Thanksgiving

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Day with friends. I will be adding pictures as soon as I return home, they are on the other camera!

It's Sticking!

Yesterday morning, those are the happy sounds I awoke too. The girls were overjoyed that it was not only snowing, but sticking. :) I on the other hand wasn't thrilled. I had the last day of my show to do, and snow is not bead buying weather.  Now that it is Monday however, I love the snow! I am thankful for the 2 hour delay that the kids had for school, we all needed to sleep in. Here are the girls as they are walking down to the bus stop. Allison of course already had a snowball!

Charmed Pennies

I have been having fun the past few years making and selling scrabble tile pendants at the shows that I am at. They have been a huge hit. I wanted to do some in a round shape, and after a light bulb, finally went off, I started using pennies to make the pendants on. They are an even bigger hit than the scrabble tiles. So today, I have been tripping over pennies all over my house.

First I have to clean them up, and then sort through them picking out the "pretty" ones. Then I get to play.

Here are a bunch of pennies done, just have to wait 24 hours for the epoxy to set.

And here are some Charmed Pennies all finished up just waiting to be put on etsy later this weekend.

Mom, I have no socks!

This morning, I am very thankful for the fact that Allison was getting her shoes and socks on 15 minutes before the bus came, not at the last possible minute which happens a lot!  Turns out she has no clean socks. They are all in the washing machine. So, I grab the hair dryer in one hand, the iron in the other, and with a minute to spare, she has on toasty warm socks, and she and Daylyn are off and running down the street to catch the bus.  I am a little worried though, she loved the warm socks. Hope this doesn't mean she will want them warmed for her every day! LOL!

Veteran's Day

Yesterday at the girls school, they held a Veteran's Day assembly. Daylyn's choir sang 2 songs, and Allison gave a little speech.  Here what Allison wrote, with just a little help from Mom and Dad.

All of my Great-Grandpas served in World War 2. One commanded a sub chaser, one was a medic, and one flew in a a torpedo bomber. Both of my Grandpas served as well. One served for 20 years in the Air Force. My uncle also served in Iraq. They have all worked very hard to keep all of us safe, just like our soldiers do today.

Please help celebrate the hard work they do for us. What they do for us is so special, we should help them back. Help give gifts, send letters, do whatever you can. If you have someone helping, when they come home, throw a party.

They risk their lives for everyone,. So everyone should do the best they can, to be the best person they can be. So please help us celebrate Veterans Day.

Thank you.

Bagel Pizza's

The other day Daylyn asked if she could make dinner. I have to be honest, as a busy mom,  sometimes I don't have time to have my kids make dinner. I just need it done, and done fast, but I actually had time to have her make dinner. She wanted to make one of our families favorite easy dinners, bagel pizza's.  Here she is making them.

Bagel Pizza's

• small bagels


• jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce


• shredded cheese


• turkey pepperoni

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bagel halves on a cookie sheet. Spoon spaghetti sauce onto the bagels, sprinkle shredded cheese on, and then your turkey pepperoni or whatever other toppings you love. Bake for about 8 minutes, then take out and enjoy!

1. Place bagel halves on pan, and spoon on spaghetti sauce.

2. Sprinkle on some cheese

 

3. Add your toppings, we love turkey pepperoni!

 

4. Taste testing, got to make sure that the turkey pepperoni is good!

 

5.  Bake in oven until cheese is melted and golden brown.

 

Thank you for a wonderful dinner Daylyn!

 

and my favorite picture where she is saying, "Mom, my cheeks hurt from smiling!" :)

Show Schedule

Tis the season for me to be busy! If you are in the area, and would like to come and see me, here is where I will be at....if you want to schedule a show, just email me and let me know!

The Original Mt. Country Christmas Bazaar

November 5-6th

Fri ~ 6-9pm

Sat ~ 19-4pm

at the Eatonville Lions Club on Carter and Rainer in Eatonville, WA

Thie show is a special event sporsored by Dr. A.W. Bridge Orthopedic Guild in support of Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.

