The Howe Diaries

Our new Blog address

2011-08-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have had lots of people asking me what my new blog address is because they didn't save it, so I'm gonna put it back up for a little bit :) Thanks guys for being interested in our boring simple life :) You all are wonderful!

http://www.alittlebitosunshine.blogspot.com/

Time for a Change....

2011-03-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

As you all know, Craig really wanted to make this blog private. I have been more hesitant to dive into the private world since meeting so many wonderful people through blogging :) When I asked for everyones emails a while back when we were going to go private, I got way more than 100 (which is all you are allowed to invite) I didn't want to leave people out, Soooo Craig and I came to a compromise. It was to change the URL of our blog so at least it does not have our last name. Although I am sure it would not be hard to find. But, I think it is a great step in the direction of being safer without having to go private. So without further ado....Here is our new blog:

update *please email me if you need the new link*

It has all the old posts that are on this blog, just a different URL. I will no longer be posting on this blog *which I am sad about since it has been 4 years now *

I am sorry for the inconvenience if you already have this site bookmarked and now you have to change it...Thanks for following, you guys are the best!!!

Projects I've been working on....

2011-03-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

Woooh...I am still alive over here! haha. It has been a while since I have posted because i have been sooooo sick. But, with lots of antibiotics and sleep, I am finally on the mend. I thought I would show you some projects I have been working on around the house. Since joining pintrest, I have decided I need to post more of my projects because I always appreciate all those who post on their blogs and share their wonderful ideas with me. So here are a few of mine....it might not be everyones taste, but it's what I am liking for the moment :)

THE PLAYROOM MAKEOVER:

I was desperately trying to find someway to organize the playroom better. I found this bench at the DI for $20, painted it white, then I got a small board to fit the top of the bench from the Home Depot *they even cut it to the right dimensions for me* I got some foam from Joane's (with a 40% off coupon) and put it on top pf the board. Then I wrapped the fabric around the board and foam and staple gunned it to the under side. . I think that's a super easy way to reupholster a bench and now it is so comfy with the foam! I made the pillows and then labeled all the bins (got them from walmart for $5) with my vinyl machine, which makes it so much easier to keep clean now. I got the tall white book shelves from walmart too and now it looks pretty close to a built in window bench :)

The kids bring home so many cute things from school and I was trying to think of a way to display LOTS of their art. I saw the idea of chicken wire once and decided to get some HUGE frames (each 24x30 inches) from the DI for $5 and then spray painted them red. I bought some chicken wire from my local Cal Ranch store and then staple gunned the chicken wire to the back of the frame..can you tell I love me staple gun. hehe. Then I attached the two frames together with some twine. Now they each have a frame to display their art by using clothes pins. I think it is so cute!

The kids love to color at home too. I saw a really cute metal line you can buy from Ikea to diplay art, but it is $30. I don't have money to spend on something like that. So, I got some twine and ran it across the window and attached it to the wall with a nail and pulled it super tight. Now the kids can attach their new pictures that are drying or their favorites with some clothes pins.

They love their new playroom! Totally worth the work :)

OFFICE PROJECTS:

I always have to be super organized. SO, I got some bulliton board squares from Walmart for $6 bucks I think. Then I cut them in half with an exacto knife, and wrapped them like a present with some cute fabric. I used masking tape to keep the fabric in place. I printed up Monday-Sunday tages and Now I have a rectangle for every day of the week to hang things i need, put reminders, tickets, or anything else I want. I am really loving it.

This is also in my office. I was bored with my wall, so I bought a bunch of cheap frames from the DI and sprayed them blue. Then I made this bunting line out of some fabric scraps from my board. I think it's fun and it makes me happy.

KIDS HOMEWORK CENTER:

The end of the hallway by the kids room was just a dead zone, so I decided to make it useful. The kids always dump their bags and homework and I have a hard time finding it all. Soooo, here is a spot for them to hang their back packs, put their home work and keep everything "school" organized. Their is a chalk board for each of them for me to write reminders for them. It also has their piggy jar they are saving for Disneyland and "the fun jar".

I found some cute vintage fabric that I loved and got some embroidery hoops from the DI. I got an old doily and glued it to one, stitched cute buttons to another and cross stitched that yellow bird. I am loving vintage stuff right now.

The bird took forever! I haven't cross stitched since I was like 9 and forgot how long those silly things take. I did it every night while watching Tv with Craig. I love that it is a modern take on cross stitching. If you want a pattern, I got it from Martha Stewart HERE.

I made these cool bins to keep the kids folders and homework in. I got the wire netting from Cal Ranch too. I saw some of these in a pottery barn magazine that I loved, but they are like $50 a piece. So, I made some :) The tutorial is HERE. I made my measurements a little thinner so that it wouldn't stick out so far.

I got 3 cute knobs from Hobby Lobby and these wooded squares. I painted the squares yellow and then screwed them into the wall for the kids to hang their bags on.

I have some more things I have been working on, but they aren't quite done yet :) Hope you like some of these ideas.

He does the hokey pokey...

2011-03-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

Mckay has a little presentation at school yesterday...it was so stinkin' cute i could die!!! Sorry about the words flashing across the video, just try and ignore it :) Love him shaking his little bootie! haha.

One naughty little kitten....

2011-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

So, I have to laugh when people tell me that my kids and I are "so put together" and "How do you do it all". It makes me feel GREAT, but here's my secret....really I don't. I only wish. The reality of it is, if I have no where to go *which is most the time* me and the kids are a mess. The house is not always perfectly clean and sometimes *gasp* i am VERY LAZY. haha.

Example: Here is what pip looks like pretty much all the time...diaper, dirty onsie and making a HUGE mess of my house. She is a cute little mess though. hehe. THANKS for emailing me and always leaving me such fabulous compliments...each one always means a lot.

My CUTE naughty little kitten...

Yes. I hand roll all my yarn because I think it is cuter. Craig thinks I am really OCD. haha. I sit and watch a show with the kiddos and go to town. :)

ps. soooo, I haven't been totally lazy, with photography being slow I have been doing some serious projects around the house. I'll show you all on my next post. Stay tuned....

Just what I needed!

2011-02-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fan of finding projects and inspiration from blogs, but it is so hard keeping all the projects and ideas organized. I write stuff down or save them to my computer, but when I want to do the project I can't find it or the site I got it from. So, let me introduce you to something that seems like it was made just for me....Pinterest is a fantastic tool to organize all of your virtual inspiration boards. I AM IN LOVE! If you are browsing a blog or website and see something you love, all you have to do is click "pin it" and it will save it to your board under the category you want and when you click on your pin later it takes you right back to the site you got it from. Watch THIS short tutorial. If you need an invite just email me at kelleyhowephoto@gmail.com.

This is just a snap shot of some of my random pins...you can follow me to see LOTS more, from food to decorating, beautiful photography, crafts and MORE :)

Some Sunshine on a Cloudy Day...

2011-02-16T20:31:00.001-08:00

I took these pictures the other day when it was nice and 50 degrees outside right before sunset...golden hour. I love how warm and happy these pictures are and it makes me so happy looking at them. Helps me forget there is a HUGE snow storm outside and just remember the warmth of that afternoon.

We just wanted to say....

2011-02-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

Some lovie ideas for your man.....

2011-02-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

So, I know I haven't posted in a while, I have been so busy trying to get all done editing all my clients photo sessions. But, I saw these really cute ideas on one of my favorite blogs, The Daybook and since Valentines Day is coming up I thought I would share....they are pretty cute and I am defiantly going to try a few for my Craig :)

Give your guy a 10 second kiss every day this week when he comes home from work. See the difference it makes!
Pamper your guy with a nice warm bath. Lots of bubbles too. Have the lights turned off and a candle or two lit. Bring in your iPod home or any other musical device and play some soft music. Take him by the hand and lead him into the bathroom. If you can both fit into the tub ... it's even better ;) If not, take turns ... then give him a soothing massage when you're done.
Send him on a present hunt. Begin with note #1 on his pillow. The note should include something you like about him and instructions to find the next clue, and so on. End up at your mailbox and have a present in it. It doesn't have to be anything expensive. Your thoughtfulness will be enough to show him that you love him.
This week for your Friday night date cook a meal together. You might try a new recipe you've never tried. Set the mood by already having the table nicely spread with tablecloth, napkins, dishes and silverware. Ahead of time buy your guy a new book by one of his favorite authors and present it to him after the meal is over. Then tell him to relax with his book on the couch while you clear away the dishes.
Go for a drive with your honey along some scenic route you like. Bring along your favorite CDs and listen as you drive and catch up on the day or week's happenings
Rent an old movie and watch it together with popcorn and your favorite soda on a mattress you've put on the floor. Cuddle under a warm blanket and have a sleepover in your living room when it's over.7
Begin each day with the words "I love you" whispered to your guy while you're still in bed. It will set the tone for your entire day. End each day this week with the words "Thank You" whispered to him before you drift off to sleep.
Another bath idea! Arrange a profusion of candles in the bathroom. Prepare a bubble bath. Play some nice romantic music. Pour two glasses of sparkling cider to toast away the cares of the day. Get into the tub and then call your guy, "Honey, I forgot my towel. Could you please bring it to me?" You'll have no problem keeping his undivided attention after that! :)
Dedicate a song to your guy by calling a radio station that takes dedications. Make sure he's listening when they play it!
Declare your man "king for the day", probably on Saturday when he is home. Begin the day with breakfast in bed (you could even pick up a king crown at Burger King and have him wear it) Pamper him with foods and activities that you know he will enjoy throughout the remainder of the day.
Pack a late night picnic on a night when there's a full moon. Bring a blanket and some yummy treats and have an evening under the stars. *maybe when it gets a little warmer. hehe
Get some glow in the dark stars and spell out "I Love you" on the ceiling...your message will be reveled when the lights go out.

I'm excited to do some of these. Now let's get lovin' on those boys!

my lists freebie....

2011-01-22T17:14:00.001-08:00

I made these for myself since I am a HUGE list maker and I thought I would share them with all you all in case you are too :) I wanted to try and save some trees, so I printed them and put 2 of the lists back to back and laminated them so they are double sided. Mine are To Do List/Weekly Planner and the other Weekly menu/shopping list. That way I can use a dry erase marker and just erase and add as I need to instead of using TONS of paper and always trying to find my gazillion lists! When I need to use my shopping list at the store all I do is take a picture of it with my iphone.

If you want to download my list templates, just click on the picture and it will take you to the DL link. :)

Kylin's birthday parties....

2011-01-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

We had 3 different parties for Kylin this year! One with each of our families and then she had a friend party. She had a blast and every single one! I know I decorate like crazy for birthday parties and go all out, but I love to because I really like making my kids feel SOOOO special on their big day. I figure there really is one once a year that is YOUR very own day....so make it BIG! Here are a few pictures....

THE DECORATIONS:

Kylin wanted lots of pink, so I decided to do a "frosted princess" kind of theme. Lots of pinks, light blues and silver...

I wish you could see it all closer...I was really happy how it turned out :)

Of course we had lots of sweets and goodies. Ky has a HUGE sweet tooth :)

These are marshmallows dipped in white chocolate that I colored blue.

These cake pops were YUMMY, easy, and so dang cute. HERE is the recipe. LOVE EM!

