Daylights

Mickey Mouse Birthday Invitation

2012-01-24T11:29:00.008-07:00

It's sad that my little guy's birthday was over six months ago and I've never talked about his party! But part of that is because I didn't take any pictures of it; my dad did. And I only recently received copies of the pictures. Then, I lost the cd! I tell you, my pregnant brain is so scattered these days! So now I have to wait for another copy.

Littlefoot's birthday was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed. It was one of his favorite shows (still is but "Curious George" tops them all right now), so I thought it would be the perfect theme. Because it was July, we did a water party in the mix of it because he loves water too.

Anyway, here are the invitations that I whipped up for the party. I love how they turned out. I used a really cute digital scrapbook kit by Connie Prince called "Main Street Magic". It's themed for Disney and had a lot of fun bright colors and elements. Because Disney has everything copyrighted, it is difficult to find specific images and designers aren't allowed to use certain phrases and images in their kits. Anyway, I created the template on my own in Photoshop Elements. It was simple-just three circles and then a cloud bubble to go on the outside. I added the elements and paper and shadows to make it fun, and used a free font you can find here that is perfectly Disney! Here are the images of the bubble cloud and the invitation itself. I printed them on HP Matte Premium Presentation Paper (the best paper for printing ever! Love it so much more than printed on cardstock or photo paper) and then adhered the main invitation to black cardstock and cut it out. Then, I folded the bottom part up until it matched the top, leaving the ears out. I used pop dots for the bubble clouds on the front of the invitation to make it jump. For the envelopes, I found some fun bright green and blue A7 (for 5x7 cards) and the invites fit perfectly.

I would so love the share my creations with you but it wouldn't be fair to Connie Prince, the fabulous designer! However, if you are are savvy with Photoshop and would like the template I created, leave me a comment with your email and I'd be happy to send it as a .psd file or tif (it has all of the layers with it).

I used the same kit by Connie for all of the rest of the decorations, from the banner, the pinwheels, and even the favors. It was perfect and matched so well! As soon as I get the pictures, I'll post them. And you should see the cake our fabulous cousin made! A replica of Mickey's clubhouse, complete with bright colors in the cake itself when you cut it.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Oh, and for a great tutorial on making the perfect little mouse ears for the guests, check out The Suburban Mom's tutorial. I followed her instructions to a "t" and they ended up being cute and sturdy! I even used a pair for Halloween this year. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to make them. Depending on how many you make, they do take time. I started about a month before. Check her out here. Here is a pic of them from her blog:

Linking up:

Night Time Drama

2012-01-20T22:53:00.003-07:00

Lately, Littlefoot has had issues with going to bed. And he's been even more clingy to me than usual. It's as though he knows his life is about to be turned upside down and he's going to have to share me! Anyway, he's been going to sleep much later than normal. He already has a late bedtime, 9:30, because Jared isn't done teaching his guitar lessons until 7:30, we eat dinner late, and then Littlefoot needs some Daddy time. It's worked out okay, and he sleeps until 8:30 in the morning. But, after reading his books, saying his prayers (which he says himself now with some help), it still isn't enough. Sometimes, he falls asleep in unusual places-usually wherever I am. In this case, it was the doorway of our bedroom, across the hall from my office (which has since moved), because he knew he couldn't be in the same room with me but still wanted a visual.

So, one night, after fighting to keep him in bed (sometimes threatening to close the door works and other times it doesn't), Jared decided to play his guitar for him. He's been working on memorizing songs and thought it would be enjoyable for both of them. And now, Littlefoot can't go to sleep without being serenaded by Daddy. We've tried it, but he'll inevitably end up wanted his private concert. The other night, Jared was particularly tired. I put Littlefoot down, warned him to stay in bed, and came back down the stairs to finish the Jazz game. A few minutes later, we heard little feet upstairs and there he was, blanket in hand, sleep in his eyes. I looked up and asked him want he needed. He quietly whispered "Daddy". Jared got up and asked him what he wanted to which he replied "guitar" (he says this cute and elongates the "r" sound). It was adorable! How could you say no to that?

So now, it's part of his routine. In fact, Jared is upstairs playing for him now. In fact, he was so excited for the guitar playing that he didn't care that I wasn't the one putting him to bed or that he wasn't getting his nightly ritual of books. I guess I got tonight off :)

Emma Quote Printable

2012-01-17T18:28:00.005-07:00

I've been experimenting with some printables to put up around our bare house for Valentine's Day and whipped this baby up! "Emma" by Jane Austen, as well as the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow, is one of my favorites and I love this quote by Mr. Knightley (because it's so true!). Anyway, I need to find the perfect frame for it now, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share. It's an 8x10 size. If you'd like a copy, leave your email in a comment and I'd be happy to send it over! I still don't have my file sharing put together so I apologize for the inconvenience :)

Linking up:

Don't Ever...

2012-01-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

Buy cheese at the Dollar Store. It's. Not. A. Good. Idea!!!!! Maybe it's just because I'm pregnant... Nope. Just a bad idea all together. Pretty sure it's not real! Didn't even melt on my chili. I hope I helped save you some frustration in the future.

And a dollar.

Proud

2012-01-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

Playing at the Day family Nativity

of this guy right here! Last year, he decided to really work at learning theory and improving on classical and lead guitar. And he's done it. He has made so much progress and it's only improved his teaching! And the best part is that he loves what he is doing. I'll admit, I sometimes get a little jealous of all the time he spends with the guitar, but it's his passion (and it's really not that much time, I'm just a jealous woman I guess!). This year, he played a few times for people throughout the holidays on his classical, including his work party. He hates performing, but he did brilliantly and I was proud!

It's so great to see someone you love improving on a passion. It's inspired me to be even more diligent in my piano studies!

Playing at his work's party

Christmas

2012-01-08T23:21:00.007-07:00

We had a wonderful holiday with our families! And I love that each year, Christmas gets more exciting with Littlefoot. Christmas with the three of us was simple-Littlefoot received one "big" gift (it wasn't really big though), an outfit, and then a bunch of little things I had picked up at the dollar store. Jared and I had already received our gift-a brand new chest freezer! We needed one in the worst way because we could never stock up on anything when there were sales and our current freezer was so skinny and small, I couldn't even fit a frozen pizza! It's funny how things change when you're an adult. The night before, we had opened up our new pajamas. I was especially excited for those! I needed some new ones :) We had to wake up Littlefoot because we had church at 9 am. We made the mistake of giving him his main gift first before the other stuff. This little house is by Leapfrog and he absolutely would not part with it when we found it at Kohls on Black Friday. We knew then it was a keeper! He was so happy to see it again, and barely acknowledged the other stuff until he saw the Curious George books and the hot wheels car daddy had found for him.

We went to a different ward's sacrament meeting instead of our own because we needed to see my family that morning (my brother is a police officer and had to work in the afternoon). I always love that the spirit is the same no matter where you are. And while the spirit was strong, we also realized how blessed we were for the friends in our ward.

I don't have the pictures from my family yet, but we'll just say that Littlefoot was spoiled! It's his last holiday as the only grandchild (none of my siblings are married), and he is Loved! My brother and his girlfriend especially went all out, buying him new cool cups, several pairs of pajamas, shirts, and a couple of toys. They even spoiled Baby Boy with some new clothes too! Grandma and Grandpa got him Let's Rock Elmo (his eyes lit up at that one) and a train set. He's been loving trains lately and he was excited for that one. My brother also got him a toy AR (automatic rifle). We are gun people so please, no judgement :) It lights up and makes the sound and moves like the real thing. We found it pretty funny! It's definitely a toy that we'll only pull out every now and then. It was special being with my family because my sister won't be here next year. There were a lot of sentimental gifts given, including a sweet one from my brother's girlfriend to him. She found a picture of him and my grandpa, who has passed on, from third grade and had it enlarged. It was so sweet!

Following my family, we headed to Jared's. The first thing Littefoot did when we arrived was plop himself down in the living room with his cousin and one of their new tea sets. He loves playing with cups so it was right up his alley! It was hard to pull him away to open presents, but we were able to. It was worth it for him because he got his very first Buzz Lightyear toy! And then he was back to playing "tea" with his three girl cousins (they are all just a year and two years older than him-the closest in age). We found them in the hallway with the oldest one pouring water from her kettle. Pretty darn cute! While we were together, we took some pictures with the adults. Not my favorite thing to do right now being prego, but I had to grin and go along with it!

It was a perfect Christmas. Jared actually says it's the best we've had together so far :) We loved being able to go home that evening and enjoying each other.

And here are the scrapbook pages I have from Christmas so far:

Day family Nativity

our only encounter with Santa this year and he still cried!

French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting

2012-01-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read right: French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting. And bacon sprinkles. What? Bacon on a cupcake? Yes, it's true! I made French Toast Cupcakes and they were delicious. How did I come across these little beauties? Well, I happen to watch "Good Things Utah" regularly while I do my morning cleaning. And one morning, during the cooking segment, they had a gal on there making these cupcakes from a recipe she had created. I have been obsessed with cupcakes lately and was intrigued by them, especially the bacon on top. It sounded disgusting! But after watching the segment, I determined that I was going to make them too. I was teaching Young Women's a few weeks ago, and Jared was teaching his lesson in Young Men's, and thought it would be a fun thing to make for the kids. We have our lesson last in church, and the talk in the hallway following Sunday School was about the cupcakes with bacon on top! Too funny. Everyone tried one, just to satisfy their curiosity. And they were all pleasantly surprised, including me. They just had to have the recipe! Who would have thought you could create a breakfast cupcake like this? It really did taste like French Toast with maple syrup. The recipe calls to just add small strips of bacon, but I decided to put them in a baggie and crush them to create sprinkles instead. A great tip for frosting them is to use a plastic baggie, line it in a cup (this is an essential step!), fill it up with the icing, and cut the tip off of one end. This is definitely a recipe that will get attention and everyone will want the recipe! You may want to check out Wendy Paul's book of amazing cupcake recipes. I bought it and I am having the best time with the recipes. Cupcakes make perfect gifts and Michaels has a ton of really cute cupcake liners right now to dress them up even more!

And be prepared to have the recipe ready to give out because you will have people asking for it. It's been a year and a half since I first made them, and I still have people asking for the recipe!

French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting
Prepared by Wendy Paul
101 Gourmet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

* 1 box white cake mix
* 3 eggs
* 1 cup half and half
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* Maple Butter cream frosting
* ½ lb. Bacon slices, cooked until crispy, cut into 2” strips

Method:
Mix together cake mix, eggs, half and half, vanilla, and spices. Beat batter until well combined. Do not over mix.

Scoop batter into paper liners filling ¾ full. Batter will be thick. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until cupcakes are slightly golden around the edge. Remove cupcakes from the oven and cool completely. Frost with maple buttercream frosting. Top with 2 small strips of bacon.

Maple Buttercream frosting

* 1 ½ teaspoons maple flavoring
* 2 sticks butter
* 3 tablespoons cream
* 1 lb. Powdered sugar

In a large mixer, add maple flavoring, butter and cream, beating on medium until smooth. Stop mixer and add ½ of the powdered sugar. Starting mixer on low speed, until powdered sugar is incorporated. Stop mixer and add remaining powdered sugar until desired texture. You may add more cream if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. Frost cooled cupcakes.

Linkin' up to:

"Sweet Tooth" Candy Jar

2011-12-21T09:59:00.002-07:00

'Tis the season for homemade things! Because of our tight budget, especially with our little guy on the way, I'm making most of our gifts again this year. Unfortunately, I'm still not done with most of them! But I'll make it. This year, my goal is to have them done before Christmas Eve so I'm not up until 2 am like I was last year! And we promised Littlefoot we'd take him to see "Chipwrecked" Christmas Eve. :)

Anyway, here is one of the gifts that is finished! I bought this cute jar for $5.97 at Tai Pan Trading. It's darling and I had to snag it, even thought I didn't know who or what it would be for. Well, I found the perfect person on our list to give it to-they always have bowls of candy, but they are random and get a little messy. So I decided to make them this candy jar to store their goodies!

I thought about using vinyl to decorate the front, but decided I wanted something more permanent. I've never tried glass etching before, even though I've had the stuff for three years in my craft stash, and decided to give it a whirl. I found the cute "Sweet Tooth" image from Silhouette and used the outline of the image as my stencil (I used my cutter to cut it out of vinyl).

Glass etching is super easy and fast! Just follow the directions on the bottle, wait five minutes, rinse it off, and voila! A cute, simple, practical gift. I used the "Armour Etch" brand. I did have a little trouble keeping my stencil totally flat because the jar is so rounded so some of the etching cream slid under the stencil, but only a little and it ended up matching the font anyway. I'm excited to use it for more projects! My hubby is even thinking of doing something similar for his mom. We only have three more days to get it done!

To finish it off, I added to pieces of ribbon and then the little flower to the ribbon, using hot glue. I had some shred on hand that I had bought from the dollar store and added this person's favorite treats! I can't wait to give it to her on Christmas!

28 Weeks

2011-12-14T00:11:00.004-07:00

Wahoo! We've hit the 28 week mark and I am officially in the third trimester. I seriously thought I'd never make it here! :) My belly finally popped out a couple of weeks ago so I actually look pregnant now rather than just a little extra round! I really like the format my friend Annalisa does for her updates, so I am going to borrow it! It's easier that way. Oh, and sorry for the bad picture. We took that at 10:30 at night last week, right after my sister read her mission call. From that picture, I learned that I just shouldn't wear a turtleneck in the third trimester... LOL.
Pregnancy Statistics
How far along? 27 weeks, 5 days (as of when the picture was taken)
Gender: Boy
Current Cravings: Ice, Carbs, and Oranges
Weight gain: +5 lbs (compared to about 15 with Littlefoot at this same time)
Best moment this week: Laying down on the ground at the temple with my video camera in hand to get the perfect shot at a wedding I filmed over the weekend. I'm sure I looked hilarious!
Worst moment this week: Hmmm... my back getting worse, finding out my thyroid is still too low, and also discovering that I'm anemic as well. Explains the extreme fatigue and light headedness!
Belly button in or out: In
Labor signs: Good ole' Braxton-Hicks. But I've had those since 12 weeks :)
What I miss: Feta cheese and cold cut sandwiches. I've been craving a good sandwich and sometimes having it hot just isn't the same!
What I'm looking forward to: Picking out a name for this poor boy. We have some cute ones but Jared's having a hard time committing. Also excited for Christmas and all the fun things we get to do as a family.

To Serve and Dream...

2011-12-13T23:37:00.006-07:00

Last week we were able to participate in a great event as a family! My little sister decided last year that she wanted to serve a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). She had to wait until now to do all of the paperwork (women have to 21 or older and young men 19 or older) and receive her call. Our leaders we believe are divinely inspired to call each individual who chooses to go on a mission and who is worthy to a certain part of the world. My husband, for example, was called to England. There are missions all over the world, and we've all been trying to guess where she might end up for the next 18 months of her life (men serve for 2 years). She has taken Japanese for four years, in high school and college, and did included that information in her paperwork. But none of us thought that she would end up there... It was her dream to go there, but she was willing to go where the Lord wanted her to be. And if that meant learning another language too, then she'd do it!

She received her call in the mail last week and we arranged for our family to meet there later that night. I felt badly she had to wait so long but we all wanted to be a part of it! She began reading the letter and then stopped, put her hand to her mouth, said "Oh my gosh" before reading "you have been called to serve in the Japan Tokyo mission...". Immediately, the family erupted in cheers and tears because we were so excited! Here are some pictures with our new, soon-to-be sister missionary!

And, of course I had to shoot a video! I forgot my nice video camera I use for weddings, but my digital did well enough :)

All I Want For Christmas...

2011-12-13T23:26:00.003-07:00

The other day, I walked in my office to find Littlefoot on the floor, spread over the Toys R' Us Christmas Toy Catalog. He had found it on my desk and acted like it was the coolest thing he had seen! He found the page with the dinosaur toys and trains and staired at it for about 20 minutes, which is like 2 hours in his time :) He'd look up excitedly every couple of minutes and say "Roarroar" (dinosaur) and "Train! Choo, choo!". Then he'd roar as loud as possible and go back to looking at the catalog. I think he may have been trying to tell Santa something...

Please, please Santa! Look how cute and good I am!

And this is the scrapbook page I did to document the occasion. I used several different kits from Gingerscraps December Buffet "Who-Village", including Kathy Winters Designs, Blue Heart Designs, Jen Yurko, and Marie H Designs.

O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-09T17:37:00.008-07:00

I love pulling out my Christmas decorations, but most of all, I love to look at the things I've made in the past and see what new things I have room to make! I saw something like this on Pinterest and then on a local tv show, "Good Things Utah", and couldn't resist doing my own. Here's my take on the rolled paper Christmas tree. The best part? I bought some darling paper and embellishments either last year or the year before and never got around to using them for anything. And this was the perfect project for it! All of the supplies were from the "Fa La La La" collection by My Minds Eye. And I still have some stuff left over for other projects. Woot, woot! The other thing I added that I didn't see in previous projects was the 12x12 wood box frame. I bought that at a little local wood/craft store called "The Wood Connection". I'm addicted to that place! This box is basically like a wooden canvas and they have a ton of sizes. I have other projects up my sleeves with these babies, including some great Christmas gifts. In the meantime, here are the basic, simple instructions for how to make your own tree. Enjoy!

