Cocoa
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Hot Water

Cream together. (I added an extra Tbsp of water to help it mix)
Note - Pat prefers the frosting to have less Cocoa, so I make it with 1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon and 1 Tbsp Cocoa. But either way it still tastes great!

Birthday Festivities!!

We started out celebrating Pat's birthday on Wednesday night by going to Cold Stone and getting some ice cream with the kids. Here he is enjoying his Irish Cream w/ Cookie Dough & Caramel

Xander and his Cotton Candy Ice Cream
Mara and her Strawberry Ice Cream (she had to get it because it was pink!)
I got my normal Chocolate w/ brownies & caramel.
I love Cold Stone!!!


On Thursday, Pat's actual birthday, the kids and I got some balloons and headed over to AFJH to surprise Pat. It was an A-day and I knew he would have his prep hour, and that we wouldn't be interrupting much :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Right after we got home I made Pat's favorite cake "Nameless Cake". It's one that his mom makes and most of the Tolman family Loves this cake. Sad to say I only make this cake for his birthday, he loves it so much I should make it more often. (Don't worry, I'll post the recipe)

Xander HAD to lick the beater when I was done making the frosting!!

Oh how he loves frosting!!

Mara sneaked a sucker while I was making the frosting. Once she got to the gum in the middle she was done and threw it away!! So silly!!

We then took the cake to RC Willey, since Pat had to work that night too. He was kind enough to share with his co-workers, but I took about 1/2 of the cake home for safe keeping.

This is the AWESOME shirt that I got him!!!

(It's from Battlestar Galactica)

Friday Pat took work off so he was home by 4:00, after school was over. The kids & I had gone to the Library earlier and they wanted Pat to read them one of the books they picked out, A Creepy Countdown. For some reason Xander loves to get books about Halloween. Probably because his birthday is in October.

We were able to go out to dinner at Yamato without the kids.

Thanks again Mom!! This is Pat's favorite restaurant. They have great food and great service. I love their Meso Soup(sp?), and the salad dressing is my favorite. This is definitely a place that we don't go to very often, but we've decided that we need to go more. Next time we'll call you Susan, so you can Kenny can come too. (They love this place too!)

After dinner we went to the new Cinemark Theater at University Mall and saw PUSH!! It was a great movie and very entertaining!! I liked it alot!!

It was nice to celebrate his birthday over the course of a few days. We will be having my family February birthday stuff in a few weeks, so he'll get more then too!! Happy Birthday honey, I hope you had a great day!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!

Today my wonderful Husband turns 28!!! I can't believe that we are this old! I decided to get right in line with things that I have seen other bloggers do and make a list of the things I love about him! So here we go!!

1. I love his passion for our family.


2. I love his sense of humor. He can always make me laugh!


3. He works hard at all he does.


4. He loves to watch movies! (as do I)


5. He loves toys of all sorts and has an awesome blog about them all!!


6. He is a kid at heart. And that is why he is so good with kids.


7. He's going to be a great teacher.


8. He is always so concerned about me and what's going on in my head!


9. He loves his family and is always willing to help them out.


10. He is a Sci-Fi geek like me! That's probably why we bonded so easily!


11. He always knows how to talk to our kids and explain things in terms that they understand.


12. He is a very organized person, and I'm still learning from his example.


13. He loves to sing in the car and make up words to the songs. It gets us all laughing.


14. He is the ultimate collector and has taught Xander to appreciate things in their package!


15. He has a love of reading, especially if it's a Star Wars book :)
    
16. He has a "remember brain" as Xander would say. He's able to remember details that I overlook.


17. He loves his children and they are always excited to see him!!


18. He doesn't like chocolate, so there is always some for me :)


19. He has a love of learning, I know he will pass that on to his students.


20. I love the way he makes me feel.


21. I know that he truly loves me.


22. I love his smile and the funny faces that he makes :)


23. He is always there to talk me out of things that I want to buy that are so not practical!


24. He is a great support to me and always reminds me of what I need to be doing.


25. I love how secure and safe I feel in his arms.


26. I love that we share the same ideas for our future.


27. I love that he is my husband for eternity :)


28. I just flat out love him!!

I love you honey!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Catching Up