These drinks are Jones blue soda (my favorite) and pink lemonade. I ripped off the other labels and made some custom ones with a "K"

I made yummy cupcakes with almond frosting...there always has to be cupcakes because I am in love with them. hehe. I decorated them with candy sticks that I found with the wedding aisle at walmart.

More cake pops since they were such a big hit I had 2 stands of them. I made all the cake stands myself out of candle sticks, plates and pray paint :) on this one I glued a cute trim.

This is my favorite cake stand I made...found the plate and base at DI and sprayed them white...I think it's really pretty and unique.

I have an old window frame that I use for lots of my decorating. This time I just tied lots of ribbon and then bought white cloths pins to attach the pictures....there always has to be pictures at a party :)

* I gotta say thanks to Craig for helping me get it all setup. He made sure I didn't fall when I stacked two wobbly chairs and a box on top of each other to stand on so I could hang the tissue balls from the ceiling. :) Your the best babe....I know i'm crazy!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL:

Sheila and Mike made Kylin a cute rainbow birthday cake....

I don't know what gave here this silly idea, but she just shoved her face into her cake and ate it like a little piggy. And since it was her birthday she knows *in her own words* "I can do whatever I want". It was pretty funny!

For her "Heavy Hangover" Birthday wishes, she kept wishing everyone Disneyland Cruises because she wants to go on one so bad :) Actually....so do I! She got lots of wonderful presents from everyone. It was so great to have family come and celebrate with our special girl.

Thank you SO MUCH everyone for coming...it really means a lot to me! I hope you had a great time.

FRIENDS PARTY:

I didn't want to decorate another party cause I was pooped, so we decided to do her party at the "Cache Valley Fun Park". Soooo glad I did because they took care of everything and it was lots of fun for her. She invited 4 friends plus Mckay. There was pizza, soda, cake and lots of decorations. Then everyone got to play in the HUGE 3 story bouncy playland. I didn't take lots of pictures because Pip was running around every where and I was watching 7 kids :) But here are a few....

LOTS OF FUN...hope you had a great Birthday Kylin....WE LOVE YOU!

Our Kylin is Four!

2011-01-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

I seriously cannot believe that it has been 4 years since Kylin way born! She came into the world much earlier than we planned and had a pretty rocky start in the NICU for a while with being a preemie. Her lungs were not developed and had a huge infection in them and on top of that she didn't want to eat very well. She had tubes and monitors and was in the incubator for a long time and we couldn't hold her. I remember it like it was yesterday. But, I am so glad that she got through it and is apart of our family because I cannot imagine my life without her sweet spirit. She is such kind and thoughtful little girl and defiantly brings a lot of love into our home. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY...MOMMY LOVES YOU SOOOO MUCH!

And here she is today...can't believe my baby is getting so big! Funny cause her nickname still is "baby"

Some Things About Kylin at Four:

1. She loves to Dance

2. She loves to play dress up

3. She is very smart at her number and letters

4. She never lets us forget to say prayers

5. She always has to give hugs and kisses before we go anywhere

6. She always shares treats with Piper without even being asked

7. She is a snuggler and loves to watch movies in our bed

8. Her favorite color is pink and purple

ps. Huge parties are happening this week:) LOTS of fun decoration ideas...you guys know how I love parties....so stay tuned!

My Love/Wish List...

2011-01-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share a few things that I am LOVING right now! There are so many creative amazing people out there....so wonderful! ps. those wanting to know what to get me for my birthday coming up...here is your answer :) hehe.

1. THE RUSTED CHAIN capture life necklace

2. Woman's Highway BOOTS by Santana

3. LEAF EARRINGS by forever 21

4. GREY KNIT SWEATER by Ruche

5. POP BAKERY book

6. VINTAGE RUFFLES PILLOW by the Home Centric

7. J Totes CAMERA BAG

8. KNIT TUBULAR SCARF by Ruche

9. EXPRESSIVE PHOTOGRAPHY by the Shutter Sisters

10. WOOL BLEND DRESS by Forever 21

11. FLOWER FILIGREE RING by Little Miss

12. NUDE PUMPS by Forever 21

13. OVATION HAIR

My One Word....

2011-01-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

Ali Edwards has this wonderful thing she does every year, she thinks of one word she wants to focus and work on for the year. I thought it was so great to be able to really concentrate on this one word and do it right. Here is what she said:

One Little Word

A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow. From my own personal experience, it can be a catalyst for enriching your life.

Ali even has a class you can do throughout the year to help you rememeber and work on your "One Word" If you want to learn more about it, HERE is the link.

Soooo,I thought for an entire week about what I wanted my One Word to be. I really wanted something that encompassed what I want this year to become and the person I want to be. So many words came to my mind, but I couldn't settle on a word because it just didn't feel right. Then, this morning I was watching "Super Why" with Kylin and t

he "super story answer" was HOME. And it hit me so hard, that is my word.

It envelopes everything I want this year to be for me and my family. I want to make my house more of a home. I want to keep it cleaner, talk softer, have the spirit here more often by doing the kind of things that will invite it into our home. Family home evening, more prayer, spend more quality time with the kids, talk kinder and more patiently. I want to make relationships stronger and in turn it will make our home a more wonderful place to be. It will be a safe haven from the world where Craig and I and each of our kids love to be. Yes, I think home is the perfect "one word" for me this year.

ps. I am doing my 365 a picture a day challenge this year...

I really and gonna do it this time :) I already started, so check it out...the link is on the side now. I am also writing down one thing I am thankful for everyday when I post the picture.

Eight Years....

2011-01-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

Today is Craig and I's anniversary! I can't believe it has been 8 years! I am not going to lie and say it has always been easy and wonderful, because we defiantly have had our hard times. BUT, Looking back, I really and honestly don't think I would change a thing about it...ever the awful hard stuff. I know that things happen for a reason and that we are suppose to learn and grow from every trial and experience in our lives....it makes us the people we are today.

I always hate it when people say, "You knew who you were when you married me, so don't try and change me." we SHOULD try and change each other. We should help one another be better people. I want Craig to change me, and he already has so much. He has helped me be a better person and changed me in wonderful ways that I couldn't have done on my own.

I am stronger, happier and more in love with him than ever before, and I think it is because of everything we have been through together. I love him SO much, he is an amazing person and I am SO blessed that I get to spend eternity with him and the next 60 years raising our children and growing old together. I know I can handle whatever life throws me as long as I have him. I know I know, I am getting super cheesy here and I'm sorry....but I get to once a year right? I'm not the best at putting into words how I feel and there is so much I could say, so here it is in simple terms..... LOVE YOU SO MUCH BABE and HAPPY 8th ANNIVERSARY!!!

A Very Merry Christmas....

2010-12-31T11:40:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year, I got all giddy and didn't sleep well the night before waiting for the kids to open their presents....I think I was just excited as they were...well maybe :) They spent the night in our room sleeping on our floor and woke us up before the sun was up to open presents. I enjoyed watching every second of them tearing into those presents. Of course we made them go one at a time to make it last as long as possible. I am so grateful for all our many blessings. I am thankful we have the money to buy our kids presents, a roof over our heads and plenty of food to eat, because I know there are many people that don't have that and I am so THANKFUL! I talked a lot with the kids this year about Jesus and what we could do to celebrate his birthday. On Christmas morning we sat in bed and talked about what we could do for Jesus on his birthday. Mckay said being nice to others and helping mommy would make Jesus happy for his birthday. It made me SO happy to know that they listened and really knew what Christmas was about. I am so thankful for Jesus and his amazing life and sacrifice for me and each of us. I love him so much!

Here are a few pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas....

Of course we always get new jammies. Mckay got Mario, Kylin Hello Kitty, and Pip Cupcakes. And Craig bought me the most COMFY jammies ever!

On Christmas Eve we had a big party at my family's house (except Craig who had to work) and had a huge smorge (feast) and opened presents. The highlight was my mom made cute rag quilts of kitties and bears for all the grandkids....I wish I had brought my camera and taken pictures! I know they were a lot of work and soooo cute! Then we got home and left Santa his scrumptious home-made donut (made by my mom) and eggnog and some lettuce for Rudolph. The kids sprinkled oats for the reindeer and magic glitter outside so Santa could find us easier.

Also, Mckay has this great idea to set up my camera to catch Santa. So, we caught Santa in our living room and they were soooo excited (see my previous post for a picture) He said the camera was motion activated :) What a little smartie!

Christmas morning Pip went under the sheet (it is a Stanford tradition to always put a sheet up in front of the doorway, and then move the sheet and all go in together) and she beelined it for the leftover of Santa's donut...she didn't care about all those presents, just wanted that donut! And yes, she always looks like a CRAZY because she won't keep her hair pulled back! haha.

On Mckay's Christmas list was a star from Mario Galaxy....so guess who stayed up Christmas Eve making him one till 2 a.m. ??? But, it was TOTALLY worth it because it was his favorite present! He has been carrying it around everywhere :)

My favorite part....the hugs. This year they each used their own money and picked out presents for one another. SO cute!

I love this picture of Boo with his new new pillow pet.

Ky was SOOO positive that Santa was going to bring this tower to her, but we didn't find out she had her heart set on it util 1 week before Christmas! I really didn't want to tell her Santa couldn't bring it. So, Thank you amazon....it came on Christmas Eve! wheew! Her and Pip were sooooo excited!

Kylin is pretty obsessed with Rapunzel right now. She got the dress, hair and shoes and has been wearing them non stop :) Let me tell you though, that hair is a HUGE tangled mess now...and since it isn't real hair you can't comb through it! haha.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a great New Years Eve tonight!!!!

ps. a few of you were wanting to know where I got these cute frames....HERE they are and they are on sale. WAHOO! I love them. Lauren Grier is one of my favorite designers...I got the cute presents, string of lights, and Christmas wording on our Pj picture from her too. I am going to try to start scrapbooking again hopefully now the photography will slow down a bit :)

He was Here....

2010-12-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

The Most Wonderful Time...

2010-12-21T18:13:00.000-08:00

We have been busy here getting in the Christmas spirit....

We did not want to wait in the huge cold line at Christmas Village so I took the kids to Santa at the mall today. MUCH better because there was no line, it was free and Santa was so sweet and wonderful to my kids and spent a lot of time with each of them.

Mckay was the most excited, he ran right up there and hopped on his lap...all smiles!

Kylin cracked me up because she told Santa EVERYTHING she wanted and he sat there patiently and listened to her tell him all about all the Rapunzel toys, hair, dolls and dresses she wanted.
And this is totally what I expected of my Pip. Ornery little thing! I was laughing so hard as Santa tried to hold onto her as she turned into a dead fish!

-----------------------------------------------

Usually we go to temple square to see the lights, but since Craig gets off so late every night it makes it really hard. So we went to Ogden's Christmas Village instead. It was a lot of fun and the lights were BEAUTIFUL! It was great because even Sheila and Mike got to come.

Mckay LOVES everything about birds, so when I saw this display we had to take a picture :)

Piper was so good wrapped up in Grandmas's coat. She was happy as could be.

The kids has so much fun with Mike. They could have run around him all night. I think it is funny that my kids are in heavy duty snow pants and gear and Mike is in shorts. I hope you are all feeling Christmasy because we sure are!

Check it out....

2010-12-18T08:28:00.001-08:00

I just revamped my photography website to match my branding better. I am really happy with it! Check it out and let me know what you think....who know's, maybe you are on there :)

Only 2 more shoots and 1 wedding left this upcoming week and then I am DONE till after Christmas!!!! WAHOO!