Rolled Paper Christmas Tree

Supplies:
12x12 frame of some sort (need a sturdy back for support)
12x12 Background paper
6-10 12x12 double sided scrapbook pages (cardstock like works best)
Ribbon (for trunk)
Embellishments
Paint (if needed to paint frame)
Hot Glue Gun
Ruler
Scissors
Clear Sealant

Directions:

1. Start by measuring your rolls of paper. Each roll is 3" high and then subsequently get smaller by half an inch. So the first strip, for the bottom of the tree, is 10" wide and 3" high. The next is 9.5" wide and 3" high. Continue that way with all of your papers, varying the patterns of each layer. I ended the top piece with a 2" wide and 3" high strip (even though you end up not seeing it). The nice thing about double sided paper is you can use the same piece of scrapbook paper a few times!
2. Roll your papers! I put a line of double sided tape to the top of each piece of paper before rolling so I didn't have to worry about losing the tightness of each roll. All of you have to do is roll and it's ready to adhere! If you do this, make sure your paying attention as your rolling to making sure you keep it tight and together.
3. Apply a layer of modge podge to your frame piece, and lay your background paper over it, smoothing out wrinkles. If you have clear drying wood glue, and your frame is wood like mine, you can also apply a layer of that to the wood and then lay your paper over the top.
4. Find your location for the bottom of your tree (not including the trunk), and layer each rolled paper to give you an idea of how and where you want each piece to be. Then, when you have it laid out the way you'd like it, use your hot glue gun to adhere each piece to the background.
5. Once the rolled papers are glued down, add your ribbon for the trunk of the tree. I had ribbons that went with the collection, and I used 6 different pieces and layered them over each other.
6. Add embellishments!
7. If you have wood showing on the sides or anywhere on your frame, paint the frame. Since mine was only on the sides, I could wait to paint it until I was finished. Any paint that spilled over to the sides was fine with me because it distressed the edges and made it look more vintage. But, if you're using a frame, you'll want that painted first :) I used "Iron Oxide" by Delta to paint my sides. I only did one layer because I wanted the wood to show through a little.
8. I modge podged over the papers and background paper to give extra protection, and then used my clear sealant over the entire project to give it even more protection. My sealant was a glaze that added a little sheen to it that I like.

Voila! You are finished. In total, I spent about two hours on the project. I did it during nap time watching a movie. I needed some "mommy time"!

Linking up to:

Baby Update & Trying For Gratitude

2011-11-15T22:31:00.004-07:00

I felt like updating how things have been going with baby #2. So far, so good with our little man! But I continue to feel horrible. It has been a long 6 months so far. I hoped that the second trimester would be better, like everyone says, but it hasn't. Some days, it's hard to even get out of bed and I often feel guilty for not trying to do enough with Littlefoot. Poor boy. He's so busy and active and gets so excited to play. At least when this little man is born and grown some, he'll have a live in playmate! In the meantime, 108 days is still forever away. I'm grateful for the holidays because it always means time goes faster.

We haven't had any health issues that are hurting me or the baby so far. My thyroid is still low and they just can't get it regulated, but otherwise all the other things I feel I just have to grin and bear. I developed reflux last week that comes on no matter what I eat and, with that, horrible stomach pains and cramping. The pinched nerve in my back still puts me out sometimes and the headaches, nausea, and contractions just add to all of the fun. I've also only gained three pounds so far because of how sick I've felt. Food and I just aren't friends.

But through it all, I try to remind myself how blessed we are to have a family. When I was first pregnant and feeling particularly horribly, I posted some of my woes on Facebook. I try not to whine on my Facebook updates because I don't want to be that way, I like to be positive, but I occasionally give in. Anyway, one of our friends, who recently suffered a loss in her pregnancy commented something to the effect of "At least you can have a baby". When I read that, it brought perspective crashing down on me. She was right. Despite all the symptoms and everything I feel, we are blessed to have a healthy baby so far. And that I'm healthy too. That we have a vibrant, happy, and extremely healthy toddler.

It's amazing what switching your perspective can do. I still do find myself crying, asking the Lord for strength. There are days I feel so miserable and wonder how on earth I'll make it to March. But in the grand scheme of things, it's such a short amount of time and the end result is an eternity of joy and happiness in our children and posterity.

I enjoy watching "19 Kids and Counting". Despite the fact that I have no idea how they stay sane, I believe they have done an amazing job keeping their kids grounded, charitable, and they are self-sufficient! Anyway, the last episode is where they announced they are pregnant with baby #20. I don't know how she does it...They asked her if she was worried or concerned at all for this baby because of what happened with baby 19 (who was born around 24 weeks and barely made it). She responded with faith saying that she believed the Lord was watching over them and that if he wanted them to have this child, she was going to do it. And while she may be concerned for her own health and what she may go through to bring the baby into the world, that she would do it. Because it was a sacrifice that she was willing to make. After watching that, I realized the same thing. Bringing a child into the world is worth the sacrifices we make as women, going through the pregnancies and all that follows after.

So, I'm going to do my best to keep my head up. To ask the Lord for His help and strength. And to have gratitude for the opportunity I have to help raise His children.

Thanksgiving Vintage Pinwheel Display

2011-11-15T19:38:00.007-07:00

I loved the pinwheels I made for Halloween so much,

I decided I needed to do something for Thanksgiving too! They are so easy to make, cheap, and add a fun little touch to my seasonal decor. Plus, I love the Vintage Bottlecap images that Kathy Winters has (she has them for Halloween and Christmas too).

Anyway, this little display was super easy to do. Here's what you need:

Supplies
A dowel or stick
Ribbon in various colors
Thin Ribbon to string
Pinwheel Flowers Template
Digital Stash of Papers to add to template
(or you can use the template with your own 8.5x11 papers)
Vintage Thanksgiving Bottlecap Images
Scoring Tool
Scissors
Glue Dots or Hot Glue Gun

Directions

1. If doing regular paper scrapping: print out flower pinwheel template and cut your flower strips. You need two strips per pinwheel. I only used the big and middle sized pinwheels. If doing digital, "cut" your digital papers to the big and middle sized pinwheels.
I had 8 different pinwheels, each used twice. So for two pinwheels, you need 4 strips of the same pattern (hope that makes sense).
2. Take the vintage bottlecap images and put them in a new document either in Photoshop, Word, or even Publisher. I put all 16 on one page and made them slightly larger. Print and cut out.
3. Score your pinwheels. I did the score marks 1/2" apart. Then, fold them accordion style. Line the edges of two strips of the same pattern together and use glue dots or hot glue to adhere. Do it again with the other side to form a circle.
4. Here's the tricky part-after the pinwheels are in their circles, bring the center together by folding it in on itself, use a glue dot or hot glue to adhere the center together. Add the bottlecap image and, for the back, adhere a small strip of scrap paper just to keep the center together.
5. After all of the pinwheels are assembled, tie the ribbon to your dowel. Also add four strips of your thin ribbon, each the same length, and tie them the same width apart.
6. Layout your pinwheels in the pattern you'd like them to be. I found it was easier to have it all laid out the way I wanted it, including width. Then, I hot glued the thin ribbon to the back of each pinwheel.

Voila! Hang it up and enjoy!!! If you use hot glue, the pinwheels will hold together permanently. Glue dots don't always hold up so well. I cheated and used glue dots because I was lazy, but I'll be going back and hot gluing to make it more permanent.

And here are some close ups of the pinwheel flowers! I used a digital scrapbook kit by Designs LauraMarie Scraps called "Family Apples".

As always, linking up to these great parties!

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

2011-11-15T19:03:00.009-07:00

I know we're all thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I loved these pictures and wanted to share :) We ran to a pumpkin patch last month on the way to our annual pumpkin carving party and I snapped these pictures. It was so cute to watch Littlefoot try to pick up all the pumpkins! And they even had a slide made of straw bales and piping. Score! I had fun with my photoshop actions on these pictures.

And lastly, I thought I'd share some pictures from Halloween. We always go visit Jared at work and I love this one of my two boys:

We went trick or treating around our neighborhood with my family. The only person missing was one of my sisters. But that's the way it goes when you're the only grandchild/nephew! Our Littlefoot is spoiled. He had quite the entourage! Later, we went to Grandma Day's house for the annual family Halloween party. She always goes all out and had been decorating for days beforehand. Littlefoot is getting so grown up; he sat with the kids at their table and ate his soup bowl all by himself (and he insisted on keeping his coat on). He was actually the first grandchild to finish his soup and he's the youngest. I was proud of my boy :) He was happy just being with his cousins and finding suckers wherever he could. They are definitely his favorite treat (and we've been trying to hide them ever since!).Our family

The entourage

Our big boy eating his soup

Jared's parents-his dad NEVER dresses up!

Poor kid has my cheeks and even his cousins love to squeeze them!

And finally, here is our little man at our ward trunk or treat a couple of nights before Halloween. Not long after this picture, he threw about five tantrums! Ahh, the life of a toddler :)

Digi-Layouts

2011-11-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to have our 2011 scrapbook complete by the end of the year. With only a month and half, I'm feeling the pinch! But, I am honestly more caught up than I thought. I've been digital scrapbooking for a few years using an easy to use program called Memory Mixer because I was always afraid of Photoshop. Then, last year I heard about a free online course making hybrid cards through Jessica Sprague. Taking her class showed me how easy Photoshop was to use and I began taking her Photoshop Friday series (which is no longer available unfortunately!). I also took an album class. Anyway, I updated my Photoshop Elements program and started using it at the end of January. And now I'm addicted. I've also been blessed to have been invited to be on several designers and a website's Creative Team, which basically means that in exchange for getting their kits, I create pages and projects that they use for advertising purposes. So, my habit is satiated without breaking the bank! Anyway, I've shared my pages on Facebhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifook, but haven't really here. So, I thought I'd share some recent ones. I love that I feel like I'm documenting my family's history while enjoying it at the same time (and each layout takes about an hour or so as opposed to the hours I used to spend paper scrapbooking!).

All of these pages were made using products from designers at . And if you'd like to get started and try Photoshop out, you can download a free trial from their website and Jessica Sprague is doing a free webinar, including helping you create your first scrapbook page (she always includes the supplies needed for the page too).

Under $5 ABC Football Wall Art

2011-11-02T18:43:00.006-06:00

Have I mentioned before how much I love digital? It's easy, you never run out of anything, except for maybe paper and ink for your printer, and you can create great, cheap decor with it! It's right up my alley :)

So, Littlefoot's room has been a bit bare on his walls. Not completely, because he has a couple of shelves and his name and a banner... Okay, so maybe not as bare as I thought. But enough that I've been wanting to do something to add more personality. His room is sports themed and, after one ofhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the designers I CT for (CT stands for Creative Team) created an ABC Wall Art template, I jumped at the chance to make something great with it! I searched for the perfect digital kit and found one called "Hooray for the Home Team" by Kathy Winters Designs. It's football related and so cute! Oh, and the ABC Wall Art Template was created by the lovely Krisi Kreations.

If you've never used Photoshop Elements or joined the glorious world of templates, you are missing out! Definitely download the trial version of Photoshop and look for the millions of template related tutorials that show you how to use them. It's so easy!!! I created the wall art in about 30 minutes and then sent it away to Costco where I had them print it as an 11x14.

I wasn't sure what I'd do about a frame until I stumbled upon wood frames in that size at Dollar Tree! Have I mentioned before how much I love that place? I knew I wanted to dress the frame up a little, so I found these cute buttons at Hobby Lobby and used my 40% coupon (they ended up being about $1.25 or so). I just had to take the knobs off the back of them and then hot glued them to the frame. I inserted my lovely print and VOILA!!! Cheap, cute, personalized wall art for my boy. It's perfect! The great thing too is that I didn't have to paint the frame. It came in that red shade which matched the red tone of the decor in his room perfectly.

Sorry for the flash-I had to use it!

I am in love and can't help but pat myself on the back a little when I see it. That's okay to do right? The cost of the project ended up being about $5 and some change.

Linkin' up to:

Signs of Stroke

2011-10-27T19:25:00.003-06:00

Today on Studio 5 (one of the shows I DVR and watch during "mommy's time"), they had a nurse on talking about the signs of stroke. It really is so important to know because you have such a small window to respond and get medical help for them. Also, age really isn't an issue, although it happens in people more frequently later on in life. I actually had an experience with it last year, though the knothead doctors determined it was migraine (riddle me this-how can you have stroke like symptoms from a migraine that never manifests itself?). Anyway, I actually had all of these symptoms they discuss below. According to smarter doctors, I most likely had a small stroke that dissipated on its own. Still freaks me out sometimes. And can I just say that I hate how some doctors treat you like you have some psychological issue when you're a young woman without a clear problem? It's why my doctor is female! Anyway,rant over. Here are the signs. It's an acronym:

F.A.S.T
F=Facial Weakness-Can the person smile? Does their mouth droop to one side?
A=Arm Weakness-Can the person raise both arms? Can they grasp things with both arms? Is there dizziness or unsteadiness?
S=Speech Problems-Can the person speak clearly? Are they slurring their words? Are they suddenly confused?
T=Time Is Important-Call 911 Immediately

You can read about my experience last year here. I really did have all of the symptoms and I think our issue was that the nurse who admitted me didn't listen to a word the paramedic told her. Nice huh? I still think it's a miracle that it went away on its own. As for the garbled speech, here is a clip of a reporter on air who was apparently also having a stroke, who later was diagnosed with a migraine as well (I don't believe she had any of the other signs).

BOO!

2011-10-27T17:09:00.001-06:00

As I said in an earlier post, I've really had a need for little small projects lately. Things I can do while sitting on the couch watching "Three Men and A Little Lady" (did you hear they are supposedly coming out with another movie?). Anyway, I really enjoy felt applique and decided to bust something out using some of my leftover felt. I've made our stockings this way by buying the kits (which take a lot of time but are so worth it!). If you've never tried it, you should. Felt is so easy to work with, and for someone like me who is still a little afraid of the sewing machine, it's perfect.

Anyway, here is what I came up. I found black, purple, and green 8.5x11 felt sheets in my stash and some leftover embroidery thread. I still have plenty of stuffing and I found the cute little Halloween buttons at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 (but with the 40% they around $1.50). I'm sorry I didn't do pictures as a step by step, but it was so easy I didn't think it was necessary.

1. I folded my felt sheets in half length-wise (hamburger style, LOL)
2. I traced my letters free hand. Yep, free hand. It made it feel more authentic. I made sure to leave a little room leftover for scraps to use as the hole in the middle of the letters.
3. Cut out letters, front and back.
4. Cut out the middles for the letters (the 2 for the "B" and one each for the "O"s).
5. Applique the middles to the letters. If you have a sewing machine, go for it!
6. Adhere front and backs together. I'm not sure what the exact name of the stitch I used is called-it's the one that loops around the edges to give it a secure edge. If you have a sewing machine, even easier! Be sure to leave a spot open to stuff it before sealing closed.
7. I stitched the letters together, making the middle "O" the furthest letter to the back.
8. I added two strips of felt to each side to loop ribbon through, one on the back of the "B" and the other on the back of the right "O". Then, I added ribbon.
9. Here's where I ran into a problem. When I hung it up, it bunched together. My hubsters came to the rescue and gave me the idea to add something hard to the back. Aha! A strip of chipboard did the trick. I hot glued it and the sign hung flat.
10. Finally, I took the button loops off the back of the buttons with scissors and hot glued them to the felt letters.

Voila! It took me a movie plus a little extra to finish (just because I had some mommy duties to attend to). And it got me using my extra stash of felt that's been sitting around forever. It feels good to use up some of my craft stash!

Linking up to:

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Pink Is Not His Color

2011-10-27T16:58:00.004-06:00

To say that Littlefoot is busy is truly an understatement. He is 100% boy and full of energy like an Energizer Bunny. He gets that from his dad. I swear they never stop until they hit their pillows! Anyway, he's been getting into all kinds of things lately, things that I thought were safely tucked away in hidden places. Like my secret chocolate stash he recently found:

(Ignore his need for a haircut here)

And, he recently has started digging into my Mary Kay inventory. His favorite thing to play with? Lipstick. It's bright, gooey, and reminds him of a crayon. And he always goes for the brightest colors. Last week, I was working in my office and he had disappeared. If I can hear him, I normally don't worry because I usually know what he's up to based on the sounds I hear. But it got quiet. I went out to check on him after a couple of minutes and found him with a tube of red lipstick. And it was smeared all over his face, hands, and on the walls. Thankfully, it didn't get on his clothes! Because it was my fault for not putting it up forever ago, and locking the door to the closet it's in, I couldn't help but laugh. And that made him giggle too. Maybe I shouldn't have caved in to laughter, because it didn't teach him not to play in it, but sometimes you just can't help yourself. Especially when you know that, as the parent, it's ultimately your fault. All I can say is, I don't think pink is his color (much to his father's relief!!).

