Bows

I love hair bows in a little girls hair. Who knows if this baby inside of me is a girl or not, but in case it is, I wanted to start early to learn how to make cute hair bows so she'll be all set! For now I'm just practicing, and lucky for me I have lots of cute nieces and friends with little girls so these bows will be put to good use. :)
I found THIS tutorial on YouTube which is pretty easy to follow, but it only shows how to make one basic type of bow. These bows all have alligator clips on the back, so they can be used plain or clipped on to a headband.
Does anyone out there have any suggestions or sites they like that show how to make any other style of bows? Otherwise, I guess I'll just play around and figure out how to make different styles. Good thing I have lots of ribbon on hand for trial and error!
I have had fun practicing so far...here is a picture of the ones I made this weekend to start with. I think my favorite is the little brown polka dot bow and least favorite is the navy blue (don't really care for how it turned out, but love the dark blue color). Obviously as you can see from the picture, I have a thing for polka dots. :)

Temple Lights

Tonight Rocklin and I met up with some of Adam's family at the Mesa temple lights. We had a lot of fun seeing all the lights - they were beautiful and the weather was great! Too bad we only got to snap one picture.

Turkey Day Triathalon

Yes, you read that right, Turkey Day. I know this post is a little late, but I wanted to be sure to get it up. On Thanksgiving morning, Adam's family had planned a sprint triathlon (400 meter swim, just over a 12 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run). Adam, most of his siblings, nieces and nephews and his Dad all participated. They all did such a good job! I was so proud of Adam - he hadn't even trained on a bike, but ended up finishing first! He has fallen in love with biking. Here are some pictures from the event. Oh, and yes, the outfit Adam is wearing is one he borrowed from a friend that does triathlons all the time. We were teasing him with his multi-colored spandex saying he looked like he belonged on the Jamaican Bobsled Team. haha!!

The "before" picture of the group. Notice how everyone is still smiling here. :)

Here's the back of Adam's hot spandex outfit (and that's his Mom Linda in the pink shirt)...

Adam riding in after finishing his bike rideAdam on the runThe swimRocklin enjoying some play time while Daddy was swimming
Ron (Adam's Dad) riding in after finishing the bike ride. Go Ron!
Rocklin & Daddy hanging out after the raceThe group shot of everyone who participated. You guys did an awesome job!

Pregnant!

Well, If you've seen my Facebook lately, then you have heard the news that I'm pregnant! We are very excited! I'll be 10 weeks this week. So far I've just felt really, really tired and pretty nauseated, but that's about it. Having Rocklin to chase after has kind of taken my mind off feeling sick, so that is nice. Rocklin will be 2 1/2 when this baby is born, which I think should be a pretty nice gap in age. I have a feeling this pregnancy may go by quicker than the first, but we'll see. Anyway, just wanted to share the fun news on our blog! Of course, I'll have updates along the way. We should find out probably in January if we're having a boy or a girl. A little brother would be a lot of fun for Rocklin, and of course I'd be thrilled with a little girl. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Family Fun

My parents were both supposed to come into town this weekend and be here all week, however, my Mom got the flu the night before and couldn't come! We were so bummed. But fortunately, my Dad is still here. One of the things he really wanted to do was go to Joe's Farm Grill - yum! The weather was perfect! We had a fun time.

We hope you're feeling better, Mom...we miss you!

Family photo

My Dad, Adam & Rocklin
Another family shot

Gramps & Rocklin at Joe's

Me & My Daddy

Adam & Rocklin

More of my cute boys

Mama's Holiday Wish List

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

(Every now and then I get emails from a group called Todays Mama. Today they sent an email saying they are giving away this awesome gift package and all you have to do is post answers to these fun questions on your blog. I'm game! See below the picture of the Q &A's).

The list of prizes includes: a Madsen Bike filled with gifts and goodies from Provo Craft including a Yudu screen-printing machine, a Cuttlebug, a Cricut Expression Machine, a Your Story thermal book binder, and a Knifty Knitter loom set. That’s not all - a Dyson Blueprint, an Easy Walker Sky stroller from MamaBargains.com, two Sidekick baby carrier bags from Kemby and an Amber Alert GPS unit and a full year of service. Seriously? Pick me!! :)

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

THIS Gratitude Journal, some new workout shoes, and to be honest I can't really think of anything else at the moment. It's funny that as a kid you can think of a million things to put on the wish list, but as an adult the only thing that comes to mind are things for the kid!

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

The one that comes to mind is the Divvy Organizer my sweet SIL Sarah made for me. I love it!

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

For a while now I've been wanting to sew some cute ruffled aprons for the women in my life. Maybe one of these years when I get my sewing machine back on track!

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

"Santa" brought me this personalized stamp with my name on it and a bunch of teddy bears holding balloons. Sounds silly, but I still have it and thought it was the coolest gift ever when I got it! Maybe that's when my love of crafts was born.

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

Since Rocklin is only 2, he doesn't really have much of a say, but I'd like to get him something big this year...like a play kitchen or workbench.

6. What is your favorite holiday food?

All of it! All the comfort food of turkey, ham, potatoes, and of course all the yummy chocolate and desserts!

