Birthday Dress *Oh My!

Yesterday I was on a mission.  I needed to find my daughter a dress for her upcoming birthday and baptism. 

I went directly to the thrift store and found this cute little dress, originally from Crazy 8, for only $3....YES!

 The dress was pretty on its own, but it was just too plain for what I had in mind.  I also wanted it to present some white than to just be plain gray.
I had to do something, so I headed for Hobby Lobby's trim section.   After narrowing it down to  a few different options, I selected the sophisticated look.   I love when things just work out so smoothly(which seems very rare for me, hehe)

Here it is in all its finished glory...

*sigh... I'm in love

I'll have to add photos of my daughter modeling it later when I can find a minute to take them.

Now on to the birthday plans...

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Mustache jars, a stash or "stache" for Dad

I saw this idea floating around on the internet a couple of years ago and just had to make them for Father's Day last year.  Daddy still uses his to keep the kids out of his treats and it works like a charm.  The Daddy's jar is a plastic Mango Salsa jar from Costco washed out and Label peeled.  The wording and mustaches are just stickers from Hobby Lobby.  I added "pokey" down the side of Daddy's because our younger daughter always tells her dad not to kiss her with his "pokey Mustache" when he hasn't shaved for a while.

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Simple DIY circle "midi" skirt

My daughter has been begging me to sew her a midi skirt for the last couple of months.  I finally pushed a few things aside to gain a little spare time, which is almost impossible to find these days, so I could sew her a skirt. We began our venture by scoping out the local fabric store and came across a gorgeous salmon colored polyester fabric.  I next found and used this pattern from stylelist.com. 

I realize this isn't exactly a midi skirt on her because at her 5'9" height, I should have only looked for 62" bolts of fabric.  However, She is thrilled with the outcome(I say that lightly because, if you know my daughter, you know, she contains her emotions rather liberally) BUT I did get a permanent grin 

and a "can I just wear this to play practice today?" She looks so sophisticated and absolutely beautiful wearing it, which I love, because her usual choice of clothing are jeans or PJs

I will say one word about this pattern, okay maybe two words....simple and elegant! 

Here is some "twist" action...

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Mini Schnauzer pup

As you can see, I'm a huge dog lover. This is "Hurley"(named after the character from the TV show, LOST) and he is the last puppy. He's the sweetest boy and has been the favorite since the puppies were born. The rest of the litter are all going to their new homes on Saturday. I'm so sad to see them go, but at least one, so far, is staying in the neighborhood, so I will get to see him often. :)

Puppies in order from left to right:( Kate, Sun, Hurley, Sawyer ( Sawyer's new name is Apollo )

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Language of hospitality

This is one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken, so much so that it's blown up and hanging on my living room wall. This was on my trip to the UK. I was fascinated with the way the English presented and meticulously cared for their inviting entrances. They were always seeming to say to me "Come in and have a cup of tea". It has inspired me to make the entrance to my home more warm and welcoming as well.

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The results are in from our official pinewood derby last Saturday. My son rocked it!! He would have one 1st had his car not wrecked and bent his axle, slowing him down one race. Luckily dad was prepared with a backup and he still came out 2nd place!! He had a blast. This picture is his time on the race he wrecked. You can see his car off track with a respectable time of 2.276!

It looks like my posts may not be as frequent as I had hoped. I am going back to school starting Feb 7th. I am working to get my CNA and Applying for the nursing program to get my RN. The ultimate goal is to get my CNM and become a Certified Nurse Midwife. I just pray I can come up with the funds or my dream might just die here, but hey, at least I will still have my family and that's all that really matters.

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Does a body good

I have had back aches, head aches, wrist aches, ankle aches, knee aches, you name an ache and I've probably had it. Exercising always improves my aches, in fact now when I have an ache, I think, ooh time to get more exercise. Today was such a lovely day for walking to the school to pick up the kids and the dog loved it almost as much as I did.

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Superstitions

I had to take this photo early this morning because my little sister is due to have a baby any day now. Her husband is interviewing for residency in places across the US right now and wasn't due back in town until later today. All week I kept teasing her that she would have the baby Wed. night because of the full moon and yesterday I called her to sing "I got a feeling, tonight is gonna be the night" (to the tune of that Black Eyed Peas song). Well, I was totally wrong and she is still pregnant, but it was really fun to tease her. :D

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365 day project

Today I had a thought, thanks to some of my great photo skilled friends. I am going to start a 365 day project. I am hoping to greatly improve my photography skills and have some fun while I'm at it. My goal is to take one great photo everyday. This will be a challenge with how busy my schedule rolls, but I am going to take the plunge and start it today. (especially since I got an extra adorable shot of one of my puppies today :) I figure a picture is worth a thousand words and I am better at snapping than writing anyway, so I chose to do this on my family blog because I will be sharing pictures from my everyday life. I may not post every single day, but I will snap a shot every day. So, here we go...

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Please Vote for this photo everyday until Nov. 7th!!!

These are my babies. It only takes a few clicks to vote and please pass it on. Thanks!




Click here to vote

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We had a Baptism

What a Special DAY!! He was able to be baptized on his birthday! His big sister sang at his baptism and the spirit was very strong. We had a little dinner party afterward for him. He's so smart and such sweetheart. We love this kid to death.

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Halloween

I made both the girls costumes and the boys we broke down and bought, but really, imagine trying to make that wolverine costume!

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Laundry makes me tired too.

Look who crawled up on my laundry and fell asleep while I was folding today.

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I guess it's time to update the blog

Not that anyone will really read this, but It's been too long.

The kids and I (and the dog) Took a trip down South to visit their aunt and cousins. I took this picture of the Temple and am very happy with how it turned out.

