Roughin' It

Here is a quick gift we whipped up for my Dad's wife using the retired Twitterpated paper and Roughin' It stamp set.  She collects bear things so this stamp set was perfect.

Thanks for looking!

Gift for Piano Teacher

Now that we've FINALLY given this to her, I can share it here.  This is the gift that we made for Kaylee's piano teacher using the Wings paper and You Rock stamp set, along with my favorite pattern from Wishes, Collage.  I've had this clear caddy for a few years now, it was good to finally use it - now I might have to find more as it was super easy to decorate and makes a great gift.  I just slipped the paper in the photo pockets and tied a ribbon around the bottom - no adhesive or anything.  I figured it would come in handy for a piano teacher - she can use it to hold pencils, candy, or anything she wants!  She could even change out the papers for a seasonal change.

On the back I put a picture of the two of them from the Stars of Tomorrow concert.

I was a dork when I attached the picture to the Thank You note that Kaylee wrote - I glued it on upside down ;-P

Thanks for looking!

Operation Smile

You may or may not remember this little sneek peak that I posted a while ago.  Well it's about time I actually share my project!  I was honored to be asked once again to donate something for the Operation Smile Silent Auction at Close To My Heart's Convention in Disneyland this year.  Click here to see last year's donation.  Since I've never been able to make it to Convention yet, I am thrilled that a part of me does get to go and be a part of such a good cause!  I made a stationary box - once I find the link with the instructions and measurements that I used I will post it here!  I LOVE how the box turned out - especially the pinwheel flower on the front - this was the first one I ever made and I will be making a lot more they are so fun!  I used the Mayberry Papers.  Here is the box closed...

...take the top off and it opens up...

...and here are all the contents.

This was a little address book - I just covered the front and back with pretty Mayberry paper - wish I'd had time to put a tag with 'Addresses' or something like that on the front.

Here is the inside.

These 3x3 mini cards are my favorite.  I used the For Every Ocassion stamp set and Opaques Pearls on these.

I wish I'd had more time to work on these, but I didn't so I kept the standard size cards really basic - used the same pattern just changed up the papers and stamps used and added some fun Opaques Pearls and Opaques Mocha Gems.  These cards use the For Every Ocassion stamp set also.  They are good for a quick Thank You or Happy Birthday card!

These cards use the Thank You stamp set.

You can't see it very well in the picture but I found this cute mini pink pen - I put a strip of patterned paper in side the tube to help it coordinate.

To finish it off, I wrapped the envelopes with a strip of patterned paper.

Thanks for looking!

Baptism Book

Here is the book that I made for Brianna's Baptism.  I used the same idea from Kaylee's Baptism Book, just changed the colors and some minor details.

All products used are from CTMH: 9x9 album, retired Perfect Day Simply Snapshots, Friendship Alphabet Large and Small, Noteworthy Alphabet, Mocha Gems, Cocoa Ribbon, and a Top Coat overlay.

Here we have the Articles of Faith, a spot for the guests to sign, a place for her to fill in info about her big day, and a page about church leaders.

This side has the Gospel Standards, an About Me page, a blank page for something special, and the cover - a picture of her in her white dress went under the Top Coat.

Thanks for looking!

Summer Vacation - Week #7

We had a pretty easy-going week this week, but still had fun!  Here we go again...

MONDAY

I woke up this morning feeling the effects of a long and busy week and weekend - just a headache and a sore throat that morning, so we took it easy that day and just recovered.  We didn't even get to do our craft that day, but I think the kids needed a break, too, they didn't even ask about it.  The older girls went to Adventure Camp that afternoon and that was about the extent of what we did this day!

This is what Brianna does at night after the lights go out - she holds her flashlight in her mouth and reads her scriptures!  She has already read her way through the first 5 books in the Old Testament and was in Joshua last time I asked.

TUESDAY

The older girls had an all-day Adventure Camp this day - the little ones and I hung out at home and I started on some laundry.  That afternoon we made some awesome giant bubble wands and homemade bubbles - this is a great recipe (click the link to view)!  Brailee called it her potion but then warned me that you can't eat it because then you'd toot bubbles ;-P

We tested them both out that night but saved the real play time for the next day.

WEDNESDAY

This was our playgroup day - a fun water day!  My kids were so excited to play on a Slip'N'Slide again (since we don't have real grass at our house, we haven't got ours out for a while, we don't want it to pop!).

This first served as a home for the water balloons, then as a site to fill up squirt guns, then eventually was converted to this...that's what you call a Redneck Pool!

Everyone wanted to try it!

I got some super cute pics of the kids with their friends, but I never post pics of other kids on my blog unless I get an okay, and I didn't get a chance to ask the moms, so I've cropped them out for now.

The giant bubble wands and bubbles were a big hit!

Trysten enjoyed his lunch - can you tell?