Dear Santa

2010-12-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

I found this site to send some adorable letters to santa...and he even answers back. The best part is it's FREE! My kids were jumping up and down they were so excited. Here are their cute santa letters:

Create your own digital greeting

Free greeting generated with Smilebox

What Do You Do....

2010-12-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

When you love Christmas time so much that you have to sleep by the tree? Sneak out of bed at night and build a killer fort by it of course! I came out of my office and found this sweet setup that he built all by himself. I don't know how he got the top pillow on with him inside. hehe

I had to take of the top pillow to get this shot. I always complain about me buying a couch with detachable cushions, but now maybe I don't mind so much :) The white rectangles on the front he stole from Kylin's bed while she was sleeping I guess. Little stinker!

Christmas time is so fun with my kids being this age. I just wish I had more time to be excited and spend it with them, I have been so busy with shoots lately that I can't wait till next week when things slow down and I can get in the Christmas spirit like my sweet kiddos. It is so magical to watch the happiness and excitement they have. I made a cute 12 days of Christmas countdown that I will post tomorrow... probably. It is little bags numbered 12-1 and each bag is filled with little toys and goodies :)

ps. We have all been sickos here...Craig found out he had strep today. Poor pip has had a booger fountain out her nose for a week now and she looks like Rudolph for it being wiped so much and now is couching non-stop. I hope we are all feeling better by Christmas!

I think I'm in Love...

2010-12-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

I know most of you don't live and breath photography like me, but I have wanted the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens for a while now, so come tax season I am gonna get it as an early birthday present...hopefully. I don't usually or ok NEVER get $1,500 birthday presents, but hey it's for my business!!! :) So, I rented it because I wanted to test it out first to see if it is worth all the buckoo bucks. Plus I have 2 weddings coming up that I want to use it on.

It came in the mail today and of course I had to play with it a bit so, I grabbed my two cute guinea pigs. They wanted to play outside anyways so it was perfect. And let me tell you, this lens is AMAZING...worth every penny or I should say hundred dollar bill! When people ask me why I charge $200 a session....this lens will be my answer :)

The kids had lots of fun outside even though the snow wasn't fresh. I was out there for about 5 minutes shooting and Kylin said, "Mommy when are you just gonna leave us alone at let us play!" hehe. All I wanted was one picture of them together...Gheez

for those of you who like techi info....most of these were shot at f/2.8 ISO 400 and at 1/500. Let me tell ya though, this lens is heavy...it's like the size of my arm! hehe.

Look at the beautiful depth of field....ahhhhh I think I am in love :)

ps. All of you wondering about my nice long hair in the previous post....yepo they are extensions and I love them too!

Our Tradition...

2010-12-08T14:31:00.001-08:00

Every year we make these cookie houses at my parents house and the kiddos LOVE it! I loved it when I was a kid too and it brings back so many memories. I am trying to do better and making more posts on this blog because I am making our family blog into a book for Christmas and I realized I really want to do more posts of everyday stuff :) So here are our cookie houses.

I helped Ky with the building this year, which isn't the best idea because I am not a great builder...I am a decorator :)

Mckay did his mostly on his own this year, he was very determined and particular about how he wanted it to look.

His fished house....so cute! I am not sure about this new tight lipped smile he has been doing lately though!

We only had time to make the kids each one this year, but they were a lot of fun!

How cute are these little things...

2010-12-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

I decided to set up a fun backdrop in my garage and take some pictures of the kiddos in their Christmas outfits...great presents for Grandparents :) They look so stinkin' cute!!! I am not biased or anything. hehe. I love this time of year because we have SO MANY traditions coming up! Putting up the tree, Temple square, Cookie houses, Kris Kringle day, sledding.... so be looking for lots of posts. I love Christmas time because it means lots of family time :)

So Thankful....

2010-11-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been thinking about how important the little things are in life....sometimes I get caught up in the hum drum of life and the routine and forgot about all the little things, which really are the BIG things.

Recently I had a little medical scare. I found a lump in my breast the doctors were really concerned about because it was not just a cyst, which is pretty alarming considering how young I am. SO, I had some tests done and a painful biopsy. The results came back telling me I need to get the mass removed, but all is well for right now and no cancer. But, it really got me thinking about what is really important in my life and what if I was sick.....

I usually am a grateful person, but I have been complaining A LOT lately about our small house and having to pay so much for Craig's school and this and that. All the petty material things. I get so caught up in worrying about things that really dont matter and I am forgetting to enjoy all these other things. Like, my house is a complete disaster everyday no matter how much I clean in, because it is small, but at least my kids are playing and are full of energy and like to be home. They are very demanding little things and want my attention every second of every day, and sometimes I think when is it "my" time, but I need to be grateful that they need me because it is not going to be that way forever... and I really am gonna miss it. I need to tell my husband more how grateful I am for him and taking care of our family, he is such a wonderful person....and my best friend. I am so so thankful for this knowledge and relationship I have with my Heavenly Father and for the plan of happiness...the plan that I get to be with all these people I love forever.

This whole "lump thing" got me thinking about what would people say about me if it was my time to go. I want to be a better person, be happier, be kinder....be the kind of mommy that I want my kids to remember and think is amazing. Not the nagging, crabby and demanding person I have been lately. I want them to know how special they are and I need to treat them that way always.

Craig's grandpa died yesterday and I didn't know him as well as I would have liked to, but I can tell what an amazing man he was because of how he raised his children. He left behind a legacy of love and faith and 5 wonderful children who have all raised amazing children of their own. That is the kind of life I want to live....and legacy I want to leave behind someday.

I am sorry to make this a novel...if you are still reading this :) I just am so thankful right now for my many blessings that I feel so unworthy of sometimes. I hope this Holiday we can all be so thankful for what we have been given and remember the things that are really important.

A day that makes it all worth it...

2010-11-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

I have been working A LOT lately, between photography and blog design I feel like there is no extra time. So, yesterday I decided to make it "NO WORK DAY" and just spend time with my kids doing whatever silly things they wanted to do. Here are just a few so I can remember:

We had a rousing game of me shooting darts at them, and them running away. It lasted about 45-minutes....I actually really enjoyed this game. hehe.

We made some spritz cookies, which if you have never made they are TONS of fun. I made them all the time growing up and my kids had a blast with them.

We went to Carl'r Jr for lunch and played at the playground.

We did tummy farts till our "designated" tummy got mad

We read about 20 different stories

Jumped on the bed

Snuggled and watched Ice Age, the Dino one.

And we ended the day by going to their favorite restaurant...Olive Garden :)

I wish I had more days like those just to relax and goof off with my kids with no place to go and nothing to do. But, today is back to proofing my photography sessions and designing blogs. I am already behind now...but that sweet day was worth it and makes all the other days of hard parenting worth it for a day of fun kid bliss :)

Here are some picture of the kiddos making the cookies...

Cracking the eggs is Kylin's favorite part

Mckay is so precise about everything he does...cracks me up. Hope he doesn't turn into a perfectionist like his mama.

Look how hard she is trying to press that with one hand...cracks me up! She finally gave in and did it with 2 hands.

Then they sprinkled sugar on top of them...A LOT of sugar.

And of course you can't make cookies without watching them bake. :) I LOVE these little people!

Our Last Days of Fall...

2010-11-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Looking at these pictures kinda make me sad because I love fall, and I love being able to play outside with my kids. I have a hard time being cold and cooped up all winter and it is snowing outside as I am typing this :( So here are some picture of my kids - pip cause she was an ornery butt. They had sooo much fun playing in the leaves....goodbye fall.

Holiday Mini Sessions:

2010-11-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll! I am a little late getting started on my mini sessions this year, but I have been so swamped! Better late than never for all you people out there wanting some family pictures right??? :)

I hope you are all having a....

2010-10-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

This year has been a crazy year of activities and we have been busy busy busy! I wasn't able to put much effort into the kids costumes this year because I have been doing so many photo shoots everyday, but they were really happy with them anyways.

We did 2 class parties, our annual Halloween party, pumpkin carving, trick-r-treating at the mall, and then we went trick-r-treating in the cold rain last night for a little bit.

I love Craig's 80's ski outfit! hehe. I actually was able to talk him into dressing up this year. The kids begged and begged me to dress up, so I found this outfit at the DI for $7. I used to have scary teeth, but the kids broke them :( Took these pictures with the self timer.

I took the kids out a couple days ago to take pictures in their costumes....

Our little bug-a-boo is now walking. She goes from taking no steps to walking across the entire room! I borrowed this cute custom from my sis.

Our beautiful princess Tiana...

And of course Mckay was Sponge Bob. He wouldn't let me paint his face or put on white leggings....

"Our" Pumpkin Patch...

2010-10-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the same pumpkin patch...that is why I call it "our" pumpkin patch. It really is Lyle Dabbs patch in Ogden...just down the road from the Weber Country fair grounds. I have pictures there of my kids starting from when Mckay was 2-months old...even before I had this blog. This year was no exception and the kids had a GREAT time picking out their pumpkins and weighing them!

It was fun to have Piper here this year, last year was the first year we didn't go because she was a little sick. She loved climbing all over the pumpkins.

So crazy how old and grown up he looks now.

Kylin was very picky about her pumkin.....
even though she couldn't lift it on her own. hehe!

They loved weighting them....our heaviest one was Kylins at 21 pounds.

There was tons of little kittens running around this year too for them to play with, which they LOVED. They were all really tame so the kids carried them around the patch.

Mckay especially loved them.

And of course it wouldn't be a trip to the pumpkin patch with out the "Pumpkin Head Man" I love family traditions! We are going to carve them on Monday and I can't wait cause I love doing it.

This is Craig and I...not Lyle :) Halloween, pumpkin patches and Carving pumpkins are always special to me because that is how Craig proposed...my ring was inside a pumpkin I was carving (he went in through the bottom). Now here we are almost 8-years and 3 kids later!

Ohhhh Fall....Crafts and things I love:

2010-10-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

My favorite Season ever is finally here...The smell, sweaters, slipper boots, crunchy leaves in beautiful colors, the smell, baking...I could go on and on! I just wish fall wasn't followed by winter! Why can't it be fall and then spring :) So, since it is my favorite season and Halloween is one of my favorite Holidays, I have been busy decorating, baking, and doing crafts. Here are the decorations I put up thanks to some nagging and nudging from Mckay *I think he loves Halloween as much as me! The best part is that of course I did it on a tight budget and I want to share, in case there are other poor people out there that need ideas :)

This is my shelf above my TV....I'm pretty happy how it turned out....here are the details:
I live next to a field, so I cut down those branches and spray painted them black, I got the round mirror from the DI for $3 and the two pumpkins on the side from Hobby Lobby for about $8 dollars for both.

The straw in the middle jar I also picked from my field :) The crows are from Michaels they are $3 a piece. They used to have non-glitter ones but they were all sold out :( The old window I got from my mom a while back and the glass broke when I moved last....I LOVE it old rusticness! To keep it simple and not too busy, I just wrapped a Styrofoam wreath in orange fabric with a hot glue gun and attached it with some ribbon. I used one of my old frames and cut up a black & white polka dot gift bag to put in the frame and glued a flower to it that I had laying around.