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

I'm sure I'll be making some baked goodies, some homemade Christmas cards and at this point not sure what else. I would like to make a blanket for Rocklin, but we'll see if I get around to that!

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

As of recent, I LOVE the movie The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Jack Black.

9. Favorite holiday song?

Angels We Have Heard on High

10. Favorite holiday pastime?

Decorating the tree!

WWB

WWB = World's worst blogger.

This post is basically to say that yes, I know, I've been a horrible blogger lately. It feels like life has been just so busy lately that I haven't taken the time (or pictures) to blog! I hope to be back on track soon...my parents are coming out here for about a week (YEAH!!!) so that should give me something fun to blog about. :)

Happy Halloween

Halloween was pretty uneventful for us this year. (Unlike last year when we spent Halloween night in the ER!). The night before Halloween we attended our church's annual Trunk-or-Treat where the kids get to go from trunk to trunk. It was a lot of fun! Rocklin has his little pumpkin and I took him around and about every third car or so, he'd stop and sit in the parking lot to check out all his loot. It was pretty cute! I only snapped a couple of pictures because we were too busy passing out candy and chasing Rocklin around! (The kid does not know how to just hang out and chill. If he's not being held or buckled in his car seat or stroller, he's running. And he's fast!!). Our actual Halloween night was really low-key. We didn't end up going out, we all three were pooped and decided to stay in. It was actually kind of nice, and believe it or not we didn't get one single trick-or-treater at our door!

Daddy & Rocklin the puppy

This picture cracks me up (no, not because I'm sportin' like four chins) but because Rocklin had a kit-kat and he was deteremined to get it opened. He was gnawing thru the wrapper until he finllay broke in and started sucking the chocolate out. It was so funny (and messy)!

Hope all of you had a Happy Halloween!

Toddler bed

So now that Rocklin can make a quick escape out of his crib, we've had to take the front part of his crib off and transform it into a toddler bed. I was SO not ready for him not to be in a crib yet, but what do you do. I have to say, he is great at bedtime. We go in, say prayers, give kisses and he lays down and doesn't get out of his bed until morning. Nap time is a bit of another story...I usually have to go in a few times and remind him to lay down and go to sleep. He likes to sneak out of his bed and go over to his couch and hang out with all his toys and stuffed animals. The other day I found him in there asleep with his "crew" on his couch:

I took this picture last night. Rocklin had fallen asleep with a tight grip on his Cars bag that his Grammy and Gramps had given him a while back. He likes to be surrounded by "stuff" these days. He doesn't leave his room without his white and blue blankies and usually a stuffed animal in tow!

Puppy

This year I really wanted to find Rocklin a puppy dog costume for Halloween since he LOVES dogs. I didn't see any (affordable) cute ones out there, so on a whim I hit up Goodwill this afternoon and found this cute puppy dog costume for $5.99! He loves it - he was getting so excited trying it on and was panting like a dog. Now I'm excited for Halloween! (Sorry the video is sideways...you'll have to just tilt your head).

Proof

I always comment about how Rocklin is part child, part monkey. Well, today he proved my point. He earned himself a time-out (which he get for climbing up on my desk while I'm working and he knows better). I put him in his bed and told him I would come and get him out in 5 minutes. Well, about 2 minutes later, I hear a knocking on his door. I go in, and sure enough, he had climbed out of his crib! I put him right back in his crib and grabbed the camera so I could get this on tape. Looks like we'll be switching to the toddler bed a little earlier than I would have hoped! (And it probably doesn't help that I'm laughing at him while he's climbing out!!).

Divvy

So, my fabulous Sister-in-Law, Sarah, has started a new, fun project and has opened an etsy shop! She's making and selling these oh-so-cute-and-sassy cash-budgeting system organizers called Divvy Organizers. They can also be used for organizing bills, coupons, receipts, etc. I have one that she made for me (it's pink with green and yellow paisley accents....SO cute) and I adore it!! If you like to be organized (or if you're looking to get more organized), then I would highly recommend checking out her stuff. Her fabric choices are just beautiful and the quality is awesome. You won't be disappointed!

Front:
Inside:

Go check her out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8095150

http://www.divvyorganizers.blogspot.com/

Congrats...

...to AIMEE!

Aimee's name was randomly chosen (a.k.a. Rocklin drew a name out of a hat for me) to win the paper-crafts goody bag! Thanks to everyone who read my post and let me share my love of card-making!

Aimee - be looking for a package in your mailbox soon!

Sharing the {LOVE}

Hi everyone! A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that this Saturday, October 3rd is World Card Making Day! That is so exciting for me because I LOVE making cards! In honor of this fun little "holiday" I thought I'd Share the {love} and do a little giveaway on my blog!

First of all, let me share with you a few cards I made to celebrate.

This first one is a HAPPY BIRTHDAY card. As we all know, I love me some pink! This paper is from Basic Grey. Love the design of the paper and the pop of the bright pink ribbon! I added just a hint of glitter detail around the scalloped edges, but it's a bit hard to see in this photo.

Merry Christmas! Can you even believe that Christmas is only less than 3 short months away? I'm having a hard time getting excited about Halloween this year, so Christmas it is.