Sassy Mei

November 11 -13th


Thurs ~ 6-9pm
Fri ~ 10-6pm
Sat ~ 10-4pm

at Sawyer Crest Homes in Maple Valley, WA

Spanaway Lake High School 29th Annual Holiday Craft Fair

November 13 -14th

Sat ~ 9-5pm
Sun ~ 10-3pm

Bellevue Bead Festival

November 20-21st
Sat. ~ 10am-6pm
Sun ~ 11am-5pm

at the Meyedenbauer Center
11100 NE 6th Street
Bellevue, WA
www.bellevuebeadfestival.com

The Yarn Deli

December 1st

Weds ~ 11-9pm

515 New Jersey Street, Suite C
Redlands, CA

Taking Time...

I was reading a friends, Rebecca's blog today and she wrote,"Why is it so easy to sacrifice our time for others but so difficult to sacrifice it for ourselves." It is true. As women we were so many different hats in our lives, wives, moms, daughters, sisters, and friends. Many of us work and volunteer and serve in our communities, schools, and churches. Most of the time there is very little time left at the end of the day, and if there is, we probably just want to sleep or do nothing. There is a simple joy in doing simply nothing.  We need to remember to take care of ourselves, that we are just as important as the people we serve. What a great example we can be to our children if we  let them see that Mom is important, her dreams and goals matter.

I think it is an important lesson to show them that when we do take time to put ourselves first, once in a while, that we are reaffirming who we are. We were someone, an individual before we married and became parents, and it is important to not lose sight of that person. When we do this, we will be more able to continue to serve those we love. We can only go on so long without taking care of ourselves. So today do something for yourself, take a few moments, remember your dreams, and make a plan to realize them. You and your family will be blessed for it.

Trick or Treat!!!

What could be more fun for kids than dressing up, and getting candy with friends? My kids and I had a blast this year.  Travis went out with a couple of friends from school, the girls and I went with one of their friends, and Tyler doesn't go trick or treating anymore, but helps hand out candy for us. Here we are all dressed up and ready for fun...well, except for me. I am really in costume the entire year, and on Halloween, I can reveal my true self! :)

A spunky witch!

A Gothic Empress!

Harry Potter!

Any guesses? He is a "cereal killer"

and more pictures

[slideshow]

Halloween Brownies!

One of the kids favorite parts of any holiday are the parties at school. We try to send in goodies with them. This year Daylyn took the Marshmallow Mummies that we made earlier, and Allison wanted to bring brownies. I am sure that many other busy moms out there know that helping our children make things takes more time than just simply making it ourselves, but in my quest to have and create more memories with my kids, I thought it would be fun to have her help me make them. She was thrilled.

Read instructions

Pour brownie mix into bowl.

Crack and add eggs.

add water and oil

stir, stir, stir!

Pour the batter into pan and bake. While brownies are baking, run upstairs and get dressed for school!

Let brownies cool and frost with orange frosting of course.

 The big decision, what sprinkles to use? 

(I have a sprinkle addiction, so there is normally more than one choice available. LOL!)

Sprinkle away!

 

 Smile, and look what you did. :)

Halloween Fun

Friday night, our Primary had a Halloween Carnival for our kids. I know my kids had fun, especially the girls. The boys had fun too, they got to scare kids in the Haunted Alley. I took some fun pictures of the girls that night. I plan on taking some more pictures tonight as well of the boys. :)

Mornings at my house...

Friends and family know that I am not a morning person. I also know that I set the tone in my home. So, while I still would rather work most of the night and sleep in, I don't have that luxury anymore. I try to be happy, cheerful, okay, not cranky in the morning, so that the mornings can run smoothly. Do I always succeed? Heavens no, but at least I am trying right? My oldest son, Tyler, is going to seminary, so I get up early with him. He is like me, not a morning person, and I have to make a public apology to my parents, I am so sorry for all those "fun" mornings that you had to deal with me getting ready for seminary and school. I am lucky that Tyler is better at mornings than I was. Though we did learn the first year, that both of us awake at 5, not a good thing, so we changed things up.  Anyways, here is a typical morning at our house...crazy huh?

4:51- alarm goes off so I can wake up Tyler, and then back to sleep.