Love the soggy diaper bottom - I was laughing so hard as this little guy was trying to hold it up!  He finally got in a swim diaper which helped ;-)

Kaylee headed to Adventure Camp after lunch but Brianna was having too much fun and didn't want to leave the water party.  For camp they were going to the movie matinee, and I was planning on taking Trysten and Brailee to the matinee later that afternoon, so Brianna decided to stay with us.  This is the first time I've made it to a matinee movie here - I really like the program better here compared to R-ton as you don't have to buy a whole season of tickets.  The older girls got to go each week with Adventure Camp.  We are looking forward to seeing Rio in just a couple weeks!

THURSDAY

This was the last day of Adventure Camp and it was an all-day camp.  The girls really enjoyed it but we are all ready for it to be done.  I babysat a friend's little boy that afternoon and Brailee and Trysten enjoyed having a little one around the house that they could 'help' and boss around ;-)

FRIDAY

We went to the library for the Summer Reading program - the kids got to learn about Egypt and even tried some Egyptian food.  That evening we headed to R-ton for this little girl's first birthday party!

She wasn't too interested in the presents, so her parents opened them for her and she played with one of the pretty pink bows.  She seemed to enjoy this book that we gave her - notice the pretty pink bow that she temporarily dropped!

Brianna had fun playing with Parker's creepy crawlies ;-)

Trysten liked passing out cupcakes.  He probably snuck one for himself each time he got one for somebody else!

Sneaking one more!

SATURDAY

I didn't get to sleep in this fine Saturday morning since I headed in to pick up our Bountiful Basket.  When I mentioned to David on Thursday that I was going to go get one, Brailee was so excited and wanted to go with me.  She woke up one time a couple months ago when I was getting ready to go and she came along - ever since then she always wants to go.  Friday morning she woke up all on her own at 6:30 and asked if it was time to go - I had to tell her one more day!  Then Saturday morning rolled around and I went in to wake her up and as soon as I mentioned the basket, she hopped right up and was ready to go in no time.  On our way home she suggested that we turn our basket mornings into donut mornings as well - since I didn't have my purse with me I told her we'd have to start that tradition the next time ;-)  Here is my Bountiful Basket Buddy.

We came home and made Good Morning Waffles (yummy) and had sort of a lazy morning.  Then I remembered that the county fair horse show was that day so we all got ready and headed in to watch some of that just before lunchtime.  We missed all of the 4H stuff since they only do Halter and Showmanship, so we missed watching some of the kids that my girls know.  We stuck around for one class and then we headed home to get started on some projects. 

David got started on Brianna's floor in her room, but he's had bad migraines this last week and started on another headache so he took the rest of the afternoon off while the girls and I caught up on some cleaning that we skipped on our Thursday cleaning day.  Brianna LOVES to mop.

If you've made it this far, thanks for joining me on another week of our summer break.  I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are!

Summer Vacation - Week #6

I am so glad that I've been able to keep track of this summer's happenings - it's all flown by in such a blur, I'm glad I have it all recorded somewhere.  I still can't believe it's almost the end of July.   If you're sick of reading what my family has been up to, don't worry, I have some crafty posts scheduled this week, too!

***

MONDAY

David's sister and her family came to our house Sunday afternoon after the family reunion on their way home.  They parked their camper at our house and stayed the night.  Monday morning we headed to the pool to play. 

We had some fun with the water camera.

This one is my FAVORITE picture - I just love Brianna's face, that is totally her!

The kids loved all of the slides

Between all the sliding, Trysten did take a moment to sit back and relax!

Kaylee had fun jumping off of the diving board.

Brianna was a little timid - the week before at Adventure Camp when they went to this pool she said she went off multiple times but I think this day she was feeling a little pressured.  She went up and then changed her mind quite a few times and came back down the steps.

  So I asked her if I did it if she would too and she said yes - so I gave it a try.  Let me just tell you it looks a lot higher when you're up there, but I did it just for Bree!  Here is a pic of me going off - or more like a pic of the splash (our water camera is a little slow) but that is the LAST time I will ever go off such a high diving board.  I ended up doing some major damage to my ears, I barely made it through lunch after we went swimming, the pressure was building so bad.  As soon as I got home I put in some ear drops and took some Advil and started to feel a little better but they were plugged for most of the week.

The girls decided to skip Adventure Camp this day to spend time with DeAnn's family.  Their plan had been to leave Monday after swimming but they decided to stick around - we're so glad they did, we had a lot of fun with them.  They also wanted some family pics so they took some around our property - and saw another snake in the meantime.  Here is one goofy pic I got.

It was also Brianna's birthday so we did a birthday dinner and then lit off fireworks that night.

TUESDAY

DeAnn's family left this morning after breakfast so we headed into Mom's & Tots preschool.  The girls skipped Adventure Camp this day also because it was an all-day field trip and they didn't want to miss the morning saying goodbye to family (plus they wanted to stay up late watching movies with their cousins the night before).  We spent the rest of the day unpacking and cleaning up/doing laundry from our weekend reunion camping. 

