It's GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!!!

I am so excited about this giveaway. I was invited by My Blog Spark to try a great new product idea from Fruit Roll Ups!! This is so cool!!

Fruit Roll - Ups can be personalized. All you have to do is go to www.myfruitrollups.com and you can design your own!! I think this is a great idea for a birthday party favor, a treat for your kids to take to school on their birthday or valentines, a baby shower..... You can add your own pictures or text or use their art & designs!!

Wouldn't your kids think it's cool to have their own picture on Fruit Roll-Ups?The winner of this giveaway will receive a coupon code to order a box of 30 Fruit Roll-Ups - personalized BY YOU for free - and free shipping!! That's a $37 value!!

Here's what you need to do ---

Get ONE entry by going to www.myfruitrollups.com and take a look around -- then come back here and post a comment telling me about your design idea!!

Get ANOTHER entry by blogging about this giveaway and referring your readers here!!

If your readers tell me in their comments here that they read about this giveaway on YOUR BLOG -- I will throw in a 3rd entry for you!!!

This giveawy will end on January 5th at NOON.... I will announce the winner on Januray 6th!!!

Wanted: A Lost and Found Department

There is one thing I am adding to my Christmas list for next year:

My own personal lost and found department.

With the help of the Little Man today we have lost a small key ring camera that Matt got from Santa and one of the the extension feet off of the Wii Fit. I have searched and searched!!

The department could have also come in handy when we were searching for Matt's pager, razor, wallet, cell phone...... the remote that we replaced and then Matt found in his boot at work over a month later!!!

They could have also helped out at Church today when the Little Man decided to run away.... maybe they could have caught him before he made from the VERY BACK of the Chapel to the BACK ROW OF THE STAND...... I seriously thought about calling out to Aubrey to grab him!!! And then after that the department could have helped in LOSE my red embarrassed face.

Yep that's what I want..... my very own LOST & FOUND.

All I Need To Know I Learned From A Snowman

This was given to us by a sweet neighbor and I just wanted to share.

All I Need To Know I Learned From A Snowman

It's okay if you're a little bottom heavy.
Hold your ground, even when the heat is on.
Wearing white is always appropriate.
Winter is the best of the four seasons.
It takes a few extra rolls to make a good midsection.
There's nothing better than a foul weather friend.
The key to life is to be a jolly, happy soul.
We're made up of mostly water.
You know you've made it when they write a song about you.
Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize!
Avoid yellow snow.
Don't get too much sun.
It's embarrassing when you look down and can't see your feet.
It's fun to hang out in your front yard.
Always put your best foot forward.
There's no stopping once you are on a roll.

Enjoy the SNOW!!!

A Christmas Gift to you!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I have an AWESOME GIVEAWAY coming you way!!! The giveaway will be announced on Monday December 29th --- COME BACK AND ENTER!!!! Seriously it is a great prize worth over $30!!!! I can't wait to share!!!!!!!!!

My Parents & My Sister

I took some cute photos of my parents!!! It was lots of fun. It's really hard to get my dad to smile on que so I had to keep saying, "I'm gonna get you..." to get him to smile.My parents do a lot for us and they are a good example of love. They are so in love it's awesome!! I hope to be able to always show my kids that I love their daddy!!!

Of course while I was there I had to take a picture of my sister Meg...........

Creamy French Onion Mushroom Pork

On my other blog Good Stuff Maynard someone posted a pork tenderloin recipe that sounded so yummy!!

I made this on Wednesday and I really liked it. I did modify it according to what I had on hand.

I used a pork roast. I didn't have French onion soup so what I did was sliced a whole onion and then boiled it until translucent in a can of beef stock. I used a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup and a can of Cream of Celery Soup and a large can of mushrooms.

I cooked this in the crock pot on low for about 8 hours.

The only bad thing about this is that the house smelled so good at 9am when I was boiling the onions, my mouth watered all day.

The sauce from the roast made super yummy gravy for the mashed potatoes!!!!

Christmas Potpouri

Last week we finally put up our Christmas Tree. It was decorated nicely for the first 3 minutes and then the little man of the house decided to make a few adjustments. You might notice that there are very few ornaments on the bottom part of the tree. The ornaments from the lower half have either been moved out of reach (YEAH RIGHT) by Mic or hidden behind the couch - yes there are some snowmen back there!!