My Fall Wreath

2011-10-27T16:42:00.005-06:00

I've been doing a lot of smaller crafts lately, just because it gives my hands something to do when I need to rest. I always feel guilty "just resting", and it is a fulfilling thing to get something accomplished. There have been so many cute fall wreaths around-from ribbon covered to corn husks to monograms... I've wanted to do them all. But, we're on a budget, and I had to use what we already had. A few years ago, I was on a real kick with buying fall floral so I have a lot of it packed away. And the dollar store now carries 9" wreaths (would you call them twigs or just wood)? Anyway, it's perfect for someone creating on a budget! All I had to do to get the dark brown color was spray paint it. I also had a little ribbon left over that I weaved through it, adhering with some hot glue. Then I strategically placed the flowers and little apples (they were on a spray that I cut apart). I really love scarecrows so I couldn't help myself :)

I kept it simple and liked the country flavor it had. If Jared ever lets me decorate the kitchen, I'd do it country. But for now, it stays with the door :) I'm linking this up the the CSI Project. If you have a fun fall wreath, link up too! Lil' Luna is the guest judge this week. And be sure to check out each week's theme because you never know...

Updating

2011-10-27T16:08:00.003-06:00

It's been forever since I've looked at my poor, sad little blog. I think about updating it all the time, but never do! But because we have more family that has now since moved out of town, I feel it's more important to update it. Plus, it's fun to post my crafts and things to share with others. Try as he may, Jared doesn't get as excited as some of my other blogging friends about creating and spray painting. LOL.

So, rather than backtracking too much, I'm just going to start as though it's all new again. And first up, it's our big news and one of the reasons I've neglected the computer more. We found out a couple of weeks ago that Littlefoot is having a baby brother! I swore up and down it was a girl, but Jared knew all along he was going to have another son. I did want a boy this time around, I'm just hoping I get a girl for the next one :) Here he is declaring the big news:

So far, everything is looking good. He's healthy and moving right along for his due date in March. I was relieved because I have been so sick with this one. I actually lost weight between my 12 and 16 week appointments and only gained a couple of pounds for the 20 week. My thyroid has also been low, and we just found out that the dose I've been on is finally working. So I've been extra tired and cranky :) I have a pinched nerve in my back, a small appetite, I'm still really nauseated, dealing with migrains on an almost daily basis, and the round ligament pain puts me out sometimes. I have to keep reminding myself that it will all be worth it! And I know it will. In the meantime, I'm not exactly my usual self. Other than that though, I'm healthy as well and my doctor even told me we'll probably induce me at 39 weeks. Hurray! That's one less week to worry about and we won't have any middle of the night visits. At least I'm crossing my fingers!

Summer Dollar Store Art

2011-06-07T23:00:00.009-06:00

Phew! I'm back. It's been a crazy month. I'm just finally getting better after having a virus that turned into sinus+ears+throat infections, and from having weddings every week for my videography business. It's that time of year!

I've also been playing catch up with my digital scrapbooking and crafting. When I was sick, I had no desire to do anything but watch TV (lame!). And the designers I CT have been pumping out the cutest stuff! This weekend, I decided to do some hybrid summer art for our house. It's looking a little sad right now and needed some sunny inspiration! Julie, of Creations By Julie at Gingerscraps, came out last week with a duo of cute summer cards, "Summer Fun Card Templates"-a flip flop and sun. I thought they'd be fun for my art pieces. Anyway, here's a little tutorial for making your very own $1 art pieces (yep, just a buck!).

First, you need some canvases. As you know, I LOVE the dollar store. Awhile back, I saw these canvas art pieces there and thought I'd snag them because you never know... And canvases can be a little expensive. They are about 7x7 in size.

I found a great kit by Cari Cruse called "Shimmering Summer". The kit is absolutely gorgeous-just like a summer sunset! I created two new 8x8 (2400x2400 pixels) documents in Photoshop Elements at 300 dpi. I chose one paper for each piece and dragged it onto the document and resized it. I'd show you pictures of them, but a little person (ahem) turned the power off on the computer before I saved them and they're lost! A great lesson on the importance of saving things before you get going on them too much.

I opened up the card templates. Because I wanted to add wordart to the pages, I dragged the actual flip flop or sun shape onto the new documents, just to get a feel for I wanted to place the wordart. There are other ways to do it, but that's how I did it. Once I had my placement for the wordart, I deleted the flip flop or sun image. The wordart I used also came from Creations By Julie, her "End of Summer Wordart" at least on the Flip Flop Piece. The word "summer" from the sun piece is part of the "Shimmering Summer" kit.

Next, I decorated the card images. Because I wanted the inside decorated too and wanted to print them front and back, I had to reverse the image to get the inside to fit the shape of front and back. I first decorated the front and back of the card and then printed it on cardstock. To get the three dimensional looks to the pieces, I also printed the flowers (for the flip flops) and the ribbon/bow (twice) as separate images to cut out and adhere. I hope this all makes sense! To reverse it, I used the move too, scrunched the image (on the template) towards the middle and then out again. To get the dimensions correctly, I placed guides at the edges before I reversed so I knew exactly how far to go. And then I decorated the inside and printed it as on the back of the cardstock I printed the front on.

Once everything was printed, it was time to mount it! I used my score guide to score an inch around each side of the background papers. Then, I folded the sides over and adhered with glue dots (love them!). I've also used Modge Podge before to do this, but it gets messy and can be a little irritating. To make it look right, I folded the top and bottom of the paper first, and then the sides (see photo). I did not adhere the front with anything-I liked how it looked with just the sides glued down.

Finally, it was time to assemble. I cut everything out, distressed them with some watercolor colored pencils (they were easier to use than distressing ink for this) and glued the cards down, then added the elements. For the sun, I printed a second ribbon/bow (it comes as one piece) and cut just the bow out. This gave it an even more 3D look. I crinkled up the edges on both the bow and flowers (on the flip flop).

Voila! Cheap, cute, and fun summer artwork! If you really want to go the extra mile, you can cover it with a good coat of Hard Finish Modge Podge. I may do it eventually, but it sometimes changes the color of printed paper... I'm sorry I didn't have screenshots of everything, but I've learned my lesson. Thankfully, I got it printed before he turned it all off!

Linkin' up to:

Church Tote Bag

2011-05-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! I really love hybrid and have become pretty good at creating cards, favors, etc. But there is one thing I hadn't yet tackled-iron on transfers! I guess I was intimidated. Last week, while walking around Michaels trying to find something to make for Mother's Day, I happened on some tote bags and the fabric transfers. I decided it was time to try my hand at it, and I loved that I could go home and create something myself that could be worn/displayed. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures (I was in too big of a rush), but I decided to do another project that I'm going to show you today.

Michaels has these canvas totes that I thought it would make the perfect bag for taking to church with me. The first thing I did was create my image. I wanted a cluster with some pictures and a quote, so I found my favorite cluster on a template and used that. It was much faster, otherwise it wouhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifld have taken hours (I'm a perfectionist). Templates make great starting off points, and many have some great clustering! I used Christy Lyle's "Summer Brunch" kit-I love the colors and textures.

The tools: an iron, pillowcase, and iron-on transfer sheets
(I used the light fabric transfer sheets because my tote is white)

Be sure to follow the directions on the transfer sheets well. They actually change from one product (the light fabric) to the other (dark fabric). I used the dark fabric on my mother's day totes and the process was different from this one. The image actually came out better on the dark fabric image for some reason. Anyway, here's the final result after printing the image onto the transfer sheet and ironing:

The finished product. For my first time, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. The image didn't come off completely, but it ended up giving it a rustic look. I think I got a little impatient and didn't wait long enough or apply enough pressure! Next time, it will be even better! The sky is limit with these things, and with a good digital stash, you can create a ton of great images!

Oh, and if you're interested in a copy of the image I created (you can put your own pictures in it and it is in high resolution), leave me a comment with your email and I'd be happy to send you one!

iNSD Blog Train!

2011-05-06T23:38:00.005-06:00

Hello and happy interNational Scrapbooking Day! I have been so excited for this-like a kid at Christmas, and super busy creating layouts and hybrid projects for the designers I CT for, one of whom is Pixiemama Designs! If you're following her blog train, you are in the right spot. For your freebie, I created a recipe card template and a quickpage recipe card. Just click the image to get your freebies! And for the coupon, you can find it here. Have a fun, busy weekend and be sure to check out the happenings at Scrappity-Do-Dah! (UPDATE: If you came earlier and weren't able to download, for some reason the link wasn't working, but I have fixed it now!).

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you visit again :) You came from Deanna's blog, Flower Scraps, and your next stop is Missy's Moments. Here are the rest of the links in case you got lost:

Leticia - http://pixiemamadesigns.com
Amy - http://amiesscraps.blogspot.com/
Valarie - http://fleurdescrap.blogspot.com/
Kim - http://scrapinmamas.blogspot.com/
Deanna - http://flowerscrap.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://jaredandjenday.blogspot.com YOU ARE HERE
Missy - http://jrmminga.blogspot.com/
Melissa - http://mmhula.blogspot.com/
Jaya - http://scraps-by-jayaprem.blogspot.com

Beautiful Couple!

2011-05-03T16:54:00.002-06:00

Thought I'd share another great wedding! You can see more by visiting my videography blog, Daylight Productions, but here's this one of Corbin and Emily. I loved working with their family and the two of them are so sweet and fun!

Corbin & Emily from Jennifer Day on Vimeo.

It's here!

2011-05-01T23:53:00.001-06:00



Scrapping Fairytales’ Grand Opening!
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Find  more information and get your bingo card here.

Wedding Videography

2011-04-11T23:03:00.004-06:00

All right, so I promised I would tell you what I've been up to lately! I've seriously neglected this poor blog. It used to be easy; before I had Littlefoot, I'd update the blog at work in my down time. But now my only downtime is during his naps or after he goes to bed. It's too hard to work on the computer when he's awake! Although I did recently find a solution-we have the digital copy of "Toy Story 3" on Itunes. I put it on half the computer screen when I need to work, and then work on the other half. Thank you Disney!

Anyway, I have been working diligently on my wedding videography business. I've found that it's something I truly enjoy doing, and I've been lucky enough to have some great weddings recently! I love being a part of such a special day, and always leave with new friends. People are always happy and excited, and it reminds me of the love I have for my hubby and family.

I recently finished my brother-in-laws wedding. They did get married two years ago, but only decided on the music recently. They both had such different tastes in music, and also took my advice to heart. I always tell my couples to be sure to find songs that represent them and that they won't get sick of years down the road! This is their bridal/pre-wedding shoot. We did it at La Caille a couple of months before their big day. Pre-wedding shoots are nice because we have more control of our environment and time! Wedding days are usually rushed, and it's always nice to have the bride and grooms relaxed. Anywho, here's the video! Hope you enjoy it. If you'd like to see other videos, check out my website, Daylight Productions. Also, I am currently running a referral promotion. If you refer someone to me and they book a package, you receive 10% of whatever package they booked! So you get paid just for giving out my info. Nice, huh?

Rachael Phillip Day Bridal from Jennifer Day on Vimeo.

Toddlerdom

2011-04-11T22:53:00.003-06:00

I'm sure anyone would agree that life with a toddler is crazy! And it's a continual reminder as to why we don't have another one yet! I really don't know how people do it. But I do love it, some days I just have to remind myself that I love it! Anyway, Littlefoot has grown leaps and bounds, and is full of his own little personality. He is very active, climbing all over everything! He continues to pick up on words, some are clear as day and others need a translator (me, because I'm the only one that understands sometimes!). He loves to color (he calls it calcow), usually on anything but paper, is obsessed with "Toy Story", "Monsters Inc", and apparently has a crush on Belle from "Beauty and the Beast".

His love of music continues as he still loves playing the "nanio" and also the "tar" (guitar). Jared doesn't mind that he loves playing so much. He sometimes lets him play his guitar (Littlefoot has his own "Woody" guitar).

He still loves his bath and bubbles (one of the words he says that sounds correct), takes three hour naps, and continues to be the center of our world.

But he does have attitude! We have had to start doing timeouts, and they work! He hates it when we're upset with him (a characteristic he gets from me). If he knows he's in trouble, he covers his eyes in shame and immediately jets out some big ole' crocodile tears. He also hates to see me upset. If I start crying for any reason (which has happened some lately because of some physical pain I've had), he gets very concerned, gives me a big hug and kiss, and then tries to make me smile. What a sweetie! So, while we are entering the terrible two's, all those sweet little moments dull the tantrums and serve as little reminders that this little phase will pass!

New Look

2011-03-30T10:24:00.003-06:00

I finally updated my blog! Hooray! I have lots to post about, but I've been waiting to get the template changed. I'm so picky about things, and it honestly took forever to find a look that I like. I discovered LeeLou Blogs and they hooked me up with a cute, inexpensive look that I can actually be happy with! I've got to run for now, but I'll be back. I've done some fun wedding videos and crafts that I'm excited to share! Plus, Littlefoot has grown like crazy. See you soon!

Touched!

2011-01-28T15:55:00.002-07:00

Did anyone see this audition the other night? Oh. My. Goodness! What a sweet story and I'm so happy the guy can sing too!

It was particularly touching because Jared's uncle and aunt have a very similar story. His uncle was in a car accident 20 or so years ago and told he wouldn't make it too. Since then, our aunt has taken care of all of his needs. They have an amazing love story and he still has a very great sense of humor. We watch our aunt and are constantly amazed at the love, loyalty, and dedication she shows our uncle. It proves that love really can stand up to any of life's challenges. I hope this guy goes far!

Owl Always Love You Art

2011-01-24T23:46:00.007-07:00

This was a very easy, cheap craft. Two of my favorite things! I saw the bag in the Target dollar section and thought it was too cute to pass up. And I didn't want to give it away, so I thought I'd make it into a cute little art piece. Here were the supplies I used:

1 Dollar store black frame (w the glass out)
1 patterned fabric quarter (I used about 1/3 of it)
1 Target dollar section bag
1 black cardstock for the letters

I first cut the owl out of the bag. I used the side that had the owl popping off the page (the other side was flat). I then took the back out of the frame and traced the fabric around it and cut. My handy dandy glue gun adhered the fabric to the back of the frame (I did cute the corners so it wouldn't bunch). I had about an inch and a half of fabric wrapped around the back, and had to pull it a few times while gluing to be sure it stayed taut. I used the glue gun to adhere the owl in the middle.

At this point, I used my Silhouette to cut my letters out. Can I just say how much I love this machine? Seriously! I think the longest part of this craft was spent with me trying to choose which font wanted to use! It's so easy because I can use all of the fonts I already have on my computer. Love it!!! Anyway, I finally chose it and then used E6000 to put the letters on. I happened to have some extra left over from another craft and didn't want to waste it. Voila! Cheap, easy, cute and Littlefoot can't break it!! It's perfect :)

Welcome Colonel Feather!

2011-01-24T15:47:00.004-07:00

We'd like to introduce the newest member of our family-Colonel Feather! He came to our home unexpectedly but he has already grown on us in the few days he's been here. Our neighbors found him in their backyard a few months ago and borrowed our old sugarglider cage while they searched for his owners. But, no one has claimed him and I guess they decided to give him to us. But Jared forgot to mention it. One day last week, after he had come home, Littlefoot screamed bloody murder from downstairs (he had gone down a little before me, I promise I wasn't neglecting!). I thought for sure he was seriously hurt or something...Nope, he was scared! And I jumped too when I saw the random bird cage in our family room with a cockatou (I can't spell it). Anyway, he has a lot of attitude and is still warming up to us, but Jared did get him to stay on his hands. Littlefoot loves him and thinks it's funny to put some of his toys through the cage and play a little tug of war with the bird. Any advice on taking care of birds would be great! We have no idea what we're doing :)

The Nanio

2011-01-24T15:32:00.004-07:00

It seems we have a budding musician on our hands! Not only does he love playing Jared's guitar, he also climbs up the piano each day and performs his own little masterpiece. LOL! Every parent hopes their child is a prodigy! We went to the Jim Brickman concert on New Year's Eve and he said that if your little one just bangs on the keys, piano is not for them. But, if they play a little something, it just might be a good investment. Don't know if that's true, but since then I've watched how Littlefoot plays, and he does both. So, I guess we'll see!

He really loves playing though. He also likes to push the buttons and get the metronome or saved pieces playing. Our piano is an electric (the kind with weighted keys). And we can add another word to his ever growing vocabulary: "nanio", not to be confused with "ne-mo" (Elmo).

Project, projects, projects!

2011-01-19T15:01:00.009-07:00

I have been bit by the crafting bug again. Okay, so I always have that problem, but I've been giving in to it more so lately. I had plenty of Christmas decorations, at least enough to get me by while I made all of our Christmas gifts this year, but now our house is empty! So, I've been perusing the thrift stores, dollar stores, and fellow bloggers to find things I want to do.