The candle sticks are from the DI for $1 a piece...look at the picture below. The books are also from the DI for $1 a piece. I used a old frame from, you guessed it, the DI. I put orange fabric in it and glued on a spider silhouette.

and TADA, that is my Halloween shelf for under $20. Can you tell how many times I have used that sheet to spray paint. haha!

I made these pumpkins from fabric I had around. HERE is a wonderful tutorial....I am sure you have all seen them before. I had to think of something for my coffee table that is wouldn't matter if Piper got to and pulled down :)

I got this idea from HERE, she had the templates you can print and everything! I got the frames for $1 each and spray painted them and added ribbon. Sooooo cute!

Made these pillows for my couch from a simple panel and JoAnns. The kids picked them out....we also make new pillow cases every year for each holiday. So they have some spooky pillow cases too.
I sat and tied this wreath for my front door one night with some left over fabrics from my bin. HERE are the directions. I used a wreath from the dollar store though.

I also made this small table runner....I thought it would be good for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

This is our huge spider outside our front door...he's the kiddos favorite part :) It has been so fun decorating with the kids...I think this week we are gonna do a count down chain and make some bats and get ready for our big annual Halloween Party! I Can't wait!

THINGS I LOVE:

I thought I would also share some things I love and am totally digging right now about Fall:

Hot cocoa with Ghost Marshmallows *you can get the marshmallows from walmart

Watching Football while snuggling

All the beautiful colors in Sardine:

The Smell: Scentsy "Clove and Cinnamon"....LOVE!
Sweater Capes from Old Navy:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes...HERE is the recipe *can't remember where I got this recipe, but I LOVE it!
I hope you are all having a wonderful Fall so far!

It was a circus around here....

2010-10-06T10:29:00.001-07:00

So our little Piper is now one year old! I still can't believe it! She had two vintage circus parties and man were they a lot of work...but totally worth it because they were lots of fun! And I know she had a great time. If you know me, even if you don't, you know that I love planning parties. Sit and grab some popcorn because here comes LOTS of pictures....

THE DECORATIONS:

I actaully did this party for cheap, since it was a vintage circus I got a lot of the jars and things from the DI....gosh I love that store. I got all the table cloths from there too.

These were the BEST caramel apples I have EVER had...they were made from scratch by my mom. HERE is the recipe if you want it. Soooooo good!

There was a candy table that everyone loved...especially the kiddos

I found a new hobby of mine, I LOVE making cupcakes! I think Pip liked eating her's even more than I liked making them though. hehe. You will see...

This was the Photo Booth setup I made, and totally my favorite part of the party!!! I also had a jar full of jelly beans and everyone had to guess how many were in there. Whoever was closest got the jar. Can I just say that Stacie was EXACTLY right on her guess crazy. 743 for Howe's and 963 for Stanford's Jar. And YES I counted EVERY jelly bean!

If you wanna see more pictures CLICK HERE. Also, if you are my family and want your pictures, go to the gallery, right click on your picture you want and it will go to original size, then just right click and save to your computer :) ENJOY! They are pretty dang funny!

I made a long fabric banner and clothes pinned Pip's pictures to it.

I know I am silly, but everyone had their own straw...it was so cute I couldn't resist.

There were yummy sloppy joes and chips and salads with lemonade and peanuts. The kids loved the peanut centerpieces, HUGE mess but so fun.

I made Pip a banner out of newspaper and ribbon...cheap and cute!

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THE PARTIES:

Party 1: The Stanford Side

Pip has SUCH a good time at her Parties, she LOVES the attention and all the people around, she especially loves being around so many kids.

Nope, she is still not walking yet.

I made her that cute party hat and she actually kept it on, I was SO surprised!

The kids loved all the sweets and popcorn, they sat and watched cartoon for a bit. I did have some games, but didn't get any pictures of it. They did pin the nose on the clown and there was a ring toss and duck pond fishing.

Gosh I love this little girl so stinkin' much!

She didn't much care about presents all she wanted to do was eat popcorn. She got some CUTE stuff though....My Parents got her a cute walker, Kim made her the sweetest outfit and she got a book and some other toys.

LOVES cupcakes, she couldn't eat it fast enough. She didn't blow out candles the first night because it wasn't her real birthday yet.

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Party 2: The Howe Side

Again, she wasn't too excited to open presents she was tired because we have 1 o'clock church, she got that cute glowing seahorse (remeber "glow worms") and LOTs of adorable outfits. She was throwing a fit until she saw this present...

She loves driving! I knew that she would love this since it has a wheel on it. She likes to drive home from Church every sunday :) hehe. She played with this for about 20 minutes till I made her eat her cupcake.

Of course she coudn't blow it out but....

She LOVED LOVED eating it...she had that whole cupcake done in 2 minutes and was as happy as could be!

I love you SO much Piper, you don't even know. I am so blessed and thankful you are part of our family. Happy Birthday little my little 1-year old!

THANKS so much everyone that came and celebrated with us!

Family Pictures...

2010-09-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

My AMAZING photographer friend Camille and I did a photo swap, I did her Maternity pictures and now she did our family pictures. Although, I think I got the better end of the deal because I didn't have to deal with making 3 kiddos smile. hehe. Her and Ben drove all the way up to Preston for these pictures with their 2-month old baby. And, they did everything to get them smile....farting noises which totally works for my kids cause they are weirdos, butt slapping, crazy animal noises, you name it. hehe. It is soooo weird being the one in the pictures though. I LOVE how they turned out! You are amazing Camille, I really do love them. THANKS CHICKA! Here are a few of my favorites:

This first one is the one I just ordered blown up to a 16x20...can't wait to get it.

Photo Booth...

2010-09-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

I made a photo booth for Piper's parties....one party down, one more to go tomorrow. It is a blast and there are lots more pictures to come :)

Almost...

2010-09-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby probably my last baby is turning one this week. I am so sad that she is growing up so fast. We are having a circus party for her and I hope she has a blast! Here are a few things about her at one:

She says mama & dadda
she is such a mama's girl
She is standing but has no desire to walk yet
she is drinking regular milk with no problems
she is into everything, pulling stuff off shelves and creating a disaster wherever she goes
she can get out of ANY buckle...so annoying when you are trying to grocery shop and she can get out and stand up.
She is our little sunshine and we love her so much. She has such a wonderful special little personality and we are so blessed she is part of our family.

Labor Day....

2010-09-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I am playing catch up a little, but I wanted to remember our fun Labor day, kinda the last fling before it starts to get cold and summer is gone :( We went to Temple Square on Sunday with my family and listened to the Tabernacle Choir for "Music and the Spoken Word". The kids could not go into the actual thing because they are too young, but we got to watch it in a theater inside the conference center. Good thing too cause Pip was being so rowdy. Afterwards we walked around Temple Square and it was SUCH a beautiful day!

The cousins...Charity and Coen weren't there yet.

My pretty little Ky...she loved all the flowers and asked me to take this picture with them.
Me and my sexy man.

They all has so much fun together.

I love this picture...the priesthood is such a amazing thing. I am so glad we are blessed to have it in our home.

Piper was in the Trailer with Shanon taking a nap...I love my little family so much!
Love this picture of these two...She loves her daddy so much.

BEAR LAKE:

We also all went to Bear Lake together too. The kids had so much fun playing...Ky of course in the water and Mckay in the sand. These are actually pictures of an earlier Bear Lake trip from a few weeks ago that I am finally getting around to posting. Looks the same as Labor Day :)

All Piper wanted to do was eat the dang sand! If she was my first kid I probably would have cared and stopped her....but, since she is the third I don't care and know it won't kill her :) She will just getting a little exfoliation in a few days in her diaper. hehe

I helped Mckay collect shells pretty much the whole time and put them in a baby jar to take home.

He was so excited.

This is Pip's first try of a Raspberry shake....
She loved it so much that she grabbed the spoon from her daddy to try and suck all of it off the there! It was a great couple days and so wonderful to be able to spend time with family.

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Kylin's First Day...

2010-09-08T19:44:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, I have two kiddos in school! I can't believe it...and it makes me sad. I miss them when they are gone and the house is so quiet. Ky had her first day of Preschool on Tue. and she LOVED it! She was so excited to finally wear her pretty tutu and she let me curl her hair. She loved her teacher....almost as much as her Hello Kitty backpack. hehe. I left my camera at my parents house, so I had to take these with my iphone...oh well she looks adorable anyways. Love you baby, you are such a big girl now!

ps. I am so bad at answering questions...that adorable candy shoppe is on the corner of Center and Main street :) It's not very big, but your kiddos will LOVE it.

4 days of parties!!!

2010-09-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

Mckay's birthday was quite the event around here because we celebrated it for 4-days! Craig was gone for his actual birthday, but I still did some fun stuff with Mckay. He had breakfast in bed and then headed off to school.

At school he had a special spotlight on him and everyone told him what they liked about him and wrote it on a crown (which he loved and wore all day) and I brought brownies for his whole class. He is officially the oldest in his class which is GREAT. Then I took him to the park to let him ride his birthday present!!! Only $10 people at the DI...best find EVER! It just needed a new battery. The exact same tractor is $280 at walmart. Score :)

So they had Wendy's and played at the park for a couple hours. That Tractor has enough power to pull Kylin and still go pretty fast!

Then, for dinner he chose Olive Garden and so I took him and Ky while Sheila watched the pip. I Can't believe my little boy turned 6...I love you so much Mckay!!!
THE FRIENDS PARTY:

On Saturday we did a Friends Mario Party. He LOVES Mario right now. Kinda tuff to find decorations for it, but I tried to be creative. Any one who knows me, knows that I love to throw parties :) He had a BLAST, so it made all the work so worth it.

Each of the chairs had pictures of the different Mario characters and the kids had so much fun picking who they wanted on their chair. We blew up about 20 balloons to have around the room for the kids to play with too.

I punched out over a hundred stars and drew little eyes on them to sprinkle on the tables.

I found some plates and few decorations online thank goodness.

I made cupcakes with little mario toppers, so they could each pick a character.

My friend Elaine made Mckay and her son these cute Mario hats. He LOVED it.

They played musical chairs to mario music and each of the chairs had the characters on it to make it a little more fun. They also played "Pin the star on the Mario".

Then they had some Papa Murphys's Pizza

Mckay always wants a pinate at his parties, I didn't know how I was going to find a Mario pinate, but then I saw this star! He hit it so hard this year it scared me....that is my hand holding the stick. hehe.

HOWE PARTY:

On Sunday we went to the howe's and had a party there for him and has a blast!

I made him his Mario "Bomb-it" cake that he picked. I didn't have the sports ball pan, so I just baked the cake in 2 pirex bowls and stuck them together with frosting. He loved it :) Complete even with the windup in the back thanks to Craig.

Those are Mr. Potato head feet and a frosted cupcake on top.

One year older and wiser too...happy Birthday to you Mckay!

I hope that he had a great birthday....cause by the end of it all we looked like this....

SO DARN TIRED!!!

ps. we were going to have a party with my family, but there were complications and so it is postponed :)

First Day...

2010-08-30T10:19:00.001-07:00

Ok- so I feel behind on my days of love. but, things got CRAZY!!! There were birthday parties to plan, kids to take to school, dance lessons, and of course I still have all my work to get done, not to mention getting the house clean... yeah right! I am great at starting projects, but not so great at finishing them. Craig is home for a week and then he leaves again for another week. I am so glad he is back this week, I missed him so much :) I am surprised I survived. hehe.

