Saturday, December 19, 2009

Room Mom Project

I'm room mom for Chaz's class and I had a inexpensive ornament idea I made for Chaz class. I used wide mouth jar lids to make frames for the silhouettes. I think they turned out so cute. My favorite silhouette to cut out was this cute chubby boy in Chaz's class. His double chin was the best part.


Wednesday, December 16, 2009

little christmas somethings

I was feeling uninspired for my Christmas time little somethings gifts until an idea came to my little mind. Most of the time I am a copy cat for ideas {I steal almost all of them} but this is an Cassy original. At least in my mind it was. This was so inexpensive. So if your having a brain freeze and need an idea, feel free to steal this one.
Price break down: boxes 26 for $13 at my local Chinese restaurant, 390 fortunes cookies for $23, my secret find- $1 store Chinese Almond Cookies {6 boxes}, $1 store tissue paper{6 sheets for $1}. Chocolate, sprinkles and flavoring $8 at baking store. Total about $45 for 26 boxes stuffed full. That is a tiny bit less that $2 a box. Yep, I think that's a deal!

Dipped Chocolate Fortune Cookies with Chinese Almond Cookies
selection of dips:
white chocolate with peppermint
cinnamon chocolate dipped {these turned out yummy}
red chocolate in red sugar
white chocolate in white sprinkle
red chocolate in red sprinkles
white chocolate with cinnamon drizzle
red chocolate with white chocolate drizzle
I made a few extra spicy cinnamon dipped for the brave souls

I made labels for the boxes and a giant fortune that hung out of the tissue paper. Hopefully those lucky numbers I added to the fortune will help all the lotto player out. I get have if you win!
Assembly line bummer - I had to unwrap 390 cookies. There was wrappers everywhere!

Have Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

SLIP & SLIDE

It had been raining for 2 days so Chris took the kids to the park wearing trash bags to play slip and slide on the grass. To bad it only rains a couple of times a year here. They had so much fun.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Shaina's Birthday

We were all excited for Shaina's birthday. The kids skipped school and we went to Disneyland.

Chaz made a sign so Shaina wouldn't go down stairs and sneak a peek of her surprise.She opened her gifts.We met Mimi, Papa and Chris at Disneyland. When you go to Disneyland on your birthday and you have a season pass they give you a $62 gift card to spend at the stores, which Shaina was so excited about. Half way through the day we went to Downtown Disney and saw Princess and the Frog. Then went back into the parks to play. It was a very fun cold day.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Super Hero Party

My friend threw a 30th surprise birthday party for her husband. So here is what Chris and I dressed up as...

These are the inter thoughts of Batman:

It's what kind of party?

Do I have to wear this?

I think you should dress like this everyday!I am so glad I chose you Bat Girl!Lets go back to our cave!

Monday, December 07, 2009

Chaz got an award for being an excellent student!

He was having a wild hair day.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Family Vacation!!!

For Thanksgiving our family of 4 went on a cruise to MEXICO!! It was nonstop fun!!! We went to Purta Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo. Some trip highlights were...
Chaz and Shaina both lost a tooth. Chris though he was going to get out of dressing up by leaving his white dress shirt at home, but no way I went and rented him a tux shirt and bow tie {he looked so HOT}. The only thing Chaz ate the entire week was cheeseburgers. He refused to try anything else. Shaina on the other hand tried lobster {she was braver than me}. We got to swim with dolphins, which I have no pictures of because we were all in the water with the dolphin trainers and we spent too much money on the event to buy the picture they took. O-well we will never forget that. Chris and I got to go to Mazatlan with out the kids. We went to Stone beach, had lunch, went on a horse carriage ride, kayaked, and played in the water. It was a great day! On the boat the kids swam, went on the water slide, played mini golf, ate ice cream every hour, went to kids camp and had a blast making stuff, got tattoos {Dad's idea}, went to shows......like I said nonstop fun. It was our first big family vacation and we will never forget the memories. Can't wait to do it again it went by way too fast!!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

SEW SWEET!!