I am also the secretary in our Young Women's organization for our local church. I love my calling and am grateful the president has been letting me run with ideas about how to unify our girls. One of the ideas I had was to do a mailbox. Each week, the mailbox is put out and we hand out the mail to the girls who have it. Then, they can each grab a card and write to each other and the leaders to thank them, give them encouragement, etc. They can sign their names or leave it anonymous. We are also going to leave it in the relief society room once a month for the sisters there to write to the young women. I remember how much I loved receiving kind comments and compliments from the women in my ward growing up, and thought it would fun for them to have that too.

Anyway, we tried it out last week for the first time and it was a hit! I had the leaders and myself write notes to a few of the girls so we had mail to start with. Immediately after separating for classes, many of the girls beelined it up the mailbox to grab their cards (we have a stack they can choose from) and write their notes.

I had this mailbox in my craft stash for a long time. I bought it originally at Michaels, thinking that I would use it for letters to Santa with our kids someday. But, it's now our mailbox. Everything I used to decorate it came from My Minds Eye. I love their stuff! I'll have to dig through to find out which line specifically. I used tacky tape and glue dots to apply everything.

For the body, I applied tacky tape to the edges of the box and then smoothed my paper over the body (I didn't want there to be a seam at the top). The 12x12 paper didn't cover it completely and there was excess on the two side bottoms. I used strips of a different paper to cover up the areas at the bottom and then went from there! I think just looking at it is pretty self-explanatory. The paper and embellishments were so cute, it made my job easy :)

I am linking this up!

Weddings Are Fun!

2011-01-19T14:57:00.002-07:00

I've spent a lot of time lately with my business, Daylight Productions. I spend a good chunk of time editing and authoring, but I'm loving it. I have some fun weddings coming up too so there will be more to post! I also love doing family videography with family histories, baby showers, birthdays, anniversaries, family documentaries, etc. There is so much you can do with video, and it's all priceless. Check out my videography blog for updates, giveaways, and new videos.

Wowsers

2011-01-19T14:48:00.004-07:00

Wowsers. I have neglected this blog big time! I used to be so good at it, but that was because I had a desk job and in my down time, I blogged or blog-stalked. And now when I'm on the computer, I'm generally working or just trying to keep up with pictures, journaling,etc.

I could go back and try to recap, but I'm not going to.

Let's just say my baby is growing up so fast and is now technically a toddler. He is even busier now and talking up a storm. My favorite words so far are "tatie" (blankie), "nano" (piano), "cheese!!!!!!!" (cheese, his favorite food), "heo" (hello), and "goggie" (doggie). He has a bunch of others, and I generally figure out one on daily basis. Poor kid, he tries to communicate but I don't always know what he's saying. And when I do figure out what he's saying, I feel like I just won "Wheel of Fortune"! Here are a couple of pictures of him recently. He's in the process of saying "hello" on the phone, pointing to the garbage truck (garbage day is an exciting day in our house), and eating with a spoon. He recently decided he wanted to start feeding himself. While it's messier, it's nice to relax a little more!

Happy Birthday Baby!

2010-12-15T00:14:00.004-07:00

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

I can't believe how much time has gone by! I swear it was just July and we were celebrating Littlefoot's birthday. And here we are in December. I thought I'd share some pictures of his birthday.

His favorite animal is a dog. He loves them and it was technically his first clear word. He really cannot get enough of dogs. So that made it easy to figure out a theme for his birthday.

I had our cousin Linda make his cake and she did an amazing job. It turned out so stinkin cute! I made some decorations, including a dog house out of posterboard for our picture taking station. The kids all got "dog ears" to wear, I found some fun dog decorations like the paper on the tables, balloons, napkins, etc online. I also tried making dog tags for all of the guests to wear but that didn't go over very well!

For our food, we had hot dogs, carrots, watermelon (a favorite of Littlefoot's), and other little things all served in dog bowls!

Following dinner, I planned games for the kids. Littlefoot didn't really know what was going on and enjoyed crawling around with his cousin, P. He still wasn't full on walking yet. Anyway, I planned a "dog relay race". The kids had to crawl to a bucket of wet balls (they were the squishy kind that soak up water) and crawl back to their team. Littlefoot and P started off for the teams because they were pros at crawling. They almost made it! The next was a dog scavenger hunt. The kids were given a clue that was hidden in a dog bone (also found online) and taken all over the back and front yards trying to find the next dog bone clue. At the end, they found a group of little stuffed animal dogs (from the dollar store but very cute!) waiting for each of them. Next, they played "Pin-the-Tail On the Doggie" (I drew the dog on posterboard and cut the tails myself). It was cute to see the little ones try for it! Next, they all took turns hitting the pinata (Littlefoot got to do it first), and then they raced for the candy and little items that fell out of it. The kids were all very good at making sure things were fair. And finally, we ended things with a "dog show". I had asked the kids to bring their favorite stuffed animals for our "dog show" on the invitation. They each took a turn parading their pooch in front of the adults, who clapped and cheered. And we were able to get a group shot before they went crazy!

To end the evening, we sang "Happy Birthday". Littlefoot hates that song. Or at least hates big groups of people singing loudly. He looked concerned throughout the song, especially considering his Grandpa convinced the others to sing the song silly like we do in my family (Jared's family sings the song in four part harmony and my family is opposite because we don't really sing!). We gave him the top layer to dig into, but he didn't seem to understand. After some coaching, he did dig in a bit but didn't get near as messy as I suspected. Finally, it was time for presents. Our family is wonderful and he received a lot of really fun gifts, from trucks to trains to balls! He is all boy and they were perfect for him.

It was an exhausting feat putting it all together, but completely worth it. Now I've got to start thinking of next year!

Quote the Raven....

2010-10-18T22:18:00.004-06:00

I LOVE anything vintage looking. There's something so charming about it. And I love Edgar Allan Poe. Okay, maybe not so much "Tell-Tale Heart". That one was a little too morbid for me. But "The Raven". Ahh, "The Raven" and I have great memories going back to my ninth grade Honors English class and a little project my friends and I did together that spiced up the poem a little. I'll never forget using the spray bottle...

Anyway, this project is perfect for me! It was cheap, different, and incorporated some vintage style. I wish I could take credit for it, but it came from Kristine McKay. She always has amazing ideas, and just did a fun segment on "Studio 5" about crafting with owls. Really fun stuff!

The little raven below was super easy. First, I painted the paper mache box black. I believe it's about four inches in diameter. I actually left the inside unpainted because I don't think I'll be using it for anything other than decoration. Then, I found some paper in my stash from a couple of years. The crow one is from Cosmo Cricket and the "Halloween" from My Minds Eye. It was too perfect that I had crow paper just lying around! Anyway, I Mod Podged the papers on the box. I used the same paper on the top as the sides. I did have to cute the paper in strips because one strip of 12x12 paper didn't quite make the circumference of the box. I just lined them up as best I could. I had the ribbon lying around too. It was intertwined with some other colors. I was lazy and used glue dots to adhere the ribbon and the raven.The cute little raven came from, where else?, the dollar store! And the sign and crown were downloads from Kristine (you can find it here). I used my brown distress ink to make them look older. Voila! The perfect Halloween decoration for a former English major.

I am linking this to:

Makeup Monday!!

2010-10-11T20:35:00.003-06:00

It's back! Hurray!

And my post today comes from a fun experience I had this weekend.

On Saturday, I had my very first spa facial. I actuallany had earned it from my Mary Kay director, or I would have never done it myself. Anyway, IT WAS HEAVENLY. Seriously. I fell asleep.

Unfortunately, I didn't know we were getting facials. I thought we were getting a massage and pedicure. I got the pedicure and part of a massage too... I hadn't brought my makeup with me to reapply when we were finished. I would have just gone home and left my makeup off for the evening, but I had to pick up Littlefoot and run some errands before making. So, when picking up Littlefoot, I tried rummaging through my mom's makeup bag. The only eyeliner I found was ancient and the mascara completely gobby! But, I was desperate so I went against what I knew as a beauty consultant and put it on.

Bad decision. My eyes were on fire the rest of the night, and I woke up with stuff all over my eyelids the next morning. And my eyes looked like I had spent the night crying. Oi. The eyedrops didn't do much to alleviate the burning or the redness, and I ended up going to church looking seriously hammered.

So, the moral of the story?

Don't wear old makeup! Especially old eye makeup. I know so many people who are guilty of this. I am sometimes guilty of it. By keeping makeup for too long, you are allowing nasty little bacteria on to your skin, or worse, your eyes. So, here are the rules for when to throw makeup away!

* Mascara: Three months at most. Most of us have kept mascara longer than this, but once you’ve used the wand and put it back in the tube, it becomes a bacterial haven. (And if you ever had any sort of infection while you used a product, NEVER reuse it or you risk re-infecting yourself. Eww.)
* Cream eyeshadow, eyeliner or blush: Six months. These have a much shorter shelf life than their powder counterparts.
* Foundation, finishing powder and lipstick: One year. That said, if you see any changes in these products’ consistency, texture or scent, toss them immediately. Foundation can have a shorter life of only 4-6 months, depending on the batch – if it starts separating, give up on it. Even if you shake it up so it mixes together (a trick all my cheapy girlfriends will know about!), it won’t stay that way long, and within an hour of wear it’ll melt off your face. Plus, why would you want to wear something expired? Gross.
* Nail polish: One year. This depends on the quality of the polish; the $1 drugstore stuff that starts separating in the bottle as soon as you get it home probably won’t make it a whole year.
* Powder blush or eyeshadow: Two years. This assumes you never share your makeup with any of your grubby friends and you always apply it directly to a clean face with clean hands.
* Pencil liners: Three years, if sharpened regularly (and applied with clean hands and blah blah).
* Makeup brushes: Two years. This assumes you shampoo them regularly (we recommend about once a month – unscented soap or baby shampoo will do) and sanitize them between uses. There are special sanitizing sprays for this, but the girls at the MAC counter simply rub them down with alcohol.
* Makeup sponges: One month. Yep, I said it – even with cleaning after every use (which you should do). Just like the sponges by your kitchen sink, makeup sponges collect bacteria like a ten year old collects Pokemon cards. This includes those right triangle shaped ones you put on foundation with and the tiny ghetto eye makeup sponges your eyeshadow comes with.

KISS for a Cause!

2010-10-06T16:55:00.003-06:00

I love that every October we have the opportunity to help and remember those who have been affected by Breast Cancer and Domestic Violence. I've always wanted to help, but never knew how I could. This year, though, I am doing something! Some of my girlfriends and I have put together three events we are calling "KISS for a Cause" parties to raise money for Breast Cancer Research and Domestic Violence Awareness. The Mary Kay Foundation donates millions each year to breast cancer research and shelters. We have two here in the valley that are beneficiaries. I am so excited about this!

Here are the details:

KISS for a Cause Parties
Thursday, October 7, 14, and 21
6:30-9 pm

We have food, a fall fashion show with the latest trends, makeup trends, and giveaways, including gift cards to Nordstroms! Each guest also will receive their own goodie bag for coming.

If you cannot attend, but would still like to help, there are a couple of other things I am doing. For each lip product bought this month, I am donating a matching product either to the Huntsman Cancer Institute or the South Valley Sanctuary for women who are fighting. Also, if you know someone who you would like to nominate to receive the donation, instead of going to one of the other places, I will do that as well. I have had customers do that already, including one who is sending a lip gloss her way. I will be wrapping each of them and including a poem to honor them.

If you are interested in more information, please let me know!

Halloween Plates!

2010-10-06T16:22:00.009-06:00

All right, so I've been MIA again. Blogging used to be much easier when I had a JOB to go to every day. Now when I'm on the computer, I'm working, and I don't have much time!

What is it about fall that makes us so excited to decorate and craft? I absolutely love it. Normally, I'd have my fall decorations out right now, but I've been so preoccupied with other things, they still are sitting in boxes. Oi! But, I have crafted a couple of new pieces to add to my fall collection.

I've been wanting to create some fun plates for the different seasons to go on this plate wall hanger for the longest time! We've had it since we moved in, but haven't had much to display. I finally, FINALLY!, got something done to put in it.

I originally was going to use the wood burning plates you find at the craft stores, but they are $10+ so I had been holding off. On my latest trip to the dollar store, I found these fabulous round plates! I've seen a lot of creations using the same kind, but they're oval or rectangle, but they now have round too! It was too perfect.

I spray painted with a primer first. Then, I added a couple layers of purple, and then crackle paint. The crackle didn't work like I had wanted it to at first, but the patterns it made grew on me. For some reason, it crackled really well in one spot but small on the rest of the plate. But, it gives it character I decided!

Then, using my amazing Silhouette Machine (my love for this machine is a completely different post!), I cute out letters and silhouette images. You could do a similar thing by finding the images on Google and cutting them out by hand. I tried vinyl at first, but it had a hard time sticking to the surface. This was my first time doing a vinyl project by myself and I'm still learning. If anyone has any better ideas, please let me know! Because the vinyl wasn't working, I resorted to cutting the images on black cardstock and using a spray adhesive to get the images on the plates. It worked out much better. I then used my distress ink to age the plates up (using a dry cloth). An antiquing glaze would have worked as well. I just happened to have the ink out already. The final touch was some spider webbing to make look even more aged. I am really happy with the final outcome and am already designing my Thanksgiving and Christmas plates!

I am linking this to:

Running, Running, Running

2010-09-02T14:31:00.004-06:00

Jared and his sister before the race

No, not me. I don't run. I hate running. I avoid it at all costs. I'm still recovering from all the mile runs we were forced to do in high school. I remember the burning lungs, the throbbing ears, the nausea... I'm a woose! But I embrace it.

Anyway, my little hubster decided he wanted to start running again. I say again because he tried it four years ago for about a month. He hurt his knees and decided to put the brakes on it. But, I wasn't surprised when I heard that he had decided to run in the Days of '47 10K with his sister. They trained several times beforehand. Jared was actually motivated enough to get up at six! He'd get up, get ready, run out the door, and I'd turn off the alarm and snuggle deeper in the covers, grateful I wasn't that motivated.

The day of the race, they had to be at the starting line at six. We stayed overnight with the extended family at the cabin, and the plan was that they would sneak out at 5:30 to go down. I wasn't planning on going. The thoughts of hauling Littlefoot down there, by myself, in the heat, wasn't tempting. Although, I do love parades. Anyway, our sleeping arrangements were horrible, so, when five rolled around, I decided I was going to drive down and see them off. Littlefoot must have thought the same thing, because he was bright eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:30 (he normally sleeps until 8:30). Then, I'd find a spot on the parade route, watch them race by, and they'd come down and find me to watch the parade. The rest of the crew, including the other kids, would come find us before the parade started. It was fun, but sooooooooo hot! About 45 minutes into the parade, Littlefoot and Daddy were both asleep under an umbrella. He's still too young to completely understand or appreciate what was going on (but he thought the police motorcycles with their loud noises were fun!).

Jared actually did really well in the race. He was so pleased with his time, and enjoyed it so much, he decided to start training for half-marathons. Crazy man. He convinced a couple of guys in our ward to run with him. They started training, and the time went from six to five! Ugh. I hated it because I would wake up with him and have a hard time going back to sleep. So I was sleep deprived for no reason! After a few weeks, they all decided they weren't feeling the half-marathon thing. Jared's knees were starting to bother him and he really didn't want to push it. He still likes 10K's and he'll do them every now and then, but that's about it.

But we did start a new tradition. I always wondered how I would get Jared to like going to the parade, and now I have it! Every year, he'll run in the race and we'll watch the parade afterwards. Ha, ha!

Makeup Monday #3

2010-08-16T23:22:00.001-06:00

I know what you're thinking-the return of Makeup Monday! Hooray!!! You missed it right? I know I did.

It's a great time of year. School's around the corner, the hint of Fall is in the air, the craziness of summer is winding down, and... it's allergy season! The time for puffy, watery, irritated eyes. At least it is for me. So, I'm going to talk about the perfect product to help get rid of that awful puffiness! In my last post, I talked about the delicacy of our eye area, and the need for products made especially for them. You need a cleanser, as discussed with the Eye Makeup Remover, but some kind of moisture is also a necessity! The Indulge Soothing Eye Gel is perfect because it offers that extra moisturization (130% to be exact!) as well as targeting that horrible puffiness!

Let's discuss its benefits. The botanical extracts included in the Indulge Soothing Eye Gel are reported to tone, firm and reduce the appearance of puffiness in the eye area. And here are the main ingredients and their purpose. First, the Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract acts as both a soothing agent and an antioxidant. As an antioxidant, it helps protect your skin from the free radicals generated by the environment. Second, it contains Cucumber Fruit Extract. I've heard some say that the benefits of cucumbers on your eyes are just a myth, but this product proves such myths wrong! The Cucumber Extract is also a soothing agent and it feels heavenly! Lastly, the Rosa Canina Fruit Extract conditions the skin making it softer, smoother, and firmer. Be sure to look for these ingredients when looking to be rid of horrible allergy effects!

