Out with the old, in with the new!

I have SO many pics to share on here...and I have been so involved in family that I have not yet got them off of my camera...soon, my friends!
The Holidays have been awesome!! And here it is the last day of 2009! Can you believe it?
Well I have started a new weight loss plan this year - started the very last week of October to be exact! And I wanted to share my success with it thus far...
I am mortified at the exact weight I started at and also the weight that still plagues me, so I am not going to give out those specifics yet...but I have lost 16 lbs in the last 9 weeks! Yeah! Really that is close to an average of 8 lbs a month! I am good with that! And really I know that I need to include more exercise in my daily routine...so that is my new years resolution! I am already going pretty well on the weight loss, I need the exercise to boost it a little and to turn this flab into muscle!
I started taking my measurements on November 15th - I would have took them when I started the diet - but I did not have a measuring tape! So since that date - up to today when I again took my measurements, I am down 2 inches in my bust (sorry honey), 1.5 inches in my waist, and 1 inch each off of my thighs, arms, and hips!
So cheers to losing weight and inches and bring on the new me in 2010!~
And thank you Tina who started me on this venture and helping me through it at the same time you are doing it!! We will be hot mamas before we know it!!

Remembering loved ones!

Ever since my step-dad died, my family has always felt the sign of an eagle was the sign that he was near...now not every eagle that I see gives me that feeling that he is with me...but today it did!

I was driving to work, on a busy road in the city where I live...not right near mountains, or streams, or rivers...and there was an eagle, sitting peacefully in a baren tree with a bunch of magpies. My eyes instantly started tearing up in rememberence and comfort, knowing that he was with us for Christmas!

I miss all of my family who has passed and wish that they were here with us still...but I take comfort in knowing that they are with us whether we can actually see them or not! I feel them around me, especially during times like this! Christmas, a time for love and family!

I love and miss you!!

A little quiz for the Holidays!

Just in time for the Holidays...I have found this little Holiday quiz from my blog friend Meeko...it seems this little beauty is going around the blog world...and now it is my turn to contribute...so if you happen to read my blog...here is what YOU can do!

(a) leave a comment and answer the below 25 questions that Mandy made up (it seems that a lady names Mandy has started this little quiz)

(b) write the answers to the questions below in your own blog post, if you have a blog, that is.

or

(c) call yourself a scrooge in the comment below and refuse to answer them. I hope you choose (A) or (B) but if you choose (C) then I'll just let the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future deal with you. If you do decide to write your own blog post about it, please mention Mandy since she is the author of these important questions. (Writers credit and all that jazz - thanks!)

(1) What is your favorite Christmas movie? I absolutley LOVE Elf!! I watch it every year as I am putting up the Christmas tree...and then I walk around for a few days burping as loud as I can and asking my family "did you hear that?"!!! Ha ha!

(2) What is your LEAST favorite Christmas movie? I cannot think of one that I dis-like...I just like some more than others, but I cannot pin-point just one!

(3) What is your favorite Christmas song? Right now, I am hooked on Winter Wonderland by Jason Mraz...but I cannot find it anywhere to download it, so I just had to listen to it on You Tube about 50 times yesterday while I was painting up some Christmas presents!

(4) What Christmas song(s) drives you crazy? Sorry Meeko...but I HATE the Hippo for Christmas song! Ahhh! It drives me NUTS! There are actually quite a few as we listen to Pandora here at work that I do not like! I definitely like more of the original Christmas songs, not the new made up ones like Happy Birthday Guadalupe by the Killers that came out this year...I cannot stand that one!

(5) What is your favorite Christmas drink? (i.e. egg nog, hot chocolate) I guess it would have to be coffee...it may not seem like a Christmas drink, but growing up we ALWAYS had to wait to go out to see what Santa brought us until mom had the coffee ready for her and David...and now I do that! Mmmm hot coffee!

(6) What is your favorite Christmas memory? I cannot think of one specific memory, every Christmas is great! I have loved them all!

(7) What is the best toy/gift you've received on Christmas?Probably the year 2000 when I had my daughter on December 7th...just in time for Christmas!

(8) What is the worst toy/gift you've received on Christmas? One of my BF's back in the day asked me what I wanted for Christmas...I told him I wanted the book "Daddy's Little Girl" by Mary Higgins Clark...and I got some dumb ass book about the life of Martha Washington that Mary Higgins Clark wrote...YUCK! I really have no desire to learn about History...NOT my favorite subject! He was the history enthusiast NOT me!

(9) What do you LOVE about the holidays? EVERYTHING! I cannot discriminate on any one party of it! I love the tree, the decorations, the shopping for your loved ones, the music, the get-togethers...everything!

(10) What annoys you about the holidays? Not having all the money I want to buy everything my kids and family would every want!! I wish I could give it all!