Or they have morphed into bits and pieces of landfill decor. We were able to rescue this guy -- you might know him as Rudolf the One Antlered Reindeer.I wanted to show you a prize part of our Christmas Decor. These stockings were made by my Grandma. She made on for all of her grandkids, their spouses, and most of her great-grandkids - her eyes and hands no longer work and so she cannot make any more. She actually made 2 for me. I have my original from my childhood that was getting worn and thin, so she made me a new one a few years ago. These stockings will always be treasured!!

Do you get excited for deliveries in December? If you are like me and have done most of your shopping online then you know what I mean. The rumble of the UPS or FedEx truck outside of your house can be exciting. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I looked out and the rumble came from this truck.Luckily they were not delivering anything to us!!! I much prefer my indoor water closets!!!!

Come back tomorrow for a look at what we are having for dinner tonight......... I just about deleted that sentence!! Don't worry you won't be looking at a toilet!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny Visiting Teaching Video

In the LDS Church the Relief Society has Visiting Teachers. Basically Visiting Teachers are women assigned to look after each other. We visit monthly and we are supposed to give a short message/lesson from The Ensign, a church magazine.

This is a funny video about visiting teaching and how it usually ends up going. At the end is way that it really should be -- Thank goodness we have a forgiving Father in Heaven!

Santa's Workshop

Are you busily working getting ready for Christmas?
Only slightly..... I think I am almost ready - except for the wrapping.

Are you building/making anything in your own Santa's Workshop?
I wanted to get a train table for my kids. I thought that I had bought one from someone and then they turned around and sold it to someone else. So I went with Plan B..... I bought a used coffee table for $15 then I spray painted it white and then painted some green for grass and blue for water on it. Then I sprayed it will a clear gloss sealer. It looks pretty good. It's a nice table anyway so IF it survives the train years I can easily repaint it to be used as furniture. I wish I would have taken a picture of it while it was in the carport but I forgot -- I had to hurry and bring it in to the storage room while no one was watching and before the storm hits.

How late do you usually stay up on Christmas Eve?
I have heard that some mom's never go to sleep. I try to get as much wrapped as possible before hand. Last year I think we were up until about midnight putting together a small trampoline thing. This year I plan on being in bed early .

How many presents do your kids get from you and Santa?
My kids are getting 6 individual gifts, 2 combined gifts and then a few things in their stockings.

Are you still in search of a gift?
Matt and I still have to shop for us, but we pretty much know what we are going to get.

What is the gift that you are most excited about giving this year?
We bought our kids both guitars. They are so into musical instruments. I think they will like them! I am also really excited about the family membership I bought for the Dinosaur Park.

TeePee Instructions

I have had several people ask me for the instructions for making the teepee. You can print them from this photo.

The exciting news........

It was fun reading the comments from my last post. If you read Aubrey's comment you could probably almost figure out what the news is.

Matt got a new job. He is still going to be a firefighter/paramedic but just a little further South in the Salt Lake area. We are not planning on moving -- I would miss my friends and my neighborhood too much!

It is a great job with better pay and hopefully more opportunities for training and advancement. We are excited and nervous. It's weird to think of him changing departments since he has been where he has been for about 9 years. He is going to be staying part time at his old job so we can pay off debt.

Wish us luck!! His first day is right after Christmas!!!

Under the weather.....Some exciting news!

You may have been wondering where I have been..... Or maybe you really didn't care......

Anyway...... We have been a little sick at our house. We have been passing around a lovely cold that kicked mommy's butt!!

My sweet little girl celebrated her 6th birthday!!! Happy Birthday.....

I finished a Christmas gift for my kids........... TEEPEE!!! Yeah that's C-Man playing it. It has been put away and I am sure he has forgoten all about it!!! I do have to say that I am very proud of myself for getting it done!! It was a project that a few ladies in my ward (LDS Church Group) made. Most of them got theirs done a while ago.And........... We have some very exciting news in our family.......... Try and guess what it is...... (no it's not a baby)!!!

With all of this stuff going on we still haven't done ANY Christmas decorating. Today my daughter asked, "Mommy are we EVER going to put up our Christmas tree?" Stay tuned....

A good read!!! And it is free!!!

Melissa at Stretch Marks has been a favorite blog of mine pretty much since I started blog surfing. I have been drawn to her for many reasons but two that stand out above any other for me. 1 - Her Faith in God and his plan for us. 2 - Her desire for children. I have have been there!!