I love letting customers try this product! They immediately feel the difference and fall in love with it. And here's a great tip-it is at its best when it's been refrigerated. If you want a treat for your eyes , put this on, grab an eye mask, and say 'bye-'bye to puffiness!

Well, Hello There!

2010-08-08T23:11:00.002-06:00

It's funny how you decide to take a break from something and then, before you know it, a month has flown by! Like many of you, summer has been busy, full of family reunions, birthdays, weddings, wedding videos, small expeditions, and LIFE. But, I'm here again and ready to get rolling! Stay tuned for updates, some fun new crafts, book reviews,the return of Makeup Monday, and my own lovely little ramblings!

This Made Me Want To Cry

2010-06-24T23:33:00.000-06:00

Just look at the last goal there. "Discredit the family as an institution". If you're a Christian, this goes against everything that we believe. If you watched this program, you'll know just how much all of this has infiltrated our country. A little bit at a time. Just listen to this bit about communism from Ezra Taft Benson, former Secretary of Agriculture, and, later, the president and prophet of our church-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is scary stuff folks! We need to do our homework or we'll be regretting it before we know it...

You're Invited...

2010-06-22T13:19:00.005-06:00

You’re invited… to celebrate Summer at the Spa Pedicure Party!

Wahoo! We're doing pedicures now. They are so much fun! If you'd like to come, please let me know: jday43@marykay.com. All of my guests receive $15 gift certificates for coming!

Come feel Pretty & Pampered at this Summer Spa Pedicure Party!
We will “treat your feet”, share the latest in age-fighting and simple solutions for summer.
Food, Fun, Games and Prizes too! A party you don’t want to miss!
Get ready to be spoiled and have a great time!

Hostess: Jennifer Day
When: Tuesday, June 29th
Time: 6:30-9:00 pm

Please RSVP so we can save a seat for you and have enough goodies, THANK YOU!

On-time = extra tickets into drawing!
Bring an adult friend (that doesn’t have a current MK consultant please) & get a FREE EYESHADOW!

Please bring your own beach towel-Thanks!

More Drug Store Deals

2010-06-21T16:53:00.002-06:00

I really am obsessed. I was at Rite Aid at 8:15 this morning. But they had such great deals on some things, and I wanted to be sure I was there pronto before they all ran out! The picture is everything that I bought, but I did it in three transactions. I got:

1 Finish Quantamatic Kit
1 Motrin PM
1 Zegerid OTC
2 Pantene Hair Products
2 Colgate Pro Clinical Toothpaste
1 Schick Hydro Razer
2 U by Kotex
1 Visine
2 Purex Detergents

Out of pocket, I paid $22.82 with coupon savings totaling $46. I also have a mail-in rebate for the Schick Razer for $9.99 (it was supposed to be on sale but it didn't ring up for the sale price). I also have a mail-in rebate for the Zegerid for what I paid for it, so $11.99. I'll be getting back $20 just from that. I also had $9 of +Up Rewards, six were used in my transactions. And I'll be getting $3 added to Single Check Rebates for the month. Wahoo! So, in a nutshell, I ended up getting all of this for free. Can't complain about that!

Makeup Monday

2010-06-21T15:36:00.003-06:00

Sorry I missed last week. I swear, the time flies by so quickly, I can hardly catch a breath sometimes!

Today, I'm going to talk about the best way to cleanse your eye area. I meet a lot of women who just use plain old soap and water with a washcloth. And that is such a no, no! Your eye area is one of the most sensitive parts of your skin. Unlike the rest of your body, the skin around your eye contains no pores and it has the fewest layers of skin. No that you know that, do you think it's a good idea to scrub it with water, that dries your skin, and a washcloth? Not unless you want to help age your skin!

So, what do you use instead? Not a regular facial cleanser. They are too harsh for the sensitive area around your eyes. You need something that is specially made to cleanse the eye area, remove makeup, while being gentle enough to add further wrinkles and damage to the skin. There are many companies out there that sell eye makeup removers, and they are what you should be using. I've personally tried many, and I do think it's a matter of personal preference and price. Our Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover is a number one best seller and the number one eye makeup remover on the market. Seriously, my customers go crazy if they run out of this stuff and don't have a back up!

I'll just tell you a little bit about it. It contains two different formulas-one, a lighter layer, floats on the top and is the agent that removes and dissolves waterproof eye makeup. The bottom, heavier layer, removes all non-waterproof eye makeup. This is why you need to shake it up, to mix the two agents together. The ingredients include Poloxamer 84, a cleansing agent, that assists in dissolving oils and trapped soils from the skin. If you've used the product before, it's what can make the product foam. And another ingredient, Cyclohexasiloxan, has two functions. First, its' a solvent, capable of dissolving materials (like mascara). Second, and most importantly, it acts as an emollient that helps maintain the soft, smooth, and supple appearance of skin. These are ingredients and qualities you should look for when buying an eye makeup remover. Some of the other brands I've used felt more like lightweight lotions, and, while they didn't dry out the eye area, I felt they didn't remove my makeup the way I would have preferred. I definitely like the more liquid removers. Again, it's all a matter of preference, but be sure you don't use the evil soap and water! Otherwise, you'll start aging around your eye areas much faster!

Rite On!

2010-06-18T15:14:00.006-06:00

Thanks to my friend, Annalisa, I am officially a coupon junkie. It really is so much fun to figure out the deals, match them up with coupons, and see the money that you save! LOVE it! My favorite part is getting diapers for free.

I had a really great week at Rite Aid. I went there on Monday as soon as I could because the good deals always go fast! I totaled up the items I was going to buy in four transactions, each about $20, and then took off all of the coupons to get an idea of how much I spent. I also was sure that transactions that had their +Up rewards came before another one to use it for the next (they roll over and the cashier did it without me asking her to. Here's how it went:

Transaction #1
1 Fig Newton $0.79 (this was a filler to get to $20)
1 Coppertone Sunscreen $8.99
1 Benadryl $5.49
1 Benadryl $5.49
-$5/20 RAQ
-$5 wyb 2 Benadryl
-$3 Coppertone RAQ
-$1 Coppertone MFQ
-$1 Benadryl RAQ
-$1 Benadryl RAQ
-$2 Benadryl
-$2 Benadryl
=$1.81 w/tax (plus, I had a $2 +Up Reward towards the next transaction)

Transaction #2
1 Gerber Baby Food $1.69
1 Gerber Baby Food $1.69
1 Gerber Baby Food $1.69
1 Huggies Jean Diapers $8.99
1 Scrubbing Bubbles Sprayer $6.99
-$5/20 RAQ
-$2 +UP Reward
-$5 Scrubbing Bubbles MFQ
-$1 Scrubbing Bubbles RAQ
-$3 Huggies MFQ
-$1 Huggiess RAQ
=$4.95 (with a $1 +Up Reward)

Transaction #3
1 Coppertone $8.99
1 Coppertone $8.99
1 Sundown Vitamins $3.49
1 Sundown Vitamins $0 (it was buy one, get one free)
-$5/20 RAQ
-$1 +Up Reward
-$3 Coppertone RAQ
-$3 Coppertone RAQ
-$1 Coppertone MFQ
-$1 Coppertone MFQ
-$3 Sundown MFQ
-$1 Sundown MFQ
-$1 Sundown MFQ
=$3.46 (there were $1 off peelies on the vitamins that she pulled off and used and the computer somehow took them; I didn't even ask her about them because I thought they couldn't be used!)

Transaction #4
1 Sundown Vitamins $12.49
1 Sundown Vitamins $0
-$3 Sundown MFQ
-$2 Sundown MFQ
=$7.49 (This was a last minute decision. It thought the deal was too good to pass up for vitamins. So, I didn't have another $5/20 coupon and I would have had to buy another thing a vitamins to get it to $20 anyway._

All together, I spent $17.71 plus I'll get back a $10 Rite Aid gift card for buying three Coppertone products. I also have some rebates coming my way because I've reached the buy $15 of Gerber foods and get $5 Gift Card. So, I have two gift cards coming my way! Score, score, score! I can't wait for next week's deals.

If you want to learn more about how to do this, visit the Slave to Save blog or go to one of her free coupon classes!

Caught

2010-06-17T12:24:00.006-06:00

This boy loves food! And he's already a chocolate lover. He stole my Almond Joy.

In other news, he now waves bye-bye, blows kisses, and does high fives. He also climbed the stairs for the first time last week in a desperate attempt to come find me (he was sick of Daddy I guess!). I've been working with him on the piano now too; I play a note a couple of times and he copies me. We're loving our little man!

Ummm, anyone else a little concerned?

2010-06-17T12:03:00.002-06:00

As a small business owner, this is scary. I typically avoid political issues on here simply because I'd rather not start anything nasty, but this is just too much! I own two of my own businesses, Jared owns one of his own, one with his family, and my Dad owns his business. In working with my Dad, I saw just how much the government hits the "little guys", and they really gauged Jared's guitar lesson business this year with taxes. Honestly! At the heart of our country are the little guys, the people who own their own slice, who are doing their best to make something better for their families. And the government keeps on infringing, taking more and more of it away from us. No matter your political party affiliation, you have to admit that something has to be done. I am so sick of political parties! Did you know the Founding Fathers did not want a party system? It wasn't part of the origins of our country, it just developed on its own. I would love to go back to the basics again, the way our country was supposed to run. The Founding Fathers were inspired by God to do what they did. And with primary elections here just around the corner (next week), I think we should all take the time to study up on our candidates so we can make an educated vote. And if you don't plan on voting, please don't whine about how you don't like what's going on. It's a serious pet peeve of mine! If you can't take the time to practice your right to vote, a precious right that we have... Ugh, I'll leave it there.

Makeup Monday-Clarification

2010-06-08T14:37:00.006-06:00

I had a comment from a friend about the "Protect" step in the five steps to skin care that I did last week, and thought I would clarify it. I left out another part of the protect step, which is the sunscreen. Sunscreen is essential to protecting your skin, and we should all be wearing it everyday. There are a lot of sunscreens that are made specifically for your face in that they are non-comedeogenic. There are also foundations that contain sunscreen, like the Mary Kay tinted moisturizer with SPF 20. Also, you can find sunscreen in moisturizers and other products. We have two-the SPF 15 Timewise Moisturizer and the Day Solution with SPF 20. I'll be talking more about the Day Solution in the future, particularly because there have been similar products coming out on the market lately. Anyway, be sure to protect your skin with sunscreen as well. The foundation itself protects your pores from being clogged by free radicals, dirt, and grime in the air, so it's important to find one that works for your skin. It is better to find a good foundation, preferably not from the grocery store. It does make a difference! Our liquid foundation, for example, has had extensive research done on it, and is comparable to a brand in France (I'd try spelling it but I'll just butcher it).

I also wanted to point out that I'm not just blowing smoke here. As beauty consultants, we are given extensive training on skin care and the products. We learn why they are good and how they work. The training that I have received, since I've been consistently attending my meetings and other workshops for three years now, some by world-renowned makeup artists like Robert Jones, is equivalent to a 2 year college degree. Our company has done its research and makes sure we have the correct information. They test products extensively before testing them on humans (mainly our directors because we don't test on animals). They literally put millions of dollars into research. As consultants, we are able to call the company with any questions we may have about ingredients, what types of products will work best for skin types, why certain products do what they do, etc. All of the information is available for us to use. There is a lot of information out there about skin care, but I trust what we've learned for two reasons. First, because the company spends so much time on research and development and allows the information to be shared and used. Second, because I've used the products and I know what it's done for my skin. Nothing better than first-hand knowledge that something works!

I just thought I'd let you know. I'm learning things as I do this, but a lot of it is information I've learned through my trainings that I wanted to share with all of you. Again, if you have questions, please let me know: jday43@marykay.com.

Makeup Monday

2010-06-07T14:22:00.007-06:00

I've had a ton of people asking me lately about what to do with oily, blemish prone skin. So today, I'm going to introduce two great products that have worked well for friends, family, and customers.

Both products are called "hydrators". I touched on it briefly last week when discussing moisturizers. As a little reminder, moisturizers don't actually add any moisture to your skin. They only protect what's already there. Unless you're hooked to an IV or really good about drinking water and avoiding soda, you, like most of us, probably are probably dehydrated. And it takes it's toll on your skin. If you have dry skin like me, you feel like you can never get enough moisture, and end up adding moisturizer throughout the day to avoid feeling like a raisin. If you have oily skin, you probably don't even think about it. Instead, you end up blotting and blotting and blotting...trying to get that nasty oil away! But even you oil slickers need more moisture. The oiliness of your skin is your body's way of overcompensating for the lack of hydration. Crazy right? So what can we do if moisturizers don't give us what we need?

The answer is a hydration product. They add moisture, for up to 10 hours with our products. Plus, they have extra benefits. In Mary Kay, we have two hydration products: The Oil-Free Hydrating Gel and Intense Moisturizing Cream.

First, let's talk about the Intense Moisturizing Cream. This is a cream for really dry skin, like the kind of dry that makes you feel like you're skin will crack like a statue if you smile! It's thick, non-greasy, and leaves your skin feeling more radiant, soft, and smooth. It has glycerin and algae extract, two ingredients that help the skin add, attract, and retain moisture.

Next,the Oil-Free Hydrating Gel. Gals with oily skin love this product! It transforms your skin by restoring it's moisture balance. It helps absorb extra oil that your skin produces. It absorbs into your skin quickly, and it's light non-greasy formula leaves your skin feeling cool and refreshed. It contains Dimethicone, an ingredient that has two functions. It's an emollient which acts to maintain the soft, smooth, and supple appearance of skin. It is also a conditioner, improving the appearance of your skin. The second ingredient I'm highlight is Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, which also has two functions. It's a soothing agent known for it's calming and soothing effects. The other function is very important to modern women. It's an antioxidant! Known as a free radical scavenger, it helps protect the skin from free radicals generated by the environment. Why is this important? Free radicals clog our pores and produce infection, aka acne! And this little puppy guards your pores against these invaders to prevent your pores from getting clogged and producing those little monsters, as well as absorbing excess oil and giving your skin the extra hydration it needs.

Seriously, I love these products! They have other benefits too. They help your foundation and makeup go on better and stay on. They also contain copper and zinc that act as batteries to recharge the collagen in your skin. I'm currently doing a little study of my own with these products, and giving out samples for my customers and friends to try. I have testimonials already, but I'd like more! If you're interested in trying them and would like a sample, please email me: jday43@marykay.com. But only contact me if you don't already have a Mary Kay consultant. If you do have one, I'm sure she'd be happy to send you a sample too!

If you're looking at products out on the market, be sure to watch for the benefits I discussed: oil-free, non-greasy, non-comedeogenic (it doesn't clog your pores), adds moisture, and contains some of the ingredients that I listed. Never be afraid to ask questions! Though it may be hard to ask a clerk at a grocery store about algae extract!

Baby Idol Contest

2010-06-01T14:31:00.002-06:00

I entered Littlefoot into Kosy 106.5's "Baby Idol" contest. It's based on votes, and I would so appreciate a vote for my little man! His entry number is 110. Vote here. The winner receives $400 worth of groceries! Voting ends on Thursday so if you have minute, please vote and spread the word!

Makeup Monday

2010-05-31T12:58:00.002-06:00

I really love what I do for a living! I love teaching women about skin care and helping them feel better about their skin. I had the worst skin as a teenager and into my early twenties. My skin is dry and I started getting acne around 13. That was a horrible combination! Why? Because most acne treatments and skin care take care of the acne by drying out your skin with either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. So, I'd end up with dry zits, flaky skin, and, often, red burn spots on my face. I tried desperately to cover them up with foundation, but that only enhanced the dry spots. Ugh. And the dang dermatologist wouldn't listen to me! He kept prescribing topical treatments that never worked. I tried every product in the grocery store and some from TV, like Proactive. Unfortunately, nothing worked. I really wish I had known what I do now about skin care. It would have saved me time, money, and some heartache (oh, tear!). My acne only cleared up when I was put on a new medication, but I haven't been able to use it once we decided to start a family. I was so worried it would come back, and it started to. Until I started using better products and being more consistent in my skin care routine.

Anyway, because I love teaching this stuff, I thought I would introduce "Makeup Monday", a day that I share tips and tricks about skin care and makeup. Obviously, I'm biased as to the brand name since I am a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant, but I'll try to incorporate other products out there as well. We receive a lot of training, and, because I've been doing this for 3 years now, the training I have is equivalent to an Associates Degree. So, I really do know what I'm talking about, plus I'll be pulling in other information for any skeptics out there. If you have questions about skin care or makeup, please feel free to email me and I'll address it here. Chances are, if you have a question about something, someone else is wondering the exact same thing too. My email is jday43@marykay.com.

