This is a nightstand Rod found on the side of the road! I painted it and modge-podged some fabric on the front and on the knobs. Then I used some chalkboard paint on the inside just for fun. Voila! Lizzie's very own nightstand!
I gave a "service shower" for my friend who is expecting baby #6. She doesn't need a thing, except a little help so she'll actually be able to enjoy her baby when it comes. So I thought a service shower would be fun to try (and economically friendly- the invites instructed to "leave the presents, and bring their planners". So no one brought a gift, but everyone offered up lots of service! It was a lot of fun putting it together! And very satisfying to see my friends come and make this service shower experiment work.

So, of course, first the food showcase:

These are delicious. They're brownies with an indent in the middle filled with a filling. This filling is made of white chocolate, milk, powdered sugar, cream cheese, and whipping cream. Amazing.

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

Veggie shakes made with my Vitamix (which I LOVE, by the way!)

Toasted pumpkin seeds! I also had apple cider in a crockpot. It's recently turned cold here and has actually started to feel like fall, so I thought it'd be fun to have fall-ish foods.

My inviations and favors. The invites had two fabric birds glued to the front and all the info on the back. The favors were envelopes I made from paper, filled with sunflower seeds from my summer's crop, and tied with embroidery floss. On the back I wrote "baby is blooming." The cool thing? I didn't buy a thing except food for this shower- I had it all!

The piece de resistance! Rod brought me home a big piece of scrap metal I painted with chalkboard paint. I drew a calendar on it and people filled it up with service for my friend! For each thing of service someone did, they got to write their name on a paper and put it in a cup to win one of three pieces of metal. I know that sounds wierd, but metal is so cool! So 3 lucky ladies got to take home some metal to put on their wall, or frame, or whatever! Then I typed up a calendar of all the service items. It was definately a success- the calendar was packed!

Halloween and other Happenings

Caitlin was the Wicked Witch of the west ($6 DI outfit that I altered and dressed up with some fabric I had), Lizzie was Glinda the Good Witch (made from a $10 DI skirt/shirt that was huge- big enough to make a dress for her in). But her Glinda the Good Witch is based off an illustration from a Wizard the Oz book we got from the library....so no one but her and us knows who she is! Abby is an adorable Indian (a costume I bought years ago for Lizzie when she was little), and Haley is recycling a cat costume I made for Caitlin when she was a baby (7 years ago!- WOW!). I'm an 80's girl (my girls did not get this) and Rod is Flava-Flav (is that how you spell it??)

We're at the ward trunk-or-treat!

Haley is turning out to be one of the happiest babies I've ever met! And loudest- she has a lot to say!

My birthday! Celebrated with some pumpkin chocolate chip bread!

Happy Birthday Carrie!! The greatest Wifey ever, You rock!!

She's 3-0!!

Happy Birthday Carrie!!

Please forgive me Carrie, but these are the only recent pictures I have of you :) I love that they all are revolving around food! Although that's pretty much what our girl's trips revolve around. I love you sister! You are funny, witty, compassionate, patient, creative, and beautiful! We love Carrie!! again-sorry about some of the pics. but they had me laughing so hard. we need another trip!

Happy Halloween!

Emily and Brett home from their date on the scooter!

We babysat Parker. We went to the ward party,

Parker loved it, and looked cute in his pea costume!

Travis was very proud of his pumpkin he carved!
He did a great job, all by himself, I might add- a first!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the costumes

my grandkids wore! Hope everyone got lots

of candy!

He's 12!

I can't believe I officially have a Young Man! For his 12th birthday, Devon invited 6 friends and they all came. They are a good group of kids, half are non-members. I was so happy to see him having fun with his buddies, sometimes he is not very social & struggles to makes friends. I think he feels more comfortable with one on one friendships, and sometimes feels overwhelmed with lots of kids. But he had a great birthday party. He had a Wii Olympics, projected on a big screen. I'm so glad Troy was able to be there to run the tournament. They all had fun. Devon requested Chicago style pizza, which is bascially lots of meat. Sausage, chicken, bacon, pepperoni...piled high and deep with lots of cheese. One slice is all I can handle. Anyway, I am slowly getting caught up in the world of blogging. Just a few more to go :)

Cinnamon Rolls have become Dev's bday replacement for cake

Everyday Life

Just some random pics of everyday life...

Audrey loves playing with the animals. She is always creating pet palaces and loves bringing her bedroom outside. I don't like that part too much. I'm always washing her blankets and telling her not to take them out. She's getting better...I think.

I love watching Alex and his buddy, Gunnar, play together. They are such boys. They put on their capes, grabbed some sticks and were getting the 'bad guys' by stabbing the bushes. Gunnar has 3 sisters, and he calls Alex his brother. It's cute.

This kids spent several hours one day doing a draft for all the the matchbox cars. They made about 40 of these, one for each car, then we all had play money to 'bid' on our cars. The cars we 'won' were then raced against each other to find the champion.