Melissa wrote a book based upon her personal journey. She has turned it into an e-book and it is free to read and download.

Read it!! Share it!! Blog it!!

From Foxholes to Faith

VOTE!!!!

Are you getting tired of pictures?

It's just that time of year when people are getting there new pictures taken. The princess's birthday is coming and we have to get ready for that new Christmas card photo. Today Matt's sister took our family photos. They turned out cute...at least I think so. I am still working on a few touch ups but I wanted to share a couple.






Today I also found out that C-Man's picture was in the newspaper.... yeah back in October. We were up at the fire station for their fire prevention open house and a lady from the Standard Examiner took his picture while he was sitting in Life Flight. I totally forgot about! Actually I kind of figured that since he had just eaten a purple sucker and had a purple face they wouldn't have used his picture -- but they did!!!

Would you love to win a Disney movie?

Then run on over to Just Add Laughter!!!!

Seriously --- I haven't even seen that movie!!! I would love to win!!!

More Photos.....

I finished the touch up on my favorite photos of the princess. Tell me what you think!

Photo Shoot - Main Street USA

A few weeks ago there was a segment on Studio 5, a local daytime program, about photography in urban settings. They showed lots of great places in Salt Lake and Ogden. I really wanted to my little princess somewhere cool to take her pictures for her upcoming birthday. I decided to look a little closer to home.

Holy cow! I cannot believe how cool Kaysville's Main Street is! So if you are looking for somewhere to take photos of your family -- take a look at Main Street in your town!

VOTE!!!!

Please don't forget to vote today!!

I stood in line last week for about an hour to vote early. I am so thankful for the privilege that we have to vote in this country. We get to cast our ballot for whomever we choose - not someone that we are forced to vote for at gunpoint.

No matter what problems our country is facing we are still free!!!

God Bless America!!

Now ---- GO VOTE!

Exterior Updates!

Yeah we have lived in our house for almost 7 years... I finally decided decided to add a bit of style to the exterior. We've been working on the interior too but with the lack of funds the progress has been slow.

This summer we got a new front door and I finally painted it. I decided with a red door the thick molding that I love around my door would look great black. That only took a small amount of paint so then I had Matt paint the trim black. And then a couple of days ago I painted the area between the windows black too. I think it looks great. We still have to do something with the siding but that will have to wait until spring. We also need a new light fixture and I need to paint the mailbox black.I have some cool rusty barn stars that we are going to hang in the black space between the windows and I am on the lookout for some big numbers that will go right above the molding. Does anyone know where I can get some?

(please don't look to closely at the dirty windows)

I have been using the Command hooks to hang things on my door. When the door was white the white hook looked fine. But with the red door the white hook was so ugly! With a little black spray paint I think it looks great!

Halloween Morning Sunrise

This is what it looks like outside right now. This sunrise almost looks like a sunset. It's absolutely beautiful. It is casting a red glow throughout the morning sky. "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning..." This beautiful sunrise could definitely be a foreshadowing of the weather that is soon to be......

I sent these pictures to KUTV so maybe I'll be famous!!!

Thanks for the help!!

I think I am over my writer's block..... thanks to the help of some friends.

Aubrey -- she told me to write about my new paint colors on the outside of my house.
I painted the door red and then Matt painted the trim black. It looks really good except for the fact that now with the nice door and the nice trim the regular house color/old paint job looks bad. One thing at a time. Hopefully in the spring we will be able to put up some new siding - if not a new paint job will defiantly be in the works. I want the main color of the house to be a paper bag brown color. I will post a picture soon!!

Aubrey also suggested that I write about my psycho friend Aubrey. Aubrey really is a great friend. She is the one that introduced me to Pinching Your Pennies - and now that she hasn't been keeping up on her coupons she has been giving them to me. She is always there if I need her! I talk to her on the phone almost everyday - sometimes several times a day. She is really funny and a little scatterbrained!! Love Ya Aubrey......

DesertDiva wanted me to tell her what my favorite home decor store is and what my most recent purchase was. This is hard!! I have to say that my favorite store is Tai Pan - thanks for reminding me that I have to go buy my barn stars before my coupons expire.... Most of my purchases lately have been from yard sales....combined with a can or two of spray paint from Home Depot.