So, for our first topic, I'm going to start at the very beginning, a very good place to start (sorry, can't help myself-I love "The Sound of Music"!). The 5 steps to good skin care. Did you know there were five? No matter your skin type, issues, coloring, age, etc. these steps apply to all of us, including men. Think of your skin care routine and decide what parts may be missing. Before I get going, I want to bring up something interesting. Do you ever feel like your constantly buying cleanser and other products from the grocery store constantly? Or that they really aren't delivering as they claimed? There's a reason for that that's scientific. Grocery store brand cosmetics contain "fillers", compounds that give it volume but don't do much otherwise. So, you're paying for a small amount of product and a bunch of filler. I always wondered why I was always going through my cleansers so quickly! If you buy a good skin care system, whether Mary Kay, Avon, Mac, Lancome, Clinique, etc. you are paying for the product itself, without the fillers. And, though more expensive up front, you save money in the long run because these products should last anywhere from 3-6 months. Plus, you're doing your skin some good! The grocery store brands only surface clean, which is why, should you switch to a better system, you'll break out at first. It takes a couple of weeks for the better product to deep clean your pores, which creates the breakouts, but ultimately results in healthier skin. You just have to stick with it!

Okay, here are the steps:

1. Cleanse: A very basic step here. You should cleanse morning and night, something many of us don't do. I sometimes forgo the morning cleanse, but you should do it because you're sleeping on your pillow at night (check out what's living in your pillow here), and picking up all that dirt, etc. Cleansing removes impurities, dirt, makeup, etc. Be sure if you're wearing eye makeup that you remove it with something other than water or soap. The reasons why are for another post, but trust me. Your eyes are the most sensitive area of your body and you need to be using an eye makeup remover to do this.

2. Exfoliate: Did you know that most of us have between 3-20 dead layers of skin? It's true and so disgusting! Exfoliation helps remove those dead skin cells and reveal the healthier layers of skin. There are many types of exfoliation, from gentle to abrasive.

3. Tone/Freshen: Many of us don't even know what this is. Perhaps you use a toner and don't really know what it's doing for your skin, but you know that you like it. I always thought it helped clean up my pores better. It does do that, but this step also restores the pH balance to your skin and helps close your pores. If you feel you have larger pores, this is a step you don't want to miss.

4. Moisturize: Ah, yes. This is a step that anyone with super oily skin forgoes. But don't. We all need moisturizer, no matter our skin type. You just need to find one that works with your skin, whether for dry skin with extra moisturization or oil aborbsion to help squeeze up the extra oil your skin is producing. Most of us don't drink enough water, and for you oily skinned ladies, your skin is overcompensating for your lack of moisture by making too much. Also, I want to emphasize a very important point about moisturizers themselves: they were incorrectly named! Moisturizer does not moisturize. It simply protects the moisture your skin already has. Which explains why I always felt dry and had to apply my moisturizers multiple times a day. There are products on the market that are called "hydrators". They add moisture to your skin, but this is another post topic for another day.

5. Protect: Another step that many avoid. Protection is very important for your skin, and comes in the form of your foundation. Yes, all you foundation haters! By skipping out on wearing foundation, you are doing your skin an injustice. Have you ever taken a look at the dirt that accumulates on your car right after you've washed it? Or noticed how quickly dust settles on your newly polished furniture? Our air is full of dust, dirt, and pollutants (called free radicals). And they love to creep right into your pores, unless you have a layer of protection. No matter what kind of foundation you wear, it acts as a barrier against all of the gunk in the air. The dirt accumulates in your foundation, rather than your pores, and you simply wash it away at night with your cleanser. All that gunk goes down the drain, leaving your pores clean and free. Have you ever gone camping and not worn your foundation, and they break out? It's because your skin has been left without it's protection. Yes, I wear foundation camping. Pathetic? Maybe. Smart? Yes. I'd rather take a minute to put it in than end up with a bunch of zits! There are a variety of foundations out there, from sheer to full coverage. As a I said, I've met many foundation haters since starting with Mary Kay. But, once we tried some different types, they realized it's not what they thought. I usually recommend using a sheer mineral pressed powder or mineral powder foundation for those who don't like it, or a tinted moisturizer. When looking for a foundation, be sure to make sure it's marked "non-comedeogenic", which means that it doesn't clog your pores.

One last point before I finish. There are a lot of products out there that are "anti-aging". I used to see those commercials and think it was nice for older people to have something to work against those wrinkles. After all, I'm only in my twenties so why in the world should I worry about my skin starting to age? Oh, I was so naive! You actually start aging by age 20. Yep, 20. So, you may want to start thinking about preventing the wrinkles now, before they start! For information about aging skin, there's a great article here.

For articles relating to this, see here, here, and here. I actually learned this through my training. Also, here is a review about Mary Kay's Timewise Anti-Aging Skin Care System (customize to fit your skin type).

My Brush With A Stroke

2010-05-29T12:04:00.003-06:00

Wow, I am so bad at updating this thing! No matter how determined I am... Oh well. And now I'm updating it because I thought it was the easiest way to explain a scary situation for my friends and family.

This past Tuesday, I was on my way to pick up Littlefoot from my parent's house. They watch him during my Mary Kay parties. It had been a great night and I was excited to see my baby and get home. On my way there, my left foot started feeling numb. I thought it was because I was sitting funny, so I moved around a bit to try to fix it. But it didn't go away. A few minutes later, my tongue started going numb too. weird. And then I started feeling a little dizzy and felt a strong urge to pull over. So I did. I was getting a little scared at this point, because I could tell that something was clearly wrong. I wanted to get to my parents, just a couple of minutes away now, so I wouldn't end up past out on the side of the road by myself. I took some deep breaths to calm myself, and pulled out into the road. I forcefully talked to myself, trying to make sure I didn't pass out or something. I kept thinking it was nothing and I was just be dramatic. As I pulled up to the house, I saw that my brother was just getting home from his shift too. Good. At least I wouldn't be alone in case something happened... I got out of my car, and realized I was a little wobbly. But I walked forward anyway. My left turned in funny and after a few steps, my leg couldn't hold up my body anymore and I fell on the lawn, face first. Thank goodness it was on the lawn! I immediately started crying, what the heck was going on? My entire left side felt completely numb and weird, my tongue felt numb and swollen. My brother had been in his car, and, at first, thought I had tripped and was laughing about it. I wish it was that. Quickly, he realized something was wrong and helped roll me over. He asked me what was wrong, and tried to explain. It was hard to talk and the words felt funny rolling off my tongue. He is with law enforcement, and decided to call an ambulance, which I was opposed to. Why did I need an ambulance? I was fine! He called them anyway. I was worried about creating a scene and the money it would cost to have them come. But, I learned from him that it doesn't cost anything to have them come and evaluate you. A minute later, we heard the sirens. Great, so much for not creating a scene! And my poor parents were still inside with my baby, without a clue as to what was happening on the front lawn. The paramedics arrived with all of their lights flashing and no sirens (they turn them off in neighborhoods).

Inside, a neighbor called my mom and asked what was going on. She could see lights flashing and wondered who was hurt? So, they went to investigate.

In the meantime, the paramedics began evaluating me. I was really scared at this point. I knew what the symptoms I was having most likely meant: stroke. They began testing my heartbeat, my pulse, my blood sugar... Another paramedic asked me what happened. I explained. He helped me sit up. Asked me to squeeze his fingers as I hard as I could with both hands. My right hand worked just fine, but my left hand wouldn't. I could tell it wasn't working as hard, despite the efforts I was making. Then, they had me close my eyes and put my arms out straight in front of me. They both were even for a second, but then, despite trying to tell my left arm to stay in place, it began to fall down. I started crying and apologizing. Why was I saying I was sorry? I don't know. But I heard my dad right behind me saying it was okay. Then, they helped me stand up. Boy was I dizzy! And, my left leg felt so weak.

After all the evaluations were finished, they decided they needed to take me to the er in the ambulance. I have no idea what they thought it could be, because they didn't say, but they were worried I would pass out or stop breathing. The paramedics were very reassuring and I was grateful I had made it to my parents house instead of on the side of the road somewhere. My brother followed us to the hospital with my mom, and Jared was on his way.

At the er, the paramedics wheeled me into my room. Before moving me to the bed, I felt my mind go blank like I was about to pass out. I started hyperventilating a little, panicking because I didn't know what was happening. The paramedic asked me what was wrong, but I couldn't explain. I knew what I wanted to say but the words were coming out garbled. So frustrating! Finally, I started to feel the words coming out normally and I could explain myself more clearly.

And then, the frustrating part of the evening began. The paramedic couldn't leave until he had given his report. You'd think that with a situation like this, and with the hospital we went to being the big trauma center that it was, we would have been met by a doctor or a nurse immediately. But no. We waited about 25 minutes until a nurse finally showed up. The paramedic gave his report. I was slightly worried because the nurse didn't seem to be paying much attention. Great, I'm in good hands! She put my bracelet on and left. The paramedic left. We waited about another 30 minutes until another nurse finally showed up. She didn't really ask what was wrong, but explained that the ER was busy that night and she had another patient going to the ICU. Okay, I can understand that. But seriously, we had waited forever already and I knew that I could have been having a stroke! But there was no urgency. She only left to find a doctor because my mom made it clear that we needed to see someone ASAP. My mom works with some of the best neurologists in the country, and she knew that we only had a three hour window from the time my symptoms first came to administer the medicine that would stop the stroke. And, at this point, it had been about an hour and a half.

About another half an hour later, the doctor showed up. He did similar tests to the ones that paramedic had done, and then asked if my Mary Kay meeting had been stressful. Can I just say that it is sooooooooo annoying when doctors ask about stress. Seriously. I'm pretty sure that even stress could not make me fake what was happening to me. And no. I was riding high and happy as a clam before things started. He had me walk around a bit. I could do it, with support, but my left side was still so weak. I would will my body to do something, and it wouldn't respond.

And then he left again. About twenty minutes later, another nurse showed up to take me to get a CT scan. Keep in mind, that we were now at about the 2.5 hour mark. Time was a ticking away and I was getting nervous. I couldn't understand why they were being so nonchalant about things. The scan took about ten minutes and I was wheeled back to the room. I think it was about an hour later, past three hours now, that the doctor came back in and said the scan was normal. Well, that's a relief! He mentioned that it could have been small stroke caused by a heart murmur and ordered an MRI to be done, as well as an echocardiagram. I had to call and get them scheduled the following day.

I was finally released about four in the morning with some baby aspirin. A long night with no answers. Because my mom has the position she does and knows some of the big wigs in neurology, she spoke with the department head who worked me in the following day to have the MRI done. She felt it needed to be done right away. And she told the doctor on call to give the results that night. The MRI was also normal. And I'm scheduled for a follow up with him next week.

So, there's my experience in a nutshell. But, after thinking about all of the events, and how lucky I was that nothing serious resulted from it, I have come to the conclusion that the Lord had been blessing me all along. First, I was able to make it to my parents house. Second, my brother had just come home at the same time to see my fall. Third, my brother was with it enough to call the ambulance. Fourth, my husband and brother are both worthy Priesthood holders and were able to administer a blessing to me before I ever saw a doctor or nurse. It was not long after I got to the hospital. After the blessing, I felt peace and calm. My tests should have been abnormal; the doctors were amazed that they weren't. I honestly believe I was being watched over that night. The ER was busy and the staff clearly were overwhelmed. I wasn't given the attention or the priority that I should have been given. After all, the possibility of a stroke is not something to be messed with. There should have been people waiting there for me, ready to perform the tests needed immediately. If the stroke hadn't cleared like it did, who knows what would have happened to me... And so the Lord watched over me and performed another miracle. I am so gratefut that Heavenly Father is aware of us and watching over us, and that He does he hear our prayers and answer them, sometimes without us even realizing it.

I have my appointment next week, and I'm sure there will be more tests. My mom remembers my doctor thinking I had a heart murmur when I was a baby, so it could be that. I am currently not taking any medication at all, so we know it wasn't a reaction to anything like that. I'll keep you posted.

Best Projects of April

2010-05-01T00:21:00.002-06:00

I am participating in "Beneath My Heart's" Best Projects in April today (I linked my Lolli-Flowers to it). Take a look!

Where Is Humanity?

2010-04-27T10:43:00.003-06:00

I just saw this and thought it was the saddest thing! It makes me wonder if I would have just walked on by too? Would I be too scared to help another person in need? And to think he could have lived had someone just stopped and made a quick phone call to police...

Memory Monday

2010-04-26T10:39:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I gave the lesson to my Laurel class for Young Women's (for my church). The lesson was on journals, a fun topic for the girls because many of them have a lot of fun stories to share and it finally got them talking more! Anyway, I found my junior high school journal and decided to share one of the entries. So embarrassing, but fun too! They told me my face went bright red when I read it. I thought it would be fun to share my 9th grade drama with you for a little Monday laugh, and I think it may be something that I do every week. I'll call it "Memory Monday". If you have a funny memory to share, create a blog entry and then post it here. It's fun to read memories like this! Come back next Monday for another harrowing tale.

Some of you that knew me back then may recognize some of the names! Who knew that just saying "hi" to someone could be so dramatic?

Tuesday, June 8, 1999

Dear Journal,
Okay, so I once again have a lot to catch up on. First off, summer's here! No more junior high! It feels so weird to think that I'm high school. High school... Junior high certainly has been quite an experience. I'm really happy and overjoyed that it's over. There's also a little part of me that's sad. I'll probably never see any of those teachers again. Oh well...

Last week was the best. We didn't have school on Monday because it was Memorial Day. On Tuesday, it was 9th grade Lagoon Day. That's right, we missed all of school and partied! My friends (Tali, Diana, JOhanna, Natalie, Amy, Rachael, and Becca) and I had a blast. I especially liked seeing all of my friends from my elementary school that had gone to the other junior high. I saw Tony (who has gotten very cute), Willie, Harrison, and Brian. It took us (me, Tali, Diana) all day to finally say "hi" to them. We had so many chances to but for some reason we didn't. They were behind us in line for Rattlesnake Rapids. I'll admit that I showed off a little but Diana and Tali did too. Rattlesnake Rapids was so much fun! We got drenched. They [my friends] went on it 5 times, but I only went on twice. I did get to squirt them though! Anyway, they [the boys]didn't say "hi" either. We still felt bad, and all day the 3 of us were looking around for them so that we could say "hi". We finally got the chance when we were walking back to the Rattlesnake Rapids and they were just coming. They were with a group of guys from my junior high (unfortunately), and we just casually walked by them and said "hi".
Which brings me to something else. I don't remember if I ever mentioned a crush I had on Brian in seventh grade and eight grade. Well, Ashley and Lindsey remembered. They saw Brian before I did and they told me the next day what they told him (I'm going to write it like a dialogue because it's easier).
"Hey Brian, you remember Jenny D don't you?"
"Ya"
"Well, she's had a crush on you ever since seventh grade. It would really make her day if you said hi to her."
"Really?"
"Ya, so will you say hi if you see her?"
"Ya, I will if I see her."
According to Lindsey, they saw him a little while later (they didn't know it, but he had already seen and said nothing to me). She asked him again, "Did you say hi to Jenny?""
"No, not yet."
"Well, you have to say hi."
"Okay, I will."
That's when he saw us, and finally said hi. And I, not knowing that he thinks that I still have a crush on him. And the way he said it to me. I was behind Tali and Diana and everyone else and Brian just happened to be the one that I walked right by and had eye contact with. He said, "Hi, Jenny" in the cutest way. I thought about it and repeated it in my mind over and over again for the longest time. He said it with a cute, secret smile, as if it were meant just for me. But now I know why. He thinks it's so cute that I like him. I admit, I do like him. I could only like him as a friend though. I hope he doesn't like me. I highly doubt that he does but if he does, I don't know what I'd do. It would be a hard thing to turn him down (which reminds me of a song by one of my favorite music groups, 98 Degrees, called "It's the Hardest Thing"). By the way, 'N Sync is still my #1 music group and JC's my #1 guy (well, not really). Anyway, it's getting late. I'll write more about promotion tomorrow. Good night!

Proud Red Rock!

2010-04-26T10:17:00.003-06:00

The University of Utah Red Rocks (the name for the gymnastics team) took sixth in the nation this weekend at the Championships. We have been big fans for years, and love going to the meets (we have season tickets!). Anyway, we are proud of our team! They had a rough year but were able to fight on to the end. I posted some pictures from one of the meets that we went to this year. We took Littlefoot with us to a couple, and, being the little Ute that he is, we were sure to dress him up with style! Below is a video of a tribute a Ute fan did for the senior's floor routines. Hilarious! If you've been to the meets, I'm pretty sure the guy in the video is one of the ones that leads the "Utah" cheer for part of the Huntsman center (they always have a little shout off against the sections). Anyway, way to go Red Rocks!