Here is my little Mckay's first day of Kindergarten...he is not seeming so little anymore. Is it normal for me to cry on the first day of school???

After I picked him up from class we went to the new candy store in town as a special "first day" treat. They loved it....they were as happy as "kids in a candy store!" hehe.

They each got a lollipop and wind up toy :) Mckay had a birthday this week, so I will be posting that soon....so stay tuned!

Day #5

2010-08-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Well today I had had enough of being sick since it was getting worse instead of better, so I FINALLY went into the Dr. and he said I had a pretty bad infection in my lungs. WAHOO! He gave me some antibiotics and so hopefully they will kick in soon and it will stop feeling like a big fat person is standing on my chest! Being sick is taking a lot out of me....hard to get anything done and take care of the kiddos. Thanks mom and dad for your help...means a lot :)

Babe, I know you didn't have a super great day either so i made you this slideshow to show how much you are loved :) Hope tomorrow goes better. LOVE YOU!

ps. thanks everyone for your wonderful comments....they always mean a lot to me.

Day #4

2010-08-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was "Get Ky ready for Dance Day" haha. But, I did get her tutu made (I think I am gonna cut it a little shorter), bought her tap and ballet shoes, and got that cute little pink outfit too. She is set....and Sooooo excited! As you look at these pictures you have to pictures her singing "I am a beautiful ballerina" over and over again :)

Sorry, the pictures might not be super great cause they are just in front of the house and it is almost dark....but she looks cute anyways and was so excited to show you :)

I let them eat pizza on a sheet tonight in the playroom and watch a movie. I can't even get them to look at me they get so zoned out watching.

Today, I also got that wedding open house done and mailed off, had Mckay's preschool test (which he did AMAZING at) mckay's invites sent out and spent lots of time with the kids...not much work done, but oh well! MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH! Love you babes. Lots of kisses loves and maybe a butt grab. j/k if Sheila is reading this. hehe.

ps. they got some new Zhu Zhu pets and LOVE them :) Maybe they won't want you to come home cause I am spoiling them so bad. hehe. j/k....they miss soo much and think you are on a mission cause they think everyone that goes on a plane is going on a mission cause of Sam.

Day #3

2010-08-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

BLAH BLAH and more BLAH! This "you being gone thing" is getting really old fast. Today was just one of the days where I wanted to sit be lazy and do nothing and eat. But, I have TONS of work to get caught up on, so again I edited pictures and thank goodness we have no food :). Then I needed a break from editing so I made Mckay's birthday invites and printed them off, cleaned the whole back 3 rooms of the house SPOTLESS minus laundry of course...I even cleaned out the bird cage honey! Then I took the kids to McDonalds for dinner....I went to Burger King and had Whopper Wednesday :) Now I am going to start working again and do some more people's blog designs....BLAH! I am just tired and want to sleep and just sit and hang out with the kids tomorrow and not have to worry about anything else. At least I got more done today than I wanted to.

Here is the invite I designed for Mckay:

I ordered all his decorations and things so they should be here in time. He is so excited!

While you are gone the kids like to sleep in our bed with me....of course I always take Ky back into her room to sleep cause she snores so DANG loud and Pip so I don't squash her. But, I came to check my email and this is what I came back to....

Don't you love that Pip is almost on top of Ky. haha.

Look how dirty her face is. They didn't brush their teeth, take a bath, wash up....NOTHING.

Funny huh? They were pooped I guess. Look how sweet they are when they are asleep. I transplanted them all into their beds tonight so I could spread out. hehe. I am sorry I was so whiney today....I am trying to be tuff, but It is hard taking care of three kids alone and I MISS YOU! Hope you are having fun there. xoxox

Day #2

2010-08-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Snow Cones:

Here is Day-2 babe! I am super tired because I have been proofing sessions all day, so I am pooped. So, this gonna be short :) We had Mckay's open house for his school, that wasn't really for the kindergarten, so the kids just played at the park and had snow cones instead. They LOVES them snow cones :) and they LOVE their new snow cone machine we bought them and never get tired of eating them.... although I get tired of making them :) They had 3 today!

IHOP: I needed to get out and do something fun with the kids after working all day, and so I let them pick where they wanted eat. I figure since you are eating out all day every day living it up...we should too ok at least once :) j/k I know you are working hard. They picked Ihop and it was a lot of fun. Mckay ate his entire plate!

This is Mckay giving the poor waiter very detailed instructions of what he wants :)

We took them to the "Despicable Me" movie at the drive-in a week ago and they LOVED IT, so they were pretty excited that it was all over the menus... they got little minion bits :)

Anyone who knows Ky, knows how much she drinks!

I don't know if I am gonna make it...I miss you lots honey! The longest we have not been together is 4 days...hopefully I don't die on day five :) xoxox LOVE YOU!

14 Days Of Love....

2010-08-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Craig has started a new job at AT&T and I am sooo excited. Except that training is for 3-weeks in Arizona :( So I am missing him so much. All you freaky killers out there....I am not home alone! So I decided to make a post for him everyday that he is gone....14 days of love for Craig :) Love you baby. I am so proud of you. We all miss you so much :*

Here are what me and the kiddos wanted to tell you today. Plus, I took some pictures of Pip in the bath cause she was being so dang cute!

Here are the messages....

ps. you do owe me big time though....I want a vacation when you get home. hehe.

Lagoon and My Little Fishies....

2010-08-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to take the kids to Lagoon for years now and I am so glad we finally did because they LOVED it. It was defiantly hot and we were dripping from sweat most the day, but it was a great time! We used our bounce-back and went for 2-days in a row. The second day we did Lagoon A Beach.Let me show you the difference between my 2 kids here. Kylin is a crazy person, she is not scared of anything! She would go on ANY ride we showed her and LOVED it. I took this picture while we were riding a dragon ride that Mckay would not go on. Look how much she loves it....Mckay on the other hand....

This was his favorite ride that he rode over and over again. He is much more timid and we really had to talk him into going on some of the faster rides. This is Bulgy the whale....the SLOWEST smallest kid ride in the park :) Just funny how different my kids are.

My family always used to get these old fashioned pictures growing up. I love them and have been begging Craig to get some even though he thinks they are silly, Well they were 1/2 off and so I had to get some :)They had an exotic parrot show that Mckay LOVED he LOVES birds and it was cool because they got to pet one of the parrots.

Piper had lots of fun riding the Train, she was SO good and easy the entire 2-days. She makes me want more kids until I realize they have to grow up. hehe. Oh yeah- and I have to be pregnant!

Mckay was too scared to go on Rattle Snake Rapids with her daddy, but of course Ky went and I am not so sure she was happy to be wet after. hehe.

I didn't take any pictures at Lagoon A Beach, but they had so much fun there too! What a great couple of days :)

My Little Fishies:-----------------------

My kids are SOoOo fearless when it comes to water. Especially Kylin of course So thank goodness for life vests :) They have so much fun in the water and it cracks me up to watch them. LOVE LOVE this video, it makes me laugh every time I watch it:

Piper loves the water too and will be just as fearless as the kids I'm sure.

She is also fearless in her eating. hehe. That was a piece of licorice.
It has been such a fun summer, I am sad it will be coming to an end in a few weeks. Hope everyone is having a BLAST!

Crazynesss!!!!

2010-08-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, just wanted you to know we are still alive :) We have been busy having so much fun this summer... Bear Lake, Lagoon, BBQs, and LOTS of swimming ! I will be making a BIG post soon of lots of pictures. But, until then here is my new favorite picture of monkey after swimming. I LOVE his beautiful blue eyes :)

ps. GUESS WHAT! We will be staying here and NOT moving. WAHOOOOO!!!! Craig got a great job here at AT&T :)

Sock Bunnies Craft

2010-07-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

I found this cute craft HERE and the kids LOVED them...they seriously have been playing with their bunnies all day. They were super easy to make and the directions are on her blog.

We are having a great summer so far, the kids are best best friends with the neighbors kids *we love their parents too*. They just play outside, swim, slip-n-slide, play in the sandbox and swing set and eat otter pops all day long. What life huh? Man, I miss being a kid! You should see how freakin' tan Kylin is! Hope you all are having a WONDERFUL summer too!

ps. moving is on hold for the moment. YIPEEE! Craig might be able to find a job up here.

Our Sunday Lesson...

2010-07-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am sure some of you have seen this video before, but It was part of our lesson today at Church and the spirit hit me so strong today watching it....I love Jesus SO much. Just watching it right now again makes me cry. I want to be like him so badly and he makes me want to be a better wife, mother and person. I wanted to share this video with all of you. I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday :)

Our Little Moab Trip!

2010-07-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Finally, here is the post about our wonderful Moab trip. We only were able to go to 2-days, but it was a lot of fun. I have never been before so I was super excited. It was HOT HOT HOT...but fun. I would recommend taking this trip in October or March :) Here are LOTS of pictures!

DAY 1:

All the red rock was so beautiful.

The kiddos and I at the start of the hike...we had no idea how hot and hard it would be :) Yes, I am going to look RIDICULOUS in ALL of these pictures with my silly bandanna on and no makeup...that is camping right. I like not having to get ready!

They whined a lot of the way up because some of it was a pretty intense climb, but look how happy and unknowing they are at the beginning . hehe.

just a cool tree. I took so many pictures of nature stuff there.

My brother and I doing a little rock climbing. Made me realize how much I miss it and never do anything now since having kids! I need to get back into it. Of course I prefer to have a rope around me! haha.

My brother SUPERMAN...he really is people!

Almost to Delicate Arch. How would it be to get your butt hauled up the mountain? It was quite the workout for me. Of course craig had to carry the 5 million pounds of water :)

FINALLY we made it to the top. It wouldn't have been that hard of a hike if it hadn't be 97 degrees.

Totally worth the hike :)

Man we look tired.

BACK AT CAMP:

Craig got to go 4-wheeling with the boys while I stayed at watched the kids at the river.

It was like our own beach and small pond (even though it was a river) a minute from our camp site. The kids played in it for hours and we didn't have to worry about them drowning because it was slow and shallow.

Pip and Mckay LOVED playing in sand and Ky was all about the water. Can I just say something about my Brother's dog in the background there. CRAZY red neck dog! Never met one like it....Cody likes to hard-core 4-wheel and hike up huge cliffs. He will follow my brother anywhere. Never met a dog that 4-wheels or has a death wish :)

What is camping without Smores :) Love this picture.

DAY 2:

We went on another hike "Negro Bill Canyon" I think it was called, and it was mostly shaded and right next to a river. This time mom and dad came along.

And this time Ryan carried Ky's bootie up the mountain. THANKS Ryan, you are awesome!

It was a really pretty hike.

We had to cross the river which the kids thought was fun. I just wish the lighting was so harsh for pictures this whole trip.

I was SO PROUD of Mckay that day, he didn't complain much at all and actually had lots of fun climbing up the rocks. You better believe I was right there under him to catch him though...I am so paranoid.

This is Ky trying to hold up the rock :)

Craig carried piper up and she was laughing and smiling the whole way....she would NOT hold still she was so excited.

My handsome guy was such a great hiker.

We are there....it was a nice easy hike and just BEAUTIFUL!

The whole gang :)

There was a tiny fall of spring water coming out of the top of the rock that the kids played in and of course we couldn't leave Piper out. Love that picture of her and my mom.

My sweet sweet baby!

