Our Family Pix

So once in awhile it is time to document a growing family. In the last month we have taken family pictures on both sides of our family. My inlaws have a lakehouse at a park that his family has been going to for years. One weekend when the whole family was all up there together we took a few shots. My sis-inlaw and I had gotten shirts for the kids at Children's Place when they were having 40% off the marked down price. We picked out Christine's adorable embroidered shirt first and dressed everyone else around her shirt. And as you can see... you can hardly see it at all. sigh... oh well. ;-) I know its cute. That is all that matters!


Then a few weeks later we arranged for my family to meet at a nearby orchard and we had a friend take pictures of us. Its been a long time since we have had my family's pictures done. And we have had two babies born this year so I thought it was a good time to do it. Once again... everyone was dressed around Christine's outfit. Does anyone else see a pattern here? ;-) At least you can actually see her outfit in these pix!

We are very thankful for our families. They are such a source of support and encouragement to us. No matter what challenges come our way we know we can count on them. We are very blessed. God is good!

Numbers 6:24-26
"The LORD bless you and keep you;the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."

Guilty Pleasures Swap

MamaRazzi has hosted another great swap! This time the theme was "guilty pleasures". I'm a little boring so there is nothing risque or daring in my swap box. (I had a pix but can't find my Kodak camera right now.) Here is the note that accompanied my stuff to my swap partner Nicole:

Here is a little about me and my “guilty pleasures”. First off... sorry if mine are not very exciting... I don't really indulge in a lot of things but one of my biggest guilty pleasures is actually my addiction to a couple tv dramas – but they are not easily packaged to send to you so I made due! ;-)

What Not to Wear – I love watching the show on TLC and have also enjoyed the tips in the book. I keep telling my family and friends to nominate me for the show but no one has done it yet! Feel free to nominate me if you like! ;-)

Magazine – I'm a sucker for a deal on magazine subscriptions. I never pay full price but if I find a steal I'll take it! I've found some good ones on Amazon but there are lots of places to catch a deal. Its so much fun getting something other than bills and junk mail!

Ferrero Rocher – I adore these yummy little hazelnut and chocolate treats! I get them as my stocking stuffer and that is usually the only time I get them. I cannot figure out why I don't get them any other time of year... hhmmm... I might have to rectify this situation. ;-)

Jewelry – I have realized that when life calls for a little retail therapy and clothes shopping can actually be a little depressing... but jewelry... now that is something that rarely requires looking at sizes. And who doesn't love a little sparkle? ;-)

Bath & Body Works travel set – I used to go in there any time I got a coupon in the mail under the guise of “saving money”. But I realized alas, my bathroom was overflowing with bubbles before I knew it! ;-) So now I savor my favorites and really appreciate it more! Plus I have a fetish for travel size things – they are so cute!

Nicholas Sparks Book – I am a book-a-holic. As long as they are cheap of course! I scour the clearance rack at Half Price Books, scope out yard sales and the other usual places. I have stacks of books that I want to read, and I usually get around to them... eventually.

Cake Cook Book – Speaking of books... I also love cookbooks. Which is funny because usually am in a cooking rut and its really kind of rare that I actually break out my treasured cook books to try something new. I especially like to make special things for my kids' birthdays.

Dining Certificate – While I like to cook there are some times when I just would rather not! So I've gotten into buying certificates on Restaurant.com for local restaurants in our area. If you catch them when they're having a sale its such a great deal and a real treat!

There you have it. My guilty pleasures in a nutshell. ;-) Hope you enjoy!

Now I couldn't share this post without showing you what Nicole sent to me! Check it out! Her goodies were individually wrapped and numbered (so cute).
Her note said she sent me all the supplies for her perfect guilty pleasure day.
Package #1 said I must start the day off right with great coffee and some fun reading material (Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla and People magazine).
#2 said to have a "healthy" lunch of fruits and vegis (strawberry Twizzlers and BBQ potato chips!).
#3 was an afternoon break (a bag of Three Musketeers bars and Real Simple magazine - a different issue than the one I sent her!).
#4 finished the day off with some yummy chocolate, cozy socks and funny guys (Lindt truffles, super cute knee socks and a dvd of Wedding Crashers).
And finally #5 was a $5 gift card to Target for a shopping spree!

Wow! What a great swap partner Nicole was! We were very well matched! I'm scouring my house lookinf for the camera so I can take a pix of my goodies before I eat all the chocolate! ;-) Thanks again to MamaRazzi for coordinating another great swap!

T-Shirt Re-Fashion!

My girlfriend Lehi and I have been link happy on facebook lately posting crafty sites to eachother often and we finally got together to actually DO one of those creative projects! We had been looking at a couple of t-shirt refashions in particular that had caught our eye.

Some girls had posted about their group of friends getting together and doing the craft together and we thought they had the right idea! So after our kiddos were in bed we got to business following the instructions on this blog (similar tutorial on this one too). We started with 2 plain Ts (pictured above - this is my overly dramatic "before" look ;-), one for wearing and the other for cutting up to make the embellishment. We both got our shirts at Target for $2-3 dollars each.
We cut out dozens of little "flower-ettes", then sewed and scrunched them before tediously attaching them to the shirt.


It took awhile to find the desired shape but I think I'm finally content with how it looks. Though I hope it looks better with jeans than w/ my pj pants! ;-)

Autumn Arrives!

We were blessed to have spent a lovely Labor Day weekend at the lakehouse with the inlaws. And I'm thankful that my girls were able to be there too.
The weather was perfect for taking the boat out on the lake during the day and gathering around the campfire in the evening. We also got to visit this huge flea market on our last day. It was so much fun checking out all the booths. You can find the most interesting things at flea markets! ;-)