Nicole wanted me to tell you about my psycho from Aubrey...hmmmm I am seeing a pattern here.... And about my psycho friend Nicole. Nicole is a great person. She is so pretty -- I love her hair! I went to get my hair cut and the girl that cut it was also in my neighborhood. I told her that I wanted my hair just like Nicole's. She is a great mom and someone that I truely admire!!

I tell ya. I live in a great place! I am so lucky to have these great friends that I can count on. I have had a bit of a messed up history of friends -- or people that claimed to be my friend and then ended up hurting me beyond words! Matt told me a few weeks ago that he is so happy that I have good friends.... Although I am not totally sure how happy he is about the spray painting that they have me addicted to..... oh well -- at least we are not out tagging fences or walls or anything,

Manic Mariah (a.k.a. Insane Mama) wants me to post about how I met my husband. I will!!! Trust me!!

Marrdy -- she tagged me.... I will post the tag soon!!!!

Writer's Block

So I have no idea what to blog about today...... What do you want me to tell you?

For new readers who may have missed our adoption story.

Stewed Plums and Decorating

I have a great neighbor that shares produce with us all the time. We REALLY appreciate it!! Last week she gave us a bag of plums. She has given us plums every year and we have just tried to eat them before they went bad. This time I searched the internet to find a good way to preserve them. I came up this idea:

Stewed Plums -- I filled my crockpot up with quartered plums. I added 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 cup of sugar and 2 tbls of corn starch mixed combined with a cup of cold water. I cooked it on low for about 4 hours.

They turned out really good. I froze some and then also froze the sauce that was leftover in the crockpot. We ate some for dessert with whipped cream. The kids liked it. Can your tell?

Remember these shelves? They are finally hanging. But I need decoration help!!

The bears and plate I got at yard sales. The fire extinguisher is from 1973 - before I was born. I got it at my grandma's house. The meat grinder and shifter were my grandma's.I found this wine bottle at grandma's too! I have been trying to figure out how old it is? Are there any wine experts out there???

In response to comments from my Tooth Fairy post....

Yes the Tooth Fairy did visit. She was just fine using Micayla's jewelry box. I think it made it easier for her - she didn't have to worry about waking Micayla up sliding her hand under the pillow.

Yesterday morning Micayla found a $1.00 bill in her box.

Today she is still worried about what the Tooth Fairy does with the teeth. I told her that I think she builds a castle with them......

We had a Special Visitor at our house last night.

Look at this picture and see if you can tell who the visitor was........You guessed it Micayla lost her first tooth! This was a very exciting occasion.
It was the Tooth Fairy's first visit to our house... I tried to talk Matt in to having the Tooth Fairy visit when I got my wisdom teeth pulled but it didn't happen.

The tooth did not go under her pillow --- she told me she didn't want the Tooth Fairy in her room because she was afraid. We put the tooth in a jewelry box just inside her bedroom door. She is very worried today about what the Tooth Fairy is doing with her tooth.

Holy Cool Doorknobs Batman!!!

I started painting doorknobs today...... I have 2 done --- it's a start!! What I need to do is rotate them through so I don't have to keep a doorknob off to long.... Gotta keep that cute little man out of places he doesn't belong!

Before - it's brass lovely?? -- oops I forgot to rotate!!



During - I used that small broken laundry basket as a way to hold them securely for painting and drying.


After -- AWESOME!!!

Free Handbags!!!

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

They are giving away 24 handbags in 24 hours --- hurry go register!!!!

More Spray Painting Adventures

This is so addicting --- almost as addicting as the computer. I am constantly on the prowl for things that I can paint. I even offered to use my red paint to paint a big U on the neighbor's head.... he's a big BYU fan and I am a Ute Girl!!!

I found this shelf (actually 2 of them) at a yard sale for $2.00 each.

After a little paint.... now I just need to hang them up.


And dang it I forgot to take a before photo of this.... I got this little stand from my grandma's house. It was brown - it had a few chips and scuff marks on it. Now it's red! I love it!

Oh and check out the clasp thingy... it's some Gothic creature... or maybe a lion???


Still on my list to paint...... all the picture frames in the living room that are a light oak color --- they will be going black, the nightstands in my bedroom that don't match each other or the bed will also be going black (my bed is black) and the door knobs from the entire house will be going from brass to bronze with a hammered finish. Now hopefully the weather will hold out long enough....... honey can you build me a paint booth???