Dollar Store Memo Board Makeover

2010-04-19T11:24:00.011-06:00

Ah, the Dollar Store. I am definitely addicted. I go just for fun, just to see what little treasures I may find. On one of my most recent trips, I saw this memo board and thought it might have some potential. So, I snagged it up and decided to give it a little makeover. I had some cute zebra fabric I had bought from The Store That Shall Not Be Named (aka Walmart) that was 1.99 for a yard and some cute satin bright pink ribbon from Michaels I got for $0.99. I first spray painted the board with a matte black. I did leave the cork in because I was lazy so it got some paint as well. It took a couple of good coats to get it covered. Then, I took the cork out (I had to bend it a little to get it out of the grooves it was in) and covered it with about 1/8 of a yard of the fabric. I hot glued the fabric to the back of the board (make sure you wrap the fabric snugly around the edges or it won't go back in the grooves of the frame!). I slid the cork back in the frame (again it takes some bending). Then, glued the ribbon to the back to make it hang, created a bow and glued it to the front and voila! I have a cute little cork board to hang in my office or a great gift! The cork isn't super thick so the push pins go through the back a bit, but it holds up just fine. This could also be used as a little jewelry hanger. Just put the push pins in to hold necklaces or bracelets, or add a little wire at the bottom by hot glueing it to the inside of the frame to hold earrings. This project came out to be around $2 to make and it seriously only took about 15 minutes to put together (not including drying time for the spray paint). Cheap and easy! It can't get much better :) And sorry about the pictures; I'm still using my phone.

I am linking this to:

10 Free 8x8 Photo Books!

2010-04-13T11:17:00.003-06:00

I just saw this on Pinching Your Pennies, and I had to share! I love, love photo books-they make perfect gifts and have been a fun way for me to use my digital scrapbooking. Anyway, Artscow has a code for 10 free 8x8 20 page photo books! Score! The code expires on April 19, so you have to get it added now. It's super easy: visit their website and login or create a new account. Then, go to "Discounts and Credits" under your account and add the code 10PBKS88. The codes are good for 30 days. Have fun creating them!

Milestones

2010-04-12T11:34:00.003-06:00

Our little man continues to amaze us with how quickly he learns! He loves food. There is nothing that he hasn't liked so far, and he now gets upset if we eat in front of him, especially at restaurants.

And he's so cute when we go out! He feels so special when he sits in the highchairs up at the table with us. It's adorable. We have given him bites of "grown-up" foods: french fries, churro, sweet potatoes with cinnamon, ice cream, chocolate... Don't worry, they're just bites. And he's been completely fine so far. We are on the Gerber 2nd Foods and he's enjoyed a bunch of different flavors. He really loves apples and cinnamon, and enjoyed the mac & cheese! He's just a good eater. Last week, I bought some puffs for him. He gobbles them right up! (I love how he puts his little finger in his mouth-he's always using his left hand to express himself!)

DIY Project: Lolli-Flowers

2010-04-12T09:58:00.013-06:00

I have started going wild with my crafting lately. I think it's because I went through a dry spell with it because I was too busy. Thankfully, I've finally started scheduling myself (I know it's weird but completely necessary for me to get things done), and have been scheduling some craft time into my days. Yea! We don't have a lot of money left to go crazy on projects, so I've been finding projects that don't cost a lot. It's so much fun! So, to go along with so many other blogs that post their projects on Mondays, I'm going to start sharing my inexpensive craft ideas here.

The first are these cute Lolli-Flowers. Oh, and sorry about the pictures. Our camera ran out of batteries and I haven't bought new ones yet. So, I've had to use my phone. Anywho, my favorite scrapbooking store had them in their windows and I thought they would be perfect in our front window. The hardest part of the project? Digging through all of the cute paper and deciding what I was going to use! They come out so darling and are very easy. You can also customize their size. I used 12x12 paper because I wanted them to be a little bit bigger. Here is a link to the tutorial as a pdf file (I could have done one but it was already done!). The paper is from "The Girls Paperie"; I love it because it has a very vintage feel. Don't you just love spring?

The front of our window

This is the backside that we can see in the living room

I am linking this project to:

Picture Updates

2010-04-08T12:21:00.005-06:00

I had to share this little picture I took on St. Patrick's Day. My aunt and grandma bought him these little pj's and bib. I took a ton of pictures but he didn't want to cooperate...maybe because it was almost bedtime? Anyway, I was able to get one good one after letting him play with my watch (which he's holding in his hand). It's funny that his hair looks reddish, a nod to his Irish ancestors on my side!

And these are his cute little Easter pictures. I know so many talented photographers and my friend Emilie was doing a "Mini Shoot" for Easter with live bunnies. She also did a mini shoot at Halloween. She does a great job! Unfortunately, Littlefoot did NOT want to smile. He had missed his afternoon nap, except falling asleep in the car, and wasn't happy about it. Plus, he was in a new environment with strangers. Thankfully, he didn't cry. He just kept a very stoic look the entire time (which was him pursing his lips together...he always does that when he's tired and uncomfortable). But, they turned out!

Inspiration for Your Day

2010-04-08T12:13:00.002-06:00

So, I said I was going to keep blogging! Ha, ha... I wasn't kidding, I've just neglected to update anything. I have read a lot of other blogs though. Anyway, I loved this video and felt inspired watching it. I am grateful to be a part of this Church and to be reminded of what matters most. Have a great day!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T14:42:00.002-07:00

Happy National Peanut Butter Lovers Day!

2010-03-01T12:30:00.002-07:00

Who knew they had a day devoted to Peanut Butter Lovers? How fun! Here's a yummy recipe that I'll be making today.

Magic Peanut Butter Middles

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/4 cup peanut butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 2 Tbsp sour cream
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips
* 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
* 3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions

1. In small bowl blend flour, cocoa and baking soda. Mix until well blended.
2. In large bowl beat sugar, butter or margarine and 1/4 cup peanut butter, until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and sour cream, beat. Stir in flour mixture until blended. Add chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. To make Filling: Combine confectioner's sugar and 3/4 cup peanut butter. Blend well.
4. Roll filling into 30 - 1 inch balls. Refrigerate. With floured hands, flatten chocolate cookie dough into patties, creating a dent in the middle for the filling. Once patties are made, take out refrigerated peanut butter balls and place in dents in cookie patties. Roll each cookie into a ball, like a meatball, wrapping around peanut butter middle. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with glass dipped in sugar.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7-9 minutes. When cookies are done, they should be set and slightly cracked.

Yummy! Like a Reese's Peanut Butter cup!

Drumroll Please...

2010-02-22T13:05:00.003-07:00

Wow, you never know who's reading your blog until you give something away for free! Thanks for all of your comments. So, lucky winner, picked via Random.org is #11, Linda who said, "I have always loved reading your blog and I am also lacking in keeping up on mine. My favorite is single figure skating.I look forward to reading your blog again."

She also happens to be our cousin and a fabulous cake decorator. If you need someone to make an amazing cake, she's your gal. She made this cake for us for Littlefoot's blessing.

We had the idea to try for a "Jack-In-The-Box" but were worried it would be too hard. I told Linda what we were thinking and she said she could do it without hesitation. The wheels were turning as we were talking and it turned out amazing. Check out here cakes here. Congrats cuz! I'll be sending that your way. Also, I am continuing my other contest through the rest of this week if you'd still like to help!

I Looked Out the Window

2010-02-18T19:53:00.003-07:00

And what did I see?

A million birds swooping down from our trees!

It's a sign of Spring! These birds flew in this huge group from one side of our street to our backyard. I have never seen so many birds all together, and they made quite a lot of noise. I thought for a second that Alfred Hitchcock was back!

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends!

2010-02-15T23:58:00.001-07:00

Once again, I'm working on another big goal and, once again, I've procrastinated just a little (no surprise right?). My goal has been to do 60 facials in the month of February. It's a huge number but it's the kick I need to get things really going (we need a new car in the worst way!). I thought I would extend the invitation to help me to my blogging friends :). Basically, all I need is for you, using samples and the instructions I have, to try our skin care and then answer some questions with me over the phone or through email. That's it! I mail it all out to you, and then follow up. And you receive a $15 gift certificate (it's what I offer those I facial), an entry in the February giveaway I'm doing for all those who help me (see below for details), and some really great product samples! Trying the samples will take less than five minutes (unless you enjoy it so much you decide to take it slow!).

If you're willing to help me out, shoot me an email: jday43@marykay.com. The Fast and Furious in February Contest is for all those who try the product for me, whether in person or via phone/email, and give me their feedback. You get one drawing for yourself, and, if you refer someone else to me, you receive additional entries. Entries only count if you follow up with me. The prizes:

*Satin Lips Set
*Fabulous Eyes Set (Ultimate Mascara and Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover)
*Perfectly Pouty Set (Lip Gloss & Liner)

And the GRAND prize: a gift basket worth $100 which includes our very popular Micro-Dermabrasion Set!

This all ends February 28 at midnight (which includes following up with you).

To Blog or Not To Blog Giveaway

2010-02-15T11:36:00.004-07:00

I have been debating lately whether or not I wanted to keep blogging. It's been so busy and, though I have things I want to post, I never find the time. So I decided that if I was going to do it, I needed to post more and actually do it. I find a lot of great and fun ideas online for crafts, recipes, etc. and I enjoy getting feedback from other moms about parenting, so I don't lack in things to post. To kick off my new found commitment to blogging, I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway with some of my favorite things! I'm not going to say what they are until the giveaway is over. All you have to do is leave a comment and mention your favorite Winter Olympics sport! The giveaway will go through the rest of the week until Friday, February 19 at 10pm. Good luck!

Percy Jackson!!

2010-01-21T22:59:00.002-07:00

I have a series that I started reading a couple of years that I absolutely love. It's called "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" by Rick Riordan. I love reading young adult and children's literature, and I remember picking up the first book, "The Lightening Thief", on a trip to Barnes and Noble. I devoured the book in no time! I just finished the fifth and final book of the series (I read it in a day it was that good!), and now I'm excited for the movie coming out next month! It looks like they did a really great job with it. The books are so fun, you learn a lot about Greek mythology, there's a lot of action, humor, and really great characters. I highly recommend these books to anyone!

Updates

2010-01-19T11:42:00.006-07:00

You would think I could update my blog at least once a week! But the days go by so fast now, I can hardly keep up. I am currently not only working on wedding videography, but a promotion with Mary Kay. It's a self-imposed promotion, meaning I want it and we really need it, so I'm going for it. Jared is working his tail off. He works his regular job for 40 hours and then teaches guitar for another 10. He isn't done Monday through Wednesday until 9ish (Wed he has mutual). Anyway, we are tired of being in the rat race, paying off debt, and not being able to really progress financially so we decided it was time for me to step things up and become a Mary Kay Sales Director. The alternative would be for me to go back to work, and I just can't imagine leaving my baby. The great thing about is that it doesn't take me away from a being a mom! I work from home, make a very good living, and the time I am away (just a couple of times a week), Littlefoot is watched by his dad or grandparents. I love that because he gets to develop bonds with other family members. So, I am busy working hard to get there! My goal is for June. We'll have a new car by then too, paid for entirely by the company. We really need it too; my 19 year old Honda is starting to fall apart!

I'm just going to post some pictures and say that the holidays were great. We loved having a little boy to buy gifts for and it was exciting to watch him open them on Christmas morning. He obviously didn't get it but he loved pulling off the wrapping paper and he has some favorite toys. My parents bought him a jumper that he has so much fun with, and Jared bought him a Hot Wheels race track (he said it was for Littlefoot). He spent some good time creating tracks. I love how the little boy in him has never gone away... We also celebrated Jared's birthday in there. Littlefoot loved the ribbon and Jared got some fun "big boy" toys!

We also got some cute professional pictures done of Littlefoot. I love the little chair! Our little man is too adorable! I honestly never get tired of him... He has now rolled over, both front and back, loves grabbing his toes and taking off his socks, he's cut two teeth and the third is on its way, he talks more than ever, including saying "Mama", and has now tried rice cereal, bananas, and peaches. We're working on the others. At his 6 month appointment, he weighed 17 lbs 8 oz and was 27.5 inches long. He's thinned out and isn't growing height wise as much as he was (though he is still in the 85th percentile). He is just a happy little guy and now sleeps about 10-12 hours at night (as opposed to 8-10). He started sleeping through the night at six weeks, in large part because of the information we read in "Babywise".

Grabbing his socks

Eating ribbon

With Daddy

Happy in his jumper

Little Santa Claus

The race track

He slept through opening presents at the Day home

The puzzle we got as a gift that was fantastic! It's a photomosaic with Disney movies.

Our little roller!

Working!

2009-12-30T17:35:00.002-07:00

I'm not sure if my four readers were wondering why I've been absent from the blogging world, but I thought I'd show you why! The last month I have been working very hard on my new business-"Daylight Productions". I've mentioned it before, but I thought I'd share again. I've always loved weddings and, several years ago, discovered that I really enjoy shooting video and editing. When Jared and I got married, I hired one of the best videographers in the world, seriously, David Perry. I was inspired by his work and it got me to love it even more! This Spring I decided to stop thinking about jumping into the business and just do it. I had the training and experience, I just wanted more. So, I offered to do several weddings for free over the summer before Littlefoot was born. I really loved it. And now I have a site to show my stuff! If you know of anyone getting married, please tell them about me. I really strive to make the videos beautiful and match the couple's personality, while also being affordable (you don't want to know how much we paid for ours). So, visit Daylight Productions and let me know what you think! (The link is also in the sidebar).

2009-12-17T22:54:00.003-07:00

Ahhh, it's back to the blogging world! I have been so busy, as we all are, and blogging is at the bottom of my "to-do" list. I have been squeezing time in to read all of yours, so I feel updated! I do have some updates and cute pictures to post, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about a missing woman who needs to be found! The story is now national, as well as local, and so sad. I didn't know Susan Powell well, but I had met her a on a couple of occasions. She recently signed up to sell Mary Kay and is in our unit. She was so bubbly and fun! She joined Mary Kay to get the discount on the products, but then decided she wanted to earn some prizes and ended up getting a couple of people to sign up with her. And she got her ring (that was the prize)! Anyway, she is such a fun, outgoing person and I really hope they find her alive. As many others feel, the story her hubby is giving just doesn't add up. Even though the four year old is saying his dad really did take them camping. Yeah, he's four and they are so easily manipulated. Sad, sad, sad...

Playing In the Leaves & Halloween Photos

2009-11-16T11:16:00.005-07:00

We had a little impromptu photoshoot with Littlefoot last week before we raked up the million leaves in our backyard. It was his first experience with the leaves and he loved the crunching sound they made!

We also got our Halloween pictures back from Emilie at Photo By Emilie. She does great work and we had a lot of fun! She did mini shoots on Halloween that were 15 minute sessions and had great deals on the prints/cd's. We were really happy with how they turned out!

Swine Flu Takes A Good Man

2009-11-06T11:42:00.003-07:00

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Jared and I got our swine flu shots this morning. We were lucky and I was able to get us an appointment before they were gone. We weren't sure we wanted to get one, but decided we needed to after hearing how sick a family friend became last week. And on Wednesday, he passed away. It hit close to home because I've known their family for 20+ years (they live in the stake I grew up in) . I grew up with their oldest daughter elementary school through high school. Our families have similar dynamics-we have three girls and one boy, I'm the oldest and the same age as their oldest. I worked closely with their mom who was the Stake Young Women's President when I was the secretary on Stake Youth Council (my dad got to know her well too because he was the Young Men's president). Anyway, we were shocked to hear how sick he was and even more shocked when we heard that he had died.

Their family is so strong! They have been a great example of faith. It's times like these that you evaluate things and realize how quickly life can happen. I am so grateful for the Gospel and to know that I will be with my family forever. How blessed I am to know this! We love the Cox family and our prayers are with them.

The Pioneer Woman Visits!

2009-11-04T14:28:00.001-07:00

The Pioneer Woman visited us here in Utah today on her book signing tour. It was so fun to see the woman behind the blog!

Halloween

2009-11-01T16:34:00.008-07:00

We took it easy for Halloween. On Friday night, we had our ward/neighborhood Halloween party. Our ward decorates the building as a "Haunted Wardhouse", with each auxiliary decorating a room for the kids to trick or treat through. Jared is over the Deacons and they decorated their room as the "Superhero Hall of Fame". I am over the Laurels and we were nerds (don't you love my eyebrows? I totally scared Jared with them and had people staring at me all night!). Littlefoot was a penguin (he really hated being in that costume too! It was a fun night. My parents and sister even made the trip out our way to hang for awhile.

Halloween night was pretty quiet. We visited Jared's brother and his wife, who had a little Halloween party at their new house. Littlefoot slept most of the time! He was very tired. We had taken his pictures earlier that morning (I'll post them as soon as I get them-they are so cute!), visited Jared at work, and visited my parents before going home. We watched "Batman Forever"-talk about old school! It's amazing how different the new Batman films are compared to the old. We could have watched something scary, but I don't do scary!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Congrats Sis!

2009-11-01T16:14:00.003-07:00

Congrats to my sister! She was in her high school's production of "The Music Man", and did a fantastic job. She always stayed in character and looked so cute in her 1920's get up! What happened to my little baby sister? She's all growed up!