Again with the glitter - I added a fun red glitter snowflake as the focal point on this card. (And actually, the snowflake is a Christmas ornament that I picked up last year at Target).

I'm always in need of a good THANK YOU card, so I thought that would round out my cards. This paper is kind of fun - it's from a My Mind's Eye collection. I love the red and bright blue color combo.

And here's what I'm giving away! Just a random assortment of card-making supplies, including the latest copy of Paper Crafts magazine (which I LOVE and get a lot of inspiration from), a Card Pack with 8 blank white cards and envelopes, some Pebbles a.b.c. foam stamps (think: cute Monogrammed cards), some hand made embellishments by yours truly, an ink pad (to ink your card edges) in the color Coffee Bean, and a few other things that I thought would add some pizazz to your cards!

And...I'm including the 3 cards I made in honor of this fun day in the giveaway!

Just leave a comment by end of day Saturday, and I'll pick a winner (randomly, of course) on Sunday! And...if you feel like Sharing the {LOVE} with your friends, post about it on your blog, come back and leave another comment, and I'll give you two entries in the giveaway.

Thanks for stopping by...it's fun to share ideas with all of you. {And by the way, if I don't know you, it's O.K. just leave a comment anyway!}
Good Luck!

So proud of this guy...

Recognize him? You may not if you haven't seen him in a while. It's my sweet husband, Adam. He's been working really hard lately with working out (he's found a new love of running) and eating right. He's lost 54 lbs. since we got married back in 2006.

I chose to post this particular picture because the boy scout shirt he's wearing is the SAME one he had when HE was in Scouts!!! Oh how I wish I fit into something I wore back when I was a teenager!!! I think he looks so cute in it. He went camping with the Scouts in our ward this weekend - where this picture was taken - and had a great time (if you consider listening to 12 year old boys chitter chatter and goof off all night and sleeping on lumpy ground a great time).

So proud of my guy!! Love you, babe. Keep up the good work!!

Buttermilk

Ever had to buy a big ol' jug of buttermilk for a recipe and then never have a need to use the rest of it? Maybe you haven't, but I swear it happens to me every time I need buttermilk. I can't ever find it in a small container and I have very few recipes that call for buttermilk. I happen to have some hanging out in my fridge for another recipe I made last week.

Well, I've come across a recipe from Cooking Light that has solved my problem. Here's the recipe - it makes one quick loaf of delicious bread! Crusty on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Make it. You'll thank me for not only putting that buttermilk to good use, but also having a fresh, quick, homemade loaf of bread smelling up your kitchen all yummy-like.

It's so easy. It's so good.

Buttermilk Quick Bread
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)
Ingredients
9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 large egg whites
Cooking spray

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, and egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
3. Spread batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 137 (0.0% from fat)
Fat: 4.6g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.3g)
Protein: 4.1g
Carbohydrate: 19.7g
Fiber: 0.6g
Cholesterol: 12mg
Iron: 1mg
Sodium: 266mg
Calcium: 48mg

Jean Patterson, Cooking Light, JANUARY 2009

Scrapbook Convention

I've been looking forward to today for about a week now...I went to a local scrapbook convention because I scored some free tickets off of Craigslist. Well, sadly the show itself was a bit disappointing. I'm glad I didn't actually pay for the tickets, but I'll admit it was fun to get out and meet up with an old girlfriend of mine who now lives in Phoenix (who I first met in my Atlanta Singles Ward).

It was nothing like the Creating Keepsakes convention (which I LOVE), but they did have a vendor fair and that is what I mainly went for anyway. I only walked away with a handful of things and spent less than $10 total. Can you believe that? I told my friend Shannon that I'm like a 14 year old girl stuck in a 30 year-old's body because I love all things pink and sparkly - notice all the pink in the picture. Here's what I ended up with:

I did one little make-and-take (the red/white Christmas card) and the rest I bought. The little rolled yards of ribbon were 10/$1 and you can never have too much ribbon. The grab-bags were misc. glittered letters and one was packed full of flowers as well; those were $2 each. I think I'm most excited about the glue adhesive I bought. It's called Beacon's 3-In-1 Advanced Craft Glue. It was only $3.50 and the lady totally sold me on it. I hope it's as good as she claims it is. Has anyone ever tried it? I'm always looking for good adhesive. I only bought one piece of paper. I really wanted to get some Basic Grey paper (my absolute favorite line of paper), but only one booth was selling it - they only had Halloween & Christmas designs - and I was really looking for paper for every day projects.

Even though it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, at least I got out kid-free this morning and had fun looking around! (And if it were any bigger, I probably would have spent more money, so it's probably a GOOD thing it wasn't all that...haha!).

Speaking of Scrapbooking, did you know that October 3, 2009 is World Card Making Day? Did you even know there was such a thing? I'm excited and better get to thinking what kind of card I want to make! I encourage all of you to do the same...get creative and make a card for someone! To me, there is nothing better than making and sending a card to someone to brighten their day. And stay tuned, because in honor of this fun day I think I'm going to do a giveaway that has something to do with cards when the date gets a little closer!