I also added a quote by Thomas S. Monson

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!!!Fundraiser Yard Sale!!!

Our 2 year old Boxer, who we rescued from a shelter last September, has had to undergo recent eye surgery. Last Thursday, April 24th, I let Copper out before bed, unaware of a lurking cat. The cat was spooked, took one swipe and scratched Copper's eye. We took him to the vet on Friday who gave us the heartbreaking news that Copper's eye injury was severe and his eye would have to be removed. The Vet then referred us to an eye specialist for a second opinion who we took him to the following day (Saturday). By Saturday morning, Copper's eye had ruptured on it's own and for sure could not be saved. The Vet and eye specialist bills have been costly and not to mention all the pain and suffering that Copper has gone through and will go through the next little while. Also the fact that Copper will only have one eye for the rest of his life. We asked the neighbor's who own the cat to pay half of the cost, but they really just don't have any money and they are expecting a new baby anyway, so here we are stuck with all the suffering as well as the entire cost of damages for simply letting our dog out into our own back yard. We have decided to hold a fundraiser yard sale on Saturday, May 9th to help compensate for costs. If there is anything that you would like to donate to our fundraiser, we would forever indebted and forever grateful to you!!

SATURDAY, May 9, 2009

8:00 AM at our home.

Any additional proceeds will be donated to the Humane Society to help pay for their vet bills.

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Hiking

What do you do with your kids when they are out of school? Well certainly you don't keep them all couped up in the house for them to destroy it..lol I offered to take my kids to the zoo today, but they declined. They wanted to get lunch and take it up to the mountains. We had a blast. I took them up to picnic grounds in the mountains. Since it's next door to where I lived from the time I was 15 until I got married, I know the trails like the back of my hand and I was able to point out things and tell them about it. They were excited to see the house that Grandpa built. We passed 3 creeks on our little hike. Since their dad is not fond of hiking, I've forgotten how much fun it is. This is something I'm going to be doing with my kids a lot more often.

NOTE: these are from my cell phone and were downloaded directly. (that's why they haven't been rotated)

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Cali forn-i-a

So the hubby and I thought it would be fun to go to Cali over his spring break. We were thinking Disneyland would be fun for the kids. Then we would drive up to his home town to visit his dad's grave and also go to meet some of his relatives. We've decided to put this trip on hold because of his work and a couple of other obligations. So, why am I blogging about it, you ask? Here's the speil....I've spent the last week trying to find the best deals and daydreaming away while I was at it. In one way, I'm a little disappointed, but on the other hand I hate crowds, so I'm a littel relieved we're not wasting money on all the hype.

In any case, here's a little review of what I've found....

Best deals on Hotels......Hotwire.com

Best deals on Disneyland Tickets.........Getawaytoday.com

Best deals on Flights........Delta.com(fly into LAX for $10 less than John Wayne airport)

Getawaytoday.com has some really good deals on hotel/DL ticket packages, but I could still beat thier "deal" by $110 to book each myself separately, but I did pick them for best deals on tickets because you can try to use the discount code of "castle" and you could get $10 off. I know this for sure works for the packages, but I'm not sure if it works for just tickets.

Arestravel.com had a GREAT deal for a 2day parkhoppers AND 3 night stay package. We really wanted 3days in DL, though.

If you have a reliable comfy car and don't mind putting the miles on it, then driving is the way to go.

We also considered the option of buying 6 day parkhoppers and finding someone to split them with, but we came to the conclusion that it just wasn't the honest thing to do.

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Solar food dryer

This year I'm finally dedicating myself to growing a decent size garden. I will have to move sprinklers and cut out sod, but I'm feeling this is really important and I've wanted one every single year anyway, so I'm finally doing it! With this new garden, I've decided that I want a food dehydrator, but I want to conserve energy as much as possible, so why not use the energy from the sun? Did you know you can build a solar food dryer out of cardboard boxes and duct tape??? That's just way too cool! I would like mine to last a while so I will be building mine a bit more elaborately, but if I run out of time, then I'm taking the cardboard box route for sure. I'm excited for sun dried tomatoes, herbs and fruit, etc...!!! BUT for now, I have to watch the snow fall and keep this in my dreams for the near future....*sigh*

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I know, I know....

I've been slacking in the blog department.





The hubby and I have been getting up at 4am to exercise, so you would think I have more time, but I still haven't found much free time. I did get some time this weekend to work on some things and here's something new I figured out on my own. Do any of you remember this picture?

NOTE: For some reason the picture doesn't pop up to a new screen when it is clicked on, so I'm posting this on my photo blog too and I'm sure you'll get a better view of it over there.

http://crystalbluephoto.blogspot.com

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Christmas!

Christmas was really nice this year. Christmas Eve the kids dressed up and we acted out the Nativity. Then, we watched the Church's Nativity and Mr. Kruger's Christmas. The kids started trying to put themselves to bed at around 7pm. They were so afraid that Santa would skip our house...hehe.

On Christmas morning, as we sat down to open presents, the kids had us wait while they ran out of the room to get something. Daddy and I looked at each other in curiosity. They returned with a shoe box with a note taped on the top and handed it to us. We opened it to find books that they had made for us. I was so touched. They were more concerned about giving us our present than opening their own gifts. I love these little ones with all of my heart.
Our baby girl had a fever on Christmas morning, so she didn't feel much like opening presents. The kids each got 3 gifts total. They opened them up one at a time and we made them clean up after each one. We all had a nice relaxing day.

This is the kids with their "Lola" (grandma)




This was taken on Christmas Eve after the kids were in bed. We watched Mama Mia (didn't care for it!) While we wrapped presents.

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