Swap Party?

Not as bad as it sounds - I PROMISE ;)

About a month ago, my friend Amy invited me to a "swap party" at her house, where KSL Studio 5 was also invited to film it....here's the footage from today (WARNING!!! I'm such an idiot. Do I really act like that? Really?)

http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=59&sid=10132763

Despite the pesky camera, the party was a blast! I expected nothing less though - AMY'S an amazing hostess. Thanks Amy!

Mommy/Daughter Conflicts

Don't get me wrong, Carly's been a pure delight.....until about a few months ago. She's been testing all of us with her strong will. Power struggles take up just about my whole day. First thing this morning, she made her way right into time out. While she was in there, I asked her if she wanted me to make her eggs....nothing. I asked her again....nothing. So I said, "ok, if you can't answer me, then I'm not making them". So, of course, as I was walking away, she demanded, "I WANT EGGS". I'm trying to teach her who's boss (me, if it's not obvious), so I told her that she'd get another chance tomorrow. This put her in a rage for about 20 minutes. While she was sobbing in time out, she cried, "mom, if you don't make me eggs, then that means you don't love Jesus!", and "I never knew you don't like Jesus". Yup! Here's the equation if you missed it....

= JESUS

I guess I'm just not christian anymore :(

Fat Cats

Our quarterly family b-day party at Fat Cat's....

AND the last one for Mark, Lorena,

and Skylar - moving to Louisina :(

Yee-Haw!

Carly had her "grandpa's farm" program at preschool. Here's a little re-cap....

she's been practicing her part for a week, "swimming and splashing everyday, quack is what I like to say". She tried really hard, and pulled it off perfectly. Good job Carly :)

Kalisa's Surprise....

My brother Brad called me about two weeks ago, and asked me to do a master bedroom makeover for his wife for her surprise birthday gift. She knew I was doing it, but she was given strict instructions to not discuss it with me. He video taped her talking about what she'd like to see in the room, but that footage was withheld from me. I was NOT to talk with her about any of my plans, nor was she to talk to me about any of her preferences. I was told to design the room however I wanted...nothing was off the table. I could do any colors, paint any furniture, change fixtures, buy new furniture, ANYTHING. I had to keep asking if this was really Kalisa's birthday, cuz it felt an awful lot like mine! So, I've spent the last two weeks, planning, shopping, shopping, and shopping a little more ;) I got there on Friday, and worked til Saturday night for the big "REVEAL"!

Kalisa's first glance...

Here's me giving her the "tour". I think our stances our funny - always the same! Frank was hiding behind the bed with a video camera to get her initial reaction on tape. I still haven't seen it!

Before & Afters

I decided to keep her bed and night stands. I just switched out the knobs since one was missing. Kalisa is NOT afraid of color, so I was excited to give her something a little "different". We painted the walls "tranquility", and put up grasscloth behind the bed. I did the grasscloth to neutralize some of the brighter colors in the bed, and also to allow me to use all different wood tones. I bought a dining bench for the foot of the bed because it was long an skinny. New lamps (bigger), mirror, art, pillows, and accessories to pull it all together.

We (Frank) installed some natural roman shades to add the "pecan" color to this wall, and to tie it into the grasscloth. It was important to bring in the dark woods to contrast with the lighter woods that she already had. I bought two big mirrors (ikea), added floor-to-ceiling drapes to give the room height, bought the chair off KSL, added table, lamp and accessories.

Perfect little nook!

This piece of art from Home Goods adds more shades of the same colors going on in the bedding. It also added a little contemporary flare tot he room. We added an art light to highlight it! We added new hardware to her hope chest, and I suggested that she paint it cream to match the art above the night stands.

So, I talked to Brad about things that might be sentimental I could use for some abstract art on this wall. Their family motto is "no empty chairs", so I found these pictures on-line, re-sized them, changed them to sepia, added film grain, printed them off at Costco for $3 a pop, and bought frames at Ikea for $17 a piece! I love it! There are five chairs representing each person in the family (with room for a sixth - when the time is right, OF COURSE!)

In the bathroom, everything was light excepts those amazing chocolate quartz countertops, so I decided to bring more richness by changing the light fixtures, hardware, and faucets to a rubbed bronze. We installed grasscloth behind the new framed mirrors. We also switched out the accordian blinds for the natural roman shades, new towels and accessories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALISA!

Wolf!

Thanks to the cub scout program, Logan cooked us up a pretty tasty dinner! He had to plan a meal with three of the food groups, set the table, cook dinner, and clean up...we might make this a weekly thing. It was so nice. Not that pretty....but NICE!

Logan had to redeem his badge, by "wolf"ing down a tin of whipped cream using only his mouth! Good job Logan :)

Jenessa Bridal Shower

Here's the pics from the shower we threw for Jenessa...we decided to have her shower "dipped in chocolate", so there were CHOCOLATE pretzels, CHOCOLATE popcorn, CHOCOLATE rice krispie treats, CHOCOLATE marshmallows, and of course, a little fresh fruit for the "light weights"! Super Fun :) They've asked me to be their "wedding planner" for the big day in March. I've been planning it for a while now, and I'm a bit nervous, but excited! Wish me luck - AND Jenessa ;)

Happy Heart Day!

