Why I love Spray Paint

I'm in project mode again at my house.  I don't know what it is, but every once in a while I get bit by the bug and I just have to get my hands on a project.  I've been on the hunt for a bed for Alexia.  I knew exactly what I wanted, what her room would accommodate and how much I didn't want to spend big bucks for it.  So I headed to Craigslist and after a few weeks of looking, I finally found it.  I did have to drive across the valley yesterday to pick it up, but the lady handed me back one of my twenties and told me it was for gas!  So sweet!  Anyway, this is how I found it:

Today was a perfect day for painting without too much of a breeze and just warm enough to dry the paint quickly.  By noon we had it in her room!

Gingerbread Houses

Making a gingerbread house has become a tradition at our house for the holidays.  Usually Grandma Stewart is here and helps the kids make them, but this year she came at Thanksgiving and so Aunt Melissa was in charge of the festivities and Cory was invited to help.

 

 

We even made him wear an apron. 

Every year the kids mix it up a bit with the decorations.  The house this year had red solar panels and a black jack o lantern watch dog. 

Forgotten Carols

 My first experience with the Forgotten Carols was a Christmas afternoon when I was still at home.  My Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Gary had given the book and tape to our family for Christmas that year.  Alena and I sat in the front room and I read the entire thing out loud while she and I bawled like babies.  It really is a beautiful story and and fun Christmas tradition. 

Last year I wanted to take Alexia to it, but it wasn't in the budget so this year I made room.  Darren and I have been a few times and I always love it.  Melissa, Alexia and I slipped away with a stop at TGIF for a little dinner and then made our way up to ASU's Gammage Theater for the show.  It was totally worth taking Alexia.  I love watching my children feel the Spirit.  Nothing compares to it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was a lovely birthday!  Thanks for all the calls and birthday wishes!  And thanks to Melissa and Cory for making my favorite cake ever...red devils food cake!

My Fun December Getaway

This was such a fun weekend.  Pictured here are (back) Andra H., Renae S., Chris P., Erin L., Jen H., (front) Crystal M., Kristin H., Me & Erin B.  What an amazing fun group of girls.  We all decided it was totally necessary to head up to the mountains for a quick break before all of the holiday craziness.  Most people took projects up to work on, but what we really did was eat some fabulous girl food, watch a few movies, stay up WAY too late, and laugh, talk, and laugh some more.  We did a favorite things exchange.  I came home with a Scentsable for my car and polish strips for a home pedicure.  So fun!  We were there two nights.  I was just so sure I was going to get caught up on my sleep after the whole Black Friday craziness.  The first night me and my roomie talked until 4am and the second night we were up until 3am.  Sorry Jennie, but it was so fun getting to know you better! 

The total bonus for me is that it snowed two feet while we were up there.  It was the perfect way to get me into the Christmas mood.  From the broom you can see that I went outside to clean off my van.  As you can see my inner child got the best of me.  I couldn't resist and had to make a snow angel.  The snow was just perfect for it!  I figured I would tell my kids about it when I got home.  Good thing Erin remembered her camera that weekend.  Thanks ladies for such a wonderful time!

Lady Antebellum

For Darren's birthday this year I got us tickets to the Lady Antebellum concert.  It was Nov 18th and we had an hour drive to the other side of town and it was so much fun!  We got to our seats, looked at each other, and then proptly tore off piece of our napkins and stuck them in our ears.  Seriously made us feel old but we couldn't hear the music without the earplugs.  It was a small arena and the place was echoing like crazy.  So after the earplugs were in place we had a fantastic time.  And when we needed to communicate to each other...we just texted. :)

If you give a mom a muffin...

IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN by Kathy Fictorie: "If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of cocoa to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the cocoa. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freez...er will remind her...... she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for cocoa. Thinking of cocoa will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of cocoa, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it."

Kristin's Birthday

In November one of my favorite people turned 30.  A group of us took her out for lunch.  I seriously love these women!

Among other things we took up a collection and gave her 30 $1 bills to add to her new sassy shoe fund.

Halloween Fun

The next few posts will be full of all the Holiday stuff we do around here but I just ran across these pictures from Halloween.  My mom and Dad came for a couple of days and so Melissa and I called Alena and begged her to drag her family to Arizona for the weekend.  Halloween is seriously so great here in AZ.  While you all are freezing to death in your parka covered tinkerbell or superman costume, we are flitting about the neighborhood collecting big candybars and waiting in line for the neighborhood haunted house.  My parents were here in time for the trunk or treat/chili cook off (theirs got cancelled because of the weather) and they brought all of their candy with them.  Good thing because the kids in the ward made the rounds three or four times. 

I just found these pictures on my phone.  This is Elijah with his friend Jensen.

 

My sweet little pirate.  He actually kept the eye patch on most of the night!  I was so impressed!

Alexia was a black cat for Halloween.  She is getting to the age/size where costumes are headed off in a different direction then my sweet 5'3" 10 year old beauty should be headed, so I was glad we could find something fun for her to be this year.

Parker couldn't decide what he wanted to be this year and at the last minute decided on a mad scientist.

My sweet friend Renae had a fun afternoon planned in her back yard with games for the kids.

The kids all won and brought home goldfish which died three days later.  It was a sad lesson on the cycle of life we had one afternoon after school that week.

My sisters and mom and I snuck away to snag a quick lunch at Paradise Bakery, pick up a gun, and get our nails done.  Just a regular afternoon with the girls. :)