4:57 - alarm goes off again to make sure Tyler did get up and I go back to sleep.  He is like me and can "wake up", have a conversation, and still be pretty much asleep. My parents would watch me get up, walk across my room, turn off my alarm, and never wake up!

 

5:15 - Actually get up and go downstairs to spend some time with Tyler and say our family prayer before he heads out to seminary. This is where I am very blessed. Our friend is one of the seminary teachers and lives in the neighborhood next to us, so he picks Tyler up everyday. Because of him, I don't have to wake up all the kids, pile them in the car to drive Tyler to seminary. If you are a mom that has to take your kiddo to school and wake up all the younger siblings, you know what a blessing this is, Thank you Bro. Smith!

5:30 - Go back to sleep.

6:00 - Alarm goes off  yet again to make sure Travis has gotten up for school. Now Travis is a morning person. Most of the time he is up before his alarm even goes off, and is pretty much cheerful from the minute his eyes open. It is wonderful! And then, back to sleep again!

6:55 - Alarm goes off for the last time, and I get up and wake up the girls so we can pile in the car to take Travis to school. We have our family prayer in the car on the way to school. Last year I was really good about helping the kids learn an Article of Faith as well, and I don't know why we got out of the habit, but I think we will start again tomorrow. It really helps to set a good tone for the rest of the day.

8:00 (tues and thurs) - Take Daylyn to school for choir practice, and then Ally and I come back home.

9:00 - Girls catch the bus to school and then I have an entire 5 hours before I run to the school to pick up the boys from school.

* Note*

The craziest part of all of this, is that most nights I don't get to sleep until midnight! Sleep is over rated right? :) I know I am not the only mom out there that has crazy mornings, and I think it is amazing what families accomplish every day by the time the kids head off to school. Give yourself a hand, or a pat on the back for all you do everyday just to start the day. I think we all deserve it! Oh, and a secret that can make the morning easier....always have chocolate available!

 

Who knew? My daughter, the songwriter...

My youngest daughter has taken to writing her own songs lately. She writes down the lyrics, and walks around the house singing them. Here are a few of her latest ones.

I have a heart

and no one can see it.

I love my family

and my friends

and my teachers.

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

A bird, a blue bird

a blue jay, a blue jay

Look at it fly

Here it tweet

You see the nest

there are eggs

its hatching

Blue jays yeah!

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

and of course she had to come up with a Halloween song as well. :)

Halloween Boo Boo

Scary Hide Hide

Help, Help

AHHHHHHHH

Halloween

AHHHHHHHH

BOO!!!

Marshmallow Mummies

A few times a year, I get to play in the kitchen and make treats that my kids just love. This is a new treat this year inspired by a picture in a magazine that I saw at my friends house, thanks Jan! They are fun and easy to make, in fact, we even had our young women make them at our Harvest party. :)

What you need to make these:

• bag of marshmallows

• big round sprinkles

• white chocolate

• sucker sticks (I get mine from Jo-Ann's)

• styrofoam

• small bags to put them in after

1. Melt white chocolate. I use a sugar dish, and melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals until it is done, stirring each time. I then place the sugar dish on a candle warmer to keep the chocolate warm.

2.Take Marshmallow, sucker stick, and dip end of stick into melted white chocolate, and push into marshmallow. Set on wax paper to let white chocolate harden.

 

3. Once you are done inserting all the sticks into the marshmallows, you will dip the entire marshmallow in white chocolate.

 

4. Once marshmallow is covered in chocolate, place 2 round sprinkles on the marshmallow to make the eyes. (You can also just put sprinkles all over the marshmallow as well, very cute!)

 

5. Place mummy into styrofoam to the chocolate can set.

 

6. Once chocolate has hardened, Dip a fork into the white chocolate and use that to drizzle white chocolate over the marshmallow to create the look of a mummy.

 

7. Set mummies back in the styrofoam to set. Once the chocolate has set again, place your mummies into a small bag and tie with a twist or ribbon. Aren't they cute! Now present them to your kids and enjoy their reaction, or for a fun family night, have them help make them!