Ok- so NOT so funny story about our hike back: Craig and I had to stay behind a little bit to feed Piper and got separated from everyone. Wellllll, we must have been talking and not paying attention (and the trail was not marked well at all) and we got lost. We ended up down by the river. We knew the trail went by the river every once and a while so we decided to walk upstream in the river till it met up with the trail. Well, I found out something about myself that I never knew. I AM DEATHLY SCARED OF CRAWDADS! Not just scared, but I had a huge hyperventilating, almost pass out, melt down. I am TERRIFIED of them. We were walking along in the river and Craig kept pointing them out to to me, and was like oh, ok gross, but I was fine. Well I kept looking at them as I was walking past and they kept getting bigger and I progressively got more and more freaked and grossed out of them, till finally there was a deep part of the river...almost to my knees and I couldn't see my feet. I freaked out. I lost my shoe that was on my foot and was screaming, crying and hyperventilating...I was frozen with fear and there was no where I could go ...the river was blocked on both sides by huge foliage. Poor piper was crying cause I was screaming, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want one of those Crawdad's anywhere near me. So Craig had to come back and find my shoe, take piper and help me get a hold of myself. We had a walk a little farther till we finally got to the trail, but I was crying, shaking and screaming the whole way. I can't believe I was such a baby and soooo freaked out of them. I knew they couldn't hurt me, but I didn't care, I have never been more scared of anything in my life. I can pick up snakes and lizards...but the site of crawfish.....eeeekkkkk! anyways it was awful at the time and Craig probably thinks I am a TOTAL moron (he was so nice to me) but it is funny now.

We finally met everyone at the end of the trail and this was Ky. hehe. Our little sac of potatoes. Craig looks so hard core and bad boy with his bandanna... I kinda like it :)

A really fun trip! We LOVED it. THANKS everybody :)

God Bless America...

2010-07-06T20:18:00.001-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday...I know we did! It was 3 days of fun in the sun :) Anyone who knows me, knows how special Independence Day is to me and that it is one of my favorite holidays. Having lived over seas a big part of my childhood and being away from America, it makes me appreciate and love it so much more. I never want to take for granted how wonderful it is here and how blessed we are for our MANY freedoms. I am so thankful to all those men and woman who have, are, and will serve this country. You are amazing! THANK YOU.

**Scroll down to other posts to see the other days**

CHERRY DAYS & 3RD OF JULY:

Every Year we do the N. Ogden Parade with the Howe's and go to Cherry Days booths.

Mckay and Sharlie enjoying the parade....sharlie got her wisdom teeth out the day before and was such a trooper!

There wasn't much candy thrown out this year, but whatever Kylin got she stuffed in her mouth!

The Nibley Parade on the 5th was an entirely different story...they was SO MUCH candy! They got two walmart bags full (Kylin's broke open and all the kids grabbed it all before I could get there....but I think one huge bag to share is plenty) It was actually one of the coolest parades I have been to!

SOME 4TH OF JULY PROJECTS:

I made a cupcake tray from plates and candlesticks from the DI and spay painted them red. Only cost $2 and so cute and fun that I made 3 more in different colors for other occasions :)

I made some matching cute shirts for the kiddos. Got the idea and directions from HERE for anyone that might want to make them next year...

They turned out so cute :)

CHERRY DAYS:

The kids had fun playing in the "frog Bog" and we had pizza and looked around at all the booths.

Kylin had been buggin me for weeks to get her face painted, so we waited in line for 15 minutes and she was SOOO happy! Can't you tell by the huge cheeser smile?

After Cherry Days we went to the Howe's and had a Yummy BBQ and swam in their pool

That dang kid could not stop splashing me! hehe

Piper loved the pool too, we always say out kids are 1/2 fish because they love the water so much.

We went to the P.V fireworks at Weber High, but sat at the bottom of the hill so we could get out fast. Next time we are going to sit on the field so we can hear the music.

The fireworks we great and the kiddos loved them!

It was such a FUN day and it was wonderful to get to spend all day with my family.

**Scroll down to other posts to see the other days**

4th of July

2010-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the 4th of July, we went to church and then just hung out at home. We had a yummy huge dinner, played with sparklers and watched our neighbor set off HUGE fireworks till the cops came :) hehe.

The annual family picture :)

Piper loves to wrestle with her big brother...I love seeing them play together.

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!!!

My Baby...

2010-06-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

I know I always say it, but I am so sad that my baby is growing up, but it is fun to see her sweet and ADORABLE personality coming through more and more each day. She is my little ray of sunshine. Crazy how each of my kids are so differnt and unique with very distinct personalities! She is:

Sleeping through the night
Crawling like a mad woman
Pulling herself to a standing position
Eating most everything that we eat (except dairy)
Saying "mama" and "Dada" and "baba"

She has her Dr. apt tomorrow to get her shots and stats...so maybe I will update this post tomorrow for my personal records. HERE is the scrapbook page I did of this picture

We are back from Moab and had a GREAT time! pictures coming soon....

ps. hope this all is typed out ok, kinda hard with the one handed, baby in lap, typing thing....athough I am getting pretty good at it :)

They Love to Read...

2010-06-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

My kiddos really love to read, but they have so many books it is hard to find them sometimes, Soooo I saw this idea on an HGTV show. If you have the books facing out so they can see them, then they will read them more :) And it tooks dang cute! So, I went to Michael's and picked up 2 of these shelves for only $9 a piece and spray painted them red. Tada. The kiddos love it!

Be back in a few days....

I think summer is FINALLY here...

2010-06-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

It have been raining and cold so much that I thought we might just skip summer this year. :)Thanks goodness it is finally here! I NEED sunshine...it is like energy for my soul! Beside getting ready to move, we have been trying to fit some fun stuff in there for the kids. Splash park, T-ball, Toy-story 3 and good ol' Mckey D's. Here are some fun pics...

We had lunch with my mom and sisters and the cousins at the splash pad on Hill, to plan the menu for our Moab trip next week...can't wait! I have NEVER been to Moab, so be expecting lots of pictures of course!

I am sooo in love with this little girl....just seeing her sweet blue eyes can melt away any sadness or frustration I have. I asked Craig if I was this in love with our other kids when they were babies...he said "Yes". Don't get me wrong, I love my other kids right now too. I just really LOVE babies and have a special place for my little Pip right now.

This picture was the only time Mckay went in the water...it was too cold for him and he spent the rest of the time at the playground.

"I'm the king of the playground"

Such a georgeous day!

Kylin on the other hand, didn't care that the water was cold...she had soooo much fun running through the water and wouldn't even stop to let me take a picture!

Look- her feet aren't even touching the ground. :)

She was cold after, but she told me she had SO much fun anyways :) Love that girls big blue eyes!

T-BALL----------------------------------------------------------

Mckay just started T-ball and he LOVES it. He is actaully really good too! He can hit the ball all the way into outfield!

He usually plays in field and knows where to throw the ball. If you look close, you can see the concentration on his face and that his tongue is sticking out. hehe.

My favorite part of T-ball is actually watching the kids all chase the ball down no matter where it is on the field...there are like 5 kids diving for it! hehe. cracks me up.

He is having lots of fun learning to be part of team...and fun for us to lay out on a blanket and watch him play.

DINNER & A MOVIE:---------------------------------------
We went and saw the new toy story today and it was really good. There were a couple parts that really worried my kids, but they loved it too. Pip lasted about 20 minutes and then Craig had to take her out....she is so darn wiggly and busy now.

Yes- I brought my camera into the theater --no flash--I wish I was able to get Mckay's face in this shot, but he was sitting too close to me. He hadthe BIGGEST grin on his face!

Afterwards we took them to dinner at their favorite place, McDonalds!

We even got yummy ice cream that melted everywhere...but it was worth it. Such a fun night. I hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far too.

ps. Thanks for all the wonderful nice comments about my previous post :) You guys are the best!

This is going to be me today...

2010-06-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

Thing around here have been pretty tense lately and I have not been in a great mood for about a week straight. I will explain. Craig started a new job and is commuting 3 hours a day to Salt Lake....that is not going to work. So of course we are going to be doing my favorite thing...MOVING!!! So- if you know me, you know there is nothing I HATE more than moving. We are going to be renting out someones house till it sells...so who knows how long that will be. It is not my ideal situation, but it will work till Craig gets done with school. Someday, I will have my own house again....hopefully someday soon :)

So, I am going to try not to take my stress out on my kids and just be happy. Because I have realized that being happy is a choice, not something that just happens by chance. Either I can be angry and poopy about the situation or be happy and find some blessing and opportunity in it....So here's to my happy wonderful day!

Pickleberry Lane giveaway...

2010-06-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody. My friend Virginia just opened a shop on Etsy and is doing a giveaway on her blog http://pickleberrylane.blogspot.com/ . She sells cute crocheted hats and some awesome cooling neck ties to keep you cool this summer. Head on over there if you want to enter and check out her etsy store!

ps. see if you recognize the kiddos in her pictures :)

My Happy Wall...

2010-06-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

I saw this project HERE and it is so totally me, so I had to do it! Love love how it turned out :) They are all 5x5 pictures with little white borders around them, it's like each picture is individually framed.

Sorry the pictures I took to show you all are not so great cause it was at night...but you get the idea. Looks much better in real life.

The other fun thing about this is that you can change the pictures out way easy...maybe next time I will throw some of my digi scrapbook pages in there.

Our Awesome Farm Discovery....

2010-06-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have been needing to find some cool places for some upcoming shoots, so the kiddos and I decided to hop in the car and go exploring. We found this great old farm that was packed full of treasures. I went in and talked to the owner and he was excited to show me around. He had all kinds of things he had collected and were lying around. The whole atmosphere just made me want a farm so bad :) and the kids loved it!

I told them to sit and look at the "wishing flowers" while I looked around and I came back to this. They were having the FUNNIEST conversation EVER , here is how the part I walked in on:

Kylin: "I love you Mckay, you are my best friend"

Mckay: "Ya, like Isaac is."

Kylin [leans in and tries to plant one on mckay's cheek]

Mckay: [pushes her face away laughing]

Kylin: "WHAT!!! You are my prince and I want to marry you!"

Mckay: "You are beautiful Kylin, but I can't marry you, you are my sister. Mom said we can't. And I am going to marry Rachel...sorry."

Mckay: "But I love you too."

Kylin: "Oh yeah Rachel."

I am not even making it up...that is exactly how it went. Isn't that the CUTEST thing!!! My favorite part was, "you are beautiful Kylin, but...."haha. Kylin is so dramatic, I love it!

my pretty girl being serious and holding still for once.

Ky and the baby cow checking each other out. I told her his name was "Veal" and she said OK and called him that the whole time. haha.

My handsome little man needs a hair cut.

He even had this old playground equipment...which of course was the kids favorite part :) Cool place....I actually ended up taking Camille's & Ben's Pictures here.

Happy Memorial Day...

2010-05-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is always special to me. My dad was in the military, and having lived in many other countries and being away from America for years at a time, it makes me appreciate SO MUCH this country. I love our freedom here and I am so thankful for all the man and women who have given their lives for that freedom. And, I am thankful for those who are serving our country right now. God Bless America :)

Every year we go with the Howe's to visit graves and then have a big picnic lunch afterwards...lots of good memories :)

Piper on the move!