So, Frank and I had a "discussion" Friday morning about how I always wait too long to take his shirts out of the dryer, so HE has to iron them (I've probably ironed his shirts maybe three times - ever!). It's a complaint he's had since day ONE of our marriage, and I always get super bugged that he's so ungrateful....ya da ya da ya da. So this year, I decided to give a gift from the heart, and instead of getting offended, I gave him this..
.

And Frank gave me these....they were actually long-stemmed roses, but Frank helped me make an actual arrangement by removing all leaves, cutting stems, and filling the space between the vases with white rice to hide the stems, and rounding it out with a little ribbon - I LOVE THIS STUFF!

I made the kids coupons books with these bargains:

• Pass for Unloading Dishwasher
• Trip to the Dollar Store
• One Hour Computer Time
• Pass for Making Bed
• Play Board Game with Mom
• Trip to A&W for Root Beer Float Cone

2-Day Tween Makeover

Here's the 2-day makeover I did for 11-year old Sarah....

Before...

AFTER

This room was achieved on a major budget. Since this is an 11-year old GIRL, I wanted to make sure that it felt "loungy" for her and her friends to hang out. I did this by positioning the bed in a corner, and filling it with all different types of pillows, and added the tissue balls for a little exrta whimsy. We kept the existing bed, and painted the knobs black. The curtains are just your cheap wal-mart panels with sequins - of course. They were just pinned up to create a valance.

Before...

AFTER

This nook was just screaming for a little attention, so I gave it to them. To save time and money, we left the existing paint, and only painted the desk area to really set it apart, and utilize the entire space. The tiny desk just wasn't cutting it, so we bought an old desk at the D.I., took off the top, posistioned the drawers on the outer walls, and bought a cheap door ($20) at lowes, set it on top, and painted it all white to pop off the pink. It now looks like an expensive built-in! Spraypainted a cork board, and finished it off with ribbons to display her pictures, and just put scrapbook paper in frames to complete the look.

Before...

AFTER

Just as important as the bed, is a full-length mirror! We did this with your cheap wal-mart mirror, then painted the frame on the wall. The lamp shade was embellished with Pretty Petal flower clips, and the letter "S" with coordinating ribbons.

THE FUN NEVER STOPS!!

To Do...

So, I made a "to do" list last night with 22 items on it, and what do you think I did first thing this morning???

...Organized my scarves and necklaces - NOT ON MY TO DO LIST! I think I'm just rebellious. If I didn't make a "to do" list, I probably would have actually completed the scheduled tasks. By-gones :)

ANYONE?????

Is there anyone NOT on a diet who will go to In-N-Out with me??? Anyone??? I've never been, and I'm just dying to sink my teeth into a nice juicy burger! No one else is up to it though....stupid new years resolutions...maybe next month ;)

sLeDdiNg

(only picture I got before camera died :() Happy Winter....

Happy New Year!

Frank wanted to surprise me for the new year, so we sent the kids for a sleepover at his moms, and partied like this....




*Checked in at Hotel Monaco downtown


*Walked over to Benihana, and had THE MOST DELICIOUS DINNER!


*Went to the Gateway to watch Sherlock Holmes (and ATE even more...)


*Went next door to the Gallivan Center to watch fireworks, and create a few of our own ;)


*Walked over to a cafe at midnight and and enjoyed, YES, even more food! Super nachos and hot chocolate!

PERECT WAY TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR....THANKS FRANK!

Lava Hot Springs

For Christmas, my mom and dad gave us all a family trip to Lava Hot Springs! We left the Monday after Christmas. Frank and I decided to leave a little early to take the kids "where it all began" in Logan. We had lunch at the Blue Bird, and wished we hadn't....it was FREEZING! Even the waitresses were wearing coats - we got out of there as fast as we could, but still managed to get a few photo's (of course!)We got to Lava, turned the heat on full blast in our motel room, and left for yet another meal. We eat at the best little pizza place - just feels so homey & WARM! Especially because there were 27 "family members" in our party! We had an adult table...

a BOY table...

and of course, the little GIRL table!

After dinner, we went to the springs with the kids, and then my mom and dad tended ALL the grandkids while the adults enjoyed some "alone time" at the hot springs - SO FUN! Kids had so much fun staying in the motel. They were especially excited about the microwave and refrigerator. You'd think they'd never seen one before! Carly even took pictures to document!

The next morning, we went to breakfast, and headed back. We took the long way, and drove through Logan again for a quick trip down memory lance, and to pick up some squeaky cheese, and aggie ice cream!

The BIG day!

Kids were in our room at 6am (I'm sure they were up long before that, but that was when we told them they could wake us up). The kids are at really fun ages for Christmas. I was afraid that it would be a little awkward this year since I just told Logan about Santa, but for some reason, he is pretending that I never told him...it's the weirdest thing! Maybe it was just too traumatic to learn the truth - who knows? Anyhoo...here's the pics...

Eve

We did things a little different this year, and decided to have Christmas Eve with just me, Frank, and the kids. First....we made sugar cookies for Santa (YUM)!

I had planned a fancy christmas eve feast, but last minute decided that I'd enjoy myself more if I didn't do all the work, so we went to Red Robin instead! It was surprisingly fun...

Later that night, the"elves" left pj's on the front step, and each kid picked a story (and picture) of Jesus that they would tell the rest of the family (Logan's idea)...

Frank helped the kids build a giant fort in Carly's room, so they could all sleep together, but the excitement was just way too much. Around 11:30, we finally put the kabosh on the party, and made them all sleep in their own beds!