The big night has pasted! We had a successful YW in Excellence....
First the theme was finalized
Sew Perfectly Dressed...
Pattern Your Life After Personal Progress

Then we started collecting and preparing, what a big job that was. We made cake stands and flags, collected ironing boards and recovered them, irons, sewing machines, sewing notions, jars, patterns, the list could go on and on...
Last minute we made flavored chocolates out of a sewing molds and bags and tags for the favors. They turned out sew yummy and cute! Pink{Bubble gum} Purple {grape} Blue {blueberry} White {pina colada} Green {apple}
At last we decorated the Relief Society room and made cupcakes!

Look at these BEAUTIFUL girls!

To show off the projects the did for Personal Progress the girls dressed up in an outfit that showed off what they had accomplished. During the program they stood in a line in the front of the room and each said... I am dressed sew perfectly in {value the chose}. I used {value} to pattern my life by {experience the did}. I learned..........

It was SEW fun! The girls loved it and that made all the time and effort put in worth it!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

finished!!

I have been on the search for chairs over the last year and the search is done! This last week I found the last of the mismatched chairs I have been collecting. It was just in time for my family of 18 to come over for a little dinner party!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

what to do with an old ladder?

Right now it is decorating the dinning room. But I have plans for this ladder.... One day I will have an enormous closet and use it to hang my jeans on. It would be great in a library. I could paint it and hang plates on it. the possibilities are endless. Thank you to the person who left this ladder at the thrift store!It's mine now!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

patterns

I found these amazing patterns at my local {you guessed it} thrift store.
For .35 each they are a steal!!
Will be used soon for the YW production that is being planned!
Can't keep it a secret any longer... Here is the theme for YW in Excellence...
Dresses Sew Perfectly...Pattern Your Life After Personal Progress

Friday, November 06, 2009

Party flags

I made these for Shaina's birthday coming soon and for a YW party that is in the works. Can't wait to use them! There is 27 yards of fabulous flags!! Also, glad to be done with this project, it had covered my room for a week!

Thursday, November 05, 2009

project

Cake stands
thrift store glass plates, cups and candle sticks..... still drying. More to come...

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Thanksgiving time...

I bought some linen material from Joannes for $15 and made 12 napkins.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Halloween

I don't what it is about Halloween, but it is one of the only times that I can get some great pictures of my kids! I hardly got any of them together because they wanted their own photo shoot. The Grandmas are going to love these!! Chaz was a Zombie {thrift store clothes shredded and painted}, and Shaina a Gypsy {thrift store jewelry, 3 different skirts layers and altered, homemade bandana}.







They were also excited because they both were chosen to hold the banner for their classes in the Halloween parade. Parents sign up in the beginning of the school year to make the class banner. The teachers and students decide what's going to be on it. I signed up to make Chaz's class banner. It turned out cute in my opinion. Although, when I showed it to Chaz he said YUK, that is so ugly! Why did you put I girl on it? I love how honest Chaz is with me. He regularly will tell me, Mom what are you wearing? That is so ugly! You need to change your clothes Mom or I really love it when he pinches my fat and says, Uuwww, gross!! Who is this kid? I already feel sorry for his wife!


Thursday, October 29, 2009

GROSS!

One of the centers for Chaz's Halloween class party is a...SHHHH.... Here is what's in the bags.....
1 Monster teeth {little pieces of chalk}
2 Monster ears {dried apricots}
3 Bat dropping {raisins}
4 Monster noses {end on hot dogs}
5 Witch fingers {skinny carrots}
6 intestines {over cooked spaghetti with pudding}
7 brains {cooked cauliflower}
8 Monster breath {a combination of stinky spices and garlic}
9 Monster skin {fruit leather}
10 Monster toe nails {pistachio nut shells}
11 Monster eyes balls {peeled grapes}

pumpkin carving.

Friday, October 23, 2009

surfs up!

My friend is having another baby boy, so I made her these newborn oneies out of recycled surfer shirts {a HUGE new thrift store just opened close to me and they have great stuff. found all theses shirts there} . They turned out so cute and were so fun and easy to make.

weekend at Mimi & Papa's

Arizona Romneys, Mimi & Papa, Uncle Bryce, Disneyland, the beach, BYU game, In & Out, Halloween Party & Jame's Birthday! What a weekend of non stop fun!!!
BYU vs. San Diego
Good thing BYU won or we would have had some grumpy old men!!
For the party Mimi had us make monster meatball sandwiches, bats, and caramel apples. She knows how to fill our bellies!!