(11) Do you prefer star or angel on top of a Christmas tree? Well I usually have a bow on my tree, but this year I did get a star and I quite like it!

(12) What is your family favorite recipe at Christmas? My most favorite is my grandma's stuffing! if I had to give up everything else on Christmas dinner but one thing...I would ONLY eat stuffing!

(13) Are you a Grinch or a Who at Christmastime? Definitely a Who.

(14) Christmas light displays - Love them or Hate them? Love them! I wish I had outlets all around the house and in the yard so we could put up tons...although my husband is not a huge putting up lights fan and I would fall of the ladder for sure (clumsy) so we settle for the one strand of lights around the front of the house! :(

(15) Santas at the mall - Fun times or Creepy? It depends! Some are fun...and some are definitely creepy! I will have to post the picture my daughter got this year with Santa! CREEP city!

(16) Christmas cards - do you send them, yes or no? I always want to, but never get my butt around to getting them done! Good intentions...not enough time!

(17) What is the best thing about Christmas, in your opinion? Watching the kids open their presents with excitement and joy written all over their faces!

(18) What is the worst thing about Christmas? Trying to fit it all in in one day! With my husband and I divorced with kids with other people, we only get half of a day to get our stuff done...my family...and HIS family! It stinks!

(19) When do you put the tree up and take it down? Up right after Thanksgiving (thank goodness for fake trees) and comes down after the new year!

(20) Out of the 12 days of Christmas, which day and item would you want your true love to give to you? Five Golden Rings...especially if they are white gold and look something like this...

(21) Why do you think that Grandma got run over by a reindeer? Poor old senile woman! I cannot believe that they let her walk home all by herself!

(22) Who is your favorite reindeer? I woudl have to say Rudolph because all of the other ones were judgemental jerks!

(23) Do you believe in Santa Claus? Yep...I just pinched myself and I AM real! :)

(24) What is your favorite smell at Christmastime? Some sort of apples and cinnamon smell!

(25) What would make you happy at Christmas this year? For my husband to get a good Christmas bonus so we will not feel a financial stress from the shopping!

Have fun with this and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Text Message from Santa Claus...

A friend at work turned me on to this new fangled idea of having Santa send text messages to your kid(s) during the Holiday season. So I checked it out ~HERE~ . It seemed like a good idea, so I signed up for the service for less than $6.00 my youngest - who is still holding on to the belief in Santa even though everyone at school keeps telling her he does not exist and her logical brain is also telling her that it makes more sense that me and Jason are "santa"... I figured maybe I can get her to still believe for another year or two from this little venture!

Due to a few complications with my cell phone service providor...we will not get into that!... she finally got her first text from "Santa"!! I had set up the first one to come on her birthday with a birthday wish from the big guy himself! But just a day later still was acceptable to her!

So I get a call from work after she gets home from school...

Kaitlyn: I just got a message on my phone from SANTA!


Me: Really? What does it say?


Kaitlyn: It says "Santa here, happy birthday I hope you had fun Keep thinking of some good
ideas for me to bring you for Christmas See you soon Love Santa"


Me: That is cool!


Kaitlyn: Yeah...gasp...what was that JINGLE?? faint sounds of running and muffling sounds of the phone
I do not see Santa outside, but I just heard a jingle!!


Me: (trying not to laugh) Well you know what the song says he hears you when you are
sleeping, he knows when you're awake...


Kaitlyn: Yeah that is cool...but it is kinda CREEPIN' ME OUT! Well I am gonna hurry and do
my chores so I can get outta this house!


OMG, I had to try SO hard not to laugh out loud! It was hillarious! Later that night, I looked in her phone to see if she had attempted to text Santa back...which just as I figured she had


it said...


iloveyouto


I am pretty sure my ploy to hold on to her belief in Santa has worked!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

It has been one birthday after another in my family! So I have a few pics of some cakes that I have done for some of them.

First is the one I did my my mother in law...she LOVES to garden and anything to do with flowers! So I made her this...

Next was my brother's girlfriend! I made hers in her favorite colors!

And then was my little baby...my baby who turned 9 yesterday! :( I cannot believe it! She is getting too, too big! She wanted me to make her a pink and green 2 tier cake with some scroll piping...something I have NEVER done before...but I will do anything for my baby! So I did it! :)

We also went to Chuck E Cheese for her party! It was a lot of fun! Happy Birthday, Sweetie!! Mommy loves you!!

Kaitlyn and Hannah playing some games!

SO CUTE! Chuck-E comes out and actually crown the birthday girls and boys with a special crown! I love it!

They kids also got a special birthday medal! Kaitlyn LOVES it!

At the end, they all got to get up and dance with Chuck-E!

