It seems the older I get, the faster the days go...I wish for a remote at times like the one in that Adam Sandler movie, one that has a "slow motion" button that I can hit, or a "pause" button so that I can catch my breath. My kids are growing way too fast for my liking and I find myself having flashbacks of them when they were little tiny things. Other women used to tell me to enjoy them now because they will grow too quickly and become teenagers. I thought they were crazy and that they could only get easier...

Ashton will be turning 14 tomorrow. Gosh that girl has always tried to grow up so fast! She wanted to go to the Stake dance last Saturday night with some girls in our ward. 9 days before she's legal, we went ahead and let her. Just like I let her shave her legs early. And wear mascara early. Just because she begged! *Sigh* She came home on Cloud 9 with a list of boys she got to dance with, Weston Barlow, Dalton Gillespie, Grayson Schnepf, Colten Flygare, and some other boy I can't remember to name a few. She's going to be in High School in just a few short months and I wonder where has time gone? She's nervous but I know she will do great, it's going to be a good change for her to be able to expand her circle of friends and meet new people! We started her swimming at the Queen Creek pool 3 times a week to get her ready for the season, she's never swam before and I'm so proud of her for commiting herself to try something new. Cheer tryouts are also next week so we will see how that goes! She's a cute little cheerleader, I love watching her perform, especially when they dance, she's got some great moves! She amazes me with how she is able to maintain straight A's and do all her extra stuff, too. She is very responsible and would get herself up at 5am for cheer practices which were at 6am, and she never missed one! I'd go in her room only to find she'd even made her bed before she left. Wow. I'm so proud of her and all she's accomplished. I have so much fun with her, and enjoy spending time with her, she's great company!

Aubrey turned 12 this week, on Thursday the 21st. She had her interview with the Bishop Sunday since she will be heading into Young Womens. How exciting is that? She whispered to me at church last Sunday that she was scared to turn 12, I whispered back that I was excited for her, that she was going to Love it! That made her smile. Really big. As much as Ash has longed to do everything grown up...Aub's taken the opposite route and tried to not grow up at all. It's so funny how they are born with their little personalities and they are all so different! She is our artist. She will sit and draw on the computer using her Tablet and Photoshop, it blows my mind to watch her. She definately did NOT get that talent from me! She clicks and shades and colors like nobody's business! She designed her own birthday party invitation using her very own made up character "Sparki"  It looked like this...

My girls are growing up too fast it's true,  but I'm enjoying watching them come into their own.  I enjoy and appreciate their differences and love them both so much for them!  But most of all, I love being their Mom.  They make me laugh, and occasionally make me crazy, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Happy Birthday, my little girls!  I Love You!

It All Begins With A Shower

It's been a busy week as usual at the Lawlor household, and it all began with a baby shower. My good friend and neighbor Erin is expecting her 5th child, a baby girl, and what better place to celebrate than at Designer Cakes!

The owner of this fabulous little shop, April Goff, was kind enough to open her place to a few ladies for the evening. The shop is adorably decorated in fun and funky colors that only BEGIN to mimic the cakes she's been creating for the last couple of years!

Here's Erin with a basket of goodies I had so much fun putting together for her. Included were some burp cloths I proudly copied from some I'd seen at my sister-in-law Noelle's shower. I'm a pretty good copy cat and I'm always amazed at the ladies on the Web who take step by step pictures of themselves sewing stuff and then I can do it too! Here was one of my favorite tutorials that inspired me.
http://www.howdoesshe.com/gorgeous-designer-baby-burp-cloths


I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that dessert is the best part of any function, and these vanilla cupcakes with mounds of pink vanilla glittery frosting were no exception. April's cupcakes make Dairy Queen ice cream look rather sad in comparison! No wonder the Gelato lady in the suite next door is bitter....

As if I need any more reason to visit the San Tan mall area, now I've got Designer Cakes to add to the list of must stop fors. I've tried to pick a favorite on her website,

http://www.designercakesbyapril.com/

but that's next to impossible, and what's even more impossible is to pick a favorite flavor. I guess I will have to continue to try them all. Darn. I'd love to hear what your favorite flavors are, and if you haven't already, stop by and tell April I sent you.

And you can curse me... or thank me... later ;)

My My My...Key Lime Pie

18 months ago my Grandma Fenn introduced me to cousins that until that time, I didn't know existed. Rick and Kathy Lysogorski live in Anchorage, Alaska and they just happened to buy a winter home in my neighborhood. They have 2 married daughters, Krista and Kim, and 2 grandkids. We were lucky enough to share Thanksgiving dinner with them last year, but due to the 3 day's worth of feasts we had scheduled this year, we were unable to have dinner with them again. I mentioned to Krista and Kathy that there was 1 dessert that I have dreamed about since
November 26, 2009..........

Krista's Key Lime Pie

Tonight my dream came true...Krista and Kathy showed up at my door with a WHOLE pie!! My oh my...it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It's got the perfect amount of zing and it's so smooth and creamy and heavenly.....

