dancin' in the streets!

OK. Its more like Running in the streets. YES! I have been running 3-4 times a week this summer! I would have always stopped my running come June, but I have been so proud of myself! I've been getting up early (imagine that!) to run 3-4 miles. Thanks to a wonderful running buddy, she motivates me to workout on the off days in the gym, too. I am bound and determined to get an extra 15 lbs off this summer!! I will periodically update you all on my progress!

Wish me luck, grit, discipline...and whatever else it takes!!

Summer Fun Chart

I have been thinking of all sorts of things to do with my kids this summer, especially since school is out...TODAY! I found a list of wonderful ideas at The Crafting Chicks, which inspired me to create my own list of Summer fun with the kiddos. While browsing around, I happened on to this super cute Picnic Blanket from She Wears Flowers, {where she also had wonderful pictures of making over her art studio...and gave me plenty of ideas for our loft!}.

Our Summer Fun List:
1. Go Swimming at our Pool (a lot!)
2. Play at the Splash Park
3. Visit family in Utah
4. Visit family in Idaho
5. Go to Bear World while in Idaho
6. Visit the Library (hopefully that will be a weekly trip)
7. Teach Bryanna the basics of sewing by making her own picnic blanket!
8. Go to Disneyland
9. Fishing at the Cabin in Beaver Utah
10. Slip n slide in the back yard!
11. Make bird feeders for humming birds
12. Attend many a water slide parks
13. Attempt to go camping!
14. Take pictures of all our activities and make a scrapbook with them!
15. Go to the Beach House!
16. Watch a play at Spring Mountain Ranch with our picnic blankets.
17. Go to some Baseball games...the ultimate American summer fun!
18. Watch fire works
19. Slurpies
20. Stargazing
21. Read-A-Thon
22. Have a fun photo shoot with props!
23. Build forts and play in them!
24. Memorize a scripture
25. Have a bike/car wash
26. Squirt bottle tag
27. Make an obstacle course
28. Make sand castles
29. Dig for sand crabs
30. Make our own Popsicles!
31. Create hand/footprint artwork
32.Write & Illustrate your own story
33.Make a treasure map and go on a treasure hunt!
34. Go to the free movies at Town Square!
35. Paint
36. Write some Thank you notes
37. Make your own memory game
38. Go on bike rides
39. Go hiking behind our house
40.Go on a Scavenger Hunt
41. Homemade Movie nights!
42. Serve a Neighbor
43. Sleep on the Trampoline
44. Tour Anderson Dairy Ice Cream (yum!)
45. Have a Dance Party
46. Make a Family Tree
47. Zoo
48. Tour the Shark Reef
49. Go to M & M World
50. See the Conservatory at the Bellagio Hotel
51. Play Pretend Restaurant
52. Make an ABC book
53. Make homemade fingerpaints
54. Home-made fruit smoothies
55. Go on Roller coasters!
56. Write Messages with Invisible Ink!
57. Arby Splash Park
58. Eat at Sumo Sushi with the girls! (the BOYS don't like sushi!)
59. Go to the Drive In Movies!
60. Boating at Lake Mead


What are you doing this summer????

Freezer Meals 101 & then some...

I started a Freezer Meal blog, mostly because I love to cook and wanted to share it with the world! AND my Freezer Meal Group ROCKS!! They have brought some of their BEST dishes to the group! So, tell your friends to check out our recipes that freeze well, taste good, and help YOU get dinner on the table!

Click HERE to check it out!! Be ever so kind and leave a comment to tell us what you think, too.

I'm going to First Grade!

Yup, {b} girl finished Kindergarten!! Holy smokes, I can't believe it. All the fun songs they were singing made me tear up today. I wish I could freeze time, put my kids in a bubble and always have them stay cute, little, innocent, funny, whimsical, ticklish and well, ya know...my little peanuts forever!!

My pazzazzie {almost} 1st grader!

getting ready to get on stage

singing all the songs that made me cry! Boo hoo... I mean Hurray!

Miss Natalie, the aide to Bryanna's teacher. (and yes, she is wearing a timeless beads watch!)

Diploma stand for : moving on to bigger and better things. Like 1st grade. Personally, I think it doesn't get much better than Kindergarten!

Kendall, who lives around the corner from us, thankfully! We will still see all her friends at the community pool this summer, yay!

Beloved Mrs. K...we love you. I love you. Thank you for helping mold {b} girl this year. Thank you for being patient with her, and helping her develop into a helper, a go-getter, a reader, a mathematician, an artist, a speller, and most of all, a writer!

Pretty soon sweet Maddox will be in Mrs. K's class...hopefully not too soon. I still love him at home with me!

Proud Dad. Proud Mom.

One question....why do these two like each other already? don't they know they are only kindergartners????

cat in the hat

So I've been dying to make some accessories to add on to my hat. And last week, it all came together! I am tickled pink that these fun fabric rosettes turned out so stinkin cute, and of course it helps to have a little bling in the middle!

This petal hat took a lot more time and a little more green to make. I had to buy a new blade for my cricut (the heavy duty cutter), but it was worth it! My friend let me borrow her cartridge for all the flower designs, and this one was my favorite. I bought a few hats from PetalChicBoutique, and I couldn't rest til I could make my own! I am stoked that I have a patriotic flower petal hat now! I just need to find a navy blue or red hat to make it really pop, kinda like a night on the 4th of July, ya feelin me?

End of Year.

I have been thinking of giving something to {b}'s Kindergarten teacher as the school year is coming to a close, and once I saw my friend's clipboard she was making for her kids' teachers, I knew this was the perfect thing! I already had this scrapbook paper in my stash, so for this project all I spent was: clipboard ($1.44 ea), red paint ($.97), modge podge ($6.78), and paint brushes ($.97) That's $11.60 for both teachers!! I must give thanks to Teri for also letting me pick through her ribbon collection to spruce up the clipboard. If she didn't let me have free range through all the ribbon, I would have gladly spent a little extra because the ribbon just sends this gift THROUGH the ROOF!!

Because this was my first time really doing a project with Modge podge, it was tricky in the beginning, but as soon as I figured out that you have to spread the glue on every surface (clipboard and paper) before you try to stick the paper on the clipboard, the air pockets disappeared!

1. paint the edges and sides to match your paper & let dry.
2. Cut your paper to size. You can be creative...using as many or as little paper as you like. I also used a corner rounder to get the corners just perfect.
3. Start the mogde-podging! spread a think layer on the board and the backs of all the paper. Then fit them on accordingly. After you get them all on, spread the modge podge all over the tops of the paper. Press out any air pockets. Let dry. On the front side, I cut out the letters of her teachers names and glued them on a separate strip of paper, and pasted it with modge podge. Let dry.
4.  Repeat step 3 on the back of the clipboard.
5. Spread a layer of clear-dry Polyurethane over the front. Let dry. After completely dry, do it on the back. This gives it an extra shine and the finished texture is smooth.
6. Tie on coordinating ribbon to the "clip" part of the clipboard. I tied double knots and I heated the ends of the ribbon so they don't frey.

Front

This is the back of the clipboard. I fell in love with this paper and I love how "teacher-ish" it is. I can't WAIT to give {b}'s teachers these fun clipboards!! I want to make one for me now!