Make a wish!

What a fun birthday! I wish I was 9 again so I could invite all my friends and hang with Chuck E Cheese! :)

Blog of Love

So I decided I wanted to just write a blog dedicated to things that I have a new found adoration for lately!! Being Thanksgiving and all!

First off, I will tell of my new found blog that I have come to know and LOVE! The blog is for Shanty 2 Chic! I keep finding new stuff all the time that I want to make! I have already made the apothecaries...I just need to download my pics and post them on here! Check Shanty out! They are amazing!! Click below!!

Next item...this past weekend, we went to see the new Sandra Bullock movie, The Blind Side! Oh my gosh...it was amazing! And I am not sure if it was the hormones or because it was just so touching, but I cried at LEAST 20 times!! If you have not seen this movie...SEE IT! It is a touching story of helping out and making someone's life better for it! If you are like me, you will want to instantly leave the theatre and find a down on his luck youth and help him out! :)

Last but not least, and MOST IMPORTANT is my family! Since it is Thanksgiving, it makes me stop and take notice of my life and how truly blessed I am! Although my husband and I may not always see eye to eye (show me a husband and a wife that do), he is such a good man! He is a caring husband and a wonderful father! And he has stayed with me even through my most hormonal moments...which in the last week, has been very trying!!! Sorry hubby! I have such good kids who always make me smile and laugh! They are so talented and I am so proud of them! My daughter has found a love of reading this year, which makes me so happy! And to hear her spilling out big words that she has learned from school or tv or even from myself, always makes me crack up and then take notice of how big she really is getting! I cannot believe that my little baby will be 9 in 11 days! It makes me so sad! And now with my brother's GF Kyrstin having her baby on the 23rd and seeing that tiny, beautiful face and seeing the pics of my brother with that little girl and feel the love eminate from my computer screen as I look at these pictures, it just makes me so happy and thankful for family all over again! And knowing that I have yet another niece growing in my sister's belly adds even more excitement and love!! I love you all!!!

(This is my daughter, by the way...when she was 1! too cute!!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I am an AUNT!!

I am so excited to be an aunt! My brother's girlfriend Kyrstin, gave birth yesterday - 11/23/09 - at exactly 5:00 p.m. to a 7 lb 1 oz, 19 inch beautiful little girl, Emilyn Kay Allen!

She is such a little sweetheart and I am super jealous of anyone who has yet to see her in person and hold her! Since obviously no one else is allowed up to the hospital and Kyrstin and Emilyn will not go home until tomorrow! So I have to make due from texts from my brother and emails from my mom! Here are a couple pics that I do have!

I love her cute little dimple here! My mom said she just turned and looked right at Jordan so he could take her picture!

Mommy and daughter!

Look at that ridiculously large flower!! But she is rockin it! Darling!

My brother told my mom that he never believed in love at first sight until he saw this little girl! I hear ya brother!! I love this picture! My brother and Emilyn look so gorgeous together! You can feel the love!!

Here comes the baby...

So Kyrstin went in this morning to get induced to have her baby! I am bummed...they only allow the baby's dad and 2 other people in the hospital the whole time!!! they give those 3 people bracelets and it is only them allowed to come into the hospital to see the mom and baby! So of course, my brother, my mom and Kyrstin's mom got the bracelets! Bummer! So I will not even be able to see the baby until they are home! Hurry and have the baby...so you can come home! :)

Check this blog out...

I love finding new blogs to follow with amazing inspirations! And I have found a new one to let you guys know about! It is The Burnt Daisy! You have to check out her cute letters that she makes! My absolute favorite one I have seen is this one...

They are also having a great giveaway - so check it out soon!! Link here for the giveaway and make sure to look through the whole site! So cute!!

Disappointed...

So I have to blog about my blog disappointment and irritation!! As you can probably tell, I have quite a few sites that I follow...not so much that follow me. Which is fine, I know I just need time and effort to build my following (and thank you to those that DO follow me! It gets my heart all a flutter when I see a new follower or a new comment on my posts!)
So I try to comment on quite a few of the blogs I follow to make bloggy friends! And even sometimes if the situation arrises, I include a link of a certain post that pertains to the same as my blog friend's post! And I love when I see that people actually take the time to view my link that I have posted! Yeah!!!
However...when I take the time to follow someone - view their blog - help them out with followers by being one of them - and comment on their post...and wait for blogger approval of my comment....and NEVER see my comment post! It really hurts my feeling and perturbes me! (Is that how you spell that word?) Anyway...maybe you have not had this experience yet, but I will tell you what...I have stopped being a follower of that certain person...if they cannot even post my "time out of my day comment" then I am done spending my time on viewing their blog!!

Wonderful Find - Date Night Apron!!