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

say cheese!

It was picture day at school and I managed to take a couple of pictures before running out the door...

Friday, October 09, 2009

Happy Halloween at our house!

Bat idea, thanks to my friend Martha!


Conference Weekend for the ADD

I needed some fun for my ADD family during the hours of impossible sitting! So I searched my brain and looked online for ideas to surprised my family with.
When they got up in the morning I had them take showers and come and talk to Chris and I about what the plan was. I had set up everything up after they went to bed, so I told them I had a BIG surprise waiting for them. I brought in our king size blow up bed and set it up with sleeping bags in front of the TV, along with all the games and activities I had planned.
We made breakfast and got settled in!

I had ton of stuff for them to do, but some of the fun ones they liked were Snack Attack {ate the snack when they said the word on the bowl} and LDS Bingo {the prizes were gummy ears for being good listeners, gummy eyes for keeping a good eye on the screen, a brain for smarts, mouth for keeping it closed and feet for keeping them still} It was a great time! I actually got to listen to conference and so did the kids. It was so easy to prepare and worth the effort. We have new a tradition, can't wait to do it again!

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Truth or Dare Sleep Over

The Young Women and leaders finished reading the Book of Mormon for the value Virtue and for their accomplishment we had a sleepover at my house. It was a blast! We played Book of Mormon Truth or Dare created by Kari, had TONS of yummy food, did karaoke, had a spiritual though and read the last chapter in the book of Mormon, the Bishop and his wife stopped by for a visit, we heart attacked his home late that night, watched a movie, had a delicious breakfast in the morning and went home to rest after a fun filled, non-stop night of fun!
Some of the dares!

Sing it girls!

This is the game creator, Kari. She came up with this super fun Truth or Dare game. Here are just some of the game she came up with.
DARE
Be like Nephi and call your
parents to thank them for
being “goodly parents”
DARE
Be like Abish and go to Vons
and pass out 2 pass along
cards.
DARE
Be like the stripling warriors
and do 20 push ups, 50
jumping jacks, and 30 sit ups
to help keep you strong.
DARE
Be like Abinadi and stand
outside singing “Book of
Mormon Stories” for all to
hear.
DARE
Be like King Benjamin and
lead us in a round of follow
the leader.
TRUTH
If you could date any Book of
Mormon character who would
you choose?
TRUTH
Have you ever fallen asleep
while reading the Book of
Mormon?

I owe her for life...

Chaz's teacher had been so wonderful in helping Chaz that I had to do something for her, so for back to school night I made these apples for the students desks. Turned out fabulous! Yes, I'm a bum kisser, she deserves it!

Success!!

For a final attempt we had pizza & Martinellis for a back to school night dinner at school.They loved it!

Our efforts in getting Chaz to school with no tears was a success. He got the perfect loving teacher and we spent some time with her before school started so he would be comfortable in the class and with her. School life is how it should be at our house and we are all loving it!!!

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Beach Camping

We LOVE camping! Especially beach camping, what could be more fun? It's going to be our new summer tradition. We played games, had camp fires, friends came to visit us, went to the beach, ate tons of food, saw a movie under the stars. Had a great time!






Breakfast # 2 & 3

More fun early mornings with friends!

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

attempt #2

"Back to School Breakfast Feast"
I was invited by friends to join in on this idea they found. I was the first one to start off the round of breakfasts.
On the Menu:
OJ
grapes, oranges
Cinnamon rolls
eggs, sausage and condiments {cilantro, tomatoes, cheese, salsa} for a breakfast burrito
& 1 yummy Frittata!{bacon, green onions, tomatoes, cheese}






Done. Time to clean up!

attempt #1

Chaz is not excited for school to start as most of our close friends and family know.
So in my attempt to try and build up how great school is going to be I am posting my first attempt...
"Cheers to First Grade & Third Grade" We road our bikes and took along a blanket, our favorite Jones soda flavor and a candy treat to their school's lunch/grass area and did a "Cheers" to going into the next grade. We talked about what their favorite part of school is going to be and what they are most excited for. It was fun and I didn't get the unusual response of "I'm not going to school" from Chaz he actually said that he was excited for recess. It was a positive start!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

funny

Yesterday, at church Chaz and I were walking the halls when we ran into this picture. I started talking to him about what was happening in the picture and asked him, "What would you do if you saw Jesus?"
He replied, "I would tell him, I'm your biggest fan!"