That night was Kaylee's last softball game and they played against the parents and Brianna joined in as well.  David was working late, so it was just me and the kids so I didn't get to play the first part of the game because I was watching Brailee and Trysten at the playground.  They finally decided they wanted to watch the game so we went over to join the fun.  We got over there just in time for me to bat (they sat in the dugout) and by the time I got around the bases a storm blew in and it started to rain...and I mean pour!  We took cover in the dugout but Brailee started to get scared (she doesn't like thunder or lightning).  I decided to finally make a run for the Yukon so I put Brailee on my back and carried Trysten and we ran to the car.  We were SOAKED by the time we made it.  We warmed up in the car for a bit, but Kaylee and Brianna were still taking shelter in the other dugout and Brailee was getting worried about them, so I grabbed some extra sweaters that we had and headed to get them.  Luckily right then it finally started to die down.  The field was such a muddy mess they called it quits, but it was fun while it lasted!  The team was headed for a treat at DairyLand after, but we decided not to join them because we were all soaked and cold, Brailee was still a little shook up from the whole ordeal, and it was just me with all the kids since David was still working, so I promised them a treat another time.  I had wanted to take a team picture - I knew better than to wait until the last night but I just kept forgetting before.

WEDNESDAY

This is usually our playgroup day but this week was Girls Camp and mostly everyone was gone, so we had a free morning at home.  We headed outside to get some pics of Brianna in her Baptism dress so I could finish up her book before her Baptism on Saturday.  Despite the bright sunny day, we got some cute pictures.

Brianna was thrilled that one of the kittens finally let her hold her!  Both Ginger and Snowflake followed us around that morning as we took pictures.

The girls went to Adventure Camp that afternoon and then we spent the rest of the evening getting ready for the big weekend coming up.

THURSDAY

I babysat two kids for a friend who was at Girls Camp - the kids played and I gave up on cleaning day - decided it was easier to do it later!  The girls skipped Adventure Camp that day because they were going to the lake where we had just spent 3 days for our family reunion so they decided they had had enough, and I don't blame them!  We really spent most of this week at home but we were doing lots of cleaning from our family reunion the weekend before and getting ready for family to come visit for Brianna's Baptism.

Random picture of the day - Trysten playing Pet Shops with his sisters all while wearing a pink batting helmet!

FRIDAY

We went into town this morning for the Library Summer Reading Program - they had lots of fun crafts that day.  By the time we got home we had family start arriving, starting with Gma Nae and Gpa LaRon, and Grandma and Grandpa Sager.  Next was Gpa T and Gma Shelly.  The kids all went swimming at the hotel with my grandparents and my mom and her husband while I got a few more last minute things done.

That night my mom made yummy BBQ pizza

We made homemade ice cream - Brailee was so funny doing this, she was quite animated tossing the ice cream ball.

Looks good!

We also had birthday cake to celebrate all of the July birthdays (David, Gma Sager, Gma Shelly, Brianna, Gpa LaRon, and Spudd - even though Spudd and David weren't there yet) - it was yummy!

After that, Spudd, Hannah, and Garrett showed up and David got home from work.  I got lunch ready for the next day and finally went to bed around 2 :-P

SATURDAY

This was the big day!  Brianna was getting Baptized!  Before the big event we managed to squeeze in some family pictures with my side of the family (we did David's side of the family at the family Christmas party) - I'm excited to see how they turned out.  My last family picture is from back when I was in high school so it's way outdated!  From there we went to the Baptism - what a special day!

For the special musical number, Brianna asked Kaylee and Gma Nae to play the piano and Gpa Sager to play the violin - they played 'I Am A Child of God' and Meghan and Brailee sang.

Gma Nae kept Trysten occupied with her iPad.

We got a quick pic - I will have to see if my Grandpa got a better one with his camera because this is all I got on mine - I still love it, blinking, crooked tie, and all!

We had a big lunch at the church afterwards - Brianna chose Hawaiian Haystacks - yummy!

Trysten was a big helper with clean-up.

Brianna's best friend from R-ton came over for the Baptism - she was so excited!

They came over to our house after lunch and finally got to see our new house.  The kids all had fun playing together and catching up as we haven't seen them for about 5 months.

This is one of the friends Brailee always prays for when she says her prayers.

The cats have started to become a lot more social and will let the girls hold them and pet them.

That afternoon the kids went swimming at the pool with Gpa T and Gma Shelly, Spudd, Hannah, and Garrett.  David was on call so he couldn't go far, plus we were ready for a break, so we stayed home.  The rest of the grandparents that were visiting came over and we got to hang out for a bit - they played some Phase 10.  Gotta love my mom's goofy faces!

After the swimming group came back we had a big weinee roast out back.  It was a beautiful night!

Bree was a little tired from all the excitement!

The kitties were a little curious but wouldn't get too close - they watched us from a nearby tree.

We played some ball, flew kites and enjoyed the night!

That night my brother and his wife and I stayed up until 2 in the morning talking - it was great to see them again and spend time with them since we haven't seen them since they came to visit in October.  We'll get to see them again at the end of this month - looking forward to that!

SUNDAY

All of our company went home - some went to church with us and left after Sacrament Meeting, and the rest left before church.  We sure enjoyed the time we got to spend with them all!

That afternoon we all took a much needed nap - I had a screaming headache all day and was in charge of Sharing Time for Primary, so I was glad to get home and get some down time after such a busy week.