I am in love...with an apron that I have found while blogging! I obviously follow a few blogs! I love to get ideas from many different people regarding cooking, motherhood, decorating, sanity! And I often find many useful things from these different blogs...and I have found an amazing little creation...the date night apron!!

I have found this little wonder from one of my bloggy friends, Cheapskate Mom.

I have also attached a link to the right side of my blog to go directly to these little beauties...or click here to go to Quilt a Treasure's Etsy site!

This one happens to be my favorite...which one is yours??

My Nephew, Maguire's Birthday!

My little nephew Maguire, had his first birthday this weekend! I cannot believe how big he is getting! The years never cease to fly by! He was a little tired - poor guy, but it was a cute little party with the family!
Here is Kaitlyn and big Mac!

Maguire and Tavin playing...it will be Tavin's first year pretty soon!

Maguire was not all that interested in his presents...Kylee is trying to hold him there and he is NOT having it!

Now Darlene is trying to hold him and make him interested...not working!

Brody made Maguire, his little brother, a bunch of stamped pictures, he was so proud of them! :)

Big Mac was more interested in one of his old balls...not the new stuff!

The birthday was themed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I made the cakes. The small one was just for Maguire to dig in to! (Don't forget to check out the full version of my cakes at my cake blog!)

How many dads does it take to put a bib on a baby? :)

Tavin was LOVING the cake and ice cream!

Poor little Maguire was so tired...he wanted cake, but did not want to have to feed himself, he kept grunting for more spoonfuls of cake!

Since Maguire was not getting into the cake too much, everyone started smashing it up to make him see he could dig into it...it still did not work. Brody is NOT the cake eater...but he got himself a spoon and dug into this cake! It must have been good!!

Mmmmmmm....

Maguire with a goatee of cake and icing!

Poor little guy ws obviously SO tired...

Yep, he crashed once we pulled him out of the high chair and got him cleaned up! What a tough day for a little one year old!!

My cute little grandpa...

As I was going about my business here at work today, I had to date a paper I was working on and noticed...it was my little grandpa's birthday! My grandpa has passed away now, 15 years ago.. I love and miss him so much, I wanted to pay a small tribute to him!
He was the cutest grandpa I have EVER seen! I remember always feeling so lucky that I had the cutest grandpa around! He worked for the Ogden City Police Office and I remember thinking how cool that was and that he must be SO tough!
He and my grandma had the best relationship and we so cute together!
My mom has so many pictures of me sitting with my grandpa in his favorite chair! He even let me and my sister do his hair at time!
He had struggled with his back and in the end, with cancer. My mom did not think that we should see him the way he was in the hospital but I recorded a song for him, changing a few words to fit him, but to the song Hero by Mariah Carey. I wanted him to know how much I loved him even though I could not see him!
I know that he was in a lot of pain and by the time he succumbed to the cancer, I knew he was no longer in pain and in a better place.
Every time I performed ANYTHING, I have always known that he was watching me and was proud of me! I still talk to him often and I know he is with me whenever I need him!
Love you grandpa! Happy Birthday!!

Overdue post...Kyrstin's Baby Shower

I have been meaning to get these loaded on here for a while...so finally, here is the baby shower pics! My brother's girlfriend, Kyrstin, is due any day now (I just got word that she is actually up at the hospital right now and may be going soon!!) Anyway...we held a baby shower for her at my house! She had quite a few friends show up and it turned out to be a pretty good party!

Here is the preggers, herself! :)

I decided to make cuppies for the shower, so I did not have to deal with cutting a cake! Kyrstin LOVES chocolate!
My mom even found a brown and pink table cover to go with the color scheme of the cuppies!

My mom is so creative, she made these little mint/nut cups! So cute!

Here is a close up of one of the cuppies!

We played a good old game of concentration! Baby shower style! For example...if you got the match of the word "contractions" the prize you got was whoppers - or if you matched the word "breast feeding" you got a Milky Way! So much fun!!

Here are the prizes...note the lovely witch in the background! Since it was so close to Halloween, she got a baby shower / Halloween theme! :)

I lined our wagon with plastic and filled it up with ice and drinks. I thought it turned out cute and gave good access for everyone to get a drink! Of course I had to use drinks with lids on them since we just got new carpet a month before!

Cute little banner as you walk in the front door!

Guests start to arrive...

Getting crowded...

Pretty good turn out!

She had a TON of gifts! Lucky girl!

Everyone loved my cuppie cakes! My sister really got into them! Ha ha!

Mmmmmmmmm......

Again, I will say, my mom is SO creative! She made these papers and wrapped them around Hershey's candy bars for everyone as they were leaving the shower!

Now to start planning my sissy's shower! Just a few months away! I am SO EXCITED!!!