2010-05-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

Our little Piper has been scooting for about a month 1/2 now, and she is FAST! She is just barely now starting to crawl. She will take about 3-4 crawls and then go down to her belly. I can't believe she is growing up...before I know it she will be walking. Where did 9-months go!?

ps. it's official....she is saying "mama" now :)

Eating healthy at an early age...

2010-05-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning's here are the Howe's usually means going to the grocery store and picking out the BEST, prettiest, sprinkliest donut. This Saturday was no exception except that Piper wanted to get in on the fun. In my defense...how could you say NO to those big beautiful blue eyes??? :)

Can You tell how much she LOVED it??!

Just the two of us...swimming...tumbling

2010-05-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

This is Mckay and I goofing off after his tumbling show-off. I don't know how much longer I have until this kid is embarrassed of me and doesn't think I am cool. Right now he loves to play with me and thinks I am great most of the time. I love it :)

This is swimming show-off. He used to be sooo scared of the water and has come such a long way, I am SO proud of him!

Tumbling show off...his favorite day besides tennis. He got a medal and everything. I think he got his daddy's coordination skills though. hehe.

He likes to move it move it...

2010-05-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

I have told you all how Mckay has the COOLEST preschool right? Along with GREAT education, he gets swim lessons, tennis, tumbling, and movement! So, for the next week they are having "show-off" days where the parents get to see what they have been up to all year in their activities. This was movement day and Mckay just cracks me up. He not shy, that is for sure! Look at him bust a move :)

Sorry for a little camera shake...ky was dancing and had to hold onto my leg :) These videos were actaully all taken with my 7D camera! Soooo cool to have a camera and HD video camera in one!

The Apron...

2010-05-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have been trying really hard to capture everyday things around our house and I think I am doing an ok job. I have a new post like everyday. hehe. So, here is another one of those that maybe no one else will care about, but I know that Ky will remember....HER NEW APRON!

She has been buggin and buggin me to make a new apron because her other one is a little small...and we bake A LOT around here :) And even though this week is crazy busy, I decided to do something fun with her and not care about anything else and all the work I need to get done for a change! We went to Joannes and she picked out the fabric she wanted all on her own. I would have liked to do something a little more vintage inspired and when I tried to help her to pick what I wanted she said, "Mom, I thought you told me I could pick!" hehe. So I backed off and it was pony's and rainbows and sparkley purple. That girl knows what she likes and wants, that is for sure! She even helped me sew it by pressing the petal. She was so excited when it was all done and has not taken it off since....she even slept in it :) So here she is twirling like the little princess she is.

Wish I had her pick out another color for the waistband tie...oh well still cute. I made the pattern up, so I am glad it worked :)

She kept dancing, So I could not get a the perfect sun flare picture I wanted...but I just LOVE that picture still even though it is not perfect.

I have been sewing Piper lots of the tunic shirts you have been seeing her in too...I just love to sew. When things slow down a little with my photography and my Sugar Pop, I am going to try and get some aprons and tunic shirts on Etsy...TRY is the key word there :) I have 3 photo shoots I am proofing and my store is out of control with Mother's Day orders and on top of that Piper is teething and ornery as heck...I can't put her down!!! But, I can't complain because I am so SO so grateful that business is going well. I even hired someone to sew for me so that I won't go crazy :) Sorry-I will stop rambling here....maybe I spend too much time with kids all day and just need to talk in grown up language. hahaha

Picnic in the Park...

2010-05-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty hard weekend, so Craig decided a picnic in the park would be a nice remedy for my sad mood. It defiantly helped a lot. It always makes me smile to see the kids having so much fun. Well, and anything that involves food makes me happy too :) hehe

That was our little picnic ant...trying to steal some food :)

Kisses...kisses...kisses!

2010-04-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

I know I just posted like an hour ago (you can scroll down and look at it), but Craig just took this super cute video of Piper and I. Don't mind my messy hair, no makeup and huge zit!!! I just got out of the shower, so what do ya do?! :) Isn't she sooo sweet. She knows how to give kisses because we can't help but kiss her all day!

ps. I will be so impressed if anyone knows the movie playing in the background....The old "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"! Loved that show when I was a kid and now my kids love it too.

Can she get any cuter?!

2010-04-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Just love these pictures of my baby wearing daddy's hat. She is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen :)

ps. Ok- I think I have found a blog style I like. hehe. I am so indecisive and like to mess with it :)

Don't think I am crazy!

Some Stuff....

2010-04-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

So, there are a couple things I want to post about today. Firstly, my straps are going to be featured on TV! For those of you who want to check it out, it is on KSL 5 today at 11am with Brooke. She has asked me to be on TV before, but I was so scared! This time she contacted me and told me I didn't have to be on TV, that they would feature my straps for me as part of their "Utah's Favorites" segment. WAHOO! So yeah, I am not on TV making a fool of myself, but my straps get to be :) I will post the segment here after it airs today!

** UPDATE***

Here is the segment...not very long, but I have already had 4 sales from it this past hour :)

Also- I am selling my AWESOME AMAZING camera. Since I upgraded to my 7D my other one does not get used very often...so if you are interested in a wonderful camera, HERE is the link. I am sad to see it go :(

Another thing that I am going to start doing on Fridays (that lot's of people do on their blog and I LOVE) is "Flashback Friday". I got a CD full of my childhood from my awesome Dad the other day and it cracks me up. I looked through it for about an hour laughing so hard. I though it would be a good way to get to know me better and see some funny pictures :) I will see if I can scan some of Craig's and feature him too sometimes. It is nice to see how easy and happy Childhood was... reminisce about the Good Ol' Days! So here are this weeks pictures...

This is one of my very favorites of me and my dad...my favorite blankie and weird stuffed animal :)
So fun seeing my parents so young with 3 kids...JUST LIKE ME! I know my mom was way better at it than I am though :)

Fishing with Grandpa

2010-04-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE this picture and had to share...wish I had taken more :) Mckay loves his Grandpa so much! My dad has taken Mckay fishing before and ever since Mckay has been asking to go again. So, since it was nice outside my dad was able to take him fishing right out side their house. They didn't catch anything...but had fun anways :) Thanks Mom & Dad for watching the kiddos so I could shoot my wedding!

Happy Spring everyone!

CALIFORNIA...wahoo!

2010-04-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

Here are our vacation pictures...I won't tell you how many I took because it is embarrassing :) hehe. But, just let me tell you that I slimmed it down quite a bit for my posts. we had a WONDERFUL time together as a family...a MUCH needed vacation. The prior year was really tuff with me being preggo, sick, having a new baby, moving, new jobs, school.....LOTS of crazy stuff. So, I felt like this was a much needed happy break for us. THANK YOU Uncle Sam. haha. I made about 6 posts of the different days and things we did...so scroll down (you might even have to hit the "older posts" button) and grab some popcorn!

The Drive

2010-04-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

We took the drive nice and slow so that it wasn't stressful for craig and I or the kids. We decided from the very beggining that, "Yes, it would take 10x longer to do ANYTHING, but that it is ok cause we are on vacation and in no hurry". So we kept that attitude the entire vacation and we were fine.

On the drive there, we took lots of breaks and even stopped in Provo the first night because we left late. But, we got to eat at our favorite restaurant BRICK OVEN! Yummy!

Can you tell they loved it :)
Piper seriously was an angel and didn't cry once! Mckay and Kylin on the other hand were a little whiney and wanted to watch shows, have me grab dropped toys, or give them snacks. I swear I was turned around in my seat and unbuckled half the trip!

Mckay looks so gangsta in this picture. hehe

Nothin' but blue skies!
we had to stop and do "this" lots at random rest stops to feed piper and give the kids pee breaks. They are sitting on the back of the car...you will see why is a sec.
Kylin drives me CRAZY because she tells us she has to go potty, so we pull off the side of the road (because there is no rest stop near by) and she won't pee! So, she gets back in the car and by the time we get to a rest stop she has peed her pants! GRRRR! Every rest stop we make them stop and go to the bathroom and she still peed her pants.
Well, at least Mckay doesn't care and still loves her anyways. haha. I love this picture of them just having a good time...carefree. After I saw them like this, I couldn't get too mad at ky :)

The best Sushi!

2010-04-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

Ever since Stacie & Stratton introduced us to Sushi a while back we LOVE it!!! Even though we hate seafood. We went to the BEST restaurant in Anaheim when we got into town called "CHOMPS." we had sushi and they also had a tempan grill where they entertain you and cook right in front of you on the open grill. The kids thought it was so cool. Of course they liked the fire part and Mckay even got into it and tried to catch a shrimp in his mouth.

Just looking at that is making me drool!!!

Sushi places always have the coolest decor. This place was AWESOME!

This is Craig catching the shrimp (which he missed) can you find where it is in the air?
Mckay and Kylin both tried the Sushi. Which made me so happy because if you know them, you know what picky eaters they are. They didn't like it, but I was so proud of them for trying.
I gladly ate their share :) hehe.
They had fun using the chopsticks. Notice they are upside down :)

Gosh, I miss eating out. I am one of those people that loves to eat out. I love junk food, fast food, good food. I JUST LOVE FOOD!!!

Santa Monica Pier

2010-04-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

It was a BEAUTIFUL day...68 degrees, so we went to Santa Monica. This is Kylin eating cotton candy on the pier. We are so mean and didn't let the kids ride anything since we were going to Disneyland the next day.

This pretty funnel cake is one of the MANY reasons I seriously (no joke) gained 8 lbs. on our trip
Piper looked like such a diva in her sunglasses :)

FUN ON THE BEACH:

Kylin played with Mckay in the sand for a few minutes, but she is ALL about the Ocean. That girl loves the sea! Mckay is content to just play in the sand, probably because of his traumatic experience last year. hehe.

Despite her holding up her dress, she was HUGE WET mess by the end. I didn't care one bit though, because she had so much fun and it was great to watch.

Mckay sat and collected sea shells to bring home. He got some really pretty ones that he was proud of.

Disneyland & California Adventures

2010-04-15T04:16:00.001-07:00

The days we had all been waiting for. WAHOO! And they were defiantly worth the wait...we had SUCH a good time :) If you are planning a trip to Disneyland, email me and I will tell you how to get an AMAZING deal on tickets. We got 2-day park hoppers for 1/2 off! It's so easy.

Don't you just love their smiles! hehe.

Of course we had to go to Mickey's house and meet him!

Piper's first (of many I hope) trip to D-land!

This was the kids FAVORITE ride! The Buzz lightyear one. We rode it about 5x I think! And when we weren't riding it, Mckay was talking about it. hehe.

The driving cars were great....except for the constant whiplash. haha. Mckay isn't getting his drivers license even when he is 16!

I think Craig looks a little scared in this picture....as he should be. BAWHAHA!

Of course we had to get them cotton candy!

Last year Mckay was too short for a lot of the big rides, but not this year...he was SO SURPRISED when he found out he was tall enough.

He was excited to go on the Matterhorn....that is until he got off it and I tried to talk him into going with me again. He wouldn't budge :(

This picture cracks me up! Kylin really is trying so hard to get that sword out. hehe.

I had Craig do the teacup ride with the kids because it makes me sick. It was so funny watching them!

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURES!

We didn't see many characters in Disneyland, but they were EVERYWHERE is Cali adventures. Mckay loved them... but Kylin was shy and hesitant to get pictures with most of them.

I LOVE LOVE this picture of Mckay with Pluto!