2009-11-01T16:09:00.003-07:00

Isn't this funny? I found these at the grocery store the other day. They are made by Utah Truffles. I personally enjoyed the "Edward" best! Nothing like cool mint and chocolate!

A Fun Giveaway Today Only!

2009-10-08T00:30:00.002-06:00

So, I don't know if anyone even reads our blog anymore, but I thought I'd post this anyway! I am sponsoring a giveaway today on the blog Giveaway Today (what a great name for a blog!). Anyway, up for grabs is a $50 gift certificate. I am also giving 10% off orders today, and there is always free shipping for orders in the USA. Be sure to visit and check it out! The giveaway ends midnight tonight (October 8).

Littlefoot Update

2009-09-30T22:10:00.005-06:00

Our Littlefoot is growing so fast! He is so much fun and I absolutely love being home with him. He has started "talking" and smiling a lot more. I spend all day with him, and sometimes find myself having conversations with the boy! And he responds with smiles and sounds of his own, like he's talking. He loves watching TV, especially Mickey Mouse, and fans. He gets so excited staring at fans. He kicks and smiles and coos like crazy watching them. Too. Cute. He loves to listen to music too. We have some musical toys and a swing that play classical songs that he responds to. In the swing, he'll stare at the area that the music comes out of. With the other toys, he moves around to like he's dancing. Grandma and Grandpa bought him a jungle gym that he loves. His favorite thing is to stare at the penguin and grab the rings (he's just started to hold on to things now like his blanket, my necklaces, shirt collars

We recently took him for his two month check up. It was so hard to watch him get the shots! And the nurse made me hold down his little legs. They gave him a vaccine in his mouth that he absolutely hated! He did not like the taste of it, and kept trying to spit it out. Then, I hold down his legs as the nurse instructed me to do, and she stuck three needles in his chubby thighs! His face went from a little annoyed to absolutely angry! When he cries, his face goes bright red (as you can see from the picture). However, by the time we made it to the car, he was asleep. Poor guy. What a day! To add to it, he had his first taste of Tylenol. He gave me an odd face when he swallowed, but at least he didn't spit it up! I forget that all of these experiences are new to him, including flavors. After all, he's never had anything but breast milk and formula! So here are his stats:
Length: 24.5 inches (he was 21.5 at birth), 91st percentile
Weight: 13.5 pounds (he was 8.5 at birth), 77th percentile
Head Circumference: 32nd percentile (what a funny category! But our Littlefoot has a small head compared to most babies)

Basically our baby is one healthy boy! We don't know where he got his height from, but I'm grateful he's a little longer or he'd be a major chub. He sleeps through the night, and has since about six weeks, usually about 6-7 hours. He does have his nights of waking up at 3 or 4 but they are few thankfully. I appreciate it! And then, after his early morning meal, he and I cuddle until it's time for me to get up. I put him in the crook of my arm and we snuggle. It's the best!

He loves his baths and has started kicking at the water. He also has a new scream cry that he uses when he gets scared, hurt, or is just down right mad because he's not getting any attention (he's fine playing on his own but if he goes longer than he likes without some love he gets annoyed).

Basically, he is a fun, healthy, adorable boy who has a lot of people wrapped around his fingers!

Attention All You Runners!

2009-09-29T15:33:00.004-06:00

I know a lot of you enjoy running and this is a great way to run for a good cause! On October 24 @ 8am in West Jordan you can run to help Karsen walk again. Look for the details here.

Koins for Karsen & Run Karsen Run!

2009-09-29T15:30:00.003-06:00

Koins for Karsen Event

This is something some of my Amazing Mary Kay Girlfriends have set up for Karsen (see previous post).
Host: Malaree Hobbs
Type: Causes - Fundraiser
Network: Global
Date: Monday, October 12, 2009
Time: 4:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: Chilis
Street: 3766w. 13400 s.
City/Town: Riverton, UT
Email: malareehobbs@marykay.com

On September 24 my friends 3 year old son was involved in a traumatic accident involving a lawn mower. This sweet young boy ended up losing his foot and half of his leg. He is on a long and expensive road to recovery, looking at many more surgeries in the months to come.

PLEASE HELP US RAISE MONEY FOR THE KARSEN MERY FUND.

CHILI'S IS DONATING 10% OF ALL SALES MADE THAT NIGHT TO THE MERY FAMILY.

PLEASE COME AND HELP OUT THIS AMAZINGLY STRONG AND HAPPY YOUNG BOY
( DINE IN OR TAKE OUT)

2009-09-28T21:22:00.005-06:00

Last week, one of my Mary Kay girlfriend's sons had a horrible accident. Karsen had his leg severed to mid-calf when their ride-on lawn mower ran over him. He is a brave little boy and they are a wonderful family! They have four young children and both of them are self-employed (Nicole is a Mary Kay sales director). Karsen has already been through surgeries and has a long road to recovery. They have set up a trust fund in his name to help cover the hospital bills, and to help cover all the time that his parents will be spending helping him learn to walk again. He really is a sweetheart and is still smiling! If you'd like to follow their story, they have a blog set up to check in on his road to recovery. And, if you're in a position to help, they have a link to donate to his trust fund. Check them out here.

2009-09-22T16:07:00.002-06:00

I thought this was cool. Someone took all three trailers and put them together! I think I might actually see the movie after all! And the musical looks good too! Enjoy!

For All You Dads Out There...

2009-09-20T23:32:00.001-06:00

Jared was dying while watching this video!

YMCA

2009-09-17T17:46:00.011-06:00

My hubby and his brother are so funny together! This video is them at a family Labor Day sleepover at the cabin. Whenever the family gets together like this, they always have some kind of singing and entertainment. It was getting cool up there, and the boys decided to grab jackets that are up there for those who forget to bring one. And they are old! They decided to pull off an impromptu fashion show in their 80's wear, and then proceeded to help some of the kids perform "Y.M.C.A.". Our brother-in-law, Rob, was the first one to get up to dance. The kids singing are our cousins little ones. Too, too fun! It was very entertaining.

Struttin' their stuff.

This is our niece. She is seriously so grown up!

Our other niece who we like to call "Pebbles"

JJ with his Grandma & Grandpa Day. He loves the cabin!

Miles of Smiles

2009-09-17T00:37:00.003-06:00

JJ started smiling when he was about two weeks old. Yes, they were real smiles, not just gas. And I have the pictures to prove it! We took family pictures and amazingly, the photographer captured the fleeting grins. He didn't do it often, but it has become more and more frequent. Now, he smiles constantly and has been discovering his voice. It's so fun to hear him coo! He also has discovered his tongue. He loves sticking it out and makes a little clicking noise with it now. He's been such a happy, sweet baby. He only cries for the obvious reasons-hunger, dirty diaper, and when he wants to be held or gets bored (and he does get bored! He's recently started to watch TV with us and I try to keep it to shows like "Baby Einstein"). Here are some pictures of his smiles:

At two weeks old

At 6 & 7 Weeks

2009-09-17T00:28:00.003-06:00

Why do I get so much joy out of watching him sleep? I have so many pictures like this but he's just so dang cute! I can't help myself! This is our little guy at 5 weeks.

He's really been working on holding his head up and is getting really good at it. He is also showing some progress towards rolling over; he favors his right side and generally gets half way there. I don't think he quite knows what he's doing though because he only rolls around like that when he's upset. Also, he has officially grown out of his newborn and 0-3 month clothes. It's strange that Jared and I are such short people and yet we had a baby who is the 80th percentile in length!

Super Baby!

2009-09-09T21:14:00.007-06:00

JJ at five weeks showing off his great head control!

Got Milk?

2009-09-09T21:02:00.005-06:00

This is me. The cow. With my little eater who loves his meals.

Unfortunately for us, my body can't keep up with his demands. Because we want him to have the benefits of breast milk, especially with flu season beginning, I was very upset to think that my milk supply was low.

But our pediatrician came to the rescue! She prescribed a medicine that is safe to take and stimulates milk supply. It's actually a medication for digestive issues, but its side effect is creating milk. Wahoo! Too bad insurance won't cover it, but it saves us money in the long run because we aren't using formula except to supplement when I can't feed him. I've had a lot of people asking me what it's called, so I thought I'd pass along the information. It's called Domperidone. It's a life saver! Or a milk saver at least!

Girl's Night Out Spa Time!

2009-09-03T20:10:00.001-06:00

We're doing it again! Except this time, it's a spa night with pedicures and facials featuring our spa products. It's been really fun, so if you'd like a night away, this is for you! And you don't have to pay for dinner or waxing, you can just come for free! I am now a full-time consultant working on getting my car by Christmas (I'm on my way!) because we need a new car with the baby (our junkers just ain't cuttin it). To help get things moving again, I'm working on doing 100 faces like I did last year. If you would be wiling to help me out, I would love you! If you'd like to reserve a spot, email me: jday43@marykay.com.

The Boy

2009-09-03T19:15:00.005-06:00

So, he's grown a lot since we had him! When he was born, he weighed in at 8.5 lbs and 21.5 inches long. How he fit inside of me, I have no idea!

And, some of you may want to know the birth story. Here it is in a nutshell. It was a week and a half before he was due, and I was so over being pregnant. I couldn't sleep, couldn't breathe, was sore from head to toe and dealing with the ever so fabulous Braxton-Hicks pains, and just down right cranky. Seriously, every time he kicked me in the ribs, I wanted to throw something. Anyway, one afternoon while at work, I had started having some really bad cramping. So much so that I had a hard time walking and had to stop to breathe. I left work a little early to go home and rest and drink a ton of water like they tell you to. Jared and I timed what we thought were contractions at about four minutes apart. The pains weren't going away, so we gathered our bags, climbed in the car, and headed to the hospital.

The main nurse didn't sound too convinced when we showed up. It was our first baby and I still had over a week to go. They didn't even put us in one of the labor rooms-just an observation type room. The nurse was really sweet, and, when she checked me, I was horrified to hear that I was still only a one and 30%. Seriously? How can that be? All I could think about was how badly I wanted the baby out out of me! She also discovered that I was extremely dehydrated. BINGO! So, they gave me two bags of fluid and watched me for an hour. When they checked me again, no progress. Plus, the little guy's head was still so high up, she couldn't feel him. Figures. So, I went home with a Lortab and one sour attitude. Poor Jared.

Fast forward exactly a week later. We had had our appointment with my doctor the day before and found out I had progressed to a 3 and 50%. But that meant nothing. However, she did strip my membranes, and the baby had dropped a little! He had actually dropped two days prior, much to my relief, because I could finally breathe a little more! Determined to help move things along, I gave in to a wive's tale. I had heard talk of certain foods inducing labor, and decided to give it a try. There is a local cafe in town that has what the call a "pregnancy pizza". Apparently, it's fool proof. I called for lunch that day and ran to pick it up. I had no idea what was on this pizza, but had faith that it would save my day! This is what I found when I got there:

It's their chicken and mushroom pizza. Thank heavens it tasted good (as you can see from the picture). I had four pieces. And then I waited. All afternoon. Nothing. Nothing. Oh, come on! When I got home that day, still nothing. Just the normal aches and pains of being nine months prego.

And then, something. Ooh, it hurt. So, I timed it. They were about five minutes. Jared was determined not to have another false alarm, and wanted to be certain they were close enough together and I was in enough pain. I don't blame him. By 11 that night, I told him we were going. So, we grabbed our bags again and headed overthere. We had another sweet nurse who broke the bad news that I was still only a 3 and 50%-not enough for them to keep me. The contractions were actually eight minutes apart. Dang it. And so, we walked for the next hour in circles. We ran, we skipped, we danced down the hallways of labor and delivery. I even tried some exercises. Once again, however, we had to go home. But, before we left, the nurse gave me a shot of morphine with phenargen. Bless her heart. The morphine would knock me out! But, she did mention that should I go into real labor, the morphine would do nothing for the pain.

We got home about 1:30 in the morning, exhausted. But, I was in a happy place, thanks to the morphine. Too bad it didn't last. Three hours later, I woke from a dead sleep, literally screaming in pain as the first contraction hit me. Holy cow it hurt! Jared woke up right away, grabbed my hand, and admonished me to breathe. Right! After it was over, I whimpered in his arms, afraid of the next one. Which hit about four minutes later. This time, Jared had me sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" which went something like "Oh, saaaayyy can you seeeeeeee AHHHHHHHHHH!" I tell you, I have never experienced that kind of pain before. We timed them for about an hour, and then Jared asked that I call the doctor on call before we went to the hospital again. So, I did. It just so happened that the on call doctor was mine. She felt horrible for me because she knew I had been there the night before, and told me to come back in. They were ready for us when we got there. I could not wait to get the epidural! Anything to make the pain stop. When the nurse checked me, we had some good news. I was at a 5 and 80%. Hallelujah! Because of how early it was, the anesthesiologist came quickly, about five minutes later. I was nervous, but once another contraction, I could have cared less how big that needle was. Besides, I didn't see it. And, it didn't hurt! Just a little pinch and I was in heaven. He even gave me a button to push if I wanted more medicine to flow in my IV! What a gift.

So, I was happy. I looked gleefully at the monitor and saw the contractions that I was now no longer feeling. I had the epidural, I still had morphine in my system... But, before I could take a nap, I put my make-up on and brushed my hair. Yes, it's true. I wanted to look somewhat decent because I knew we'd have visitors and lots of pictures. Then, I went to sleep. Jared had already been sleeping by this point.

The labor lasted only 8 hours total. My parents came in to visit when the nurse came to check me again. They left the room, thinking they'd be back shortly. Not the case. I was a 10 and 100% and ready to push! Oh, so that was why I felt the need to push. Hmmmm. We weren't ready. We thought we had a few more hours left. I guess that's what happens when they give you potossin (is that how you spell it) to further the process along. It's also why they put me on oxygen for awhile to help calm the baby's hearbeat down, which had sped up from the strong contractions that I no longer felt! Phew.

Anyway, I pushed for about half an hour. The nurse did ask if I wanted a mirror put up so I could watch. I hesitated at first, but then gave in. Seeing the progression of things actually helped me push harder. My doctor came in for the last few minutes of pushing, and then suddenly our baby was there. And I became a mother to the most precious little guy on the planet. He was beautiful and he changed my world. After getting his stats and wrapping him, they put him on my chest to bond. He was so perfect and so small. He recognized my voice. He also recognized Jared's voice-he turned toward him when he talked to him. So cute!

So, my parents had been out in the hall when they heard him cry. They had no idea I was in the room pushing! They were beyond excited-this is their first little grandchild. Jared's parents had left somewhere and we couldn't get ahold of them. They didn't think he'd be born so quickly either.

We had visitors the rest of the day. I was exhausted and drugged, but too happy to sleep. JJ was a great breast feeder from the start. He had no problems at all, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. When the visitors left, and Jared went home to sleep, I was excited to have some alone time with the baby. I hadn't held him much, so this was my time. They took him away to let me sleep but brought him back four hours later. I was so excited to see him! We cuddled the rest of the night.

So, there you have it. I stayed for a couple of days at the hospital. I looked forward to going home, but knew I'd miss having the nurses around to take care of me. Plus, we'd be alone with a baby for the first time! The first night was hard, so was the second, and the third...The first two weeks were difficult! I had the baby blues, had no sleep, was so sore and trying to heal... But, we made it.

Still Here

2009-08-16T13:53:00.003-06:00

Yes, we are alive. And yes, we had our baby! Our little CJ has arrived (a month ago). Because I no longer have a job (I'm a "Work-from-home Mommy"), I'm not on the computer near as much as I used to be. I only have small amounts of time to do anything, and when I am on the computer, it's usually to check email, pay bills, and get updates on everyone else. We are doing well though and I will be posting updates in the next couple of days :)

MJ Tribute

2009-07-13T11:40:00.002-06:00

This is awesome! MJ was the "King of Pop" and, in my opinion, the best entertainer in the world, no matter what you might think of him personally. This was a group of about 300 dancers that met at a certain point, learned the choreography, and then performed it as a tribute. It really is so sad that he is gone, but we still have his music!

The Countdown...

2009-06-30T11:23:00.002-06:00

I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and I am dilated to a 1 and 30% effaced! Ok, it's not too exciting because it could take me another 3 weeks to get to a 10. Blah. So, I will be taking walks, jumping on trampolines, eating the foods that restaurants swear put women into labor, etc. Anything to get this baby out of me! The poor doctor couldn't feel his head while she was examining because he was up so high. She assumes what she felt was the top of his head, so we don't know if he's breech or not. I'm pretty sure he hasn't flipped though, because, with how tightly packed he is inside of me, there is no way he could flip without me knowing it! Three weeks to go. The doctor was concerned about my blood pressure being high, so hopefully it goes back down.

We have a pool going in our ward and family about the date that he comes. Most seem to think it will be sometime next week. We'll see! Jared and I are definitely ready for him. We have the nursery ready, his clothes put away and categorized by age, the hospital bags packed, and my back is ready for a break!