Friday, August 14, 2009

tooth fairy troubles

Well, I failed at being the tooth fairy this week.
#1 no cash or change
#2 just plain forgot to do it before I went to bed!
What a looser! After 2 mornings of waking up to Shaina's disappointment. I just had to follow though tonight! Even if I did have to rob from Chaz to pay this girl off.
This is her note she left me...
So I wrote back in my most beautiful smallest hand writing. Since I am just a little tiny fairy.

Here is what the letter said in case you don't have a magnifying glass handy.

Shaina, I am so sorry it has taken me this long to get to you.Thanks for being so patient. I have been very behind lately. I injured a wing while being attacked by a kitten when I was trying to get a very big molar out from behind a little boy's pillow. I gave you a little extra to make up for it. Thanks for the tooth! Sweet dreams, the Tooth Fairy. Ps. I can't tell you what I look like. It's against the rules. But since you are a really good secret keeper I can tell you that I am beautiful and have red hair just like you!

Go Italy!

Soccer camp ended with a bang. Chaz and Shaina both got awards this week for Plays of the Day. Shaina for shooting the most goals and Chaz for being aggressive"a caged animal" as the coach put it. Then their team one the Worlds Cup Championship! Way to go Italy!!

sweet moment

This summer while spending tons of time with my kids, there has been countless times that I have just sat back and taken in a sweet moment. Here is one I had my camera handy for. After a ruff day, I was taking a shower and getting ready for bed and as I climbed in a little Chaz was asleep in my bed. At times I want to turn this kid in, but then Heavenly Father blesses me with a sweet moment, like seeing him sleeping so peacefully and realizing that this precious thing is mine forever. I am a lucky lady. I have to remember these moments to look back on when things aren't so sweet.

Here are a few more I don't want to forget so I took a mental picture of...

Today Shaina, Chaz and I went to the beach. We all held hand and jumped in the waves. The weather was perfect, the water was clear turquoise blue and more beautiful than I remember it ever being. As we played I looked at my children and thought I wish I could freeze this forever.

We went to the park today and I sat on the bench and watched Shaina and Chaz play. There was a perfect breeze that was blowing. They was no fighting for a moment and again I thought, how lucky am I.

Chris gave my a blessing before I went into the hospital for a small operation when I had the miscarriage. The kids sat on the couch and didn't make a peep. After Chris finished I had tears streaming, but as I looked at Shaina she was crying too. She looked at us and said, "I just couldn't help it." She leaped up to me, along with Chaz and the four of us had a really good long cry and hug.

Lucky to have the priesthood in our home, lucky to have a forever family, and lucky to be me.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Shaina's room makeover

To keep my mind off things and keep extra busy, I gave Shaina's room a makeover. I think this new look will last her awhile.
Before...

After...Shaina picked the colors blue and green.

I collected frames at thrift store and painted them in a white high gloss paint. I raided Ikea for the bookshelf, lamp and lamp shades and floor rugs.
My first quilt! I went to a most amazing fabric store in LA with Shaina to collect the fabrics and trims.

Still need to fill these frames.. I have some fun ideas that will take a while to get together. More on that later.

I still have a couple of things I need to do but for the most part it's done! She loves it and that's what was most important to me.

misc. summer

Some fun times!

A yummy summer pasta salad dinner made and brought over my our good friends. I went back for 3rds on that dinner!
Swim class!
A Saturday in Hollywood!
Tennis for Chaz

Soccer camp {it was wacky Wednesday}
We are having a fun summer. We don't want it to end.

the dreaded post

Okay, here it is. After 3 weeks of doctors appointments and chaos, I had a miscarriage. It has been a week now and things are back to normal.