The best part about it is how EASY it is to make, and it comes out perfect every time. If you love key lime pie as much as I do, here's the recipe for your taste buds pleasure! :)

Key Lime Pie

Krista Whitlock

1 1/2 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 Cup Sugar

4 TBS. melted Butter

2 14oz. Cans Condensed Milk

1 Cup Key Lime or regular Lime Juice

2 whole Eggs

1 Cup Sour Cream

2 TBS Powdered Sugar

1 TBS Lime Zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temp before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie using a spatula. Sprinkle the lime zest as a garnish on top of the sour cream.

Thanks my favorite Alaska cousins...you made my day!!

It's the Happiest Season of All.....

I can't help but get a little excited this time of year...with all 3 family Turkey dinners cooked, eaten, thoroughly enjoyed, cleaned up, and the button undone on my jeans...I can now conquer the

Christmas Decorating!

I've always wanted a "kids" tree since I remember having one when I was growing up, one that Mom let's the kids decorate with all the fun ornaments that are handmade in Primary with little pictures and all the sentimental ornaments that mean something because they were hand stitched, painted, or crafted with love. So, I finally bit the bullet and bought a cute, cheap 7 foot white one and let the kids have at it...with a tiny bit of help from myself. ;)

I loved how each one of my kids grouped their little things together next to the stockings that Great Grandma Minnie made for them when they were born. She must have 20+ hours into each stocking with all the tiny little pieces cut and arranged differently for each child. Well into her 70's and 80's Grandma Minnie was always working with her hands to create treasures to be remembered by long after she's gone, and I'm so glad she did.

I played around with my new toy...a Canon Rebel T1i. I happily traded in my $59 clearance special camera I had gotten at Fred Meyer in Washington for the much longed for upgrade. You can imagine how excited I was when I snapped away at the little tree and the camera actually TOOK the picture when I pushed the button! Wow!

Now that the easy work is done, I must begin on the Big Tree and all the garlands, lights, village, and other Christmas decor that seems to bring along with it the excitement of the season!

So how...may I ask....is YOUR Christmas decorating coming along?

Something Special...

There's nothing that tugs on my heart strings more than the sweet words of a child. Today Chase tugged on mine. We were shopping at Target and there was a group of disabled adults there on a field trip. I noticed Chase staring at one girl in particular. She was one of the more severely affected and was strapped in a wheel chair. He whispered to me "Mom." I'm thinking...oh great here it is, something embarrasing he may ask or say. Hoping he doesn't say it too loud, he surprised me when he whispered "I feel sad for that girl..."

And I knew that he meant it.

Chase has a kind and caring heart. He is always thinking of others, and is sensitive to what is right and wrong. Today I am truly thankful to be his Mother....

Most Spooktacular Evening

The Hoopes/McBrides had their annual

Halloween Party on Friday night.

We veered on the "spooky" side and went as

Frankenstein and his Bride!

We won our very first costume prize for the

"Most Spooktacular"

Frankie.

D had these fantastic boots that made him

walk just like the real guy.

They made him 6 foot 7, too.

I tried my hand at Wig making to create this beauty!

I used the flat roll out batting, a little hand stitching, a few safety pins, a couple hand cut stencils, straight pins, and a whole lotta spray paint. I saved some money, but spent way too many hours to count! It was worth is all for the prize Sharman handmade.


Paul and Jill Gardner as the Knight and the Musketeer.


Eric Hoopes might possibly be the funniest guy I have ever met.
I love this picture of Daren during the White Elephant Gift Exchange. Classic!

Jeff payed tribute to the late Patrick Swayze by re-enacting his

SNL performance with his friend Daryl as Chris Farley. Hilarious!

Mary Katherine AKA Lisa was his "SuperStar" Wife!

The "white trash" couple, Jill and Troy!

There's never a dull moment at the Hoopes,

and there's always so much good food.... cut off Witches fingers (mozzarella sticks)

Eye Balls (mini corn dogs)

Mummies (white chocolate dipped pretzel rods)

and the best caramel apples and mint brownies. YUM.

It was.....Spooktacular!

All Hallows Eve

Another successful Halloween has come and gone.

I breathe a sigh of relief that all of the shopping and planning

and preparing of costumes has come together to fulfill it's intended purpose....

to make sure the family enjoys Fright Night!

And that.......we did.

Ashton left us for her "Witchy" friends tonight! She is much to old and mature to go out with little ones now. ha ha. I missed her but knew she was in good hands with the Good Witch of the North, Dorothy, Toto, and the Wicked Witch of the East.

Chase was our little Boxer.

Complete with black eye.

Yikes, Ethan!

Aubrey was a little Witch, too. She hated the green face paint but I didn't let her get out of it. I didn't want to waste my $1.97.

We have such a fun and festive neighborhood!

I love it here.

Our neighbors, the Routsons, set up a giant movie screen and played Halloweenish movies for the kids. It was fun to be out and about and see how creative people are. Makes me want to go shopping for clearance to prep for next year.....

MUAHAHAHAA!!