Mckay is so dang cute, whenever he got to met someone he would always hug them :)

This is out little Piper all day. HAPPY AS COULD BE. She seriously was an ANGEL baby and didn't cry the entire trip!

This is the new Toy story ride that they really liked. You wear 3D glasses and shoot targets.

Craig surprized me and got tickets to lunch at "Ariels Grotto" for Ky and I. It was SO WONDERFUL because we didn't have to stand in line for Ky to meet all the princesses and if you know Kylin at all, you know she LOVES PRINCESSES. All the princesses came to our table and sat and talked with Kylin.

I don't know what is up with Ky in all these pictures, but she has her fake smile on and the lighting was AWFUL AWFUL! Oh well still cute though!

I wish I had known she was going to have lunch with the princesses so that I could have brought one of her GAZILLION pretty dresses (her favorite is her Belle dress). I wasn't about to drop $70 bucks like all the other crazy people there and buy her a dress from the gift shop. So I got her a little crown instead.

The food was really good and look at this dessert tray...all of it was edible and AMAZING!

Bug's Life Land

One of the kids favorite parts was the "electric parade" at the end of the day. Really cool!

This was them by the time we left....POOPED!

They wouldn't even budge when we tried to get them in the hotel. Poor Craig :)

Seriously a WONDERFUL 2-days...I tried to limit the pictures. tried.

Coronado Island

2010-04-15T04:05:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite places in San Diego is Corando Island. They have a beautiful little town and beach. We decided to ride the ferry over cause they kiddos would think it was fun...and they had a BLAST!

There was a Sea Lion on booey that we past right by. Kids loved it of course!

We didn't go down to the beach we normally do because we didn't have our car, but they have a little beach with a pier right by the Ferry dock. So we hung out there for a couple hours and basked in the perfect 70 degree weather :)

Then, we went and ate at one of the MANY cool restaurants they have right on the beach pretty much. Craig and I have eaten and some really nice romantic places here. BUT since we had the kids with us, we decided a louder and easier going place would be better :) So pizza and pasta it was....such a great view.
The kids talk about the Ferry ride all the time now :)

Balboa Park

2010-04-15T03:57:00.000-07:00

We decided not to go to Sea World this time around to save some $$$. We have always wanted to go to Balboa Park in San Diego (and it's FREE) so we went! It so was beautiful and just a fun relaxing time. One of my favorite days actually :)

They had so much cool architecture to look at and the kids loved all the ponds and fountains.

Lots of funky art stuff too.

Vegas Baby

2010-04-15T03:31:00.000-07:00

Of course on the way back home, we had to stop here -----> If you have eaten here, you can look at the picture and know where it is :) MAD GREEK!!! So yummy...it is in Baker California. So if you are ever driving through...STOP and eat!

So funny story: We wanted a cheap nice place to stay and we saw a sign on the drive to Vegas with an advertisement for "Rooms only $19" well, it was at HOOTERS casino! So being a nervous (but deal hungry) mommy, I had to call the casino and ask, "If their rooms and lobby were APPROPRIATE" The lady on the phone laughed at me and told me all the rooms were a palm tree theme and that there was nothing riskay in the lobby at all. So, we booked a room. We actually only saw 1 hooters girl the whole time we were there and it wasn't half as bad as some of the girls walking the strip! I had to keep telling Mckay, "Hey look at mommy for a sec!" The kids called our hotel, "The cute OWL hotel." hehe.

"New York New York"

The kids favorite part...guess what happened soon after that picture was taken? I am sure you can guess. That entire bag sitting on Mckay's head with no hands, SPILLED all over the floor! Ya. It wasn't embarrassing at all.

My favorite part of Vegas is the Bellagio....these cool glass flowers line the whole ceiling of the Lobby. I was sad we didn't get to see the water show (it was too windy so they cancelled it)

There was tons of cool art there. We went through 3 different galleries...one was some of the BEST nature photography ever by Rodney Lough Jr.

Vegas was fun, but I tell ya....it is gonna be the first place to burn and be destroyed. If ya know what I mean. hehe.

So- that was our trip....AMAZING, fun, and everything I wanted it to be!

Why can't we just have some sunshine???

2010-04-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

We are pretty dang tired of being cooped up around here. So today when it was pouring outside, I decided to let the kids go out and play. They loved it! They were stomping in the gutters and finding earth worms (which I later found in Mckay's pocket when I was doing laundry) and just running around. It stopped raining super hard, so they were able to stay out for a while :)

I think at first she was worried about getting wet & dirty...

But, then she just forgot all about it and had a great time. She started dancing and trying to catch the rain in her mouth.

She LOVES LOVES her rain boots!!!

They found something in the gutter.....

A nice juicy worm! Happy Tuesday everyone :)

ps. I know you are all thinking I am super silly and got her all dressed up to play in the rain BUT we were actually out running errands and she already had the skirt on :) Just threw on the boots and her rain coat. hehe. Although- I would't put it past me to dress up my kids for stuff so the pictures turn out cute or to match scrapbook paper I have. hehe.

I can't believe it...

2010-04-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Piper is 6-months already!!! I want SO BAD for her to just stay little. This is my favorite stage right now...6 months to 1 1/2 years old. SO much fun cause you see their little personalitys come out and Piper has such a cute one. She is such a good baby, so smiley and happy all the time (unless she just got 4 shots). It is funny, I always say I don't have favorite children, just favorite stages :) Anywho, here are Piper's stats and OF COURSE a few pictures!

And for those of you who don't check the scrapin' blog....I has to scrap these pictures right away cause I love them so much :) So bright and springy! Going to be making my 12x12 book again soon.
Doesn't she just make you smile :) Well...she makes me smile and so so happy!

ps. just wanted to say thanks for everyone leaving their emails and being so sweet and kind with your comments :)

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

We are back from Cali and had a GREAT time!!! Hard to come back to the snow though :) Pictures of the trip coming soon!

Soooo...Hope you all had a GREAT Easter! It was LOADS of good times for us. Here is the breakdown... WARNING lots of pictures :)

Our Little Easter Bunny!

The kids got matching Easter outfits this year....LOVE how they turned out! So hard getting a picture of them together though, Ky and her little fake smile :)

We went to my parents house to dye eggs this year and of course all the cousins and my Brother and sisters were there. It was LOUD and lots of fun! Mckay still LOVES green and was surprised when his egg came out so bright.

Love dying eggs, but it is such a mess...at least my mom gave them old shirts to use.

Sooo pretty :) I am surprised they weren't ALL pink and green. hehe.

Easter morning the kids found their baskets. They LOVED the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" So when the Easter bunny saw these cute hooded towels at Walmart, he had to get them for them! The kids also got a book, bubbles and of course CANDY!

My little Dragons...Toothless and Zippleback :) If you haven't taken your kids to see that show yet, I TOTALLY recommend it....SO CUTE!

Piper was just a happy smiley baby all day.

When we did the Easter egg hunt at my Parents house, we let Piper find some too. She was super excited to hold and chew on them.

I just LOVE LOVE this picture of Craig and Pip...She is such a snuggly lovey baby...and so is her daddy. haha.

The "Egg hunt" at the Howe's...a blurry picture but still cute :)

The kiddos really got into it and had full baskets of chocolate and hard boiled eggs.

This was during general conference (which was AMAZING this year). I took tons of pictures of this and they are HILARIOUS. Piper wanted a push pop so bad so....

We gave her a tasty bottle instead :) Hope you all had a WONDERFUL conference Easter Sunday!!!

Freebie and we are GOING PRIVATE :(

2010-03-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

I am sad to say that we have decided to go private here at the Howe family blog :( It makes me sad because I have met A LOT of WONDERFUL PEOPLE through this blog...people I have never met, but that I consider great friends now. Craig has been pushing and pushing me to do it for a LONG time now, but I haven't wanted to....well something pretty scary happened a little while ago and now I finally agree with him.

One of my customers from Ebay was able to track me down (even though my name is NOT even listed on the Ebay account) find my phone number and THIS BLOG and call me! He was mad as heck and swearing and yelling at me because he didn't receive his camera strap he ordered. I had to hang up on him because he was scaring me....I thought for sure he was gonna come and kill me! Well, he kept calling and calling and finally we figured out that it got lost in the mail...big mess.

SO- in short, he scared the CRAP out of me!!! I have never had anyone call me or "track me down" like that. So, that is what has lead to this decision to go private. But, PLEASE PLEASE even if I don't really know you, and you want to still view my blog and aren't a crazy person :) then leave me your email address as a comment and I would LOVE LOVE to invite you...so please don't be shy!

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THE FREEBIE:

We are leaving on vacation TO CALIFORNIA and I CAN'T EVEN WAIT!!! So, I decided to make some cute luggage tags for our trip and want to share them with you. Here is what ours look like.

Just click on this small picture below of the blank tags and it will bring up the bigger version in a new window, then just "right click" and save it. It is on normal 8.5x11 sized paper so you can just print it out. I added our names and phone number to the tag. You can do that in any photo editing software...maybe even MS word. You just print them out, cut them out (I did mine double sided, so I glued the 2 sides together) then you laminate them, cut them out and punch a hole in the top for the chain to go through and TADA cute cute luggage tags for the whole family :)

Our Diaper bag

I decided since I don't want to put my kids on leashes and they have a tendency to run off sometimes, that I would put tags on them too! haha. That way if they get lost at Disneyland someone can look at their tag and call us (the phone # is on there, I just covered it up for this post)

LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES EVERYONE!!!

Tissue Paper Pom Pom's

2010-03-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

A lot of you might already know how to make these, but this is for those of you who don’t, here is the tutorial I promised. Cute colors, huh?! So Bright and Springy!

to make them different sizes, Just cut more of the tissue paper off the ends if you’d like them to be smaller.

Start with 10-12 sheets of paper. I put some of the polka dot blue paper in with the solid blue (2 solid, 1 dot, 2 solid, 1 dot, 2 solid, 1 dot, 1 solid). Stack the sheets on top of each other and start folding accordion style. Folds should be about 1 1/2″ wide. If you’re making smaller poms make the fold width about 1″ wide.

Once you’re done, fold the paper in half just to find the center of the paper.

Cut a piece of wire 6″-8″ long. Put the wire in the center of the paper and twist the ends together to keep the wire in place. This will be in the center of the pom.

Make a loop with the ends of the wire. Put ribbon, string or fishing line through the loop, when you’re finished making the pom, to hang it by.

Draw an arch or semi-circle at each end of the paper to form the petals.

Use sharp scissors and cut through all the layers of the tissue paper.

Fan the paper out like this

Then start pulling the papers up (towards the center) to form the pom, one sheet at a time. You need to be careful so you don’t tear the paper. Be gentle at first, you can make adjustments later. This picture is half a pom.

Fluff and make adjustments to the poms till they look the way you like. The pink one is all solid sheets and the green one is 7 solids and 3 stripes.

So fun and add color to any decor :)

It looks like Spring on my table :) Let me know if you have any questions and this doesn't make sense. If you want to just buy them instead of make them, I found a cute shop on Etsy called "Party Pom Pom's" that sells them.

3 little monkeys on my bed...

2010-03-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

I know I said my next post would be the crepe paper lanterns, but I just couldn't help it... Look how cute my little monkeys are! Thank you Old navy for having matching jammies in all sizes :)

Gosh I love my kiddos :)