Can you relate???

I had a moment to just lay on the couch this afternoon....and this is who joined me in a matter of minutes. Two dogs and two kids! On the positive side I am NEVER alone! :)

photo fun!

My cousin told me about this great web sight called www.picnik.com. It is totally free and totally fun to edit your pictures in it. These first two pics are my origionals and then I played around with the photos and got a little funky!

Little miss thing turns 9!

This sassy girl turned 9 on Friday! This little girl lights up our life.

Nine things we love about her.......
1. Her sweetness. She is a total love.
2. Her beauty...not only outside but most especially inside. One day she came home from school and told me that she could no longer be someone's friend because they were mean. Thinking that they had been mean to her I asked her what happened. She said she over heard the person being mean to a boy in her class and she didn't like that. So tender.
3. She takes ballet and Karate...such a balanced girl.
4. Every one wants to be her friend.
5. She cries if she can't find exactly what she wants to wear! Love it!
6. She automatically asumes when I say I am having a "girls weekend" that she is included...even though it is just me and my girlfriends!
7. She loves her brothers. She hugs them when she see's them at school.
8. She loves to be silly!
9. She is crafty and artsy.

We had a little party at our house. Our hairdresser, Rachel, came over and did all the little girls hair. This is Rachel doing Alexa's hair.
The cupcake cake. I just threw a bunch of flowers and a butterfly on it. I think it turned out pretty darn cute. Way easier than fondant.
Alexa was so funny on her birthday. She has been talking about this day for weeks...but I think she got a little embarrassed when we sang happy birthday because I could hardly get her to smile.
The party favors.
Opening up her Taylor Swift tickets.
Showing them off. And yes you see two tickets...you know what that means....I am going to Taylor Swift.
All the girls with their fabulous hair.

Oink, Oink!

Meet "Kevin Bacon"! He now has a special spot on our dinner table. He has a very important job of making sure that each person at the table has good manners. If he hears any one chomping or slurping he sits by their plate and informs them they have to clear the table after dinner. Little Kevin has been doing such a great job. Although his strict ways have made a few family members cry because they don't want to clear the table. But he is encouraging us to chew with our mouths closed and put our napkins on our laps! Thank you Kevin!!!

****P.S. When I was a little girl my mom threatened us that she was going to put a pig on the dinner table if our manners didn't improve. The idea stuck in my head and I found Kevin at Roberts Craft. We named him as family!

Fondant!

So Alexa is having a big birthday next week. It seems like all her free time is used to think about how fabulous her birthday party will be. It's horrible that she has a step-mom that loves to entertain and just eggs her on. We found a super cute cake...but it required Fondant. I decided I would take a test run and make a little cake. We took it to celebrate her birthday with Steve's parents on Easter.
Fondant is a messy nightmare! Sticky and messy. I have to say this will be my first and last time making Fondant. I am thinking cupcakes for Alexa's party!! With pre-made frosting!! :)
The final cake! The Fondant actually made the cake really moist.

Celebrating 9 years with Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter! We enjoyed the sunny weather in Grandma and Grandpa Shield's back yard. Of course that meant a photo shoot!
Caleb all grown-up with his braces!
Alexa showing off the skirt Granny-B sent her from Oregon!

Jonah and his yummy blue eyes!

I need your advice

I have recently been called as the Enrichment leader in my ward. I have a Supersaturday coming up in July and I need your advice/opinions.

The theme is Christmas in July.

* Do you have any great craft ideas????
* Do you have any good food ideas????

**What have you liked or not liked about Superdaturdays?

Help me! I have to admit I have always been too cool to go to Supersaturday and now I am paying for it. Let me know what you think!!!

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:
4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (these are optional, it's great with or without them)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch bundt pan.
2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into quarters and place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.
3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. If you are using raisins, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!

EEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

I guess two dogs and three kids are just not enough animals in our house. We added to the mix this week......
Yes two mice!!!

The good news we are only babysitting them for Jonah's school class until Monday. I think that is about all I could handle. They are creepy and smelly!

I have made everyone pinky swear promise that the mice will never come out of the cage. We had to put them downstairs in Steve's office because the dogs want to eat them!!! Yikes! Hope we don't have to replace them before Monday!

Tin grin

Look who got braces! Caleb specifically held his mouth this way so every one could see that he has to wear rubberbands. He has had the braces on for about 2 weeks and has been taking great care of them. It is a lot of extra work to keep your mouth and gums healthy when you have braces. But one morning Caleb informed us that he "has too much responsibility in his life!". Apparently the extra care of braces pushed him over the edge. Too funny!

I complain about working....... but managing a dental office does have it's perks...free braces!

Not just spiritually fed......

Monkey Bread has become our conference tradition!!! So delicious and oh so naughty! But it gives the kids something to look forward to as they "sit for hours"...oh the torture. Thankfully the primary gave them hand outs this year to work on while they listened. The hit was conference Bingo...they could put a skittle on a topic as it was talked about. Our tummys were fed and our spirits were uplifted!

uninterrupted!

While Steve went to the priesthood session and the kids were with their mom.............I got a chance to organize!!! You can see the before and after shots. Such a good feeling to have that done. And just so you know those are my decorations for each holiday...they needed their own storage room. I know....that's a problem.

April Fools

This is the joke Alexa played on my yesterday when she got home from school:

A: I got an orange behavior card today! (The worst color you can get)
Me: WWHHHHATTT? Are you serious?
A: Yes an Orange!
Me: Why? What did you do?
A: I kicked my teacher
Me: Why would you do that?
A: I just felt like it
Me: I can't believe you would do that....the lecture started.........
A: April Fool's!!!!! (she then buckles over because she is laughing so hard)

She really got me!!!!!