It's been about a week & 1/2 since I last blogged. I guess I felt like there was really nothing to blog about. Yes, I have been in a rut and just "going through the motions" and I'm trying to work through it all. It's just hard with Pat being gone so much. I think the kids are getting used to it, sadly. Even though I get to see him at night, I still miss him. I am grateful that we live with my mom, because at least she can help me team up against the kids at the end of the day when I am ready to be done. I am truly thankful for all she does for me and I don't tell her enough. Now we are at the beginning of week 4 and have 7 more to go. I have been making more of an effort to visit Pat at work in the evenings, at least once a week. Although it's always a short trip, it does us all some good. I even went in last Saturday and was able to take him home with me!!! (He wasn't feeling good and he only had 2 or so hours left in his shift, so his manager sent him home) I love my husband for all he does and the sacrifices that he is making these few months.I am also realizing that I'm not taking that many pictures, hence the lack of blogging. But here's what's been going on lately.

Surprisingly, I painted Mara's fingernails for the very first time on the 23rd. I painted her toes too. She was very happy as you can see!

I guess Mara really isn't that ready to stop napping. Ever since we put her in a toddler bed, I haven't actually put her down for a nap (just because she wouldn't stay). But if I set her up in my mom's room with a movie, more often then not she will fall asleep! This is my favorite, because she curled up at the end of the bed to be a little closer to the TV!
Xander has been wanting to take pictures with the camera, so before I let him I had to take a picture of us together. I love my little boy!
Xander has been bringing home books from school and has started reading!!!!! It's so awesome!!! He totally picks out words in everyday things and loves to read his books. He had to read one of his books while eating breakfast. And just for the record Xander has to eat "a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut in half" every morning. And most days he will ask for one at lunch too!! I keep telling him he will turn into a PB&J sandwich, but he doesn't believe me!
Last week I was having a bout of "slow computer" so I decided to use my mom's new laptop. I only needed it for about 5-10 minutes (so I could change my background on the blog), so I stayed in her room to do it. Sure enough Mara found me and curled up in my lap. While I was working on the computer I just played with her hair, and once I was done I realized that she had fallen asleep. Xander found me and he was able to get the camera and take a few pictures for me! It's so nice that he's old enough to do little things for me :)
I do have to clarify: It was 2 in the afternoon and I do get my children dressed every morning. But Mara always seems to change back into her nightgown. She doesn't really like to wear real clothes so she is usually in a nightgown or dress ups! What a girl!!!!!
A close up.
On Friday Karri came over and we had dinner and just hung out. Mara decided that she wanted to get a dress from her room. I told Karri that she could wear whatever she wanted that was hanging in her closet, and this is what she picked out!!!! This dress is WAY too big for her, but I love that she wanted to wear it! This dress was made by my cousin AnnaLisa for my wedding. My younger cousin McKenzie, who I believe was about 6 at the time, was my little "flower girl". My Aunt Laurie found the dress about 6 months ago and gave it to me and it's just been hanging in Mara's closet ever since. Now the cutest thing about this is that when I told Mara about the history of the dress and that it was for my wedding, she got really excited, said something to me about "mom and dad at the temple" and then had the sweetest look on her face and said "Thank you Mom!" and gave me a big hug!! It was like she thought the dress was made just for her! I can't wait until she is old enough to really wear it :)


As many of you know, Xander loves LEGO's!!! He has started to build little things, you can call them "weapons", to wear. He has one that he can put his finger's through and hold on to it. This particular one goes over his wrist! He is such a boy and I love his imagination :)

This is a project that I have been wanting to do for some time. Almost 2 years ago I made a glass block with a heart on it during an Enrichment night. It's been in our room ever since. Then this past December I made a glass block Nativity! I have always wanted something for my house that represents each month of the year and I finally did it!! All thanks to my sister-in-law Liza!!! She is a demonstrator for a company called Uppercase Living and she was doing an order and gave me a discount on it, so naturally I jumped at the chance and got the vinyl designs that I have been looking at for over a year :) They came in less then 3 days and I went and got my blocks and ribbon and put them all together!! I love that it's finally done (well almost, I don't have ribbon for 2 blocks) Now all I need is the house to put them in! At least my mom is going to let me display them in the living room or kitchen! :)

January - February - March

April - May/June - July

August/September - October - November

December

I guess all in all it's been a good week and a half! Now all I really need to do is work on my scrapbook!! And FYI: I can wear a real shoe now (after 4 weeks) and my toe only hurts when it gets bumped or I push off on it. Now I just have to wait another 4 weeks until the x-ray. I hope it's healed right!